Raphael hummed some hard rock tune (he wasn't even sure which one) as he made his way down the alley. It had been both a quiet and successful night. Only a couple things to break up, and those were all early on. Raphael was enjoying the quiet and pleasant night - something he hadn't done in some time. He smiled a bit as he came to the alley where LaShawn lived. May as well see how she's doing, he thought. He made his way down until he was underneath the fire escape. As usual, she was there, but she seemed a bit...different. She was reading a book, for one thing - the other two times, she'd just been sitting there looking miserable. Raphael slowly and quietly began climbing up the outside of the fire escape, finally pulling his head up over the catwalk where she sat, directly opposite from her.

"Is this seat taken?" said Raphael, grinning.

LaShawn dropped her book in alarm, but then smiled. "Hi, Raph."

"Hey, LaShawn." Raphael pulled himself up over the railing, and sat down across from her. "You're looking better."

"Yeah, kinda. I just...did what you said, y'know? When they started makin' fun of me?"

"Cool - they leave you alone now?"

LaShawn shrugged. "Not really. But they don't bug me as much as they usedta. I don't know what to say when they start in..."

"Probably nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah," said Raphael, nodding. "Just shake your head, smile and don't say anything. That way it doesn't look like you're paying any attention to 'em."

"Huh." LaShawn thought that over. "What was the second thing?"

"What second thing?"

"Last week, you said you wanted me to remember two things when they got on my case. First one was that you were uglier'n me."

"Oh, right."

"But you ran off before you told me what the second one was."

Raphael scrunched his face up. "You know what? I don't remember what the second one was." His face relaxed into a smile. "But I guess it doesn't matter. It looks like you didn't need it."

"Yeah, I guess not." LaShawn suddenly got quiet, and sort of stared at Raphael. Seeing her stare, Raphael grinned a bit.

"Guess I should tell you. I'm a mutant."

"A what?"

"Mutant. I got some turtle DNA in me."

"Oh."

Raphael shrugged. "Just so you know why I'm ugly."

LaShawn smiled a bit. "Nah, you're not ugly. You're just...different."

Smiling, Raphael said, "Different's just another word for ugly."

"But it's nicer."

"Yeah, it is. Thanks." Raphael got to his feet. "I better scoot. My family's waitin'. Glad you're feelin' better, LaShawn." He walked over and held out his fist. LaShawn tentatively reached over and touched her fist to his. "See ya."

"Yeah, see ya, Raph."

Raphael gave her one last grin, then hopped over the railing and began the descent back to the alley below. Once he hit the pavement, he made his way over to the manhole, sticking close to the wall. While he reached for his pipes to pull back the cover, he thought about LaShawn. He hadn't told anyone about her yet. Part of it was because there wasn't a lot to tell - he met this girl, stopped her from crying, and that's about it. Another part was that he knew he'd get grief from his brothers - Michelangelo, especially - for chatting with a human. He had poked fun at Mikey for doing it in the past, and he knew it'd be payback time once they found out. Well, maybe I'll tell them tonight. We'll see. He climbed into the manhole and pulled the cover back in place over his head.

Raphael dared to sneak a peek at the clock. Almost five o'clock - good. For some reason, he was having a heck of a time getting his brain in gear today. The more he tried to concentrate on his math, the less he seemed to understand. His best bet was probably to just bag it for the rest of the day, and try again tomorrow. Hopefully, his brain would me more up to speed then.

Everyone looked up when the modest chirping of the cell phone broke the silence. Splinter got to his feet and walked into the kitchen to answer it. "Hello?" he said, as always sounding rather uncertain when answering the phone.

"Splinter? It's April."

"Good afternoon, Ms O'Neil. I trust you are well?"

"Not too bad, thanks. Look, I was wondering if you guys could watch the 5 o'clock news this afternoon?"

Splinter glanced at the clock. "I believe we would be able to, Ms O'Neil. Is there a story of yours you wish us to see?"

"Not mine. At least, not yet - I'm trying to take it over. It'll probably be the third story in - just want to know if you know anything about it."

Splinter was a little confused by the lack of information, but he took it in stride. "The third story. All right, we will watch and let you know."

"Great - thanks. Say hi to the guys for me."

"I shall. Goodbye, Ms O'Neil." Splinter hung up the phone and replaced it in the charging stand. Walking back to the study room, he repeated what April had told him to the turtles. They seemed as confused as he was.

"What the heck would we know about anything?" asked Michelangelo.

"Maybe it's about the Foot," suggested Leonardo.

"Well, whatever it is, we better get the TV set up. You know how hard it is to get Channel Six down here. Raph, you wanna help me out with the antenna?"

"Got it." They hurried back out into the living room as the other two turtles put their study materials away.

Raphael leapt up, pulling himself up into the pipes above the living room. Donatello turned the TV on and flipped the dial to channel six. Once the TV warmed up a bit, he frowned at the snowy picture. "Pretty lousy," he said. Raphael grabbed the wire that led from the TV up to the roof, and wrapped it once around a different pipe. "Better," announced Donatello, "but still pretty tough to see." Raphael pulled the wire tighter, then stretched it over to a nail that jutted out of the wooden beam, wrapping it around it twice. "No picture at all now," Donatello said. Raphael muttered under his breath as he pulled the wire back off the nail, and instead stretched it to another pipe above. "Hey, that's pretty good," said Donatello. "Can you keep it there?"

"No problem," said Raphael, wrapping it around the pipe once, then tying it in a knot. "How's that?"

"Looks OK. Come on down."

Raphael dropped to the floor as his other two brothers and Splinter entered the room. Michelangelo grinned.

"Dudes, we have GOT to get cable."

"No," said Leonardo, shaking his head. "Then we'd spend all day watching TV."

"Shh, it's starting," said Michelangelo, as he saw the New York skyline come into view on the screen.

Splinter took his place in his battered armchair, and the turtles sat on the old sofa. As they watched, they kept mulling over what they might see that they might have some insight on. The first two stories certainly weren't right. They knew nothing about a fire in Queens, or the looming subway strike.

The news anchor looked up at the screen and began the next story. "Police are blaming gang crossfire for the bullet that claimed the life of a ten-year-old girl." The screen cut to a picture of the girl, smiling at her last birthday. "LaShawn Jackson was shot and killed last night on the fire escape outside her home."

Raphael felt himself go cold all over as he stared at the picture. That was LaShawn, all right. And now she was dead. Raphael couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't even react.

The anchor went on. "So far, no witnesses have come forward, but the girl's mother, Wanda Jackson, says she's heard from a few neighbors that mutants had been spotted in the area."

The TV then showed a woman, her face wracked with grief. "Why did those freaks have to take my baby?" she said, crying. "Why couldn't they just leave us alone?"

Once more, the image flipped back to the news anchor. "Police are investigating the case, but have no suspects as of yet." He flipped a page, and then started a new story. "The protests continued today over at..."

Michelangelo leapt up and turned off the TV. Turning back to the couch, he said, "Mutants shooting kids? What do they..." He stopped as he spied Raphael. "Raph?"

Raphael sat on the edge of the couch, fists balled, teeth clenched, shaking his head. "No," he kept murmuring. "No."

Splinter got up, glanced at Raphael, then turned to the others. "Kids," he said quietly, and they all knew what that meant - he wanted to be alone with Raphael. They quickly got up and headed back to the study room. Splinter sat down next to him and put his hand on Raphael's knee. Raphael looked up, and Splinter saw the pain there. It was clear that Raphael wanted to cry, but was fighting it extremely hard. His lip trembled, and his breaths came in pants. "Can you talk about it, my son?" asked Splinter gently.

Raphael closed his eyes, swallowed and nodded. He opened his eyes, and looked deep into the eyes of Master Splinter. He drew a little strength from there, and began to feel a bit calmer. "Uh..." he began. "I know that girl."

"Yes," said Splinter, encouraging.

Raphael took another deep breath and tried to keep his voice level. "I, uh, met her one night, 'bout a month ago or somethin'. She was cryin', y'know, an' I just wanted...just wanted to make sure everything was OK."

Splinter was somewhat surprised by this admission. He had learned to accept that, at times, his sons would strike up conversations with some of the people they met on their rounds. However, this was something he only expected of Michelangelo and Donatello, not Raphael. In fact, Raphael had rarely shown much compassion at all for any human. Splinter said nothing, though, but simply nodded, and Raphael went on.

"She was, uh, gettin' hassled at school. Some kids were pickin' on her, callin' her ugly an' stuff. I just told her not to worry 'bout it, y'know - she'd be OK."

"That was most kind of you."

"Yeah, well...anyway, I saw her...a couple more times. Last time, she seemed OK - like she was over it, y'know?" Raphael set his teeth and shook his head. "But now it don't matter, does it? She's dead."

Splinter leaned forward and pulled Raphael to his chest, something he hadn't done with him in many years. Raphael didn't fight it, clutching his sensei tight, letting the tears fall from his eyes onto Splinter's kimono - tears that he had held back in the presence of his brothers. "Why?" he demanded quietly. "Why did she have to die?"

Knowing there was no answer, Splinter didn't try to formulate one. "I am sorry, my son." He held Raphael for a minute until the crying subsided, and Raphael made a move to sit back up.

Wiping his face, Raphael said, "She's just a kid. It ain't fair."

Gently, Splinter said, "I know, my son. It is very difficult."

Raphael spread his arms wide. "And now everyone thinks I'm the one that killed her, too!"

"That is not quite accurate, my son. The news simply said that mutants were seen in the area."

"Which means me," growled Raphael.

"Were you seen?"

Raphael paused. "I...I don't know. I know the first two times, I kept kinda hidden, but I was on the fire escape with her this last time."

"When was that?"

"Monday."

"Hm. So it is possible that someone saw you with her on that day."

"Well, maybe, but I was being nice to her, sensei! Why are they thinking I killed her?"

Splinter sighed. "You know that humans mistrust that which they do not understand."

Raphael pounded his fist on his knee. "I gotta go talk to her." He made a move to stand up, but Splinter put his hand on his knee.

"To...to who?"

"To that woman. LaShawn's mother. Let her know I didn't do it."

Splinter sat up straighter and looked at Raphael. "I am not sure that is wise, my son."

"What? You want her to think I killed her kid?"

Shaking his head, Splinter said, "That is not what I meant. However, if you are indeed currently a suspect, going to see her would not be prudent."

"You think they'll...arrest me?"

"It is possible. In fact, it would be prudent to cease your nightly patrols until this is settled."

Raphael's eyes got wide. "You're gonna make me stay home while everyone else goes out?"

"No, my son. I believe all of you should stay home for the time being. Remember, most humans cannot tell you apart. It would be just as dangerous for any of the others as it would be for you."

Jumping to his feet, Raphael walked to the opposite side of the room and slammed his fists against the bricks. Spinning back towards Splinter, he said, "This is such bull. I make friends with a girl, some punk kid kills her, and so now all of us gotta stay home?"

"That is what it amounts to. And it is indeed not fair. Therefore, we should try to rectify the situation as quickly as possible. Remember, April asked us to watch this newscast to see what we knew of the situation. So call April, tell her what you know, and see what she recommends."

Raphael swallowed hard, then nodded. "Yeah, OK." Raphael stood up and made a move towards the door, but suddenly stopped and turned back to Splinter. He stood and bowed formally to his sensei. "Thank you. You know, for...everything."

Splinter merely bowed in response, then watched Raphael walk towards the phone, lost in thought.