Chapter Seven

It was Friday, the day that Leonardo had been dreading all week. Tonight was Christina's party, and tonight was the night Leonardo was going to end things between them. He had been running what he was going to say over and over in his head, but he felt it was never going to work. Christina was too used to getting her way, and Leonardo knew it was going to be tough.

Leonardo walked around the training room, watching his students as they practiced in pairs. He stopped when he approached one particular student, who had been excelling above the others. The student's name was Taylor, and he had just recently moved from Australia to New York with his aunt and uncle, and for only being eleven years old, Taylor had made a huge impression on Leonardo, and Leonardo had taken the boy under his wing as his star pupil.

Leonardo watched as Taylor took on an older student, who out matched him in both height and weight, and knocked the other boy down in just seconds. The other kids clapped and cheered for Taylor as he bowed, then helped the older boy to his feet and shooked his hand. Leonardo clapped, then walked over to Taylor.

"Great roundhouse. You've been practicing." Leonardo patted the boy on the shoulder.

Taylor smiled, then shrugged his shoulders. "I could do better."

Leonardo shook his head. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Tay. It was great!" Taylor then ran over to the water cooler, and gulped down several cups of water.

"Aunt Rudy said I could go to your Fourth of July barbeque." Taylor said with his thick Australian accent. "You are still havin it, right?"

Leonardo nodded. "Yes. But how did you know about it? I never said anything."

Taylor smiled. "Mikey told me about it while we were playing basketball." Taylor finished another cup of water, then smashed the cup and shot it into the waste basket across the room.

"Seems like you've been practicing that too!" Leonardo said, then turned back to his students. "All right everyone, gather around me so we can discuss Monday's session."

Around the corner, Vanessa sat behind her computer and stared into the screen. It had three days since she had talk to Raphael, and it was killing her. She knew the fight they had wasn't his fault. Raphael was just watching out for her, like he had done since the first day they had met. Raphael was her best friend, but his rashness and his inability to reason drove Vanessa absolutely crazy. But at the same time, Vanessa loved him for those reasons, and deep down wanted nothing more than to be with him and become more than just friends. Vanessa did love Chad, but her feelings for Raphael were on a different level, and ran much deeper then they ever could with present boyfriend. She never told anyone about how she felt, and she even denied it with herself, for it was the fear of rejection and humiliation that stopped her from revealing her love for Raphael.

As she stared into the desktop on her computer, her ears picked up a ringing noise, and she snapped out of her thoughts. She peered around the computer just as the door shut, and noticed that it had been Raphael that had entered the building. Vanessa watched intently as Raphael removed his sunglasses, then let her eyes wondered down his black leather jacket, down his jeans to his shoes, then back up. Raphael felt her eyes on him and he turned his head, just as Vanessa ducked back behind her computer screen and punched on the keyboard, pretending to be hard at work.

Leonardo walked out of the training room and noticed Raphael standing against the wall.

"Are ya ready?" he asked.

"Almost," Leonardo asked as he walked by his brother and around Vanessa's desk. "Let me get changed really quick."

"Hurry up!" Raphael yelled back as he walked back over the door. He started to push it open, then Vanessa knew she had to make a move.

"Raph! Hey! I didn't see you come in." She walked toward him with a smile on her face.

Raphael said nothing to her at first, then replaced his sunglasses. "Tell Leo I'll be in my car." He pushed the door open, then felt Vanessa pull him back.

"Raph, wait. I need to talk to you." She pulled him back inside with all her might.

Raphael flung his sunglasses off and glared at her. "Oh really? Yeah, I see how it is. Chad ain't around, so now you speak your mind."

Vanessa felt her own bad temper rising, but took a deep breath and calmed down. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened. I'm sorry I ruined your night."

Raphael eased up a little and Vanessa let go of his jacket as his body relaxed. He rubbed his forehead with his fingers, then looked back at Vanessa. He smiled slightly, then spoke.

"I'm sorry too. I just don't when to shut my mouth. I didn't mean to make you upset." Then he laughed a little. "It was more my fault than yours."

Vanessa gave Raphael a warm smile. "Are we okay now?"

Raphael shook his head. "No, and before ya say somethin, you gotta let me finish. Then you can yell or whatever. Okay?"

"Okay," Vanessa clasped her hands together. "Go ahead."

" You need to start standin up to Chad. I'm tired of him controllin and walkin all over you. I know you're stronger than you show him, and I think that you should, well-" Raphael crossed his arms over his chest. " You need to be more of a bitch to him."

Vanessa's eyes grew. "Nice choice of words." She then giggled at Raphael, who started to throw her a dirty look. "But you are right. I have let Chad run my life. I never wanted to believe it, and when he came to the city to pick me up from that concert, it was the last straw for me. We stayed up all night talking about it, and I told him I was going to leave him if he didn't let up on how controlling he was."

Raphael sighed, finding it difficult to believe Vanessa's story. "And?"

"He's gotten better, Raph."

Raphael laughed. "Has Hell frozen over? Cause it's freakin cold in here!"

"Raph, I'm serious," Vanessa looked into Raphael's eyes. "He shows me so much more respect now. He has completely changed."

"Now, how long is it gonna last?" Raphael asked, making Vanessa growl in anger.

"Just stop, please? Can we just please get past this?" She gave Raphael a playful punch in the arm. "I miss having you around."

Raphael let his arms drop down. "That's touchin, but yeah, we're good." Vanessa smiled and squealed, grabbing Raphael in an unexpected hug. Raphael stood still for a moment then unwilling let himself melt into her embrace. He closed his eyes and inhaled the citrus scent of Vanessa's shampoo, then exhaled slowly. Vanessa sighed as she enjoyed the feeling of Raphael strong arms around her.

"Uh, should I come back another time?"

They both broke out of their trances and pulled away from each other. They stared blankly at Leonardo, not really knowing what to say to explain about their extra long hug.

Raphael cleared his throat then shoved his sunglasses back onto his face. " Are you finally ready or what?"

"Yes, I am." Leonardo then turned to Vanessa. " I'm going to lunch. I'll be back in an hour."

"Okay." She turned to walk back to her desk when she felt Raphael's hand around her arm.

"Can she come too?" Raphael asked Leonardo as he lowered his glasses and pleaded to his brother with his eyes.

"Sure, why not?" Leonardo grabbed his coat from the rack.

"But, if I go with you guys, who's going to watch the dojo?" Vanessa said as she moved back over to the turtles.

"Jerry and Steve are here. They'll take care of things." He then grabbed Vanessa's coat and shoved her out the door.

Angie chewed on the end of her pinkie fingernail as she read the words in her book. She was so enthralled with the tortured soul of her vampire idol that didn't even hear the chimes ring on the door, nor did she see the mutant turtle that had approached the counter.

"Oh, Lestat," Angie thought out loud. "If only I could save you and show you how beautiful life really is."

"I'm sure he'd be very grateful."

Angie jumped and slammed the book down as Donatello's voice brought her back to the real world. She blinked a few times, then shook her head.

"I didn't even hear you come in." She laughed nervously as she pushed her brown hair behind her ears. "Uh, Linda's not here today."

Donatello smiled. "Who said I was looking for her?" He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white box. " I actually came here to give you this."

Angie hesitated as she reached for the box. "You- you bought me something?"

Donatello pushed his hand closer to her without speaking, then watched intently as she lifted the top of the box. Angie's eyes grew as she pulled out a long silver chain that held various colored stones on either end.

"It's a bookmark." Donatello said. "I noticed you didn't have one the last time I came in. I figured you could use it."

"It's beautiful," She gasped. "I've never seen a bookmark like that before in my life." She opened her book back up and placed it in between the pages, even though she wasn't sure if it was where she had stopped.

"There's a small tourist shop on the beach down the road from my house that sell them." Donatello shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling suddenly shy.

Angie smiled. " Thank you. That was really sweet of you." Donatello smiled back at her, not really sure what to say next. He figured Angie didn't either after a few minutes of silence.

" Are you not working today?" Angie spoke up.

"I just finished my last class about a half an hour ago." Donatello said he studied the scratches that ran across the counter.

Angie then glanced up at the clock. "Well, my shift ends in about five minutes. Do you want to walk me home?"

Donatello looked up with another smile on his face. "Sure. It would be my pleasure."

Later on the evening, the Turtles had all gathered into the living room. Leonardo was laying down on the couch while Donatello and Michelangelo sat on the floor. Raphael occupied one of the oversized chairs that sat near the large bay windows that over looked the beach..

"Man, Mtv has gotten crappy the past few years." Raphael grumbled.

Donatello agreed. " They hardly ever play music videos anymore. It's always Spring Break Beach Party or something dumb like that now."

Leonardo pushed himself up to a sitting position. "Wasn't Mtv the first thing we picked up on that broken television we found in the sewers?"

"Yeah I remember that," Raphael laughed. "Splinter wouldn't let us watch it cause of all those rap videos."

Michelangelo then reached for the remote and turned up the volume. "Sheesh, you guys! I'm trying to watch something!"

Donatello then reached for the remote. "Mikey! Raph and I want to watch wrestling. Hand it over!"

"Nope!" Michelangelo lifted the remote in the air as Donatello jumped for it. "I'm waiting for Mandy's video to come on!"

Raphael shook his head. "Damn, Mikey. Why don' t you grow up and listen to some real music, not that fabricated teen pop shit!"

Michelangelo's mouth dropped. "Fabricated? Excuse me, but Mandy writes her own songs, thank you very much!" He turned back to the television, then lowered his voice and looked at Donatello. "At least her music doesn't make me want to bash my head into a brick wall."

"I heard that!" Raphael grumbled as he threw a pillow at his brother. Leonardo rolled his eyes, wondering why he never went and got his own place when they moved out of the sewers.

"What time are we leavin anyway, Leo?" Raphael asked after Donatello returned the pillow back to him.

Leonardo yawned, then glanced up at the clock. "Um, around seven I guess."

"Do we really have to go?" Donatello asked.

Leonardo sighed and sunk back down into the couch. "Yes. I already told Christina all of us were showing up." Leonardo closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

Leonardo opened his eyes and looked around. He recognized the area around him as Times Square, but it was more like a pile of rubble than the busy center of New York he knew. The sky held a red overcast and was fulled with smoke from the fires that burned along the torn streets. He then looked down at himself and noticed he was dressed in a Mutant Militia camouflage uniform, and his swords were in his hands. He then realized his was back in the middle of the war.

"How did I get here? This happened years ago!"

His thoughts rang out of his head and echoed against the demolished buildings. He began to take a step, but felt as if his feet were made of lead. He strained to lift his foot, then proceeded to lift the other one. Soon, his pace quickened and he began to run, even though he had no idea where he was going.

His feet became like lead again as he stopped at the edge of the river. Across the water, a warehouse sat on an island, and Leonardo gasped as his eyes traveled up from the bottom of the warehouse to the top, which was so high up it disappeared from his sight.

"What is going on here? Things were never like this."

Suddenly, Leonardo felt a rumble under his feet, as if an earthquake were about to hit. The movement grew stronger and more violent, until it was strong enough to knock Leonardo to the ground. Then the ground began to crack, and he pushed himself backwards away from the crater that was erupting under him. He once again felt his body become paralyzed and a sense of fear and dread began to eat away at him.

The ground stopped shaking, and the dust cleared away, leaving Leonardo alone with a giant hole in the ground. A sudden ominous laughter rang from the crater and Leonardo gasped as the Shredder began to rise from the ground. He levitated in midair for a few seconds, then dropped down, shaking the earth when he landed. Leonardo then noticed his size. Shredder was at least twenty feet tall, and the smell of decaying flesh carried off his body and into the air, causing Leonardo to feel nauseated, and he gasped for air. Shredders' evil laughter ripped through Leonardo's head, making him feel like his brain was being pulled in different directions. "No, this can't be happening. He's dead! I watched him die!"

Shredder heard Leonardo's thoughts and his laughter began again, then suddenly stopped. Leonardo watched as the Shredder began to shrink down until he was Leonardo's height, but the metal and decaying flesh disappeared, leaving behind a young woman with long black hair, dressed in a Foot Clan uniform, and holding a sword with an engraved dragon on the handle.

Please, don't hate me. I love you.

Leonardo grabbed his head as the words he had heard many times before drilled into his brain.

"Get away! Get AWAY FROM ME!"

Leonardo then looked up just in time to see the woman running toward him with her sword raise in the air...

"AAHHHHHHHH!"

Leonardo sat upright on the couch, and felt beads of sweat drip down his face. He panted heavily, hearing the beat of his own heart echoing through his head.

"Leo?" Raphael grabbed his brother's shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. "Leo, it's okay, bro. Calm down."

Leonardo squeezed his eyes together, trying to bring them into focus. He looked around, not feeling sure if he was in his own house. He then looked down and saw Raphael in front of him.

"It's okay, Leo." Raphael said again. " You're home, with us. Everything's okay."

"What-I-" Leonardo tried to speak, still feeling like he was in a dream state.

"I thought he wasn't having those nightmares anymore." Michelangelo said nervously, as he peered from around Donatello. Leonardo turned his head toward Michelangelo, and saw the tears that had started to well up in his brothers' eyes. He finally felt his heart beat return to normal and he took a deep breath.

"I'm all right now, Mikey." Leonardo offered a small smile.

"Ya sure?" Raphael dropped his hands and sat back.

Leonardo nodded. "I'm sure." He swung his legs around, remaining seated from a few minutes. He rubbed his face with his hands, then looked up at the clock. "We need to start getting ready." As he stood, Donatello stopped him.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I swear!" Leonardo said, becoming a little agitated. He pushed past Donatello, walked out of the living room and headed up the stairs. The three remaining turtles stood silently for a moment, not knowing exactly what to do.

"Should we stop him?" Donatello asked Raphael.

Raphael shook his head. "Just let him go. You know how he gets after he has those dreams. He acts like it was nothin'!" He then headed for the doorway, punching the wall in frustration as he exited the living room. Michelangelo then broke the silence.

"Finally!" He said as he pointed toward the big screen television. "See, I told you Mandy's video would make to number one this week!"

Donatello sighed as he rolled his eyes, then pushed Michelangelo down onto the couch.