Disclaimer: I don't own the turtles, I just play with them.

Before the fic Author's Notes: In the first chapter, right before she passed out, Devon told Austin she needed to get to a doctor. Considering her aversion to doctors, you'd think Devon would understand, and never in his life (or death) mention such a thing. Well, he can be a tad ditzy sometimes, and old habits die hard. Obtain Injury, see doctor. That sort of thing. Either that, or the author was having a brainfart, and totally forgot an entire PLOTLINE for the story in the editing process … Yah. My bad.

FunFact:These are the names of Austin's psychiatrists, listed in the order she attended sessions with them: Dr. Gaines – male. Dr. Frederick – male. Dr. Collins – female. Dr. Conner – female. Dr. Collins is the only one who really has any impact on the story. Seeing as how she totally broke that patient-doctor confidentiality thing by reporting Austin's case to Dr. Adair.

Misadventures of the Mentally Unstable

Chapter 7

Italics are Austin's thoughts or flashback

Austin hadn't cooperated. From the moment she'd met Dr. Adair she knew she didn't like him. It went beyond dislike, actually. She hated him. She hated him and she was scared to death of him. There was something that lay just beneath the surface of the gentle exterior. There was a gleam in his eyes that couldn't be trusted. So Austin had refused to answer any of his questions. She had sat in the oversized, overstuffed chair in his office and kept her mouth shut. Perhaps it would have been better for her if she'd cooperated, but she knew Devon would have told her to be strong. Be true to what she believed in, and never show fear. And so she had sat, her arms crossed and her eyes glaring at the poisonous snake masquerading as a psychiatrist.

"We're going to need a Black in here, John. No hurry, but as soon as you have a free moment." Dr. Adair released the button on the intercom and leaned back in his chair looking the defiant little girl in the eyes. "I really wish you'd work with me here, Austin." His tone stated otherwise. She swore she could almost detect anticipation, like he wanted her to fight him. If there was one thing Austin did well it was listen. Over the past two years she had done little talking, but a lot of listening. She'd picked up a lot of things, and had learned to read adults voices amazingly well for someone her age.

Austin narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. What was he going to do to her? Lock her in her room? Give her a time out? She was already trapped in this damned school with no way out, so what difference did it really make? She was still a prisoner. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Neither willing to back down. She could almost detect a hint of respect in the malevolent eyes of the doctor. He was a man who didn't like weakness. It annoyed him. And Austin was far from weak.

The door behind her opened suddenly, but she didn't move. Her eyes were locked on the doctor. She didn't trust him, and didn't want to turn her back to him. Only when she felt the sting on the side of her neck did she realize her mistake. Startled, she jumped out of the chair, turning to see a man in a white lab coat. He was holding a syringe. A now empty syringe. Austin's eyes went wide and her hand flew to the spot on her neck. But her reflexes were already slowing. Her arm felt heavy, and the room was growing darker. Large hands picked her up and she felt like a rag doll being slung over someone's shoulder. As everything became dark, her last thought was to wonder what kind of hell her parents had sent her to.

"Ooooooohooo, come to momma… Mmmmm, yes…." I eagerly accepted the mug and breathed in the deep rich steamy aromas. God… coffee had never smelled so good. I closed my eyes and smiled and sipped. Goddamn, but Donny made good coffee. I sighed happily and sipped again.

"Would you two like to be alone?" The mocking voice came from the turtle straddling the chair next to me and I opened my eyes. I resisted the urge to flip him off at the breakfast table. I did have a little tact after all. I rolled my eyes at him instead then turned my attention to Leo who was sitting across from me. Before the wonderful interruption of caffeine, he had asked me about where I lived.

"There's a little café on Whitewater Street." I told him. "It's called The Celestial. I'm the night manager of there, and I rent the apartment above it from the owner."

"Oh, so you aren't a student then? I wondered since your ID was out-of-state."

I shook my head. "Not currently a student, no. I transferred my credits to a school here in New York, but haven't been able to attend yet. As for the ID, though. It's just an extra one I carry around on my nights out. My current one is safe at home."

"Austin, you are going to love me. You're going to want to date me, and marry me, and have little turtle babies with me." Mikey's voice carried over from the stove where he was rushing around, flipping pancakes, buttering toast, and doing all sorts of other breakfast-y things. I'd offered to help when we first came in the kitchen, but he'd shoo'd me away and said he was going to impress me with his masculine cooking skills.

"You're cooking isn't THAT good." Donatello mumbled now and I snickered.

"Oh ho ho! We'll see about that." Mikey arrived at the table, balancing five different platters, each covered in food. I don't think I'll ever figure out how he managed to set them all down on the table without dropping them. If it had been me… well… if it had been me, I'd have carried them over one at a time, and STILL probably managed to drop at least two on the way. With a flourish, he set the last plate down directly in front of me. "Ta DA!"

I have to say, I was impressed. It was the most appetizing breakfast I'd ever seen in my life. Homemade pancakes, hot crisp bacon, toast, juice… I live on Eggos and poptarts most of the time at home.

"A Michelangelo special!" He grinned "A touch of honey, a dash of vanilla, and just a pinch of cinnamon, and you have the most delicious, mouthwatering pancake ever created by mortal hands."

"Hey… I didn't get a smiley face on my pancake…" Donatello muttered. I grinned and looked down at the cute little bacon mouth and butter nose on my plate.

"Well, you're not special." Mikey replied. "Go on, Austin. Try it! Tell me how good it is."

I took a bite. He was right, it was fantastic. "You've impressed me. No other pancake will ever satisfy."

"Hah! So you want to marry me then, right? It was just THAT good."

"Sorry, I'm a lesbian." I took another bite.

I must have timed that one badly, because Leo and Don both choked into their orange juice. And poor Mikey looked so crestfallen. "Really?" he asked in a voice that almost made me feel bad. Raph though, must have thought it was incredibly funny. He was snickering to himself while pouring syrup on his pancake.

"Nah, not really. But it IS a damn good pancake." I grinned and punched him softly on the arm. "You can cook for me anytime." He seemed to think that was a good compromise and sat down to eat his own breakfast.

As breakfast progressed, I became aware of a universal truth. Guys are still guys, even if they happen to look like human sized turtles. It was like a contest to see who could shove the most food in their mouth the fastest. Leonardo seemed to have moderate self control, but he still packed away a lot of food. Well, they had said they were ninjas, right? I guess ninjas use up a lot of energy, so they need to eat a lot. Or something like that. But I guess they also don't need to use napkins. Oh well. Males will be males.

"So, when do you have to get home?" Mikey asked around a mouthful of bacon. "I mean, you can stay here as long as you want, can't she Leo?" He didn't wait for a response. "You're in no hurry to get back, are you?" I washed my last bite of pancake down with some juice and had a mental image of Mikey carrying me into their home like a stray animal. She followed me home, can I keep her? Pleeeeeeeeeease, Leo? He was just like a little kid. Cute, but I could tell it might get annoying after a while.

"Well… um… today's Sunday, isn't it…?" I realized that I'd sort of lost track of time since arriving here. Everything had all seemed to mush together into one big fuzzy memory.

"Yes, it's Sunday." Leo answered for me. "And you are welcome to stay here as long as you'd like…" His gaze flickered to Mikey quickly then back to me. "It would be safer for us to wait until dark to take you home, but I understand if you need to get back sooner. We'll take you as far as you can, but we won't be able to escort you out on the street unless it's night."

I nodded in understanding. Honestly, I wasn't sure which I'd prefer. I hadn't spent this much time in someone else's company in a long while, and it felt a little weird. I also knew Devon would want to get me alone as soon as possible. He didn't like it when I was around more than one or two people for very often. That was one of his rules he didn't like to break. The more people around me, the less likely it was he could come and talk. Something about the mysterious "Them" finding out about him. But I didn't want to leave. Not yet.

"I can wait until dark, if it's ok with you." I smiled. "I'd feel a bit safer with an escort home." Actually, feeling safe had nothing to do with it. I just liked spending time with them.

"Great! It's settled!" Mikey practically jumped up from the table. "C'mon, Austin. Wanna play a video game? I just got this kick-ass racing one!"

Raph grunted softly and leaned over to whisper loud enough for everyone to hear. "Get out while you can. I'll hold him back, just run."

"I tried that yesterday. You knocked me on my ass." I looked pointedly at Raph while picking up my plate to carry to the sink. "I'd rather not chance a repeat of that, thank you very much."

Raph chuckled as if remembering a fond memory. He really was an ass. A likeable ass, but still an ass.

"I'll take those, Austin. Don't worry about it." Donatello took my dishes from me and gestured to Mikey with his head. "If you don't get out there and play a game with him, I think he's going to have a fit."

Leo fixed a stern look on Mikey. "Don't forget, practice in one hour."

"Yah, yah." Came the hurried response as Mikey grabbed my hand and pulled me from the kitchen.

After an hour, it became quite apparent I should never be a racecar driver. Or any kind of driver at all. I had more fun crashing into other people than I did actually racing. I think I was giggling just a little too evilly, because Don had scooted away from me on the couch as I plowed over pedestrians and rollerbladers. "Hah! Take THAT! And THAT! Oh, you want some too? C'mere!" I gleefully crashed into a police cruiser, which caused my own little mustang to blow up in a bright ball of fire.. "…..awwwwww." I pouted when "You Lose" flashed up on the screen.

"Dude, that's the seventh time you've done that!"

"Dudette." I corrected idly and set down the controller. "Anyone else want a turn?"

"Actually…" came Leo's voice from just behind the couch.

"Ooooh, no! No, don't say it, Leo. PLEASE, don't say it." Mikey whined.

"Practice time."

Mikey groaned. "C'mon, Leo. We can take a day off. Just ONE day."

"Practice. Now."

"Awwww, man." Don, Raph and Mikey reluctantly got up from where they'd been watching me create mass mayhem and destruction on the streets of San Francisco.

"Can I watch?" My request startled me. Not so much because I'd asked it, but for the reason behind asking it. If I was in the same room as them… Devon wouldn't come back. The realization hit me like a freight train. I didn't want Devon to come back… I wanted him to stay away. If he came back now, he'd try to convince me to get away from them. He'd bug me about it until I agreed. And I didn't want to give him the chance, because I knew sooner or later I'd agree. I'd let him drag me back home to where it was just the two of us. And god… I didn't want that. I wanted to be here. With friends. Yah, I know I'd only just met them… but I could tell. They were friends. Please, please… let me watch. Let me stay in the same room as you guys…

"Sure, I don't see why not." Leo smiled and I let out a huge sigh of relief. "You'll have to follow a few simple rules, but other than that… it should be ok."

The rules were incredibly simple. First, no shoes, which was easy for me to follow. I wasn't about to put back on the sewage soaked white Mary Janes I'd been wearing. You couldn't have paid me to put them back on. Second, sit down and shut up. Well, Leo didn't quite say it like that, but that was the gist of it. Third, don't touch the weapons. That one was a bit harder. They were so shiny and pretty. And they covered the walls! Knives and swords and throwing stars and other things I had no names for. But I restrained myself. I've hurt myself on Tupperware, so it was probably not in my best interest to be handling anything with sharp blades.

Now, I've seen lots of martial arts movies. And I have to say… compared to what these guys were doing? Wow. The real thing is so much fucking cooler. And the fact that they were turtles… Wow. Just… wow. My eyes couldn't even follow most of the stuff they were doing, it was so damn quick. It became apparent within maybe… five seconds that these guys could Kick. My. Ass. They'd broken off into pairs and were doing…what was it called… I wracked my brain for the word. Sparring? Yah, that's it. And it was impressive.

I wasn't even aware that I'd been humming until Michelangelo started singing along with me. I don't think Leo quite appreciated the fact that his sparing partner was belting out 'Kung Fu Fighting'. He glared at me and I grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry." I made the motion of zipping my lips and put my hands back in my lap, the picture of serenity.

I leaned back against the wall and watched, enthralled. But it wasn't until they pulled out their weapons that I REALLY started to enjoy watching. God, I was so jealous. I wanted to be able to move like that. My greatest quality was I made the best double tall French Vanilla Soy Latte this side of the Mississippi. Or so my regular customers told me at the café. But this? I'd give anything to be able to move like that. I sighed and looked down. Unfortunately, there were two very good reasons why I'd never be that graceful. DD tits just didn't make for very good acrobatics. Not that I'd had any complaints, mind you, but bedroom acrobatics isn't what I meant.

I turned my attention back to the guys. Leo was working with some sort of twin swords. Awesome. I grinned wickedly and kept my eyes on him for while. Damn, he sure knew how to handle them. That perverted little part of my brain was just begging me to make a comment about boys handling their weapons, but I bit it back. My eyes moved on to Donatello. A Bo staff. Yes, I knew what that was. If only for the fact that one of my regular customers loved to RPG, and had shown me all the stats on his characters. Repeatedly. Whether I wanted to see them or not. And one of them used a bo staff as a weapon. Next time the pimply faced amateur gamer came in the café, I'd have to laugh at him. He knew NOTHING about using Bo staffs.

Mikey… hmm… I know I'd seen those weapons before in lots of movies. But for the life of me, I couldn't remember what they were called. Whatever they were, he was very good with them. I was impressed. Looked like he could do more than just cook.

I moved on to Raph. Hah! Sais. I giggles silently to myself. Ok, now that was fucking awesome. Thanks to comic books, I knew exactly what those were. For a gay man, Jason had had quite the fascination with Elektra. I remember a particular panel where the heroine had been impaled on her own sai. And judging at how sharp Raph's sais looked, I had no doubt that drawing wasn't exaggerated.

Devon had always accused me of being much too fascinated by men who wielded weapons. Hence, the reason I'd seen so many martial arts movies. A small part of me wished I could be kidnapped, just so I could have these guys come find me and fight for my honor. Screw feminist woman power bullshit. Who wouldn't want a strong, fast, skilled, muscular warrior coming to their rescue? I mean, sure they were turtles, but who cares? No one's perfect. Take me for example. I see dead people. The flaw that makes the masterpiece, in my opinion. And they were kind of cute… in a bald… green… sort of way. And they were nice. And Devon didn't want me near them. That usually meant they were worth getting to know.

I frowned as that little thought entered my mind again. I shouldn't be thinking these things about Devon. He's my brother for god's sake. I love him. And he's been good to me. He was there when no one else was. Why was I starting to think of him as an annoyance now? But it wasn't just now… This was something that had been burning at the back of my mind for at least a few years now. I'd been so dependant on him… and he'd encouraged it.

While I was at the Institute… Devon was the only reason I'd survived. He kept me living. He'd kept me sane. After I'd escaped… he was the one to keep me company. He helped me find places to eat and sleep in those first few months. And then he'd helped me get back into school. Not under my own name, of course. I was a runaway. But Devon was frickin' smart, and he'd figured out ways for me to sneak through the loopholes. When I turned 18, I got my GED. And then I got my two year transfer degree from a community college. And all the time he'd been there, helping. Teaching. Encouraging. And then I'd arrived in New York. And I'd gotten a job, an apartment… a life. And I was discovering… I didn't need him as much anymore. I still loved him; he was my brother. But… I didn't need him… and it was a scary thought. I didn't want to feel this way. But I wasn't that frightened little girl curled up on the landing at Terri and Bill's house anymore. I was Austin Bridger. And I could take care of myself. Until Devon showed up… and then he always showed me the ways that I needed him. I was torn. I owed him… I owed him for so much… I couldn't just ask him to go away forever.

I sighed and rested my head on my knees. When the hell did my life become so complicated? It seemed like every time I thought I had things figured out, fate popped up with another little twist and said, "Hi Austin. I'm Fate, and I'm going to screw with you. Won't that be nice?"

I shook my head to clear all thoughts and focused once again on the guys. The only thing I wanted to concentrate on right now was the nice sweaty muscles in front of me. Yah, they were green turtle men. But they were sweaty, and breathing hard, and making nice grunting sounds. And technically, they were naked. I wasn't going to complain.

After the fic Author's Notes: The line about hurting herself with Tupperware. True story. Don't ask. It's much too embarrassing.

Notes to my Reviewers:

Isis-Lament: Hey, don't apologize for long reviews! I love long reviews. I posted the animal story to the journal a little while ago. Hehehe. Hopefully everyone else will find it as amusing as I did. Man, I have so many stories I can tell about customers from where I used to work. Our store got all the freaks…

As for a sequel.. I've got a definite ending for this story. Depending on the reaction I get from people, I may or may not write a sequel. I have some other ideas for stories I want to use, but I'm going to wait til this one is done. I just don't think I'll have the time to work on more than one story at a time, unless it's a little one-shot or something. We'll see.

Oh. And as for Raph waking Mikey up… you know that trick, where the guy takes the tablecloth and pulls it out from under all the china really quick, without breaking anything? … Let's just say it doesn't quite work as well if it's a turtle sleeping on top of the blanket…

Reluctant Dragon: So much for hoping that none of my reviewers had ever read "Stolen"…. Heh. Extremely good book, by the way. I finished reading it last week, ironically enough. I thought it was rather funny, because I'd already had the idea for the Institute plotted out for a long time. I admit, it's not an original concept, but eh. I'm still keeping it in my story. And I love Kelly Armstrong's books. I haven't read any of the others, just "Bitten" and "Stolen." Are her other ones good too? I need to make a trip to the bookstore soon and they've been on my list.

fireandsun: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this last chapter as well!

BETH HART(Leo Oneal): Well, Austin is a bit more bold than I am. She's been through a lot that's caused her to lose a lot of her shyness. She's more witty than I am, and quicker on her toes. We share the brown hair though! Sorry this chapter was a long while getting out!

Mickis: Yah, that last chapter was a bit short. I was pushing it out so it wouldn't delay the story any. I originally had a LOT more flashback in this chapter, but it just seemed to weigh everything down, and I think I can summarize in future chapters, without it seeming so… boggy. As for Austin being crazy or not…. Hehehhe. I shall never tell! …until it suits the story. It will be revealed at some point. I'm not sure how people will react. I will say this, the truth has never changed since I started forming the plot in my head. In fact, I built the story around Devon. –starts building suspense- Just wait til everyone finds out this was all a DREAM SEQUENCE! MUAHAHAHAHAHA….. uh.. oh shit. Did I just say that out loud?...

DW: I hope the breakfast scene was acceptable! It wasn't all that long, but there was much more Mikey in this chapter. And Susan…. Ahhh yes. Susan. She does seem to be missing, doesn't she? …I wonder where on earth she got to… hmmm….. I just don't know… -is blatantly lying in order to increase suspense-

Dierdre: hehehehe. Thir13en Ghosts (or however the heck they do that title thing) is one of my favorite cheesy movies. I recognize how bad it is, and love it because of that reason. Anyway. I think Raph and Austin have a similar sense of humor. They both realize that life isn't all puppies and roses. She's a bit rough around the edges. Though probably not quite as much as he. I think they'll get along good.

And hey, a late review is better than none at all! You're forgiven. :)

The REAL Cheese Monkey: Thanks for the review! Austin isn't really based off anyone I know. I can see parts of her that I've taken from myself or my roommates, but she's not anyone specific. Hopefully, she'll stay non-Mary Sueish.

kaya lizzie: Yah, I get the feeling Austin isn't in the right mind for a relationship, be he man, or turtle. There's a LOT of baggage going on there. But hopefully she'll have worked through some of it by the end of the story. But she is STILL a woman after all. And as evident in the story, she knows when she's looking at some male hotness. –sighs- I honestly don't understand how people can't see the attraction there! I mean… hot, muscular green ninja men…-starts to drool- excuse me. I need to go take a cold shower….