A/N So sorry this has taken so long. I've had computer problems galore. And camp.
A/N The Turtles, Casey Jones, and Splinter don't belong to me. Elena, Noah, and Tom do.
Chapter 2
Raphael was never one to cry, with or without his brothers. Mikey was the only one who really cried anymore, at even he did it rarelyy. However, the pain of losing their forgotten mother, resulted in all his brothers and even Splinter shedding a few tears. Raph took his grief out on the street punks he and his vigilante friend, Casey Jones, beat up. Raph's efforts to keep the secret from Casey did not go unnoticed, however.
"Did someone die or somethin'?" Casey asked bluntly as they walked away from boy they had saved from being mugged.
Raph looked at him sharply. "What makes you think that?"
"I've never seen you put so much . . . effort into this," Casey looked at his comrade, concerned. "Not even when Leo is bugging you. Is everything alright?"
Before Raph had a chance to a reply, they heard a woman scream.
"Welcome to New York," Casey grumbled as they hurried off to save yet again another damsel in distress. "The City that never sleeps."
They had finally found the source of the voice. A man had a woman cornered in an alley, while holding a little boy at gunpoint. Neither vigilante could tell what the woman's face looked like, as a hood covered her head.
"Please don't hurt my son," the woman pleaded. "He's all I have left. Please."
"Just give me your money, lady or Junior will be chewing gum out of the back of his head," the man threatened.
Raph carefully aimed his sai at the man's hand and threw. The man gaped as the gun flew out of his hand. The boy wasted no time and ran to his mother. Casey and Raph immeadiantly jumped in. The man was knocked out immeadiantly.
There was a gust of wind and the woman's hood fell off. Raph found himself staring into hazel eyes, half-hidden by auburn hair.
I know those eyes.
"Elena?" Raph gasped, taking off his hat.
Elena gasped. "Raphael?"
Despite Casey's protests, Raph took Elena down to the Lair.
"So," Casey said conversationally. "You know my green buddies."
"Yes," the sewers didn't bother Elena. She'd seen much worse. "It's been years since I've seen them though."
"Years?" Casey raised an eyebrow. "How many?"
"About twelve," Elena replied, picking her son up.
"You knew 'em when they were four?" Casey grinned at Raph, who was still watching Elena with no trace of his usual sarcasm or suspision. Instead, he looked four years old again.
"The guys are gonna be excited to see you again," Raph was grinning. "Master Splinter, too."
"How have you guys been, by the way?" Elena asked. "I've missed you."
"We've been okay, as far as mutated turtles go," Raph shrugged uneasily.
Elena sensed his mood easily. "Um, are you all still there? Your brothers and Splinter? Nothing bad happened, did it?"
"We're still alive and kicking, if that's what you mean." Raph replied. "We even made a couple of human friends. That's Casey Jones. We meet about a year ago. Since then, he's been my best friend."
With her free arm, Elena shook Casey's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Elena."
Within minutes, they were back to the Lair.
"Put your hood back on, Elena," Raph ordered suddenly. "Casey, could you take the kid for a minute. I wanna surprise the guys."
Casey, having never seen Raph this excited about anything, was too started to argue. He took the kid as Raph led the woman inside. The other three brothers were seated around the table. Splinter came rushing in with a surprised and relieved look on his face. The remaining Turtles were to busy giving him amused looks to notice Splinter.
"Saved another damsel in distress, Raph?" Mike grinned.
"Did you have to bring her here?" Leo asked sternly.
"Yep," Raph grinned. "'Cause she ain't no ordinary damsel."
With that, he whipped off her hood. The Turtles stared in shock. They leapt from the table and all hugged her at once, causing her to fall down.
"Oooofff," Elena gasped. Then she laughed. Mikey helped her up, but kept hugging her.
"Give Elena room to breathe, Michelangelo," Splinter laughed.
"It's nice to see you again, Splinter," Elena smiled respectfully. "From the looks of it, you did a great job raising your sons."
The mutants glowed with pride.
"Thank you, Elena," Splinter replied as the two shook hands (or hand and paw). "I am glad you are safe."
"That's it!" Casey exploded, startling them all. "Who exactly are you?"
"You're the one who knows it best," Splinter told Elena. "Would you like to tell it while I make tea?"
"I'd love to," Elena grinned and sat down.
Mikey took the sleeping child from Casey. "Is he your son?"
"Yep," Elena smiled lovingly at him. "That's my son, Noah."
"Noah?" Splinter smiled, interested. "I seem you remember you telling me you liked the name Adam."
"I do. Noah was born on a boat. I thought the name fit."
"The story?" Casey prompted.
"Ah, yes. When the Turtles were little, my father, who was, at the time, a scientist at a lab, kidnapped them. I was fifteen at the time. I myself had been stolen from my mother as a young child because my father needed an heir. Although I wasn't allowed anything to do with my mother, I kept a stack of photos of her secret. As time went on, I slowly forgot the little things about Mom and resented my father for it. When the Turtles came, I formed a friendship with them. After a month of careful planning, I tried to rescue them. Of course, it didn't take the lab long to figure out what I was up to."
"Those sirens are for us," fifteen-year-old Elena urged. "We gotta keep moving."
She ran through the parking lot with four young mutants in tow.
"I'm tired," five-year-old Michelangelo whined.
"Just a little farther, honey," Elena murmured distractedly.
They came to the parking lot, where a bunch of company vans sat unused. She sprayed each Turtle with a perfume. Then she sprayed herself.
"What's that?" five-year-old Donetello asked, confused.
"A neutralizer to a dog's smelling ability," Elena replied, opening the back door to one of the vans. "So they can't smell us."
The five of them climbed in and the "grown-up" of the group shut the door behind them.
"We're gonna have to sleep here tonight," Elena dug out a flashlight and went searchcing for blankets. "I need time to mend Raphael's wounds."
Elena only found two blankets. She gave one to the three unwounded brothers a blanket to sleep with. The girl set to work mending Raph. Because of Raphael's short temper and inability to submit to his captors, he had been "selected" to be the subject of the experiments that involved pain. What they ended ended up with was a scared and bruised little boy who still refused to surrender. Elena gazed at him fondly.
"Elena?" Mikey asked sleepily.
"What, sweetie?" Elena winced as she snapped his broken leg back into place. Raph moaned in his sleep.
"Tell us a story," Mikey begged.
"What about?" Elena got the materials out to make a cast around his leg.
"A kid who can defeat any bad guy," Leonardo said determinedly. "No matter how big and how many."
"That narrows it down," Elena chuckled as she wrapped Raphael's leg. "Have you ever heard the story of Peter Pan?"
"No," came the chorused reply.
"Boy, are you in for a treat."
"Aw, that's so cute," Casey cooed, grinning at Raph.
"Shaddup before I pound your face in." Anyone who didn't know Raph well enough would think his tone as dangerous, but everyone in the room knew that it was relatively mild. Or as mild as Raph could get away with when slightly annoyed, anyway.
"What happened next?" Mikey hated it when people interrupted during a movie or a good story, and this was a story he didn't want to miss.
"I had the escape planned," Elena continued. "But you Turtles didn't know my plan. You got quite a surprise in the morning."
Elena had fallen asleep crosss-legged, with Raph's bad leg resting on hers. Needless to say, her muscles were sore the next morning. She awoke when the other three Turtles shook her awake.
"Elena," Leo whispered urgently. "Wake up."
"What?" Elena mumbled blearily.
"THere's someone outside, knocking," Donnie's eyes were as wide as saucers.
Elena sat straight up. There were three knocks, a pause, and then two more. Elena breathed a sigh of relief. "It's only Tom," she whispered.
"Who is Tom?" Leo asked confused.
"A friend who is gonna help us escape," Elena replied, opening the door. She grinned at the Turtles. "You didn't think a fifteen-year-old could do this on her own, didja?"
"I dunno," Mikey smiled his adorable smile. "Grown-ups can do lots of things, 'specially you, Elena."
"Suck up," Donnie muttered as Tom came in.
"Hey," Tom smiled, glancing at everyone.
"Who are you?" Leo asked suspiciously.
"I'm Tom," the tall, elderly man replied. "I'm a friend of Elena's. I've known her since she was your age."
"Really?" Mikey asked, amazed that Elena was once their height and age.
"How come you're helping us escape?"
"Leonardo," Elena glared at the boy, a warning tone in her voice.
Leo cringed, despite his attempts to remain the cool and collected big brother. He had never really seen Elena mad at them before.
"It's okay," Tom shrugged easily, his eyes watching Leonardo warmly. "What's your name, young man?"
"Leonardo," Leo replied, still frowning.
"Are they your brothers, Leonardo?"
"Yes, sir. I'm the oldest."
"Would you do anything for them?"
"Yes, sir." Leo wasn't sure he liked where this was leading.
"I feel the same way about Elena. She's like a daughter to me. That's why I'm helping you escape."
Leo blinked. No threats about hurting his brothers? "Sorry about before. I don't know much about you, but I know enough about Elena. If she trusts you, so will I."
Elena smiled proudly at him. Leo basked under the silent praise.
"Well, you met Leonardo," Elena said after a few minutes of silence. "Those are his brothers Donnetello and Michelangelo."
"Hello," Donnie said shyly.
"Hi!" Mikey grinned.
"THe hurt one over here is their other brother, Raphael," Elena continued.
"What did those monsters do to him?" Tom asked, shocked, as he moved over toward Raph. "You did a great job bandaging him up, Elena.
Elena shrugged modestly. "I did what I could."
Tom grinned at the Turtles. "You're lucky to have someone as sweet as Elena helping you. Smart as a whip, that one."
Elena shifted uncomfotably. Then she grinned. "Enough of this mushy stuff. Let's get on the road!"