Author Note: Hey guys! May I wish ya all a happy new year! Have a good one!

And there are a few thanks to go out this chapter. Thanks as always to Olafur, who checked the chapter before I put it up. And an extra-mega-special thanks to the people who nominated 'Blue' for no less than five fan fiction awards! They were: best OC, best Leonardo scene, best action/adventure, best moral and most accurate portrayal of characters. Overall, I was nominated for 9, which is a hell of an honour considering the fabulous talent that made up the list - I'm so pleased that people enjoy my stuff as much as I enjoyed many of the fics on the list.

This chapter is somewhat Sam-centric and I'm skating a bit of a line - but after this there will be mostly turtles. I'm a touch worried about it, so reviews good or bad will be taken on board. After all, I can change stuff if need be. Enjoy!

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I was beginning to relax. I hadn't had any visits from irate turtles demanding to know why I'd been getting chased by Purple Dragons and that had to be a good sign. Two days had passed and I was convinced if they had realised it was me in that car, at least one of them would have paid me a visit. Probably Raph, who's not exactly known for his even temper. It had been a close call, but I thought I'd gotten away with it.

I was doing some weights, lying on the bench and using the barbell, not thinking about much. My torso was covered in colourful bruises, thanks to the Dragons, but at least the skin on my knuckles was beginning to heal up. And bruising fades. I was lucky it hadn't been worse. . .

A green face appeared above me.

"GAH!" I almost dropped the barbell, I was so startled. "Blue! Don't sneak up on me!"

"Sorry," he said, taking the barbell from me. "You should have a spotter if you're gonna weightlift."

"I know, I know." I sat up and realised Leo was giving me a funny look. "What?"

"What happened to you?"

I glanced down and grimaced. I was wearing only a wifebeater and sweatpants and the marks from my encounter with the Dragons were clearly visible. "Uh. . .I got into a fight in a bar coupla days ago."

Leo frowned. "Must have been some fight."

"It was." I grabbed the shirt I'd discarded on the sofa and pulled it on. "What have you been up to?"

"Meh, the usual." His face became serious and my heart sank. Uh-oh. Maybe he did know something after all.

"Is something up?"

"You were pretty rude to Master Splinter."

This was the last thing I'd expected. "Huh?"

"At April's place. You nearly broke your neck getting out of there."

"Oh, that." I went over to the fridge and grabbed a soda, stalling for time. "It was just a bit of a shock, ya know? Not every day ya walk into an apartment and find a giant rat making conversation."

"But four giant turtles doesn't bother you?"

"I had a lot more time to get used to that. First time I saw you guys, I had a freakin heart attack. Want a soda?"

"Sure."

I grabbed another soda and turned to give it him, only to realise he was giving me a mildly amused look. I sighed. "Look, I don't like rats, OK?"

"Phobic?"

"No! Well, not really. Ya sleep in some of the places I slept in, ya chase away a lot of rats and ya never get used to it. I've had 'em run over me while I slept, try stealin food from out of my hands, stuff like that. Learned to hate the little bas - uh, critters. I saw a big rat, I freaked."

Leo nodded. "I wish I'd known. I'd have given you some warning."

"S'OK." I opened the soda and took a swig. "I'll get used to it. Hell, I'm already getting used to it. The next time I see him, I promise not to run off, OK?"

"OK." He opened his own soda and tok a drink. "I had another reason for coming over. Casey got a new DVD and he's bringing it to our place tomorrow night. Wanna come?"

"Sure," I replied. "Why not tonight?"

Leo grinned. "It's his and April's anniversary."

"Ah, and April doesn't think watching 'Return of the Son of the Ninja part 2: The Sequel' isn't romantic?"

"Got it in one. Although it's more of a slasher movie."

"Psycho in a hockey mask? Why does that sound like Casey's kinda film?"

"We'll pick you up in the Battleshell about 7," said Leo, heading for the window and the fire escape. "Master Splinter said it was OK to let you have access to the lair."

I sniggered in embarrassment before my brain caught up with what he said. "Wait, lair?"

"Yup. See you then." Leo jumped out of the window and was gone before I could ask him to elaborate.

All that night I was trying to think what type of place they lived in - it wasn't like Splinter could go house hunting. It ocurred to me that none of them had ever mentioned much about where they lived. Still, I figured no matter how bad it was, I could get used to it. Most likely it was an abandoned building or similar and I've slept in plenty of those.

Work the next day was same old, same old. Another car to be checked or repaired. More customers yelling that they needed that car, right away, while we tried to explain that some things take time. We stay open until 6 and it was pretty dark by the time I'd finished for the day. I grabbed my jacket and waved to the others as they headed off. My boss waited while I procrastinated a little so he could lock up after me. I didn't want to talk to the others about what I was doing that night, so I hung around whie they broke their necks to get away.

There was a car on the forecourt when we exited and my boss sighed. "Always someone who doesn't read the damn closed sign," he grumbled, going up to the car and rapping on the window. "Hey buddy! We're closed!"

I peered over his shoulder. "No one in it. Maybe they just parked up here to go to the shops or something."

"Damn! I hate it when people do that!" The boss kicked the wheel of the car and stormed off. I followed more slowly, glancing back at the car. It was a total heap, even worse than my wheels. I suspected it might have been ditched. . .

The car chose that moment to explode.

One moment I was walking away, looking back over my shoulder. The next a rush of heat hit me and I was pushed, leaving my feet and hitting the road hard. Stunned, I lifted my head and stared in surprise at the merrily burning skeleton of the car. But my vision swam and I groaned, putting my head back down and hoping no cars decided to pull over and hit me. Distantly, I could hear the boss cursing and yelling and I was pleased he wasn't hurt, less pleased that he was checking on his property before me.

I heard a screech of brakes and realised a car had pulled up beside me. I heard the door open and thought someone had come to help me, although my head was clearing by then and a quick mental check told me I wasn't seriously hurt, just stunned. Someone took me by the arm and gripped tightly - too tightly. I opened my eyes and looked up at the person holding me.

Dragon Face.

Shit!

He yanked me up and another Dragon grabbed me by the other arm. I was still too dazed to struggle much and they bundled me into the car with no problem. There were two more Dragons there, one driving and one in the passenger seat, a Dragon to either side of me. My ears were still ringing, there was smoke in my throat and I couldn't stop coughing. Dragon Face slammed me on the back a couple of times, grinning maniacally.

"Don't want ya dying on us!" he said in a voice filled with false cheer. "We got a few questions for ya - Sammy."

"So ya know who I am," I said, managing to stop the choking. "Took ya long enough to realise."

"Don't be like that," replied Dragon Face, faking hurt feelings. "Been a long time. How've ya been? Made any new friends? Guardians, perhaps?"

"That's what all this is about?" I gave Dragon Face a look of total scorn. "I have no idea where that guy is. I helped him out once. That doesn't mean I got his number on speed dial."

"Speaking of. . ." Dragon Face nodded at the Dragon at the other side of me. The guy began going through my pockets, checking for a cell, but came up empty. I guess I lost it when I got thrown away from the car.

"Nothin."

"Guess we can't check for his number then." Dragon Face smirked at me and shrugged. "Oh well. Took us long enough to find out where ya worked, get ya attention. We owe ya some payback anyway. By the time I'm done, you'll be begging to tell me what you know. We'll find out all about the Guardian, and ya little green pals. And I'll make ya pay for what happened to my hand."

I'd been taking stock of the car. Central locking, not good. To get out, someone would have to activate the release from the drivers seat and I didn't want to wait until we got where we were going. By then I could have been worked over already and there would be even more Dragons to cope with. There was only the one choice and I had to hope I could pull it off.

I drove both hands upwards at the same time, hitting Dragon Face and the other Dragon on the chin. As soon as the blows connected I threw myself forward, diving between the seats and driving my fist into the passenger Dragons crotch. He whined with pain and doubled over. I felt some one grab my ankle and kicked backwards, connecting with someone and shaking my foot free, landing practically head-first in the drivers lap. Desperately, I grabbed for the lock, almost deafened as he yelled in my ear, and managed to pull the release.

"Stop him, ya fuckin moron!" Dragon Face was yelling and I caught a glimpse of him, his face a mask of rage. The car swerved into wrong lane and although I could hear the blaring of horns as the other cars were forced to move out of the way in a hurry, a possible crash was the last thing on my mind. I yanked on the handle, trying to ignore the blows that the driver was landing on me. The door opened wide and I kicked off the floor, trying to get out. But I was still half-sat on the driver and he wasn't wearing a seatbelt and I accidentallly shoved him out before me. We fell out of a car that was still doing some speed, me landing on him and saving myself from injury there, although I wouldn't do it again - I missed getting hurt in the initial fall but we rolled and I shredded my jeans and jacket on the asphalt, leaving behind several yards of skin. The car kept going, without the benefit of a driver. I saw some activity through the back window as it sailed away from us, drifting further to the side of the road. It didn't concern me though, not with the new pains shooting through my body.

We came to a stop several yards away from the point where we fell out of the car. This time, I didn't have the chance to stop and take a breather. The driver seemed out of it, but I'd lay money that as soon as Dragon Face and his goons got the car stoped, they'd be after me and madder than hell. I dragged myself to my feet and glanced up at the oncoming traffic, fortunately distracted by the car in their lane going the wrong way and already going slowly enough not to hit me. They all hit their horns though - damn New York traffic. I limped to the side of the road, ignored the exclaimations of the people who'd been watching the whole thing and hurried as best as I could away. There wasn't just the Purple Dragons to think of - I'd lay even money that someone had called the cops. I needed to get the hell away.

There are some things you never forget from time as a street kid and the art of making myself scarce was one of them. Hurry away, don't make eye contact, stick to the quiet streets as much as possible. If you look like shit, try to stay in the shadows and find somewhere to clean up as soon as possible. I couldn't face stopping anywhere though. I'd been running on adrenaline ever since my attack on the Dragons in the car and when that drained away, I was dog-tired. My skin felt itchy and hot all over, where I got singed from the explosion. There was no skin left on either knee where the road had shredded away my jeans. My right elbow had suffered the same fate and I knew I had at least one similar cut on my face. To top it all off, there were so many bruises on my torso that I probably looked like I'd gone ten rounds with the heavyweight champ. For all I'd been through in that short time, the wounds were surprisingly superficial, but in spite of that, I felt wrong. My head was pounding, my vision kept going fuzzy and my thoughts were random and distracted. The adrenaline rush I'd been running off since the Dragons snatched me was wearing off rapidly and every step was an effort. I was so tired. I just wanted to find a bench somewhere and lie down for a while. Hell, the floor would do. But I had to go. . .

It occurred to me that I had no idea where I was going. I'd been so focused on putting as much distance between myself and the Dragons that I'd just been dragging myself in some random direction. I paused, leaning against a wall and willing myself not to slide down it and sit for a while. I knew where I was and the quickest way home - but was it safe to go back to my apartment or was it being staked out by the Dragons? In the end I decided that if the Dragons knew where I lived, they would have hit me there. Hell, if they waited a few days they might have been able to follow me and find out, but obviously this Guardian was too important for them to wait, they needed to risk the distraction of the exploding car and grabbing me off the street. Besides, I couldn't think of anywhere else to go and I needed to crawl into bed and sleep for about a month. It wasn't like I'd be expected in work any time soon.

Shoving myself away from the wall and almost stumbling as I did so, I slowly dragged my sorry, beaten carcass toward my apartment. I kept having to look behind me, make sure no one was following me. I didn't see anyone but then again, if there had been anyone to see I might not have noticed. I was in terrible shape.

Finally, I got to my own block. It was full dark, seemingly hours since I finished work although I couldn't tell for sure - I'd smashed my watch somewhere along the line and I'd lost all sense of time. But I was reaching the end of my stamina and stopped as the building came into sight, putting my arm against a wall to steady myself. Like I said, there are some habits you never forget and one of those is that after being involved in something major, watch out for the police. I hadn't done anything wrong that night, but I really didn't feel like explaining myself. I'd left the scene after all, even if it wasn't by choice. . .

"Sam!"

A hand fell on my shoulder as the voice spoke and I started, turning around too quickly. A wave of dizziness hit me and I lost my balance and hit the floor. Great. Just great. I squinted up, wondering if the Dragons had known where I lived all along.

"Hey, you OK?"

Not the Dragons. Leo.

"Yeah, fine Blue," I said, realising my voice was slurred slightly.

"Come on, you can't stay lying there." Leo was in street dress, pretty well disguised. He managed to get me to my feet and I forced myself to stand under my own power, my eyes wanting to close. I was so tired. . .

"It's me," said Leo and I realised he was talking into the shell-cell. "Found him. Don't know, didn't say. Bring the Battleshell back here." He terminated the call and put the cell away. "What the hell happened to you? We heard someone bombed the garage, it's been all over the news and then you show up hours late looking like this!"

"S'long story," I said, knowing I had to be careful and yet not clear headed enough to think of a convincing lie.

"Who. Did. It."

The forcefulness of that voice drove through the fog in my head. I blinked, trying to bring him into focus. "Drag'ns."

"Dragons?" Leo grabbed the top of my arm and pulled me into the alley between two apartment blocks. "Sam, what the hell have you got into?"

"Noth'n. . ." I leaned against the building and wished I could clear my head, or failing that, my vision. I kept seeing two of him. "Guess they found out w's back 'n wh're I w'rk."

"What happened?"

Before I could gather my thoughts, I heard the engine of the Battleshell turning the corner at speed and Leo ducked out of the alley to flag it down. I heard it stop and a moment later, Leo returned with an undisguised Donnie in tow.

"Hmmm. . ." Don pulled up one of my eyelids and looked into the pupil. "I suspect a concussion. Looks like there's a pretty good contusion on the side of his head. I won't know for sure until I can look at it properly though."

I put my hand to the side of my head and winced. With all the other injuries and my head being so fuzzy, I hadn't even noticed the side of my head was cut and bloodied. But as soon as Don pointed it out, that was when it began to hurt.

"We'll go back to the lair,"said Leo. "We can't risk another confrontation with him in this condition."

Don raised an eyeridge at his brother as they escorted me over to the Battleshell and helped me into the passenger seat. "Confrontation? What's been going on?"

"I don't know,"replied Leo, giving me a stern look. "But I intend to find out."

I lay back in the seat and closed my eyes, pretty much ignoring what was going on around me, although I heard the others climb into the Battleshell and Don start the engine while Leo made a couple of quick calls to Mike and Raph, telling them to meet us back at the lair, where ever that was. I was grateful just to be resting and my welfare in the hands of someone else. In spite of that, I was worried. Much as it was hard to think about anything right then, it was obvious that at some point I was going to have to come up with answers, answers I didn't want to give. Once again, I was being bailed out by the turtles and it irked me. All I'd wanted was to strike at the Dragons, hit them where they lived by thwarting some of their plans and maybe make some of them think twice about the life they were leading. And instead I was in over my head - again - involved with strange ninja Guardians, ambushes, kidnap plots, explosions, who knew what else.

And somehow, I was going to have to explain all this to Blue, after I promised that I wasn't gonna try anything against the Dragons.