As I watched the event unfold in front of me between Hun and Leonardo, I wasn't too sure on what to do. Hun had tried to deal with the turtle in bribing him to let him keep me while Leonardo could take Lea for himself. As the words flowed out of the larger man's lips, I felt myself shiver with fear. I knew what was going to happen once Leonardo won the bout and there was no doubt in my mind that he would, once he had taken care of Hun, my path would eventually cross with Donatello's.

I had came to New York because I was scared, but at the same time I didn't want to see my friend or Don, however, if I did not want to see them, then why did I go into the city if that is where they lived? Deep down inside, I knew that I DID want to be with them again, my true family. I was scared of what was going to happen to me and I needed their comfort. Stupidly I had joined the Purple Dragons again because I had nowhere else to go or so I thought. I had joined them because I thought I couldn't handle telling Don yet….I was so scared about it.

Hearing Hun wanting to take me back for himself made me cringe. I knew what he wanted….and the very thought made me sick. I knew I was valuable to his heists, but I knew that's not all that Hun had wanted. I wasn't sure why…but a few nights before I met up with my friend, Hun had tried to push himself on me. I was shocked because I had been with the large man for months the first time in the city and he showed no interest. Why suddenly now? Comparing myself to some of the other women I saw hang around their hideout, I was nothing. Fearing that if I went back, it would lead to that again or worse…I almost cheered out loud and clap in the utmost gratitude when my friend Lea had stepped forward and bluntly told the Dragons' leader that he wouldn't have me. As I saw my friend stand up for me, it almost brought tears to my eyes. I never had a friend so close that would stand up for me like that and practically put their life on the line.

Of course her stance was not what Leonardo had wanted. This had sparked tensions among the two for dominance, Lea wanted to stand up on her own, and Leonardo wanted to protect her. Instantly the battle that once had taken place between Hun and Leonardo had quickly turned to Lea and Leonardo. I seemed to almost become lost within their warring words, when suddenly I heard Hun chuckle lowly to himself. I looked over to the blonde hair man to see him moving quickly towards my friend. I let out a cry, trying to call out to her, but I felt like no words could come out, only sounds. Thankfully that was good enough and with one microsecond, Leonardo had put himself in harm's way to bring the thundering man to his knees.

Once the danger was over and the Dragons had retreated with their leader, tensions were still high between Lea and Leonardo. I kept to the sideline to watch, knowing I was a mere spectator in this game. The danger that I had put myself and my friend in was consequently my fault and what right did I have to stand up and defend one of them because both of them were right. Choosing sides was not something I could do with this one. Lea was furious to the large turtle on how he had changed, and how his quest to protect her had become greater. This desire had grown into more because I knew that Leonardo did love my friend. The pain and worry in his eyes as he looked upon her was something I knew he could not hide despite how hard he tried. How could I stand up against him for loving her that much? If I had not stupidly gone back to the Dragons then they never would have attacked us…twice for that matter and maybe things would have gone a lot smoothly for the two on their reunion.

Lea, on the other hand, was very independent and had always wanted to be strong and not solely depend on others for support. She had been this way ever since I had met her. When things got rough, she stood up against what she believed in and never backed down because of someone else. Even though she didn't have any extraneous martial arts training, or a weapon attached to her back or side, she still had the soul of a warrior, just like he did. She wanted to be able to stand up to protect her family and her friends no matter what the odds were.

Finally the tension had gone down when Lea had dropped her argumentative tone and told the blue bandana turtle that we were going to stay with April. I was shocked by her statement and she looked over at me. By the way things were merely seconds ago, I figured another fight would happen and one of them would storm off, but with one quick movement, things had calmed down and I praised it. Lea had taken my arm to lead me with her towards April's, but I heard Leonardo call out for her to wait. His voice was pained and strained as if he was holding back a lot. Why couldn't he simply open up to her? He stated that we would stay with him.

I felt the blood draining from my face by his words. It was just as I had expected, but I almost wanted to be wrong. So much was going on between Don and I, and I didn't know how to handle it. I merely told Lea one piece of it and Leo had known the other…still there was so much more. I saw my friend give me a quick glance with her brown eyes and I pleaded with her silently to not go. I didn't want to be selfish, but I needed to talk with her more before going back down. There was conflict within her. I knew deep down inside she really wanted to follow Leonardo and I knew if she didn't that she may never get this chance again. I pushed away my pleads, knowing that my friend was close to working things out and I simply couldn't shun it down for my stupid needs. I knew she had noticed the change on my face and she told Leonardo she would go. I smiled weakly to myself and followed.

The walk to the lair was a quiet one and I expected it to be. I knew that Lea wanted to talk to Leo alone about everything and I didn't want to bring up Don in front of Leonardo. Leo's jaw was still clenched as if he was still troubled by something.

As the elevator came to a halting stop to lair level, Leonardo and Lea were the first ones to walk out, I trailed behind. I glanced nervously around, but there was no sign of Don. "Where's Don?" Leonardo looked over at Raph as if he was already planning what to do.

"In the shower, Leo." Raph replied as he flipped through the channels on the television as he sat on the couch.

"Want me to call him?" Michelangelo asked enthusiastically.

"No." Leonardo said quickly, his shell was still to my friend and I, he then turned our way, his eyes focusing on me. "Go up to his room, Melinda, and wait for him." His voice was stern as if he was commanding me to do so. I blinked a little and bit my lip, wanting so badly to protest. I hated to be put on the spot like this. Why so sudden? Why did I have to talk to Don at this instant? I was hoping I would let Leo and Lea weed everything out between one another before I even try to talk to Donatello about all that had happened. He and I were faced with difficult situations and I didn't know how to approach them: I saw him that night near the farmhouse with that girl, he had caught me being with the Purple Dragons, and now something else…." I glanced over at Lea nervously, trying to look at her for some kind of help, but she only smiled at me softly and nodded her head in encouragement as if she was agreeing on Leo's approach to this. All their eyes were on me. "Melinda…please." Leonardo spoke up once again as I felt him trying to keep some patience with me. I nodded my head silently and made my way towards Don's room.

Donatello's room was the same as I remembered it. It was still clustered with notes of projects that he was working on and some that he had been working on since I was there, and textbooks from mere high school biology all the way up through college intermediate calculus. My eyes instantly fell upon his bed. It was so neatly made and the sheets were pressed. It looked as if he had not slept there in days and he probably didn't. From what I could tell…Don's normal ideal of a bed was in front of his computer desk now in the main part of the lair. I think he only went to his bedroom to seek solitude from his family. As my eyes became transfixed by his bed, I felt my mind flushing some as I thought about the night I had with him before I left….the night that led up to another problem that I had.

Pushing the thought out of my head, I walked over to the small desk that he had in his room that was covered with papers. As I sifted through the random sheets, I saw that he had countless formulas on them, some of them I could recognize to be different types of algebraic polynomial equations where some were far more advanced than that. Donatello was the type of person I needed to have when I was in college dealing with all the advanced mathematics. On the end of the table was a medium size cardboard box that had different odds and ends in it, and right above that was another box that had a lid over it. Curiosity getting the better of me, I opened the lid to see what it was and as I gazed inside, I felt my heart stopping completely. There was a small lock of someone's hair…hair that I had seen before…the same type and color of the girl that I had seen with them at the farmhouse. I shakingly reached down to touch it and I gently ran my finger down of the darkish blue strands, the texture was nothing like I had felt before. Why was Donatello keeping a box with this girl's hair in it? What did it mean?

"Melinda….?" A soft voice asked me, it was my old lover Donatello.

I panicked, hearing him call out my name and fumbled to put the lid on, and turned around swiftly to meet his gaze. He had just finished tying on his purple bandana and his brown eyes were now being masked. "Hey, Don…" I kept my gaze down. I didn't know how to talk to him now. Did he really have another in his life? What would have become of me now? I felt like now I was merely a nuisance being in his room.

"Did you get Lea?" He asked with concern as he started to approach me.

"Yeah." I stood up against his desk, my back pressing against the hard wood.

"So everything alright now?"

Now he was merely inches away from me. I felt my heart skipping beats. I wanted to badly to reach out and hold him, but I pushed my longings away. I couldn't do that. So much had changed since I was gone. He had someone else in his life and I couldn't do this to him and plus I was scared if I was too close that he would find out what happened to me… "I believe so." I smiled with a sigh of relief as I forced a smile across my face.

Don reached out with his right arm and his hand softly touched my arm. I felt goose bumps go up my body by his touch and myself melting over. "What about you? Are you okay?" He asked with great sincerity.

I felt my hand instantly going up to rest on his plastron as he heard me. How badly I wanted to taste his lips again and as he kept his gaze on me I became almost lost once more in his pupil less eyes. "I can't…" I shifted my body away to get out of the corner that I was in. I was mostly directing that statement towards myself than him.

"Why? What's wrong?" Don's voice sounded very hurt and this confused me even more.

My body was trembling all over just as it had been that night when I ran into Donatello when trying to flee the mob. "Donnie…" My voice trailed off as I tried to compose myself. I wanted to force my words out, but they wouldn't come out and I was tripping over myself. "So much has happened..." I stopped and looked at him. My entire body seemed to close up and I didn't know what else to say to him.

"You went back to them…why?" The turtle asked me, the pain never leaving his face. I knew what he was talking about. He too had remembered when he ran into me. But how did he know? I knew he could see the shock on my face; he turned swiftly on his heel without saying a word and walked over to a large box that was sitting next to his bed. Gingerly he reached down into the box to pull out its component: a laptop, the same laptop had carried with me that evening. "You were carrying this that night, Mel...it is the same one that was stolen…by the Purple Dragons." He walked over back to me still holding the laptop and handed it to me. Spellbound, I accepted it and studied it as if I was still in disbelief, but I knew it was the same one that Hun had stolen for me. "What POSSIBLY could have made you go back to them?" The tone in his voice had risen.

I cringed hearing the anger in his voice. My eyes instantly flashed back over at his desk at the box I had discovered while he was away. I knew that seeing Don with that girl was the push that I needed to stay with Hun. I had no where else to go. Feeling the anger rise within my own body as betrayal and jealousy hit me; I crouched down to place the laptop onto the floor and then stood up to meet his eyes. "It's not like I HAD a choice, Donatello!"

"You could have gone to me." Don pleaded with me.

Tears started to stream down my face as I clenched my fists tightly. "I TRIED!" I was becoming upset and I knew I had to get out of there. I didn't want to get into this yet…I knew I wasn't ready.

"Melinda…" Donatello reached out and I felt him grasping to me to hold me in an embrace. Becoming scared, I held up my hands and pressed against the softness of his plastron to create distance and walked quickly out of the room.

As I left Donatello's room, all eyes were on me. Leonardo and Lea were still in the main area and Raphael and Michelangelo were at the television. I wasn't too sure if they had heard my discussion with Don, but by the looks on their faces, I knew that they probably had. Feeling my face flush by their attention, I excused myself and made my way to the elevator. I knew I had to get some air to clear my mind.

"Mel!" I heard my friend cry after me.

"I'll get her!" Leonardo said.

"No. She's MY friend, Leo. I'll take care of it." Lea argued.

I closed my eyes as I heard them arguing over who would talk to me. I didn't want this right now. The elevator doors opened and I quickly got in, watching them close as my eyes locked with my friend's.

Finally reaching the warehouse, I moved quickly out of the warehouse to get some fresh air. The evening's cool breeze help cool my body. A wave of nausea fell over me and I held my head. I knew that all the tension that I had and the stuffiness of the lair had made my condition worse. I had experienced the same sickness before at my house but mostly in the mornings. As the sickening knot that was in my stomach became greater, I moved swiftly to the alley to be out of the sight and crouched over to my knees, holding my stomach tightly as I pleaded that the feeling would end. The nausea made me cry because I hate to get sick to my stomach like this.

No sooner than maybe two minutes later, I heard Lea's voice behind me. "Mel! What's wrong!" Her voice was urgent and I felt her at my side within seconds.

Thankful that the feeling had passed, I shook my head and started to stand up. "I am fine. Just probably something I ate."

"Are you sure?" She continued with great worry in her voice.

"So where will you go now?" Another spoke behind us. We both turned around to see that Leonardo was standing there watching us. His arms were crossed and a look of anger was on his face. "Back to the Purple Dragons."

"Leo…." Lea said in a threatening manner.

I blinked in confusion by his statement. I wasn't too sure by what the turtle meant. "Tell me…what wrong did my brother cause you to have you yell at him like that?" A low growl came up from his throat. "He has been WORRIED sick since you left and hasn't been right sense!"

I glanced nervously over at Lea as I thought about the young humanoid girl I saw Don with and the lock of hair in the box that I found in his room…her hair. "He has moved on, Leo…"

"What's that suppose to mean?" Leonardo lifted an eye ridge, letting his guard down some.

"He has found another…you MUST know this already. I SAW him with her with you guys at the farmhouse!" I screamed as my emotions poured.

Leonardo looked at me as if I was crazy. Why wouldn't he just tell me! What game was he trying to play? He was right there that evening when I planned a surprise visit with Casey and April, but now he was looking at me as if that event never occurred. "I don't know what you're talking about…and how could THAT justify putting your life back into the hands of the Purple Dragons…and dragging Lea into it once AGAIN!"

"I didn't mean to….I am sorry…" I backed away some by the volume level in his voice. I never in my entire life liked to be yelled at. I rubbed my arm nervously and casted my eyes down not wanting to meet his.

"Sorry?" Leonardo scoffed a little. "Sorry! That's it! Sorry doesn't excuse you from helping Hun…sorry doesn't bring back Lea's life that Hun ALMOST took for your stupidity!"

"Leonardo, that's enough!" I heard my friend finally pipe in. Her voice was challenging.

"Please….just let me go.." I trembled a little as I started to try to walk past the turtle to get away. I just needed time alone.

Suddenly I felt his arm grasp me as he jerked me back to him. The anger within him had escalated as if he had no tolerance for me what so ever. "No. We are not done talking yet. Why did you come back then?" He acted as if he could read the very questions I had been asking myself. "Did you just want to avoid and hurt my brother! Is that it!"

"No, it's not!" I cried out as I tried to jerk violently from his grip.

"Then answer me!" He roared into my face. The grip on my arm became tighter.

"Leo…please!" I choked through my tears. "Let me go!" I screamed once again. My arm was pulsing as I felt my heartbeat through it.

"ANSWER ME!" Leonardo jerked me a bit more.

"I'm pregnant!" I yelled out. As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt him letting go. I stumbled back some and fell onto my side. Curling myself up into a ball, I began to cry, uncaring that they were there anymore…I cried because I knew from that point on I wasn't the only one that knew about my deep secret.

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