A/N: Many thanks to The REAL Cheese Monkey and artykidd for your reviews! I haven't had many reviews for my stories yet, and I am starting to get worried. Love to know what you think. I can take it, good, bad or ugly! The only word I dread is 'boring', though if this is the case then I defiantly need to know!
Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT, or any related characters (much to their relief, I'm sure!) If there is anything else in this story you recognise from somewhere else, then I don't own that either.
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The two weeks of Raph's undergrounding were almost over, the only time he had been allowed topside was the night they had gone to dinner at April and Casey's. Raph loved his brothers, but being stuck with Mike's teasing and Leo's interrogations over his 'girlfriend', as Mike had dubbed her, had almost driven him mad. Even Don had bugged him with questions, especially after he'd caught Raph looking up 'hicky' on the net. He would never admit it, but he was hugely grateful that Don didn't tell Mikey about that, especially once he'd found out what a hicky was! The really annoying thing was even though he told them the truth, that he knew squat about her, they just couldn't seem to accept it. It was like they thought he was hiding something.
Thankfully Splinter hadn't pushed him for more information after his first bare bones explanation of what had happened on their return home that night. "I lost a sai in that fight I had coupla weeks ago with some punks. I saw this chick pick it up. I tracked her down a few nights ago and asked her to give it back, and tonight she did." That was Raph's story, short 'n' sweet, and he wasn't about to embellish it. "So what's her name?" "Dunno." "What d'ya mean 'dunno'?" "I DON'T KNOW" "So ya gonna see her again?" "Dunno" "What d'ya mean…" "MIKEY, I do know I'm gonna belt ya if you say that again!" "Alright, alright… so… what star sign is she?" "DAMN IT, MIKE!" The heat that had flushed Raph's face went straight to his head as he chased his all too nimble brother from the table, intent on bloody murder. Splinter and Leo shared a pained look as Don had left to ensure his latest projects were well out of harms way. Things had gone downhill from there.
As luck would have it, on the last night before Raph's punishment ended, Casey invited himself over to the lair. "So dude, where's April?" enquired Mike. "She's gone out on a damn hen's night for some chick she went to school with." muttered Casey, restlessly pacing in front of the TVs. "What the heck is a 'hen's night', didn't know Ape was into chickens?" Mike asked with a cheeky grin. Casey scowled at him "It's a girly thing, ya know, they all get together for a 'big night out' before one of 'em gets married. There just better not be any strippers…" Casey trailed off, looking like he wanted to throttle something. "Strippers! Hehehe…" Mike held up his hands to ward off Casey's advance. "Hey chill dude, I just thought that since it's a 'girly thing' that Raph's girlfriend might've liked to go…" Mike leapt over the back of the couch as Raph joined the advance from the chair he'd been lazing in "but if there are gonna be strippers, she probably wouldn't be his girl for long! Not once she realised there are better things than his ugly mug out there… " Mike's sentence trailed over his shoulder, he was already off and running. "DAMN IT, MIKE! She is NOT my bloody GIRLFRIEND!" Raph vaulted the couch in hot pursuit.
Casey shot Leo an incredulous look "Raph's got a girlfriend?" "No, not really" Leo answered once he had finished rolling his eyes. "Not that Mike would let a little thing like facts get in the way of a good joke." sighed Don, as he sat in the recently vacated chair. He winced as he heard something crash, something that obviously had a domino effect on it's surrounds as the clatter continued for a few moments. "He got into a fight with a girl over one of his sais a couple of weeks ago." continued Leo. "I don't think it was really serious, he got it back in the end." "Raph lost a sai? To a girl?"
Casey looked shocked, then his face split with a grin. He leapt off the ledge behind the couch and into Raph's trajectory as he chased his brother in another lap of the dojo. "What the… Casey get the hell outta my way!" "YOU lost a sai? To a GIRL?" Casey ducked the punch clumsily, too busy holding his sides with laughter to do any better. "Grr, laugh it up loser!" Raph launched himself on Casey, quickly wrestling him to the ground. Hearing Mike's laughter behind him, Raph left his first victim and downed his brother quickly. Mike couldn't react fast enough to escape, being doubled over with glee. Not one to pull out of a fight, Casey launched himself back into the fray…
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"Damn fucking brothers…, damn fucking 'friends'…, what the fuck do they know anyway?" Raph kicked a crumpled can down the alley, hearing it ricochet off the walls for a good distance. He started looking through the trash overflowing from the dumpster for another projectile. "Damn sensei! How the hell could he blame me? They started it for fuck's sake…" Another can made a noisy journey down the alley. "'Just ignore your brother's jests' yeah great fucking idea that. If he didn't keep openin' that great trap of his, I wouldn't have ta keep shutin' it. Then Case getting his two bits in, some fucking friend he is. An' it's not like I asked wonder-boy and brainiac to join in either. Ugh, fuck it! Gross!" The next can hadn't been empty, until Raph had knocked it onto its side prior to launch, its sticky contents coating his other foot.
He was still hopping on one foot, muttering an impressive variety of curses, desperately looking for something to clean his offended limb with when he caught sight of movement further down the alley. He hadn't bothered grabbing his trench coat when he stormed out of the lair, and quite frankly he didn't care. If anybody took offence to him tonight, they wouldn't be in any fit state to talk about it afterwards. A dark form left the deep shadow that covered one side of the passage. Raph tensed into a ready stance, sais half drawn.
"Have yer gotta a quarter fer an ol' man sonny?" The old bum lurched unsteadily along the opposite wall. "Damn it. No I don't…, er… sorry." Raph retreated into the deeper shadow next to the dumpster. He watched warily as the old guy shuffled past him without so much as a glance his way, grumbling, and smelling strongly of spirits and urine. Raph turned and stepped back out into the alley to watch the old guy wander onto the side walk. At least he seemed lucid enough to veer away before he stepped onto the tarmac of the street. Raph felt a small pang of guilt; he had probably woken the old man with his racket.
A short distance back down the alley Raph found a fire escape and quickly swung himself up to the roof. What he needed now was a tap, if he could find a water tower he might be in luck. He detested the way his foot felt sticking to the rough surface, the cloying feeling between his toes. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for. As he was busy washing away the gunk he started at the sound of pigeons fluttering away from the far side of the roof. Looking up he recognised the lone figure stood there. It was her. There was no mistaking it; she wasn't wearing a mask this time.
"You lied to me." she accused in a low voice. "What the hell are you talking about?" Raph snapped, after recent events he was less than thrilled at seeing her again. "You said you were gonna kill me, and you didn't. You lied." "So, what of it?" This girl was nuts, so he hadn't killed her, why did she sound so pissed off about it? He dropped into a defensive stance, sais at the ready, as she drew her sword. Again she kept hold of the scabbard in her left hand. With an ugly sneer she muttered "If you can't trust your friggin' enemies…YAAH!" She launched a fierce attack.
She moved a damn sight quicker this time. Despite concentrating on the combat it registered in Raph's mind that she must have recovered from her wounds. For some reason he felt glad at that. "At least this time it's gonna be a fair fight!" he challenged as he pushed her back. She growled in response as she attacked again. As the battle raged across the rooftop Raph found he was enjoying himself immensely. Despite her speed, he could have ended the fight pretty quickly if he chose. But a good scrap with no relatives to impose their will on the situation was doing wonders to ease the frustration he felt. Besides, she still wasn't gonna give up easily and the more he grinned at her the wilder her attacks became, making the fight even more fun.
"Heh! You're goin' down!" Raph leapt the sweep she made to his legs. "Nope, you are!" she answered with a manic smirk of her own. Too late Raph realised he had landed on a cracked section of the rampart, causing him to teeter precariously over the drop below. She held up her scabbard for him to see, then quickly poked him in the chest, grinning as he lost his balance. Her expression changed to one of alarm as he toppled backwards over the edge. Dropping one of his sai he grabbed for the scabbard she still held in front of her, managing to get a good grip on the leather. The sageo was wrapped around her wrist and she was almost dragged over the edge as his weight wrenched her onto the concrete. The impact forced her to drop her sword on the roof as she scrambled for a better grip. They shared a look of pure panic as the parapet began to crumble under the strain. With a quick, desperate glance around Raph saw a thick drainage pipe running down the side of the building, only a foot or so out of his reach. He swiftly sheathed his remaining sai and kicked off from the wall making a grab for it as his momentum dislodged the last of the crumbling barrier. He got a hold and braced himself to take the weight of the screaming girl plummeting past him.
They tried to suppress their coughs as the dust cleared. After a glance at the debris in the alley below she looked up at him with a silent plea not to let her fall. Before he could think, an ominous creaking sounded from the pipe. "Oh no…" he whispered, then "HOLD ON!" as the pipe came away from the wall above him. It slowly bent away from the building in a long curve from its support just below them, dangling them out above the alley. It held for a long moment, and then with another tortured creak the support gave way. The pipe bent further out over the alley, the increased strain ripping the next support from the wall almost instantly. The third support was stronger, causing the pipe to buckle under the load and swing them back against the wall. Raph lost his grip on the pipe at the impact, and they both dropped the remaining couple of meters to the ground.
They stumbled away from each other as they landed, her scabbard being dragged behind her over the rubble. Raph leant against the wall and took a few deep breaths to recover, then turned to check on the girl. She was leaning on her knees, pale and shaking, wide eyes staring at him. "I… I'm so sorry,…I didn't mean to,… God what was I thinking, I nearly killed you!" "Wasn't that what you were tryin' ta do?" "No, I was trying to… damn, I don't know!" She fell to her knees, trying to stifle sobs with her hands over her face.
Raph rubbed his aching shoulders and fetched his fallen sai from the debris, by some miracle it had only suffered a few small scratches, though the banding on the handle was ripped so badly it was gonna need replacing. After a few moments she managed to get herself under control and look back up at him. "I really am sorry; I haven't done this kind of thing before. I mean I've fought before, but only in competitions and stuff. I never thought I'd ever kill anyone…" She dropped her gaze back to the floor, her mouth hanging open. It looked like she was gonna be sick. He moved to stand beside her, as much to avoid any possible mess as anything else.
He did feel sorry for her though, memories of blood from some of the crucial battles he'd fought made him shiver slightly. "Well ya haven't managed to kill anyone yet." She looked up at him again, almost expectantly. "Just do me a favour, next time ya don't want to kill me, don't push me over the edge…, deal?" She smiled weakly. "Deal." He returned the smile and held out a hand to help her to her feet.
As she rose their eyes met and locked briefly in a shared shock of emotion. Raph found himself still gripping her hand between them, although she no longer needed his support. Some part of him didn't want to let go, indeed started urging him to pull her closer. He stepped back quickly from the strange sensation, dropping her hand to turn away. "What the..?" he thought, his mind racing to find a logical reason for the feelings. What was it, fear? No way. Definitely not, despite the sudden shakiness he felt. Relief? Maybe, yeah, of course! They had very nearly met their end; it was just reaction to what had happened, concern that she was gonna be OK after the fall. "God Case would have a field day if he could see me bein' this soft." he muttered to himself.
He turned back to check on the girl again, hoping she wasn't staring at him like he was a lunatic. She wasn't; she was occupied trying to loosen the sageo that had cut quite badly into her left wrist, the scabbard hindering her efforts with its weight. Her movements seemed a bit jerky, and he was suddenly afraid she was gonna panic. A flush had started on her face and neck. He reached out to help her, but she pulled her arm away from his grasp.
"I can do it" she muttered a little defensively. Raph gave her an annoyed look, then grabbed her arm above the damage to her wrist. A brief tug of war ensued over the limb; Raph winning by tugging her so hard she stumbled into him. Ignoring the slight uneasiness the contact seemed to cause he locked the top of her arm between his bicep and side, freeing both his hands to work on the tangled cord. He could feel her breath warm on his neck, her entrapment holding her against his shell. She gasped quietly a couple of times as he worked, increasing the warmth he could feel starting to infuse his face.
He wasn't trying to hurt her, but he was actually enjoying having some control over this girl. The stiffness he could feel in her body was a warning she wouldn't stand this situation for long, it was like a challenge and that he did understand. He finally freed her wrist of the cord and dropped the scabbard to the ground. "Thanks." she murmured, trying to pull her arm loose. He tugged it back again, tightening his grip, and leaned over slightly to inspect the wound. It wasn't too serious, but still looked pretty nasty. She grunted as she was pulled harder against his carapace.
"Let me look" a command, not a request, as she tried to pull free again. "No." he casually threw over his shoulder. "What? Give me back my damn arm so I can look." She tried pulling even harder. "No." he couldn't help grinning. He didn't have to look at her face to sense the glower she gave him. "Why the hell not?" She was pushing on his shell with her free hand now, trying to give her struggles more impetus. "Hmm… let's see, I have an unarmed enemy trapped 'n' tagged, an' she wants to know why I won't let her go?"
"Grrr, I'll give you 'enemy'!" She grabbed the knot to his bandana and yanked it roughly sideways, effectively blinding him. "DAMN IT!" he let her go to reset his mask, leaping away as he did so just in case she tried anything else. Glaring back at her she hadn't moved, except to start massaging her left shoulder. She looked up from a brief inspection of her damaged wrist, and then gave him a cheeky grin. With her pale face, red rimmed eyes, and her hair starting to escape her pony tail to trail down her front, she looked positively evil. "Told ya to let go." They locked glares again, her eyes reflecting the heat of his gaze. It was a challenge, she was goading him, and he never backed down from a fight. He did pause however, not really knowing the rules for this match. They seemed to have formed an antagonistic truce of sorts, how far could he push it before they became true enemies again?
"Are you sure about this?" "Yeah, yeah I'm sure I heard something from down here. You're not too scared to check it out are ya?" "NO, course not." Laughter echoed from what sounded like a large group of punks approaching a corner in the alley nearby. Both Raph and the girl started at the noise, quickly glancing towards its source. "Shit, Dragons. Run!" she hissed. She gave him a final look for a moment, fear showing clearly in her eyes. Then she scooped up her scabbard and ran down the alley, away from the approaching voices. Raph was momentarily confused, wasn't she a 'Dragon'? No time for answers now. He bolted down the alley after her.
He almost skidded past the manhole cover. He yanked it open, using a sai for leverage. Looking round quickly for the girl he saw her already heading up a fire escape further down the alley. She was scaling the ladder awkwardly, her shoulder obviously causing her trouble, but she didn't make a sound. He leapt down and closed the cover just before the first punk cautiously rounded the corner. Raph didn't leave straight away, wanting to listen to what the punks had to say through the small holes in the metal above him.
"So, anythin' here?" "Doesn't look like… hang on that pipes busted over there, look." "Ooohhh, a busted pipe, really scary!" A couple of the punks laughed. "Well you know the orders, check out anything suspicious." "Yeah, an' I see rusty ol' pipes on 'Law 'n' Order' every fuckin' night, yer just can't trust 'em!" More punks laughed this time. "Fuck you! You'd all be laughin' out the other side of yer faces if it was one o' them freaks, not that we'd ever find one with all the damn noise you lot make." "You really wanna find one?" the jokester queried. "Hell yeah, Hun's put the bounty up to twenty five grand now, so long as ya get one alive. You can get a long way with that kinda scratch." "Only if yer in one piece to enjoy it, you wouldn't stand a damn chance of catching one of 'em" "That's why you lot are with me, idiot." "You're the damn idiot if you think I'd fight one for your sake…"
The rest of the conversation was lost to Raph as the punks wandered back out of the alley the way they had come. Once he was sure they had all left he lifted the cover to quickly scout out the area. The girl was nowhere to be seen.