A/N: Time to sample some surface terrain! I've gotten heaps of info regarding New York's layout from a website called nycvisit. -shrugs- I know it's nuts, but researching this kind of detail is part of the fun of writing for me. Anyway, there are quite a few references to specific neighbourhoods over the next couple of chapters. I hope it doesn't make it too confusing as to where the characters are actually located. If it is, be sure to let me 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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It had taken Don a good couple of minutes to help shove Mike's door open. Finally squeezing through the gap to discover what on earth Mike had wedged behind it. It was the massive metal sea chest Mike had claimed, with a lot of help from his brothers, from the rubbish dump a few years before. It usually sat at the end of his bunks. Just how Mike had gotten the monolith on its end without help, and without a sound was beyond Don for a moment, until he spotted the sturdy rope above his head, tied to the top handle. The rope still ran over the now badly bent metal barrier at the end of Mike's top bunk. A couple of short wooden poles on the floor testament to how he had managed to roll it up behind the door fast enough to thwart Raph.

"Gees Mikey, you have been busy today!" Mike just giggled at Don's amazement. "Why don't you put this much thought and energy into your lessons and such, huh?"
"'Cos they ain't half as much fun! Just wish I coulda seen his face."
"You're lucky you didn't." Don admonished, though he couldn't help catching Mike's infectious grin. He wasn't sure which was more incredible. This proof of his brothers understanding and ability with basic mechanics and physics, or the fact he'd cleaned the floor of his own accord to make room for the apparatus.

Later that night Don found himself in control of his own little invention, using the surveillance micro-bot to infiltrate the Purple Dragon headquarters. Leo looked intently over his shoulder as he guided the robot through the passageway at the rear of the warehouse, having to wait to sneak through the doors as punks came and went.

Two hours passed without incident, or luck at discovering Tausha's whereabouts. Don had only managed to investigate one and a half floors within the building to Leo's satisfaction. The going made tedious as Leo insisted the micro-bot infiltrate each apartment to search for clues, meaning they had to wait until someone opened the door for the micro-bot to gain entry and to exit.

Not wanting the risk of being spotted in the Battle Shell, Leo had been adamant they set up their surveillance outpost within the Sewer Slider in the tunnels near the Dragons' Headquarters. The layers of metal and concrete between the bot and the command post created a little static in the images being broadcast, further impeding their investigation.

Sitting up on the back of the vehicle, bored with his game-guy, Mikey started to tap on the overhead pipes with his chucks, sounding them out at first before trying to eke out a tune.
"Mike. That really isn't helping." Leo scowled at him. It was the first time he had looked up from his perch over Donnie's shoulder. Mike waited a moment until Leo's attention was fixed on the laptop screen again before he shrugged and resumed his tentative rendition of Safri Duos' 'Played Alive' on his makeshift drum kit.

Leo roughly rubbed his eyes with forefinger and thumb, willing himself to be patient. When they had left the lair he had felt a faint doubt they would be able to locate Tausha where they expected her to be. He had dismissed the feeling, attributing it to his usual concern that they complete their missions quickly and effectively. The nagging thought had grown however, and now he was almost certain of it.

"I'm going to head topside for a while. Don, you can keep going with this?" Don nodded resignedly.
"Sure Leo."
"Can I come?" Mike asked excitedly, practically bouncing on the back seat. Leo's brow furrowed for a moment.
"Please?" Mikey whined, Don pleaded in harmony. Rubbing the back of his neck in a vain attempt to ease the tension there, Leo finally nodded.
"Yes!" Mike punched the air.
"Thank you." sighed Don, turning his attention back to the screen.
"Call me if you spot anything, alright." Don nodded slightly again, hoping Leo wouldn't catch his dark look.

Reaching the rooftop Leo paused to confirm his bearings. The top few floors of the Dragons Headquarters were visible a couple of blocks to the North.
"So where to now, fearless leader?" Mike prodded cheekily, walking past on his hands.
"I'm not sure…" Leo scanned the horizon thoughtfully, waiting for his instincts to pull him in a certain direction. Mike flipped upright.
"You OK bro?"
"Yeah. I've just got a feeling she's out here somewhere…, we need to get her on her own." Mike tucked his hands in his belt, kicking a stray stone across the concrete.
"What are ya gonna do when we find her?"
"Get some answers." Leo stated bluntly.
"Your not gonna, hurt her, are ya?" Mike sounded a little nervous, looked it too as Leo fixed him with a 'be serious' glare.
"I just don't think this is such a big deal ya know, she's just a sweet chick who's stuck in a bad situation…"
"If that's so we'll find out soon enough. We'll do a circuit of the warehouse. You go east, I'll head west. Don't get too close, keep out of sight and meet me back here within the hour. Call me if you spot her, or any trouble. Oh, and Mike?"
"Yeah?"
"No funny business. Not tonight."

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He had travelled further west than he had originally anticipated, crossing over the East River atop a lorry, following his gut instinct. He would have to start heading back shortly if he was going to make his own deadline. The rich smells, noises and colourful buildings of Chinatown failed to distract him. In the distance a storm front was building over the bay, the lightening playing amongst the clouds throwing the statues on a nearby temple roof into sharp relief. Something made him look twice at the shrine, something that wasn't quite right. Another flicker of lightening highlighted the oddity. The line of statues on the far corner of the temple had an extra figurine.

Curious he made his way over the narrow street, via a string of lanterns hung high between two buildings. As Leo cautiously approached the line of gargoyles from the far side of the temple roof his suspicions were confirmed. Facing away from him, she was sitting on the ridge of the roof before it became to steep to be accommodating, leaning back against a large duffle bag tucked up behind her. Her long hair was loose, flowing over the coarse material at her back. She seemed engrossed in watching the storm rolling in off the Atlantic.

A tile cracked under his foot as he moved closer, the sharp sound alerting her to his presence. She sat upright, turning her head to the left to give him a once over through a sidelong glance. She seemed to dismiss him as a threat despite his ready katana, turning back to watch the storm, though she didn't relax onto her bag again.

In silence Leo came up to stand over her. Her sword was tucked securely under her legs, within easy reach if she needed it, though her hands still rested on the tiled ridge she sat on. Sheathing his own blade he crouched beside her on the upward slope of the roof. She ignored him, staring out at the bay, her hair forming a curtain between them. Leo took the opportunity to appraise what he saw. Black tabi's, an all too familiar insignia worked in black stitching on the side. The pants were undoubtedly part of the same uniform. A loose black shirt worn open over a black singlet. Her right hand griped the edge of the tile it rested on, the knuckles jutting from under the overlong shirt sleeve badly grazed and bruised.

Looking back up to the side of her face, still hidden from view, he noticed the hair above her forehead seemed to be clumped together. Another flicker of light revealed the blood that had matted the strands. With a sure movement he swept her hair back over her shoulder. Despite her immediately turning away the damage he revealed was enough to make him catch his breath.

Her right eye socket was almost black, swollen shut. A deep welt of broken skin was etched diagonally across her cheek and up past the corner of her damaged eye. A second welt ran almost parallel below the first, traversing from near her ear, over split lips to her chin. Her nose was also swollen; Leo suspected it was broken, an ugly red crust clinging to the inside of her nostrils. Underlying the obvious injuries the whole side of her face and neck was a horrid mosaic of dark blue and purple bruising. Apart from turning her head away she hadn't moved, hadn't made a sound.

"Was this your punishment for being late?" Leo asked grimly.
"No." Tausha croaked, swallowing slowly before she continued.
"Decided I didn't want to hang around to find out what my punishment was gonna be. This was just his initial reaction."
"Whose?" Tausha fixed him with a defensive glare from her good eye.
"My fathers'. He's a bit… overprotective." She gazed back out to the distance again, tilting her head back in the light breeze. Leo bit back on his retort regarding the understatement she had made. Wanting to get his answers as quickly possible, antagonising her wouldn't help.

"Are you a Foot Soldier?" Leo fell into interrogation mode.
"No." Her tone dispassionate, she didn't bother turning to him to answer.
"Why do you wear the uniform of one then?" She shrugged very lightly.
"I like black, and it's comfortable. It's not the full uniform anyway, ditched the jacket and mask ages ago."
"Why?"
"Prefer my singlet, and they made Raph nervous. Found I wound up with less bruises if he wasn't nervous." Leo's eyeridge quirked of its own accord, what kind of a relationship did this girl share with his brother?
"How long have you two been… friends?"
"Dunno. We started planning to meet around a month or so ago. Don't really know when we became friends. I guess we just got tired of tryin' to kill each other." Leo digested the information for a moment.
"Why did you help Mike escape?"
"Seemed like the right thing to do. I may be a Dragon, but that doesn't mean I have to like what they do. Besides, I owed you guys."
"Owed us, for what?" She glared at him again.
"For not following through on Raphs' threat, though I hated you for it at the time." She dropped her head as she continued quietly.
"It would have been such an easy way out… " she muffled her face in her hands, failing to stifle a sob "why am I such a damn coward?"

Not sure how to comfort the girl Leo sat back, eyes averted until she got herself under control. With a last sniffle she used the end of her shirt sleeve to dab her good eye dry. Her hand fluttered over the damaged side of her face for a moment before she dropped it to her lap, the burst of emotion causing the pain to flare anew.
"Are you going to be OK?" Leo couldn't help feeling some sympathy for the girl. He thought Raph had gotten off way too easy, but no-one deserved a beating like this as a punishment. She nodded slightly, keeping her head bowed, eyes closed, almost as if she were meditating. Leo gave her a few more moments before he started his queries again, his tone a little softer than before.
"What has Raph told you about us?"
"We shared a few stories. He gets a bit steamed over stuff. Heh, I think anyone would living with three brothers. Despite that, it's obvious to me he has a fair bit of respect for you all. Hmm, he did make the point that you could be a pain in the butt though." She levelled her good eye at him again, with a cheeky gleam. Leo looked away; stifling a snarl meant more for his brother. Two deep breaths and he returned her look with a serious one of his own.

"And what have you told your Father about us?"
"Nothing, I'm not insane." She stated emphatically, her look questioning his grip on reality.
"Then why were you beaten so badly if he didn't know who you were with?"
"'Cos he thought I was out with a boy." Leo scowled in confusion.
"You were."
"No. I mean 'out' with a boy." She emphasised each word heavily, as if explaining something obvious to a simpleton. Leo clicked.
"Oh. You… weren't?" Her glare critiquing his sanity returned. Leo noticed a flush of colour creep quickly up her pale cheek before her haughtily up-turned nose hid it from view.
"Not that it's any business of yours, but no. It doesn't matter anyway, if he had found out, even given we're just friends, I'm damn sure we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. I know full well he'd throttle me if he knew I hung out with one of his 'enemies'."
"Then why take the risk?" She chewed softly on the undamaged side of her lower lip for a moment.

"'Cos I needed a friend, I guess. Raph's the only real friend I have here. I know I shouldn't have let him take the risk of getting caught with me, but if I didn't… He's really helped me get my head straight. To me he's proof that anyone can make a good life for themselves. You've just got to have the guts to fight for it. Or, to run, at least…"
"Is that what you're doing?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"You're not going to get very far sitting here."
"No, but given a possie of Dragons are hitting up their customers for protection money all through Greenwich Village at the moment, I didn't think it too wise to risk traipsing through the middle of it just yet. I figured it would be quicker to just wait out here than to take the long way round." Leo nodded in understanding.
"Where are you headed?"
"Port Authority Bus Stop, then as far as thirty bucks will get me. Well, twenty I guess. Still gotta eat at some point."
"You want some help getting there?" Leo asked tentatively.
"Heh. No. Thanks. This is kinda something I've got to do for myself. Gees, that sounds stupid." Tausha shook her head in self reproach.
"It's not." Leo assured simply. She gave him a hesitant smile in thanks before he stood to leave.

"Hey!" she called after him, waiting till he looked back to her.
"Tell Raph 'it was fun' would ya? And… 'good bye', I never got a chance to say it…"
"Sure." After a shallow bow he leapt to the next roof, quickly disappearing from her sight. The first light drops heralding the storm started to patter on the tiles, a stray tear escaping her to join the rain. Carefully lifting her bag onto her left shoulder and scooping up her ninja-to, tucking it between her back and the weight of the bag, Tausha started out in the opposite direction.