"How long do you think she's gonna sleep?" Michelangelo asked as he stared inquisitively at the small bundle of female buried under a pile of blankets on their couch.
Donatello shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think we should wake her though. She probably needs as much of it as she can get." He laughed as Mikey glanced anxiously between Alex and the TV set. The laughter immediately died away though when he saw his younger brother grab the remote. "Mikey-," he started to warn.
"Do you think she'd wake up if we kept the volume low?" His finger hovered above the power button.
"I don't know. I wouldn't try it if I were you."
Mikey smirked. "Well Donnie, you're not me."
The TV came on with a burst of loud sound, startling the two turtles.
"Turn it down!" Don hissed, grabbing for the remote.
Mikey yanked it out of his reach. "I'm trying dude!" He hit the mute button and they both whipped around to see if they had disturbed Alex's sleep. The blankets shifted. They held their breath. A sleepy, muffled sound arose from the thick blankets and then everything was quiet once again.
Don released his breath and lightly smacked Mike upside the head. "Way to go."
"Hey. It wasn't me! I don't even listen to TV that loud!" the younger turtle protested in a low voice.
"What's going on guys?"
Hearing Leonardo's voice, he dropped the remote on the table and smiled innocently. "Nothing."
Leonardo looked at the TV then back at Michelangelo, raising a brow in disbelieve. "Nothing huh? You didn't wake her up, did you?"
"Nope. The girls out cold."
"Let her keep sleeping then."
Raphael walked into the room carrying two trench coats. Sparing the pile of blankets an amused glance, he handed one to Leo. "Ready?" he asked, pulling his own worn coat on.
"Yeah. Let's go."
"Where are you two going?" Don asked.
Leo grabbed a fedora from the back of a nearby chair. "We're going to go see April and ask her if she's heard anything. We'll probably check out Alex's apartment too and make sure everything's okay. Did you want to come?"
"Sure."
Don left the room to get his coat and Leo turned to his youngest brother. "What about you, Mikey?"
"Nah, that's cool. I'll just ahhh…" He nodded to Alex. "Stay here in case she wakes up."
Both Raph and Leo gave him skeptical looks but said nothing.
"Alright. I'm ready," Don said as he rejoined them, hastily pulling on his coat and hat.
"Bye guys!" Mike called, waving them off. "Tell April I say hi! Bring me back somethin' nice!" Once they were gone he whipped around and grabbed the remote off the table, quickly turning down the volume and flipping through the channels. He stopped, finding the one he wanted and sighed in relief. "Just in time."
He looked down at the couch where Alex lay, the blankets raising and falling with each gentle breath she took. Michelangelo had no clue who she was or what she was even like but he still felt horrible. No woman deserved to be treated the way she had been. As carefully as he could he sat down next to her, taking up the space her huddled body had allowed. He could only hope that she wouldn't decide to spread out.
Watching her for a reaction, he slowly started to turn up the volume on the television until he could just barely hear. He was a few minutes into flipping through channels for something semi-decent to watch when Alex shot up beside him with a terrified gasp, a hand reaching out to grip the back of the couch. He jumped away from her, heart slamming against his ribs. "Jeez, Alex-"
His voice died away when her gaze landed on him and she went perfectly still. The fear there made him wish he'd gone with his brothers.
"Hey, you're alright," he said, keeping his voice low and calm. "I'm Michelangelo. Me and my brothers rescued you last night and brought you back to our place. Do you remember?"
She remained still for several minutes before nodding slowly. "I remember."
"Okay, good. Listen, we're not going to hurt you..."
"Oh?" A bitter smile crossed her face and her gaze hardened. "That's what I thought about Danny and look how well that turned out for me. Of course, why would I learn from that and guard myself? It's totally normal to just trust strangers and go home with them because they tell you they wont hurt you." She shoved the blanket away and stood, swaying slightly and catching herself with the arm of the couch before reaching for her bag and shoving the clothing hanging out of it back into the confines. "No offense, but I'm not sticking around to end up getting shit on like that again."
"Getting...Alex, wait. I swear, we're not-" He shook his head, rethinking his approach. He had think like Donny, and fast. What would he say about her sudden one-eighty from being okay with them last night to looking like she was going to make a run for it. Shock! Yesterday she'd been in shock...today she was thinking clearly and thinking escape was the best choice even though Danny was still out there. "Okay, listen...I know you're really freaked out right now, and I get it," he started slowly, holding his hands out like he was being held up. "This is messed up. Four mutant turtles just bring you home and you're supposed to be cool with it? Nah...no one in their right mind would be cool with that. But Alex...Danny's still out there. He know's where you live. He looked pretty determined to make sure you did whatever the hell he wanted you to. You go out there...we can't keep you safe."
She stopped shoving at clothing, her eyes narrowing as she studied him. "You guys could end up doing the same damn thing."
Mikey made a face. "Get a witch to bring some asshole back from the dead? No thanks. Took us long enough to get him there. Maybe a lifetime supply of pizza, though. I'm a simple guy."
A startled laugh escaped her and some of the tension holding her so straight slipped away. "You're kind of strange," she muttered, trying not to smile.
"Kind of? Damn, I was going for so much more."
Again she laughed, softer this time, shaking her head. With a sigh, she dropped her bag back on the floor and braced a leg against the couch, leaning into it slightly. "I'm not trying to be difficult or rude. It's just...trusting people doesn't usually end well for me."
Mikey smiled somewhat bitterly. "Preachin' to the choir, babe."
That seemed to undo her. Her eyes softened and she sank down on the couch beside him. As far as he was concerned, that was a point in his favor. A small win, but a win non-the-less. He decided to press his luck a little. "You hungry?"
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't starving." As if to agree with her, her stomach growled loudly.
"Point taken. I'll be right back. Hang tight."
He disappeared into the kitchen, returning minutes later with a bottle of pop and a plate full of left over pizza. "Hope you like pepperoni." He gave the plate a dejected look and shrugged. "It's kind of all we have right now," he said, handing her the plate and sitting down. "I think the guys are bringing back more food."
Alex dug in, eating with fervor. Within ten minutes, the plate was almost empty. Holding out the last slice to Mike, she nodded to the bottle of pop. "Trade ya?"
"Deal," he agreed, taking the plate and handing her the pop.
They sat in silence, Michelangelo munching happily at his pizza, Alex taking occasional sips of pop, both watching the scene to some crime drama unfold on the television.
"So," Alex said after a while. "What happened to you?" At his inquisitive look she went on. "What made you and your brothers the way you are?"
"You mean ruggedly handsome and charming?"
That scored him a smile. They seemed to come more and more easily the more comfortable she got. "Come on, seriously," she prompted.
Mike chuckled. He knew this story by heart. As the credit rolled on a show neither of them cared for, he turned to face her, slinging an arm over the back of the couch and pulling one of his legs up in front of him. "Okay, it all started 19 years ago…."
Two hours and forty-five minutes after they had left, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael trudged through the dark tunnels leading to their home, disappointed that they had found nothing helpful. There had been no recent rise in crime, no disappearing teenagers, and after a quick scan of Alex's record, courtesy of Donatello, they had found it was relatively clean. So they returned home with a big amount of nothing.
"If I could get a better look at the um…mark on her side maybe I could look it up online," Don thought out loud.
Leo shook his head. "I don't think that would be a good idea. Not now anyway. We should let her get used to us first."
A sudden cry echoed through the silent tunnels. All three turtle's heads snapped up in alarm.
"That came from the lair," Leo murmured, his hands already reaching for his katana's.
"That was Mikey," Raph added.
They ran hard for the lair, almost stumbling down the short flight of stairs in their haste.
Two heads were visible over the top of the couch, still and completely silent. The three approached the couch slowly, coming around the side and staring with a mixture of shock and confusion at Alex snuggled up under Mikey's arm, both snacking from a bowl of popcorn taking up space on their laps.
Irritated by the false alarm, Leo loudly and quite obviously cleared his throat. Both Alex and Mikey jumped and turned their heads to look up at him. Alex gasped, fearfully moving closer to the orange masked turtle beside her.
"Jesus Christ, guys," Mikey breathed, glowering at them. "I thought you were Ghost Face!"
Alex spoke next, surprising even her couch companion with her choice of words. "Ghost Face would have had the decency to call and threaten us first." She and Mike burst out laughing, Alex falling back against him as he pulled her into a loose headlock, careful to avoid her injury.
"Welcome back guys. Did you find anything?" Mike asked, relinquishing his hold on Alex as he regained his composure.
"No," Leo answered distractedly, his wary gaze focused on Alex.
She stared back, aware of the suspicion banked in his speculative gaze, aware of the tension that slowly started to fill the room. A part of her wanted to leave, to get the hell out of there like she had planned on doing until Michelangelo had won her over. Another part of her wanted to stay locked in this stare down with who she had assumed to be the leader of the four. She would not be intimidated. She's had enough of that. If they thought keeping her in their home was the best idea to keep her safe, she was going to do so on her terms and without feeling helpless about it. And if they had questions, she'd answer them when she felt like it.
She narrowed her eyes slightly and his widened at the obvious show of subtle defiance. She could actually tell how antsy he was to grill her.
Well, too damn bad bud, she thought.
A hand squeezed her elbow and she almost smiled. Michelangelo. She would never have to worry about him pushing her for information. In the two hours they had spent together he had carefully avoided the subject of last night. He had shown her that she could trust him and for the most part she did. It was the other three she had to worry about.
Deciding to put an end to her and Leo's little competition, she stopped glaring and arched a delicate brow questioningly. Blushing, Leo dropped his gaze and the victory went to Alex. "I'll be back in a bit," she murmured to Mikey, getting up and leaving the room.
The four mutants watched her go and then three sets of eyes settled on Michelangelo. "Mind tellin' us what that was all about?" Raph asked, shrugging out of his coat and tossing it over the back of the couch.
"What?"
"We leave for three hours, come back and you and the witch are all buddy-buddy."
Mikey smiled, getting up and clearing the dishes from the coffee table. "What can I say? The girl totally fell for me. And she has a name, Raph."
"Come on Mikey, be serious for a minute," Don scolded lightly. "Did she tell you anything?"
"No."
"Well, did you ask her about last night?"
"No." He held his hands up in front of him to stop any further questions from coming. "Look, I'm not gonna be the bad guy here. Alex has had a rough couple of days. Rough couple of years, actually. If she doesn't want to talk about it I'm not going to be the one to make her. Oh, and if you dudes didn't notice, she was smiling before you showed up."
'What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Raph demanded, switching to his usual defensive mode.
"It means you guys scare the shit out of her," Mike bit out, uncharacteristically standing up to his older brother.
"Come on guys, don't start this," Don muttered, getting in between the two, knowing full well it was a bad idea.
"Stay out of it Donnie. This is between me and the girl's boyfriend."
"Has anyone ever told you how much of an asshole you are Raph?"
As the argument progressed, growing more intense, Leo slipped away unnoticed. He turned down a hallway that led to his and Don's rooms and the bathroom, running into the one person he had been looking for. Alex stumbled back, clearly taken off guard by his unexpected appearance, and her foot caught on a raised piece of concrete. His instincts kicking in automatically, Leo reached forward, wrapping an arm tightly around her slender waist to stop her fall. "Donnie was supposed to fix that," he muttered, unaware of how close he was holding her.
Alex started up at him, her heart beating clear into her throat. "Did you want a rematch?" she asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice.
"No," he answered, keeping his arm around her. It was important that she heard him out. In the dim light of the hallway he could see the emotions playing through her deep blue eyes, emotions she was trying to hide, the ones she was using to hide them. She didn't trust him.
"Alex, I'm sorry."
"Do you even know what you're sorry for?" she asked, now sounding very much tired.
The way she said it reminded him of how Splinter would talk to him sometimes. "I'm not sure," he said honestly, his hand dropping from below her shoulder blade to the small of her back. "I'm sorry for acting the way I did out there…for acting suspicious. I don't know what to expect from you or even how to treat you for that matter."
Anger flared in her eyes and he knew right away that he had picked the wrong choice of words. "Try treating me like a normal human being. No one's ever done that before," she hissed, pulling free of his hold and disappearing around the corner. His honor told him to follow her and make things right. His common sense told him that it may have been one of the stupidest ideas he'd ever had. Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and let her go.
Alex stormed into the living room, fighting a loosing battle with her fury. He didn't know how to treat her? What to expect from her? The last time she checked she was just as human as anyone else. Why was she the only one who saw this? She sighed loudly. Thankfully the only one to hear it was Michelangelo. He sat on the couch, watching her with sympathetic brown eyes. "You wanna get out of here?"
Alex nodded weakly. Standing, Mikey grabbed the trench coat Raphael had left hanging over the back of the couch. He waited as Alex pulled a sweatshirt out of her bag and put it on. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a gesture of comfort and led her out of the lair.
"Better?" Mike asked, sitting across from Alex in the booth of a poorly lit restaurant. They had been gone for almost an hour and Alex had been silent the entire time. Her somber gaze reflected only a deep, heartbreaking sadness that seemed, for the most part, untouchable. She poked a spoon at her ice cream, which was rapidly melting, the vanilla and chocolate syrup swirling together. Mike had watched April go for the ice cream several times when she was upset but it didn't seem like Alex was anything like his other female friend. "Come on, Alex. You can talk to me." He reached across the table, placing a hand over hers.
Alex looked up. "I look normal to you, don't I?"
"Depends on what you consider normal. I'd rather be abnormal myself." A small smile flashed across her face and Michelangelo silently congratulated himself. "Yeah, you look normal."
Her shoulders slumped and she dropped her spoon unceremoniously into her bowel. It landed with a loud clatter, startling a few of the quiet restaurant's patrons. "But I'm not," she murmured. "I never will be."
"Alex." Mike placed his fingers under her chin, encouraging her to look up with a little gentle pressure. Her eyes were glassed over with tears that fell steadily down her cheeks. "Being normal is overrated. I mean…look who you're shacked up with." He lowered his voice. "Four mutant turtles and a rat. There's nothing normal about us…but that's never bothered me. Does it bother you?"
She looked taken aback by his question. "N-no."
"Look, I know you're having a hard time right now and I know you're scared but we're not the bad guys. We're going to help you. All this normal/not normal stuff…don't worry about it. You're normal enough to me." He dropped his hand and went back to eating his own hot fudge sundae. "Plus…you're totally hot," he added with a teasing smirk before taking a bite of fudge covered ice cream.
Alex stared at him with her mouth hanging open for several seconds before laughter burst from her parted lips. Mikey smiled. He loved to hear her laugh. It was one of the most beautiful and unique sounds he had ever heard, husky and soft and, in a way, seductive. Her laughter drew the attention of a stuck up looking couple a few table away. Mikey tipped his hat up and winked at the woman who, he thought, looked as if she had over dosed on botox. She in turn gave him a disgusted look, sticking her aristocratic nose in the air. "Frigid bitch," he intoned. He jerked his thumb in the snob's direction. "See what being normal does for ya?"
Alex sobered and leaned across the seat, peering around the booth and giving an involuntary shudder when she saw the couple he'd had pointed at. Moving back in her seat she graced him with a smile that warmed him. "I see what you mean."
"What brought on that question anyway?"
Alex shrugged unconvincingly. She reached for a napkin and began to nervously shred it into little pieces. "I don't know," she said after a while. "Leonardo said he didn't know what to expect from me or how to treat me because-."
Mike looked up, waiting for her to finish. It soon became apparent that she wasn't going to and probably didn't want to. "No one's making you talk, babe."
"I know."
"And in Leo's defense…that's just the way he is. He didn't mean anything by it."
Alex thought about that for a moment. He had seemed genuinely sorry for treating her the way he had. But throwing honesty like that in her face...telling her he didn't know how to treat her...that had cost him. She knew what he was thinking - what he didn't say. He wanted to know all about what she was, what she hated being reminded of. It was like a black cloud constantly hanging over her head and reminding her that she was not like most people and no matter how hard she ran or how far…she would never be able to escape what she was.
"Alex."
She looked up into deep brown eyes filled with concern. Real concern. She had never seen that before. Michelangelo's hand closed over hers and his thumb brushed gently over her knuckles. "Trust us."
Trust. Did she know how to do that? She couldn't remember the last time she had actually allowed herself to fully trust someone. Hell, even with Danny she'd had reservations. There was something about Mikey and his brothers though. She wanted to trust them. They were different…like her. She swallowed hard. "O-okay."
She turned her hand over, curling her fingers around Mikey's. He gave her hand a light squeeze and smiled. "Alright. Lets eat and get back before mom starts to worry."
"Mom?"
"Leo."
Alex chuckled as Michelangelo winked at her and went back to eating.
