Having his sleep interrupted by one of his brothers was at the top of the list for things that pissed Raphael off. Not that any of them cared. He'd bite their heads off, they'd roll their eyes, the morning would continue as usual. Being caught up in a dream about a girl with big, blue eyes and a smile that said she was about to do something crazy to him didn't change any of that. It did, however, go straight from being in the middle of the list somewhere right up to number one.

The loud, impatient knock at his door continued until he sat up, rubbing his hands over his face and calling for whoever it was to come in.

Michelangelo peeked through the door once it was open and he gave his older brother a tired smile. Out of the three, he was the only one who actually looked sorry whenever the wake-up call responsibilities fell on him. "Mornin' Raph. Ready for some training?"

"Training?!" He said on a yawn. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Afraid not. Leo says we've got to be ready and…well," he shrugged helplessly. "Sensei agrees with him."

Cursing under his breath as he pushed the covers aside, Raph got up and found his gear, slipping it on before joining Mikey in the hallway. "I bet we dont' even get breakfast, do we?" he asked irritably as he tied his mask in a firm knot at the back of his head.

Mile's smile was half-hearted. "If you were up at the ass crack of dawn like some people-" he muttered, not bothering to finish the sentence or to hide the fact that he too had missed breakfast and was not too happy about it.

They passed by Alex's door and Mikey stopped, raising a hand to knock. Raph quickly grabbed his wrist, remembering the promise he'd made to her last night. "Let her sleep."

"I was just gonna let her know where we were."

"She'll figure it out Mikey." He jerked his head slightly to the side. "Let's go before Leo hunts us down."

Mikey gave the door one last look and then nodded reluctantly, following his brother down the hallway to the training dojo. Donatello and Leonardo were already there, facing off and preparing to go at it as Splinter watched the corner. The two bowed to each other then a split second later the metal blade of Leonardo's katana cracked against the wood of Donatello's bo.

"We should probably stay out of this one huh?" Mike remarked.

Raph chuckled. "I'm with you bro."

They sat on the ground, leaning back against the hard wall and watching their two brothers spar. The two were well matched, their movements careful and calculated, hinting that the two had been up much earlier than their brother's and had probably had a chance to eat breakfast. What it told Raph and Mikey was that they had plenty of time to sit and relax before either of them was expected to do anything.

Raph dropped his head back against the stone wall, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander. It didn't take long for his thoughts to turn to Alex. Ever since she'd showed up in their lives, she seemed to be the one thing he was always thinking about. She was a mystery to him - one he wanted to understand. Not because of the whole witch thing. In all honesty, he thought the very idea of her being a witch was bullshit. He just wanted to know her - what she liked, what she hated, what made her laugh because damn was her laugh beautiful. Everything about her was, really. She had curves exactly the way he liked them, a sense of humor that drew him in and a spark of aggression that he'd only caught a glimpse of but wanted more.

But then there was that sadness - so deep it seemed untouchable. There was a desperation to it that made his heart twist uncomfortably just thinking about it. The one thing he couldn't get for the life of him was why the hell he wanted to be the one to erase that sadness. She was just a woman they'd rescued, no different from any other they'd come across. What reason did he have to help her?

Because she made him want to. Her standing on that rooftop with the storm building behind her, looking so lost and alone, confiding in him, the way she'd trusted him to carry her … she made him want to be the one she'd always trust and blindly turn to when she needed someone. It was fucking crazy and he didn't get it…but that's what it boiled down to.

And then there was that kiss...

Raph stifled a groan as he pulled his knee up and rested his forehead on it. God damn it, that woman was going to haunt him.

"Hey," Michelangelo said, jabbing him lightly in the arm with his elbow. "We're up."

Raph raised his head. "Good," he muttered, suddenly eager to do anything that would stop him from thinking about Alex and what she could do to him.


Alex was up hours after training had stopped form the morning. She rolled onto her back, stretching sleepily, each aching muscle pulling a little less painfully than it had the night before. Whether it was because she was in an actual bed instead of a couch or because the effect of being chained to a fence for a day straight was wearing off, she didn't care. Even the parting gift Danny had left her with pulled less and didn't cause her quite as much pain. She supposed she had her ancestry to thank for that and did so grudgingly. Her ability to heal faster than most people was the only true upside to being who she was and she would only spare the smallest shred of gratitude for that.

As that moment passed, a memory stubbornly made it's way into her consciousness and she closed her eyes again, turning over to groan into a pillow. Shit, she'd kissed Raphael! What the hell had she been thinking? Had she been thinking? The poor guy was just trying to help her and that was her go-to as far as thanks went?!

"God, he probably thinks I'm just this insane, desperate, messed up woman with too many personal problems," she moaned, pushing the ends of the pillow against her ears as if she could shut out the memory. It persisted though, bombarding her with images of every moment leading up to that kiss and every moment after. The only thing that stopped her from feeling absolutely mortified by her behavior was one little fact that stood out in the mess like a spotlight. True…she had kissed him. But he hadn't stopped her. He hadn't even tried to stop her.

"Even if he didn't, it doesn't matter," she muttered angrily to herself, once again flipping over and staring up at the ceiling. She was just going to act like nothing had happened, play it off like she'd been too tired to be in her right mind. Knowing Raph, even for the short time that she had, he would probably do the same.

Sighing, she lifted a hand and absently brushed her nails against the irritated skin around her injury. What if he had liked it though? She had to admit that for as simple as it was, it had been a nice kiss. His mouth wasn't as hard as she thought it would be. It was firm, but soft enough to provoke a shiver of pleasure just remembering how it had felt against hers.

Stop thinking like that, she told herself with a frown, now itching at the reddened skin. The plan was to act like nothing happened, not to sit and fantasize about it and dream up scenarios that made the situation worse. She could do that. For the sake of her sanity, she had to. It couldn't be that hard, could it?

Her frown deepened and she looked down at her hand and the red marks left on her skin from her nails. "What the…"

A burning itch had started around her wound and was growing more irritated by the second. It was healing. "Damn it," she swore, jumping up and making a desperate grab for the zip-up sweatshirt she'd left on the floor last night. It was long and covered her legs to mid-thigh. At some point during the night, she'd kicked her sweatpants off, annoyed by the way that the fabric bunched and continually woke her up. Not wanting to spare the time to dig around in the blankets, she pulled a pair of shorts from her back and tugged them on, frowning at how her sweatshirt covered them. The idea of searching for her sweatpants resurfaced and she brushed it off. The itching was quickly surpassing annoying.

She threw her bedroom door open and scampered barefoot into the hallway, hastily zipping up her shirt. She entered the living room at a near run, startling to two brothers sitting on the couch. 'Donnie, help!" she yelped, not caring how crazy she looked. She was in agony and had been lucky enough to find the brother who could probably help her the best.

He jumped to his feet only seconds after Leo, dropping the magazine he'd been reading on the floor. "Alex, what's wrong?"

She came skipping into the room, a pained expression on her face and her long blond hair hanging in tangled waves over her shoulders. "Help me! It itches like freakin' crazy!"

Noting the hand that covered her chest, twitching as if it wanted to move somewhere, Donnie realized what she was talking about. He let out a breath, adrenaline rushing out of him as quickly as it had come. "Jesus, Alex. Is that it?"

"I can't stop itching it! Please, just make it stop!"

He grinned and shook his head. "Okay, follow me," he instructed, starting off in the direction of the bathroom . "It's healing already huh?"

"Yes, and it feels great," Alex remarked bitterly, giving in to the temptation to scratch.

Donnie laughed softly, allowing her to enter the bathroom before him and then opening the mirrored cabinet. "That's pretty amazing considering that it's only been a few days," he observed as he searched through the cabinet's contents. "Here we go."

Untwisting the top to an unused tube of topical Benadryl he faced Alex. She unzipped her shirt, holding one side in place, and pulling the other side back so he could apply the ointment to the entire injury. He worked slowly, avoiding the open wound and applying the cream only to the red skin around it. "Better?" he asked once he was finished.

"Much." She zipped her shirt up, trying to keep the fabric from rubbing off the cream as best she could. "Thanks, Donnie."

"No problem. Glad I could help."

They went back to the living room and after thanking Donnie once again and saying hi to Leo, Alex veered off in the direction of the kitchen, her stomach demanding sustenance. As soon as she walked through the doorway she knew it was a bad idea. Michelangelo was at the stove cooking something that smelled absolutely wonderful and Raphael was sitting at the kitchen table. He looked up when she entered. The minute their eyes met the tension in the room rose dramatically. "Hey," he said softly.

Alex tried to smile through her embarrassment. Act like nothing happened, act like nothing happened, she repeated over and over again to herself. Out loud, she managed a simple, "Hi."

"Hey, there she is!" Mikey said, easing the tension a little. "How do you like your eggs, Alex?"

"Um, scrambled," she replied. "Cheese and garlic if you have any. If not, just scrambled is fine."

Mikey threw Raph a funny look which went unnoticed and then turned that same look on her. "Really," he said in a slow, drawn-out way. "That's exactly how Raph likes his. Huh." He shrugged off the coincidence and went back to cooking. "What kind of cheese did you guys want?"

"Cheddar," they replied in unison.

Again, Mikey threw that look of confused amusement at them. "Ooookay then."

Raph nodded to one of the chairs across from him. "You can sit down, Alex. I ain't gonna bite ya."

With her cheeks burning, she took a seat across from him.

Raphael watched her progress out of the corner of his eye, having no desire to cause her further embarrassment by openly staring at her. She looked too damn good in a shirt that hung low enough to leave a man wondering if she had anything on underneath it. Her hair was slightly tangled and she made a pitiful attempt to fix it as she looked anywhere but at him. He was tempted to tell her to stop. For one, her hair definitely was not cooperating with her. And two, that right-out-of-bed look worked for her. Or rather, worked for him. His gaze dropped to her lips and the jittery feeling from last night returned. Had she thought about that kiss at all? From the way she was avoiding him, he was going to have to guess that she had. But how did she feel about it? Had she liked it? Was she as confused as he was now?

"Here ya guys go!" Mikey said cheerfully, setting down two plates piled with eggs, bacon and buttered toast. "I'm gonna go see if Donnie and Leo want some breakfast. Be right back."

He took any comfort in the room with him, leaving the two sitting in an awkward silence. Raph chose to ignore it, turning his attention to his food and scooping his eggs onto his toast. He spared a quick glance at Alex in the process only to see that she was doing the same thing. "Alright, knock it off," he muttered.

"What?" Alex looked up. Her already pink cheeks flared bright red when she saw what he was doing and she quickly dumped the eggs from her toast, uttering what he could barely make out as an apology.

He bit back a sigh. This was getting ridiculous. "Listen, Alex," he started, losing a bit of his nerve when her guarded gaze met his. "About last night-"

His three brothers noisily entered the kitchen and Alex dropped her gaze back to her plate. Biting back an exasperated sigh as well as a few choice words, he returned to the food cooling in front of him, not even sure he had enough of an appetite for it anymore.

"So Alex," Donnie started as he took a seat next to her. "I talked to Leo about you coming with us tonight."

She immediately perked up, shooting a look at Leo.

"It's fine with me as long as you stay close," Leo said, answering the unspoken question that may as well have been written all over her face.

"I will," she agreed eagerly. "I promise."

"We'll head out later tonight around 9:30 if that's okay?"

Alex nodded. An overjoyed smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Fine by me. And thank you, Leo."

"No problem Alex."

Resigned to the fact that he wouldn't be getting a chance to talk to Alex again anytime soon without his brothers around, Raph pushed away from the table and brought his plate to the sink, tossing what was left of the food he no longer felt like eating. He had too much nervous energy to just sit around making small talk when he wasn't all that great at it in the first place. He'd much rather take it out on a punching bag.

"Done eating already, Raph?" Mikey asked. He had that undercurrent to his voice that let Raph know he wouldn't be buying anything he was trying to sell, but he'd at least fake like he was going to and Raph appreciated the hell out of him for it.

"Yeah, thanks for the food, Mikey."

His muscles were already anticipating the feel of laying into something with as much brute force as possible when Leo's voice stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

The tone he used was the "Fearless Leader" one Raph hated, the one that made him feel like he was expected to hand his brother an honest answer that suited him. He should have known by now that the whole leadership gig didn't make a dent in Raph's belligerence. If anything, it fed it. He didn't even spare Leo a look as he left the kitchen with nothing more to explain himself than, "Out" deciding that unsuspecting criminals were a much better outlet for his frustration than a punching bag.


Later that evening Alex sat on the floor at the small coffee table in the living room. Mikey sat across from her on the couch, swearing under his breath. "Ya know, I think there's a reason they recommend more than two players," he muttered as he shuffled through an obscenely large hand of Uno cards in search of something that would save his ass. "There!" He pulled a card and threw it down on the scattered pile growing on the table. "Draw four, babe!"

Laughing, Alex drew four to add to her own meager pile. "If you don't start laying more down soon we're not going to have anything left to play with. What color?"

He made a big show out of checking his cards, drawing out the moment for dramatic effect. "Let's go with green."

Alex's lips curved in a wicked smirk. "I was really hoping you'd say that." She started laying down cards. "Skip, reverse, skip, skip." The last card she slapped down with a laugh. "And draw two!"

"Damn! I was wondering where the hell all those were!"

She giggled as he drew two, grumbling the entire time. "You are going to lose, Mikey. You know that right?"

"Hey Alex, you ready to go?"

She glanced up at Donnie and Leo as they entered the room in matching trench coats and fedoras. "Only if I get to wear one of those snazzy hats," she said, smiling at the two and laying her unused cards on the table. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"What? You're quitting?!" Mikey yelped indignantly.

"Mikey, you knew I was going with Donnie and Leo tonight."

"I can't believe you're quitting!" he went on as if she hadn't said a thing. "Do you have any idea what I do to quitters?"

He grabbed her wrist and Alex released a shriek as he drug her across the table, scattering cards onto the floor. She landed in a laughing heap on his lap. "Mikey, seriously. I have to go-"

"I'll show you! No one quits on the God of UNO!"

Her laughter turned hysterical as he dug his fingers lightly into her sides and began tickling her. "Mikey, NO!" she gasped, writhing in his lap in a desperate attempt to free herself.

"What's wrong Alex?" he asked innocently. "Ya ticklish?"

She was laughing so hard by now that tears were forming in her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. Even if she wanted to provide him with an answer there was no possible way she could.

"Mikey, come on," Donnie said, smiling at the two. "Let her go."

"Yeah, we're already late on time as it is here," Leo added, trying to look stern and failing. The two looked ridiculously childish and he was having a hard time keeping a straight face because of it.

With a roll of his eyes, he released her. "Fine, you guys win. Take her."

Panting and out of breath, Alex sat up and scrubbed the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "We'll have a rematch later tonight when I get back, okay?" She stood and leaned over, placing a light kiss on Mikey's cheek. "I'll probably still kick your ass though."

"We'll see about that," he said, grinning widely. "You guys be careful."

"We will Mikey. See you later," Donnie assured him as he placed a hand at the small of Alex's back and led her out of the lair. Following behind, Leo picked up Raph's fedora from the table against the wall and plopped it down on her head.

They left the comfort of the lair for the damp obscurity of the sewer system and the brother's fell into a state of alert awareness. It was subtle, but Alex noticed the shift right away. They were holding themselves differently than they normally did, moving with a calculated precision that made her feel like maybe she should have been doing the same or at least moving with a little more caution.

"Wow, you two totally just went into stealth mode, didn't you?"

Donnie angled a wry look at her. "When you're us you can never be too careful."

"And it never hurts to exercise a little caution," Leo added, keeping his voice low, "Especially when you're dealing with an enemy and you have something they want."

Alex shuddered, feeling a sudden chill sweep over her. Just thinking about Danny and what he'd done to her left her feeling cold and hollow. He was a sick, sadistic bastard that she hoped she'd never have to see again. Unfortunately, she seriously doubted she was free of him. Danny never had been the giving up type. If he wanted to find her, he'd keep looking until he did.

Alex rubbed her hands over her arms in an attempt to regain some warmth and tried to think of something else. Only one other thing came to mind and as much as she wanted to avoid thinking about Raph he was a welcome change when compared to Danny.

What was it about him? The only certainty she had when it came to Raph was that he confused the hell out of her. One minute he ran cold, all arrogance and anger. The next he was warm, watching out for her and assuring her that things would get better. And then there was that whole suggestive thing in the kitchen last night.

A thrill went through her just remembering the way his gaze had raked over her. Maybe that's why she had kissed him? He'd shown interest, she'd been tired, and in her state of mild deliriousness, kissing him had just…happened.

He hadn't seemed like he was upset about it, judging from his relaxed attitude earlier that morning. If he'd been upset with her over it, she was relatively certain that he'd have let her know. He seemed to be the type that wouldn't just deal with anger or confusion in silence. If he was pissed at her for kissing him, he would have let her know. He had tried talking to her about it before his brothers had interrupted them, but he didn't sound mad at all.

"Alex, we're here," Leo called, dragging her from the depths of her troubled thoughts. She blinked a few times, surprised to see a ladder in front of her. Donnie was already making his way up the corroded iron rungs. She must have been really lost in her thoughts to not even notice how far they'd walked.

"It's clear Leo," Donnie called down, his form obscuring the light that shone through the manhole.

"Go ahead," Leo nodded at the ladder. Alex gave it a cursory look, wondering how many diseases lingered on the corroded metal. How had they even gotten her down here? Had one of them just thrown her over their back and carried her down? Making a face, she started up, allowing Donnie to help her out at the top.

They were in an alley she didn't recognize, not that she recognized many. Being a woman in New York City meant staying out of them or anywhere else dark. She looked around, trying to get her bearings but the red brick structures offered her nothing.

"I believe these belong to you." Donnie held out his hand. Her apartment keys sat in his palm.

She took them, slipping one of the few rings over her finger. "Thanks. Where are we?"

"About a block over from your place. We can go through the back from here. The other option put us right on the front steps."

"Didn't want to just waltz through the front door, huh? I doubt anyone would notice. It's mostly old people and a few college kids that take school really seriously."

Donnie shoved his hands in his pockets and scanned their surroundings. "Regardless…not a risk I'm willing to take. Sounds like a challenge Mikey would jump at, though." He looked casual enough but how relaxed was he really? Though he hid his apprehension better than Leo, she could still feel it. She felt it from all of them, even Michelangelo on occasion. Did they ever relax?

Leo joined them and after another quick look around they moved further down the alley, hanging a right and ending up right where Donnie said they would - at the back door to her apartment. They slipped quietly through the door and went up a narrow staircase to the seventh floor. Alex's one bedroom was right at the top of the steps . "I'd say welcome to my home…but you guys have already been here." she said conversationally while working the key into the lock and opening the door to her apartment that she had not seen in three days.

She flipped on the light switch, bathing the comfortable confines of her living room in soft white light. Everything was just the way she had left it. Her one piece of living room furniture, an overstuffed burgundy and cream-colored couch faced her television and the large picture window that took up much of the east wall across from them. Her artwork, abstract oil pieces she had done here and there when inspiration struck, still graced the walls, their deep colors adding warmth to the room and bringing out the dark stain of the hardwood floors.

It was cozy and she loved it. It was her space. A very covetous part of her gave zero shits that Danny knew where it was. It was still hers.

A hand on her shoulder caused her to turn and she faced Leo with a sad smile. "I really wish I could take it all."

"I know. You'll be able to come back once we know you're safe. For now just grab what you need. Casey put your mail on the table."

Alex nodded, going to the table and picking up the stack of envelopes. She shuffled through it while she went to her room, separating the bills from the junk mail that landed at the bottom of a waste basket when she walked through the door. The rest she tossed onto the sage comforter of her queen sized bed after flipping the switch for the bedside table on. She glanced around her room, trying to pull together a list of everything she would need for a week or two. Jeans, sweatshirts, tank tops, every feminine product the guys place sorely lacked. She decided to work her way from the closet to the bathroom, pulling a duffel bag from the top shelf and tossing it beside the mail on her bed. Steadily, a pile of clothing grew beside it. Once she was satisfied that she'd pulled enough, she folded it and tucked it into her bag, then went to the dresser and pulled several pairs of underwear and a few bras. Casey Jones was a great guy and she appreciated him pulling together what few outfits he had for her, but he had no clue what qualified as a necessity when it came to packing for women. The delicates went beside the clothes and she ducked into the bathroom for her makeup bag, face wash, shampoo and conditioner already anticipating a very much needed shower. She'd caught a glimpse of the shower at the guys place and though it was industrial looking, she shower head was new and looked like a fancier one with multiple settings. Her own shower was sadly lacking for water pressure and space.

Once everything was safely packed away she scanned the room once more just for good measure and turned to leave when something caught her eye. A black box sitting on the top shelf of her closet. It was packed with a few newer video games Alex had intended to give Danny. She had no use for them. She wasn't a gamer by any means and didn't intent on picking up the skill any time soon. However, Michelangelo….

She smiled and pulled the box down, shoving it into her bag and pulling the zipper shut. She slipped the strap over her shoulder, adjusting it to rest comfortably, then left, hitting the light switch and closing the door behind her.

"Ready to go?" Leo asked as she entered the now dark living room. They had shut the lights off, an action that spoke volumes of how uncomfortable they were being out of their element. Alex could sympathize seeing as how she had been in that same position not so long ago.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

Once they were back in the safety of the sewers, Alex thought the two would start to relax a little, but instead they stayed just as tense as they had been when they'd left the lair. "Exactly how tight are you guys wound right now?" she asked.

The both shot her confused looks that she could barely make out in the obscurity of the tunnels and she sighed. "I'm drawing in tension here, guys. Come on. Loosen up a little. You're starting to make me really nervous."

Leonardo grinned sheepishly but the stress remained in the ridged set of his shoulders. "Sorry. I just can't shake the feeling that we were being watched up there."

"I know what you mean," Donnie agreed quietly.

His hands clasped and unclasped at his sides. It was almost as if he was holding himself back from grabbing the bo secured to his back. Apprehension stole over Alex as she realized that Leo was doing much the same thing. Latching on to both of their arms she pulled them close. "You…you don't think we're being followed do you?"

There was a moment of silence in which neither of them answered, only making the tension thicker than it already was. Finally Leo spoke. "No. I don't think so," he said at length, "but it's better to be prepared, you know?"

Although his excuse provided a small amount of comfort, Alex still shot him a skeptical look. She wasn't completely assured. They fell into silence again which stayed with them until they were crossing the threshold of the lair.

The first one to greet them when they came down the short flight of stairs was Michelangelo. "Hey!" He vaulted over the back of the couch and started towards them. "Did ya bring me something nice?"

Alex smiled at him, glad to have her mind on something other then being followed. "Actually, I did."

Mike's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yup!" She tugged the zipper open and tried to pull out the box, fumbling it a little as she tried to keep the strap from slipping and failed, dropping the bag at her feet. She knelt to dig through it, hoping nothing in her makeup bag had broken open, and missed Raph's silent entrance as well as the look he shared with Leo before disappearing again. A quick search showed her everything had survived the minor fall and she left the bag on the floor, straightening and holding the box out to Michelangelo. "Here. I got these for Danny but obviously he's not getting them now so they're all yours."

He took the box and almost ripped the top off in his child-like eagerness. "What?! Hell yes! I've been begging April to score me some newer video games for months! And the new Call of Duty! Alex…" He pulled her into a tight hug. "You are the absolute coolest. Thanks, babe!"

She hugged him back with a small laugh. "Don't mention it. At least someone can use them now."

He released her and ran for the TV, vaulting over the couch in his excitement.

Leo smiled patiently and shook his head. "Guess I won't be catching up on Game of Thrones anytime soon."

"Want me to take them back," she asked, only half-serious. He didn't seem to really mind that Mikey's attention had been diverted to a fictional world of covert ops and explosions. "I can hide them in my room somewhere.

"No, you don't have to do that. He was starting to climb the walls, anyway. He needed something to do."

"I might have to join him," Donnie added. "I've actually wanted to try out the new Call of Duty. I've heard good things."

Alex rolled her eyes, reaching in her coat pocket for her phone to check the time. "You guys are such boys." A frown pulled at her brows when her search came up empty and she checked her other pocket. "Crap, I think I might have dropped my phone. I'm going to go back a ways and see if I can find it."

"Not too far," Leo warned.

She nodded and started for the entrance, searching the floor around her as she went. Rounding the first corner into the sewer system, she saw it on the ground about five feet away and grinned. Losing it wouldn't have meant much to her. She needed to disable it sometime soon anyway. She'd been ignoring calls and messages, deciding it was best to become invisible than to offer even the slightest connection to herself and her normal life. But having the phone was a creature comfort that she was accustomed to. She bent down to retrieve it, wiping the screen off and sliding it in her pocket. As she turned to go back to the lair a hand closed around her wrist and pulled her arm behind her. She was on the verge of telling Raph to knock it off when she realized the hand holding her wrist did not have three fingers, it had five. She opened her mouth to scream and a hand quickly cut the noise off, slamming over her mouth with enough force to jerk her head back. The hand holding her arm yanked it up behind her, stopping just short of snapping it.

Her captor hadn't been fast enough and her short-lived scream had drawn immediate attention. Leo, Donnie and Mikey appeared in the tunnels, weapons drawn and ready for a fight. Emboldened by their fearlessness, she started to struggle against the person holding her, swinging an elbow back. Her captor grunted, his grip sliding from her wrist and she surged forward only to be drawn back again, this time with a blade to her throat.

"That's enough of that shit," a gravelly voice warned. "You three. Drop your weapons. You even think about making a move for her and she dies."

"Sorry kid. I don't buy that," Mike said grinning menacingly and taking a step forward. "Bringing your lame-ass leader back isn't going to work without her."

The man laughed callously, pressing the blade harder against Alex's throat and drawing forth the tiniest trickle of blood. "I was only sent to find her. I could care less whether she lives or dies."

That was enough to force Mikey to retreat. Alex stared at her friend with wide, pleading eyes even though she knew they wouldn't do anything. They had no desire to see her dead.

"What do you want?" Donnie demanded, his voice low and even.

"I bring you a message."

"Holy shit…a message. I didn't see that one coming," Mikey remarked dryly.

The man tilted the blade and Alex whimpered as it bit further into her skin. Mikey snapped his mouth shut, glaring at the man but clearly getting his warning. "You should have just left her. None of this had to fall on you. Now I know where you live and when I get back to our base, the Foot will be coming for you. You can't protect her. None of you can." He started to back away from them, dragging Alex with him. He may have been daring, but he wasn't foolish enough to think he could take the turtles on his own. "Dan has every intention of getting her back. He's coming for her, and he won't be alone."

"Do me a favor, kid," Leo spoke up, a cruel grin forming on his lips. "Try and remember that there's four of us, not three."

The man halted in his attempted escape, his grip over her mouth tightening. "Four of-," his statement ended in a guttural moan accompanied by a dull thud as if something had struck him. When the man's grip loosened on Alex and the blade fell harmlessly away from her neck, she yanked free with a desperate cry, stumbling forward into Michelangelo's waiting arms.

"Hey, it's okay babe," he whispered, brushing a hand over her hair as she trembled against him. "Bad guys gone. You're okay."

Alex nodded wordlessly against his shoulder. She slowed her breathing, forcing her shot nerves to calm themselves. Behind her she could hear Leonardo speaking in hushed tones. The voice that responded to his was no doubt Raphael's and although it was just as low as his brother's Alex could make out what he was saying and could tell he was far from happy.

"What was I supposed to do, Leo? Remember what happened last time one of those guys found us? I don't know about you but I sure as hell don't want to go through that again."

"You have a point," Leo reluctantly admitted. "But Raph-."

"He could have killed her, Leo."

A shiver of foreboding skirted its way up Alex's spine as she listened to the exchange. Something wasn't right. She lifted her head and saw that Mikey was looking at something behind her, the expression on his face one of mingled fear and sickness.

Confused, she turned in his loose embrace. Leonardo and Raphael were standing across from each other, each of them looking slightly lost. Her gaze fell to what lay between them and her heart lurched painfully as the air left her body in a shuddering gasp. Sprawled on the floor, his left arm twisted at an odd angle, was the Foot ninja. Embedded in his back clear to the hilt, each of the three deadly prongs buried in the man's flesh, was Raphael's sai.

Hearing her, Raph lifted his head and their eyes met across the room. Whatever fear or regret lingered in his eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by cold detachment. "Did you want the guy to kill you?" he asked evenly.

Alex shook her head. "N-no."

He looked like he wanted to say more but he didn't. Instead he bent over and yanked his sai from the fallen man's back. The blood stained weapon slid free with a sharp hiss. "Go get Master Splinter," he stated in a dull voice, his eyes fixed on the thick crimson liquid that had begun to pool beneath the Foot ninja's lifeless body.

Donnie nodded and turned back to the lair. Behind Alex, Mikey lifted a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "You might not want to be here for this," he said softly, attempting to pull her away from the sight. "Come on Alex."

"Okay," she whispered. She turned her gaze to Raph, giving him one last searching look before turning her back on the scene and retreating to the safety of her bedroom.