A/N: Thank you to the reviewer of my last chapter, I hope this next instalment is a good continuation.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ninja Turtles or any of its components.

Chapter 2

For the next day Mikey was actually trying his best to not draw any attention to himself. He didn't bother anyone with pranks, he didn't whine that he had no one to play video games with and he actually tried to focus on his ninjutsu lesson for the day.

His brothers noticed his odd behaviour but no one really bothered confronting him about it. Leo was just glad for the quiet and Donnie was able to focus on his projects without interruption. Raphael however was suspicious. Mikey had been out the last two nights in a row and around 10:30 he was preparing to go out again. He was acting…like him.

Mikey didn't bother with his street clothes, instead he packed them in the backpack just in case. Also he was running out of cash so he didn't plan on getting any pizza.

He was humming a song as he worked and decided to pack some snacks from his secret stash.

Using his 'superior' ninja skills he quietly leapt down from the upper level and crept toward the elevator checking around him to see if anyone was watching. When he turned around he ran smack dab into Raphael.

He screamed and probably jumped about a foot in the air. "Christ, Raph!" he whisper-screamed.

His red-wearing brother just chuckled low in his chest and crossed his arms. "And where do you think you're going?"

"…Nowhere…I'm just getting some air is that a crime?" he said defensively.

He raised a skeptical eye-ridge at him. "No, but your weird behaviour might be."

His voice was higher than normal when he spoke. "Weird? Who's acting weird? Not me, that's for sure."

Raph winced. "Yikes, your squeaky voice here is gonna make me go deaf. Just come out with it, why are you doing all this sneaking around, you're acting like…well…me."

Mikey glanced frantically around and then suddenly pulled Raph into the elevator without another word.

When they were on their way up to the surface he sighed and said. "You gotta keep this between us…swear it."

"Mikey…please tell me you're not involved in something that's gonna put our family in danger…" Raph groaned.

"What?! No, nothing like that, I just don't want a Leo-lecture right now." Mikey said. "Anyway do you swear?" he asked seriously.

"Yes, alright already, I won't say nothin'."

They stepped out of the elevator together, standing in the garage around their various vehicles. "I kinda sorta met a girl…" Mikey said.

Raph's eyes grew wide. "A girl…like a human one?" he clarified and joked. "You sure she's not an android or something?"

"She's real Raph! Come on…" he glared.

"Okay, okay, so you met a girl and she saw who you really are? You know that's dangerous Mikey…" Raph said in a low voice.

"She promised not to say anything…please don't tell Leo!" he pleaded. "I've got this under control, it's totally fine!"

Raph still didn't completely believe him. "Uh huh…" still he decided to humour him for now. "Alright fine, but if this comes back to bite us in the ass then you're on your own."

"It won't. Thanks Raph, I owe you one." Mikey grinned and turned to leave.

Raph grabbed his arm then. "Promise me you'll be careful alright? And try not to make an ass out of yourself with her."

He gave him a look of disbelief "Whatever bro…" and then added. "I promise though, I'd never put our family in danger, you know that."

"I know." Raph nodded. "Just you don't always think things through." He pointed out.

Mikey gave him an eye-roll and placed his skateboard down. "See ya Raph." Then he skated off.

Mira had tossed and turned during her sleep that day overthinking this meet-up she had planned with Mikey. She just had so many questions for him constantly swirling around in her head. She managed to grab at least five hours and then started to get ready.

She found herself looking at that photo she took the other night and examined the black speck in the corner. Round head, two pieces of fabric in the air, rounded torso and four limbs…she gasped.

She printed out the picture and took it with her to the roof. She had a lot more questions now.

The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon when she heard someone on the fire escape. It didn't sound like footsteps running but a series of jumps. She gave a cry of surprise when he suddenly landed in front of her.

In the warm, orange glow of the sunset she was finally able to take all of him in. He wore no clothing this time; all he had on was a belt with a couple of blunt wooden weapons shoved into it. Besides that, he had on some knee and elbow pads made of brown well-worn leather. She could see he didn't need anything else for there was nothing to hide! She realized this with a hot blush.

He seemed to be slightly out of breath for his chest was heaving a bit. Wow, he looked strong; the muscles she felt under his hoodie the other night were no comparison for actually seeing them, his whole body was lean and well-formed from head to his two-toed feet and three-fingered hands.

She realized she was staring and quickly collected herself. "Hey, you made it."

He chuckled. "Of course, wouldn't miss it." He'd noticed her staring at him. It wasn't the first time he had been ogled by someone but this was somehow different. This girl was acting as if she liked what she saw. It was a look of wonder and appreciation, not shock, horror or disgust.

"Oh, you wanna see how I take pictures?" she asked still feeling a little nervous and trying to find something to fill the silence.

"Sure." He let her lead him over to her camera and tripod setup. She then beckoned him to look through the viewfinder.

"See any good views? Snap a picture." She offered.

He moved the camera around to the waterfront, using the zoom he saw a tiny sailboat making its way across the bay. It looked nearly black against the setting sun making a very pleasing silhouette. He snapped a picture.

"Let me see!" she grinned excitedly and moved up close to him so she could see it in the digital screen.

Mikey was surprised she was choosing to be this close to him. He couldn't help but catch a whiff of her hair. It smelled like roses. Stop being creepy! He thought as he stepped back a bit to give her room.

She was surprised. "Wow, that's a really nice shot…not bad!"

"Thanks!" he sat down in one of the lawn chairs and began opening up his backpack. "Hey you wanna sit down? I brought snacks."

She easily fell into the chair next to him. "Can't turn down an offer like that now can I?" she accepted his offer of a package of red vines and took a couple.

"So…I'm guessing you have a lot of questions for me." He said, quietly chewing on his own piece of red liquorice.

Was she really that transparent? "Is it that obvious?" she sighed.

"Mira…I'm almost 6 feet tall, I'm green, a literal mutant turtle, if you weren't even a little bit curious I'd be worried." He scoffed.

Mira gave him an exaggerated shrug. "You got me…I am very curious…Oh! That reminds me." She went to a folder she had taken up with her earlier and took a photo out of it. "I snapped this a couple nights ago, it was actually the first night you came and grabbed pizza here. Is this you?" she asked, handing him the picture and watching him examine it with his three-fingered hands.

He laughed suddenly. "I think it is me! My brothers and I were doing patrol there that same night, you must have caught me." He handed it back to her. "Wow, talk about a small world…it's almost like…"he trailed off trying to think of how to word this.

"Like you were drawn back here for some reason." She finished for him.

Mikey gave her a wide grin. "Yeah…" He couldn't help but stare a bit into her honey-coloured eyes for a moment. She was so pretty in this light.

She could feel her face growing hot at his deepening stare. "Uh…questions, right. Well…the obvious one is, how did you get to be an…almost six-foot walking, talking mutant turtle?"

He sat back in his chair. "That's a very long story…I'll try to give you the abridged version." He said and began with the story of his father and Hamato Yoshi and finished with him and his brothers being mutated by the TCRI ooze.

"And there you have it. There's me, my brothers, Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael and our father and sensei Master Splinter."

"That's amazing…" she breathed. "Do you and your brothers all look the same?"

"Well, sort of? There's variations in our skin colour and eye colour, also I'm the only one that wears orange. Leo wears blue, Donnie, purple and Raph is red." He put his hand up by his face to whisper. "He's the angry one so it fits."

She giggled then. "All different personalities too I'm guessing."

"You know it! I'm the cute one." He winked.

Mira laughed again. "So what other kinds of stuff do you like? Besides junk food and pizza…" she gave him a playful smirk.

"I like movies, video games, skateboarding, just having fun generally. I just feel like that we don't need to be so serious about everything. Just relax and let things flow." He said, giving her a carefree smile.

She was about to open her mouth again to ask another question when he placed one of his larger fingers on her lip. "Wait, I wanna know more about you. What do you like and how did you come to be here?"

That was a surprise, she could feel that he had fingerprints just like she did. Her face coloured as she tried to think of a good answer. "I uhh…I like a lot of the same stuff you do. I wish I could be as relaxed as you though. I just feel like there's so much pressure sometimes."

"Like what? Because I can guarantee I've felt the same." He said. Giving her a gentle smile.

"Well, being from an Italian family we're all very loud and everybody is in each other's business." She put on an exaggerated Italian accent. "Mirella when are you going to stop all of this photography business, you should be working to take over the family restaurant." She paused the accent. "My mother."

She continued doing another impression. "Why do you not have a boyfriend yet? I introduce you to Maria's nephew, he is a handsome boy, you meet him and fall in love and make lots of babies." She paused again. "My aunt." She said in a flat voice.

He couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "Okay, I got you. Listen to this…" he did his best Splinter impression. "Michelangelo! When are you going to stop fooling around and focus on your ninja training? You must have discipline if you are to be a true warrior of Bushido…"

He turned to gauge her reaction. She was giggling a little. He continued, now doing Raph. "Whaddya do this time, shell-for-brains? Stop being such a brat."

He went on to do Leo. "When are you going to grow up? We can't keep saving your shell every time you do something stupid."

As Donatello he said. "Quit messing around with my stuff, I worked nearly two hundred hours on that! Go bug someone else…" he finished, his expression somber as he looked out into the now darkening sky.

Well that conversation had certainly taken a turn. It was clear he was struggling with some things at home. She gently placed a hand on his bicep. "Are you okay…?" she asked.

He jumped slightly at her touch. "Uh, yeah…sorry for being such a downer there. I've been dealing with some stuff lately, it always seems like I'm getting in everyone's way."

"I get it. I feel like there are so many expectations on me that I need to get away sometimes and just…be me…" she said quietly.

Mikey turned to her then. "I feel the same way, that's why I came up for pizza the other night…and met you." He smiled shyly.

She smiled back. "I guess we have more in common than I thought."

"Thank you…" he suddenly said.

She gave him a curious look. "For what?"

"For accepting me, this doesn't happen…let alone to me." He was being honest and he hoped that was okay.

"Hey…it's not every day you meet a walking, talking, mutant turtle." She grinned. "Also you deserve to be accepted, everyone does." She took a chance then and lightly touched one of his odd hands.

He very nearly shied away from his touch and then placed his hand in hers and smiled when she gave it a squeeze. "Thanks…" he said again.

"I've got a wild idea." Mira said. "Let's keep meeting here…every Tuesday? That's my day off. It'll give us a chance to get to know each other better and we'll be able to get away from the demands of our daily lives."

Mikey's face split into a thousand-watt smile. "That sounds like an amazing idea! I'm in."

"Great!" she said enthusiastically and then more quietly she said. "I mean, I'd like that."

Mikey's phone suddenly went off making a tinny-sounding melody. She giggled at that and also the design which looked like a mini turtle shell. He clicked it open and said. "Mikey here."

"We need your help, purple dragons got us surrounded here." Leonardo's no-nonsense voice spoke.

"Where are you?" He asked and paused a few seconds before saying. "I'm on my way."

He gave Mira an apologetic look. "Sorry, I gotta go help my brothers out."

"It's alright I was getting kinda tired anyway." Mira said.

Mikey looked nervous then and he shifted on his feet for a moment. "Um, I'll see you next week then?"

She nodded and suddenly threw her arms around his neck. "Bye, Mikey."

He was so surprised that he forgot to hug her back right away. Finally his brain clicked and he tentatively placed his arms around her and gave her a soft squeeze. "Bye, Mira."

He released her and hopped over to the edge of the building.

Mira blinked in disbelief. What the heck was he doing? "Uh…Mikey?"

"Don't worry babe, I do this all the time, see ya!" he called and leapt to the next building, and the next until he was so far she could barely see him.

She was floored; he could hop from one rooftop to the next…made sense, he couldn't exactly walk around the city.

She noticed he left his backpack and board behind. She decided to leave them both there just in case he came back to grab them. She snuck a couple more red vines before leaving the roof and locking up behind her.

The rest of her night was spent editing photos. She loved the one he'd taken for her and sent that one to her editor immediately. She hoped it would get good a reception and she couldn't wait to tell him.

She fell asleep thinking of the next time she'd see him but instead of over-thinking it this time she felt a sense of peace. He was like a very precious secret that she was guarding and she wanted to keep it that way for a while. There was no way her straight-laced parents and her busybody aunt were going to accept him...not right now anyway.

When Mikey arrived his brothers were still knee-deep in their battle with the purple dragons. Since the Shredder's defeat the gang had become a powerful crime syndicate run by the fearsome Hun.

Mikey and his brothers often had to break up expensive crime sprees and illegal shipments.

This was one such time. Mikey swooped into action brandishing his nun-chucks and quickly disarming more than a couple dragons using the element of surprise.

The action was able to free up Leonardo and Raphael who began to take down the rest of them. Donatello was frantically trying to disarm some kind of energy bomb.

"Almost got it…" the purple-clad turtle said as he fished his way through the wires and cut one more. "There!"

"Good work, Donnie!" Leo called. "Mikey, on your left!"

Mikey was just barely able to dodge a laser blast to the shoulder. He did a quick turn and used one chuck to disarm the man, throwing it to the ground.

With all four brothers now in the fray it wasn't long before they managed to take down the last dragon and tie him up with the others.

Police sirens could be heard now and the brothers quickly took their leave of the situation.

On the roof Leo approached Mikey and said. "Where were you? You missed patrol tonight."

Think of a good excuse…think of a good excuse…

Luckily Raph came to his rescue. "He was out trying to find me some pizza…" he paused and acted upset. "What the hell, did you eat it all or somethin'?"

Mikey was able to play along exactly. "Sorry man, I actually ended up dropping it on the way here."

"Well don't let it happen again." Raph chastised him.

"I won't." he promised, and he hoped Raph could hear him saying 'thank you' internally.

Leo left the matter alone after that and the four brothers returned home.

Mikey could hardly wait a whole seven days before seeing Mira again.

"Mirella!" a thick Italian accent called out. "You need to pay attention. I only teach you to make this once!"

Mira was snapped out of her reverie. Her aging Italian grandmother was trying to teach her how to make her famous pizza sauce. "Sorry Nonna." She apologized.

"What has got you so preoccupied anyway…?" the older woman asked her.

"Just…a lot on my mind." Mira said. "I made a new friend recently."

Her grandmother brightened considerably. "Spectacular! Could it be a male friend?" she asked coyly.

Knowing she couldn't keep anything from the woman she decided to humour her but sticking to the basics only. "Yes, he's a regular customer at the restaurant, he comes in when I do the night shifts."

"Molto bene! This is excellent." Her grandmother nodded approvingly. "Perhaps now you'll get out more and stop spending so much time on the roof…"

Mira looked nervous for a second. "Uh…that's the thing, well he's really into photography too so I might be up there more often."

"Ah, well as long as you're not up there alone. I approve."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Nonna, let's get back to this sauce now."

Before she knew it a week had gone by and she was due to meet Mikey at sunset again.

End Chapter 2

A/N Things are starting out slow for now. Will Leo eventually figure out Mikey's secret? Stay tuned!