A/N: Mature content in this chapter, also revenge plots, introduction to the lair and drunken escapades.

Chapter 8

Mark's face took on an expression of disgust. "You're the one who took her from me…"

Mikey stopped only a few feet away. "Look dude, I'm only gonna say this once: stay away from Mira…"

Donnie had finished searching the place and retrieved the envelope from the table, looking inside to check. "Got 'em. There doesn't seem to be any other copies here."

"Good…" Mikey had taken out both of his nun-chucks and was rapidly twirling them now. "Stay away from her or else we'll be back."

At the same time Leo drew his swords, Raph took his sais and gave him a fearsome glare as he expertly flipped them in his hands and Donnie drew his Bo.

Mark audibly gulped and nearly soiled himself in fear. "Okay, okay, I'll leave her alone."

"See that you do." Said Leo. "Because if you don't, we'll find you." He left through the window, followed by Donnie.

"By the way, we're turtles asshole." Raphael said before he left as well.

Mikey backed up slowly and pointed one of his chucks at him. "Lose this apartment too." And then he was gone.

As soon as he was alone Mark took a few moments to collect himself before rage overtook him and he threw his fist through the wall of the apartment. "Fuck!"

Mikey was back at Mira's apartment in less than five minutes to explain what had happened.

She was still awake huddled in her blankets on the couch watching some nonsensical sitcom.

He tapped on the window startling her. She carefully peeked through the curtain and breathed a sigh of relief. "Mikey…"

She unlocked the window and let him in. "What happened?"

He led her back to the couch and placed his arm around her. He hesitated before telling her. "I'm sorry babe...this is gonna suck to hear but Mark was stalking you from an apartment across the street. That's how he was able to get those photos. He also had another one rented closer to his work."

She felt a tiny shiver of fear and nodded in understanding. "I can't say that I'm surprised…"

"Donnie was able to get both locations from hacking his work computer. We went to both and destroyed all the evidence from his apartment near the restaurant. He was in the one across the street." His voice took on an edge she'd never heard before.

"Then what happened?" she was almost afraid to ask.

"We persuaded him to leave you alone. Also Donnie swept the apartment for any extra copies." Mikey said.

"As long as there was no violence."

He shook his head. "No way, babe, just nearly made him wet himself." he said with a smirk.

She felt very relieved now and suddenly very tired as she leaned on him more heavily.

"Let's get you to bed." He said and scooped her up off the couch and took her to the bedroom. It was about time that she was able to sleep soundly. He drew the covers over them both and curled his body protectively around hers. Both were asleep in minutes.

A few weeks had passed and Mark was still angry his plan had failed. Those damn turtles had wiped out every copy of those pictures he'd taken and he'd been forced to move out of his apartment across the street.

His restaurant had opened as scheduled and he had to hire some other girls to work the tables. They were hot, but nothing compared to Mira. He was still determined to find a way to get her back.

Then one night he ended up serving some very interesting characters and was given a scrap of hope.

It was a group of men each sporting a purple-coloured dragon tattoo. The largest of the men was blond and had his hair in a short braid. He looked like he could bench-press an elephant.

He put on his server 'hat' and went over to take their orders.

The largest man spoke first. "Hm…got any turtle soup?" his buddies all chuckled at the inside joke.

"Ugh…sorry guys, if I could catch those turtles I'd have no problem serving 'em to ya."

Hun, the large blond man had his ears prick up at his comment. "You've had a run-in with them…recently haven't you?" he asked.

Mark lifted his eyebrows in interest. "Maybe…are we both talking about the 6' bastards who broke into my apartment?"

Hun glanced with interest at his comrades and then back to Mark. "You and I should have a chat sometime. Here's our card." He handed it over to him.

Mark slipped it in his top front pocket. "I believe I will…now gentlemen, how may I take your order?"

Mira's life had fallen back into its usual rhythm except she switched herself to day shift and hired a nice young man to do the night shifts. She wanted to focus more on creating new menu items and updating the look of the restaurant.

Somehow in-between all of this Mikey had managed to take her underground to see the lair for the first time and to train a little bit with Leo.

He tried to take her on the driest route possible trying to avoid anything gross that they might come across.

Even though there was a bit of a smell Mira didn't mind and was really quite intrigued and excited to see his home. She also looked forward to meeting the man he referred to as both 'Father' and 'Sensei'.

"Not much further now babe." Mikey called as they continued along.

"Is it true what they say about giant alligators being in the sewers?" She asked trying her best to keep up.

He laughed. "Only one that I know of and he's a pretty good guy. His name's Leatherhead."

She stopped, giving him an incredulous look. "Y-you're serious aren't you?"

He turned and his pace slowed. "Yeah babe, but don't worry about him, he's just like us only with…way more teeth."

She laughed, shaking her head and started walking again.

Finally they came to a seemingly innocuous brick wall. Mikey pulled one of the pipes and the wall slid apart revealing the entrance to his home.

"This…is the lair." Mikey said after they had walked through.

Mira gasped. "This is amazing…" It was and it didn't smell like a stinky sewer at all. She commented this fact and Mikey replied. "Yeah Don installed a pretty good air filtration system, it smells a lot fresher than it used to."

There was an area that constituted as 'Donatello's Space'. It had monitors upon monitors, more than any sane person needed but he was there sitting in a swivel chair with a headset on.

"Don works a call centre for his day job." Mikey whispered as they walked by.

There was a large kitchen and Raph was there eating a bowl of cereal. Mira snickered at how large the spoon was that he was using. It looked like a serving spoon.

"What's so funny?" he asked hearing her slight laughter.

"Oh, nothing!" she said with an innocent smile.

"Hmph, yeah right." But he didn't ask any further questions and Mikey continued the tour.

He took her to the dojo next where they trained every morning. Leonardo was in there performing a sword kata; Mira was mesmerized by his movements. "Can you do that?" she whispered.

He was about to answer when Leo stopped and sheathed his swords. "He could if he applied himself a little more." He said with a smirk.

"Shut up Leo." Mikey sighed.

"I'm just kidding." He approached Mira and bowed his head. "Welcome to our home."

Automatically she bowed back. "Thank you."

Leo continued, saying. "Mikey can perform katas, but usually not with swords, he uses his preferred weapons."

"But we're trained to use mostly every weapon." Mikey pointed out.

"I'd love to see that sometime." Mira grinned.

Mikey looked proud. "Maybe after I introduce you to Splinter."

"Before that, Mira would you like to practice that move?" Leo asked.

"Sure." She walked over to Leo while Mikey took a seat on the sidelines.

"First, show me what you do know." Leo requested.

"Okay well, it's just basic self-defense…um like if you grab my arm I know how to do this." She said awkwardly placing his hand on her arm and then performing the move.

She continued showing him several techniques all aimed at using the opponent's strength against them. Leo was somewhat impressed that she knew so much.

"All right that's pretty good." He went to the wall of weapons and picked up a wooden 'gun'. "Now hold this and act like you're gonna shoot me with it." He said.

Mira did as she was told but she couldn't help but throw in a line from a movie while doing it. "Freeze, mothafucka." And acted as if she was going to shoot him.

Leo gave his head a shake. "You really are Mikey's girlfriend…" he performed a disarming move, grabbing the gun and flipping it into in his own hand.

The move was done so quickly Mira barely saw his hands move. "Whoa." she commented in amazement.

Leo gave it back to her and asked her to do it again. "I'll perform the move slowly this time."

For the next half and hour Leo showed her how to disarm a potential opponent holding a gun at her.

"It's about speed, you can't think you need to react. That gun could go off at any moment." He explained.

"Mikey come here." Leo commanded.

Mikey made his way over to the two of them. Leo handed him the gun. "Okay, now let's see what you know."

"Alright." Mikey got into character quoting the same movie Mira had been. "Do you feel lucky punk…well do ya?" He pointed the gun at her.

Leo groaned but stayed silent seeing what she would do.

Mira acted afraid. "Oh please don't! I swear I'll never snitch again!"

"Sorry, but it's time to say goodbye…" Mikey said but Mira quickly performed the move and was now holding the gun at him.

"Couldn't have said it better myself…click, bang, you're dead." And then she blew on the opening of the gun.

Mikey did a very dramatic death scene clutching his chest and crying out "Nooooo!"

"Okay okay, you two that's enough." Leo said, unable to take anymore. "Good work Mira, if you need any other lessons I'd be happy to assist."

"Thanks Leo." Mira said and bowed.

He bowed back and Mikey gently tugged Mira out of the dojo.

They both made their way to another part of the lair. It had sliding Japanese doors with paper inserts.

"Enter Michelangelo…and friend." The Japanese accented voice said.

Mira was so surprised she paused and whispered. "How does he do that?"

"I've never been able to figure it out." Mikey whispered back.

They both entered and knelt down on cushions in front of the aged rat.

Mira was surprised that he seemed so kind and grandfatherly. Mikey had told her many stories of how tough and strict he was.

"Please enjoy a cup of tea." He said and placed two clay cups on the table.

Mira took the cup and allowed him to pour some green tea for her. "Thank you, and it is an honour to meet you Sir." She bowed her head.

"My dear, the honour is mine. I am very glad to meet the girl that my son has become so taken with." He said bowing slightly as well.

Mikey could feel a blush coming on.

"Michelangelo." His father said causing him to straighten up. "I require an update on Miss Mira's living condition."

"Yes Father, we haven't seen or heard from her...ex in weeks and the apartment across the street has now been rented by other people. I'm cautiously optimistic that he might be gone for good." Mikey said.

Mira looked worried and it was not missed by Splinter.

"My dear what troubles you so?" he asked.

"Just…Mark, he doesn't give up easily, he'll push and push until he gets his way. I just don't think this is the last we'll hear from him." She said.

Splinter was deep in thought for a moment and spoke again in a calm voice. "If he resurfaces I am sure my sons will prevent him from causing any further harm to you." He took her small hand in his gnarled one and said. "Family always protects."

Her breath hitched as she suddenly felt emotional at his kind words. "Thank you Sir." She smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.

Mikey was grateful his father had given her some hope but he feared she was right. Mark didn't seem like the type to give up easily, he'd have to keep a closer eye from now on.

The rest of the visit went smoothly and Mikey dropped her off at home later that night. He checked the locks and made sure everything was secure. Nothing was going to happen on his watch. He'd made sure of that.

Mark had contacted the number on the card and learned that the man he'd been speaking to at the restaurant was named Hun.

He'd been called to a meeting in one of the nicer warehouses by the docks. It was clear to him that this was a highly organized gang that had a big reach and a lot of power. He was more than okay with that.

He sat in a room with Hun and a couple other men.

"Welcome, we are the Purple Dragons. We're glad you could join us…if you have information about the turtles we're very interested." Hun said, lacing his fingers together.

"Sure, one of those bastards stole my girlfriend…I had evidence that I was gonna use to get her back but they broke into my apartment and destroyed it all." He said.

Hun held up a couple of composite sketches of the turtles that had the bandanas coloured in. "Which one is dating your girl?"

"That one…" he said pointing to the orange. "I know where she lives too. Her parents own Mirella's Pizzeria."

Hun made a sound of interest. "This is all very interesting. Can we see a picture of the girl?"

"Yep." He pulled a picture out of his wallet and flicked it across the table.

Before Hun could pick it up one of the men in the room craned his neck to look at it and said. "Wait, that's the bitch from the alley…that turtle freak came to protect her."

Hun laughed. "This is the girl who managed to punch you in the nose? I like her already."

"She knows self-defense." Mark explained. "So can you help me?"

The leader looked contemplative. "Yes, this information you've provided is invaluable. You give us the turtles and we'll give you your girlfriend back."

"I want her alive." Mark stated. "And unharmed."

"Of course." He moved his large hand across the table. "Alive, not a scratch on her, no questions asked. Do we have a deal?"

Mark took his hand in a firm shake. "Deal."

It would take a little while for The Purple Dragons to put their plan into motion. Mark was advised not to speak to or try to contact Mira until they gave him the go-ahead. He reluctantly agreed but still kept an eye on her whenever possible.

Soon…

"Casey! You're burning the potatoes! Honestly why do I even try?" April's exasperated voice came from the other side of the apartment door.

Mira couldn't help but snicker before knocking on the door. Almost instantly a beautiful red-head with aqua-blue eyes answered the door with a smile.

"Welcome! You must be Mira."

She walked through the doorway and nodded slightly sniffing the air.

"Oh don't mind the smell, Casey wasn't watching the stove…" She held out her hand. "April O'Neil."

"Mirella De Rossi, Nice to meet you." She said politely. "But call me Mira, please."

April tried not to look harried as she led Mira into the sitting room area. "Mikey's on his way, and food will be ready in a sec…would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, whatever you have is fine." Mira said as she settled comfortably on the brown leather couch.

"Got it, I'll make you something special." She winked and disappeared into the kitchen.

Mira had to stifle a laugh when she heard April admonishing Casey once again. "What's this?! Did you forget to turn off the oven? If these are overdone…"

At that moment Mira heard Mikey enter through the window. He shut the curtains and grinned. "Heard there was a dinner party happening." He pulled a bottle of wine out of the backpack he was carrying.

"It's Italian, I found this in the lair." He said, handing it to her.

She checked the label, it was a common red but a pretty good one. "This is great Mikey, but you should maybe check with April and Casey because she sounds like she's ready to kill him in there." She said with a smirk.

"That's normal, she nearly kills him on the daily."

April appeared again now holding a fruity-looking drink in her hand. "Oh you're here Mikey. Wash up you two dinner will be on the table in five minutes." She handed the drink to Mira and began setting the table.

Mira took a sip, quickly washed her hands and went to help April set the table.

After also taking care of his hands Mikey went to join Casey in the kitchen. He gave him a weary smile and handed him a beer. "I swear Mikey, one of these days I think she might actually kill me."

Mikey took a sip and chuckled. "You gotta admire her spirit."

"It's a love-hate thing." Casey said with a laugh. "Anyway you wanna help me bring all this out?"

"Sure, dude." He took a dish and brought it out to the table.

Mira and April were both sitting primly in their places. "Dinner is served madams." Mikey said in a silly French accent.

Casey appeared holding the last few dishes and placed them on the table. The two men slid into their seats and sipped their beers.

"Mikey, Mira, glad you could make it. Here's to you." She said holding up her glass. She was the only one not drinking something with alcohol in it.

"Cheers." They all said and clinked their glasses together.

"Casey and I have another announcement. We're going to tell the other guys too but you might as well be the first to know." She paused and smiled excitedly. "We're expecting."

Mikey's eyes widened. "Wow April! That's mondo-amazing!" he exclaimed.

"Congratulations to you both." Mira said raising her glass again.

The food was stuffed chicken breasts, garlic mashed potatoes and oven-baked asparagus. It was all very delicious and not overdone or burned.

They cracked open the bottle of wine and played a couple of party games.

Mira had never laughed so hard in her life as she had when Mikey started doing impressions as part of the game.

Later she heard the story of how April and Casey met and was surprised to learn that Casey had been doing the vigilante thing before even meeting the turtles.

"Did he really say the word crumpet?" Mira said between laughs.

"Yeah and then I whacked him with the cricket bat." Casey said and pretended to do it with his arms. "Wham!"

She laughed again and listened as they regaled her with more tales. She was amazed at all the adventures they'd been through.

"You really went all the way to Columbia to get Leo?" she asked.

"Yeah…Leo was really going through something. The family was struggling and Raphael was doing a hardcore vigilante thing." April said remembering those tough times.

She had a great admiration for the older woman's bravery. "And that swirling green vortex that happened a few years ago that was you?!" She said turning to Mikey.

"Well not me, that was Winters that immortal guy April was working for. But yeah we stopped it." He said.

Mira was very impressed. "Wow, they tried to pass it off as an unexplained weather phenomenon you know."

"Makes sense, no one would believe what actually happened." April said with a smirk.

The stories continued and between Casey, Mikey and Mira the bottle of wine was emptied. All were more than a little tipsy when it finally came time to leave.

"You sure you'll be able to get home okay?" April asked.

"Yaas April, we got this." Mikey said only slightly slurring his words.

"Maybe you should take a cab…I got a hoodie Mikey can wear." Casey suggested.

Mira who was actually not looking forward to roof-jumping held her stomach and said. "Amctually…I agree with the tall one."

"Fine babe." He chuckled. "Call a cab."

Said cab was called and the cab driver was so numb to all the weird people he'd driven around over the years he didn't even bat an eye when Mikey with only part of his green skin showing and Mira both piled in laughing drunkenly.

Mira relayed her address and they were back in less than fifteen minutes.

She dragged Mikey out of the cab, paid the cab driver and used her fob to unlock the front door to the apartment building.

They both shuffled into the elevator quietly snickering to each other. Mikey started beat-boxing to himself saying "DJ Mikey." and attempting to beatbox until she was doubling over laughing.

Luckily there were no other passengers as they reached Mira's floor. They both giddily stumbled down the halls shushing each other loudly. Mira also dropped her keys at least three times attempting to unlock her door.

They managed to make it inside before any other residents opened their doors to see what was going on.

Mira slipped her arms around his neck saying "Alone at last…" She gave him a sloppy, passionate kiss that still had him saying. "Mmm…you taste good."

She suddenly had a wicked thought and dragged him over to her bathroom stopping in front of the shower. She turned it on, adjusted the temperature and casually began removing her clothes turning to give him a flirty little peek as she did so.

It took Mikey about a full minute to realize that she intended for him to join her in there and hastily began removing his mask and gear.

He stepped in there with her, the shower spray wasn't big enough to cover them both but he didn't care. Even in his drunken state, wet Mira was a thousand times hotter than anything he'd seen.

She melded her damp body up against his and attacked his mouth desperately kissing him. He responded easily, pressing her body tightly against the cool tiles as he brought one of his hands up to squeeze her breast and tease her nipple with his thumb.

She gasped at the sensation and reached down to rub him along the area under his tail until he nearly lost his mind. "Holy shit, babe." He breathed.

She'd learned certain techniques to make him hard quicker and just wanted to feel him inside her now.

Mikey was having a hard time keeping himself in control as she continued rubbing and coaxing him out of there. "Ahh…what about…condom." He said in a strangled voice.

There was a moment of realization and she was out of the shower, stumbling across the hallway to her bedroom to rip one out of her drawer. She tore it open with her teeth and walked back to the shower to put it on him.

He caged her against the walls of the shower and kissed her deeply and took a moment to take each of her breasts into his mouth until she was begging him. "Please…"

He placed both of his hands under her thighs and lifted her, holding her tight against the shower wall. It was a bit slippery but he managed.

He entered her in a smooth upward thrust causing her to cry out in pleasure and clamp her legs around him.

It took some doing but soon he was able to do a steady rhythm of thrusts. She held on tightly, all that could be heard was the sound of the shower and a series of moans and grunts as they both chased their collective orgasms.

Faster and harder he went until Mira was crying out with her release against his shoulder. He groaned loudly as he came squeezing her thighs tightly. Finally, he released her wobbly legs and placed his palms flat against the wall of the shower breathing harshly.

By now the water had gone lukewarm, she switched it off and leaned against his warm, damp body for a moment. "Still drunk?" she asked.

"Nah babe, pretty sure that was enough to sober me up." He said drawing his hands up and down her back.

"I should've warned you, drinking makes me horny." She giggled.

He snorted and laughed. "Why would I ever complain about that?"

The air became cold then and she shivered, goosebumps pebbling her skin. Mikey dried them both off with Mira's soft, fluffy towels.

Her trek to the bedroom to grab a condom had left the floor wet so after they both had brushed their teeth she nearly slipped on the wet floor. Luckily Mikey was right there and caught her.

"I knew you were falling for me." he joked, holding her carefully.

She laughed and thanked him for not letting her fall on her ass but his words were true, she really had fallen hard for him. "I love you." she said.

he drew her up and kissed her passionately. "Love you too." When they were mostly dry and Mira had taken a minute to brush the tangles from her wet hair she slid under the covers and into Mikey's waiting arms. She felt safe and protected and for now she was.

This time it really was the calm before the storm.

End Chapter 8

A/N I really wanted to do a drunk sexy scene and this seemed like the perfect time for it.