( I do not own the Turtles nor the songs listed. Each song is chosen to set the mood of that chapter only, this is not a Song-fic)

Chapter one: If today was your last Day ( Nickelback )

What started off as a simple dimensional jump to visit his old friend in the Nexus system soon turned into a life and death situation for the Elderly Rat as he made his way up to the alley he used for the portal. He had no sooner finished the chant opening the dimensional gateway as loud screeching of tires quickly followed by smashing metal into brick and a women's shrill agonizing scream just outside the alley drew his attention. His old heart was pounding away within his chest and not out of fear of being caught, no this fear normally only came when his Family was in grave danger. Dropping to all fours he scurried quickly threw the shadows needing to investigate the source out the scream as there was no sound of anyone coming to help. Only when he was able to get a full view of the scene his Fatherly heart sank when he realized the screaming had come from a young girl, not much older than his sons, pinned by the left arm in between a empty building and a now smashed abandoned car.

Sniffing the air cautiously he could smell the dangerous combination of smoke and gas. Knowing that if he didn't act now she most certainly would die either from blood loss or by the impending explosion, he ran out into the open to the girls side. He could smell the metallic tint of blood coming from her trapped arm further confirming that she was in fact seriously injured. Touching her neck lightly checking her pulse, he took a step back and went up into a powerful jumping kick forcing the car away from her before he lifted her carefully lifted her by the right arm and draped over his shoulders and dragged her back into the alley and threw the portal near moments before the whole care went up in flames.

Once he was on the other side he eased the human girl onto the ground under a small group of trees and began to field dress her mangled left hand and forearm before binding it in an elevated position on against her chest. Sitting back on his feet he was finally able to take a moment and breath and take in everything that had just and chalked this all up to Father in him taking control. Exhaling exhaustedly he placed a gentle hand onto her forehead he gazed down finally getting a good look at the teenaged girl he had saved, Her short dark blond hair was disheveled and she was dressed in Jeans that were ripped and worn thin, a simple red tee shirt and old canvas sneakers.

" It seams as if fate has chosen for our paths to cross Child, we shall rest here a bit longer before we continue on to meet up with my young friend!" he spoke reassuringly to her just in case she could hear him. When he was finally rested enough to travel, he eased her onto his back and quickly became aware of how thin and frail her body was when he continued on his way, it wasn't long until a familiar face was sent running into his direction.

" Who is this that you have brought with you? Were you injured as well Splinter-sama?" the Ronin samurai rabbit called out worriedly as he guided the young woman off of the old Rats back and picked her up gently in his arms and shot a concerned glance at him when he had expected the human girl to weigh more than she did

Giving him a reassuring smile he shook his head no " I am uninjured Miyamoto Usagi, thank you for your concern" he replied much to the young Rabbits relief, the smile quickly faded as his tired eyes drifted back to the injured girl " She was in a terrible accident as I opened the gateway back on our world, I had no choice but to bring her threw and pray she makes its until we can get her to the Daimyo's healers!"

Bowing his head respectfully the young Rabbit agreed " She is very fortunate you were there, Splinter- Sensei. So I take it that you two have never met before this day? " he inquired, gazing down on his new charge as they walked, deep in thought over why fait had chosen her to come into the lives of his friends on Third Earth.

" You are correct " exhaling once again he continued on "That aside, it did not stop the Father in me from reacting upon hearing her scream. Her arm was crushed and pined in such a way where she could not have escaped without assistance."

" I would have done the same if I were in your place!" he sighed heavily while adjusting her small form in his arms, " We can rest there, I would like to examine her wound to see if there is anything I can do for her..." he pointed with his nose to a small out cropping up a head of them.

The rat nodded in agreement " We'll need to think of something that will stop the bleeding. She's still losing to much blood" he pointed out noticing how she had already bleed threw most of her bandages.

Even though they had only been walking for a few hours they both felt it wise to check on the injured young woman. Unwrapping the wounded arm slowly, the damage from just above the wrist down threw her hand was worse than either could imagine, in just that one look they both knew there was no way possible to save her hand. The small bones were shattered, flesh and muscle had been shredded and torn lose. Solemnly placing his old hand onto the young Ronin's shoulder, he silently confirmed the only possible means to stop the bleeding and save her life.

Remaining at the girls side as the young Rabbit stood up to gather the wood needed to start a fire, the Father within the old Rat once again took over. " If you can hear me Child, I must ask for your forgiveness as we need to remove what remains of your hand in order to save your life. The damage caused by the car that had struck you is to sever not to…" he spoke softly to her while his traveling companion placed sword in the flames in order to insure of its cleanliness as well as cauterize the cut.

( Back in the NYC )

Traveling across the rooftops were two Turtle shaped figures covered in the darkness, both were running hard though only one was in the biggest hurry. A fight had broke out between the two eldest of the Four brothers over heading topside after their Father had instructed them to remain bellow while he was away on his trip. It was only when the second eldest agreed to bring their youngest brother along and was to avoid any fights against their enemy's was he permitted to leave. Only now he was running almost two hours late to meet up with ' a friend ' that he honestly was to afraid to tell his brothers about. Every Tuesday night at midnight for the last several months he would sneak out of their subterranean home to meet up with his ' friend ' until about two months prior when he got caught by their Father. It took a very long and very privet conversation about the reasons behind his new Tuesday ritual that he was permitted to continue, so long as it had zero effect on his responsibility to his brothers and the team.

" Dude, what's the big hurry for Brah? So this guy isn't answering his phone, its almost two in the morning, he's probably in bed dead asleep by now… Which is were we should be!" The one shadow whispered loudly to the figure in front of as he could feel himself slowing down from exhaustion.

" Then go back home Mikey!" the other snapped back in a harsh whisper as they neared the sight of what looked like an accident. Pulling his youngest brother down as to not been seen he leaned back to look over the edge of the roof while the burnt remains of a car was being loaded onto the back of a flatbed truck.

The two hid in place until the cops and lingering firemen had left before making their way down to the street to check the scene out. While the youngest was busy checking out the damaged building the other pulled out his shell cell and made a call he didn't want to make.

' Raphael, where are you two? We agreed you two would have been back a half hour ago!' the angry voice screamed out from the other end.

" I ain't got time for this Leo, Mike an me are checking out some fucked up car accident scene!" he replied in an oddly calm voice considering the lecture he had just received.

' Don's checking your GPS… He said there was a report of a car catching fire after hitting a building. Only it was called in after it had been burning a while… What do you see?' the voice asked in a much calmer tone.

"Hey Raph check this out, oh Hey Leo…" the younger brother spoke up realizing his bother was on the phone as he held a burnt object in his green hand.

' What did you find Mikey?' the other end asked only before he could say what it was his brother's eyes widened in horror when he quickly grabbed the Kunai with a partially brunt red ribbon tied to it from his younger brother.

" It's nothing Brah, just a momma cat and some kittens" The youngest fibbed as he could tell by his brothers face that he knew his brother had been keeping a secret from him " There's nothing here so we'll be heading back shortly Leo. Bye" he spoke up quickly hanging up the call to get some answers. " Alright, spill it Raph! Give me one good reason why I just lied to Leo to cover your ass?" he demanded hating being put into these kind of situations" Like, how did your Kunai end up here in that fire Dude?"

Clutching the burnt Kunai in his hand, the older Turtle was struggling to keep himself from breaking down " I gave it to my… ' Friend ' after we sort of mutually saved each others asses in a fight with the Dragons a while back. We had such a blast in that fight that we kind of hit it off… ya know" he started off explaining when he noticed his normally happy baby brother was looking a lot like their older brother in that moment with how hurt he was, swallowing hard he sighed heavily "Let's just head up to the roof and I'll tell you everything Mikey. But first can ya cut it with the Leo impersonation…. Its creepy as shit!"

Chuckling in response to the last comment he agreed " Let's head down and take the long way back, I got a feeling this is going to be good!" he suggested catching on very quickly that his Brother had a ' secret friend' that may or may not be his possible ' girlfriend'.

Unable to keep from chuckling slightly, he ducked his head as if trying to find the closest manhole " Yeah, well I better not find out you spoke a word of this to anyone! Master Splinter already gave me ' the damn talk' when he found out about her and I don't need to hear no shit from the others." He grumbled only realizing afterwards that he just gave his baby brother the juiciest secret he's ever had as he pulled a manhole cover back " Ahh Shit!"

" You had a Girlfriend all this time and SPLINTER KNEW!" the youngest turtle just about squealed in excitement as they headed down into the sewers.

" She 'was' only a FRIEND Mikey!" he growled as his face was burning with embarrassment as they walked there the dark sewer system " We just met up once a week to talk about shit, I'd show 'er a few moves I was working on, she'd tell me some crazy ass idea for a fight move she picked up from watching wrestling… We took turns paying for some hot chocolate…" he mumbled the last part hoping that it went unheard… to his luck it wasn't.

" You were buying her Hot chocolate while talking about Ninjutsu and Wrestling… Dude she's so Your Girlfriend Brah!" the younger turtles eyes sparkled with excitement as he was literally bouncing off the walls as they walked.

" Yeah, yeah, yeah, just keep it down ya Knucklehead!" he replied pulling his baby brother into a playful headlock before letting him go as a painful bit of reality hit him " She's gone now, so what does it matters anyway… ain't no one could have survived that crash. You seen how burnt out that car was" he hollered out furiously as he fought to keep from breaking down.

The rest of the way back to the lair was filled with an unsettling silence from the normally boisterous hotheaded Turtle who walked far in head of his younger brother. Watching his older brother body language and listening to the slightly raggedness in his heavy breathing the youngest turtle was even more determined to get to the bottom of this uncharacteristic funk his best friend was in. He knew he needed to get to the very root of the problem if he was ever going to help him get threw this heartbreak. It was his self-appointed roll in the family to keep his families spirits up when shit gets bad and to make sure none of them ever forgets to take time and have fun.

" It's about time you two got back, you two said you were on your way over an hour ago… Where are you going Raphael I was talking to you!" their eldest brother spoke up in his authoritative tone that normally get some form of a snide or sarcastic remark as they walked in from the tunnels. When none came, he watched his hot tempered brother walk by without acknowledging his presence he turned to his younger brother for some form of an " What really happened out there Mikey and don't tell me it was just a Cat!" he asked pointedly letting him know he didn't by the lame excuse from earlier.

Exhaling heavily he shook his head " It was just a car fire Leo. Its my fault were late, I pissed Raph off some how and we took the long way back to give him a chance to cool down so you two wouldn't get into it." He explained in a way that made it seam like that's what really happened.

Nodding his head with his eyes clenched shut the elder brother sighed exasperatedly Before turning to head off to the dojo as he replied " Alright, just get to bed its nearly four am and practice is at seven!" Not questioning a thing the youngest turtle nodded and made his way up to his room on the second level.

He was just about to pass by his heartbroken brothers room when a faint noise caught his attention as the door was opened a crack he tried to peek in to find out if he was alright. When he noticed his brother was standing at his bookshelf with the hand still holding the burnt kunai braced against the wooden plank and his head bowed deeply he couldn't stop himself from walking in. Closing the door securely behind him he stood silently in place when he realized his best friend was crying silently while holding a polaroid picture of a very pretty dirty blond teenaged girl holding his beloved sais and making a funny face in a ' skull and cross bones' like pose in the other hand.

Seeing just how much his big brother was really hurting he quickly closed the gape between them, as he almost always could see right threw the angry façade, and pulled him into a tight embrace " She's not Dead, Dude! So get that thought out of your head right now Raphie!" he spoke softly as he felt his brother return the embrace and duck his head into his shoulder as he cried softly " We'll find her some how, you'll see Big Bro... When we do, the Hot Cocos on me!" he replied unwilling to let his best friend and brother give up on his missing girlfriend so soon.

( Back in the other Dimension)

It wasn't long after they had amputated what was left of the young woman's shattered left hand and wrapped the stump up when servants of the Daimyo had shown up and teleported them all to the palace. Welcoming his old friend would have to wait as upon the moment of their arrival the human girl was taken immediately to the healers pavilion where she was placed in his personal room out of respect for all that his old friend had done for him. While his personal physicians attended to the injured human girl, he listened to the old rats story and reassured him that they were welcomed to stay with her as she recovered from her injury for how ever long as was needed.

"… So you see Old Friend, I've inadvertently placed myself in a difficult situation. She will not be fit to travel for some time now and my Sons will be expecting me to arrive home in Three days!" The elderly Rat explained concluding his story.

" I see, this does complicate things" the Daimyo pondered aloud as he tried to think of a means to help.

" I believe I may have a suggestion that might grant you peace of mind when its comes time for your departure Splinter-sama." The young Rabbit spoke up politely as he sat next to the Rat listening to the conversation.

His furry grey ears perked up as did his hopes " Please go on, I would like to hear what you have to suggest Miyamoto Usagi"

Smiling softly at his response the young Ronin nodded and continued on "… With the Lord Daimyos permission, I will stay here by her side and help her in adjusting to the loss of her hand. When it is dreamed she is fit to return to your world I will escort her and return her to your care, Honorable Sensei. I will also try teaching her about the ways of Bushido, I believe that it will help in the recovery of both her mind as well as her spirit!"

Looking between each other, the Daimyo nodded his approval, letting out a breath of great relief the old Rat clasped the Rabbits shoulder "Thank you Miyamoto Usagi, this will indeed give my old heart some peace when I return home. She would indeed benefit from your teachings during the long road to recovery, rather than exposing her to soon to my often unruly Teenaged Sons" he replied chuckling softly at his mental imaging of the Four Turtles and their willingness to help a young woman of their age.

" Yes, I believe it would be Michelangelo and Donatello who would end up… smothering… her with their ' help' the most!" The young Rabbit joked lightly of his two friends back on third Earth.

" I agree Usagi. This will give me time to prepare our home for her arrival. The circumstances behind such an ' Accident ' troubles me greatly and it may be best if she remained in hiding until we can be assured of her safety!"

" I also have found that troubling..."

Their conversation was interrupted when a messenger from the healing pavilion came rushing into the room and handed the Daimyo a scroll as he bowed deeply before his Lord. "She and Miyamoto Usagi will be staying one of my personal rooms for the duration of her recovery as my personal guests!" he so ordered before excusing the messenger and returning his attention to his two friends. " She is beginning to show signs of waking, Come with me and I will show you to where you'll be staying" He announced before standing to show them the way, he was personally relieved to have been given such promising news on her as things had been touch and go for the last twenty four hours as were they.

Making their way the palace halls they were led to the room where the young woman had just been brought to where the Daimyo then bowed and left them to their vigil. Walking into the room they knelt quietly to the side continuing their previous conversation when soft pain filled groan caught their ears followed by a soft voice replying " Ow, oh Shit…" That's when they turned their attention to a very confused Teenaged Girl " I'm not dead, so where the heck am I?" she groaned seaming unaffected by the obvious differences between them " what's up with my arm… what day is it? I gotta be somewhere…" she continued with her question as she struggled to sit up in order to look at her left arm.

" Easy now, My name is Splinter… I am also from New York City like yourself. " The rat spoke moving quickly to her side to guide her back down onto the bed " You were severally injured when the car struck you and pinned your left hand against the building" he started to explain as the Rabbit stood off to his side watching her.

Clenching her eyes closed she tried to think but grabbed her head with her right hand in pain " No, I don't remember any crash, just being helped by someone and a glimpse of a swirling blue light before blacking out!" she tried to explain as it was physically painful on her to " Your voice, I heard it speaking to me in the dark… You're the one that saved me right?" she asked while looking deeply at the gentle creature knelt at her side.

" You are correct. Now, are you able to remember anything else, like your name for instance?" he asked reaching out and brushing his long fingers along her hairline to check her head for any wounds he might have missed before.

Closing her eyes again she tried to remember more, making sure not to push herself as the last time hurt, " Just that I was supposed to be someplace important and that's it. I think my name is Kira, but I'm not certain" she went on to say only when she opened her eyes she thought she could see a tear on his grey furred face " What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" she asked as she began to feel panicked.

" Not at all Miss Kira," the Rabbit spoke up moving to kneel next to the Rat " Do not worry yourself like so, it has just been a long day and we couldn't bring ourselves to rest until we knew you would be alright!" he explained honestly to her "Please forgive my rudeness, I am Miyamoto, Usagi. I am not from your world but all will be explained in due time" he replied bowing to her.

" It's nice to meet you, Usagi" she smiled weakly at the Rabbit. " Splinter? I feel like I have heard that name before" shaking her foggy head she sighed and gave up trying to remember things " ugh, thinking hurts!" she moaned tilting her head back to look only at the Rat called Splinter. Reaching out she placed her right hand onto one of his " My hands gone isn't it?" she asked knowing in her gut it was just from how it was wrapped.

Splinter nodded after remaining silent to pull himself together " I am afraid so, it was far to damaged to try and save it, Kira. You had already lost to much blood and the only means we had to save your life was to remove it and cauterize the end." He explained in a soft fatherly voice he knew would help ease the reality of the situation they were . " Now rest so that your body may heal, Kira." He instructed her before getting ready to leave thinking she would like some privacy.

Taking hold of his hand firmly she tried to stop him " No, don't go, please… not yet anyway…" she pleaded not wanting to be alone in this strange place"

Looking up at Usagi for a moment as if holding a silent conversation Splinter returned his attention back to the frightened young woman " Then I shall stay at your side. Usagi, please see to it that an extra bed and food are brought to the room." He then requested while giving her a gentle smile as he watched her ease into a more comfortable position to sleep.

"Yes, Sensei. " Usagi spoke softly before standing and bowing respectfully before him before quietly leaving the room.

Once they were alone Kira gave Splinter a very pointed and stubborn look " Just because I can't remember a few things don't mean I remember nothing from before… I can see in your eyes that you at least know someone by the same name… Please tell me.. Maybe it will help me remember… " she pleaded with him in spite of how tired or hurt she was.

Exhaling heavily he moved into a more comfortable seated position " You are once again correct" he replied bowing his head " I knew of a young woman by that name from one of my four Sons back in New York. I was expecting him to sneak off that same night to meet with her as they had done on every Tuesday night for quite some time now." He explained leaving it at that for if this happened to be the same person, she would need to remember the rest on her own " Now rest, we can speak more later!"

" That's code for 'shut up and let me sleep you annoying Teenager!" she sniggered while closing her eyes to sleep " good night, Masta Splinter.." she murmured as she fell fast asleep leaving Splinter looking at her in a state of complete shock.