( A/N for Anyone not familiar with New York State Weather in the winter time just know what's writen in this chapter is NOT an exaggeration. I live further Upstate and its no Joke, this is the kind of cold where you keep animals indoors or they freaze to death ( I know that all to well :-( )


Chapter 7: Mayhem ( Hailstorm)

" MIKEY…."

" Dudette RUN!"

" You run, I wanna watch"… " Hey…"

Sitting in the TV area watching his stories, Splinter tried to drowned out the sounds of three of the five teenaged 'children' that were causing the most chaos at the moment. Saying that they were feeling cooped up was an understatement as an early winter storm had been hammering Manhattan for the last week with near sub-zero temperatures forcing everyone to remain bellow in order to keep watch over the pipes surrounding their home. Both Michelangelo and Kira have bonded as brother and sister in the month following her arrival and had teamed up in order to prank Raphael, much to his annoyance, but in their new found friendship Kira's health had improved in leaps and bounds. She was not only gaining weight but mental stability and balance as well since she had started training with the Brothers after their days practice as part of her rehabilitation.

" He's gaining on us, move your tail!" … " not like that you smartass!"

Chuckling softly to himself Splinter continued to listen in on the chase that was currently happening behind him as his eldest Son had came to join him in watching TV.

" Come 'ere…"

"Must, Run, Faster, MIKEY!"

" I'm giving it all she's got Captain!"

"You call yourself a Ninja… Snails are faster than you!"… " Aghhh nooo, help me …. Mikey get back here and save me you, you, YOU TRATOR"

" Do you think we should do something Dad?" Leonardo inquired in a hushed amused voice as he watched Raphael walk by smirking wickedly with Kira thrown over his shoulder, headed for the stairs to the second level.

" Let them sort things out themselves, if one can not handle retribution, then they should not have poked the monster to begin with!" Splinter replied with an amused smile " It is good to have everything back to normal in our home, even if we have gained an additional instigator."

Laughing softly Leonardo couldn't agree more " Yeah, Kira and Mikey do make a formidable team when they put their heads together especially in the kitchen!"

Splinter was about to reply when the an alarm went off seconds before the lair was engulfed in darkness causing Kira to scream in fright.

" Donnie…." Was heard coming from multiple sections of the lair when the emergency flood lights kicked on.

"April just texted me, the powers out all over Manhattan! " Donatello spoke up walking out of his computer lap with a head lamp on lighting his way " She said that we all can ride this storm out up at her place seeing as the weather station just reported a Nor'easter piggybacking this bad boy!" he explained coming to stand at the bottom of the stairs in order to light them up for Raphael and Kira.

" Then what are we standin around here for?" Raphael growled impatiently while holding his girlfriend tight against his side " I ain't forcing her to stay in the dark down here…" he pointed out protectively.

" Raphs, right! There's no point in any of us staying down here when powers knocked out our air filtration system and electric heaters… Don, Mikey you two gather up what food we can take with us, there's no sense in eating April outta house and home when we got food we can share. Raph, you can pack Kira's things and gather yours and Mikey's winter street clothes and I'll grab the rest of ours, Kira, you can stay down here with Dad. Let's move before were stuck down here!" Leonardo spoke up taking command of the situation. Regardless of how dangerous of a trip this would be with the snow and ice above, he had the wellbeing of his family to think of and it wasn't safe to stay bellow with no heat.

Walking over to where the shaking young woman stood he placed a steadying hand onto her shoulder " Now would be a good time for you to work on overcoming your fears" Splinter suggested in a soft supportive voice.

" I'm trying Masta Splinter, I only screamed cause I had my eyes shut when the power went out and it shook me up a little. Right now I'm mostly chilled…" she explained honestly to him trying hard to avoid the temptation of snuggling into his fur. " So, ah is this something you guys normally do when the weather gets rough?" she inquired curiously as she rubbed her left forearm to warm the stump.

" Only in the time we have known Miss. O'Neil" he answered her while watching his sons moving about the lair.

When everyone was ready to leave both Splinter and Kira walked in the middle of the four Turtles as they made their way threw the sewers on the way to the manhole that led to the alley closest to April's apartment building. With Leonardo and Michelangelo in the lead Kira kept close to the youngest brother with their father behind her, this insured that Raphael would have no distractions in covering the rear. With the Shedder out of the picture at the moment, a Gang war was brewing once again in the City only this time Hun had placed a hefty bounty on the Turtles heads. The most concerning was the fact he even placed an even higher bounty on the girl who had assisted in Raphael's escape almost one year prior. Needless to say when they had learned of this Raphael was angered beyond anything Kira had ever witnessed and ended up bunking with Michelangelo that night as he refused to leave the Dojo.

" Raahh… I can't get this cover moved! Raph see if you can budge it?" Leonardo grunted as he hopped down from the service ladder. " If we can't get out this way then we'll have to go back and risk using the Battle Shell." He replied watching the strongest of the brothers walk past and head up the ladder.

" Maybe not…" Kira replied as an idea struck her " if you can get it open enough for me to squeeze threw I can clear it off so the rest of you can go up!" She proposed, each of the Turtles were nearing or have exceeded 6 foot in height while she was ranging around 5foot 6 and had a body frame not much different than the 90 pound Rat they had for a father.

" Hun's goons would be out there…" Raphael protested with a straining grunt from the force he was putting behind moving the manhole lid. Climbing down enough to poke his head into view he was visibly breathing hard.

" I can do this!" She stated obstinately giving her boyfriend a hard look.

" Alright, I believe you" Leonardo sighed stepping in to intervene before the stubborn couple started arguing " Let's just see if we can get it lifted enough for you to get out first!" he reasoned with her " Come on Raph, let's see if the two of us can make a difference"

Everyone gathered around the bottom of the ladder and watched the eldest Brothers squeeze up and work together at freeing the manhole cover. Michelangelo cheered when a small amount of snow came falling in from above followed by Raphael who hopped down and took her backpack from her before adjusting the leather jacket she now had over top of her hoodie. Once he made sure her stump would stay covered with how the hoodie sleeve was folded up and back within the jackets, he lifted her up by the waist and handed her up to his brother.

Standing with his back pressed against the side of the hole Leonardo held Kira in place with his one arm wrapped around her waist before moving to open the manhole cover for her. " They haven't plowed this side street yet so be careful out there, I can't get out to help you until you get this cleared!" he instructed her before lifting the cover up several inches " it's a tight squeeze…"

With his help Kira was able to work her way out onto the snow filled street and quickly set to work at brushing away the snow until she realized what the problem was. " Leo, there's thick ice up here I need something to break it up with!" she whispered after giving the lid a knock to get his attention. 'Ere… use this!' She heard Raphael's voice call out moments before his sai was pushed out threw the opening. Picking the large heavy weapon up with her small right hand, she began to chip away at the ice that covered the rest of the Lid, inadvertently making a lot of unwanted noise.

Walking just down the block from where she was busy removing the built up ice were a hand full of Purple Dragons. Upon hearing the noise and seeing someone on their knees in the middle of the empty side streets hacking away at something they decided to get a little nosy and when one of them noticed the weapon a phone call was quickly made. Given orders to keep watch over that side street the gang members pulled their weapons and started heading into that direction.

" How's it coming up there?" Leonardo's voice called up after hearing metal striking metal and sliding before hearing muttered cursing. ' I think I got enough of it …' her voice began to reply until it was quickly cut off when the sound of several male voices appeared suddenly. A wave of terror washed over Leonardo the second Hun's name was mentioned by Kira who now seamed to be standing on top of the man whole cover by the sudden added weight of it.

" Leo…" Raphael's voice growled dangerously having already climbed half way up the ladder and could hear everything he could. It was taking ever ounce of restraint to keep himself from ripping his brother out of the way and barging his way to the surface to protect Kira but one look at his brothers face he could clearly see the same struggle going threw their leaders mind.

" Come on Girly, We's got orders not ta harm ya! Just drop that weapon ya got and come along nice and easy and We's won't hurt those freaks we know yer protecting!" a tall scrawny guy spoke up taking a step closer to her.

" You'll have a better chance at giving 'Hun' a Blowjob!" Kira shouted definitely as she held the Sai in a defensive manner.

" With a mouth like yours he'll most likely use it for that and so much more before he pops your head like a grape!" the man snarled not liking her insult one bit as he took another few steps closer with the men behind him moving around to surround her.

Stomping her foot on the manhole cover Kira took a few steps back as a dangerous smirk filled her face " Fat chance, Fuckttard!" she shouted seconds before the heavy manhole cover came launching up into the air and a very pissed off Red banded Turtle came launching out of the sewer entrance. Tossing him the sai Kira stood back and watched as her Turtles joined into the fight followed by their father moments before a couple cars pulled up on each end of the street boxing them in as backup arrived for the six out matched gang members.

With Splinter standing at her side in the center of the ring of fighting Turtles, Kira watched as they took down the Dragons easily at first but the weather was quickly siding against them as the cold and visibility was steadily getting worse. They needed a way out and fast but with the turtles locked in battle, and keeping her out of it, Kira looked around at the options available which from what she could see was up the fire escape across the alley from where she stood.

" We gotta get you up that ladder Masta Splinter! Its our only option to get you outta here…" She spoke up moving closer to the old Rat whom she could see was beginning to feel the cold. " Mikey…" Kira called out catching her friends attention " Get Splinter outta here!" She hollered out pointing at the fire escape.

" Do It Mikey... Get 'em outta here now!" Raphael called out having heard his girlfriends voice calling out to his little brother.

Putting his chucks away, Michelangelo rushed over to where she and his father were standing " Ladies first!" he replied moving to pick Kira up first until she stepped aside and pushed Splinter into his arms.

" No! Get him to April's now! I can last longer in the cold than he can!" she ordered him throwing the hard truth in his face.

Giving her a conflicted look he nodded and picked his Sensei up into his arms " Here, remember what I showed you!" Michelangelo replied shoving one of his Nunchaku into her right hand and jumped up onto the dumpster before landing on the fire escape to carry Splinter to safety. Gripping the handle of her friends weapon firmly, Kira started using it to cover their escape with an awkward attack as she had only just started learning how to use it.

Looking back over his shoulder to check on things Leonardo was momentarily shocked to see that Kira was covering their brothers back with his own weapon. Jumping up to kick one guy in the face, he pushed off into a back flip and landed at her back to lend her a hand " Do I want to know just what your doing?" he asked before roundhouse kicking a guy that was about to hit her with a pipe while she was distracted with another.

" Yeah, covering Mikey's Shell so he can get Masta Splinter outta here! The cold was getting to him more than it as me" she replied successfully knocking one guy out and busting another's face wide open.

" Not for long" sheathing his swords Leonardo scooped her up with one arm and hoisted her onto his back before making the jump and grabbing hold of the ladder " Time to go!" he called out before climbing up the fire escape as the lights of a snow plow were reflecting off the windows grew brighter. Holding on long enough for Raphael to catch up, Kira moved onto her boyfriend's Shell where she could get a better grip as they started running over the roof tops to take the long indirect way to Aprils apartment.

Adjusting her grip she moved her head up next to his, she sought out his comfort more than warmth, " I busted a guys face wide open with Mikey's nunchaku!" she whispered hoping it would make him a little less pissed off with her.

" I seen!" he muttered with his voice still reflecting his frustration at her not leaving like he wanted " I ain't pissed at ya! But I ain't happy ya went against me back there, even if you were just doing what was right… Thanks for havin Dads back" he whispered taking a moment on a roof to best judge the risk of jumping to the higher roof of the next building with her.

Pressing a kiss to his temple she snuggled into his neck more " I know Raphie, I know" looking up she also took a look at the next building " You can use the grappling hook… it's in my bag!" she suggested thinking that to be the best option.

" Can't, my hands are to stiff from the cold since I lost my gloves in the fight" he explained emphasizing his point by attempting to move them under her thighs.

Wiggling down off his back, she moved around to stand in front of him to see how cold they were " Jesus Christmas, you ain't shittin me Raphie. There like ice!" Looking up into his golden eyes she couldn't help but frown " this is gonna hurt in a bit but it will help thaw them faster!" she replied letting go of them to unzip her leather jacket.

Raphael watched her in absolute confusion as he was to cold to argue at that point but when he watched he watched her unzip hoodie his eyes went wide when she lifted her tee shirt. " The hell are you doing Babe, its to fuckin cold for you to ..." his voice caught in his throat when she took one of his hands and shoved it up into her left armpit underneath her tee.

" Get the other hand under the other side and keep them there. We'll use my 98.6 body temp to thaw you out!" she explained chattering a bit from the combination of his frozen hands and her exposed stomach.

Not liking how cold she was now getting in doing this for him he knelt down to lower himself so he wasn't lifting the shirt so much " Stand closer to me Baby and I'll try to keep you warm too" he whispered making sure his hot breath made contact with her stomach. He didn't give a shit if this put him way behind or at how this might look, the fact of the matter was he was mostly cold blooded and she wasn't! Smiling tenderly as he felt her move up tight against him as she wrap her arms around his head, he couldn't help but be thankful with how quick thinking and level headed she was in that moment of time and with how warm her smaller body really was.

When both Leonardo and Donatello had made it to April's window in time to see that both their Father and Baby brother wrapped up in blankets and drinking from steaming mugs but Donatello noticed there was no sign of Kira and Raphael whom they had lost some time ago. Smiling as their old friend welcomed them each with a warm blanket Leonardo shook his head " Raph and Kira didn't show up yet have they April? " he asked even though his gut told him they were still out in the storm.

" No, weren't they with you? Mikey told me you guys had a run in with the Purple Dragons" she asked now becoming even more worried as they could barely see the buildings across the street with how hard it was snowing.

Sighing heavily Leonardo shook his head " We lost them some time ago when we had to take the long way around to make sure we weren't followed! I'm going up to the roof to look for them…" he replied making a move to climb out the window when there was an urgent knock on the front door.

Moving with ninja speed that still surprised April, she walked over to the door as it now sounded like it was being kicked " Just a second," she called out when she heard a familiar voice called out from the other side.

' It Casey! Open up the damn door already before I drop these two!'

Before she could even open the door all three turtles were right at her side and gasped when they seen Casey Jones holding Raphael up with one arm and Kira thrown over the other shoulder. " I found these two down the stair well" he explained handing the teenaged girl over to the eldest Turtle.

" Leo, get her to my room and I'll be right with you! Casey help Raph to the living room where Donnie can take a look at him" April replied as she began barking orders.

" No… I ain't leavin her side…" Raphael began to stubbornly protest as he tried to will himself to walk with his older brother as he took Kira from Casey Jones.

It took both of his younger brothers to catch him as his feet didn't move as fast as his upper body did " Dude you're a total Turtlecicle! Let April check her out then you can go have snuggly-cuddle time with your Girl, Brah" Michelangelo pointed out logically understanding what he was feeling.

Casey cocked an eyebrow as he watched his green buddy give in and let his little brothers help him into the living room where they began stripping his snow-melt soaked clothes off and wrap him up in several blankets. Taking a few moments to strip off his coat and boots he waved Leonardo over when he reappeared " What's up with Raph and that girl Kira anyway? He won't tell my shit on her and he normally tells me everything man"

The question took him by surprise at first but he smiled to set the mans mind at ease " From what I have come to understand it's for basically the same reasons why it took you so long for you to tell him about and April!"

" What are you talking about Leo? Why would I want to kick his ass for knocking boots with some kid I don't know anything about?" he shouted out earning a deep growl from said Turtle.

" Its best you leave it at that right now Casey!" Leonardo replied shaking his head in mild amusement before walking over to check on their father.

After stripping Kira of her cold wet clothes and placing her into dry sweats and a baggy oversized tee, April tucked her into the bed under multiple extra blankets before walking out into the living room. With the power out and candles as their only source of light and mild heat she felt much better knowing that everyone she loved was under one roof to ride out this crazy weather system. It wasn't even Thanksgiving yet and it was already feeling like Christmas.

" You can go in now Raphael, I got her changed into warm clothes and it might do you some good to curl up under the quilts I got her under as well!" she exclaimed in her "Big Sister" tone than none of the brothers argued with. Waiting until he was out of the room she turned to her Boyfriend and placed her hands firmly on her hips " Casey Jones… I could hear everything you said in there and you should be ashamed of yourself!" she stated firmly giving him ' the look' .

" Aww, Babe I…"

" Aww Babe my ass!" she retorted cursing like she only ever does when she is truly and severally pissed off " If you weren't so distant and skeptical about 'Your' Best Friends relationship with the girl, he very clearly is head over heals in-love with, you would understand how delicate of a situation this is for both of them but you wouldn't know delicate if it came up and bit your Balls off!" She scolded him in the very hushed voice that even had Splinter laying his ears back in fear from time to time. Forcing herself to calm down she walked up to him and placed her hands tenderly onto his chest " Raph will understand with this coming from me so listen closely. Kira's a troubled kid who crossed Hun's path in the bad way when they saved each other from the Dragons the night they met, not only do they have a lot in common but he's been in-love with her since that night. How do I know this, because I drilled it out of him when he came by that night looking like he was flying on cloud 9!"

" You knew all this time?" Donatello asked the question that almost everyone had been thinking.

Smiling she nodded " Yes I did Don and before you even ask, there are just some things that only a Big Sister is capable of handling!" she answered giving Splinter a knowing wink " Raph was confused and frightened to reveal their relationship and I gave him my word that anything he said would stay between us. Which Master Splinter had already given me his blessing on years ago, trusting my ability to know if anything you four has confided in me would place any of you in danger!" she further explained setting their minds at ease.

" That mean you shelled out the cash for their Hot Chocolates?" Michelangelo asked drawing confused looks from his brothers and Casey.

" Raphael would help me out in my shop and earn the money, so in a way no and yes" she chuckled truthfully.

Snuggled warmly in April's bed Raphael held Kira protectively in his arms while he chuckled as they listened to the older Woman in the other room when he felt his girlfriend moving against him " You weren't shitting me when you said your ' Sister ' was Scary as shit!" Kira murmured chuckling.

" Yes she is!" He whispered nuzzling her face lovingly.

" Think she'd kick your Shell in if she knew we were messing around in here instead of getting to sleep?" she asked playfully smirking against his neck, letting her hand drift down his side slowly.

Chuckling deeply he caught her hand and brought it up to his mouth and kissed it " Let's just get some sleep Baby, I don't need you getting sick. Donnie would kick your ass for putting yourself at risk like that even if it was to keep my hands from getting frost bite"

" Think again," Donatello spoke up clearing his throat from the doorway to April's bedroom " I should kick both of your asses for scarring us like you did out there!" he replied walking into the room with his head lamp on " Let me see your hands Raph," he requested wanting to check them out after overhearing their conversation.

Exhaling Raphael sat up and held them out to his brother " I didn't want to risk making that jump up to that higher roof with her when I could barely move my hands, then she went and had me stick them up in her armpits. But by the time I could feel them again she was shivering hard and falling asleep so I went down street level to run her back here the safest way possible" he explained why it took them so long.

Turning his brothers hands back and forth he nodded " Under the circumstances you both did the right thing. Your hands will be just fine now thanks to Kira's quick thinking and with how bad it was getting out there I'm glad you chose the safer way, those roofs were getting to dangerous to run across!" he explained before moving to check her out " So how was it that Casey ended up dragging you two up the stairs ?" He then inquired.

Raphael snorted " I gave the Bonehead a call after only making it up two flights when my feet started going all pins and needles and by then my heater here fell asleep on me.. Literally!"

Donatello chuckled softly " Well you two will be just fine. Just keep bundled up and let your bodies warm back up and with any luck the power will be back on soon!" He said giving her foot a pat before heading back out into the main room, closing the door behind him.