A/n: The idea of the train wasn't a random one, it was born from personal experience. I wasn't in a train crash, thank god, but I did ride a train through the mountains with my family and heard a train horn that wasn't ours. I learned later that there were two tracks near each other, separated by the mountain. The trains only ever went one direction so accidents like what you're about to read don't happen, but before I knew that, I was absolutely terrified we were about to be killed in a collision. Thus, the fear made its way into my story.

And I haven't ridden a train since.

"Yahtzee!" My stepfather hollered, waking me from my nap. I opened my eyes and winced at the sun in my face before pulling my head back from the window it was resting on. I stared outside it for a moment, confused as to where I was. The train I was in was speeding between the mountains, leaving the giant rock walls just outside the window a blur of red and brown.

My little brother's groan entered the air as my dad laughed triumphantly. I looked away from the window and around the carriage my family was staying in for the next day. We were heading for Oregon to visit my grandmother for Christmas, and we decided taking a train would be a fun way to go. It was actually rather boring when traveling between two rock walls, so to pass the time my dad and brother were playing Yahtzee, and my mom was picking at her arm in the seat across from me.

"Hey, you're awake. How was sleep?" Mom asked when she noticed I'd woken up. I watched her, my lip trembling as I stared at her, alive and completely healthy. I knew what this was, this was the worst moment of my life. The last time I saw my family alive and together, and in just a few seconds, there was going to be the sound of a train horn.

I wanted to warn them, tell them to buckle down, warn the person steering the train to stop. I knew I couldn't though, I'd had this nightmare on repeat, reliving this day, for years now. I'd never been able to break the cycle, so I just stared at my mom, dazed that she was alive, hearing the sounds of my father and brother laughing as they tossed dice back and forth. Instead of doing what I wanted most, I closed my eyes again, waiting for things to repeat.

"Full hou-" My brother's crow was stopped at the sound of a train whistle. It was too far away from ours, which meant there was another train on the track. It was a one-way trip to Oregon, and our train had been the first to leave the station, so there was a train going in the opposite direction we were. It was going to be a head-on collision between two giant slabs of rock.

"Michelle, was that ours, or..." My dad's voice trailed off. My mom stood up and looked out the window; even if I didn't see her do it, I knew she did.

"I don't think so. Henry, get Jon-"

The sounds of crunching metal came from far ahead in front of us, and I knew it was the collision of the two trains. My mom jumped for me as my dad grabbed Jonathan. I felt my mom's hands moved over me frantically, buckling me into my seat and tightening the straps so I didn't go flying. The sounds of the carriages ahead of ours were deafening, and I couldn't discern the words my mother was screaming.

She cloaked her body over mine, using herself as a meat shield that wouldn't work. There was two seconds of freefall, and then a neck breaking jerk as our carriage collided with the one in front of us. The railings squealed as they were torn apart, the windows shattered as we hit the mountain wall. I heard the tearing as some of the seats were uprooted from their spots, and my mom's comforting weight disappeared.

As the carriage behind us hit, pipes and glass from inside the train flew around, and the sharp broken piece of one of them cut through my left eye. An intense burning pain shot through my face, and I reached my hands up to grab my left eye. There was a loud whining sound as the side of the train scraped the mountain wall. Seconds later, I felt a pipe pierce my side. I could feel it moving from entry at my back and out my front. My body shook from the force of not caving in or opening my eyes.

Glass and metal scrapped me, and the sheer force of being moved so violently bruised my arms, legs, and head. I sat there shaking for several second after we stopped moved, not wanting to open my eyes. I knew what I was going to see, and I didn't want to again. I didn't want to see my family dead. But the only way to get out of this nightmare was to look.

I uncovered my face slowly, blinking the blood out of my eye fervently. I first looked down, staring at the pipe sticking out of my stomach. The sharp point of it stuck up, and a small drip of my blood slid down it. I took a deep breath, steeling myself before I looked. I blinked the blood out again, and the movement sent lashes of pain throughout my body. Blinking hurt, but I had to do it to get the blood out.

I looked over at my family, knowing what I was going to see but still having to look.

I saw my father first, sitting in the seat parallel to mine on the opposite side of the train. I knew it was my dad because I could see the top of his blond head, and the fracture along the side from being crushed between two chairs. His arm stuck out from the crushed compartment, and I willed his hand to move. But it didn't, it remained completely motionless and with blood slowly falling from the tips of his fingers.

I found my mom next. Half of her body was out of a window, and she laid pressed on glass that had made up that window. Her legs were scratched beyond reason and had glass and metal pieces sticking out of them, and I could only imagine how they got there. The part that made me realize she was not alive was the rock wall pressed against the side of the train she was on, crushing her.

That left my brother, Jonathan... I looked down at the aisle to find him, because perhaps he survived this time. Out of the four of us in this compartment, he looked the most ok. He looked rather safe save for the glass that was on his body. Not in him, it just happened to land on him. He had cuts all over his body, but they weren't that bad. The worst I saw was his right arm, which was bending at an awkward angle, and his bone that was sticking out like bleach against the bloody ground. Then I found the real problem. His head was bleeding profusely, but I couldn't figure out why. I knew why now, there was a spider web fracture against the back of his head, but I hadn't known back then, I just knew something was wrong.

I sat frozen, the pain in my body completely gone at the sight of my brother. I watched him, watched for some sign of life out of him that I didn't get from our parents. It felt like I could breathe again when I realized his chest was moving. Just a small up-down movement, but it was more than enough.

I moved forward, trying to get him. I didn't know what I could do -how did you stop bleeding from the head?- but I had to get to him. I wasn't prepared to watch my brother die again, I never was. The pipe in my body twisted painfully, but I didn't care about that pain. I wanted my brother.

"Jonathan!" I cried out, stretching my hand for him. His eyes opened just a sliver, and I saw them move to try and find me. I looked down at my side where the pipe was, and reached down to grab it and pull. Get it out, get it out, get it out. It didn't budge, and I cried out from the surprising amount of pain it caused. I stopped pulling and just breathed for a moment. Then the thought that maybe I could push it through graced my mind. I grabbed the front end of the pipe and pushed. Stars popped in front of my eyes, and I tried to blink them away.

A bright light appeared in my line of vision, waking me up from the nightmare. As grateful as I was for the light, it still hurt, and my first reaction was to swipe my hand out to try to cut out the light. I opened my eyes when I actually hit something.

"Ow! Hey, watch where ya swing that thing." Raph shouted, backing away from me. I sat up quickly, hand out automatically to help him before I curled it back into me.

"Sorry, Raph. The light hurt my eyes." I apologized. Raph rubbed his arm lightly as he glared at my brace.

"Yeah yeah, I should have made Donnie give ya a smaller brace. It's a bullet wound, not a broken wrist," He muttered, giving the innocent brace one last glare before he looked up at me. His eyes had no trouble at all trying to catch mine, and we stared at each other for several seconds. Is it me, or are his eyes more yellow? Maybe it's the lighting?

"Or no brace at all would be better," I mumbled, remembering there had been an attempt at conversation. I looked away from the turtle and around the room. With the new light, a glow in the seams of the walls themselves, the room looked clearer. I didn't catch the side table next to me, nor the glass of water on top of it. The sight of the water though had me perking up.

I reach over to the dust covered glass and sipped slowly. Three days of no water because I slept, and I remember the last time I drank water after none for a while. It should be about a five months ago, just after I left the Louise family. I had gotten so used to regular meals and water always at hand, I nearly died of famish. I got food from stores that thought I was a lost sixteen year old, always playing the "New Girl from the Big City" card to get food, but water wasn't as easy to come by. Food was a necessity to me, so I forgot the water. I went a couple days without water before I remembered I needed it, and that was only after getting light headed. I smuggled two water bottles from a store and drank the first one completely. That evening I learned to take sips unless you want to be throwing up for a while.

I sipped the water carefully, and my throat felt better for it. When my mouth and throat felt sufficiently wet and my stomach felt happy, I set the glass down and faced Raph. He looked hesitant, glancing between me and the glass of water.

"You've gone without water for an extended period of time before haven't ya?" He asked, and I got the distinct feeling he was also speaking from experience. I looked down and twiddled my fingers just to do something.

"Yeah. A while back, just after the bullet wound... There's more to the reason I don't want to get attached to anyone or anything besides losing my family or just being alone. You lose sight of your own needs as more people get into the equation, so when your alone again, you don't know what to do." I responded. Raph nodded slowly, probably thinking over my words.

"Ya know, ya don't have ta be alone in New York City," Raph said, quietly. I moved my head enough to see his hands by his side, but no higher up. I knew exactly what he meant, even though he gave no inclination to it. I didn't have to be alone, I could be with them, or perhaps at least friends with them.

"You don't know what you're asking for. You don't know me, you have no idea what I'm going to do, and you have no idea what I've done. You can't extend a hand to someone you met after she killed six people." I answered.

"Well I clearly jus' did," He retorted, his voice now having just a touch of anger in it. I glanced up at him then, because Raph was a rather nice turtle, and hadn't expressed any emotions beyond comfort, subdue, and understanding.

He was leaned forward slightly, and his shoulders were tense like he was waiting for a fight. His brow was wrinkled into harsh lines, and it looked like his nostrils were flaring just a bit. He stared back at me for all of two seconds before his look changed from annoyance to confusion.

"Yer not... scared of me?" He asked. Now I looked at him in confusion.

"No?" I answered. Raph's expression now changed into one of consideration.

"I've gone about this whole thing thinkin' ya were actually scared of us but bidin' yer time before ya could leave. Yer seriously not afraid us?" He asked. The statement and question told me more about his mind than talking to him for days ever could have, and it clicked in my head about some of the things Leo reacted too. The weakness bit made more sense now.

"No." I sighed.

"So ya actually don't like being near others an' possibly gettin' attached, and weren't sayin' it ta not offend us." He said, more like a statement and less a question.

"Yes." I answered. My response seemed to stumped Raph, and he stared over my shoulder with glazed eyes. I knew he was actually mentally talking to himself when his brow furrowed, followed immediately by shaking his head. He looked at me once more.

"Well, uh, the family, mine I mean, is waitin' ta meet ya. So, if ya could stand…" He moved closer as if offering to help me up. A glare on my part stopped him, and he stood back as I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. The cool floor reminded me that my boots weren't here and that I'm completely exposed to anyone who looked. I stood slowly and willed myself not to close in on myself as I follow Raph out of the room.

The vast expansion of the house made me think of an underground mansion. The walls were lined with built in lights that I had a feeling wouldn't burn out for a long time. The floor was bare of any carpets or coverings, but it felt smooth and clean; it felt cool to my worn feet. He led me down a staircase that was in the middle of a long hall, and I saw a room with a lit computer on the opposite side of the upper floor from my room before it disappeared behind the stairway banister.

The bottom floor reminded me of a living room. There was a long couch placed in front of several TVs, two recliner chairs on either side of the couch, and a long table between them. In the back of the room was a door, probably leading to the kitchen, and several yards from that door was another door made of a flimsy wood, where it led to, I don't know. A bathroom maybe? I took notice that there was a large double door laid to the far left of the living room, and I instantly started thinking of ways out of here. Then I remembered, I wasn't a prisoner. I could leave whenever I wanted, and none of them would stop me.

I glance at Raph as I thought that. Well, they might try to talk me out of it. More importantly, Raph might try to talk me out of it, though why he even tried to do anything with me was a mystery. What had even encouraged him to bring me to his home anyways? Why didn't he share the same views as his brother Leo, who clearly saw me for the murderer I was. What connection did he see, what person did he see, when he looked at me?

I glanced away from him to see the new faces that were turning towards us. There were three turtles; Leo I already knew, who was in one of the recliners with a guarded tenseness in his whole body. The other two no-named turtles sat on the wide couch. The first one was a shamrock green color and wore an orange mask. Behind the orange mask were startling blue eyes that I nearly tripped over from seeing. The startling blue eyes were matched by an equally dazzling smile that I felt had no right to be directed at me. From what I could see of his body, his physical description followed more along Raph's framework. A boxer-muscle physique, even though something about it didn't fit the image. He didn't look like someone who spent hours in the gym, he didn't have that level of definition, his were just big like Raph's. Perhaps a level of body fat? Or maybe a different approach to training, who was I to assume.

I switched over to the other turtle. He had jade green colored skin, and intelligent light brown eyes inside of a purple mask. His attitude towards me seemed... friendly. Almost more non-judgemental and curious than anything else. Actually, his attitude matched the color of his mask fairly well in my eyes. He was thin in a way that was lanky, which was very weird to think considering his shell size didn't look smaller compared to his brothers, and he had a muscular shape that followed Leo's example more than Raph's. He was lean, defined, but lanky, and was by far the most different of the other three.

I faintly noted in the back of my head that all of almost all of them had different eye colors. Leo had dark brown eyes, Raph had yellow-hazel eyes, the orange clad turtle had blue eyes, and the purple clad turtle had light brown eyes. As a green eyed girl who had a brother with blue eyes, I knew different eye colors wasn't the strangest thing, but all four of them had different eye colors. Were they really brothers?

And then I saw the rat. I nearly yelped upon finding him relaxing in the second recliner. The giant rat-person was radically different from the turtles. He looked fragile, and had a mixture of brown and gray fur across his body, or I assumed so because he was wearing a robe. Like the kind you saw in ninja movies. He had steaming cup of some brown liquid in his furry, four fingered, claw like hands, and gazed at me with an expressionless expression that made me feel bare.

"Uh, Elizabeth. You've already met Leonardo," Raph started, drawing my attention away from the warm-blooded mammalian. The turtle he just named nodded shortly at me because we already knew each other, and I nodded towards him.

"The orange clad turtle is my little brother Michelangelo," Raph said, waving towards the grinning turtle. Michelangelo hopped over the couch when his name was said and bounded up to me with a skip. My immediate reaction was tense up, and I twisted my body to create a smaller target automatically. The motion made all of them to tense up except for the turtle that had caused it all. He stopped right in front of me, save a foot or two, and rocked on his heels as he contemplated something.

"Just call me Mikey. The other turtle is Donnie, the one who put that brace on your arm." He eventually said, and then did a little wave at me, topped with a grin. My jaw dropped at the image and I looked over at Raph for some help on the situation. He gave the very helpful answer of shrugging his shoulder.

"And that's Donatello." He completed, pointing at the last, unnamed turtle. Donatello, Donnie, he was the one to thank for my wrist.

Donnie stood up slowly and walked around the couch at a pace that was leisurely. He looked rather lax about all of this, and if it wasn't for the cautious look in his eye, I'd of believed it. He walked right up to me and held out his hand. I blinked at it a few times, just staring at the three-fingered hand. Raph never did that when we met, but then again it was just after I had killed several people, and my arm was wounded. Leo just plain hated me from the second he saw me and probably doesn't like being in the same room as me. Mikey looked like he wanted to just hug, but held back for the sake of I didn't. Donnie was the only one to really show manners.

I brought back some dusty manners I still remembered and smiled in a semi-kind manner. I grabbed his hand, shook it once, and then let go. He seemed fine with that, and the caution in his face changed into curiosity. He transferred his focus to my eye, my left one, and studied it acutely. I was once more reminded of the scar across my face and self-consciousness overtook me. I ducked my head out of his line of vision and covered my eye. This didn't deter Donnie though.

"Can you see out of your left eye?" He asked. His voice was gentle compared to his brothers, and lacked the accent, dominant intent, or playful shine any of them had. It was gentle, and he sounded curious.

"Yeah," I answered, mildly concerned and confused by his question. The turtle had the guts to reach out and lift my hair from my face to look at my eye once more. Raph let out a noise of consternation and stepped forwards and grabbed Donnie's arm.

"Don, she's not a fan of being touched." Raph murmured. Don looked away from my eye and over to Raph, and then back to me.

"Just a few questions; do you have complete retention of sight or partial retention, what was the actual wound- ow! Ok, I'm sorry I touched of your hair- now will you please let go of my arm Raph?" Don spit in rapid-fire. I turned to see Raph, who was indeed holding Donnie's arm tight enough it was a lighter green. He looked over at me with a frown on his face.

"I apologize for my brother's behavior, he's sometimes a bit too scientist an' not enough normal," Raph said to me, and he let go of Don. I raised my eyebrows up high and let out a single laugh. I looked over at the purple turtle and watched him rub his wrist while throwing sideways glares at Raph. When he saw I was looking though he perked up. Over his shoulder I saw Mikey and Leo leaning in from several feet away, trying to see what was going on. The scene all around was funny to me, and now the little smile I had was genuine.

"Do I get to have answers or..." Don trailed off, leaving the question open-ended for me to answer.

"They will have to wait, Donatello. Our guest has not been introduced to everyone yet." A new voice spoke, which I could only guess was the rat in robes. Donatello, in an instant, bent to the words of the rat and moved out of the way so I could face him.

The last figure in the room that I'd yet to be introduced to was the giant rat. When I looked at Raph for learning his name, Raph shrugged and made a shooing motion. Oh, great, I was supposed to walk to this old rat and talk one on one with him while everyone watched. Because nothing is wrong with that scenario.

He was still sitting in the reclining chair, though he leaned forward now, and watched me with a patience I'd never seen. He beckoned me with a soft roll of his wrist and I was quick to answer. I walked towards him quietly, twiddling my thumbs as I got closer. His eyes never left mine, and even though he blinked it felt like he could see me through his eyelids. I managed to get all the way to in front of the rat before I buckled under his stare. I fell to my knees, and immediately tilted my head down.

"I'm not your superior." He murmured softly, and I looked up. I stared at the old rat and noted that even at this distance he looked frail, weak, and old, but something told me he would have me face down in the dirt the second I posed any threat. I was rather careless with my life and clearly didn't have a moral code for killing, but I wasn't stupid enough to try anything in front of him.

"You've come a long way, Elizabeth. Not a small feat I would guess, you were still severely wounded when you left Oregon." He said. I managed a one arm shrug, but I was a bit shaken that he knew that. I didn't say anything about being wounded when I left Oregon- I didn't say I was ever in Oregon to them. What, did he have some mind Jedi trick or something?

"Oh you know, three years travel, still had the stitches from the accident when I left, was in an attempted kidnapping or three, got shot, I've nearly died several times, the works. Though how you know that is concerning considering how hard I tried to hide my identity." I muttered not so sarcastically. The rat looked at least partially amused, and waved over my shoulder, at one of the turtles I'm guessing.

"Donatello is an expert at machines. Using what information you gave about your life, he was able to learn who you were," The rat said, and looked back at me. "You caused quite a ruckus over there. There are still posters out for you in Oregon, but you're not there. You're here in New York, and you have graced us with your presence."

"Not to be rude, uh…" I trailed off, because I didn't know his name. He raised a hairy eyebrow, and I swore the corners of his lips lifted.

"Splinter. Or Master Splinter." He answered. I nodded, but furrowed my brow. This was Master Splinter, the guy I'd heard mentioned a couple times now by Leo and Raph. This was the guy who was important. Well... great.

"Not to be rude… Splinter, but I haven't really "graced you" with anything. I'm a murderer in the home of a mutant family, attempting to ignore my every fight or flight instinct that is telling me to either kill or run." I answered truthfully. To my utter surprise, the rat chuckled.

"You may not see it now, but you have graced everyone here in a different way. Every person affects every life differently, and I knew the moment Raphael walked in with you that you had already set in motion a new leaf in our lives." He said, sounding straightforward but actually being a cryptic ass.

"Okay. Crazy rat say what?" I asked. His lips twitched again, and he stood up. I didn't have to look up very far, because he stood up maybe 5'. The most.

"Stand." He ordered softly, his eyes just as soft as they stared at me. I stood awkwardly, and my knees popped on my way up. As soon as I was fully standing, I stood over the rat. He was short, because I stood at 5'5", and I actually had to make my chin touch my chest just to see his face fully. But he didn't care that he had to look up.

"See, you're already relaxing." He said cryptically, and walked past me. Say what? I thought I was doing a rather fine job at not relaxing around five mutants, four of which I did not fail to notice had weapons.

"Now, how about we get our guest some food." He murmured with a little flick of his long tail. I stared at the swishing tail for a few seconds, stuck in a loop of, of course, he has a tail, because why not.

When Master Splinter started moving, Mikey was up and across the room in seconds, having just jumped a couch from a sitting position and taking it in stride. He disappeared into the -what I assume was- the kitchen, and Splinter followed right behind him. As soon as the rat was gone Raph dropped beside Donnie on the couch with a heavy sigh, and I noticed that Leo was watching me. I swiped my legs with my hands nervously and looked around.

"Make yourself comfortable, I guess. Mikey will be there for awhile." Leo murmured before getting up and entering the room hidden by the flimsy wooden door. Following the doors closing, I heard a terrible clang-thump, like metal hitting wood.

I sat down next to Raph, not willing to disobey Leo's quiet demeanor. From the sounds of it, he could have been done with me before my heart could beat. But he hadn't. For Raph.

All of this was leading back to Raphael; Why I was here, why I didn't have an infection, why I knew any of them, why I didn't have my mask, why I was wearing purple, why I was going to have an actual home-cooked meal, why I have a real bed, why I wasn't dead...

I looked over at the only turtle who looked comfortable sitting next to me, flipping through the many channels on his many TV's. He had his arm over the back behind me, smiling and frowning depending on the channel. All of this because of Raphael.

Slowly, I relaxed, and reclined until my back was on the couch, and my hair was nearly touching his arm.