(BETA) This Story has not been read through thoroughly so there will be some lingering mistakes, apologies! This will be rectified once read though...when I have time... (BETA)

OTHERWISE ENJOY!

This is my second story posted so be gentle, I've not written in a long time...

xxx

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Alice had been up for sometime, trying to build the confidence to get out of the bed. She had already eaten three slices of the pizza that was left for her. She felt gross being in these clothes for so long, she needed to wash, though she didn't know if these guys even had somewhere to wash, they were turtles and one rat, they probably enjoyed the murky water.

She decided to at least try to look. Thankfully the mattress was on the floor so it was easier to maneuverer off of. She went on her hands and knees and crawled off of the mattress keeping her bad ankle up away from the floor. Her knees and palms hit the cold concrete floor as she made her way to the door. Reaching up for the wooden plank along the door she braced against it to lift herself off of the floor. She took it slowly, her legs and muscle beginning to shake if she went to fast. When she finally stood up she grinned, pleased with herself. She reached for the latch on the door but was beaten to it. It was opened from the other side and pushed her back.

"Wah!" She yelped when she landed on her behind. She rubbed her self of the pain and looked up to see the red-banded turtled leaning around the door to see what was stopping it from opening all the way.

Alice scowled up at him. "You…" She almost growled.

Raph squeezed through the gap in the door and stood with his arms crossed across his chest looking down at her.

"What are ya doin?" he asked looking quizzically at her.

She sighed. "I need a wash." She said flatly not taking her gaze from him.

Raph just stood there his face relaxing at her words. He rolled his eyes and leaned down to pick her up. She shifted away from him across the floor.

"Listen princess, I'm not going to say this again, either we do this the easy way, or the hard way…" He glared at her waiting for her answer.

She huffed and put her arms out in defeat gesturing for him to pick her up. Raph smirked. "Good girl…" He said sarcastically.

Alice just grumbled under her breath. He scooped her off the floor and took her out of the room, Alice looked down to see the others around the table obviously having breakfast.

They didn't look up to see them walking along the upper floor. Probably a good thing…she thought. Her view was torn away when they made it to a large tiled room. There was nothing in it, just some wooden seats a few buckets, but the room seemed wet, she could hear Raphs feet slapping against the wet tiled floor.

He took her over to one of the wooden chairs and sat her down on it. Pushing a bucket next to her. There was a towel behind her hung on the wall too.

"Wash here. I'll be back to take you back to the room." He said flatly before moving away from her and leaving the room closing the door.

Alice watched as he left and huffed. She shrugged and lifted her tank top off letting it fall to the floor, she had some difficulty take off her underwear, but she managed to slip them down her legs and kicked them to ware her tank top was.

She looked down at the bucket and picked up a sponge that was deep in the water, the water was deliciously hot against her hand. Lifting the sponge to her shoulder she started to squeeze the sponge and release the water letting it run down her body. She practically moaned, but slapped her hand to her mouth when it echoed loudly in the room, hopefully, they didn't hear that. She continued to wash away the gunk of the sewer fro her skin, relaxing with each splash of water.

Raph didn't go too far, he stayed outside of the door in case she needed something. Her closed his eyes and could smell the food for breakfast, he was starving. He was contemplating going down quickly to grab a bite to eat when a noise made his body stiffen. The moan echoed form inside the washroom, repeating itself in his head, over and over again. He wasn't sure what to do, feeling completely frozen by the sheer blissful sound that emanated from behind the door. He heard it again, but this time he was sure it wasn't just in his head. He leaned over the railing to look down at the others, they didn't seem fazed. Good, that means they didn't hear it...he thought to himself. He sighed and briefly closed his eyes before turning his attention back to the door of the washroom. There was no more sound coming from inside the room, he frowned slightly a feeling of panic bubbling in him. She might have slipped and banged her head or somethin'...His hand hesitated at the door, but after a shaky few moments he rapped on the door soundly.

"Uh, Alice? You alright in there?" His voice was awkward when there was a still silence for a moment.

Alice was caught off guard by the knock that filled the room. She dropped the sponge back in the bucket of water and grabbed the towel off the wall behind her wrapping it around her mid-section, and tightened it around her chest.

"Yeah, you can come in..." She called to him softly wrapping her arms around herself, feeling slightly exposed.

Raph hesitated but pushed the door open just enough to slip through and pushed it closed again. His eyes went straight to the tiled floor, but he could just see her feet and ankles in his line of sight. His eyes drew up, unable to control them until he saw her completely. Her olive skin was wet, beads of water dripping off her shoulders from her damp hair that was slick back and draped down her neck and over her shoulders. He felt stupid just standing there, staring. Dammit... he thought before slowly making his way over to her, his eyes back on the floor. When he saw her feet again, he knew he was close enough.

"A-are you done?" He asked hesitantly. His hands balling into fists by his sides.

Alice looked up at him. Watching his expressions, he seemed conflicted. Unsure how to respond she simply nodded.

"Yes, I'm done. Uh, Than-"Her words were cut off when he leaned down to snake his arms under her knees and around her back, picking her up from the stool and walking back to the door.

Alice had her underwear and tank top she disposed of earlier bundled in her lap. Raph took her out of the washroom and back into his bedroom, setting her on the mattress before standing up. He looked to the pile of clothes she had in her hands.

"I can uh, take those down, to get them washed?" He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

Alice looked up at him silently. "Where are the rest of my clothes?" a hint of humor in her voice.

Raph looked down at her for a moment, looking baffled himself at her question.

"Uh, I'll ask Donnie..."

Alice held up her clothes to him, Raph sighed and took them from her roughly.

"Don't get any ideas Princess I ain't your maid!" He growled before leaving the room.

Once the door was closed, Raph sighed and launched himself over the railing landing on the lower level next to the sofa. He walked over to his brothers at the table.

"Yo Donnie! More laundry from the Mrs..." He chucked the clothes at him.

Donnie caught them and suddenly dropped them realizing that there was underwear mixed in with them. He felt his cheeks grow under with embarrassment.

"Raph!"He yelled before throwing them next to the washer. He went to the side and picked up a pile of clothes.

"Here, these are her other things, I'm sure she doesn't want to walk around naked..."He felt flustered by the sheer mention of the word.

Raph flamed. "She's not Naked! She's in a towel!" He growled. Snatching the clothes out of Donnies hands.

Donnie put his hands up in defense before returning to his laptop and his bowl of cereal.

"So when are we gunna see the dudette again man!" Mikey mumbled through a mouthful of cereal.

Raph rolled his eyes.

Leo took his dishes to the sink as he spoke. "Mikey, she needs time to rest, she's not here for our entertainment..."

Leo sighed and leant on his hand. "But we don't get many visitors here!" He whined. "Can't I be excited to see another girl around?"

"What about April?" Donnie Asked looking up from his laptop.

"Yeah but this is a different girl!" Mikey said with a certain obviousness tone in her voice. "Beside Donnie already got dibs on er!" He grinned and elbowed Donnie.

Donnie just shook his head and blushed. "I don't have 'dibs' you can't dibs a person!" He argued.

"Whatever..." Mikey sighed before refilling his bowl with more cereal.

Raph just sighed and looked around. "Where's Master Splinter?"

Leo stretched out his arm above his head. "He's meditating, doesn't want to be disturbed..."

Raph nodded and headed for the stairs heading for his room.

Mikey leant over to Donnie. "Since when does Raph take the stairs?" He whispered loudly.

"I heard that Mikey!" Raph yelled before disappearing into his room losing the door.

Alice looked up to see Raph enter and close the door. He set her clothes on the floor next to the mattress where she sat.

"Uh, I'll leave you to get dressed, if you're hungry I can take you downstairs..." He looked away awkwardly heading for the door.

Alice watched as he opened the door and disappeared behind it once again. He didn't disappear far, just stood outside the door, almost hoping that he would hear that same noise again.

Alice had difficultly pulling her skirt on, but her top was no problem, she didn't both with the boots, her ankle was still too tender. After she smoothed out the fabric, she rolled her eyes and sighed. I feel so pathetic calling out or him...goddammit...She looked to the door and sighed again.

"Raph! I'm...uh, decent..." She said exasperated.

Raph rolled his eyes hearing her call him from the other side of the door.

"I did not sign up for dis..." He grumbled under his breath before heading inside.

Shutting the door behind him, he kept his gaze on the floor, his hands balled into fists.

Alice sighed seeing his less then happy state. "You're not the only one who's not enjoying this you know..."

At that Raph looked up at her sat on the bed, dressed the same clothes she was in before. Her short black skirt, with a lilac strap top and a short-sleeved dark brown leather jacket. His features softened momentarily. I wouldn't have brought her here if she was going to be so much trouble...He thought.

"I'm sure..." Raph grumbled before going up to her and picking her up once again, taking her downstairs to his brothers. He felt uncomfortable feeling his arms against the skin of her legs under her knees. He Saw his brothers almost light up at the sight of her. When sat her down on one of the chairs at the table, Donnie was the first to get up and move over to her.

"I'm just going to check you over, see how your muscle fatigue is doing." Dannie confirmed before picking up her arm and moving his warm hands along her skin squeezing the muscles gently.

"Check away!" She chimed.

Mikey put a mountainous bowl of cereal in front of her with a spoon. "Go on try it, it's super tasty!" He grinned at her.

Alice looked at him with a humored smile before reaching for the spoon. She winced slightly when Donnie squeezed a tender spot on her arm.

"Does it hurt when I press here?" He looked to her.

Alice just hissed through her teeth and sighed. "Yes, a little..." She breathed.

"Hmm..." He simply.

"Hmm? Hmm what?" Alice pressed.

"Your muscles are still bruised from the exertion, try and reduce overusing your body. It'll need time to heal." Donnie explained.

"Sooo what, Raph is going to have to carry me everywhere!?" She exclaimed.

Raph was on the sofa eating his cereal, you could see him steaming as he was pretending to stare at the TV.

Donnie put a large green digit to his chin for a moment. "Maybe I could build a wheelchair or something for you, oh! It could have jets on it to help you get up the stairs!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Raph got up from the couch to look at Donnie his hands balled into fists by his sides. "No way Donnie! You're not putting her in one of your contraptions! She'll probably come out more injured then she was before!" He yelled.

Alice looked back at him an eyebrow raised at his outburst. What was the big deal...she thought.

Leo tilted his head and rested his knuckles on his hips, looking to Raph.

"What's the big deal Raph? Saves you from carrying her everywhere, which seems to be making you more grumpy ten usual..." He smirked.

Alice raised a hand. "Do I get a say whether I want to be guinea pig or not?" Her question went ignored.

Raph stormed towards the kitchen. "It's not me carrying her around, that's the issue here, I didn't rescue her in order for her to be torn to shreds by one of Donnie's inventions!"

"Hey!" Donnie argued.

Alice just sighed and saw Mikey motioning a spoon to his mouth gesturing to her to eat up.

Alice smiled and started on her cereal.

"You think I would danger an innocent with my inventions!?" Donnie argued at Raph.

"Uh, yeah..."Raph grumbled.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Guys, calm down. Donnie, what about just some crutches, you know, to help her stand at least?"

Donnie thought for a moment. "I can do that...maybe I could ad a blade in the-"

"No Donnie, just crutches, normal crutches." Leo warned.

Donnie sulked, hunching over in defeat. "Fine..."

Alice pushed her empty bowl away and sighed fully.

"What more?!" Mikey exclaimed holding the box over the bowl.

Alice put her hand; "No I'm good ta!" she chimed. She looked to the sink, then to the bowl. Whilst the others were distracted she pushed herself off the chair and grabbed the bowl.

Mikey was about to stop her but stopped when he heard one of his brother insult him. "Hey!" He exclaimed getting involved in the argument.

Alice hobbled to the sink and placed the dish in the sink she leant against it stretching out the muscles of her legs, she tried to twist her ankle to test it but hissed in pain.

Her sharp intake of breathe caught the others attention. Donnie went over to her to take her arm. "You shouldn't be standing on your own." He said concerned.

Alice smiled and turned around to the brothers with Donnies help.

"I'm not a charity case, I can pull my own weight. I'm guessing you're not just mutant turtles. You're weapons are a dead give away that you have your own important responsibilities. I'm not here to weigh you down or burden you further." Alice stated coolly.

The brothers looked to each other. "Alice, you're our innocent, this is our responsibility." Leo stated.

"Yeah, um, I don't remember sighing up to be anyone's escort!" Raph exclaimed.

Leo scowled at Raph. "Raph you-!" Leo's words were cut off when ringing noises sounded.

Everyone started looking around until their eyes landed on Alice. She jolted slightly feeling a vibration against her chest. She opened her jacket and found her phone in the inside breast pocket. Looking at the number she sighed knowing who it was. She pressed a button in the touch-pad and held the phone to her ear.

"Hello Roland..." She sighed.

"Yes I know I missed the meeting this morning, I was...preoccupied."

There was a quite moment, the brothers looked at each other.

"I understand, but I'm not able to come into work today, family issues...I'm going to be out of commission for a while, so just get someone else in to cover me."

She hung up the phone and sighed.

"Work?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, I'm probably going to get replaced, but I'm sure I can find something else once I've recovered."

"What do you do?" Donnie asked tilting his head to one side.

Mikey beamed. "Oh oh! I bet you're famous! Like an actress or a model!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Alice just chuckled throatily. "No, I'm afraid nothing that exciting, I have a couple jobs on the go at the moment...I get bored easily. That was my manager at a bar I work at as a singer. I'm also a temporary chef at a restaurant down town and a dance teacher weekends..." she sighed. "I guess I'll have to call them all up to let them know I'll be out of it for a couple weeks at least."

"At least..." Donnie confirmed.

"That's a lot to do for just one person, on top of that you've got your family company on your shoulders." Leo stated.

"Yeah! Don't you get any free time!?" Mikey exclaimed, leaning on his hands on the table.

"I don't sleep much..." She said humorously.

"No wonder your body is as stressed as it is, you're over worked, maybe this is a good thing, to help you recover..."Donnie suggested.

"Ha! I'm not one to sit down and do nothing, that's why I have as many jobs as I do." She smiled.

At that moment Splinter came into the room. "Alice, may I have a word with you in the Dojo?"

"Dojo?" She questioned. Splinter nodded turning round to go back into the room behind him.

Alice pushed herself away from the sink and hobbled in the direction, out of Donnie's grip.

When she got to the sofa she landed on her ankle incorrectly and was about to fall until someone caught her. She looked up to see Raph, not looking at her. She just scowled and looked away and Raph picked her up and walked towards the Dojo, putting Alice down on her feet in the room.

"Leave us." Splinted said his back turned to Raph and Alice.

Raph looked to Alice, making sure she was stable before leaving and closing the door returning to his brothers in the kitchen and pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Wonder hat that's about..."Leo looked to Raph.

The brothers looked at each other before rushing over to the door to listen in, leaving Raph in the kitchen.

"You don't want in on this Raph? That's not like you at all..."Donnie Jested.

"He just doesn't want to spy on his girlfriend!" Mikey chuckled.

Raph stiffened in his seat and stormed over to him slapping him upside the head before leaning into listen with the others.

Splinter kept his back to Alice as she stood there keeping her balance.

"I overheard your discussion with my sons of your distracting lifestyle. It seems you have trouble sparing time to meditate." Splinter started.

Alice tilted her head quizzically at his back. "I prefer to be distracted, it stops me from being able to stop and think."

"I see, and what is so wrong with stopping at thinking?" Splinter didn't turn to look to her just yet.

She didn't answer right away. "I don't enjoy the thoughts that linger when I do have time to contemplate..."

"I see, you are running from your thoughts instead of facing them on and dealing with them." He stated coldly.

Alice said nothing.

Splinter turned to her. "You may not be aware of it, but avoiding your thoughts and feelings is self destructive, you must face your thoughts deal with them in order to move on and thrive."

Alice thought for a moment. "I agree entirely, the thought however are still too fresh to just deal with."

Splinter hummed in understanding.

"I see, not thinking about your parents death keeps you stronger. However face these feelings will make you stronger." He urged.

Alice said nothing.

"Try something with me." Splinter walked forward until his was just a couple inches from her.

"Close your eyes." He ordered. Alice felt a little too intimidated to refuse. She closed her eyes.

"Picture yourself as a rock."

"A what?" Alice cracked open one eye.

"Close your eyes!" He ordered.

Alice complied.

"A rock, in a river. Picture the water crashing against you and washing over you. Picture the ripples that re made in the water as they pass by you."

Alice felt her features relax as she complied feeling her relax physically.

Splinter smiled noticing this.

"Now, every thought, every feeling the good and the bad, imagine them in the water. Some will collide with you, resist and others will wash over you."

Alice frowned again remembering her parents, the good and the bad memories.

"you may not have known this, but I lost the love of my life and my baby daughter, I know the hurt that you are going through and it took me much longer to allow these feeling to wash over me, to allow me to deal with them and move on." He paused.

"It will always hurt, but what overcomes the hurt is the good memories."

Alice felt a tear run down her cheek at his words.

"Tell me, tell me the bad memories that haunt you." He said softly.

Alice was quiet for a moment before she spoke her voice slightly broken from pain.

"When my parents died, I was tied up, they forced me watch the whole thing...all I can remember was blood and screaming, my parents faces looking to me as their..." She paused.

"As they were tortured and eventually killed. The worst part was, the men wore a symbol I recognized...it was the symbol of my sisters company..."

Splinter kept his eye on her as she spoke. He sighed.

"And now tell me a good memory." He stated softly again watching as clear tears ran down her cheeks.

"When I was little, my father used to dance with me whilst my mother was on the piano. We would dance until I fell asleep, then he would carry me upstairs to my bedroom, tucking me in and kissing my forehead, then my mother..."She said calmly. She felt better, much better. Her eyes flashed open and looked up at Master Splinter.

Splinter smiled and wiped a tear from her cheek. "You see, then good can overcome the bad and help your deal with your emotions making you stronger." He smiled at her softly before nodding.

Alice nodded back. "Thank you..." She smiled wiping the rest of her tears away.

There was a silent moment between them before Splinter called out to one of his sons.

"Raphael!" At that moment all four bothers fell into he room when the door opened.

Splinter just grunted and shook his head.

"Take Alice upstairs, she needs rest." Splinter order softly.

"Hai Sensei!"Raph stood to attention standing on his brother's shells as he walked over them to Alice's side and went to pick her up. He felt her hands on his forearms stopping him gently. Looking up at her he saw he expression almost asking if he was ok with it. He replied by picking her up hooking his arm under her knees and behind her back again before nodding his head at splinter. He walked out of the room stepping over his brothers on the way out.

...

I hope you enjoyed more to come!

xxx