Raph woke up on the couch feeling like he'd been hit by a bus. He eased himself up and began to examine his injuries. His right arm was bandaged and there were new scrapes across his plastron. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what had happened. It had been the first warm night in months so he'd decided to take the shell cycle for a ride. He was riding past the warehouse entrance to the old lair when there was a flash of bright light, after that nothing.
He groaned in frustration as the memories failed to surface. "Good morning Raphael," His father's warm familiar voice filled his ears. "It's good to see you awake and well."
"G'morning Master Splinter." Raph mumbled in his trademark Brooklyn accent. "What happened to me last night?"
The old rat handed him a mug of hot tea which Raph took without question "According to your brothers you were in a motorcycle accident. Donatello had to take a girl named Natalie to the hospital. Her injuries were far worse than yours."
Startled Raph sat up completely and set his mug down on the coffee table. "What? How bad?"
Donatello walked up behind his brother and leaned against the back of the couch. "April and Casey checked on her this morning. She'll be fine but it's going to take a while for her injuries to heal. We're going to check on her tonight. I've got some questions I want to ask her."
"This for example." Leo joined Don and held out a flash drive in the shape of Mikey's head.
Raph took the flash drive from his brother's hand, "Well that's not something you see every day. What's on it?"
"No idea." Donnie said as he took the flash drive. "We wanted to wait until you were up so we could all look at it together."
Raph stood up carefully to not aggravate his injuries. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's check it out." He said as he headed towards the lab.
Seemingly out of nowhere Mikey popped up, "About time. You've been out for hours."
Raph shoved past his little brother, "Yeah, funny how being in an accident can do that."
"Enough you two," Leo admonished. "We've got more important things to do, like figuring out who this Natalie person is and where she came from."
The three of them crowded around Donnie's computer as he plugged in the drive, "Okay let's see what this baby has on it." Several neatly labeled folders showed up on the screen.
"TMNT Mirage Comics, TMNT Archie Comics, TMNT IDW Comics, TMNT '87 Cartoon, TMNT '03 Cartoon, TMNT 2012 Cartoon, TMNT Movies," Leo read each one aloud. "What is all this?"
Donnie clicked on the one labeled '03 cartoon. As he expected it was full of video files, all just as neatly marked as the folders. He clicked on the first one and a familiar voice came through the speakers. "My name is Leonardo, and right now my brothers and I are in massive trouble."
Everyone turned to the voice's shocked owner. "How…How is this possible?" His voice still came from the speakers creating an eerie overlay.
"I've got a theory." Donnie piped up.
Raph rolled his eyes, "Of course you do brainiac."
"Quiet Raph," Leo's sharp voice cut through the air. "What Don?"
"You guys remember when we met those other versions of ourselves and got transported to that Turtle Prime place? He said there were countless other dimensions, each with a different version of us." The purple clad turtle explained getting more animated as he went on. "What if Natalie is from a dimension where all of those versions of us exist as fictional characters? What if she accidently drove through a portal that landed her in our world?"
His brothers stared at him blankly, trying to process this information. "Dude's we've got ourselves a fan!" Mikey exclaimed. "This is so awesome! I wonder who her favorite turtle is. I bet it's me. Chicks always dig the funny one. Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head where Raph had slapped him.
Leo gave the pair another warning look which they both ignored. "Well, that would certainly explain why she wasn't scared of us. If you're right Don and she's from a different dimension then she's going to need a place to stay once she's out of the hospital."
"Why doesn't she just stay here?" All eyes turned towards Raph. "What? If she's as hurt as you guys say then she'll need help getting better and who better to help than Dr. Don? Plus it'll give us a chance to learn more about this chick and how we can get her home."
"That's…actually not a bad plan." Donnie said, sounding slightly surprised.
Leo crossed his arms across his chest and leveled a serious gaze at his three younger brothers. "We should still run it by Master Splinter first to make sure he is comfortable with -"
"There is no need Leonardo." Splinter stood in the doorway of the lab, grasping his old walking stick for support. "Raphael is right. This girl will need a place to heal and she seems to know more about us than is safe. You will extend the offer to her." He gave his sons a finally serious but proud gaze before retreating to the couch to watch his stories.
The harsh fluorescent lights blinded her as her eyes blinked open. "What…?" She struggled to prop herself up but her arm refused to cooperate. With the pain came the memories. The autumn road, the light, and the accident…She closed her eyes hoping it would block out the shame but it was no use. All her life she had dreamed of what it would be like to meet them. Now they would never want anything to do with her. Especially him, so strong, so proud, so much like her. She had ruined his precious shell cycle. Of course he wouldn't want anything to do with her.
Her gaze turned to the remote next to her. One to call the nurses, two to adjust the angle of the bed, one to pump more painkillers into her bloodstream. Her eyes lingered on the last one. She longed to forget everything that happened but she knew it would only be temporary. Harsh reality would creep back in as soon as the medication wore off. She thought of her mother, immobile, chronological liar. The woman would sell out her own child to get her fix. Natalie shuddered at the thought at threw the remote aside. It was an accident she reassured herself. She would not give into shame.
Outside twilight turned to full dark and the lights illuminated the city she'd always dreamed of seeing. The sight was magical. She closed her eyes and imagined couples going to and from romantic dates, whispering in each other's ears. Others were working late in their offices, while still more preyed on the weak. In her mind's eye she saw the beauty and the barbarity that inhabited the city.
"Do you think she's asleep?" The voice didn't belong to the nurses but it was still familiar.
"Maybe we should come back later?" Natalie was positive she knew both those voices but she'd never heard them in person before.
"When? During the day? That's a great idea. Why don't we just wake her up and see what happens?"
That was it. Her favorite voice in the world was there and she couldn't contain herself. "Stop bickering. I'm awake."
To prove her point she opened her eyes and looked at each one of the turtles without flinching. For an imperceptible moment her eyes rested on Raphael but they quickly moved on. "Good," said Leonardo, "You can tell us how you knew Michelangelo's name, and why there is videos and comics of us on your flash drive."
It took all of her will power to not be sarcastic. "I've been a fan of you four as long as I can remember." She paused briefly, letting the revelation sink in. "We had the original live action movies when I was a kid and I watched them all the time. I watched them so much my mom sold them because they got on her nerves. Then when I was twelve a new cartoon came out. I watched it every Saturday and have been…" It was embarrassing to admit but she refused to lie to the four men in front of her. "I've been obsessed ever since."
The whole world stood still as she waited for one of them to break the silence. "Dudes this is awesome! I told you we had a fan." Mikey's exuberance brought a relieved grin to her face. "Okay, I have to know. Who's your favorite turtle? It's me right?"
The smile didn't leave her face as she shook her head, ruby red hair falling in her face. "No good can come from me answering that question."
Stepping out from behind his brothers Raphael came to the forefront. "You're okay right?"
She wanted to respond but the fact that he was showing concern for her wellbeing made the words catch in her throat, "F-fine." The words came out in a stuttered, garbled mess and not for the first time Natalie wished she had a shell she could hide in.
Donatello came to the rescue, reaching for the chart that hung at the foot of her bed. "Patient was in a motor vehicle accident. She was not wearing a helmet or other protective gear. Diagnosis…" There was a slight pause as he skimmed her chart, "Concussion, skull is not fractured, broken shoulder, clavicle, humorous, and ribs. Abrasions on face, and arms."
"I've had worse." She attempted a lighthearted smile but the serious faces staring at her made it fall quickly.
"You weren't wearing a helmet?" Raph accused.
"Not even a jacket?" Leo added.
Natalie bit her tongue. She refused to lash out at them. They were only caring about her safety. The thought of someone actually caring made her tear up but she suppressed it. "It was too warm for a jacket and helmets aren't required by law where I was riding."
"You realize you could have died." There was Donnie's two cents. She'd been waiting for it.
"Yeah? What's your point?" As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them. The look of shock and pity across the turtles' faces made her shrink into herself.
Leo sat down on the edge of her bed and placed a hand on her leg. "We know you're not from here. Once the doctor's say you can leave we want you to stay with us. At least until you're better."
Tears filled her eyes as she looked at the blue banded face. "Sure, sounds like a smart plan." Her gaze swept over the four brothers again, awestruck at the situation she found herself in. "I'm kind of tired. Maybe I should get some sleep."
"Of course." Donnie said, "We'll be back tomorrow to make sure you're okay."
"I appreciate it." She said with a smile. "Hey Mikey." The orange clad turtle halted at the sound of his name. "You should check out the black flash drive. There's a bunch of comics on it I'm sure you'll like."
He broke out in a wide grin, "Thanks dudette!" With a final thumbs up he disappeared out the window with the rest of his brothers.