Bound To You

by Tmntfreak1996

Three young ladies, Three best friends each moved to New York together to start their lives in the most exciting city in the world! Once there they become embroiled in a scheme that threatens to dredge up every bit of darkness their pasts have to offer Can they decipher the ties before it becomes to much to handle? (BTY/TMNT Ask the Cast also Available) OcXLeo, OcXRaph OcXMikey DxA

7. BTY Chapter 7

BTY Chapter 7

Hola my lovelys! How are y'all doing? Sorry I've been slow! Things have been hectic in the Tmntfreak household!

Anywho! Without further adoo

~* Huns P.O.V, PD H.Q *~

"What do you mean the dog rings are a bust?!" I shout angrily at the scrawny boy standing across from where I sit in my desk chair. The boy flinches visibly and starts shaking.

"Some chick in a hoodie and two of those freaks busted it" the kid wrings his hands in front of him "The cops came and caught fifty of our men, those vigilantes took them out to keep them from escaping before the cops arrived"

"There's something you ain't tellin me, so spit it out before I lose my patience boy" I say darkly, the kids shaking intensifies and he takes a deep breath.

"Casey Jones was there too and from what I heard the chick that was helpin'im was the one you've had us looking for sir" the kid says meekly, I grit my teeth and stand slowly.

"So your telling me that fifty of my best men were taken out by two freaks and a 19 year old girl that we've been looking for, for two days now not only took down one of the biggest rings in the city but also that not one of my men recognized her or thought that maybe they should have brought her and that traitor Jones in?" I say quietly, walking around the desk to tower over the much shorter male. His eyes widen to the size of saucers and he nods, shaking violently now.

"Y-yes s-sir.. That's what I'm s-saying.. B-but one of our men overheard Jones challenge the freaks to a fight in Central Park!" he tells me, his voice high pitched and strained. In a split second I've grabbed him by the shirt and have him hauled off his feet, readying my fist to connect with his face.

"Now Hun, is that anyway to treat the poor boy? As the saying goes you should not kill the messenger, only the reason for the message" I hear a Japanese accented woman's voice say sweetly from my right. I look and see a woman with brown almond shaped eyes and short black hair staring at me as if they she owned the window sill she's sitting in.

"Karai, to what do I owe the displeasure of your company" I ask her, dropping the boy and not watching to see him scramble out of my office. Karai smiles politely at me and jumps down gracefully from the window sill.

"My father would like to know when he can expect his guests" she says dropping a Manila folder onto the desk, pictures of three different women slide out. I pick up the pictures and examine them.

The first woman I see is walking down a New York street with groceries in her hands. she's a strawberry blond and has a very tall trench coated friend beside her, she's laughing at something, She seems tall in the picture in comparison to the others around her.

The second girl I see is a dark red haired woman hailing a taxi outside of NYU, a backpack slung over her shoulder. She doesn't seem that much shorter than the first girl but again I can't tell, although she does look familiar. I can't place where I've seen her though a I do notice she also has a tall man in a trench coat for company.

The last picture is of Abernathy's niece, she's climbing out of a cab with a blue dress on with a deep V neck. The other two girls are doing the same and seem to be going to a night club, I recognize it to be the one on 7th avenue . I can tell this ones short by the comparison of her height to the cab, she hasn't been spotted since that night I take it.

"Tell Shredder he'll have his guests soon, my men failed to bring in those girls but this time I've got a few ideas ta bring'em out of their hiding place and get you some insight on what exactly those freaks are planning" I tell her confidently even though I despise this woman. I turn to her and she stares at me no humor about her.

"Good because if you fail again, my father will take things into his own hands" she saunters over with a small black knife in her palm, sliding the sharpened edge across my desk, she leaves a thick dark mark in the wood. "and then there goes your precious alliance "

"Your father won't have to take things into his own hands because as of right now I'm taking them into mine, startin with this one, she looks like she could be a lot fun" I say with an edge to my voice, picking up one of the pictures and ripping it in half, letting the pieces fall to the floor as I walk from the room.

I didn't stay long enough to see Karai pick up the halves of the picture of the girl I'm going after first and smirk at it.

~* In the Lair at 12:40, Thursday Afternoon, Leea's P.O.V *~

I wake up to something rough and wet hitting my face repeatedly and my eyes snap open to see Jinx sitting in front of me with her stub wagging happily. Her bandages are bright white and seem to have been put on recently.

I look around and see no one but Joey and Jinx in the living room. I sit up slowly so as not to hurt my ribs and when they don't protest I frown in confusion and poke myself them gently, feeling nothing other than the soreness of a bruise. I sit up and sigh in contentment as my black hair falls over my shoulders, feeling much better than it should after being in a bun. I run my hands through it and realize someone must have brushed it while I was asleep and make a note to thank them.

I hear faint fighting from the dojo and push myself gingerly to the edge of the couch. Jinx sits on my medical boot as it touches the floor, I having just taken it off to test my ankle. I smile at her and stand, putting more weight on my injured foot then not to see if that has made any progress and sighing relieved when I find it has almost completely healed. Jinx jumps off the couch as I step forward and goes immediately to a sleeping Joey, catapulting onto his neck and biting his ear playfully. The bigger dog wakes and rolls over, knocking the puppy off of him and going back to sleep.

I laugh at this and shake my head as Jinx pushes herself up and sneezes, walking over to me and jumping up on my leg. Apparently bored of the older much sleepier dog. I lean down and pick her up, making my way to the dojo as she kisses my face.

Once there I peek inside to see Raph and Leo sparring with the rest of the lairs inhabitants watching them. I sneak in as quietly as I can and kneel beside Mikey whose currently explaining something to Liza that I must have missed the question for.

"-like that because they butt heads all the time, both think they should be the leader of our motley vigilante crew" he finishes with a wink to Liz, who sees me and smiles happily "it's less motley with you, Brigit, April and Leea though, even if Leea still looks like she took a sledge hammer to the face"

"Thanks Mike" I say my voice dead panning, he jumps and turns to face me.

"Heh.. heheheh.. when'd you get here sleepy head?" he asks his tone trying to fake innocence as he rubs the back of his neck obviously hoping the remark about my sleepiness will help his predicament. I roll my eyes and Liz laughs, I turn to watch the sparring session.

"I just woke up and heard all of you in here, what time is it?" I ask as Jinx jumps from my arms and onto the mat beside me. She sits and looks the picture of obedience as she watches Raph and Leo almost dutifully.

"It's 12:43 in the afternoon, you came home at 5:39 Tuesday morning, slept through Wednesday and half of today, which is thursday" Brigit whispers from the other side of Liza, leaning forward and appearing suddenly as though poking her head out from behind Liza. My jaw drops and before I can ask my question Brigit cuts me off. "We didn't wake you up because the doctor told you to rest for at least a day and you looked all peaceful and happy so we took a bunch of pictures! It was Mikey's idea really but it was a lot of fun!"

"Well I'm glad y'all had fun at my expense but why the hell would you let me sleep for a day and a half?! I missed orientation for my culinary classes" I whisper shout back already planning out my revenge over and thinking of every single place those pictures could be.

"Don't worry about it! Me and Brigit went to your orientation for you! We took a video and some notes!" Liz says, giggling a bit as she drops a hand onto my shoulder. I sigh and smile at them.

"Thanks guys" I tell them lightly, relieved that they did that for me, I watch as raphs sai comes within inches of Leo's face, my eyes widen a little. "Are they supposed to be going at it like that?"

"No but they always do it anyway, the whole rival thing" Mike says shrugging a bit, I look back at the brawling brothers and am surprised to notice Raph watching me out of the corner of his eye. I raise an eyebrow at him through my smile and he smirks, moving to holding back Leo's katana with his sai one handed, in the middle of a power struggle.

Raph suddenly drops his sai, causing Leo to fumble forward and Raph hits him in the shell with the butt of his sai's handle.

"Well someone's showing off" Mikey says with a small smile, I roll my eyes at the intended meaning and Mikey yawns a bit, his stomach growling audibly to the point where it makes me concerned.

"When was the last time you guys ate?" I ask him suddenly Mike looks at me like I just grew a head because of the seriousness in my tone. Liza and Bri however just exchange a knowing look and watch the events unfold.

"We woke up at four thirty for an early session" he says sounding a bit like a two year old about to be scolded. My jaw drops and I immediately stand up and walk out of the dojo, heading straight for the kitchen. Just as I'm leaving I hear Leo tell Raph to pay attention followed closely with a huge thud.

I go into the kitchen and immediately look through the cabinets, judging by the pizza boxes everywhere I already know what I'm making the ninja family and my friends for lunch. I grab the flour and the eggs and everything I need for the dough and set to work.

Once the dough is made I clear the kitchen table and wipe it down, pulling my hair into a huge ballerina bun on top of my head. Once done with that I go to washing my hands again as I start to spread the dough in a large circle.

I walk over to the fridge and grab the marina sauce and a ladle, pouring some into it and spreading it in large circles on the dough, going in spirals to the center. I start to sing one of my favorite songs 'I Wanna Die' by Miranda lambert as I work, grabbing the cheese and sprinkling it on heavily, along with the pepperoni and sausage.

I preheat the oven and go to my purse in the living room, now thoroughly in the mood for some music as I grab my iPod and put on my dance playlist.

I head back just as the oven dings telling me it's hot enough and grab a pizza pan, sliding it beneath my creation and sticking it into the oven. My music blasting and eventually causing me to dance as I wait for the pizza to be done, I start to sing as the track changes.

Sometimes I hate every single stupid word you say

Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face

There's no one quite like you

You push all my buttons down

I know life would suck without you

I close my eyes and lean against the counter, slightly out of breathe from the constant movements of quickly getting the pizza ready to go in time for them to get out of their session.

At the same time, I wanna hug you

I wanna wrap my hands around your neck

You're an asshole but I love you

And you make me so mad I ask myself

Why I'm still here, or where could I go

You're the only love I've ever known

But I hate you, I really hate you,

So much, I think it must be

I detach myself from the counter and start to dance around the kitchen, letting the beat take me in whatever direction it wants.

True love, true love

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

You love, true love,

It must be true love

No one else can break my heart like you

I pause my odd kitchen dancing to rifle through the cabinets for some oregano and other seasonings.

Just once try to wrap your little brain around my feelings

Just once please try not to be so mean

Repeat after me now R-O-M-A-N-C-E-E-E

Come on I'll say it slowly (Romance)

You can do it babe

I chuckle as I continue the song and both dogs in the lair come into the kitchen and lay in the corner. Jinx climbing on top of Joey and curling up on his back, balancing on him with her back against the wall. I sway over to the duo and lean down, petting them both gently as they sleep then continuing with my dance.

At the same time, I wanna hug you

I wanna wrap my hands around your neck

You're an asshole but I love you

And you make me so mad I ask myself

Why I'm still here, or where could I go

You're the only love I've ever known

But I hate you, I really hate you,

So much, I think it must be

True love, true love

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

You love, true love,

It must be true love

And no one else can break my heart like you

I walk to the beat over to the oven, and check the pizza, smiling when I see that putting it at a higher temp to cook it wasn't burning it and was instead making it cook faster, it would be done soon. I shut the oven and smile as I sing on.

Why do you rub me up the wrong way?

Why do you say the things that you say?

Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be

But without you I'm incomplete

I think it must be

True love, true love

It must be true love

Nothing else can break my heart like

You love, true love,

It must be true love

And no one else can break my heart like you

No one else can break my heart like you

No one else can break my heart like you

I hum the instrumental at the end as I close the oven and turn around, squeaking loudly when I see a panting and sweaty Raphael standing there. I blush at the embarrassing sound that came from my mouth and wonder how long he'd been there. He tries to ask me something but I don't hear him. I tilt my head in confusion and he closes the distance between us with an amused smile. When he reaches me he pulls my earbud out gently, laying it on my shoulder.

"What are you makin Doll? Smells great" he asks me a bit louder, his head tilted toward my ear I smile at the compliment and gesture to the oven.

"I figured by all the pizza boxes in the trash that you guys like pizza, so I made you guys some" I say with a shrug, he looks me up and down and smiles. "I mean Mikey told me you woke up at four thirty and I'm assuming you haven't eaten since then so yeah"

"Thanks Doll, 'm sure everyone's gonna love it" He nods to me then turns to leave, flinging a couple towels from the counter over his shoulder. Suddenly he stops and turns back to me, striding over and leaning so his mouth is right next to my ear. One hand lightly gripping my shoulder, making my heart flutter strangely in my chest as he places the other on the counter on the opposite side, whispering "nice moves by the way"

I blush furiously and swat his supporting elbow, laughing and failing to sound annoyed as his arm buckles a bit.

"You weren't supposed to see that" I say to him resigned but smirking playfully up at him. I have trouble keeping eye contact with him due to the heat in my cheeks and he chuckles, looking down at me from his height. His amber eyes trapping my green and blue ones once again. like they always do when they catch mine fully, I laugh a little bit as he just stares at me a moment. The air growing dense.

That is until Mikey bursts into the kitchen with Liza on his back. Liza looks at the two of us and grins a bit. Raph steps back and walks around Mikey to the island, sitting on one of the stools there.

"Did I hear you were making pizza?! Like homemade, crafted from scratch cheesy italiano goodness, pizza?" Mikey asks me excitedly, I laugh and nod and he sets Liza down and grabs me, dragging me into a sweaty bear hug "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'm starving!"

"You shouldn't be so surprised! I mean the chicks going to college for culinary arts! Plus she has issues with people being hungry and not telling her so…" Liza says between laughs, probably at my 'oh hush it' expression, Mikey laughs and holds me tighter, twirling me in a single circle.

"Really? That's awesome! You should cook for us all the time then! We can be your Guinea pigs!" Mikey says excitedly, looking down at me in his arms.

"kay.. Mike.. you got it.. but... I can't.. breathe.. ribs.. are hurting.." I groan, pressed up against his plastron uncomfortably. Donnie walks in behind a cracking up Liza, an excited Owen on his shoulders, clapping at the sight of his uncles.

"Mikey you might want to let her go, you'll probably end up hurting her if you keep hugging her like that" he says matter of factly, Owen giggles and Mikey drops me like a hot potato, my ankle tingling as I land on it. I resolve to put the boot back on before these rambunctious knuckleheads end up breaking my tiny ass on accident.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" he asks, his blue eyes full of regret until I nod with a chuckle.

"Hey now I'm tougher than I look, it'll take more than a sweaty bear hug to take me out" I say with obvious pride and he laughs as Liza jumps up on his back again.

"Hey Mike you want me to beat you in DDR again?" Liza asks excitedly, I smile at the challenge interlaced in her voice and so does Don.

"Oh really? You're going to beat me?" Mikey asks her incredulously, she smirks and nods at him.

"Like Mike Tyson in the ring" Liz says and Mikey's eye bug as he laughs.

"Oh whoa! It's on princess!" he says and bounds out of the kitchen as April's coming in with Leo, Brigit, and Sensei.

"Did he just call her princess?" Brigit asks with a laugh, I nod as I go back to the oven and see that it's done.

"Yep and your thoughts are correct and transmitting via bestie telepathy, it was indeed cute" I laugh as Bri lets out a barking laugh about how weird I am as I put on an oven-mit and take the pizza out of the oven, placing it on the stove top. I slice it into twelfths I continue in a shout for Liza and Mikey's sake, unintentionally making everyone in the kitchen flinch at how loud I am. "Lunch is ready so come an' get it 'fore its gone!"

"After I beat him like a piñata at a little kids birthday party!" Liza shouts back to me, I hear Mikey's offended guffaw as the kitchens occupants each take slices of their own. April cutting Owens into tiny bits once Donnie's done setting him his high chair.

"Been there done that princess! We'll see who the piñata is once I'm done with you!" I just barely hear mikey say jokingly, I can almost hear his grin and I know Liza's stuck her tongue out at him. I yank my hair out of the bun and shake my head, letting it all fall out around my shoulders as Leo and Brigit rolls their eyes and dig into their pizza. Raph chuckles at the two and I smile at his softer side making a brief appearance along with at the close knit family before me, wondering how this groups come to be so close to us even though we've all just barely been able to get to know each other. I suddenly find myself marveling at how long it took me to trust this group of individual's.

Ten minutes later the both of them come into the kitchen, Liza with a proud grin and Mikey pouting. I give Mikey a sympathetic smile and grab two plates, setting two pieces on each and handing them to the gamers.

"She beat you?" I ask mike but Liza answers as she sits and takes a bite of her pizza, Mikey pouts and sits beside her at the island.

"Like a piñata"

Mikey frowns at Liza as I grab a slice from the already cut pizza for myself and chomp down on it. After I do I see Mikey giving me the widest eyed expression I've ever seen, a bitten piece of pizza in his hand. After a moment of growing discomfort I finally raise an eyebrow and speak.

"What?" I ask, thoroughly uncomfortable. Raph frowns at his little brother and thumps his back, causing him to spew words.

"I'll never eat takeout pizza again" he says seriously, I roll my eyes as Brigit and the rest take another piece of pizza in confusion. Master Splinter taking a mug from the cupboard and moving to the coffee maker. I smile to the old rat and grab the plate I'd set aside for him and hand it along to him. He nods to me gratefully and smiles as I do.

"Ohmigod! Leeann this is great!" April says, after taking a bite of hers, I earn similar comments from everyone else and even Raph gives me a thumbs up. I blush and rub the back of my neck trying to keep the excitement contained at their approval, realizing I must look like a little kid blushing and staring at the floor.

"Thanks guys! I'd be happy to make more if we need to" I say laughing, Raph gives me a slightly surprised look while everyone else just nods enthusiastically. I grab my slice and bite into it to avert my eyes from Raphs, who've now started to rave over me in confusion as I blush.

"Hey! I got an idea!" Liza gets her lightbulb expression and swallows her pizza and I'm happy for the distraction. "let's all play DDR!"

"Hell yeah! Lets do it!" Brigit says excitedly and Owen claps his hand, laughing at Brigit's choice of words. I roll my eyes and start packing up the leftover's to put in the fridge, wrapping it in plastic cling wrap and placing it in the lower shelf.

"You realize I can't dance right?" I ask Liza with a chuckle, she's about to respond when Raph beats her to it.

"I'm callin yer bull shit, you can dance just fine from what I've seen" Raph tells me, not sounding the least bit sarcastic still looking me over seriously. I hide my bright red cheeks and close the fridge as the family starts to pile out to the living room.

"Gotta agree with him Lee! I saw you dancing that night at the club! And let me tell you a bunch of other guys saw it too!" Mikey tells me with a mischievous smile that earns him a smack upside the head from Raph and surprisingly Liza as well. April laughs and picks up Owen, and with more convincing from Brigit I agree to play along and soon everyone's camped out in the living room, playing DDR and having a blast.

After playing DDR for an hour and winnowing out the competition there's only two of us left to face each other.

I get up and go to the mat for my turn and Raph gets up too. I smirk at him a little.

"Ready to lose Raph? I mean you could just forfeit you might save some pride that way" I say cockily, he smirks back at me and laughs.

"I could say the same for you doll face" he says to me gesturing down at my boot, "I mean I do have an unfair advantage you know I could take it easy on you if you want"

"Oh really? Take it easy on me I dare you! It'll just make my win even more exciting" I take a chance and wink at him, thinking it'll make him blush again but instead causing him to smirk and his eyes to rake over me.

"Oh sweetheart I don't plan too, I was just saying I could, I mean I'm a dancing machine and I don't want to hurt your feelings when I beat you with the epic dancing skills you lack" He tells me jokingly, a wink causing a laugh to leave my mouth.

"Oh yeah? Is that why I beat Leo first round?" I say with a laugh, everyone starts to laugh and Leo groans in embarrassment.

"Are you kidding? Leo couldn't dance if you put him in classes with that Zumba guy! He's got two left feet" Mikey guffaws from the couch, earning a punch in the shoulder from Leo.

"I can dance just not to the crap you all listen to!" Leo says defensively, earning laughs and a look of sympathy from Brigit.

"It's okay Leo I can't dance very well either" she supplies, he looks at her with an eyebrow raised, looking at her up and down.

"I highly doubt that you can't dance Brigit" he says with a chuckle, Brigit's about to defend her point but Raph interrupts her before she can even get the words out there.

"Ah forget that! Let's do this!" Raph says suddenly as the music starts. I look at the screen and start tapping the correct arrows.

I look over at Raphs screen and see him doing just as well at the moment, Suddenly Raph glances at me from the corner of his eye with a mischievous glint and without warning he reaches over and pokes me in the side, Much to my embarrassment I eep and laugh.

"You cheater! Quit it!" I say to him, still laughing as he tries again to poke me, I swat his hand and lean over poking him in return. He flinches and tries to get me but I dodge away from him.

"Didn't peg you as ticklish doll" he says as we go back to the game for a moment, the song ends and I can't keep myself from smiling as I reach over and punch him in the shoulder.

"And I didn't peg you for a cheater Red!" I say to him as the game calculates our score. He laughs and I smile at the sound, he seems to actually be enjoying himself.

Joey comes out of the kitchen to sit at Brigit and Leo's feet and Jinx jumps up onto everyone's lap, by that meaning walking over all of their knees and finally settling on Mikey's lap. Suddenly Mikey jumps up and April catches Jinx as she tumbles off the turtles lap. He grabs both our heads, turning them toward the screen and earns a smack upside the head from me when my neck cracks painfully from the action, along with retaliation for Jinx who's now cuddled up in April's lap giving Mikey a pouty look.

The screen says that we've tied.

"No way! I want a rematch! But only if ya up to it?" Raph challenges, ending his challenge with a glance at my medical boot.

"You kiddin me? I was about to ask you the same thing Red!" I say to him as I jump onto the mat, Leo and Brigit groan both knowing what's coming. Mikey, Don, April, and Liza with a sleepy looking Owen on her lap just sit like they're about to watch a wrestling marathon.

And five hours later the rest of the lairs inhabitants have either lost interest or were called away for chores and have since left us free to speak privately. Raph and I are still going when for the first time since Tuesday night I think about what's going to happen on Friday.

"So are you really going to go to Central Park on Friday? Or well tomorrow?" I ask Raph as we collapse on the couch, panting and having just agreed to a truce after getting tie after tie after tie all in a row.

Raph looks at me and sighs, shaking his head and running a hand down his forest green face.

"Yeah doll I'm goin ta Central Park, ya ain't goin so don't ask" Raph says, obviously trying to be patient but looking and literally pointing at me pointedly. I roll my eyes with a chuckle and smile.

"I wasn't going to ask but I do think you should bring some back up with you, I mean Casey seems like the kinda guy who'll get pissed, and bludgeon first ask questions later" I reply, my tone also patient. Raph rolls his eyes and smirks.

"And ya think I haven't dealt with some'a those over the years? I'll be fine Doll face" Raph assures me, now it's my turn to roll my eyes.

"Don't call me doll face Red, " I tell him with a slightly quirked up smile, lifting my eyebrows at him and smirking. Raph chuckles a bit and grabs my wrist gently, pulling me to my feet.

"C'mon Leea, it's time for ya first weapons training session" Raph says, pulling me toward the dojo, again I marvel at how he can be so gentle as he leads me to the solid oak door. Though as what he said settles into me I feel a chill also settle in.

I look around and realize that I haven't seen Jinx for a while, shrugging it off as I let Raph pull me into the dojo where it seems everyone else has suddenly congregated. Leo and Brigit are practicing defensive blocking and Liza's just put Mikey in a viscous point lock. A point lock being where you jam your fingers into the pressure point on the neck and shoulder and pin them once they fall to the ground. Raph goes directly to the weapons rack on the far side of the room. I slowly begin to twist black waves into a thick braid and watch him warily.

"Today we're findin out which weapons ya more comfortable usin" Raph pulls a long sword from the shelf and throws it towards me making a weird ass noise that sounds like wah but like a dying chicken saying wah. I have to let go of my braid in order to catch the handle dangerously close to the blade. I stare at the blade remembering exactly why I don't like using weapons or sharp things and Raph rolls his eyes. "Hold it like this doll, ya gonna cut yourself like that"

Raph walks over to me and puts his hand over mine, moving it lower on the handle and pressing my fingers into it gently to tighten my grip. I feel heat crawling up my neck and take a deep breathe, trying to ignore it.

He grabs my other hand and steps behind me, moving the sword to point out in front of me and putting my other hand just below my first. I blush furiously at the feeling of his arms around me and nod quickly, trying to hasten the experience and my reaction to it.

"Okay I got it, now what" I say stepping forward and out of his arms, I tilt the sword up so I don't hit Raph as I turn around but suddenly there's a sai flying at my face.

On instinct I curse, ducking and come back up with a side facing stomp kick to his chest. As he falls on his shell I hear him swear in surprise, flipping back up onto his feet and glaring at me.

"I meant use the sword to defend yourself, we're trying to see if ya can use the sword easiest" Raph says exasperatedly, I blush scarlet and glare back at him as I lower the sword and almost cut my toes off. I put it on the ground after that panic attack and finish my braid, looking up at him as I wrpa said braid into a bun at the back of my head.

"You should have warned me first!" I declare, Raph had been watching me with a barely contained smirk until I'd finally said something but then his face changed to seriousness.

"The Purple Dragons ain't gonna give ya any warning before they attack so I ain't goin to either" Raph takes the sword from beside slowly, as though I'll reach out and smack him at any second, which admittedly I want too. "Ya obviously ain't inclined for swords so lets try this"

"What is it?" I ask confused as he hands me a pretty looking folding fan, He smirks as I examine it.

"I wouldn't touch the edges but try throwing it at the targets over there against the wall" he says turning me toward the left back corner where four different colored targets stand, one blue while the other three are orange, purple, and red.

I raise an eyebrow at him as his hands linger on my shoulders and shrug a bit as I ready my arm to throw the fan. I focus on the blue target since it stands almost directly in front of me.

For some reason I can't stop myself from throwing it as hard as I can at the target. Which I imediately know must have been a mistake by the fearful intake of breathe I hear raph take and when it hits the target and slices the very top completely off and comes flying back at me, I instantly know why.

Raph grabs me by the belt and yanks me back out of the fans path just in time for it to embed itself in the wall behind us and across the room, right where my neck would be, my jaw drops.

"Holy shit.." I say quietly, my throat dry as Raph retrieves the fan and brings it back to me, flicking it shut and pressing it into my hand, I hold it farther from me then I had earlier.

"We'll keep looking, a weapon you need saving from isn't the weapon for you" he says with a barely withheld chuckle, I roll my eyes and try to 'I almost just died' nervous laugh off my million mile an hour heartbeat.

"Thanks for the save by the way" I say gratefully, my chest still a bit tight with anxiety for the next weapon.

"You're welcome" Raph says with a smirk, I glare at him playfully.

"Don't expect any more times for saving my ass okay? It ain't gonna happen again" I say my accent slipping in with a laugh, Brigit freaking chortles at my comment as though she disagrees and I turn to stick my tongue out at her where she stands putting Leo in a full Nelson. To which I find myself instantly laughing at the ridiculous scene.

I turn back to Raph and find that suddenly he's staring at me with an intensity that causes me to just stand there feeling awkward for a good five minutes until finally Mikey snaps him out of it.

"The seriousness of your staring at her is making me nervous dude" Mike says to Raph, Raph hushes him with his hand and goes back to the rack. He pulls out a long black chain with one weighted end and hands it to me.

"What's this?" I ask, suddenly curious enough that even Raphs continued stares don't faze me anymore.

"It's called a manriki, it's used for long distance fighting or close range, usually you'll have this and another weapon in case ya lose one or the other in the fight" Raph informs me, I hold it out in front of me and stretch it out almost as far as it can go, seeing that it's longer than my own arm span. "Try twirling it above your head like this"

Raph steps behind me again and grabs my right hand, lifting it above my head. He completely covers my hand in order to swing the weighted end above our heads. I try to ignore the slightly annoying tingly feeling I'm getting.

"Okay now what?" I ask Raph suddenly nervous about losing my grip and hurting someone. Raph slowly lets of my hand and lets me twirl it on my own.

"Now try to hit the practice dummy over in the corner, just try getting it over there for now don't try nothing fancy" he admonishes calmly, I've noticed from the session so far that he's a lot more pleasant when training someone. I take a deep breath and stare at the well-used and worn practice dummy.

I twirl the chain above my head I let it fly, it being long enough that even when it hits the dummy the end of it is still in my left hand, hitting the burlap dummy in the shin.

"Not bad for a beginner" Raph says, I turn to say something sarcastic but when I look at him I don't see any kind of teasing or animosity in the comment or his expression. "We'll work more with the manriki but for now we'll find you something that'll get you up close and personal to your opponents"

"Alright, sounds like a plan" I say with a small smile, I hand him back the manriki when he holds out his hand for it. As I hand it over his fingers brush mine, lingering for a moment. Both of us not moving away from each other. He shakes his head suddenly after a minute, removing his hand and going back to the rack.

"Let's try.. Kunai" he says, taking a pair of black ninja knives from the rack I feel my face blanch in reaction to them and swallow, my heart beat rising suddenly. Raph turns around and eyes me for a moment before putting the knives back on the shelf. "Or not? Hmm.. I don't think sai's are goin to work for ya so.. Let's try the Bo staff"

"The what?" I ask not because I don't know what a bo staff is but because I'm imagining some staff three times my size and am immediately relieved when the knives go on the shelf, Raph walks over to another rack that holds a range of different length wood and metal sticks.

He grabs the shortest one, looking to be about the length of my forearm, and brings it to me. He's also holding one that's just slightly taller than himself.

"Here, it'll give ya the range ya want and ya won't have to worry about concealing it because it drops to about ten inches" Raph informs me as he presses a button on the shorter one, causing it to snick open on both sides, becoming longer and somehow I noticed just a tiny bit thicker. My eyebrows jump to my hair line and I examine it as he hands it to me.

"This things awesome" I say with a small laugh as I start to twirl it a bit, I hit the button and it snicks back. Becoming about as long as I had originally thought it was.

"Yeah well don't tell Don ya said that it'll give him a big head" Raph says, chuckling slightly at my enthusiasm. I take a step back and twirl it like a baton, throwing it up and catching it as it comes down. My hand hits the button and it opens up right above my boot, smacking it hard and denting it in.

"Holy crap! This things powerful! Is it supposed to leave dents in stuff?" I ask Raph, immediately hearing how intelligent that sounded and cringing inwardly, he shrugs with a small nervous chuckle probably thinking I'm crazy.

"Don thought the added force might come in handy, I don't fight him on it" Raph tells me with a shrug, I look around, having just noticed that it's been really quiet for about ten minutes. I see Mikey and Liza almost asleep in the corner talking and then I see that Brigit and Leo have left the dojo and gone to watch a movie in the living room which we can see from having left the dojo door open.

From the looks of it, the movie looks like Fifty First Dates but I can't be sure. I sigh, remembering finally what I'd wanted to ask Raph.

"Are going to Central Park tomorrow? " I ask him, as I dothis however I remember that I had already asked and my heart drops with my dumbness, I hear him shift as I silently curse myself and my sudden idiocy out. Why am I suddenly acting like a floozy?

"Yeah, and again you ain't comin doll" Raph says with a sigh that tells me he's expecting a fight about this.

"Why not? It couldn't hurt to have some backup?" I let him know this with a slight shift of weight to the left, my hands now planted firmly on my hips, Raph groans.

"I get why ya worried, but I don't need back up" he says, I cross my arms over my chest, giving him my 'oh really?' look.

"Is that why Casey and L.H. had to help you fight... Richard was it?" I ask him, he glares at me.

"Ya weren't supposed to see that" he murmurs, I roll my eyes.

"Get over your pride and let me help, would you rather go right into a fight with him or at least try to reason things out? You know I have like nine siblings so I've got vast experience mediating angry people" I ask calmly, my tone reasonably low. Raph stops for a moment and thinks, the number of siblings I have apparently having an effect on this discussion. "Plus I'm going with either way whether you want me to or not. I owe you, as much as I hate to say it, since you saved us that first night"

"Oh! So ya finally admittin I was right in protecting ya?" he asks me confidently, I roll my eyes again, biting my lip on the sour feeling of admitting I was wrong.

"Reluctantly, yeah" now it's my turn to murmur. Raph stays silent a moment but then he lets out a loud breathe.

"Fine! ya can come! But if he don't get the picture that ya tryin to keep him from doin somethin stupid then I'm kicking his ass and yer headin right back to the lair, got it?" he whispers, looking around the dojo to see if Leo or anyone else had heard, pointing at me for my answer.

"Fine, if he still wants to fight after I've talked to him you can kick his ass, but no guarantees I won't beat you to it if he try's anything funny" I say half-jokingly, he smirks a bit and nods.

"Fine, go ta bed we're done tonight" Raph admonishes lightly, I nod and hand him back the Bo staff. "We're goin ta work all day tomorrow with the manriki and the Bo cause you seem to do betta with those okay?"

"Yes sir!" I say my tone low and giving him a mock salute as I walk out of the dojo to the arm chair, deciding to watch the movie with Leo and Brigit. Whose now sleeping with her head on Leo's shoulder while the blue banded turtle sleeps with his head resting against the back of the couch.

I smirk and grab Brigit's phone from the coffee table, taking a quick picture of the two and, after sending it to my phone, deleting it from hers so she won't know. I flop into the chair sideways, lifting my legs to rest on the chair arm.

"Payback act 1" I whisper to myself through a yawn as Jinx jumps up into my lap and snuggles down against my stomach.

I sit back after replacing the phone on the table and yawn again, I feel my eyes droop lower and lower and I glance at the time, 10:54, I do a double check and revel in the fact that hours of training went by so quickly for me as I stroke Jinx's sleek fur. I notice that someone's redone the stitches on her ear and taken off the bandage I put on just before she promptly falls asleep with me soon after.

~*Raph's P.O.V*~

After Leeann leaves the dojo I stay behind to do a couple rounds with the punching bag. I find peace in the repetition of skin against fabric and, after an hour of abusing my favorite bag, I decide to stop.

I grab the towel from the rack by the dojo door and put it around my neck. I look over to where Mikey and Liza have fallen asleep, Mikey sitting against the wall with Liza's head in his lap. Her hair winds around the fingers of his left hand as though he were playing with it when he'd fallen asleep there. I catch myself smile at the scene and I shake my head, deciding against waking them up.

I walk out of the dojo and go straight to the kitchen, opening the fridge as I grab one of the left over pieces from the pizza Leea made and eat it cold.

"Even cold this tastes betta than delivery" I think to myself as I eat, once that's done I drink a glass of water and walk out, by this time thoroughly ready to go upstairs and sleep. When I notice Leea asleep in the armchair and wince at her uncomfortable looking position.

I roll my eyes and walk over to her, noticing Leo and Brigit asleep on the couch. Brigit's head on his shoulder and his against the back of the couch, his arm must have once been on the back of the couch but is now haphazardly placed around Brigit's waist protectively as though it had fallen and his subconscious decided to hold onto her. I find myself smiling again and roll my eyes, too sappy for my blood.

I look down at Leea once again, her legs up on the arm of the chair. She has her arms crossed above her knees and her head resting on her arms. I cringe at the pains she'll probably feel in the morning if she doesn't readjust herself.

I think of the empty guest room upstairs that April and Mikey had set up for her and step forward. I slowly and gently slipping my arms beneath her back and legs, lifting her up. As I do this I get a waft of apples and cinnamon and have to contain a sigh. I don't get why I love that scent but I do, makes me feel like I'm home.

I walk around the couch and Leea shifts slightly, one arm curled around something in her lap and her other hand now lightly placed against my plastron. I feel a flush crawl up my neck as she cuddles into me and start to walk faster.

Whatever she's holding in her lap starts to move and I groan quietly as I realize that it's Jinx when she starts growling at me.

"Hush, I ain't doin nothin for you to be pissed about " I tell the pit bull pup in a whisper, she steps forward on Leea's stomach and sniffs me. Then curls right back up on her and falls asleep, pulling a smile from me. I climb the stairs and can't help but feel proud that carrying her, a puppy, and climbing the stairs hasn't even winded me after an hour long work out.

I reach the guest room and maneuver my arm slowly to turn the door knob. once that's done I kick the door open gently and step inside.

I walk over to the bed and, readjusting my left one so I can hold her in one arm, I pull the covers back and lay her down. I pick the puppy up off of her as I cover her lightly with the blanket's bunched up at the foot of the bed, placing Jinx gently beside her.

Jinx walks right up next to Leea's side and snuggles down against her as I look at Leea's face in the dim light from the hallway and just watch her sleep for a minute. Then after realizing what I've been doing is creepy as all hell I leave the room quickly.

I quickly pass Leo's room next door and go to my own, opening the door. I survey the contents, my room is pretty much a personalized man cave or well in my case a personalized turtle man cave.

With a TV and couch at the foot of the bed, my own bathroom which I put in myself with the help of don. even putting in an escape hatch because of the underlying sewer tunnel that allowed us to build a bathroom there in the first place. Theres a dart board on the back of the door that I use for my sai, and a few scattered posters of Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali, no one would mistake that I'm a macho guy.

I walk in and go right to the bed, pulling back the covers and slipping in. I drop the sweat rag on the nightstand and lay there for a few minutes.

"Why the hell does she affect me when my own brothers and April can't?" I ask myself slightly annoyed as I recall all of the interactions I had with Leea throughout the day. I groan as her dancing in the kitchen comes to mind, along with my thought about how cute she looked when she was actin all shy cause everyone liked her pizza. I yawn wide enough to crack my jaw and promptly fall asleep. Dreaming of fighting a certain hockey masked asshole.

~* Brigit's pov*~

I wake up and look around, knowing I'm not on the couch with Leo where we fell asleep. I see a room with little more than a desk, a bookshelf, a swivel chair, a nightstand, and a bed. I sit up, yawning and stretching, pulling my muscles back into place as I swing my feet over the side of the bed.

I see Jinx sitting at the foot of the bed and smile as she wakes up and stretches with me, crawling over to lay in my lap. I scoop the puppy up into my arms and stand, walking over to the partially open door and out.

I walk through the still darkened hall with Jinx asleep in one arm and my hand holding the railing to guide me. Miraculously I get myself down the stairs in the dark and walk to the couch setting Jinx down on it and laying the blanket on top of the couch over her. I grab my bag from the armchair where I must have left it last night and grab my phone turning it on.

The times 9:21 am

I groan quietly but then hear a small whine from the kitchen and stick my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. I walk quietly toward the sound and upon arriving in the kitchen, see Don holding a crabby looking Owen.

"Hey, you okay?" I ask concerned once I see his expression, he looks dog tired. He whips around and Owen laughs, Don squints his eyes at me and I smile sympathetically, holding my arms out to him. "Here let me try"

"Alright but he's really really finicky right now" Don says, looking glad that I offered. He hands Owen to me and I cradle the baby in my arms, Owen grabs onto my hair and starts playing with it as I rock him gently, I look up at Don.

"Alright Doc, head to bed, I got this" I order lightly, Don looks like he might argue but I raise an eyebrow at him and he smiles, shaking his head. He comes up and kisses Owens forehead lightly then walks out of the kitchen to where his family's room is adjoined to the lab.

I walk around the kitchen, rocking Owen and trying to get him to fall asleep. I frown a bit but then I remember what April had said about how she always got him to bed. I walk over to my iPod where I'd left it on the counter and turn on 'Angel Lullaby' by Reba McEntire.

Midnight moonlight shining through the curtain lace

Paints a perfect picture on your perfect face

One sweet angel sleeping in my arms

I smile down at him as he starts to drift a little, singing with the song.

You are the promise I knew god would keep

You are the gift that makes my world complete

Owen smiles up at me and sticks his thumb in his mouth, still holding onto my hair in his other hand.

And you'll never know how much I love you

I twirl gently with him in my arms and he smiles a little, His eyes drooping further.

But I'll keep on telling you my whole life through

Now I believe in miracles

And your the reason why

So dream on while I sing you my angels lullaby

I smile as the song tapers off and he's sound asleep, I feel a weird warmth by my head and frown a little bit until Leo scares the crap out of me.

"Usually April, Raph or master splinter are the only ones who can get him to sleep when he's that way" Leo says in my ear, I jump, luckily not waking him up.

"Jesus! Wear a bell or something!" I whisper angrily at him as I turn around. He holds his hands up in mock surrender but I see a smile breaking through his usually trained features.

"Sorry I just came to wake you up for morning training and you weren't in the other guest room so I came down here! By the way I want to work on meditation again so try to calm your mind this time" he says with an itty bitty smirk, I roll my eyes and chuckle.

"Yeah, cause that went so well last time" I say back to him, I remember last night lesson in meditation and shudder at my inability to sit still and clear my mind.

"Well we'll try to work on that" Leo says pleasantly, I nod and look up into his onyx eyes and he into mine, I don't know how long we're like that but when I feel a blush crawl into my cheeks I look down at Owen to hide it.

"So um, where should I put him? I don't think it's a good idea for me to go into the lab since Don just went to sleep" I ask Leo, I hear him clear his throat and I look up at him. He's smiling shyly and he reaches forward, pulling my hair from Owens grip gently, in response to which Owens curls up more against my chest.

My maternal instincts tell me that this is indeed the cutest baby moment ever. Leo steps even closer to me, gently transferring Owen from my arms to his and walking from the kitchen. I follow and see him go into the lab, coming out a moment later Owenless.

"How'd you do that?" I ask him still in a whisper, he laughs loudly and I'm surprised by it.

"You don't have to whisper the labs been soundproofed since before April even met Don which is either because of the injured or sick sleeping in there or for a reason I don't even want to know" he says with a shrug, I laugh and he gestures for me to follow him to the stairs. I raise an eyebrow at the low key dirty joke and smile a little.

"Where are we going?" I ask, he points to the last door on the left side of the hallway,

"I thought it would be easier for you to focus if you weren't in a room with multiple people and I just saw Leeann come out of the dojo with a camera so you can bet things are about to get loud" he says with a chuckle, I laugh a bit as we climb the stairs, resolving to go get those pictures of Leea sleeping developed today for some good black mail should she try to prank me.

As we get to Leo's room I find myself very curious as to what it would be like since he hasn't allowed any of us to go in since we've met him. He opens the door and holds it for me.

I'm greeted by the scent of incense and a room chock full of candles, Japanese books and pictures. It's like someone from Japan moved in and left without his stuff, but I know that this is probably a very regular Leo thing.

"Wow, this is so cool!" I say as I investigate the pictures, Leo smiles and gestures to the bed.

"Thank you, I got it from a very old friend of the family, sit down there and we'll start" he says kindly, gesturing to the middle of his bed I sit on the bed and he sits directly opposite me. "It helps to sit in the lotus position, here try mimicking the way I'm sitting"

"Okey dokey smokey" I say as I try to get my legs to bend the way his are, I spend ten minutes trying for it before I actually succeed and do a tiny victory dance, Leo chuckling at me.

"Alright now close your eyes and empty your mind of everything, just focus on your breathing, in through your nose out through your mouth, counting each breathe until you feel yourself drawn into the meditation" he tells me calmly, I close my eyes and try to clear my mind, just focusing on my breathing but I find that I can't focus. After what feels like twenty minutes of trying and failing Leo finally ends my frustration with a statement so contrast to the quiet that it might as well have been a gun shot "You're not focusing"

"I'm trying to but I just can't!" I groan, opening my eyes to look at Leo, flopping back onto his bed in frustration. however my legs are so tightly wound that they stay in the lotus position even with my violent flop. Leo opens his eyes and sighs once he sees my expression, chuckling a little at my exuberance.

"Alright we'll end here for today but we'll have to start with this again soon okay?" he says lightly, standing up and helping me out of my leg contortionist thingy.

I nod and again he opens his door for me and we walk out, as soon as the door opens I hear Liza yelling for Lee to do something and everyone else laughing hysterically. I walk to the stairs and laugh a bit. Liza and Leeann are rolling around on the floor, wrestling over a camera and Leeann's smirking.

"You shouldn't have taken my picture while I was sleeping if you didn't want me to take a picture of you and Mike all cuddled up on the dojo floor!" she yells back to her, Mikey's laughing stops and he blushes like mad man.

Leea throws Liza off and it's only now I realize that Leea's boot is gone because she hightails it to the lairs door and out before Liza can even follow but once she does she's off like a shot.

"Get back here you amazonian Gal Gadot midget!" Liz angrily shouts in the sewers beyond, I look at the hallway clock and my jaw drops.

It's 4:45 pm,

"Time goes by really quickly when you're meditating Brigit even if you aren't really focused" Leo says behind me, I smile and follow him down the stairs. I catch up to him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey do you mind coming with me topside to go grocery shopping? I wanted to make a big dinner for everyone tonight since Leea and Liz start school on Monday next week" I say hopefully, he stops for a moment and then nods.

"I'll come with you that sounds like a great idea" Leo responds with a serious expression. He goes to get his coat while I go to get my purse and my jacket.

~*Karai's P.O.V, 7:55pm*~

I walk into the compound, proud of the way the ninja now bow as I pass by. Though I'm still irritated by the picture of that blond woman that I received today due to my orders to watch the streets for these women, and why was that?

Because she was next to Leonardo

I know he wore a trench coat in the picture but I knew it was him by his height and the way held himself. Protective yet professional as always, I can't help but wonder if the woman means anything to him but I shrug it off.

"I can always ask her once she arrives, and if she is? Well then that'll be fun" I think to myself as I enter my father's office. He sits in his chair, examining a shuriken. I walk before him and kneel.

"Father, I return with pleasing news." I tell him confidently, he raises his eyes to mine and I lower my own.

"Do tell then Karai" he says, motioning for me to speak. I nod and raise my eyes once more.

"Hun Mason has taken the task of acquiring our.. Guests into his own hands" I say with a small almost imperceptible smirk. Father looks at me intensely for a moment and sighs.

"Never the less I'd like to relinquish the task to you daughter, that bumbling mass of muscle is almost as incompetent as those in that syndicate of his" father says as he pinches the bridge of his nose in irritation. I look up at him in surprise but quickly school my features, silently smiling on the inside.

"How would you like them delivered father?" I ask, secretly hoping he'll say dead or alive.

"I want them alive and unharmed" he sits straighter to peer down at me "to an extent of course, no lethal injuries, only blows that will render them free of consciousness, but if you must you will incapacitate them to bring them to me"

"Hai father" I say quietly, I begin to think of all the ways to acquire the women and smirk. "If you will give me leave, I heard of a place that one of the turtles will go tonight I could try to acquire this turtle first to use to lure the others out of hiding before attempting the capture of these three women"

Father is silent for a moment and I wait as patiently as I can, finally he nods his dismissal and I rise from my kneeling position, walking from the room and motioning for the foot ninja to congregate in the main room.

Once they've done just that I designate twenty five to come with me. I know who I will try to acquire first and I hope with each fiber that they'll fight so I can exact the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach on them that I've had ever since I saw that one woman with him.