Raphael

I'm not exactly sure, but I think my heart is ready to explode. You see, right now I am lying on the floor of the weight room off of the dojo. Not that Earth shattering I know, but, right next to me was Serena doing the same thing. Right after we talked, I led her over here thinking it would be plenty private for the two of us. Inside the room full of random second hand equipment, she just let herself drop to the floor. For a while, I contemplated just taking a seat on one of the benches. Then she gave me this look though. Soft and relaxed, and I realized at this point there was no more worrying about crossing boundaries.

So, I joined her on the floor. I laid on my shell, legs bent, with my arms behind my head. She was completely stretched out with her legs pointed to the wall, and her hands settled on her stomach. We were quiet for a little while, then her perfect voice filled the air. "I know you want to ask, and you can. It's okay."

I turned my face to look at her, "How did you get away that night? I thought for sure you were, you know…"

"Caught?" she whispered, "Don't you remember, I had a promise to keep to you. And I don't forget those easily. That night, I thought I was going to have to fight till my heart stopped. But an old friend found me again."

"What do you mean?"

"Aaron, he saved my life in the end. He fired the gun he had to convince the others, then took my hair as a trophy for my father. I don't know how he explained my body disappearing, but if he really wanted me dead, he could've done it." She smiled sadly at me.

"Oh, I thought that since you, chose me that…" I mumbled dumbly, cursing myself a little.

But she actually laughed at this. "There are many dark things about Aaron. I can never forget what he did to you, but in the end he was loyal to me. Though, earlier his mind was too clouded by anger."

"Yeah, I know what that can do to a person." I sighed. Then something really crazy happened. While she had talked, I had moved my right hand from behind my hand and laid it between us. There, I felt her take it in hers. Serena's long thin fingers tangled in mine. She squeezed my hand once to comfort me, but she might as well have squeezed my heart.

"How, how long did it take you to heal?" I couldn't tell exactly, but I thought I could hear her voice break on the words.

"Close to two months. I had some broken ribs. My eye took forever to get back to its normal coloring again. Donnie stitched me back up pretty good. Some bed rest and I was good as new… You?"

Using her teeth, she pulled off the fingerless glove that wasn't on the hand in mine. It rested on her stomach as she held her hand, palm out, above us. Across the back of her hand, was a jagged scar, long and dark. The vision of how she got it returned to my mind. Back in the warehouse, she face Aaron to save the broken me. I could see her spinning towards me, her hands keeping the blade from dragging across her neck. Then we were in the elevator, and we tried the best we could to slow each other's bleeding.

The images were strong enough to make me let go of her hand so that both of my hands were free to rub at my face. I sat straight up while dark picture marred my sight. My breathing quickened and my heart raced as I pulled more and more into another panic attack. I had the strongest urge to just run, to go anywhere but here. Nothing here was safe. Serena sat up next to me, I could feel that, but it was like I was blind to her.

"Raphael, what is it?" Her voice was far away.

Shadows swelled in my vision. Soon enough I was blinded from seeing anything what so ever. In my anxiety, I lost all sense of my surrounding. Then I felt something that was grounding me to the floor. White noise was all I heard, and I struggled against the weight in my lap. But then something new ignited my skin. Pressure at my temples guided me from my numbness. Pieces of the black began to open. I could make out the sensation was hands shifting across my scalp and down the back of my neck.

"I'm sorry," I began to mutter as I realized it was Serena seated in my lap. Her soft hands continued to draw circles in my skin.

"Shh… don't be. You just had an anxiety attack. I've seen them before, had them before. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. How did you do that?" I asked finally relaxing

Her hands rested along my temples, "Marco, this always helped with his headaches, and when he would have anxiety too. I just transferred the knowledge onto you."

I could see just fine again. Wide green eyes stared into mine from where she straddled my lap. Sucking in deeps breaths, I relaxed more. She smiled at me as she noticed the changes in my vitals herself. "There, much better."

"Thank you." My hands had nowhere else to go now, so they rested on her hips. This close, I could feel her light breaths on the side of my face. I could count every eyelash, every pore on her skin.

I laughed lightly to myself, "You're here."

"I'm here," she reassured. I leaned my forehead into her shoulder as her arms tightened behind my neck. We sat there like that for a few minutes before she gingerly pulled away. Backing off, she sat across from me with her hands folded in her lap. "We're kind of a wreck, aren't we?"

"Yeah we are. I guess that's why we got thrown together."

"You think so?" she asked in a light voice.

A grin spread across my face, and I looked down while I answered, "Why else would you end up friends with a giant mutated turtle like myself. I'm kind of a freak."

"Am so different?" Serena challenged, raising one newly dyed eyebrow. "Blonde Italian girl raised by her Japanese adoptive father as a trained assassin. I think that makes me more of a freak than you."

"Keep trying sweetheart," I dared her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, but that smile gave her away too much. "Sweetheart huh? You'll pay for that."

"Try me."

Donatello

The lair had grown incredibly loud, and then was dead all over again. I had watched Raph sneak off towards the dojo, Senshi… or Serena, whatever, in tow. Man, right now life was kicking me and the ass. I just couldn't keep up. My two other brothers were both moping, Leo in his room, Mikey in front of the TV. I just sat at our table trying to find the boost to do anything.

Life in the past year just hadn't been the same. It was like all of us were slowly losing focus on our realities. I think I knew why. We all wanted more than just this life hiding in the shadows. We loved and cared about each out so much, but we all were wanting something more to turn to instead. I know I wanted to be seen, and not just by my green skin and thick shell. Maybe that is why we were so uneasy around Serena. Raph was finding something more with her..

At least, we all thought so anyway.

While I was wrestling these thoughts, my shell cell rang. "Hello? Donnie here."

"Hey Donnie!" April's upbeat voice shimmed on the other end, "Why so down?"

"Oh, uh… nothing. What's up April?" I sighed into the line. I really wasn't hoping she was on her way over or anything. She knew who Serena was after all. April came to visit Raph when he got hurt a couple months ago. I didn't really think now was the time for a chance meeting.

"Well, Casey and I are just coming back to the city from spending the week at his grandma's place. We'll be home in a couple hours then maybe I thought we could visit, rents so movies, eat some snacks. You know, just have some good old fashioned fun."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling, thinking about the times where those two used to be over all the time when we were fifteen. "That'd be awesome April. Me and the guys could really use that, but we got some stuff going on. I let you know though okay?"

"Nothing bad I hope," she sounded a little worried on the phone, "I hope it's nothing Foot related."

"Well, just a teensy bit."

"Humph," I could picture April crossing her arms, most likely in the passenger seat of Casey's old Chevy truck.

"Hey, don't sweat it. We can get this figured out. We've done okay so far," I said, realizing seconds later the true meaning behind my words.

"Alright, fine. Call me later though, Okay?"

"Okay, I'll talk to the guys," I promised, smiling at the tone in my old friend's voice. We said our goodbyes before I collapsed my phone. The chair squealed against the concrete as I stood up. I walked behind Mikey and rubbed my knuckles into the top of his head.

"Hey, stop it!" he growled sinking more into his chair.

I rolled my eyes. "Smile more, it's a more fitting look for you."

"Where are you even going?"

"I'm going to go ask Raph and Sen—Serena and maybe even Leo if they want to just sit and hang out. I'm sick of how divided this house is now. Lighten up a little." Still walking forward, I heard him mumble something about remembering who she was. "Yeah, trust me I won't forget. I just am getting used to the idea that Raph trusts her, so maybe we should too."

That's when I reached the door to the dojo. I walked straight in on Serena pinning Raph to the ground. "Ha, that's what five to two now?"

"Not for l—oh hey Donnie," he half waved at me from the wrist that was held to the ground. "We were just sparring a bit."

When Serena finally traced his focus to me, she quickly backed off from my brother, gazing at me like a beaten animal. I hated that look, and I began to realize that maybe, just a tiny bit, that my brothers and I deserved it. "Yeah, I could see that. Five to two, jeeze Raph, she's not even half your size."

"Cut me some slack, I just fell of a rooftop. No respect man."

She smiled slightly, and relaxed for just a second as she looked at me. Raph took the advantage, and literally picked her up and tossed her across the room. This must have been a regular this because she landed perfectly in a crouched position. The girl retaliated by throwing a constant array of hits his way. Of course, Raph was able to block them all just fine, probably because they were playing rather than actually training or fighting.

I was laughing as I watched the two, kind of amazed by how well tuned in to one another they were. With every punch and duck, it was perfectly timed. Way better than what any of us could time with Raph. I don't know how they decided who had the advantage this way, but Raph suddenly had her wrists in his. He threw all of his weight onto her, and pushed her back till she lay on the floor, him pinning her down this time.

Her eyes glared at him fierce, but the playful smile ruined the tough image. It felt like decades since I had seen my brother smile that way, totally relaxed and actually having fun. I knew I really should hate the girl, part of me still did and always probably would, but the way she did look at him… it made it a bit harder to do.

"You guys, I was thinking that maybe the five of us could try hanging out for a bit. Try figuring all this out. Wanna give it a shot?" I interrupted the scene, clearing my throat too.

"You good with dat?" My brother panted, helping Serena to her feet.

She shrugged, but her eyes looked uneasy from what I could see. Of course they never broke away from Raph, "What do I have to lose?"