A/N: Ta most muchly to my two beta-readers; CPQ and Artykidd. I really appreciate you both taking the time to do this for me, despite being so busy with everything else going on for you at the moment.

A big thank you for the review since last chapter too, Artykidd! I was starting to think my darn review function had gone awol again. It is definitely working again now, so I'd love to know what you all think of how this story is going. Love it? Hate it? Couldn't care less? And most importantly; is it getting boring for ya? If so, I needs ta know! -grin-

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the TMNT, or any related characters (much to their relief, I'm sure!) If there is anything else in this story you recognise from somewhere else, then I don't own that either. This includes the lyrics to 'Lithium Flower' by Yoko Kanno… Don does have good taste in music, lol!

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Raph wasn't happy. Despite his fathers' recent order for calm, he still couldn't help muttering under his breath as he wheeled his bike away from the Battle-shell to secure it in the warehouse. Why the hell did they have to take so much stuff? They were only going for a few days; but Mike had insisted on taking extra blankets and guff, tons of food and, of course, the gifts had to be packed 'just so'. So much for Raphs' hopes of taking his bike for a spin through the Northampton country-side.

It certainly didn't help that his temper had been a bit strained these past three weeks or so as it was. The morning after Taus' birthday, he'd been sitting alone at the table whilst his brothers messed about in the kitchen, still self-consciously rubbing the small, tender spot on his neck. He wasn't hungry, happy nursing his strong cup of coffee, clutching his mug with both hands as he'd heard her approach behind him.

Playing it cool, he hadn't bothered to turn around, despite her standing there for a moment. Then, he had almost jumped when he felt her hand touch him on the shoulder, light as a feather, and heard her whisper in his ear,
"I'm sorry for what I did last night, I was outta line. It won't happen again, I promise. 'k?" Before he had a chance to answer, his brothers had come spilling out of the kitchen, so all he could do was give a grim nod that he'd heard her. Then she was gone; dashing off to fix her own meal, leaving him to curse over burning his hands on his mug once he realised how hard he'd been gripping the hot enamel.

For a week after that she hadn't spoken to him much, not that he'd given her many chances to. He'd almost been grounded again for sneaking out of the lair, and this time he'd paid heed to his Fathers' warning, if only to avoid being trapped in the same place as her. He was worried that would lead to a fight, which would result in her being evicted all together. The saying 'caught between a rock and a hard-place' had taken on a whole new depth of meaning for him over those days, and he was grateful she spent most afternoons at her job; even if it made him realise over time that, despite everything, he did still miss her when she was away.

Gradually, they had managed to relax again around each other. Things were pretty much back to normal between them now; though he still found his patience was worn a bit thin. She'd been a little short with his brothers when they tried to goof around with her as well.

Raph was just unravelling the dust sheet for his bike when a tune sounded in the warehouse;
'She's so cold and human,
it's something humans do.
She stays so golden solo,
she's so number nine;
she's incredible math,
just incredible math…'
The music cut off as Don answered his Shell-cell;
"Hey April! --- Oh, that's no good. --- Um, I don't think I have a spare one of those, but I'll just go check…" he continued talking into his hand-piece, wandering away from the van to rummage through the various collections of vehicle parts stored about the place.
"That sounds a bit ominous," commented Leo, handing another box up to Mike in the back of the truck.

"Careful with that!" Mike admonished unnecessarily; taking the parcel with exaggerated care, placing it on one half of the alcove seat and fussing about wrapping the seat-belt around it. He turned back to give a sheepish smile in the face of Leos' reprimanding look.
"Just what do you think you are doing, Mikey? We might need that seat!"
"Nuh-uh, there's six of us and seven seats. I've put a lot of work into that cake, there's no-way I'm gonna risk it getting tossed about the back of the van if Raphs' gonna drive!"

"Hey guys," interrupted Don, tucking his Shell-cell back into its pocket on his belt "a bit of bad news; Caseys' pick-up has died. We can probably resurrect it, but neither Casey nor I have all the parts we'd need; and even if we could get them today, I doubt we'd be getting to the farm before late Christmas Day, if we stopped to fix it now. I was thinking I could rig up another seat…" he petered out, taking stock of the mound of supplies dominating every spare inch of free space in the truck. "And that roof rack I've been planning too, by the looks!"

"Eep!" objected Mike, protectively clasping his cake-box "No way you're putting my baby on the roof!"
"Why don't we just strap Mikey to the roof instead?" taunted Raph as he returned to the van.
"Yeah! No, wait! Then who'd look after my cake?"
"Oh, for goodness sake…" groaned Leo, rolling his eyes.

A few moments later the elevator soundlessly rose from the floor, hissing open to release Splinter and Tau with the last of the supplies from below. The two paused in their own conversation, taken aback by the scene at the rear of the van. Mike valiantly (and loudly) fending Leo and Raph off of his precious box with a sweeping kick, though the tables looked to be turning as Raph caught his brothers' leg in a lock, allowing Leo to get in closer to their quarry; Don wandering past absorbed in a sheaf of blueprints, hefting a piece of squared pipe as he considered its' suitability for…what now?

The rat and the girl glanced at each other; she in incredulity, he in weary resignation that he should have known his sons would be disproving his words of praise for their close family connection he had just been assuring her of.
"My sons…"
"Ki-YAH!" Mike managed to twist to free his leg and elbow Leo in the mid-riff ("Oof!"). His escape knocked Raph off balance ("Aargh!"), and his arms pin-wheeled momentarily to stop him toppling out of the van altogether, managing to connect with Dons' metal pipe ("Hey! Noo!") sending it, and all the blueprints, flying up into the air.

Tau ducked needlessly as Master Splinter deftly caught the projectile.
"My sons!" his stern tone gaining their attention this time, except for Don who immediately set about collecting his papers off of the floor "What is the meaning of this?"
"Master Splinter!" Leo straightened quickly to turn and give a quick bow to his sensei "Caseys' truck has broken down, so we're just trying to organise the Battle-shell to accommodate the two of them as well. But Mike is...well he's…"
"Bein' stupid!" finished Raph.
"Am not!" declared Mike.
"Are too!"
"Am NOT!"
"ARE T…"
"GUYS!" Leo yelled to stop his brothers, looking back to his father with a sheepish grin.

"We'll have to leave some of our supplies here," put in Don as he straightened, still trying to put his pages in order, and ignoring Mikes' immediate protests, to continue "and it's gonna take me a while to fit another seat. Might as we'll settle in for a bit of a wait, I doubt we'll be able to set off until well after lunch."
"But, that's no way to spend Christmas Eve!" lamented Mike "We should all be enjoying the day together! Besides, what can we leave behind? And we gotta get there in plenty of time to get a tree up! There's gotta be another way!"

"Sometimes, there isn't Mike." stated Leo.
"Yeah, like we don't spend enough time bein' bugged by you as it is." jibed Raph, half under his breath.
"For starters," continued Leo "you can take that box off that seat. I told you we would need it. And we'll just have to consolidate everything else." he directed, bending down to begin sorting through their supplies.
"Awww!" moaned Mike "But it's just not right. We need that, and that. That's important! No, that's gotta stay…"

Splinter gave a small sigh, watching the bickering in the van begin to escalate again as he stepped over to Donatello.
"Is there no other solution? Michelangelo is right that this should be a 'harmonious' day."
"I'm sorry Master, but I can't see how else we're gonna fit everyone into the Battle-shell."
"Hmmm, then perhaps the answer is not to." pondered the Sensei. Don furrowed his brow for a moment, unsure of his fathers' meaning he glanced over to where the vehicles were parked.
"Doh! Of course!" he instantly grinned in comprehension; turning back to see Tau looking utterly crestfallen, his frown quickly returned "What's wrong?"

Tau quickly pasted a brittle smile on her face.
"Nothing! I don't mind staying here… I mean, I'm not really family, or anything."
"Nonsense!" chided Splinter "You may not be family, but you are a friend. We would not think to leave you behind if you did not wish to be. No, the remedy lies with Raphael." he explained.

The situation in the truck was getting heated.
"Mike! There has to be something here you can live without!" vented Leo, slapping his hand down on a roll of blankets. The corner of a clear, plastic bag shot out from between the layers of wool, catching his attention. "What's this?"
"That's nothing Leo, just leave it…!" Mike failed to dissuade his brother from drawing it out; holding the small baggie, and the sprig of leaves it contained, up for inspection.
"Where did you get this from?" asked Leo, his tone suddenly deceptively calm and level, causing Mike to give a guilty, obsequious grin. "Didn't I specifically ban this?"
"Well, yeah, but it's traditional! It's not Christmas without it!" his brother offered in his own defence. Leo didn't buy it, fixing Mike with a hard glare.
"No mistletoe." was his verdict, tucking the offending plant into his belt to confiscate it.

Mike opened his mouth to protest, but wisely thought better of it, settling for folding his arms and muttering under his breath in a grump.
"Suck it up, Mikey. I don't get to take my bike, but ya don't hear me complainin'" scolded Raph.
"Nah, you've already chucked your hissy fit over that!" Mike taunted sarcastically, the hot-head raising a fist in response.
"Watch what yer sayin', or I'll make ya eat those words!"
"Like to see ya try…"

"Raphael, Michelangelo; enough!" Splinter brusquely interrupted the imminent brawl "We have a solution that should satisfy everyone. Raphael can ride his motorbike to the farm."
"Yeah? Yes!" Raph directed his fist in the air, as opposed to at his brother as he'd originally intended.
"Awesome!" agreed Mike.
"Uh-huh." dead-panned Leo "Now just shift that box and it'll be all good."
"Wha…? No! Why doesn't Raph just take someone with him? Huh?"
"Like who?" Leo folded his arms.
"Ummm, like…Tau?" suggested Mike diffidently, backing it up with his most cajoling smile.

"I don't think so!" Gob-smacked, Leo turned to see Tau stood around half a meter away from the back of the van, arms crossed, leaning back in a pose of cool defiance. The look on Raphs' face was a carbon-copy of his brothers; he instantly discarded the objection he had been about to make.
"What the hell d'ya mean 'you don't think so'?" he demanded of her; Tau quirked a sceptical brow.
"I mean; I've seen how you ride that thing!"
"Smart girl." whispered Leo in an aside to Mike, as Raph leapt down from the truck to stop with his beak no more than an inch from her nose, his eyes angry slits. Tau barely flinched, standing her ground.

"You dragged me off on some crazy ride on a damn horse, but you won't ride with me on my bike?" he asked, his voice dangerously low.
"'Crazy?' Are you saying I wasn't in control?" she countered, her own eyes narrowing.
"That friggin' animal was huge, how much control could ya have had over it? At least my bike doesn't have a mind of its own! Ya know what I think? I think you're just chicken." a goading grin started playing on his lips.

Tau was silent a moment, looking utterly affronted. Turning her nose in the air she tried to salvage as much dignity as she could, declaring;
"I am not 'chicken'."
"Prove it."
"Fine then, I will."
"Good."
"Good!"
"Great!"
"Great!"
"WONDERFUL!"
"Heh, maybe not!" Mike beamed as he retorted to Leo in a hushed voice; Raph and Tau continuing to bandy the 'last word' back and forth as they stalked away from each other.

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"You be a good kitty for Unca' Leatherhead now, okay?" petitioned Mike, giving Klunk a last cuddle before handing the cat over to the towering mutant. Taking his friends pet with care, the croc assured,
"He will be fine with us. Enjoy your trip, all of you."
"I wish you'd come up to the farm one day, big guy." lamented Mike. With a chuckle Leatherhead shook his head.
"I don't think so, Mikey. I have never found travelling in such vehicles over long distances a particularly pleasant experience."
"C'mon Mike, time to roll-out!" interrupted Raph bluntly. With a final grin and wave for his friends, Mike jumped into the back of the Battle-shell, shutting the rear doors before he settled himself on the spare half of the bench seat, one arm draped triumphantly over his cake-box.

As Don started the engine of the truck, Leatherhead and Honeycutt waving them good-bye, Raph glanced back at the girl seated behind him. The visor of her helmet still up, she gave him a nervous grin. He shot her a cocky one in response.
"Just make sure ya hold on tight, 'k?" he directed, a roguish note in his voice. He pulled his helmet on before she had a chance to retort. Her grin failing a little as she wondered just what she'd got herself into, Tau tugged down her visor; quick to grab him as tight as she could about his waist, giving a short squeal as the bike shot out of the warehouse, rearing in a small wheelie in pursuit of his family.

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After a quick stop to pick up April and Casey - at which point Raph, almost as much as his family, was relieved to see Taus' expression was one more of exhilaration than terror - the little convoy headed north, out of the city. They had been on the road to Massachusetts for close to three hours now, and Raph had behaved himself; following Leos' rules of staying close behind the Battle-shell, and not pulling anymore stunts.

It had gotten pretty tedious, having to stare at the rear doors of the van for the most part. He'd started to wish he could talk to Tau to relieve the monotony. Despite his initial fear that having her with him would make his trip uncomfortable, he'd quickly grown to enjoy the feeling of her pressed against his shell, her thighs tucked up behind his own. Even through the thick jeans and jackets they both wore, her embrace helped to keep him warm, fending off the wind-chill.

He'd taken it as vindication after their little spat that she seemed to relax pretty quickly, not gripping him quite as tensely as she had to start off with and picking up how to shift her weight through corners and the like in no time. Though she always kept one arm wrapped tight around his mid-riff, she started to rest her other hand lightly on his shoulder, or his thigh, he guessed as a way for her to relieve the stiffness in her limbs. Once they left the city behind, she had even started briefly pointing out things that caught her interest as they sped through the snow-dusted country-side.

As the Battle-shell pulled off the main highway, heading to the spot they usually stopped for a break in the journey to the Jones family farmhouse - and in this case, lunch - Raph had a sudden inspiration. Waiting until the convoy turned onto the dirt road that was the last stretch to their stop-over, he reached down to pick her hand off his leg; wrapping it back around his waist. She seemed to figure what he was planning, gripping him tight again and giving a nod that he felt against his shoulder as she peered past it. With a "WHOOP!" he swiftly over-took the truck, pulling his bike back up onto one wheel as they passed the side window, dropping back down in front of the van to give a cheeky, little fishtail, spattering mud, before speeding away down the track.

Five minutes later the Shell-cycle roared into a small, deserted clearing. Raph made the back wheel skid about as they came to a stop, parking neatly under the overhanging branches of a large pine. Flicking his leg over the gas-tank, he was off his bike in an instant, yanking his helmet off to savour the smell of the surrounding woods. Tau dismounted a little more gingerly, giving her thighs a rub before doffing her helmet.

"Heh. I didn't scare ya too much there, did I?" he asked with a grin. She beamed up at him from where she was bent over, massaging the tops of her legs again.
"Nah! That was fun!" she laughed.
"You ok?" he tilted his head as she finished her ministrations.
"Yeah; your shell just started to dig into my legs a bit after a while there." she assured. Then her smile dimmed as she grew serious. "About this morning; I was actually tryin' to give you an 'out', just…not very well." she gave a sheepish shrug.
"An 'out'? From what?" he creased his brow.
"From, well…, from having to ride with me. I wasn't sure you'd wanna." she murmured, toeing the ground.

Despite the fact he had been about to object to taking her on his bike, before she'd kicked up about it, he suddenly didn't want to admit to it.
"Forget it. We're friends after-all, aren't we?" he threw out casually, hoping the sudden nerves he felt weren't showing through; relieved when she gave him a warm, side-long smile.
"Yeah." she drawled.

They both fidgeted for a quiet moment, before Raph reached to grab her hand.
"You gotta come see this!" he invited, though she didn't get much chance to refuse as he quickly led her through the trees with a strong grip. Not that she minded, grateful for the support as her legs protested the sudden effort to keep up with him. They hadn't gone far into the woods when they suddenly stepped out from the tree-line onto a narrow ledge, high above a winding river valley. The wilderness, an undulating patchwork of trees and snow, stretched away below them to the horizon; seeming to meld with the mass of roiling clouds that filled the sky, threatening more snow.

"Oh wow!" she breathed, barely loud enough to be heard over the rapids below. After being confined in the city for so long, the sudden feeling of immense space almost overwhelmed her; accentuated by the lonely cry of a hawk circling above.
"Thought you might like this." he murmured, following the bird-of-prey with his eyes. She watched it too, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
"Thank-you." she whispered, her smile growing wider as he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb.
"'s what friends are for." he assured quietly.

A minute later, the sound of an engine coming to a halt somewhere behind them filtered through the trees. Raph silently commiserated with the disappointed little sigh Tau gave, though neither of them turned away from enjoying the vista.
"Raphael!" they shared a jaded little glance as Leo approached. "What were you thinking, pulling a stunt like that? If you'd hit ice on the road, or lost control, you could've killed…"
"It was my fault, Leo." Tau calmly interceded, stepping protectively in front of her friend; Raphs' scowl quickly turning to a look of confusion. "I egged him on."
"Wha… Why?" Leo glanced suspiciously between them both; surely Raph wouldn't be so low as to put her up to this.
"I needed to stretch my legs a bit." she explained simply.
"Oh, well… you should both learn to be less reckless." he lectured, feeling he'd lost his thunder a bit. With a quick, almost bewildered shake of his head he headed back to his family.

Tau jumped slightly as she felt Raphs' hand wrap around her hip, pulling her so hard against his front she could clearly feel the wing of his sai, hidden under his long coat, impressing on the small of her back.
"I can fight my own battles." he muttered by her ear, his gruff tone sending a shiver down her spine.
"Heh. I know that. I just felt I owed you one. Besides, he's starting to get on my nerves too." she murmured in response.
"Yeah?" Raph gave a low chuckle, loosening his hold on her a little; his mirth fading to ask in mild concern "You cold?"
"A bit." she admitted; figuring it wasn't a complete lie.
"Here's hopin' Mike remembered to pack a thermos in with all the other crud, hey?" he smiled, leaving his hand gripping her far hip as he shifted to walk beside her, following his brothers' tack.