Disclaimer thingy: I don't own TMNT

Disclaimer thingy: I don't own TMNT. Never have, doubt I ever will. Suing me for money I'm NOT making on this fic will only waste your time. No infringement of the Copywrite is intended. All original characters, however, are mine and are not to be used without my permission.

And now, on with the show.

Greetings

"Is it much farther," she asked again.

Casey shook his head. "For the fifth time, no. If you stop asking every two seconds," he grumbled.

"I told you, I hate the feeling of being surrounded."

"Well, we're here now, so just relax. You'd hate to make a bad first impression." He entered the lair, beckoning her to follow. "Yo guys! I brought a friend! Get yer tails out here!"

"Casey! Where's April?" A strong Brooklyn accented voice carried through lair. A few seconds later, a face appeared to go with that voice. A large five foot something humanoid turtle stopped when he saw the gargoyle. "What is this?"

The gargress' eyes flared scarlet for a second. "I am a who, not a what," she declared.

Raphael arched an eye ridge, but shook off the comment. "Yeah, well you aren't the first mutate to show up tonight," he informed her.

"I am not a mutate," she nearly roared.

Casey placed a hand on the gargoyle's shoulder. "It's all right, friend. Raph here isn't the best with manners. You'll have to excuse him." Turning to Raph, he asked, "Hey man, what's the matter with you?"

"We've got a temperamental felinoid in there and we don't know what to do with her."

"Jessica? You have Jessica in there?" The female tried to move around the turtle to get to where he had come from. "Please, is she well? Let me go to her!"

Raphael stood his ground between the rest of the lair and the gargess. "How do you know her and why is it you two coincidentally wind up here tonight?"

"Jessica discovered me much as your friend Casey did. I defended her and her turtle friend from a group of attackers. Discovering they weren't exactly human, it was easier for me to trust them than it has been trusting Casey," she explained rapidly. "Now please tell me, is Karen there with her?"

"Karen ain't no turtle, but yeah, she's here," Raph grumbled. "We found them living in our old lair."

Cocking her head, the gargess said, "She very much so was a turtle when I saw her."

"Then you ain't got the right Karen," he replied, but moving back the way he had appeared from. He stopped when he came to the door and looked back. "You comin' or what?" With a nod, she moved toward him. He would hold open the door for her and gesture with his free hand inside. "Now, tell me that's a turtle if you can." He indicated to the human female who stood next to a prone felinoid.

The gargress took in the scene in front of here. Three other turtle beings, a feline, a felinoid, a large rat, and a human female were crowded into this infirmary type room. The feline, a small orange domesticated cat sat atop the orange banded turtle's head, while the felinoid – calico in coloring and hissing up a storm – lay flat gripping the human female's hand. Great feline ears lay flat across her head and her tail twitched madly, but the rest of the felinoid lay stark still. The purple-banded turtle, Donatello if her memory served her correctly, was grimacing as he stitched a nasty looking gash closed. Blue and Orange, Leonardo and Michelangelo respectively, watched – one with a scowl of distrust and the other with sympathy, as if every stitch was one he felt personally. The rat turned to look at her and she saw great knowledge behind those eyes. This was indeed the elder of this clan, though why her friend was here, she didn't know. Silent long enough, she spoke up. "Jessica, what are you doing here and who is this?"

Jessica's ears lifted at the sound of the voice from the doorway. "Friend! What are you doing here?" Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "This is Karen. Don't you remember her?"

"Karen looked similar to these four here," she replied tersely. "She was not human."

Six heads whipped around to look at the human, who was now shrinking back against the table in a vain attempt to become invisible. Jessica hissed as Donatello poked a bit too hard with the needle. Snapping out of it, he shook his head and continued his work. Only the gargess tail tapping was any indication of the impatience of the group.

"So," she said after a long minute, "are you going to explain to me how you are human now?"

Karen gave a weak shrug after feeling the encouraging squeeze from her furry friend. "Er, I'm sort of a were-turtle, only I can like… control it. The conditions aren't specific. I was mixing a batch of chemicals and accidentally drank my experiment instead of my tea. Both were warm, so I didn't notice until I tried to add the final few ingredients to the mixture. For the record, hot tea is not a good base for adding anything to. At least not on the scientific level." She took this intensely odd moment to demonstrate. Closing her eyes, she concentrated a bit and went through the changes that were occurring as she felt herself go through them. First, she grew about three inches. A large shell, much like the four other turtles' shells, grew from her back. Her blonde hair took a stark contrast to her skin as it deepened to green. Her nose receded from view and her face took on a more turtle-ish appearance. Her fingers and toes merged until she was a female version of the four males in front of her. A beak and plastron and she was set.

"So like, which one's the real you," Michelangelo chirped.

Karen opened her eyes. "I was born human," she admitted shyly. "Science, well my own curiosity made me this way."

"Oh ho! Another science freak," Mikey ribbed. "Hey Donny, found you a girlfriend!"

A sharp, not unpleasant voice split the air even before he finished. "Michelangelo!"

Said turtle turned – causing the orange cat to flee its precarious perch - and faced his sensei. "Yes Master Splinter?"

"Go," the rat said sternly. "Twenty flips. Now."

"Yes, Master Splinter." He turned, sparing the gargess a smile as he passed her.

The gargoyle raised an eye ridge at this turtle – Michelangelo. She didn't know what to make of his comment. Were they lonely? Desperate for companionship? Was he thinking of trying to play mate maker? That was generally left to the elders of the clan. As much as they claimed not to care, elders were always pushing for the younger generation to pair up – usually basing their decisions on watching. She smirked at the thought and noticed Michelangelo's eyes shoot up in what could best be described at hopeful. Smothering her smile, she turned to face the group again. The room seemed to have shrunk since she last looked in it, but she took a deep breath and tried to ignore the feeling of suffocation. "How did you guys wind up here, Karen?"

"We were attacked as we were leaving for our trip topside to see you," the now turtle-sized female responded. "These four here rescued our butts from a serious whooping, though not before Jess was used as a pin cushion." She absently ran her fingers along a few other freshly stitched areas. "Why are you here?"

"I assisted this hu…Casey and his April friend in an attack by humans in black pajamas. It's the same group that has been terrorizing the park for some time now." She had to focus more on her breathing than what she was actually saying. The room was beginning to spin and her chest felt tight. Breathing was becoming harder, but she pushed on. "To thank me," she pushed out, "Casey offered me a safe place to stay during the day. He led me down here while April went for pies." Feeling herself sway slightly, she planted her tail on the ground for added support.

Jessie hissed through her teeth. "Defender of the night, eh?"

The gargress chuckled. "We are often called that, yes." The pressure was increasing, the room growing smaller with each breath she took, and she closed her eyes briefly, feeling most of the color drain from her face.

"Are you ok?"

Eyes rolling up in her head, she squeaked out, "Sure," before falling backwards towards the ground.

With his ninja reflexes, Raph stopped the gargoyle from smashing the back of her head on the floor. "What's up with this chick," he grumbled at Casey.

"Oh, chick here's claustrophobic," he said, quite amused with that fact.

"Oh, just like you were, huh?" Donatello found it prudent to remind the vigilante of his fear of small spaces.

Casey pointed his finger at Donatello. "Hey, I got over it. I doubt this one will."

April's voice called from the other room. "Hey guys, I got the pies. Do you know how hard it is to find a pizza joint open at 5 AM? A little help here?"

Leonardo, the only one left without a current task, left the room to help the red headed reporter. April was relieved to hand the pizzas over to him and he took them to the kitchen. He didn't like all these females turning up on the same night. Yes, Michelangelo had been the one to find the two females living in the old lair, but this gargoyle showing up on the same night. Something didn't add up and he was going to find out what it was.

Raphael moved the garg to the couch, but wondered what to do with her next. "Yo Donny, what do I do with her?"

Karen walked out and stood beside the red masked turtle. "There isn't really anything you can do. Claustrophobia can be beaten, but it takes reprogramming. I think I understand why she has it. She…"

"Look, I don't care," he grumbled. "Just wake her up and get her movin'."

Arching an eye ridge, Karen scooped the gargoyle up into a sitting position. "Hey, Friend, wake up." She lightly slapped the unconscious woman's cheek as Raphael looked on. "Come on, sleepy head, wake up."

Groaning, the gargoyle mumbled something to the turtle before she opened her eyes. "Wha?"

"How long have you been claustrophobic," Casey decided to finally ask.

"Since I was a hatchling. Whenever the humans around our home got bold, they'd come hunt us. The hatchlings were hidden away for safe keeping in caves and covered holes." She sighed. "On one occasion, I had a group of them camp for seven days and nights where I was hidden." Shuddering, she continued. "I listened to them every night, afraid that the next sunrise would be my last. After they left, I couldn't get out of that hole fast enough. Since then… I just can't…"

"Sounds brutal," the vigilante noted.

"Brotherly love," she corrected him. "Anyway, it's over with. I just panic when there's anything over my head. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you." She stood up, but swayed slightly. Karen steadied her. "I wish to check on Jessica once more before dawn comes."

Karen wondered what happened at dawn, but simply followed the gargoyle over to the infirmary. It looked like Donatello had finished his work on the feline and had moved away to a computer nearby. Curious, she left the gargoyle and moved to her long time friend. "Hey, Kitkat, how you feeling?"

Jessica gave a feline yawn and opened her eyes. "Tired and sore. You?"

Snickering, the were-turtle shook her head. "A bit overwhelmed, but no worse for wear. I mean, I have a LOT of questions I'd love to ask our saviors, but I'm not sure they're willing to answer them right yet."

"Save your question," the feline said. "Mister Purple here says it'll be a couple days before I can go anywhere."

"I don't like that idea," Karen whispered as she knelt down beside the bed. "I can always carry you home in this form." She didn't like the idea of staying with these males any longer than she had to. They were too suspicious and worse than that, they were male. Not that she didn't find the one in orange interesting, but who knew what they're real plans for her and Jessica were. The garg interrupted her next comment.

"I need a place to stay before dawn gets here, Mister Donatello. Is there anywhere I might be able to sleep until sunset?"

Donatello looked a bit confused by the question, but tried to hide it quickly. Nodding, he led the female to his room and pointed to the bed. "You can rest there for the day. It's my room, but we're day people. Why do you sleep during the day? I mean, NYC is a busy place at all hours, but…"

"It is not by choice, Donatello, but a curse. It was placed upon the first of the gargoyles by an old man, who appeared out of nowhere one evening. Even since that day, it's not safe for my kind to be seen during the day light hours."

"But why?"

"If you were human, would you have accepted a demon looking woman such as myself so readily into your home?"

"I'd like to think I would," he replied without hesitation.

She smiled at him, a warm, friendly smile that reached her eyes. "I think you would have as well." She kneeled down in an empty corner and caped her wings around herself. "Will you protect me throughout the day?"

"Protect you?" He was genuinely confused at this, but before his very eyes the young gargess turned to stone. "Holy motherboard…"

A/N: Part two finally up! Cheers I'm so happy, but have no idea where this is going. Anyway, I'll update again when the muse strikes.