Well.
This was very, very not good.
As she hurtled through the icy gusts, gravity making her drop like a grand piano through the sky, Harmony's green eyes watered, mouth dry, mind blank as her small figure raced towards the concrete below. She couldn't see Lauren-maybe she'd already-
Harmony didn't even want to think about that image. More tears spilled out as she rocked another three stories down, wind whistling sharply as she shot down past an old series of windows.
So this was how it would end. Terrified, and nearly sobbing from the injustice of it all, Harmony squeezed her eyes tightly shut, scream lost in her throat.
Would it hurt very much to die? It wasn't something she pondered regularly; and, looking back, perhaps it was better that way. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that, regardless whether or not she landed somewhere soft, she didn't stand a spare quarter's chance in Las Vegas. Even if the building towered over water, at this distance, it wasn't going to make a difference.
The snow still fell softly from the sky, completely oblivious to Harmony's tumble towards imminent doom. Though it did seem to fall much slower then before; some flakes so much so that they seemed to be hovering quietly in midair. But the terrified girl's thoughts weren't so much on sightseeing.
'I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Please! Not NOW! Not before I even-'
She never finished that sentence. Harmony let out a sharp gasp as stars exploded before her eyes, as though someone were violently attempting Heimlich on her. This, she assumed, was her final impact; but it hurt much, much less then she thought it would. Maybe she died a quicker end then she thought she would have.
But her feet continued to soar through empty space; her hair was still fluttering wildly. Oddly enough, Harmony felt as though she were flying instead of falling.
Was this dying? Her body was still numb; though she could faintly tell something warm was tightly wound around her stomach. It would not let go; even when breathing became a little harder.
Harmony opened her eyes, mind swimming in a haze, vision unfocused and bleary.
She was zooming straight up above a gigantic city of lights; millions of tiny lanterns swelling up to enormous proportions.
The city was rapidly becoming tiny again as she looped around the mountainous building; matchbox like cars swarming below as her feet uselessly kicked in midair-
And, heartbeat accelerating faster then ever, she could see a nearby building top becoming larger and larger and larger and larger, until-
This time, Harmony really did scream; but she soon simply covered her eyes, whole body suddenly electrified; awaiting the solid concrete straight ahead-
That did not come.
With a resounding THUD that made stars flash in front of her eyes again, Harmony gasped, green orbs streaming as she tumbled from the warm band that had been clutching her waist….
Exactly two feet above blessed, solid ground.
Rolling slightly, heartbeat still pounding a mile a minute, Harmony continued gasping; not able to comprehend that she was still alive, let alone where she alones.
Still, her eyes trailed upward at the dark figure whose back was now turned to her, carefully stringing something around a muscled bicep. Was it a rope?
Skin now extremely pale, Harmony continued panting, even as her eyes trailed to the ribbons now fluttering like pennants in the breeze from a crimson mask wrapped around a green head.
…..a green head.
She slowly scooted backwards. Her heartbeat picked up another new round, her eyes slowly scanned downwards. A tough, weathered, almost pattered, oval-shaped pack.
Or simply an oversized shell.
The figure reached the end of the old rope he'd been carrying, only for Harmony to realize that it wasn't a rope at all-but a grappling hook. The turtle carefully tucked the instrument back inside of the belt he had casually bound around his waist, seemingly in no hurry to turn around.
A truck roared faintly from below, but its incessant honks were meaningless; inconsequential. Gulls sharply scolded one another from overhead; that too, was ignored.
Silence. Snow still fell. But at last, her savior broke the silence, still seemingly quite interested in the traffic below.
"Well? Ya gonna start with the screamin,' or da runnin'? Cause honestly, if it's da second, you're kinda outta luck, cause da-kid? Kid, are you…."
Hamato Raphael trailed off, or maybe he continued talking. Harmony didn't know. The world was still trembling violently. Or maybe that was her. From cold, from nerves, she didn't know.
Suddenly, two warm hands were at her shoulders. The young woman's eyes vaguely flickered up to the two dark ones staring very intently at her.
"Uh, look, uh….sorry if I squeezed ya too hard. You….are ya gonna be okay?"
Breathing was getting harder. And the fact that she nearly died was kind of catching up to her, too.
"Miss? You don't….look dat well."
Raphael didn't normally use the word 'Miss.' Huh. Harmony wondered what was wrong NOW. The turtle shook her, eyes starting to widen.
"Hey, say somethin', will ya? You're kinda getting…..uh-oh…"
His hand traced out the outline of her heart. He shook her again.
"Look, jus' calm down. I'm not hear to hurt ya, honest-"
She heard footsteps. The world kept swaying violently, and Harmony bit back the bile rising behind her throat, longing to be sick. She could just make out Raphael whipping his head around, frustration carved into his features.
"Hey, Cheesebrain! Fearless! Brainiac! Da kid needs help! NOW!"
He slowly turned his head around, biting his lip. Warily, he removed a strand of dark brown hair from the poor girl's face, surprised when she didn't flinch away.
"You're gonna be okay….."
That was the last thing Harmony heard before she blacked out.
It was still dark when she slowly began to come to. A few stars were twinkling overhead; and for a confused moment, Harmony faintly wondered if she'd simply nodded off while on the roof, and had had a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare…that had ended very, very nicely.
But something was wrong.
There was a soft hand clasping her wrist, and the sound of someone quietly counting under their breath. Harmony's head was lying on something soft, and there was another warm hand placed over her forehead.
Was she still dreaming?
"Yo, Donny, think I should get dis kid to a hospital? She don't look too good."
Whoever who'd been counting stopped.
"Raph, she fell off a building, only to be rescued from someone who looks like they belong at a Star Trek convention. What do you expect? The poor girl probably just needs to lie down for a bit."
"But I can…y'know, at least carry her dere, or somethin'. I mean," said Raphael quickly, hurriedly beginning to fumble with his words.
"Y'know, Master Splinta wouldn't have wanted us to leave da kid alone on da rooftops."
An amused voice piped up.
"You sound like Leo, now, Raphie boy. Sure it's not just because you happen to…ah….I dunno, have a thing for brunettes?"
Raph growled. And then, said a bad word.
And then another.
And another, as Mikey started chuckling.
"Gotta go now, Raphie boy. Leo could probably use some help with those ninja creeps. Shame they always have ta invite friends over."
Harmony could now faintly make out three fuzzy outlines, two of them now standing, one still bending over her.
"Yeah, it's been awhile since we split up. Listen, Raph, you stay here with her." Donatello's voice became amused towards the end, and Harmony could hear Mikey snickering.
"Hey! Wait a minute! I-"
But silence greeted him. Mumbling what sounded like threats under his voice again, he glanced back down with what almost looked like a pout on his face. Harmony could have giggled.
He started back when he saw she was watching him; which Harmony sensed Raph thought was a mistake. He immediately cooled, and immediately his face became exaggeratedly indifferent. The girl had to hide a smile with her hand as she slowly tried sitting up.
But Raph raised a hand, being careful not to touch Harmony's shoulder. The last thing he needed was for the teen to start shrieking her head off or to start a game of tag on the rooftops.
"Hey, ya shouldn't sit up yet. Believe it or not, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Though," he added, with a small snort, "I might not say the same for my knucklehead bros."
Perhaps it was from the hysteria that had not quite evaporated; maybe it was from the senselessness of what couldn't possibly be happening-but Harmony smiled all the same. Raph had not been expecting that. He gave her a strange look, but said nothing.
The breeze slowly flew at Harmony's hair; the turtle's eyes slowly trailed off, expression awkward.
"Ya ain't screamin,'" he commented, looking up at her again after a moment's pause. "Dat's a first."
Harmony couldn't help but smile again.
"I can start, if you want me too."
He snorted.
"I'll do without dat pleasure, thanks. Once is enough. When I saw da Foot shove you and dat girl off that building, I kinda thought ya were pavement pi-"
Harmony's eyes widened, and she immediately sat up. Raphael's hands immediately flew to her shoulders, and then off again, as though he'd been burned.
"Whoa, whoa! Listen, those ninjerks are probably history by now. Mikey may be an idiot, but he knows how ta use his head. Ta break stuff," he added, somewhat sourly. "Point of da matter is, they can't hurt ya now-"
"Where's Lauren?"
He gave her a bewildered look.
"Who what where now?"
Not a very comforting sign.
"The girl with-with the blond hair. Brown neck. Where is she? You got her too, right, Raphael?"
Raph still stared at her. Something akin to suspicion flashed in his eyes when she said his name, but he still looked baffled. Then, his eyes slowly widened.
"Oh. Yeah. Dat girl."
Harmony's breathing began picking up again.
"You got her, right?" she repeated, praying the now uncomfortable look on Raph's face would vanish. "She's okay-and she's on….another rooftop, now, right?"
Silence. Raphael was still staring at her. He cleared his throat, and glanced away.