"Um, Frankie?"

"Yeah?"

Mikey scrunched his face up. "When was the last time you had a shower, dudette? I mean, you kinda reek."

"Mikey!" Leo hissed, offended by his brother's lack of manners.

"What? It's totally a valid question! She stinks worse than the sewer does!"

Leo groaned.

Frankie sniffed at her armpit. "Heh, yeah, I guess I kinda do stink, huh? Sorry 'bout that. Uh, do you guys got a bathroom or somethin'?"

"What do you think we are, cave people? Of course we have a bathroom."

Frankie raised her hands in defense. "Hey, I never been in a giant turtle sewer hangout. I dunno what to expect 'round here. Cut me some slack, willya?"

Don smiled. "Fair enough. The shower's through there," he said, pointing. "Uh, do you have a change of clothes?"

Frankie stared at him. "What are ya, crazy? Where the hell would I get new clothes from?"

"From a store," Mikey said slowly. "Obviously."

Frankie gave him a look. "Yeah, great idea, Mikey. I'll just go walkin' into a Wal-Mart or somethin', I'm sure they won't get suspicious. Hell, man, they don't like kids like me in there. Think I'm gonna rob them."

Raph raised an eyebrow ridge. "Wouldn't ya?"

She had a thoughtful expression. "Well… yeah, maybe. Only if I could get away with it though, I ain't stupid, and only if I didn't have any money. I know what it's like not bein' able to pay for nothin', I don't really wanna make someone lose their job or nothin'. That ain't fair."

Leo listened to this with a slightly surprised expression on his face. The only other "street kids", as Frankie called herself, that he had met were members of the Purple Dragons or other gangs. They didn't put much stock in the welfare of others. As much as he hated to admit it to himself, he had a hard time understanding Frankie Cutler.

"April," Don said out of nowhere.

"Come again?"

Don's face lit up the way it always did when he figured something out. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before! We'll have April bring you some clothes."

"Uh, not for nothin', but exactly who the hell is April?"

Mikey grinned. "She's a friend of ours, I bet you'll like her."

Frankie wasn't exactly sure she wanted to meet someone who was friends with four giant sewer turtles. They couldn't exactly be, well, normal. Maybe this April was, like, a mutant cat or something? Or a pigeon? That's make sense. Or not.

Well, she thought, ain't really worth worryin' about.

She took a step towards the bathroom, then suddenly stood up straight and yelled "Oh shit!"

The four turtles looked at her with varying expressions of amusement and disapproval.

"What?"

Frankie spun around and pointed at Mikey. "You!"

Mikey squeaked. "Huh?"

Frankie marched over to where Mikey was standing. Looking a little alarmed, Mikey backed up a step or two before Frankie rolled her eyes at him. "Chill, turtle-man. I gotta go back up to that warehouse. How exactly do I get there?"

Leo's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why?"

Frankie threw him a look over her shoulder. "'Cause, I gotta get my stuff."

Raph snorted. "You have 'stuff'?" he asked derisively.

Frankie scowled at him. "I got a bag with some stuff, you got a problem, Red?"

Raph didn't respond.

"So," Frankie said as she turned back to Mikey. "Show me the way, Mike."

Mikey looked, wide-eyed, at Leo for approval. Leo just nodded once and Mikey relaxed. "Right this way, madam," he said in a grave voice, bowing and pretending to hold open the door of the elevator. Frankie grinned and marched in.

"Well ain't that fancy."

Raph followed her in, and in a few seconds all four turtles and one girl were standing were standing in the elevator.

Frankie raised her eyebrows but decided not to say anything.

When the elevator doors opened into the garage, Frankie immediately ran over to where Don had discovered her the night before. Sighing in relief, she bent over and grabbed a grungy-looking duffel bag – It used to be green, but years of use had turned it a nasty mouldy brown colour.

Mikey squinted. "Eeeewwww…"

Raph grimaced. "For once, Mikey, I'm gonna hafta agree with you."

Frankie heard their exchange and scowled at them. "Hey, don't be hatin' on my bag! It's kinda old, I've had it forever. But it works alright. Better not be anythin' missin'…" she mumbled, quickly checking over the contents. Everything seemed to be accounted for, except…

Frankie whirled around and looked at Leo. "Where's my knife?"

"What?"

Frankie looked almost frantic. "My butterfly, where is it? I thought it was in my bag but it ain't there, 'cause I had it when you knocked me out and… where is it?"

Leo was alarmed by the panic in Frankie's voice. She ran over to where Leo had kicked her and searched the ground hurriedly. The turtles watched, slightly confused. Mikey scratched his head. "Uh, why're you looking for a butterfly? Wouldn't it have, like, flown away?"

Raph smacked the back of Mikey's head. "Idiot, she's lookin' for a knife."

"But I thought she said-"

Leo cut in. "Honestly, Mikey, don't you listen to anything Master Splinter says? It's a balisong."

"Gesundheit,"Mikey said.

Leo rolled his eyes. "It's a folding knife, Mikey."

"Oh."

"Ha!" Frankie leaped up. "Got it!" She flipped the knife around her wrist and the blade snapped shut. She sighed happily. "Man, if I'd lost this…" her voice trailed off.

The four turtles gathered around her for a better look. The handles were fairly thin, originally silvery in colour. They were tarnished and scratched and Raph thought that it, frankly, looked like a piece of crap. He told Frankie so.

Her eyes flashed angrily. "This ain't a piece of junk, Red. S'my prized possession. And-" she flicked it back open and held it in front of his eyes – "it works pretty damn well."

Raph swore and knocked her hand away. She smirked, keeping a firm grasp on the knife handle.

Frankie moved off to collect the knife that was still lodged in the floor near Raph's cycle. Don noted that she didn't have quite the same attachment to this one, as she merely flicked it shut and stuck it in the back pocket of her tattered jeans. Then, sauntering back over, she grabbed the duffel bag and stuck out her hip. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

She gave a lopsided grin. "Thought you offered me a shower. Am I gonna get it or not?"

Leo shook his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered under his breath.

-x-

A/N So, whattya think? I don't have much to say about this one… only to review, otherwise I'll set Frankie on you! Muahahaha! *cough* Ahem. Anyway.

Thanks again to my wonderful reviewers, Mikell, TMNT Redneck, Laughter's Tears, and a new one, TMNTgirl! You guys make me happy whenever I get your reviews, so keep it up!

For those of you wondering, Roger came from the novel Tex, by S. E. Hinton (which I thoroughly recommend for any fans of The Outsiders). He had a reputation for being mean and his big expensive Honda motorcycle. So yeah. Really random reference.

Anyway, see ya next time!