I'm posting this up early because I was given a chance to take a week long trip to Europe, and of course I accepted. Who's going to say no to an almost free trip? I should be back the week after next in time to post up the next chapter, but this one is gonna have to hold y'all over until then.

Alright, back to the plot development. TMNT isn't mine, my beta-readers are wonderful, etc. etc. Enjoy.

Chapter Twelve

Don and I started IMing the next day at work; apparently he had gotten through the puzzle box faster than I had expected. When I was having my lunch, a chat request from TerrapinTrooper03 showed up. My sneaking suspicion that it was my purple-clad friend turned out to be true, and talking to him on IM became a daily thing.

When I wasn't too busy re-shelving the books that Raph had knocked over at work or doing research and inventory, and sometimes even when I was doing that, I was talking to Don. We talked about really random things sometimes. Like how Star Wars was a reflection on the inner turmoil in every human being between the archetypal Light and Dark side within all human consciousness. This actually came up halfway through October. This was also the conversation that led to other interesting things.

TerrapinTrooper03: It's obvious that the Force is only another word that they use to try to get the everyday Joe to understand that choices made are all simply a conscious choice, not due to upbringing or anything of the like. It's just another take on the classic Nature vs. Nurture argument.

LusciousLitterateur9: Don't be ridiculous. By the time that movie was made, that argument had been around for ages. The entire saga was just another example of how men wish they could control their environment; the Force is the perfect example of this.

TerrapinTrooper03: So what're you doing on Halloween?

LusciousLitterateur9: … Huh?

TerrapinTrooper03: Halloween. What're you doing that day/night?

LusciousLitterateur9: Well, that's not random at all.

TerrapinTrooper03: Figured while we were talking about sci-fi and all that. So?

LusciousLitterateur9: I think Ken and I were going to go to that Halloween Block Party between 9th Street and Harrison Drive.

TerrapinTrooper03: Who's Ken?

LusciousLitterateur9: He's just this guy I've been seeing. We're not officially dating, which is why I never mentioned him.

TerrapinTrooper03: Oh.

LusciousLitterateur9: Why?

TerrapinTrooper03: It's nothing, don't worry about it.

LusciousLitterateur9: No, tell me! I'm curious now! Were you planning a big party or something?

TerrapinTrooper03: No, it was just a thought.

LusciousLitterateaur9: Plllleeeeeaaaaasssssseeee tell me?

TerrapinTrooper03: It's nothing big, it's just that Halloween is pretty much the only time we can sort of come out without looking too weird, you know? So we kind of like to make a day of it. And we had heard of this one club and we were thinking about going and I was just going to ask you if maybe you'd want to come.

LusciousLitterateur9: Srsly?

TerrapinTrooper03: Well, we were going to ask April and Casey too. Kind of a group thing, I guess. But since you have a date and all

LusciousLitterateur9: You kidding? OMG I would totally love to come! I can drag Ken along! :D

TerrapinTrooper03: But if it's supposed to be a date

LusciousLitterateur9: Oh, please. I'm sure he can spare me for a dance or two. He can do his own thing and I can show you how to rumba! ;)

TerrapinTrooper03: You'd dance with me?

LusciousLitterateur9: Hell, yeah! Another thing we can add to the list of things you've done with a girl lol!

TerrapinTrooper03: lol True enough. So I guess we'll see you then?

LusciousLitterateur9: Of course! Where're we going to meet?

TerrapinTrooper03: At that big block party you were talking about. There's this dance club there and there's going to be a live jazz band and free food and all that stuff.

LusciousLitterateur9: This is going to be great! I'm so excited now! What are you guys going to go as?

TerrapinTrooper03: I'm tempted to go as a can of turtle soup- dress up as a can of soup, and since I'm a turtle…

LusciousLitterateur9: Oooooh! Clever! I like it! But I'm going as something a bit more dashing myself.

TerrapinTrooper03: Oh, yeah? What?

LusciousLitterateur9: Can't tell you. But we'll talk more about it later if you like. I can keep throwing out hints that you won't get and I'll laugh at your frustration. Bye for now! ;)

TerrapinTrooper03: Ha ha ha. Alright, later Irms.

As Halloween drew closer, I got more and more excited about it. I wasn't normally into Halloween myself, but that was mostly because I never had much of a reason to enjoy it. The anticipation of going out to dance with my beau and my friends who were normally unable to even walk into a store made the prospect of having to dig up the whole costume enjoyable.

Ken seemed equally excited; he apparently loved dancing and was looking forward to whirling me around. When I told him about meeting up with friends, he seemed genuinely eager to be introduced people I knew. I was happy about this. I had dated (and once been married to) very jealous men, and so the thought of being able to chat with guy friends without my own guy being suspicious was very relieving.

And so the big night came- October 31st, that night when all the spooks and ghouls apparently came out of nowhere and showed up everywhere. I met up with Ken at exactly eight at night, and he wolf-whistled as I came down the stairs. I was wearing a long treated brown leather jacket, and I wore a cowgirl hat and cowgirl boots to match, complete with the spurs on the back. I had a black leather vest over a white cotton shirt, and my hair was pulled back into a pony-tail. For authenticity, I had my Western Style ammo belt along with my holsters. I wore fake guns in the holsters rather than real ones, of course. If I wore real ones in New York, I could get arrested very easily. Just in case someone freaked out, I still brought my gun permit with me. I wore the black pearl earrings he had given me as well.

Ken didn't look too bad either. He was going with the Bad Biker Dude look- all black leather pants and jacket, complete with the chains and the gloves to match. We looked pretty good together- kind of like Team Badass.

"Hot damn, Irma," he said as I walked closer, putting an arm around my waist, "You're gonna have to beat the guys off with a stick. That is, the ones that somehow manage to get through me."

"Oh, look who's talking, Mr. Dark and Dangerous. The women are going to be swooning over you before the night is out." I let him pull me close and put my own arm around his waist. We decided to walk to the block party rather than drive. It wasn't too far away, and with our jackets, we weren't cold at all.

"So tell me about these friends of yours," he said as we strode along. "You haven't mentioned too much about them."

"Well, Casey and April are going to be there. They're the couple I told you about. They have one of those relationships where they bicker a lot but they somehow make it work. And then the guys… are… well, let's just say you'll probably remember them."

"That's not ominous at all."

We continued laughing and chatting as we walked, passing by people in costumes and kids looking for candy until we got to the block party. We weaved our way through the crowds until we got to the club where the jazz music was pouring out the doors and windows. "Now that sounds like a party," I commented.

"Mmhmm…" Ken got a grin on his face and then took my free hand in his, twirling me around. I laughed and put a hand on his shoulder, letting him dance with me on the street. "You couldn't wait to get into the club?"

"But I won't get a good look at you in there," he grinned and gave me a quick kiss on my lips, making me blush a little. "Come on," he said, and pulled me by the hand inside the club. The windows were tinted so the light didn't come in from outside, and there were flashing lights and bubble machines to make things even more interesting. I looked around to see if I could get a glimpse of anyone but was disappointed; there were too many people to get a good look at who was there.

The music was loud and jazzy, and I found myself dancing in place to the beat. Ken saw and quickly pulled me onto the dance floor, sweeping me up into his arms again. I let him hold me, moving my feet with his and leaning against his chest. I'm not sure how long we danced, just that I enjoyed it, spinning and twirling around him, our faces occasionally illuminated by the overhead lights as they swept over the crowds. After a while I noticed that it was getting hot and started to look for a place to leave my duster jacket. "Hey, Ken," I called to him over the music, "gonna find a place to sit for a little while."

He nodded, showing that he'd heard me and then made a motion of putting his hands to his lips and moving them so it looked like he was tossing back a drink. "Bring me back a Cuba Libre," I shouted to him, and he gave me a thumbs up. I shrugged out of my jacket as I looked around for a place to sit, and finally found a table in the back that didn't look like it had any occupants. Deciding that at least it was a place to relax, I quickly swooped down, putting my jacket on one chair and sitting in another.

I leaned back and let my eyes close, just enjoying the beat of the music for a while. I didn't notice how long Ken had been gone until I felt my pocket vibrate from my cell phone. I pulled it out and noticed that my sister had sent me a Happy Halloween text and Ken had been gone for twenty minutes. I frowned, knowing that even if the bar was crowded, it shouldn't have taken that long to get a drink. I was about to get up and go look when a big shadow blocked out some of the little light that reached the table. I looked over, hoping it was Ken, and was greeted with the sight of a familiar green face. "Donny!"

Quickly jumping out of the chair, I wrapped my arms around him, giving him a big hug. "I haven't seen you in ages! My god!"

"Not since you got back home, I know." He hugged me back and then took a step away from me, looking me over. "I like it! Cowgirl, right?"

"Sexy cowgirl," I heard another memorable voice say, and I turned to see Raph walking towards us, a drink in each hand. Neither of them were wearing any discernable costume as far as I could tell. "Couldn't think of anything more original than being giant ninja turtles, hm?" I commented with a smirk as he handed me a drink. Raph rolled his eyes and sat down next to me, ignoring the fact that he was on my coat. "I thought about going as a smart-ass librarian, but I wasn't loud enough to pull it off."

"Ha ha ha," I said. Donny took the seat on the other side of me. "Where are Leo and Mike?"

"Leo decided to stay down in the Lair. Splinter wasn't feeling too good," Donny said. "And Mikey-" There suddenly came loud cheers from the dance floor, and I managed to glimpse what looked suspiciously like a giant turtle doing a series of flips on the dance floor. Donny chuckled and Raph rolled his eyes.

"Ah, well then." I took a sip from my drink and started coughing. "What the hell did you put in this stuff, Raph?"

He said something about me being a wimp, but I couldn't hear it over the sudden influx of music over the speakers. The bass started pumping hard and the light started flickering, and Raph stood up, gave us a finger wave, and sauntered off to the dance floor to join Mikey.

Donny and I waved back at him and I lolled back in my seat with a sigh. Once more, I glanced around for Ken and didn't see him. I started to get pissed. Sure, the club was pretty full, but it would not have taken someone half an hour to find someone else, especially if that other person was sitting in the same spot. We both had cell phones too; it wasn't like he couldn't text to ask where I was. I felt something nudge my arm and I looked over to see Donny poking what looked like an iPad into my arm. I took it and read what it said.

Whatever happened to your date?

I snorted and looked over at Donny, who showed me how to type on it. I quickly got the hang of it and replied Went for drinks and hasn't shown up since. Donny gave me what appeared to be a sympathetic look and took the pad back from me, typing into it himself before handing it back.

Are you at least having fun?

I glanced over at him for a moment and gave a small smile before responding More so now.

We sat in comfortable silence together for a minute, just listening to the music, and then I caught his eye and jerked my head in the direction of the dance floor. He gaped at me for a second before shaking his head. Refusing to take no for an answer, I got up, took his hand, and pulled him out with me, wondering how a ninja with more grace and skill in his body than I had in my finger could be concerned about looking foolish.

We got to the floor and I immediately started swaying to the music, moving my hips and arms in time with the beat. I took Donny's hands in mine and tried to give him an example to follow. He was slow to learn at first, but in a little while we were both moving simultaneously in rhythm. Our shadows seemed to slide together on the dance floor as we moved closer and closer, our legs and bodies in sync with each other and the music.

I don't know how long we danced like that, just the two of us, not paying attention to anything else happening in the bar until the tempo suddenly slowed and the DJ's voice came on, saying "And now, for all you lovers out there, here's some silky songs for your enjoyment."

We had stopped dancing at that point and had both looked in the direction of the DJ, and when we looked back at each other… we were suddenly much closer than I had remembered being before. With my heels on, we were almost the exact same height, and our faces were almost completely level. I found myself staring into his eyes and wondered how they could reflect color from the flashing lights so perfectly.

"So…" I heard myself saying as the music turned slower and a melodic voice started crooning to sweethearts worldwide, "do you want to… um… keep dancing, or…"

He put an arm around my waist and took my right hand in his. Instinctively, I rested my left hand on his shoulder and we started moving back and forth together. The lights were much lower, and the crowds had thinned considerably as much of the dancing crowd took the chance to get off their aching feet, so we were almost alone on the floor, save for some other couples. It was strange- we had been dancing much more provocatively together before when the music was wild, but now that it was calm and slow, I felt like we were so much closer than we had been just moments before. We weren't moving haphazardly; I followed his lead, and wondered briefly before he spun me how a turtle could become such a good dancer. I myself hadn't been danced with like this since my days in Cotillion in High School. My first husband, Henry, could barely stand dancing at all and kept it at a minimum at my first wedding, and my second husband, Paul, just used it as an excuse to feel me up. This kind of dancing was completely different.

For some reason, words seemed to die in my mouth whenever I tried to say something, and my turtle companion was staring into my eyes in a way that made me feel something that I hadn't felt in a very long time; special. I couldn't take it, but I couldn't break off the dance either. I felt physically unable to do so. Instead, I rested my forehead on his shoulder and let him lean his head against mine. We danced like this for what felt like forever, and I found myself somehow wishing that the moment wouldn't end.

But of course, it did. Quite spectacularly too; the sound of a huge explosion going off and all the lights burning out has a way of breaking up romantic moments.

Ah, romance. I felt it was time to add some of that to the mix to spice things up a bit. And I even threw a cliff hanger in! Nothing like a cliff hanger in a story to make you want the next chapter. Review and tell me how bad you want it! And for those of you not-too romantic types, don't worry. There's going to be plenty of action coming up soon. No, not THAT kind, you nuts... Sheesh.