A little peek into the life of the redhead. There's a moment where I think Splinter might be a little harsh, so let me know what you think of that, and I don't think that the trick that Donny performs in this chap is actually possible, but it was cool to think about. Also, I thought it would make more sense if they were nocturnal, because that's the impression I got from the 2007 movie, because they were always out a night. Once again, thanks to all my reviewers, and a special thanks to ladycordelia17. I am honored to find myself on your favorites list!

Just a head's-up, I'm rather new to the Ninja Turtles cult, so I don't really know a whole lot about them. I only saw #2 of the original movies that were made in the 90's, and only the first few episodes of the original TV series. (I think it's the original TV series.) And it was from there that I thought that Splinter was human, exiled from Japan for a crime he didn't commit, and forced to live in the sewers where he made friends with rats, and that was how he ended up a rat himself. I think, anyway. It's all still a little fuzzy because I have the worst memory of anyone I know, except my grandad.

Anyway, I dont own the TMNT, or Master Splinter, but I own A.J., and the plot!

Leo slept deeply through the day, and awoke the next evening feeling very refreshed. He opened his eyes and stared at the roof above him, feeling better than he had in months. He was wondering why when Donny and Mikey entered the room at the same time. Donny saw that Leo was awake, and jerked his head back to their bedroom.

"She's still asleep," he said. It took a second for Leo to remember who he was talking about, then he remembered the events of the night before. He got up off the couch, shaking his head to clear it, then went to the fridge and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Then, Leo and his juice went into the bedroom to check on their little invalid.

She was just as Donny had said: lying on her side, sound asleep. One of her feet was sticking out of the covers, hanging over the side of the bed. Leo smiled and put his juice on his bedside table. He took her ankle in his hand so he could put her foot back under the covers, and for the first time, he noticed that her toenails were painted a color that he guessed was purple, but it changed to green or blue whenever he moved.

How cute, he thought, and pushed her foot under the blankets. He straightened up, and paused before brushing a lock of hair out of her face. Then he picked up his glass and padded out of the room without making a sound.

Back in the living room, he looked around.

"Where's Raf?"

"Probably off on one of his midnight adventures again," said Donny. Leo sighed.

"Doesn't care about anyone but himself, does he?"

He didn't wait for an answer, but turned around and stormed off to the dojo, first to box a couple of sandbags, then to meditate, trying to release all the anger, no: frustration, with his brother. All three of them were difficult to control, but Raf was the worst. Always the black sheep, that one. Always going against the grain; always had to make a statement. Never before had he been this bad though. Leo blamed himself, but he knew he probably shouldn't. He knew it was the separation that had really brought out this stubborn streak in Raf, and now it was so bad that even Master Splinter had trouble with him. Leo had promised him the night that he had returned that he would help set them straight, but oh God. Sometimes it was so hard.

He opened his eyes when he heard Mikey shout, "Hey! Sleeping Beauty!" from the other room. He stood up and left the dojo, a more important task on his mind. A.J. was awake.

She was standing in the entrance of their bedroom in the middle of a yawn when Leo walked in. Her red hair had dried and was tousled around her shoulders. Her strength was returning, Leo observed, because she had taken the few steps from his bed, which was the closest one to the door, to the door itself, and was now standing strongly on her feet in front of them, rubbing sleep from her eyes. It was a definite improvement, but he didn't want her to wear herself out or fall again, so he picked her up and brought her to the table.

"Thanks Leo," she said as he set her down. "Do you guys have a shower down here? I'd really like to get cleaned off."

She twisted her hands uncomfortably in her lap, and the boys knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Sure," said Leo. "We've got a bathtub, if you want to use that."

"A bath sounds wonderful," she said, putting heavy emphasis on the last word so they would know just how wonderful.

"Actually, that's a good idea," said Donny, getting up off the couch and switching off the TV. "One of us can go draw her a bath, and someone else can get her something to eat. I assume you're hungry?" he said to A.J., and she nodded.

"I'll do it!" yelled Mikey, jumping up and running to the back room that served as their makeshift bathroom.

"Don't make it too hot!" Leo called after him, then he turned back around as Donny opened the refrigerator door.

"You're not allergic to milk, are you?"

She shook her head.

"I'm not allergic to anything," she said as Donny poured the milk into a glass and set it down in front of her. "Thanks. Is this all I get?"

"No." Donny put the milk back into the fridge and reached into it again. He pulled out two containers of yogurt, the crossed the room to where his Bo was leaning against the couch.

"Watch this."

He found the balance point in the middle of his staff, then put the containers on each end. Balancing it on his finger, he used his other hand to flip the staff and the containers of yogurt into the air. He caught the staff in one hand, one container in the other, and caught the other on his staff, and it didn't fall. A.J. clapped her hands and yelled, "Bravo!" as Donny bowed and gave her the yogurt.

"Show off," muttered Leo, but it was loud enough for his brother to hear.

"You're just jealous because you don't have my awesome skills, Leo," said Donny, punching him playfully in the arm.

"At least I don't look like you," Leo retorted. Donny held his staff in front of him.

"I challenge!" he said.

Leo reached behind him, but he didn't have his swords strapped to his back. He would have taken Donny on with his bare hands, but A.J. waved to get his attention.

"Hey guys. I hate to interrupt this whole honor and glory thing but I kind of need a spoon."

Leo was closer to the drawer, so he opened it up and got her a spoon. He held it up.

"How good are you at catching?"

"Awful," she answered.

"I bet I can make you catch this. You ready?"

"Leo!"

"Relax, Donny. I just wanna see if I can do it."

She held up her hands.

"I really can't catch anything, but if you insist. Just don't hit my nose."

Donny opened his mouth again to protest, but Leo had already thrown the spoon. He had excellent aim, and as long as A.J. didn't move, it would be a straight path into her hands. Sure enough, it landed right in her hands, and she closed them around it.

"Wow! I caught it!" She marveled at the spoon as though she had never seen one before, then looked at Leo. "How did you do that?"

He shrugged.

"Magic."

She gave him a look that clearly stated she did not believe him.

"You ninjas and your magic tricks." She opened the first yogurt container, and dug the spoon into it. She closed her eyes as she put the spoon in her mouth.

"Oh man. Real food."

She finished the first container in ten seconds flat, and then opened the other one. This one took her a little longer to finish, but in less than a minute, the empty yogurt cans were sitting side by side in front of her, and she was licking the spoon.

"Thanks, guys. That was the best meal I think I've ever had."

She drank her milk, and just as she was swallowing the last of it, Mikey came into the room.

"Your bath is ready, madam," he said, sweeping his arms in an exaggerated bow.

"Oh thank you, my good man," she said in a tone of mock royalty. "Now carry me there."

"Yes ma'am," he said, getting off his knee and picking her up in his arms. Donny followed behind him, carrying a chair. They disappeared into the back, and Leo sat down at the table. Absent-mindedly, he picked an apple from the bowl on it and began munching on it, thinking about her.

For someone who had been through a traumatic experience, she seemed well in control of herself. He had seen cases on the news when people who had been through situations such as these where brought blubbering and sobbing and screaming by the police, and then there were those who did nothing but stare into space, not speaking, not focusing on anything, just staring. Their minds never fully recovered. But here was A.J., a young girl who was probably no older than they were, laughing, talking, and fully functioning, as though it had never happened. She was weak and really banged up, but there was nothing wrong with her mentally.

There were two possible explanations for this. Either she didn't remember what had happened to her, or she really was one tough cookie, as Donny had said. He finished his apple, then chewed the core up and swallowed it as his brothers returned.

Waste not, want not.

"What do you think happened to her?" he asked as they sat down.

"Oh, Leo," groaned Mikey. "Did you have to bring that up now?" The others ignored him.

"We know she's been abused physically: that much is obvious," Donny began. "The blood shows that she was raped, and she had bruises all over her body, which means that she was beaten, probably punched and kicked around. But, she was also starved, and she's very pale, indicating a lack of exposure to the sun. I bet whoever it was that did this to her had her for a pretty long time, a month at the least. They would have had to feed her something though, because she would have died by now. She's very thin, but her body hasn't completely cannibalized itself yet."

Leo's eyes widened in horror.

"They kept her alive just so they could beat on her some more?"

"I wouldn't jump to conclusions, but so far, that's how it looks," said Donny uneasily.

Leo swore, slamming his fist on the table. Donny and Mikey jumped. At that moment, Master Splinter entered the room.

"What is the matter here?" he asked in a stern voice, looking disapprovingly at Leo. The boys immediately rose and bowed, and Leo proceeded to explain himself.

"I'm sorry, Master. We were discussing what may have happened to A.J., and I got a little out of control. I shouldn't have acted like that. I apologize."

"It is indeed monstrous," replied the old rat. "But until you know for sure, you must not let your anger cloud your judgment. Where is she?"

"She's taking a bath," said Leo.

"That's good. How was she this morning, Donatello?"

"She's much improved, Master. She ate a little and took a few steps out of the bedroom."

"So her body is healing. How is her spirit? Her mind? That is what is most damaged. Always remember boys: physical wounds will heal, but the scars they leave behind never fade."

"Yes, Master," the boys said, and Donny continued.

"It's very strange Master, but it is almost like nothing has happened to her. She's still thin and pale, and has a little trouble moving her arms, but other than that, there is nothing much wrong with her. She laughs and talks like a normal person. It's almost like she doesn't remember anything."

Splinter's brow furrowed in thought.

"Hmm. It's not unheard of. Many trauma victims purposefully forget what has happened to them so they will no longer feel the pain connected with the memory. It is a natural self-defensive reflex."

"But…wait," Mikey spoke up. "She couldn't have forgotten. Remember the way she was twisting her hands when she asked if she could get cleaned off?" Leo and Donny nodded. "She looked really uncomfortable," he continued, then Leo remembered something else, too.

"And she told me last night that she was afraid of the dark. I offered to leave the light on, but she wanted me to stay with her. That ties in with what you were saying, Donny, about her being kept captive, out of the sun."

"Oh," said Donny, realization dawning on his face. "Wow."

"But we will never know anything for sure until we ask her," said Master Splinter firmly. "Donatello, I will need you to get that information out of her as soon as possible. Tonight, if you can."

"Tonight?" Donny gasped. "But, don't you think that's way too soon? Shouldn't she be allowed to recover first?"

"The sooner the better," said Master Splinter.

"But why? As if she hasn't been through enough already! To ask her to relive those memories now is all but cruel!"

"Please, Master," Leo jumped in. "We can't possibly ask that of her; not now!"

"Don't argue!" Splinter barked, and the boys fell silent immediately. "I understand your sympathy for the girl, but you have forgotten who you are. You are ninjas, and it is your job to protect the world from evil! There is an evil been done here, and you must seek it out! And do whatever it takes to do so!" He turned and prepared to leave, but he stopped at the doorway to his rooms, and said, in a softer voice, "But if it will make you feel better, you do not have to speak of it to her after tonight." He turned back around to face them, the anger gone from his eyes. "You must find whoever is responsible for this hideous crime. If you explain that to her, I'm sure she will be glad to help you. If you question her now, the details are still fresh in her mind, and the information she gives you may be more accurate."

He left, closing his door behind him. The boys looked at Donny, and he looked back at them.

"Master Splinter's right, Donny," said Leo. "And I'm sure it will be easier for all of us if we just get it over with now."

"I can't," he said. "I won't. Not tonight. It can wait until tomorrow."

Mikey shrugged.

"Your funeral, man. Oh, by the way Leo. I told A.J. that you'd be waiting outside the door until she gets done with her bath. She's got one of my numchucks so she can throw it at the door to let you know when she's ready to come out, just so she won't try to walk and fall and hurt herself. Sound fair?"

"That's pretty smart of you, Mikey," Leo complimented, but he held up his hand.

"It was Donny's idea. He still doesn't want her walking anywhere, even though she's perfectly capable of walking a few steps from one place to the next!"

He turned to Donny, grinning as he said this. In response Donny said, "Shut your face," and got up out of the room, taking a banana with him as he did so. Mikey looked at Leo.

"What's eating him?" he asked.

"The task that Master Splinter's assigned him, you dolt," Leo replied, getting up as well. "He knows it's going to be extremely difficult, and he's also afraid of what he will hear." He cracked his knuckles, then said, "Now, I'd better go see if our little friend is done with her bath yet."

He didn't have to wait outside very long before he heard the telltale thwack! of wood and metal against the door. He opened it and found A.J. sitting on the chair Donny had taken with him when they'd gone back an hour earlier. She was back in the robe she had been in the night before, and she was running her fingers through her wet hair, drying it off.

"Hey Leo," she said as he picked her up. She smelled fresh and clean and her skin was scrubbed pink and shiny. He noticed that she had removed the home fashioned splints of pens and scotch tape, and her fingers, though clean, looked red and twisted, the joints swollen. She had also taken the bandage off her head, and the wound, though it still looked nasty, was improving. Her body was slightly warmer than usual as he held her close and took her into the main room. Donny was back, warming up something in the microwave. Mikey grinned at her as Leo set her down at the table.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"You look better," said Donny. "Healthier, I mean."

Leo thought she looked better too, but not in the way Donny was talking about. But he didn't say anything, which was probably for the best. A.J. looked around.

"Where's Raf?"

"Out," said Leo curtly.

"Where?" she persisted. The brothers shrugged.

"Wherever he goes when he goes out, I guess," said Donny. A.J. frowned.

"I thought you guys said you fought as a team."

"We used to," said Leo. He looked at his brothers. "We don't really anymore."

"Why not?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Donny pointed out. She lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's a really bad habit of mine. I think I do it without even realizing it. I'm just curious, that's all."

Donny saw that he had hurt her feelings, so he said quickly, "Well, there's nothing wrong with being curious, but there are some things that should never be questioned."

She smiled weakly.

"I know. It will be the death of me someday, I know it. I only asked because you guys seemed really close, and that's not something you see every day."

"It's not," Leo agreed. "You're right: we used to be very close. I mean, all we have down here is each other, and Master Splinter. You don't have very many friends growing up as a giant mutant turtle."

"Raf always was the distant one though," Mikey put in.

"Yeah, and when Leo left a year ago, it was the first time we'd ever really been apart from each other," said Donny. "The separation was hardest on Raf, I think, just because he's so stubborn. But he doesn't want us to know he's hurt, so he acts really tough and mean, like he does. It's like he's built up this wall, so high and so thick that none of us can reach him. We don't know what to do. Even Master Splinter has been shut out."

"It's so important to hold on to what you have, because in an instant, it all can be taken away from you," she said softly.

"What makes you say that?" asked Mikey.

"Yeah," said Leo. "You've heard our story. Now let's hear yours."

The microwave timer went off. Donny opened it, and pulled out a bowl that turned out to be full of oatmeal. A.J. waited until he sat down at the table, then began her story.

"I told Leo last night that I've never been out of New York City. I used to live on the other side of the city though. Spring Falls. Do you know it?"

The boys frowned for a minute, remembering, then Leo nodded.

"Mm-hmm, we know it. We've done a couple of busts out that way."

His brothers agreed, and A.J. continued.

"I used to live out there up until about a year ago. My parents finally got so sick of the place they moved us downtown. They just couldn't handle the memories it held."

"What memories?" Mikey interjected.

"I had two brothers and a sister. My sister is the oldest, then me, then my brothers. My youngest brother…" She paused, dropping her eyes to the table, where her hand lay, so small and white in the glow of the lamp. She took a deep breath.

"My youngest brother and I were close, best friends as well as brother and sister. He was two years my junior, but we could easily have passed for twins: we were so alike, both in appearance and personality. It was almost scary.

"One day, when I was fifteen, my girlfriend at the time and I were running errands. We had been sent by my mother to get some things from the drugstore on the corner a few blocks from my house. Of course, my brother was tagging along, partly because we didn't care, partly to get out of the house. He and my mother never did get along very well."

"Wait a minute."

It was Leo who interrupted. He wasn't sure what he had just heard, but he hoped it wasn't true.

"You said 'girlfriend.' Is that 'girlfriend' as in, a friend who is a girl, or…"

"No, I mean a girlfriend girlfriend." She looked around at their surprised faces. "Don't freak out or anything. I'm not a lesbian. I like both girls and guys, or at least I used to. I'm not really sure if I still do: it's all a little weird, really. Anyway, the three of us had bought the groceries, and when we reached the crosswalk, we decided to have a race to see who could cross the street first. I was the faster runner, and I made it out of the way. They didn't."

She paused again as if waiting for them to ask what she had gotten out of the way from. They didn't, knowing that she would tell them.

"How someone can be drunk at three in the afternoon I have no idea. But someone was drinking and ran straight through the intersection. Didn't even pay attention to the stop sign. Like I said, I was faster, and it saved my life. That car hit my girlfriend and my brother at sixty miles an hour and killed them both. They died in my arms. I survived, but the fender cut across my back and left a scar. You guys probably saw it last night when you were cleaning me off."

The boys nodded, the mystery of the scar on her back finally solved.

"We had the funeral for them both, and they were buried in the cemetery out there."

"That cemetery is supposedly haunted," Donny put in, and she replied, "There are a lot of places that are supposed to be haunted."

"What happened to the driver?"

"He crashed into another car a little way down the street, and killed three more people: a mother and her two kids. He was charged with five cases of manslaughter and driving under the influence and sentenced to life in prison without parole. He's never getting out as long as he lives.

"When my parents found out that the girl had actually been my girlfriend instead of the friend that I had told them, they were furious. To this day, I still don't understand why. I had only told them the truth. Where's the harm in that?"

The boys looked at each other, knowing just how dangerous the truth can be.

"Well, after that day, my relationship with my family was never the same. My dad, who had never really been very nice to me, started being downright mean to me, and my mother did her best to ignore me. As for my sister and other brother, they had their own lives. I just kind of disappeared. We moved a year later, all of us just so sick of seeing the intersection where the youngest member of our family had died."

"That's so cruel," said Donny as her story came to a close.

"What is?" she asked, looking up suddenly.

"The way your parents treated you after your brother and girlfriend were killed. It seems like they think it was your fault."

"Who is saying it isn't?"

"Oh, come on now, that's ridiculous. It wasn't your fault. The man was drunk, and there was nothing you could do about it. Accidents happen: you know that as well as I do. It's not your fault that your brother and girlfriend couldn't run as fast as you could. If you ran any slower, you would have been killed right along with them."

She nodded.

"I know I shouldn't beat myself up over this, but I still do. Maybe I feel guilty about surviving when they didn't. I don't know. Nothing really makes sense in my life, and now this."

She shook her head, and Leo reached over to put his hand on her shoulder, but quickly took it off when she winced, realizing that neither one of her shoulders was in very good shape. He looked up at Donny, and saw a flash of panic in his face. Leo looked from him, to A.J.'s pale face sparkling with tears, then back to Donny. He shook his head and mouthed the words, Not tonight. Neither one of them were fit for any retelling of the horrific events that had happened to her.

Donny's shoulders sank in relief, and he smiled gratefully to his brother. Then, he looked struck by a sudden realization.

"I need to see how your wounds are coming, A.J. So, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a look at you. Okay?"

She flinched quickly and subtly, but then she straightened her back and folded her hands in her lap, elbows stiff. They boys looked at each other, and Donny said, "I'm not going to hurt you."

He unfolded her hands, examined her broken fingernails, then touched her shoulder, the one that had been dislocated. They saw her face twitch with the pain, but it was not an obvious gesture.

"That's good," he said.

"What?" she asked.

"The swelling's gone down. Does it hurt when you move it?"

She rotated her arm in the socket, then shrugged.

"Not really," she said.

"Good."

He looked at the wound on her head, then got his medicine kit, which he had left out from the night before. He put a fresh bandage on it, taping the gauze to her forehead. She touched it with her fingertips, then grinned sheepishly.

"I feel like an idiot."

"Yeah, well," said Donny, pulling down the shoulder of her robe to look at the stitches he had put in. "Look at it this way. You can either look like an idiot, or you can walk around telling everybody that you got into a fight with a deranged baseball bat."

It made her laugh as he sponged the little bit of pus and blood that had leaked out of the stitches.

"Much better," he said. He moved on to her broken fingers.

"Where did you put the splints I made you?" he asked.

She looked at him quizzically.

"The pens? I left them in the bathroom."

"I'll get them, Donny," said Leo, getting up.

"Thanks Leo."

Donny got up and went to the kitchen to get the scotch tape. When Leo returned with the empty pens, he used the tape to fasten them to her broken fingers.

"You need to keep these on," he told her, pressing the last of the tape back into place. "They're here to help put your fingers back straight again."

"Okay."

He put the tape down on the table.

"Now, this may hurt, but I'm gonna have to fix your back."

"Uh-oh," she said with a smile. "You're not gonna make me lie down and stand on me, are you?"

Now it was Donny's turn to smile, and Mikey actually burst out laughing. Leo groaned.

"Ooh," he said. It didn't sound very comfortable to him.

"Of course not," said Donny. "I might kill you. I've got a better way to do those kinds of things for small girls like you. Stand up, please."

Shakily, she got to her feet. Donny helped her stand, then crossed her arms over her chest. Wrapping his own arms around her, he instructed, "Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in." As she pulled the air into her lungs, he picked her up and bent her backwards.

The noise that came from her back sounded like a series of shots fired from a semi-automatic gun. It made both Leo and Mikey jump and Donny dropped her in a heap on the floor, shocked.

"Oh!" Mikey yelled. "That sounded like it hurt!"

"Oh my God!" Donny cried. Leo got to the floor.

"Are you all right?" he asked A.J.

"My back hurts," she said weakly. She rolled over on her back, her face twisted in pain. Donny, still recovering, knelt down and made her sit up. He ran his hand down her back, ignoring the way she shuddered, and smiled.

"Well, it may have been painful…"

"It sounded painful!" Mikey interrupted. "Hurt my ears just listening!"

Donny glared at him.

"Thank you, Mikey. Anyway, as I was saying, that may have hurt, but at least your back's straight again. It should be easier to move now."

She twisted her torso left, then right, and her face lit up.

"Hey, you're right. It doesn't hurt to move anymore! Thanks, Donny."

She smiled warmly at him, and he smiled shyly back. Leo took notice of the smile, and his heart skipped. Again, jealousy bit deep into his heart, and he looked away, unable to watch his brother as he picked A.J. up and set her on the couch. For a moment, he was overcome with his feelings, then he stood up, shaking his head. He had to get his head together. He could not let his feelings get in the way.

Get in the way of what? asked a voice in the back of his head. He knew they would get in the way of something, but what that something was he had no idea. Was it his duties as a leader, maybe? Or was it fact that they lived in two totally separate worlds, she above ground and he below it?

Or was he afraid that she would never return his love?

He shook his head. These ramblings were stupid, immature and futile, and he would do well to remove them from his mind.

As you will notice later on, I'm sure, I have never been to new York city, nor do I live there, so I'm taking complete artistic lisence with streets and locations. So if it doesn't sound right to you, I'm sorry. Just bear with me. Also, that back-cracking trick is an actual trick; I had a friend who used to do that to me. It really does hurt, but as long as you don't make a big deal about it it's fine. I'm not really sure why her back would need to be cracked in the first place, but I thought it was a nice effect, with Donny playing the doctor of the family. And it was a chance to throw in a bit of useless information, which I seem to be a mine for. Anyway, leave a review, pleeezz!