A/N: Sorry for the late update people –sweatdrop- Hope I didn't have you guys waiting to long.

Thank you too all those who are reading and, hopefully, enjoying this story; I hope you like this installment and let me know what you think.

Also, a personal thank you to M.D. Owen, for beta-reading this chapter. You go girl : D!

So, without further delay, here is Chapter 4~

Life Breathing

Chapter 4 Familiarity

September 2nd 2014

10:23 am; Hamato Residence

Raphael's amber eyes slowly opened to a room that was lit purely by blanketed sunlight, his consciousness gradually coming back to fruition after something foreign had brought himself out of a dreamless sleep. He had gone to sleep right after Mona left, hoping to get some more rest in before he had to open up the dojo for his first ninjutsu class for the day; unfortunately, those hopes were crushed. It took him a moment to wonder what had woken him up in the first place but it didn't take long when he felt the pressure of a little body curl up against his plastron. He blinked multiple times before curiously peering down, slowly lifting the thin layer of blankets surrounding him to find his daughter curled up tightly in a little ball, snuggling unconsciously into him.

"…Doe?" Raphael started, his voice still deep from sleep. He had to admit: he was a bit surprised that he hadn't woken up sooner. Despite what people believed—supposedly because of his chainsaw-like snoring—he was a very light sleeper, just like the rest of his brothers were. The fact that his three year old daughter—soon to be four years old—was able to sneak into the room and curl up beside him without waking him was… kind of impressive; Raph supposed that 'ninja' just ran in the family (Raph: My girl…-grin-), "Baby doll? Ya okay?"

"…No," came her weak reply as her tiny body curled up even tighter, her chin tucked in and her face touching her knees. She appeared to be trembling but only a little.

"Whazzamatta?" Raph dropped his arm so that he could stroke the back of Dorothy's head, lightly ruffling her chestnut brown hair, "Yah had a bad dream?"

After a few seconds of silence, the little hybrid nodded, the tips of her dark bangs brushed against Raph's collarbone. His eyes softened at the confirmation as he sat up in bed, swiftly scooping his daughter up so that her small frame could rested on top of his knees. She remained concealed, hiding her face to the best of her ability but Raph knew that she would unravel herself the more he talked to her. That's how he always calmed Doe down whenever she was scared or stubborn."Yah gonna tell me what it was about or do I have ta flip ya upside down and shake the answers outta ya?"

Dorothy released a cute combination between a giggle and a sniffle but didn't move otherwise, "I… I saw a monster."

He should have seen that one coming; a monster from the corners of a child's imagination could be a really scary thing… even to adults. He found it weird, however, because his Doe had never been afraid of the monsters from her dreams. She would just tell him that when the monster tried to gobble her up, dream-Raphael would step in and clobber it into extinction. It was either that, or she, herself, would beat the snot out of the thing. That version always made him chuckle; he couldn't imagine his sweet little girl clobbering anything that was ten times her size.

This monster, however, was different. It had been scary enough to rattle his little warrior in training.

"What kinda monsta?"

"I-it was big and… and it had red eyes," As she began to talked, her body slowly began to unclench itself, "And it had a huge claw for a hand… and… and…"

"And?" Raph coaxed, his interest in this so-called monster peeked—why did it sound so familiar to him?

"And…" She paused for a second, slowly lifting her head so that her golden eyes could look up at her father, "It… it put Uncle Leo to sleep."

… Well that explained the familiarity…

"I… I tried to save 'em daddy," She said miserably, her body slowly unwinding, starting from her emerald green tail, "I tried to wake 'em… but I couldn't. I couldn't do anything, daddy."

… That sounded familiar as well. How could it not? He had said the same exact words to his brothers when they found him… with a lifeless Leonardo in his arms. Raphael's body had been trembling, his eyes were leaking soundless tears, and his hands had been covered with Leo's blood. Raph had attempted to resuscitate his older brother several times, telling himself over and over again that Leo wasn't dead yet and that there was still a chance. He had breathed life into his brother's body and pumped it back out for a total of twenty five minutes before he realized it was pointless. Even though Leo's lips had gone cold and the blood from his wounds had stopped flowing, Raph continued to try until realization hit him hard in the face.

His brother was dead; there was nothing he could do about it… and it was all his fault.

Before Raph could get caught up in his guilty thoughts, he cleared his voice and focused once again on his daughter, "Its okay, Doe. It was just a dream."

"B-but," She started, two of her tiny hands clung onto one of his large ones, as if for reassurance, "It… it felt real…"

Raph smiled softly down at his offspring, his free hand smoothed over her head once again before he leaned down and pressing a kiss to her forehead, "It was only a dream. It wasn't real, baby doll…"

'…For you at least…' Raphael's consciousness whispered to him as he continued to console his shaken daughter.

11:12 am; 34th Precinct, Manhattan

"I didn't do it! I barely even touched that girl! This is nothing but a set up! You hear me? A set up! I—"

A large fist came down hard on the solid metal surface of the interrogation table, startling the ranting criminal into abrupt silence. The owner of said hand, a police officer who had been the one on the scene and who had been the one to take the offender into custody, glared mercilessly down at the fettered offender, "Shuddap, ya scumbag! Besides, we both know that's a lie; why waste yer breath?"

The prisoner regained his courage, growling audibly before he verbally lashed out at the officer once more, "I didn't touch the girl! She came onto me. All I was did was returning the favor."

"Tch, yeah. Right. So she was just beggin' ya ta slap her around, rip her blouse ta shreds, and pull a knife on her, huh?" The officer proclaimed sarcastically, leaning his body against the opposite end of the table. He placed both of his fists on top of the interrogation table's cool surface as a means to prop himself up, "Man, ya sure know how ta show a girl a good time."

"Hey, I don't need to take this!"

"Nah, ya gonna take everythin' I'm dishin' out at ya!" The officer aggressively pointed towards the offender's face, his own façade shifted into a deep scowl, "'Cause ya ain't goin' nowhere, pal! Ya don't need ta confess ta me; we've got all the evidence we need ta put ya away on sexual assault charges so just relax 'til someone takes yer sorry ass down ta holding."

"What?" The man flabbergasted; he was sure that they would at least give him some slack. It wasn't like he went around, attacking every girl that he saw. It was just that one girl and that one time; he was unable to control himself or his urges to have her, "B-but—!"

"Shut it," The officer grumbled, standing up straight while simultaneously crossing his large, muscular arms over his chest, "Ya goin' away no matta how ya look at it…"

"Jones?"

Casey Jones, one of the newest detectives in the 34th precinct, turned at the sound of his name being called from the doorway, diverting his attention away from the prick that was cuffed to the table before him. A man who appeared to be in his late twenties to earlier thirties—his partner, Aaron Knox—stood at the room's entrance, resting his shoulder casually against the door frame as he looked back at Casey with amusement. He had expected Jones to be here; even though it wasn't his job to be verbally abusive to suspects—or to be in the room, actually—it was one of the first places one would look to find the hot-blooded rookie of a detective.

"Hey Knox," Casey said back, his crawling scowl disappearing, "What's up?"

Aaron shook his head at the other, smirking slightly to himself, "What's up? Nothin'; what are you doing in here, huh? This case is already over and done with so stop detecting already, rookie."

"Tch. This guy had it comin'," Casey said in a way that resembled pride, flicking his thumb over his nose while his chest puffed out, "Somebody needs ta give 'em an ear-full."

Aaron rolled his eyes, holding a case file out for the other to take, "And it ain't going to be you. Now get your ass out of here. You have to take the victim's statement so that we can file this away."

Casey's scowl was back, momentarily turning back to the almost-rapist to send him an intimidating gaze before he stormed out of the room. As he passed his partner, Casey snatched the paperwork out of Aaron's outstretched hand before he made his way down the hallway towards the witness holding room. He had remembered taking not only the offender in but the woman who had been assaulted by the guy. She didn't want to go home; she had been too shaken to go home by herself, even if Casey had offered her a ride to his apartment complex. That… and she seemed determined to provide as much information as possible in order to put the nasty, sleazy son of a bitch away, even if it was only going to be a maximum sentence of no more than five years. Casey had to admit: the woman was a fighter, just like his wife. This fact caused his lips the spread into a quick, wide grin of recollection.

When the raven haired rookie approached the room where the almost-victim resided and opened the door, he was surprised to see the woman pacing across the floor aggressively, all but storming around the room. Her eyes were narrow and crinkled with repressed anger and her arms were crossed over her chest. Her form was all but swimming in a large, black jacket that appeared to be two times bigger than her actual size. Casey absently wondered where she could have gotten the jacket from but pushed it away as he closed the door behind him, clearing his throat to get the woman's attention. She automatically stopped her rapid pacing and turned her head to look at him, her face softening only a little.

"Is that bastard going away?" She asked, her voice dripping with disgust and a slight hint of anxiety.

Casey nodded, walking further into the room and taking a seat in a near by chair; the woman swiftly followed suit and took a seat two chairs away, "Yeah, we've got enough on 'em so there's no way he's gonna walk."

She nodded, releasing a sigh of relief as the tension rolled off her body in waves. Her arms slowly uncrossed themselves, opting to rest in her lap instead, "Good…"

"I've got a couple-a questions ta ask ya though," Casey explained, crossing his legs to prop the file up on his lap as a makeshift writing platform, "I gotta get yer statement before we close this thing."

She dipped her chin, "Okay."

"Alrighty then," He sighed out, flipping the file open and reading off the standard questions printed before him, "How did yer attacker approach ya?"

"Well…," She started, self-consciously adjusting her ripped and tattered blouse before she pulled the large jacket closed, "I had been walking home from work, since I didn't have the money for a cab, when this guy stepped in my way. I thought he was just some guy getting ready to drop some cheesy, pick up line but then he tried to grab my arm and I pulled away. Then he grabbed me by my shirt and pulled me into a nearby alleyway."

Casey wrote down what she had said as quickly and as accurately as possible. He continued, reading off the paper, "Other than touchin' ya, did he do anythin' else that was sexually aggressive?"

"No… thank God," She said, placing a hand over her chest, as if she were physically trying to slow down her racing heart, "He had just pulled a knife on me when that mutant came and knocked him out."

"…," Casey paused in writing, looking up from the paper work to the mildly anxious woman once again, "Say what now?"

"Oh, yeah," She said with recollection, her eyes lifted to the ceiling as she spoke, "This mutant came out of no where and pretty much knocked the bastard out in one blow. He just… appeared out of nowhere."

Casey raised an eyebrow, "Really now?"

"Yeah," She piped up, her eyes locked onto Casey's dark brown eyes once more, "I didn't even know he was a mutant until he gave me this jacket." She lifted her arm as if to show off the gigantic outerwear.

"… How did ya know he was a mutant when he did that?" He blinked with bewilderment.

"Well… I thought that he was wearing a backpack or something," She gestured to her own back to emphasis her point, "But then when he took his jacket off so that I could cover myself with it, I saw that it was a—"

"Shell…" Casey finished in a harsh whisper, resisting the urge to lift and flail his arms upward in an exasperated fashion. He thought he had told the Hamato brothers to be careful whenever they were on their nightly patrols. Now that mutants were out in the open, they couldn't afford to have anyone positively identify them. He might have played vigilante with the turtles before he decided to trade in his hockey mask for a badge but he knew—and they knew—that if he ever caught them in their act, he would have to report them.

"Yeah," She said, tilting her head to the side with interest, "How did you know?"

'…Crap' "Uhhh, l-lucky guess?" He stated quickly before clearing his throat, swiftly continuing before she began to question him instead, "A-anywayz, d-did this guy say anythin' to ya?"

She nodded, "Sure did. He was a sweetheart, really. He consoled me and stayed with me until the cops came." She frowned, using one of her fingers to tap on her bottom lip, "I was going to thank him when the police arrived but when they got there, he vanished; just like that!" She snapped her fingers to punctuate her sentence further, "It was almost as if—"

"He was neva there?" Casey answered, stiffening the minute the words left his mouth; he really needed to learn how to shut up sometimes...

She blinked at him, startled once again, "Yeah… how did you know I was going to—?"

Casey abruptly stood up, gathering up the paperwork in his lap as quickly as possible, "Well I think that's 'bout it, ma'am."

"W-wait, I—"

"Do ya need someone ta drop ya off or somethin'?" He asked frantically, smiling at the woman stiffly.

"Y-yes but I—"

"Oki doki! That won't be a problem ma'am. Ya just wait right here until I get this papah work filed so that one of the precincts officers can give ya a lift. Ya want some coffee or tea while ya wait?"

"No, that's fine but—"

"Oki doki! Sit tight then, alright?" And with that Casey quickly make his exit, leaving the woman baffled and alone.

11:48 am; Universal Dynamics, Manhattan (1)

"Ah, good afternoon Mr. Hamato. I didn't know you had work today."

Donatello turned his head to the front desk security guard as he entered the building. His usual stoic expression turned into a friendly one and his determined saunter stopped before the desk so that he could properly return the greeting, "Hello, Mr. Jameson and no, I don't. I have a meeting with the board."

The security guard, an older gentleman whose once youthful, jet black hair was now dusted with specks of grey, blinked back at the terrapin with surprise, "Really?"

Donnie smiled sheepishly, shrugging one of his shoulders, "Yeah. The CEO wants me to present the data of my department's latest project so that we'll have a winning chance at getting extra funding. Apparently, she thinks that it's something that is worth the money."

"Oh? Heh, no wonder you look so sharp today," The older of the two stated, leaning forward slightly as if the two had suddenly got themselves into a private conversation, "So uh… what is the project anyway? An advancement in medical science? A robotic marvel maybe?"

Donnie chuckled, stepping back slightly before pressing a single finger to his jade colored lips, "That's top secret information, I'm afraid. The only ones who are supposed to know are the people from my department, the board of directors, and the CEO herself."

The security guard childishly pouted, his upper lip disappeared further behind his salt and pepper mustache, "That's not fair, Mr. Hamato. How am I supposed to guard a building when I don't even know what's being held inside?"

Donatello laughed, shaking his head, "Sorry, it's company policy. If I told you, I'd lose my job. You know that."

The man grinned, "I highly doubt that. After all, you are the CEO's favorite employee. Hehe... am I right or am I right?" (Insert eyebrow wiggle right here XD)

Donnie's face scrunched up in response, his shoulders slumping forward slightly as he let out a quiet groan, "Ugh, not you too…" How many people were going to continue to pick on him about that? Where did it come from, anyway?

He laughed at the turtle's expression, waving his hand dismissively, "She wouldn't fire you. She'd just give you a slap on the a-…I mean wrist—" Donnie glared half-heartedly at the intentional mistake—"And send you on your merry way."

"… Goodbye, Mr. Jameson," Donnie said dully before he walked past the desk in order to get to the elevators, successfully ignoring the man's stifled guffaw. He didn't have to wait long for an elevator and he was even happier to find that said elevator was empty. Once the doors were closed, he quickly pressed the floor button where the CEO's office and the board's meeting rooms resided. Just as he did, a smooth, robotic voice filled the small confines.

"In order for you to access this floor, please state your name as clearly as possible so that I may match your voice-print to Universal Dynamics' employee database."

"Donatello Hamato."

"…Please hold…," Donnie sighed, lightly tapping his foot on the metallic surface of the elevator floor, "…Welcome, Mr. Hamato. Have a wonderful day and thank you for your patience."

And with that, the elevator began to move and Donatello sighed, his mind quickly opting to distract himself from the flashing, rising numbers of each floor by going over his presentation in his head. He knew that his department's project—which he had been working on himself, at first—would be intriguing enough to appeal to the boards over all interest but… would they be interested enough to provide him with the necessary funding to finish it?

He had started the project in hopes that he would be able to help others... so wouldn't the board take that into consideration as well? Wouldn't they want to promote something that would be guaranteed to help people? Hm… there was also the fact that he didn't have a standard education. He didn't go to high school, college, or graduate school, something that most of the scientists of UD had to go through. Would they think that he was unreliable if they couldn't even track his background? They wouldn't be lenient enough to understand that he had to remain in hiding for a great deal of his life, would they?

He sighed, pinched the bridge of his snout between his thumb and index finger in order to alleviate the pressure that was beginning to build up in his head. He was worrying too much; he was going to make himself sick if he kept dwelling in such a negative light. He knew that they would look at the positives as well. After only being with UD for two—almost three—years, he had been promoted a total of three times, starting out as a mere scientist and ending as the chief of his own department. That, alone, should give him some leeway…

He blinked in surprise when the elevator slid to a comfortable halt at level thirty-three, thirty floors below his intended stop. He cursed silently under his breath; he was hoping that the elevator wouldn't have to stop to pick other people up but, supposedly, there was no such luck. Ah well… he just hoped that there wasn't a crowd or something. He hated crowded elevators—it made him antsy.

When the doors slid open, Donatello's eyes slightly widened when he recognized the woman who was getting ready to board. Of course; how couldn't he? She was the reason why he had a job—a very prestigious one at that—in the first place. She was the one that had sought him out, personally, just to offer him the job. Who could this be, you ask? Lara Sampson, the CEO of UD.

Lara blinked her hazel eyes back at the terrapin with mild surprise before her expression relaxed, offering Donnie a friendly smile as she stepped in and stood beside him, "Oh, hello, Donatello. I didn't expect to see you until the meeting."

As the doors closed once again, Donnie replied with a smile, "Yeah… I didn't expect to see you so soon either, Ms. Sampson. I was working the presentation out in my mind just before you came on."

She sighed, scrunching up her nose playfully, "I told you to call me Lara… how many times now?"

"A-ah," Donnie stated nervously, fiddling with the cuff links at his wrist, "Sorry about that. I'm just so used to addressing my superiors in a formal manner."

She raised an eyebrow at him, "Well you don't have to do that around me… besides, it makes me sound old or uptight."

He chuckled, "Sure thing Ms.—uhh—Lara."

She smiled brightly, linking her fingers behind her back, "That's better. So, are you nervous?"

"… Honestly? Yes, very much," He couldn't help but tell the truth. He wore his expressions and feelings on his sleeve. Even if he tried to lie about how he felt, he would most likely fail on an epic scale. "What if they don't feel it's worthy of their time?"

She placed her hands on her hips, tilting them in a manner that reminded him of a mother that was getting ready to reprimand her child, "I highly doubt that. Your department's project has the most promise, as far as I can see anyway. Plus, it's the only project that's anywhere near finished; that alone should give you some major brownie points."

'…Brownie points?' He thought internally giggling at her terminology. She was probably one of the only CEOs he ever had the opportunity of meeting and speaking to on a personal level… but he was pretty sure that none of them use phrases as youthful or as quirky as 'brownie points.' But, then again, she was relatively young for a CEO. He had never asked her directly what her age was but he had gathered that she was probably in her mid to late twenties. That wasn't the stereotypical age of most CEOs; they were usually as young as forty of fifty… or at least that's what he had been able to gather from all the business articles he had read over the years.

So, in other words: Lara = One of a Kind.

"And you have to admit," she continued, her smile spreading further to flash her teeth, "Medical Nanotechnology is on the intriguing side. I doubt that they would simply overlook or dismiss it."

"That is true… but—"

"No buts!" She said, only slightly raising her voice, wagging one of her manicured fingers at him, "You'll be fine. Stop worrying so much."

Donnie stared at the finger for a moment, feeling a sudden sense of déjà vu at the wagging digit (2), before he smiled sheepishly at her, "I… I can't help it."

"Well you're going to have to learn to overcome that, Donnie-boy," She said with a friendly wink, "Or else the business world will eat you alive."

He sighed, slumping his shoulders at her words, "Good point…"

Just as Lara opened her mouth to reply back, the elevator doors opened again; this time, they were on the desired floor. She swallowed her words and, instead, smiled reassuringly at the brainy terrapin, "You'll do fine, Donatello. Just do your best."

He nodded, taking a deep breath before he stepped off the elevator after her.

(1)Universal Dynamics- I got this title from the TV show "Fringe"; there is a research facility that is named "Massive Dynamics" that specializing in many areas, such as robotics, weapons testing, medical science and so on. UD does the same thing; I couldn't think of another name -sweatdrop-.

(2) Michelangelo did the same thing to Donatello hour before (In Chapter 3 XD)

A/N: I had a bit of trouble on this chapter so… I apologize for the late update. I didn't mean to take my sweet old time but I had to squeeze the creative juices out of me and I kept on getting distracted. Sorry again. I hope you liked this chapter and please stay tuned for the next chapter. I think I'll have fun writing it and I hope you guys like it –grins-.

Update: Chapter 6 should be coming sometime this week so hold tight (smile). Also, I just edited this over again, just to clean it up a little bit. See you soon~