Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT.

08

Having Mia around the lair was sort of like having a cat, Raphael thought later that afternoon. She didn't talk much to anyone. Not even to April. She just sat there, watching, not talking. Sometimes she was reading or checking her cellphone. But by the end of the day, she had disappeared without a word to anyone.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Raphael said when he pushed open the door to his room twenty minutes later to find Mia on the floor, surrounded by a pile of textbooks.

She frowned at him. "Homework?"

Raphael crossed his arms, scowling. "And you couldn't have me told that, why – before you just up and vanished, I mean?"

"I just thought you could figure out where I was," Mia told him. "Besides, this is where Leo told me –"

"So you're just gonna do whatever he tells you to do then?" Cause that was exactly what they all needed – someone else that just lived to hear Leo's every command.

Mia shook her head. "I just need to get this done, and it's easier to do if I'm alone."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Raphael said, walking past her and throwing himself down on his bed. "I get it. Just lemme know next time, so I don't have to search the whole damn lair for you, got it?"

"Yeah," Mia smiled at him. "Alright."

Why the heck was she smiling?

Raphael stared at her for a minute before he rolled over onto his back to stare at the ceiling. "So how long you been in here anyway?" he asked her. "Working on that?"

She shrugged as she turned back to her books. "Like an hour or two?"

"Why not just do it at home?"

"This is really the only time I have," Mia said. She didn't look up at him. She just kept to her books, writing as fast as she could. "I mean, at home between taking care of Clara and keeping up with chores, I don't really have much free time. And now Janie is wanting me to get a job."

Raphael rolled over to look at her. "How the heck are you supposed to getting anything done then?" he snapped at her is disbelief. "And what about your free time – when do you ever hang out with your friends?"

Mia paused and he saw her spine go rigid. "I don't really have friends, Raphael," she said quietly. "I just really don't have time for them..." Her voice trailed off into silence.

Raph stared at her for a minute or two before he jumped to his feet. "That's it," he said. "I can't stand listening to this anymore." He bent down and began throwing Mia's books back inside her bag.

"What are you doing?" Mia asked, snatching her history book from him.

Raph snatched the book back from her. "Remember what I said last night – no more worrying?" he reminded her. "What the heck do you this?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "You worrying about school and time and whatever else is going on up there." He jabbed her sharply in the head with his forefinger. "So we're leaving."

"And going where, exactly?" Mia demanded, scowling at him.

"Just lemme worry about that," Raphael said, even though he had no clue where they were going.

They ended up walking through the sewers for a long time until they finally came to a spot beneath a sewer grate where there were no tall buildings and the sky was clear enough that Raphael could just make out a sliver of the moon. It was weird being really alone with Mia in his world below the surface. She didn't say anything about the smell or where they were, even though Raph was sure she must have wanted to. But something seemed different about her now that she had been down to the lair. Now that she trusted him. She wasn't afraid of him, but she didn't pretend to understand, either. She was weirded out by his brothers – but who wouldn't be? – and she was still nice to them. When she wasn't avoiding them.

"Why do you live down here?"

Raphael looked up at Mia. She was sitting on the curb of the aisle, staring down at the muddy water at her feet. "Don't really have much choice," he said. "Too much of a monster to live up there."

"You're not a monster, though," Mia told him reassuringly. "I've seen monsters."

He didn't need to ask her to explain. Instead his thoughts went back to the night before. She'd said the same thing then. He liked going back to that moment, for some reason. Maybe he just liked hearing her say it. Then his thoughts trailed off to the night she was attacked. Her screams and her words to him. "You keep saying that," he said quietly, "but you scared, too."

Mia looked away from him. She stayed silent for a long moment. Then she said, "I didn't know what was happening. I thought I was going insane. I thought Clara was." She looked up at him, frowning. "I still don't understand. I mean, the only thing I know for sure is that you're real."

Raph looked at her. Did that make her feel better – is that why she was so nice all of sudden? Because his existence meant she wasn't insane?

Mia shook her head and let out a low, shuddering breath. "That night," she went on. "That night you saved me and –"

"Please, don't bring that up again," Raphael said firmly. He had only just started to forget about it – the screams, the gunshot, the nightmares – a little while ago. After he'd visited Mia back in her apartment. Ever since then, it had all been gone. Mostly.

"But you – " Mia started to say.

And Raph cut her off again. "I didn't mean to, alright?"

Mia stared at him and then nodded silently.

Raphael got to his feet and sighed, "We should get out of here before the others to start to wonder where we were." Not that they hadn't already. When this whole thing was over, they were never gonna shut up. He started to walk away, and then he paused, looking over his shoulder, when he realized that Mia wasn't following him. "What is it?"

She was staring back at the water again, her expression blank. "I'm still trying to understand, Raphael," she said. "Before I was too freaked to think of it, but these past few days..." She looked up at him. "Do you know why I was attacked that night?"

Raphael turned to look at her. "You saw something you weren't supposed to see," he told her. "It was just bad timing, that's all."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "And that thing – that green thing?" she asked. "Why wasn't I supposed to see it?"

Raph looked away from her. "It's called mutagen, and it's dangerous. A lot of bad people are trying to get their hands on it for really bad reasons." He smiled to himself. This meant his secret was out.

She could figure it out no problem. She wasn't stupid.

"Like I said," Raphael went on. "We should get going."

Mia nodded and started to get to her feet. But as she stood up, she tripped over her feet and fell down hard, splashing murky water everywhere and cried out loudly.

"You okay?" Raphael asked, rushing over to her. She seemed fine except for the fact that she was covered in sewer water. "Damn it, you've got to watch where you're going."

Mia scowled at him. "That's kind of hard to do in a sewer!"

"Yeah, yeah," Raphael said, smirking. "Just get up and let's go." He reached down and offered his hand to her.

"Whatever," Mia snarled, taking his hand.

Then as he pulled her to feet, Raphael felt it. A small tingle of something hot and fiery. A burst of fire that ran from her fingers to his.

He pulled away from her, and stood silently staring down at his hand while she wandered ahead of him. "What the hell?" he muttered quietly. Then he looked up at her, turning the bend at the end of the tunnel, and it hit him. It hit him like a ton of freaking bricks. "Damn it. God-freaking-damn it!"

They had just reached the entrance of the lair when Mia's phone went off in her pocket. "Who is it?" Raphael asked her as she pulled it out of her pocket.

Mia shook her head and sighed, "I've got a new text message." She opened the message, and frowned. The message said, "tell me where u r b4 ppl start 2 think u r missing 4 real."

It was from Troy.

What did that mean – what, exactly, was he implying?

Raphael reached to take the phone from her, but she shoved it quickly back in her pocket. He scowled at her. "What is it – is it from that guy again?"

Mia looked up at him. She didn't know Raphael very well, but she did know he would totally freak if he saw the message. "It's not a big deal," she assured him, smiling. Then her phone went off again. She turned away from Raph, and pulled it out again. This time it was a picture message, and she felt her face pale as it loaded.

It was a picture of girl from a newspaper. She was small, blond, and a little younger than Mia with a pool of blood at the base of her skull. Above the picture written in small print, Mia could make out the words, "Missing girl found dead." And below that was a message from Troy that said, "theyll say u r next."

"Are you okay?"

Mia looked up to see April standing a few feet away. Raphael's brothers were in the pit on their feet. They were all staring at her. Mia tried to decide whether she should tell them the truth or make up another excuse, but her heart was pounding in her chest. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe. She knew Troy was a jerk, but he'd never sent her stuff like this before – what was his problem?!

"Gimme that." Before Mia had a chance to process what was happening, Raphael had snatched the phone out of her hand. He stared down at the phone for a moment. Then he looked up at her scowling, brandishing the phone in her face. "Is this your idea of no big deal?" he demanded. "How many other messages like this has he sent you?"

Mia shook her head. "This is the first –"

"Raph," Leonardo said, jumping over the bench in the pit. He half-jogged up the stairs over to them. "Are you sure you aren't over reacting?"

"See for your freaking self," Raphael snarled, shoving the phone at him.

"No, Raphael –" Mia started to protest but she quickly fell silent when she saw the look on his face.

Leo stared down at the phone. "This sounds like a threat," he said, shaking his head. He looked up at Mia with raised eyebrows. "And you go to school with this guy?"

Mia nodded silently.

"We both do," April added.

"Just give it to me," Raphael said, taking the phone from him. "I'll smash the thing, and she'll never have to worry –"

"Not a good idea, Raph," Donatello chimed in. "That'll have to be turned in to the police."

"He knows where I live!" Mia reminded them frantically. "He's friends with my family." She was starting to feel seriously afraid now.

"So let's just go out and –" Raph said, pushing past her.

Leo grabbed him by the arm and jerked him back down the stairs. "You are not going anywhere, Raphael," he said sternly. "There's no way we can just attack some random human – what if he reports us to the police? Do you have any idea how much attention that'll draw?"

"So, like, what do we do?" Michelangelo asked, peering over at them over the top of a bench.

"Yeah, Leo," Raphael said, pushing his brother away from him. "What the hell do you suggest she do?" He gestured to Mia.

Leo scowled at his brother and sighed, shaking his head. "It's like Donnie said. She'll have to turn it in."

"And I'll watch out for her at school," April added quickly, walking over to them. "It's going to be alright," she said, turning to Mia. "It's going to be alright."

"I can't freak stand this," Raphael said, pushing past her. "I need to go kill something."

Mia watched him go silently.

"Don't worry," Leo said, walking over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to talk to Master Splinter about this. He'll know what to do."

A/N: Sounds like Mia's weekend with the Turtles isn't going so well. Lemme know what you guys think. R&R!