Raphael wasn't sure if he was really ready to hear all of this. He could already feel anger boiling in his gut, hatred for whoever hurt her, but he didn't let it show. "Talk to me Jacquelyn." He said softly.

She hung her head. "I told you that my brother was the smart one. I um, I tended to get in trouble a lot. Anthony always told me I was too nice, but when you're a waitress, you have to be nice. My entire salary was based on tips. I worked the late shift and a couple of guys would always come in drunk, they'd get really handsy. Normally my manager would kick them out but a few times they'd wait for me out in the parking lot." She sniffled a bit and shifted uncomfortably. "They'd get really physical, pin me against the car, try to force themselves on me… But Antony would always show up and the guys would run before they could do much damage.

"But when this whole mess with Xanus happened and Anthony died, things got worse. Those black ninja things attacked me, but they had no intention of killing me it seemed. I woke up in my apartment after having the crap kicked out of me, naked with some masked man on top of me doing the unthinkable." By now the tears were freely flowing down her face. "He wasn't the first and he wasn't the last! My first experience with a man was being raped by some masked creep that had a hand in killing my brother." Her body was trembling. "I tried to fight back but, I guess I wasn't even worth their time, they just left me there when they were done. It wasn't until I started chasing them down in my van that they burned our apartment down and started taking me seriously, trying to actually kill me." She brought her blurry eyes up to Raphael's finally. "All the scars are from what those monsters did to me when I couldn't do anything back."

As she buried her face in her hands and sobbed Raph wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her against his chest. "I'm sorry." He whispered against her hair. "But I promise, I won't let anything ever happen to you again." He wasn't sure how he would keep that promise but he would damn sure try his hardest to make sure it was the truth. There was just something about the thought of this woman in trouble, the sight of her crying and the thought of her in pain that made his heart ache. He had never felt this before . Raph didn't like it.

Pulling her with him as he moved towards the wall he leaned against it and then slid down to a seat, holding the woman still as she sat between his legs. She was still crying softly as she leaned into him, obviously his pestering about her past wasn't easy on her and now Raphael was starting to regret the decision. Letting out a sigh he decided to talk himself about some of the scars he had, the deep ones he didn't like to remember.

"I got into a really big fight with Leo once when we were still teenagers. We were visiting our friend April so I went up to the roof of her place to clear my head but while I was up there I was attacked by a bunch of the Foot. I was out numbered and eventually the massive amount of ninja caused the roof to collapse. I landed on the floor in the middle of a bunch of plywood and debris." He traced the crack and missing chunk of his plastron on his upper chest from the fall. It was so old now that the jagged edges had been worn smooth and rounded. "It took me a few days to wake up. I couldn't believe how worried everyone was…"

The story had gotten Jack distracted enough she looked up, wiping at her face, she glanced from Raphael's face to the crack he was messing with on his chest. But Raph continued.

"I have lots of scars. Most are just from fights, most of them aren't all that important." He found one on his leg and traced it. "This is from a fight with the Shredder. Mikey was being an idiot and not paying attention; he backed himself into a corner. So I had to run in and save him. Got hit pretty bad." He sighed and reached up, pulling off his mask he adjusted his eye patch with a frown. "Lost my eye fighting the Shredder. Right after Master Splinter died I…" His features flushed, embarrassed and more ashamed with the fact that he lost control and went looking for trouble. "I kinda went out looking for him. I'm pretty sure I killed him but I took quite a beating. I'm not real sure." He tilted her head up, gently turning her chin. "We all have scars Jacquelyn. We can use them… use them as fuel for the future. I can train you, help you get stronger so you can use this anger and hatred in a… constructive way." Did he really just say something like that? He was really starting to sound like Leo.

The woman sat up straight and wiped at her face. "You can train me? To fight like you?" She sniffled as she looked at him.

Raph shrugged. "I'll try. We have never trained a human before. But Master Splinter learned everything from a human so, it's possible." He felt himself trying to smile as he brushed some hair off her wet cheeks.

Nodding, Jacquelyn relaxed a bit in his arms. "Okay, it's a deal."

Raphael grinned. "Alright. Now, why don't you get ready for bed." He loosened his grip and let her scoot out of his arms so he could stand. His face tinted red for a moment but he tried to ignore it. Their close proximity had been for comfort, nothing more or uncouth. "I'll go get you a pillow and a clean blanket." Walking down the hall to the laundry room he grabbed a poorly folded blanket from a shelf and a pillow and tucked them under his arm. He paused before he left, leaning against the door he took a deep breath. What are you doing Raph… he asked himself. Don't get attached to this girl. He took a deep breath and moved silently back to his room. "Here ya g-" the words died in his throat as a smile slowly turned up the edges of his mouth.

Jacquelyn was curled up on the small mattress, already sound asleep. Her face was still damp, as she laid there clinging to the mask that Raphael had left sitting on the edge. Shaking his head, the large mutant gently draped the blanket over the sleeping woman before he scooped her up into his strong arms. Carrying her across the room he laid her in his hammock, knowing that the swinging bed was much more comfortable than the bed that was almost the same as sleeping on the hard floor. Tucking the blanket around her, he let her hold onto his mask for now as he brushed some hair out of her face.

"Goodnight Jacquelyn." He whispered before turning and wondering over to the mattress and laying down himself. He grunted a few times as he tried to get comfortable before finally falling asleep himself.

Meanwhile down the hall, Raphael's brother was still at work with the young mutant that had landed on his table earlier that night. Donatello scratched his head as he looked at the blood sample under the microscope for the umpteenth time.

"Your brother hates me doesn't he?"

The quiet voice caused him to lift his eyes, a bit surprised to be honest, to hear the young one speak. "Nonsense. Raph is just… a bit crude. He will lighten up I'm sure." Donnie sighed and sat back on his stool. "It's been a little tense around here. We are all on edge. Raph is on edge on the time but now instead of standing on a cliff side it's like he's teetering on a razor wire just waiting to fall off."

The one dubbed Antonello nodded. "So what happened? I mean… to make you guys so tense? Did you guys fight or something?"

Donnie looked at him. "No….Well, yes. Partially." He rolled his chair over to the side of the table Antonello was on. As he checked the needles the fed the other turtle medicine he spoke. "Our father died a while ago."

Antonello perked up. "You guys have a dad? You were born like this?" He seemed so interested, so intrigued by this new bit of information.

"Not exactly." He tried to explain. "Our father figure was a rat, mutated, the same as we are. He found us as infants in the sewer, covered in the mutagen responsible for our dramatic change from mere reptiles. He too then changed and took charge of us. Master Splinter, we called him, he came from Japan and was the pet of a master ninja. So now he taught us the secret art of ninjutsu."

"So I'm a mutant."

Donnie nodded.

Antonello took a deep breath, his hands shaking slightly as he flexed his three fingers. "Okay… so, you never explained the fighting between you guys."

"Well, as we trained and grew, we got anxious. We didn't like just staying put in our sewer home. We wanted to see the city. As ninja we were careful, but as teens we were not and others discovered our presence. A man known as the Shredder and his… minions the Foot Clan. Along with numerous others. They initially didn't know of us until we discovered that they were stealing and and…"

"crime. They were breaking the law." Antonello tried to help him search for the words he seemed lost to find.

"True. But its more than that. You see, because we are giant green turtles, humans aren't exactly so keen on accepting us. Our methods of dispatching Shredder and his cohorts aren't always kosher, but we do it all with good intent. We prevent crime, and we aid the people when we can. The means we do it by might not always be legal in the human's eyes, but what we do is help them in the end. "

He received a nod and then a pause. "I'm no good at fighting."

"I believe Raphael plans on changing that." Donnie stood and stretched, scratching at his head. "For now though, just relax and get some rest. I'm sure Raph will be terrorizing you in the morning." He yawned. "But the fighting between us, well, that took place when Splinter died and well we didn't quite know how to handle that. The four of us are all so different and disagreed with one another on how to move on after his passing. Leo wanted one thing, Raph another, Mikey was just upset… It was just a mess…" He shook his head. "Anyway It is getting late and you should rest. The bathroom is down the hall. Last door. I'll be over there if you really need something." He waved and crossed the room to a dark corner that held a bed that looked pristine. He plopped down on it and didn't bother to move the blankets. He started to softly snore soon after.

Antonello watched Donnie wonder off to his bed and fall asleep but he wasn't tired just yet. He sat there, awkwardly looking around for a while before he finally decided to pull the needles out of his arm. Sliding off the table he made his way out towards the living room, not nearly as quiet as the brothers were. He saw the television still moving, images flashing across the screen of cartoon characters fighting and destroying things. As he limped over toward the couch the room stilled, the game paused and a small head poked up over the back of the couch to stare at him.

Short messy black hair looked like it hadn't seen a brush in days but her bright green eyes almost glowed in the dim room. "Do you have a name yet?" She quipped in a small voice.

The turtle nearly fell over at the sudden face staring at him, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. "Don't do that!" He sighed, trying to calm down.

"Do what?" She asked, propping her elbows up on the back of the couch.

"Scare me." He shook his head and looked at her. "Who are you? I thought… Everyone here was a mutant or something."

Shadow shook her head this time. "I live here sometimes. With my Uncles." She twirled around the cord of one of the controllers. "So who are you? Are you going to live here too?"

"Well, uh… Raphael? I think that was his name… he uh, called me Antonello. I didn't have a name." He scratched his head as he looked at the small girl. "I didn't have anywhere to go so I guess I'm staying but… How are they your uncles?"

"Ant… I like that." She beamed then paused as she crawled up on the back of the sofa to face him, having to crawl over Michelangelo's sleeping form on the couch cushions. She scratched as her messy head before answering him. "Uncle Raph is my daddy's best friend. They don't see each other much anymore though. Daddy used to help them beat up people and rescue people."

The turtle stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding. "So your parents just let you stay with a bunch of giant turtles… That's pretty cool I guess." He glanced towards the clock on the wall. "It's pretty late. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

She shrugged. "I'm always up the latest. You should be the one in bed. If I poked you I'm pretty sure you'd break." She grinned.

"You have a point kid."

Shadow frowned. "My name is Shadow. Not kid. And I have more authority than you. Just because you are a mutant and I'm not doesn't mean squat."

"I-I didn't mean-"

"No. Shut up. You are here because Uncle Raph thinks that you can help fix things since Master Splinter died. That doesn't just give you any rights. You have to earn your place."

Antonello waved his hands, giving up. "Simmer down! I didn't mean anything geeze!" He took a deep breath. "I know I need to earn my keep, how I'll do that… I haven't quite figured that much out yet."

The girl folded her arms. "Ant, you should go to bed. Raph doesn't really go easy on people. If he plans on starting tomorrow you will be in rough shape." With that last bit of blunt advice she slipped off the couch and wondered down the hall to the bedroom that belonged to Mikey and disappeared inside to sleep.

The last being awake simple shook his head before turning around to limp back into Donnie's lab to get to bed himself. "This whole family is weird." He mumbled.