Jack scratched her head as she walked into Donatello's room. "Good morning." She smiled.

"More like good afternoon." The brainiac looked up from his notebook briefly. "You sure slept well."

The woman shrugged. "I don't think Raphael slept well, he was tossing and turning last night, kept me up too."

Donnie nodded. "I can see that."

"Where are the other guys at anyway?"

They went out to get some things and maybe gather some information."

Jack looked over at the clock. It was just a little after five. "At this hour?"

"You forget that it's the middle of February. It's dark already at this time of day." Donnie said without looking up.

"Right…" Jack walked over to him. "So I have felt rather useless the past few weeks. Not doing any training, not doing anything. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, there is." Donatello motioned to the space on his bed beside him. "I have some schematics drawn up that you might be able to help me start on."

"Schematics for what?" She sat down beside him.

"A new leg." He grinned to himself.

Jack's eyes got wide. "A what?"

"A new leg! You can't expect me to just sit in my bed for the rest of my life." He rolled out the papers on the table that was closest.

"Holy crap Don… this is intense." She picked up the papers and looked at the diagrams and notes.

The turtle nodded. "Well, since my anatomy is different from a humans, a normal prosthetic won't work. Besides, I do want to get back to normal at some point, I want something functional."

"I get that Donnie, but this looks like something from The Terminator." She tried to grasp his design.

"Not exactly. It is just a more solidly based structure. As giant mutant turtles, we weigh substantially more than humans do. A simple plastic and metal rod prosthetic won't work for me. It needs to be solid. But I also want it to function and respond to what is left of my leg's muscle tissue."

"So you are building a robotic leg." She cocked an eyebrow as she looked at him

"…maybe." He said coyly.

"Well, what can I do to help?" She tucked her hair behind her ear giving Donatello a glimpse of some green skin along her hairline at the base of her neck that they had previously missed. He didn't say anything about it though.

The next few hours the turtle gave his friend directions on what tools to bring him and materials to gather from around his room. Jack helped him hold things together while he welded and soldered metal and wires into place. It was late into the night and the thing on the table before them was finally starting to take shape when something crashed into the living room.

"What does she have to do for you to believe she was involved in all this?" It was Raphael.

"I don't know Raph, but I just can't believe Mona had a part in this." Leo.

Jack pulled off her protective eye wear and looked at Donatello with a frown.

"This isn't good." The bed ridden turtle mumbled as he set his tools aside.

"Pull your head out of your ass Fearless!" Raphael nearly shouted. "She's the one that did this to you! She is the one that is helping Xanus work with the mutagen!"

By now Jack had pulled open Donatello's bedroom door and could see the other four turtles in the open expanse of the house. They looked beat, whatever they had been doing outside had taken a toll, energy wise anyway. Mikey was collapsed on the sofa, Ant at the dining room table and Leo and Raph were just standing there going at it.

"Will you stop calling me that! And she didn't do this to me! It was an accident!" Leo looked down at his hands, he was still trying to get used to them.

"But it's her fault!" Raphael grabbed at his head in frustration. "Don't you understand that? She led them here, she figured it out and she helped them! She is the one that is responsible for mutating you and my girlfriend!"

"So I'm your girlfriend now?"

The entire room froze. Slowly Raphael turned around, his dark green face somehow almost glowing red as his eyes landed on Jack. His mouth fell open as he tried to find some kind of explanation for his words. "Well I… I um… I…" He took a step towards her. "You…"

She walked out towards him. It had been something she had been wondering from the moment he had first kissed her and she wanted an answer, but it was more of an opportunity to break the tension and give Leo a chance to get away.

"I what?" She stood before him, her bright eyes looking up at his scarred face waiting for an answer.

Leo silently slipped away to his room, but the other two brothers were eagerly awaiting the answer the one in Red would give. Mikey inched up over the back of the sofa to make sure he'd hear everything, Ant just sat perfectly still afraid if he'd move he might scare Raph.

"You um… Uh…"

Jack put on a dramatic frown as she looked at his flustered face. It might have been a little mean to put him on the spot like this, she knew, but he had started it. "Did some other girl get mutated I don't know about? Were you talking about her?"

"No of course not!" He said in a rush, almost offended.

"So you were talking about me?"

"Yeah of course…"

"When you said girlfriend?" She raised a brow.

He swallowed hard. "um… yeah…" The word was almost inaudible.

For a moment a real fear almost filled her. "You don't seem like that's something you want." She said, suddenly not as cocky as she had been a mere moment ago.

Raph reached down and took her small hands in his. "Of course it is." He said quietly, looking down for a moment before he looked up at her eyes. "It's just that you are human, mostly, and I'm a giant turtle… I didn't know If that is what you'd want."

She pulled a hand from him and smacked him in the chest. "You idiot. When I said I loved you that meant all of you, including the turtle and the mutant parts. Why wouldn't I want to be something more with you?" She placed a hand on his cheek and gently stroked his smooth skin with her thumb.

Without a word, the turtle leaned down in a quick motion and connected their lips in a hard kiss. It would have been a nice romantic moment had Michelangelo not started his whistling from across the room.

With a red face, Raphael threw his sai at his brother, the weapon lodging into the couch just below his brothers hand.

Mikey grinned nervously. "Heh… well, at least you two are official now and I'm not lying when I tell Casey she's your girlfriend."

The color on Raph's face darkened. "Shut up Mike."

Jack simply laughed to herself as she watched them bicker. Letting go of Raphael's hand she turned to the kitchen to make them all something to eat. It was late, true, but she was sure they could all use something to eat. While Mikey and Raph continued to pester one another Ant got to his feet to assist her.

"Was it really that important to have him call you his girlfriend?" Ant asked as he started to peel some potatoes.

Jack sighed. "I don't know… it was probably really selfish of me actually." She admitted.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well we have both openly admitted our feelings, but neither of us have really done anything to act upon them. I just wanted to make sure I knew where I really stood I guess. I wanted to make sure I wasn't thinking too much into everything. Being with you guys in great, I love all you but I don't want to read into anything I'm not supposed to so… does that make any sense?"

Ant nodded slowly. "You want to make sure you and him are on the same page as far as feelings and stuff go." He looked at her. "But trust me, you have nothing to worry about. You might not see it, but we all do. Raph is head over feet for you. He'd do anything for you."

She smiled, her features flushing slightly. Ant's words set her at ease somewhat. Going back to her cooking she elbowed the tall and lanky turtle beside her. He nudged her back playfully.

"So what were you guys doing anyway?"

Ant sighed. "Trying to track down Mona Lisa and the retromutagen."

"Did you guys have any luck?"

He shook his head then stopped suddenly. "Not with her. But we did come across something unusual."

She set the cooked meat on a plate and slid it aside to start cooking the potatoes Antonello had peeled. "And what would that be?"

"Mikey called them Foot ninjas. But Raph and Leo said they looked different, like something they saw in Georgia."

The woman froze. "I beg your pardon?"

"What?" Ant set his knife down. "We ran into a few of these dude dressed in all black with these weird symbols on their chests."

Jack's heart started to pound in her chest. The sound of her own heart filled her ears as she started ahead at the kitchen wall. It was the men that had killed her brother, the ones that had attacked her, the ones working for Xanus, they had finally found their way here.

"Jacquelyn?" Raphael stepped up behind her but she didn't respond.

Ant looked at him and just shrugged his shoulders.

Raphael reached around her and pulled the woman against his chest. "Jack? Are you okay?" He asked as he looked down at her.

She jumped a bit and looked up at Raphael. "Oh! Raph…" She turned in his arms and leaned against him. "Sorry I was just thinking…"

"Is everything okay?"

She nodded.

The turtle frowned but didn't say anything just then. Instead he turned her to the table and offered her a seat. Finishing preparing dinner, he plated up everything and called for Mikey. The four of them sat around the table and ate, mostly. Jack just picked at her food, something obviously upsetting her. After a while she got to her feet and set her plate aside.

"I'm going to take a plate to Donnie." She said.

The boys at the table watched her gather up the food and then disappear into the other room. Raphael looked at the youngest turtle. "What'd you say to her?" He asked a bit harshly.

"Nothing!" Ant said defensively. "She asked about what we did tonight so I told her about the ninja dudes we fought."

Raph grumbled to himself and got to his feet. After ditching his plate in the sink he met Jacquelyn as she exited Donatello's room. Without a word he took her hand and gently led her down the hall towards his bedroom.

"Raph?" She asked a bit confused as he shut the door behind her.

He turned around to face her. "Don't worry. I won't…" He had made that promise before and failed. Closing his eye he wrapped his arms around her. "I'll do my best to protect you." Having to admit he failed hurt, but he knew that he had, more than once.

"I know you will." The woman mumbled as she wrapped her arms around him as best she could.

The turtle pulled away just enough so he could lean down and connect their lips. It was a soft kiss at first, but when the woman pressed into him, egging him on, Raphael could feel himself becoming more hungry and desperate for her. His grip on her tightened as an arm pulled her closer, one hand sliding up into her hair to hold her head to his own.

Then she broke the kiss and gasped, wincing a bit as her hand went to her side. Raphael's eye snapped open and he looked down as he panted for breath.

"I'm sorry!" He blurted out, wrenching his hand away from her injury.

She smiled softly, her flushed face looking up at him. "Don't be." She gave him a soft peck on the lips. "I'm just not quite one hundred percent yet."

Closing his eyes he gently set his forehead against hers.

The woman smiled. "Soon enough you won't have to stop."

He pulled away slightly and looked at her. Face still red, he smirked but couldn't quite get his eyes to meet hers. He couldn't believe she was implying such things. Was that… was that kind of thing even possible between them? Of course his mind had gone there but actually doing that sort of thing was completely different…. He had never…

The turtle shook his head and cleared his throat. "Why don't we get some sleep." He said quietly. "It's been a long night." In one gentle motion, he scooped her up and carried her to his hammock. After climbing in, he pulled the woman onto his chest. Kissing the top of her head he covered them with a blanket and closed his eye.

"Sweet dreams Raphael." She mumbled as she kissed his neck, snuggling into his side.

Raph smiled and used his foot to gently rock them as he pushed against the wall.

"Raph! What are you doing!?" Mikey hissed as he followed his brother through the shadows.

"I'm going to prove to Leo that his fiancé is behind all this."

Mikey grabbed his brother's arm. "Raph you have to stop this! We haven't heard from Mona in months! Not since she helped the Foot and the Dragons break into our home."

"Mikey is right, Raph, you are in no shape to do this! You need to get home." Ant got in front of their brother and tried to stop him. "Alopex cracked your shell when she threw you off that building. You need to have it looked at."

"That bitch isn't going to stop me." The turtle snarled.

"Why is this so important to you?" Mikey asked him, exasperated. "Why are you so desperate to find Mona?"

Raph stopped and turned to face his brother. "Because she is trying to destroy us. Mona Lisa is trying to turn us back into nothing and I will not go back to being someone's pet. Not after everything we've done! Not after everything we have accomplished!" His eye fluttered and he dropped to a knee.

"Oh shit! Mikey his shell! He's bleeding bad from this crack! We have to get him back home!" Ant grabbed one of his bloody arms and slung it around his neck.

Mikey grabbed the other and did the same. "Jack is going to be pissed when we get home." He mumbled under his breath.

Dragging their muscle bound brother home was a slow trip but they made it without further incident. Once inside, Ant shut the front door while Mikey took Raph to Donatello's room to get patched up.

Jack was coming out of the training room, she was finally feeling better, her side had healed completely no residual pain just an ugly scar that trailed up the length of her torso. Her shoulder was the only thing she had to take it easy one. Wiping some sweat off her neck with a towel as she walked out to the living room, the smile fell from her lips as she saw the trio splattered with blood and limping towards Donnie's room.

"What did you do?" She asked a mix of horror and anger filled her voice as she followed them into the room.