A/N: Thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/followed! I really appreciate it! Y'all rock out loud! Just sayin'! Please let me know what you think about this chapter as well! =]]
Disclaimer: Nothing green belongs to me. Kaliyah does though, and I'm kinda proud of her. =]]
Chapter 2: You Have Got To Be Kidding Me.
Ugh…my head…Kallie thought as she felt a painful throb in the back of her head. What the hell happened…? I don't really remember…I know the show went really well…Kenny was pleased and told me to go home…I took the subway…Oh…OH! Those creeps! They cornered me and hit me! I got away though…how did I get away?...I remember voices…three voices…no, no four voices…something about going to a lair? And I'm pretty sure they said 'Master Splinter.' What the heck was a Master Splinter? And why am I lying on something lumpy? My bed isn't this lumpy…neither is my couch…I'm not at home…where the hell am I?!
Kallie struggled to wake up, her eyes refusing to cooperate, but she was stubborn and continued to fight to wake up.
"Hey, easy there." She heard a voice say to her.
"Maybe we should try Casey and April again. She's just gonna freak when she wakes up." Another voice said.
"They're not answerin' Mike, how many times I gotta tell ya that?" A rough voice growled.
"Not much we can do about it now guys, just…try to look, I dunno, not scary?"
The rough voice snorted. "Kinda hard with an ugly mug like Mikey's."
"Hey!"
This is getting annoying, c'mon Kaliyah just wake up already! She chastised herself, using her full name to make herself angry. Finally her eyes cooperated with her and she opened them. At first, colors swam before her and her vision was blurry. She tried to sit up but was pushed back down against the bed.
"You need to stay down until you can see properly." She was told.
How did he know she couldn't see properly? Kallie thought to herself as she closed her eyes again, opening them slowly and almost sighing relief as her vision was now cleared. The first sight to greet her was a high ceiling composed of cinderblock. She could hear the whirring of electronics and a beeping noise. She looked around the room and it was empty, which was weird because she could've sworn she heard people! However, the only thing she could see now was the room she was in. There were a tower of monitors in the corner with a computer chair in front of it, there were cupboards on the other side full of what looked to be pill bottles and other medical paraphernalia. She noticed now she was lying on some kind of medical looking bed. This looked like a lab of some sort with all the mechanical junk lying around, but then again on the other side looked like a mini-emergency room.
Weird.
"H-Hello?" She called out, wincing at how hoarse she sounded.
There was no answer.
"Uh…is there anyone here?" She called out again, her voice stronger now.
There was a shuffling noise and someone said 'Ow' before she heard 'You're standing on my foot!' She furrowed her brow in confusion and decided to go check things out for herself. Kallie swung her legs around and stood, only to get extremely dizzy. Her knees buckled and she reached out to grab the edge of the bed, but her hands slipped and she fell.
Before she could eat the floor though, she was caught at the waist. She cried out at as her head throbbed painfully from the sudden stop. She was looking at a green foot…what a sec…a green foot? What the hell?! She was being deposited back on the bed when she was greeted with four worried expressions.
Except they weren't expressions on people's faces.
The worried expressions were on green faces. Green faces. Standing before her were four very large, very green looking turtle type creatures. Each one had a different color bandana covering their eyes; blue, red, purple, and orange. They had elbow and knee pads on as well as cloth belts around their waists. They looked like they were some kind of…martial artists or something. They were shifting uncomfortably and staring at her as if they were worried she was about to scream her head off and try to hurt them. In all honesty she was panicking a bit. This was either a really bad dream or some drug induced hallucination that one of the audience members may have slipped into her drink at The Duplex. She didn't even wanna think about the third option; that this was all somehow really happening. But if the pain in her head was any indication, this was indeed really happening. She took a deep shaky breath and leaned her head back against the pillows, closing her eyes.
"Uh…you okay lady?" The young voice asked again.
Kallie groaned and raised a hand to gingerly touch the back of her head. She winced, hissing in pain as it throbbed painfully.
"Try not to touch that. It was all I could do to stop the bleeding."
Kallie kept her eyes closed and let her hand drop back to her side. "Where am I?" She finally asked.
"Um, you're at our home." A cautious voice answered.
Kallie wasn't really ready to open her eyes again, but she didn't really have a choice in the matter. She steeled her nerves and slowly opened her eyes yet again. There were still four giant turtles staring at her.
Oh yeah. She'd gone officially crazy.
"And where exactly would 'home' be for you?" She asked.
"Down in the sewers." The orange banded one answered.
"Of course it is. I'm down in the sewers, conversing with four giant talking turtles. This is exactly how I pictured my night." Kallie said. She sat straight up again and looked at all four of them. Trying to let this sink in. She knew she should be screaming and frantically trying to get out of there. But for some reason she didn't. These turtles couldn't be that bad considering they had saved her life, brought her here, and taken care of her head.
"Are you feeling okay?" The purple banded one asked.
"Ask me again in a few weeks, I'm sure my therapist will have an answer for you." Kallie replied dryly.
The orange one laughed and the red one smacked him in the back of his head. "What? That was funny!" Orange protested.
"You're…reacting…strangely…" The blue banded one said carefully.
Kallie snorted. "You're a man sized walking and talking turtle and you're calling me strange?"
Orange laughed again and even the red banded one barely contained a smirk. The blue one narrowed his eyes at me, fixing me with a stern glare. I had a feeling he did that a lot.
"What were yer doin' out that late at night on yer own?" The red one demanded suddenly, a bit angry sounding.
Kallie felt her own temper flare. Who does this guy-er turtle- think he is? "I'm an adult thank you very much, I can walk to and from the subway after work perfectly well on my own!"
"Yer what, 19?" He asked.
"I'm 20, not that it's any of your business." Kallie told him.
"Raph, ease up." The blue one said.
"Just tryin' to figure out what this chick was thinkin' is all." He replied with a shrug.
"I was on my way home when those jackasses attacked me." She told him.
"Have they tried anything like that before?" The blue one asked.
She nodded. "Almost every time I leave from work."
"Where do you work?" He asked.
She looked at him with slight distrust. If living in New York had taught her anything, it was never to trust people.
The blue one seemed to notice her hesitation. "If we wanted to hurt you we would've done it by now don't you think?"
She scowled slightly at him. "How should I know? This could be all part of y'alls master plan of kidnapping me and asking for ransom. Hate to break it to ya though, I'm broke. I spend all my money on rent and bills and then whatever I have left goes straight into NYU's bank account for sheet music and instruments." She wasn't exactly lying. She had a ton of money saved up from what her dad had left her, but she didn't touch that money. Her mom was still working as marketing director for Macy's but they didn't talk much, besides, her mom probably wouldn't even care if she was being held for ransom. It's not like she ever cared before.
The purple on smiled kindly at her. "We just want to make sure you're okay. Do you mind if I check your head out?"
Kallie looked apprehensive but then nodded. The purple one smiled at her again and grabbed a clipboard as he walked around her. He grabbed a flashlight and shined it in her eyes. She winced at its brightness but tried to be still and allow him to check her health. He made a few notes before gently prodding her head, checking for sore spots. When he got to the back she winced and jerked her head in the opposite direction.
"Sorry." He apologized before resuming his poking and prodding.
"Well, you don't have a concussion, which is really good. That was a big concern for a while. You're gonna have quite a headache for the next few days though. We have some butterfly stitches on the cut on the back of your head. You need to be careful with operating any kind of heave machinery and probably take the rest of the day easy. Some ibuprofen would do you good, but something stronger might be more prudent." The purple one told her.
"Are you some kind of doctor?" She asked.
The purple one shook his head. "Not exactly."
"So what happens now?" She asked.
"Well, I think it's time you got home. We'll help you get there." The blue one said.
"You're just letting me go?" She asked.
The red one snorted. "Whadja think was gonna happen?"
Kallie scowled at him. "How the hell should I know? Y'all are the ones that brought me here!"
"We're not gonna hurt you." Orange said.
"So y'all really did this out of the kindness of your heart?" Kallie asked skeptically.
Three heads nodded while the one in red just rolled his eyes.
"What, people can't do nice things?" Purple asked.
"Not without wanting something in return." Kallie answered seriously. Blues' eye's softened, as did reds'.
"Who taught ya that?" Red asked.
Kallie snorted. "New York City."
"Well, not everyone in New York City works like that." Blue said.
Kallie still looked slightly skeptical. "What makes you think I won't blab to everyone I know that you guys exist?"
The four of them laughed for a moment before Orange wiped a stray tear from his eye.
"And who do you think will believe you?" Orange asked.
"Besides, I don't think you'll say anything…" Purple added.
Kallie tilted her head. "Why do you think that?"
"Because you're not one of those people who can't do nice things without something in return." Purple stated.
Kallie just looked at him before smiling slightly. Purple smiled back at her.
"So where do you live?" Orange asked.
"I have an apartment that's not too far from Central Park. It's on 2nd Avenue." Kallie told them.
"Alright, well let's get going!" Orange said enthusiastically.
"If y'all could just show me the way out I'm sure I can make it home on my own." Kallie tried to assure them, standing to her feet but swaying slightly as her head protested the quick movement. Purple grasped her elbow and helped steady her. She blushed deeply as she noticed she was still wearing her short dress. She instantly tried to make it cover her knees, but it didn't work.
"Humor us." He told her with a smile.
Kallie opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it. She didn't want to seem ungrateful for all the things they'd just done for her.
"Alright." She conceded, still embarrassed at how skanky she was dressed.
"Should we tell Master Splinter?" Orange asked.
"He knows already. We'll be back soon anyways." Blue answered.
The five of them made their way out of the lab and into the sewers. They stayed on the side in order not to get wet.
"So what's your name?" Orange asked as they walked.
"Uh…Kaliyah Miller, but please call me Kallie." She told him.
"That's an interesting name. Where's it from?" Purple asked.
"My mother's crazy imagination." Kallie answered with a bit of disdain in her voice.
Orange laughed. "Not a fan of your first name?"
"No. I hate it. My mom thought she was being creative. Only my family uses it and that's mainly when I'm in some kind of trouble or getting lectured for some reason. And of course whenever co-workers wanna annoy me they use it too."
"Sounds kinda like us. Oh the power of the first name when we're in trouble." Orange said with a mock shudder.
Purple and blue laughed.
"You're only afraid of it because it's used so often." Blue said slyly.
"Hey! I'm not in trouble that much!" Orange protested.
The other three snorted.
"You were in trouble earlier today for taping that blow horn to Donnie's computer chair." Blue replied.
Orange started laughing. "Dude, that was priceless!"
Purple narrowed his eyes. "I will get you for that."
Orange's eyes glinted mischievously. "Bring it Donnie."
So purple's name was Donnie huh? Kallie thought to herself.
"Well, I've told y'all my name, can I have all of yours?" She asked.
They hesitated for a moment before blue answered. "I'm Leonardo."
"Raphael." Red grunted.
"Donatello." Purple said.
"And I'm Michelangelo." Orange said with a goofy grin.
Kallie looked amused. "Your family a big fan of the arts?"
Leonardo smiled. "You could say that. Our father named us."
"Your mom didn't have a say in it I'm guessing?" Kallie asked.
"Er…we don't really have a mom." Michelangelo told her.
Kallie felt embarrassed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know…"
"It's okay. Our story is kinda…different." Donatello replied carefully.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Don't worry about it." Raphael inserted.
Kallie felt her temper flare, but she tapered it down. In all honesty, these guys didn't owe her any kind of explanation whatsoever. They had been kind enough to save her and make sure she was okay. Plus, they were walking her home. It was more than enough. They had finally reached a ladder and they slowly climbed up it, helping Kallie out as they immediately stayed close to the walls and alleys, staying hidden in the shadows. Kallie followed them without question.
"I take it you don't really wanna be seen?" She asked.
Michelangelo smiled. "Some people aren't as cool as you are with four giant talking turtles."
Kallie couldn't help but laugh. "I'm still not sure I'm not dreaming."
"Don't worry, you're not." He replied.
"I don't think that's exactly making me feel better." She laughed.
They continued down the roads, turning every once in a while until they were finally in front of her apartment building. It was super late so there weren't many people out on the streets, which made Kallie feel better. She was still pretty shook up about the attack.
"This is me." She told them.
"Nice digs." Michelangelo said with a low whistle.
"Thanks. I paid two years' worth of rent up front so I wouldn't have to worry about them upping it without telling me."
"How did ya manage that?" Raphael asked in awe.
Kallie squirmed a bit, not really comfortable. "My dad left me some money."
"That was nice of him." Leonardo said giving her a look. She could've sworn he was reading her every though, his eyes were so intense and just seemed to pierce right through her.
"Well, thanks for everything. I really appreciate it." She said suddenly.
"It was no trouble at all. Remember to take some ibuprofen to get ahead of the pain." Donatello reminded her.
She nodded. "I will."
"Well, see ya later!" Michelangelo said with a wave.
"Wait!" She called out. They stopped and turned to look at her. "Uh…will I ever see y'all again?"
Orange grinned. "I hope so!"
"If ya stay outta trouble then no. If this becomes a habit of yers, then yeah." Raphael replied.
Kallie was gonna retort when the four of them just vanished.
"How the hell do they do that?!" She asked out loud. There was no answer, so she simply sighed and walked into her apartment, slightly upset at the fact that she couldn't drink. A night like this definitely called for some alcohol. But sleep may be just as good.
