A/N: Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews guys! They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! I'm so glad y'all are liking the story! This chapter has got some violence in it, so beware! Please review and let me know what y'all think! =]]

Disclaimer: Yeah, I still have no rights to the turtles. I wish I did though. Memo to self: find a genie.

Chapter 13: Ninja Stuff is Dangerous.

Kallie didn't exactly know what to feel.

Right now, the guys were in a flurry of activity figuring out what kind of shifts they were gonna take to keep an eye on Kallie's mom, who was gonna see if April and Casey could help out, who was going to keep an extra eye out for suspicious activity at The Duplex, and a plethora of other things. Kallie had just stood there looking at the picture of her mother. It had been a few months since she had seen her. She had dark brown hair now, she must've dyed it. Kaliyah almost didn't recognize her. Her mother normally had blonde hair like her. She had cut it as well, it hit right at her shoulders now. She could see her mother's husband coming out of the house to join his wife on the porch.

Kallie's stomach lurched.

She hadn't seen Robert since her mother married him. But just like every time she thought of him or heard his voice on the phone, it made her physically ill. This man ruined her family. This man ruined her life.

"Kallie?" Donatello called, pulling her out of her dark musings.

"Hm?" She answered distractedly.

"What's your mother's name?" He asked.

"D-Danika, Danika Collins."

"She works at Macy's?" Leonardo asked.

Kallie nodded. "But not like, at the actual store. She's the marketing director. It's that big building on 5th."

"We'll need eyes on that building Donnie, think you can manage that?" Leo asked.

"I'll tap into the security videos now." And with that, the genius turtle left for his lab.

Raphael and Leonardo went to speak with Master Splinter while Michelangelo talked to Casey or April. Kallie wasn't sure which person he was talking to at the moment. She knew she should feel something, anything really. But right now she was feeling…numb. Most people would be bursting into tears, having panic attacks, or affirming that they were going to do everything in their power to ensure their mother's safety. But Kallie didn't feel any of that. She didn't feel anything.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked her as he snapped his phone shut.

"I'm fine." She replied.

Mike squinted at her. Something was off with her voice. He couldn't hear the normal defiance in it that she normally had when she was trying to ensure them that nothing was wrong. Michelangelo understood that he hadn't known Kallie for too long, but he picked up on behaviors easily. And this almost…monotone coming out of the young blonde was not normal.

"Are you sure? I mean, you're not like freaking out or anything…aren't you worried?"

Kallie shrugged. "A guy took a picture of her house. She's still alive right?"

Mike slowly nodded, unsure of what to do or say.

"Then she's fine."

"Kallie…your mother is in danger…someone's been watching her close enough to take this picture."

"They haven't said or done anything though," said Kallie. "She's fine."

"We're gonna try to keep that way." Mike told her. "But your mom is in danger Kallie. She could get hurt. These people want to hurt you. Do you understand that?"

Michelangelo looked worried. Kaliyah's eyes were blank, void of any kind of emotion and somewhere in his head the word 'shock' lit up like a neon sign.

"Uh…Donnie?" He called out. Kallie started shaking all of a sudden, tremors shaking her frame and she looked up at him, blue eyes wide and scared now.

"Sh-She…I don't…" Kallie stammered, her heart rate racing as she thought about someone being that close to her mother. All at once all kinds of panicky feelings rushed through her. Her breaths were coming in short gasps, the shakes wracking through her body, sweat beading on her forehead suddenly.

"Donnie!" Mikey called louder, more urgent. He grasped Kallie by the shoulders and tried to calm her down. "It's okay Kallie, she's going to be fine." Mike felt guilty, thinking that it was because of what he said. He just wanted her to understand what was happening.

Don came into the room and saw his little brother trying to calm a clearly shaken up Kaliyah Miller. "Kallie?" Don rushed to her side and Mike moved to allow Doctor Donnie to take care of his patient. The purple banded turtle led Kallie to the couch and sat her down.

"Kallie? Look at me." Don demanded. Kallie just kept shaking and her already light features paled even more. "Mike! Get me a trash can or something!"

Mikey got there just in time for Kallie to retch right inside the newly offered trash can. Donatello held the bucket while Mikey rubbed her back soothingly with one hand and holding her hair with the other. And just when Kallie thought it was over, her stomach decided otherwise. Her face was once again in the trash can as she heaved everything up once again. Kallie's eyes were streaming and she was shaking even more now, trying to catch her breath as her stomach continued to roll.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked softly.

Kallie nodded. "F-Fine."

"You're coming down from shock. It can be…exhausting." Don explained. "I need you to lie down okay? I'm gonna get you some sprite, it should help relax your stomach."

Mikey scooted over and Kallie practically collapsed on top of him. She was shivering again and Michelangelo shifted and allowed her to lay her head on his lap, pulling an old quilt over her. Donatello came back in and saw his little brother comforting their new friend. He quietly set the soda down and nodded at Mikey, who returned the nod, and left to talk with Leo, Raph and his Sensei.

"I don't want her to get hurt." Kallie finally whispered.

"I know."

"We don't get along, but I would never want anything bad to happen to her."

"I know." He responded, stroking her hair.

"I dunno what to do…" Kallie said, sounding on the verge of tears.

"We're gonna take care of it," Michelangelo promised. "Right now though, you need to sleep."

"I've gotta help my mom." Kallie said, struggling to get up.

Mike gently pulled her back down. "No, you need to sleep. Leo and Raph have first watch, Casey and April during the day, and Donnie and me tomorrow night. We're gonna make sure she's safe."

"Promise?" Kallie whispered.

"Promise." Michelangelo replied. Kallie sighed, her body slowly losing the fight of consciousness.

OoOoOoO

The next two days were spent with keeping Kaliyah as underground as possible. She called Kenny and told him that she had the flu and wouldn't be able to sing for another week or two. Donnie was constantly in his lab, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious at her mom's work. She had rarely seen the purple turtle except for a few moments when he grabbed a cup of coffee or went to the bathroom. Kaliyah noticed that he wasn't eating regularly, none of them really were. They were all too busy with trying to keep an eye on her and deal with her problems. That's what really ticked Kallie off about this whole situation; she couldn't do a damn thing to help. Every time she offered to do something she was shot down. The guys always had a reason not to include her on their shifts; 'it's too dangerous,' and 'you aren't trained like we are' or 'don't worry about it, we've got it,' or Kaliyah's personal favorite 'shut ya trap and stay here!'

That was Raph's reason.

Well, they weren't going to keep her away from this shift. She was going to put her foot down whether they liked it or not. If they thought Raphael was stubborn, they haven't seen anything yet!

It was nearing 11pm and Donnie's and Mikey's shift was coming up again and they were preparing for it. Leo had Donnie's lab for the night while Raph was out with Casey for a patrol at The Duplex.

"I'm going with you." Kallie told Donatello and Michelangelo.

Donnie's eyes went wide while Mikey just grinned at her and rolled his eyes. "Sure sure."

"I mean it." Kallie stated firmly.

"Kallie…you can't come with us. It's too dan—"

"If you say it's too dangerous, so help me Mike I will hide every single one of your comic books."

Mike looked absolutely terrified at the threat.

"It's not worth the risk Kallie." Donatello tried.

"Don, I need to be there. I need to see for myself that my mom is okay."

"I understand that Kallie, really I do, but it's not a possibility." Don replied.

"It is a possibility and it is happening."

"No it's not." A new voice said. Kallie looked up and saw Leo standing in the lab's doorway with his arms folded across his chest.

"Yes it is." Kallie said.

Leo sighed and made his way towards them. "Kallie…"

"Don't 'Kallie' me! I need to see my mom and y'all aren't gonna stop me."

"This isn't a matter of what you want; this is a matter of protecting you and your mom." Leo insisted.

"Me being there isn't going to affect things that much alright? I haven't seen her in months and I need to see her now!"

"Kaliyah, this isn't up for discussion." Leo said in his 'I'm the leader' voice.

"This isn't your decision Leonardo." Kallie said dangerously quiet.

Leo looked at her angrily. He clearly wanted to argue this with her but he could see that Kaliyah wasn't going to change her mind. He did not want her to accompany Mike and Don. But if she didn't go with them there was a possibility of her leaving on her own without anyone looking after her, and that was an even worse option. He was stuck with two sucky options. He had a decision to make; allow her to go or lock her in her room. Leo sighed inwardly; he couldn't really lock her in her room. She'd probably claw her way out and then cut his head off with a machete or something.

Leonardo fixed a stern glare at his two little brothers. "You keep an eye on her at all times. The moment something seems fishy you get her and Mrs. Collins out of there immediately. Understand?"

"Of course."

"You got it dude!"

Leo turned to look at Kallie. "You do everything they tell you to do. If they tell you to run, then you run. If they tell you stay put, then you stay put. Understand?"

Kaliyah felt her temper rise at Leo for trying to tell her what she can and cannot do, but the look of fear and concern in his eyes.

"I understand." She told him with a nod.

"Let's go Kallie." Mikey told her. "Before Leo changes his mind. We'll be back by 3!"

OoOoOoO

On the way to Kaliyah's mothers house a thousand different thoughts were racing through Kallie's head. What would her mother say? Should she call her beforehand? What if Robert was there? It's really late, what if she wasn't up? What if all they did was scream and fight with each other like they used to? Kallie had so many different questions, so many worries. She didn't want to fight with her mother tonight though, that was one thing she was certain of. She had no idea what she was going to tell her mom. This late night visit was definitely out of the ordinary for Kallie. The last time she'd been over to her mom's house hadn't exactly been a pleasant experience.

Kaliyah had gone over there to pick up some of her old sheet music. Danika had started out pretty nice, but as always it eventually turned into a power trip. Kallie had let it slip that she was working at The Duplex. She had freaked and told her to quit immediately. Her mother always had to try and tell Kallie what to do. It drove her nuts. She wasn't even living with her anymore and her mom was still trying to tell her what to do. And what's worse is that Robert had walked in a few minutes later and tried to enter the conversation. Kallie had told him to go to hell and Danika of course screamed at her. Kaliyah ended up storming out and promising never to come back.

And now here she was about to go visit her mother when she knew full and well that Robert would be there too. Kallie felt sick again. She didn't want to throw up again though. It had been embarrassing enough two days ago. She had to see her mother and this was the only way. Mikey and Donnie were the two who were with her when she had freaked out, so Kallie was grateful for that. Mikey and Donnie kept looking at her, checking that she was okay. She would try to smile encouragingly at them, but she could tell they didn't believe it.

They finally arrived and Kallie felt her heart slamming against her chest and her breath hard to come by. She felt another panic attack coming but she breathed in deeply and counted to ten like Mikey had told her. It helped a little bit.

"Alright, Mikey and I will be on the roof and keeping an eye out alright? If you see anything suspicious, notify us immediately." Donatello told her.

Kallie nodded.

"You gonna be okay?" Mikey asked.

"Y-Yeah. It's…it's just been a while." She waved to the guys and slowly made her way to the house. The lights were still on so that was a good sign that her mother was still awake. She raised a shaky hand to the doorbell and rang it.

"Who would be here at this—Kaliyah?" Her mother said as she opened the door.

"Uh…hey mom."

"Oh my God Kaliyah!" Danika cried as she threw her arms around her daughter. "I've been so worried! I haven't heard from you since you hung up on me last month! I've called and left messages but you haven't returned them!"

And then Kallie felt a smack to the back of her head.

"OW! Mom! What the hell?" Kallie cried, rubbing the offended spot.

"Don't scare me like that!" Danika chastised. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you!"

Kallie scowled at her mother and rolled her eyes before mumbling, "M'sorry."

Danika ushered her daughter into the living room and the two women sat down. Danika grabbed some sodas a moment later and came back, eyes brimming with tears now.

"It's…it's been so long Kaliyah…"

"I know mom."

"I'm so glad you're here. I've missed you so much!" Danika said as she wrapped her arms around her daughter once again. Kallie awkwardly patted her back, not really used to this kind of affection from her mother.

"So uh…how've ya been?" Kallie asked once her mom sat back again.

"Busy. Work has been crazy lately with all of the holidays of course. We'll slow down again after New Year's. How have you been? Where are you staying? Were you able to save anything from your apartment?"

"Um…I've been okay. I took all my exams early."

"Did you get good grades?"

"Yeah, all As actually."

"Kaliyah that's fantastic! Great job!"

"Uh…thanks. And I've been staying with some friends. They've been really great and super accommodating. And no…I uh…I wasn't able to save anything…"

Danika's expression softened and she grabbed her daughter's hand. "I'm so sorry sweetie."

Kaliyah took her hand back and shrugged. "S'fine."

"So your violin and piano…?"

"Gone," said Kallie. "But the tur—er…my roommates found some of my old sheet music and gave it to me for Christmas. They also found me a violin and piano."

"Sounds like great friends. When can I meet them?" She asked.

Kallie blanched at first, but then quickly schooled her features. "I dunno, they work at night and sleep during the day most of the time. They have wacky schedules."

"Oh, well I'm glad you're being taken care of." Danika said with a genuine smile. It made Kallie feel kinda guilty. It seemed as if her mom was really trying.

For once.

"Where's your husband?" Kallie asked. She normally tried never to use his name.

Danika sighed. "Working a late shift tonight. There's been a lot of gang activity lately so he's been working a lot of the later shifts. It worries me."

Kallie didn't say anything. She was just glad the man wasn't here; it'd make things a lot more awkward than they already were.

"Kaliyah, not that I'm…ecstatic to see you, but what are you doing here? And so late too."

"I dunno…I was just in the neighborhood…"

Danika arched a brow at her.

Kallie sighed. "Honestly mom…I have no idea why I'm here. I just…I just felt like I needed to see you, like right away; to make sure that you're alright."

Danika's eyes softened. "I'm fine sweetie."

"Good." Kallie said lamely.

"I really have missed you." Danika said, reaching up and cupping Kaliyah's face. "I'm so sorry your last visit was so awful."

Kallie pulled back and turned away again.

"It's fine mom."

"No it's not, sweetie I—"

"Mom, really, it's fine. Forget about it. It was a long time ago and I didn't come here to fight or to hear any apologies," Kallie interrupted. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright." Kallie heard tires coming up and her heart dropped.

Robert.

"I have to go." Kallie said, standing to her feet.

"So soon? But you just got here!" Danika protested.

"I'll call you soon okay?" Kallie said, trying to bolt it out of there as fast as possible before Robert showed up. Kallie wouldn't be able to hold her tongue if he showed up.

"Kaliyah please!" Her mom grabbed her arm. "He cares about you too! Just give him a chance!"

Kallie wrenched her arm out of Danika's grasp. "He cares about me? That's a load of bull and you know it! I gave him a chance and he blew it!"

"You started screaming at him immediately, what was he supposed to do?"

"There you go defending him! You always defend him!" Kallie shouted.

"Kaliyah—"

"No. I'm done. I'm glad you're fine, but I could care less about him. I'll call you later." And with that she was making her way to the door. Unfortunately Robert was opening it.

"Kaliyah! What're you doing here?" He asked surprised.

Kallie shoved past him and didn't say a word as she ran as fast as she could across the street; her heart slamming in her chest and her stomach rolling. She reached the playground across the street and collapsed to her knees. Her body was screaming for her to throw up, but she kept it down. She didn't want to give Robert the satisfaction that he got to her. Not that he would know of course, but Kallie would and that was just as bad.

"Kallie?" A cautious voice called out.

Kaliyah jumped, whipping her head around to see Donatello and Michelangelo approaching her.

"M'fine." She panted.

Don looked skeptical. "Are you sure?"

Kallie nodded.

"We've still got a while for this shift…do you wanna stay or go back to the lair?" Don asked her.

"No, y'all have a job to do. I'll wait."

And wait they did.

Luckily there wasn't much action the whole night and the three left when Casey showed up. The older man joked a bit with her trying to cheer her up. She gave him a forced smile before insisting that she was exhausted. The trip back to the lair was a silent one and Kallie was grateful her two companions weren't asking any questions. She didn't exactly want to explain everything to them. They were almost to the manhole cover when Kallie was violently pushed to the ground. She tried to get up quickly to ask what the hell the guys were thinking when she heard,

"Kallie! Call Leo and Raph!"

Kaliyah wasted no time in hitting the emergency button on Donatello's shell cell that he had just thrown at her. She was gonna call immediately after but the phone was knocked out of her hand. Kallie gasped as she saw they were surrounded by people in black body suits. They had red headbands and this weird red symbol on their chests. They looked like ninja's as well. One was rearing back to strike her but soon he was knocked to the ground by Don's Bo.

"Run!" Mikey shouted at her as he whacked a guy in the head with his nunchuck. Kallie got to her feet but was she was not about to leave them. The battle was fierce as about twenty or so guys all went at Mikey and Donnie. A few of them looked as if they were trying to get to her, but Don and Mike blocked them every time they tried. Kallie looked around as saw an old pipe lying on the ground, she quickly ran to it and sent it smacking into the stomach of one of the ninjas. Another was advancing at her and she was about to whack him with it when something pierced him in the neck. Blood sprayed the ground and Raphael pulled his Sai out of the guys' neck. Kallie stared in shock. She had never really thought about them actually killing people before.

"Get outta here!" Raphael growled at her. Kallie shook her head, pulling herself out of her stupor. She grabbed her pipe again and was ready to strike if anyone came close to her. She couldn't just abandon the guys. She needed to help and ensure that they were safe.

The battle wasn't a long one luckily. There was a lot of blood though. Leo and Raph sliced through ninja after ninja after ninja. Leo sliced through one guy's neck, almost severing the head while Raph stabbed a guy right through the heart before twisting upwards and pulling his weapon out. They struck to kill. Mike and Don didn't seem to kill though. They both seemed okay with just knocking them towards their older brothers and letting them deal the death blows. There was only one ninja left and he was battling Mikey. Mike taunted the guy a bit before something was thrown at him and Mike went down. Raphael growled loudly as he threw a Sai into the guys face. The enemy went down immediately and the rest went straight to Mikey, Kallie following suit.

"Mikey!" Kallie cried.

"Ow, ow, ow! Freaking-A! This hurts!"

"Stop squirming Mikey, I need to see the damage." Donatello was saying. Kallie saw some kind of metal looking star sticking out of Michelangelo's thigh.

"Oh my gosh Mikey! Are you okay?!" Kallie shouted.

Mike looked at her and tried for an easy smile. "Course, it's just a scra—DONNIE!" Mike clenched his other leg and screwed his eyes shut as Donatello poked at the wound.

"Damage?" Leo asked.

"Nothing severed as far as I can tell, it didn't go very deep. Let's get him to the lab."

Raphael wiped the blood from his weapons and made his way over to them. "C'mon Mikey." He grunted as he threw Mikey's arm over his shoulder and hauled him to his feet.

"Jeez friggin' Louise this hurts!" Mike complained.

"Should we really be moving him?" Kallie asked. "I kept help but think this is a really bad idea."

"We need to get it out and I have everything I need in my lab." Don explained.

"He's had worse." Raph added.

Kallie didn't even want to think about that as they slowly made their way back to the lair. Michelangelo was complaining the whole time, although he kept throwing her winks while telling Raph that he would have to do his chores for the next week since he couldn't possibly stand on his leg.

The all convened in the lab, minus Master Splinter who was sleeping and Leo insisted not to wake him, when Kallie finally asked the question she'd been dying to ask.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Kallie asked as Mikey sat on the medical table and Donatello rummaged for some supplies.

"Foot ninjas." Leo answered.

"Foot ninjas?" Kallie asked incredulously.

"Old enemies. Karai is in charge of them now, ever since we got rid of the Shredder." Leo said.

"I'm guessing they got some kinda grudge against y'all?" Kallie asked wryly.

Leo sighed. "Unfortunately."

"Alright Mikey, take these." Donnie said, handing the younger turtle a few pills.

Mikey looked dubiously at him. "These are gonna make me loopy."

"You'll sleep and it'll help with the pain." Don said. "Take them."

Mikey scowled at him before downing the pills. Don wasted no time in yanking the offending object out of Mikey's thigh. Mike suppressed a scream and Don started bandaging him up.

"C'mon little brother, let's get ya to the couch." Raph said as he helped Mikey to his feet. Kallie followed and sat down next to Mikey.

"Hate gettin' hurt." Mikey mumbled. His eyes were looking glossy and heavy lidded. Kallie could tell that the pain meds were kicking in now.

"I know bro." Raph answered.

"S'not fun." Mikey slurred.

Raph looked at Leo. "Go on, I got it. Make sure Donnie gets to sleep."

Leo nodded and went into the lab, returning a few moments later with a very sleepy looking Don. Raph looked exhausted too. Mikey was leaning against Kaliyah now and she scooted down to let Mikey lay down, his head in her lap; mirroring what he had let her do a few days ago.

"Go to bed Raph." Kallie commanded softly. "I've got him."

Raph looked ready to argue, but he looked down at his sleeping little brother and decided that Kallie had him sorted. Kallie watched him go upstairs and she grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and threw it over them.

"Sorry ya fought with yer mom." Mikey slurred.

Kallie started stroking his head. "It's okay Mikey."

"S'not 'kay. You des've a good fam'ly."

Kallie started singing softly, an old lullaby that her dad used to sing to her when she was sick.

"We could be yer fam'ly." He slurred again, his breathing finally evening out. Kallie couldn't help but smile. Mikey always knew exactly what to say and when to say it. Even under narcotics. Kallie continued to sing and stroke Mikey's head, wanting to comfort him in the only way she knew how.

Leonardo looked in at his little brother and their new friend. Kaliyah had been through so much in such a short amount of time, but here she was comforting his baby brother as if it were second nature to her. He was very thankful for her presence in their lives. He sat there and listened to her singing, loving how beautiful her voice was. He found himself slowly growing more tired as he continued listening to the lullaby. With one final look he left, knowing that his brother was in good hands.