I double checked everything in my duffel bag just to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. It was time to run again. After nearly being caught like that I knew it wouldn't be long till people got suspicious and called the cops to investigate then I would be in real trouble. You see I'm really 15 but with the right clothes and makeup I can pass for at least 18. Since I have no idea who my parents are, or were, I grew up in different… well lets call them backgrounds. First I was a street kid; I learned how to fight, how to survive and, regrettably, how to steal. But that wasn't enough to keep me from getting caught. I was brought to an orphanage when I was nine, where they practically pounded rules and the law into my head. And attitude adjustment was attempted. They said I have a problem with authority, but that's not it. I just don't listen to people I don't respect. Once I turned twelve I busted out and met a guy who taught me how to forge legal papers and the art of disguise. He stayed with me for the last three years before he was caught. Now I live on my own. I nearly blew my cover today; I should have known that they would have been looking for the stolen credit card I tried to cash. So that pretty much sums up my life and brings us back to square one for the story. After making sure that I had everything that I would need, I took one last look around the place I had been staying at. It looked like no one had been here. Which was kind of a depressing thought to be honest.

I sighed, trying to keep myself calm. "Normal is overrated." I reminded myself. Everyone wants to be normal, so why follow the crowd. Still, I wish I didn't have to run all the time… that I wasn't alone… that I had a family. I briskly wiped away the tears that threatened to come. I was about to leave when I heard the TV was still on. I closed my eyes and listened to the theme song of one of my favorite series. For the nth time in my life I wished they were real and that they were my friends. I went to turn it off when I saw this weird light show going on in front of it. A part of me knew I was being stupid but it looked so inviting. As I got closer to it, it seemed to glow brighter till I had to close my eyes. Almost immediately after, I felt the ground disappear out from under me. I screamed as I felt myself fall. This turned out to be a bad idea when I landed on my face and got a mouthful of the worst tasting water I ever had.

"Ow!" I coughed, "Damn, that hurt." I brushed myself off as best as I could, considering I was soaked with, as I later found out, sewer water. Fortunately my bag came with me.

"Wow." I heard someone mutter.

"Who's there?" At first they must have thought if they didn't say anything I would think there wasn't anyone there. I knew they where around the corner so I headed that way.

"Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Just keep yer distance alright?" I noticed his voice had a Brooklyn accent.

"Give me one good reason." I snapped.

"Let just say, if anyone found out you saw me I'd be in a lot of trouble."

"Why?" the venom in my voice was now replaced with curiosity.

"I'm too different alright." As he talked I realized that he sounded familiar, like I knew him.

"Well, here's a news flash for you; I like different. And besides I wouldn't tell anyone."

"Either way, I can't let you see me."

"Well, can you at least tell me where I am?"

"What, you don't know?"

"If I had to guess from your accent I'd say I was in Brooklyn."

"Close. Manhattan." OK, at this point my mind was starting to make connections that I knew were impossible.

"Still New York."

"Heh, yeah. What are ya doin' down here?"

"I have no idea. I… Never mind."

"What?"

"It's just crazy and I doubt you'll believe it. Heck I don't even believe it."

"Try me." He challenged.

"Just don't laugh."

"Whatever."

"I was about to turn off the TV when this weird light show came on and kinda sucked me in to this place."

"Whoa. You're right; I almost don't believe it. What was on?"

"What do you mean "almost"?" I said avoiding his question.

"Like I said, I ain't normal so stuff like that ain't that weird to me."

"You said you were different not that you weren't normal."

"Ah, shell." He whispered almost too soft for me to hear, but I did. He's probably just some over eccentric fan. I tried to reassure myself.

"Besides, normal is an overrated opinion. I mean why be something that millions of people already are? And there are millions of different definitions of normal."

"You got a point. Also, I'm startin' to like ya." He paused for a moment as if considering whether or not to ask his next question, "Could you do me a quick favor?"

"What?"

"Could you close your eyes?"

"Close my eyes? Why?"

"I can't let ya see me but I…"

"You want to see me?"

"Yeah, kinda. It's just not very often that stuff like this happens."

"Well, I guess." I knew I was taking a huge leap of faith here but some part of my mind had overthrown any possibility that this guy would try anything. That or I was feeling overly confident in my ability to fight. As soon as I closed my eyes I asked, "What's your name?"

"You first." I nearly jumped at how quickly and silently he managed to get that close to me. Then again he is a…No don't even go there.

"I'm Jenny."

"Raph."

"OK, Raph…"

"There you are, Raph."

I heard Raph attempt to hold back a growl, only succeeding in making it quieter, before snarling, "What are you doin' here?"

"Master Splinter sent us to look for you."

Raph must have been blocking me from the view of whoever this guy was. It probably was best that my eyes were closed because my brain was in denial mode. At the time I was sure I had heard wrong.

"Well, ya found me. Now what?"

"We should head home. You do realize that you're…

"Shut it, Leo."

Insert mental flip-out here. I'm not going to go into detail about what was going through my mind at this point but basically it's me going through how impossible this situation was. I'm guessing that Raph somehow noticed that something was bugging me because he started speaking another language. I guessed it was Japanese and I only knew a few words in Japanese. Not enough to help me understand which was probably a good thing for them. Though just listening to them talk was making it hard for me to keep from peeking. I then turned to my bag, eyes still closed, when I slipped. Oops.

"What was that?"

"You OK?" Raph asked me.

"Yeah. Just looking for my bag."

"Here."

"Thanks." I smiled as my hand brushed the well-worn fabric of my bag.

"Why do ya need it?"

"There's a bandanna in here I can use."

"Here." Raph said as I felt fabric on my face. "Better?"

"Yeah, thanks Raph."

"Who is this?"

"You know it's rude to talk about someone like they're not here." I could feel him boring holes in my back while Raph was chuckling to himself. "And my name's Jenny."

"Nice to meet you." He said, though I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic, "Care to explain, Raphael?"

"If I wanted to explain to anyone in our family, Leonardo, I'd explain to Masta' Splinter."

Leo must have been stunned by what Raph said because for a while no one said anything. If Raph was serious about what he said then the only way he could do that was to bring me to their home. And if he did that then he'd be in a whole lot of trouble.

"Raph, you can't bring her."

"Who says?" At that point Raph slipped back into Japanese. I guess Leo was either convinced or couldn't come up with a good argument for whatever Raph said. But he still sounded hesitant. "Don't worry. I'll take the blame, Leo. And I doubt Sensei will be mad at you."

"I can't persuade you to change your mind?"

"No."

"Fine, but she stays blindfolded."

"Deal." Me and Raph said at the same time.

Leo laughed a little before saying something teasingly to Raph in Japanese.

"Baka." Raph called back. I chuckled a little at that. "You speak Japanese?"

"No, but I know what that meant." I admitted.