Alrighty chapter 2 up yay! Anyway just a warning, my stories tend to be long,=) And if anyone is waiting for my characters from my previous fics to pop in, it may be a while. Anyway enjoy! Reviews are always appreciated!

Chapter 2

"I don't care Donny." Leonardo said in frustration. "He hasn't slept in two days. I get it, he needs to keep watch so that if she dies he is witness to what he did, but having him get sick won't help either of them." Leonardo growled at his younger brother.

Donatello sighed in capitulation. They had been fighting for the last day over what to do with Raphael. He had sat by the woman's bed for two days straight and he was going to collapse if they didn't do something to make him sleep so that his wounds could heal.

"Fine." Donatello said, as he walked away to slip his brother some sleeping medication. The woman was still alive and Donatello said this was a good sign. She wasn't out of danger yet, wouldn't be until she regained consciousness and was free of any possibility of infection.

Leonardo walked into Donatello's workroom where Donatello was coaxing Raphael to drink a glass of water. Once this was done all they had to do was wait until the drugs kicked in.

Leonardo sat down on a chair with a book. He glanced over at the pile of cut up bloody clothing still sitting on the table. They had had to cut her clothes off. Some of them had been in the way, the rest were sopping wet with blood. The clothes and purse sat there at the table like an accusation of murder. She wasn't dead yet, but things could change.

Michelangelo walked in. He was looking grim and tired. They all were. They looked at Raphael as he finally slumped over. Donatello and Michelangelo heaved their brother up and took him silently to his room. Leonardo knew Raphael was going to be furious when he woke up, but he didn't care. It was for the best. He only hoped she didn't die while Raphael was sleeping, otherwise his brother may never forgive him.

He wanted to yell and rage at his brother for what he had done. It was exactly this sort of reckless behaviour that he had lectured Raphael about, but his lectures only seemed to drive his hot-headed brother into more of a reckless rage.

Leonardo closed his eyes. He wanted to yell, but he couldn't. Not when he had seen the devastated, agonized look in his brother's eyes. No amount of lecturing could compare with the lesson Raphael was learning right now.

He opened his eyes as Michelangelo entered the room clutching something in his hand. "Where's Donny?" Leonardo asked.

"I got him to go lay down for a while. He's beat." Michelangelo said to him with a shrug. Michelangelo looked down at the unconscious woman. "Hey Leo, can you help me with something?" He asked him in a tentative voice.

"Sure Mikey, what's up?" He asked putting his book down.

"Can you help me put these on her?" He asked showing him a pair of boxer shorts.

Leonardo sat up straighter. "What are you doing going through my underwear drawer Mikey?" he hissed.

"Well you're the only one who wears boxers. Donny and I wear briefs and Raph wears boxer briefs, so the closest thing to shorts we have lying around are your boxers."

He said reasonably.

Leonardo rubbed the bridge between his eyes. "Okay, but why do you want to put boxers on her?"

"Well she's naked right?"

"Right."

"So when she wakes up she's going to be naked." He said to him slowly.

"Yes Mikey, we've established that, get to the point."

"Well, she had clothes on when Raph stabbed her, then she's going to wake up in a strange place completely naked. Don't you think that would be a little...uncomfortable?"

Leonardo sighed. "I suppose so Mikey, but she's still going to be mostly naked."

"I know and if we could get a shirt on her that would be great, but I know we can't, so I figured the least we could do is sorta cover her up so she doesn't think...you know, that we were peeking or something." He said desperately. Leonardo blinked in confusion. "Leo think about it. You wake up naked surrounded by a bunch of guys. I'd be wondering why all my clothes were gone."

He blinked at his little brother. "Mikey!" He said in shock.

"Well its true Leo. Think about it, she might not even remember Raph stabbing her, so she's gonna wake up, naked, in a strange place, surrounded by guys."

"Okay, okay Mikey." He said pacifying his brother who was beginning to get worked up. Sometimes it was just easier to go with Mikey on his wild starts then try to talk him out of something. "But Mikey we aren't human. There is no way that she would think that we were wanting to peek. For one thing it isn't like we are even remotely attracted to human..." He pulled the sheet back revealing the woman. "...women." He finished lamely as his body reacted to her even before his brain had time to register what he was seeing.

She was no longer lying in a flat prone position. Her head was tilted slightly to the side. Her hair a silken cloud of gold, copper and russet waves. Her skin no longer had the waxy appearance of a few days ago, instead it was a healthy pale peaches and cream. Long dark lashes lay against cheeks that looked as smooth as velvet. A hand lay near her head half curled while her other arm lay on her hip. He followed her arm down, past round well proportioned breasts, only accented by the bandages wrapped below them. His eyes trailed down a soft but firm belly to the patch of hair between legs that were delicately feminine. His hands itched to touch all of that bare skin just to see if it really was as soft as it looked.

"Hand me the boxers Mikey." His voice didn't sound normal, it sounded a little too high in pitch. Michelangelo handed over his boxers. He managed to thread her legs through the boxers and bring them up to her thighs. He swallowed, licked his suddenly dry lips and pull the boxers under her ass and up to her waist. They were too big of course but he supposed it was better than nothing. He threw the sheet back over her unconscious form. He stalked out of the room only to return a few moments later with one of his shirts.

"Whatcha got there Leo?" Michelangelo asked. He pulled the sheet back again and put his shirt over her torso. He had placed it backwards so the buttons were to the back. He put an arm through each sleeve, tucked the sides of the shirt around her as best he could, and surveyed his handiwork. "Good idea Leo." Michelangelo said impressed.

Leonardo nodded. It wouldn't win any fashion awards but at least she wasn't completely naked anymore. The woman moaned a little. Leonardo tried and failed to control his body's reaction to the woman. Actually having her wearing his clothes was somehow worse. "I'll be in the training area if you need me Mikey." He managed to say as he stalked out of Donatello's workroom.

What was the matter with him? He wondered to himself as he unsheathed his swords. He began doing a series of practice routines, hoping to tire his body out and get whatever was happening to him under control. He knew he was aroused, he was male after all, but he had never had that reaction when he had looked at a human before. He had known April for years and never once felt anything other than friendship towards her. He had seen humans on TV and watched them from rooftops, but they had never elicited a single sexual response in him.

He was dripping with sweat by the time Michelangelo walked into the training room.

"You've never really thought about it have you?" Michelangelo asked surprised.

He swung his Katanas in a wide arc. "Thought about what Mikey?" He asked, but knew exactly what his little brother was asking.

"About being with a human." He said to him.

"Why would I think about being with a human Mikey?" Leonardo growled at him.

"Maybe because they do make up most of the world's population." He said crossing his arms over his chest.

Leonardo closed his eyes and sheathed his swords. "Mikey, what would be the point of thinking about something that is a complete and total impossibility? Did you forget that we are hidden from the human world? We watch it, we fight for it, but we are not a part of it."

"But we have human friends Leo." Michelangelo said sounding slightly hurt.

"Emphasis on the word 'friend'. No human woman is ever going to look at us as anything more than that!" He yelled at his little brother. Michelangelo's eyes widened in shock. Leonardo's shoulders slumped."I'm sorry Mikey, I didn't mean it." Michelangelo nodded his head, but left the training room without a word.

He grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face and neck. He walked back into Donatello's workroom. He didn't know why, but he was angry. He stomped over to the cot where the woman lay. She turned her head towards him and opened her eyes. They were a brilliant moss green . Her brow furrowed in confusion. He didn't think about it, just reacted, his anger vanishing completely. He knelt down took her hand in his. "You're safe." He said softly to her.

She looked down at her hand in his. His three fingered green one holding her delicate human hand in his. It looked so wrong.

She looked up at him, brow furrowed in confusion. She pulled her hand away from his grasp and for reasons he couldn't even understand his hand felt empty without it. She reached up slowly until her fingers lightly brushed his cheek. A shock of awareness blazed through him. It was so intense he nearly fell backwards. She didn't seem frightened, she didn't seem disgusted, all she seemed was a little confused. She nodded slowly, hand falling back down to her side, eyes slowly closing.

Leonardo stood up and walked to the kitchen his thoughts in a jumbled whirl. Donatello was scrounging in the fridge for food. "I thought you were sleeping Donny?" Leonardo asked.

Donatello shrugged. "I slept a little, checked on Raph who is thankfully still sleeping. He was exhausted Leo, I should have listened to you sooner."

"Don't worry about it Donny. The important thing is that he is resting and that he will recover. Speaking of recovering, she opened her eyes. She didn't say anything, but she was conscious for a moment." He said to his brother.

Donatello nodded as he began digging into a mid-afternoon snack.

"Hey Donny?" He asked his brother who seemed a little distracted.

"Yeah?" He asked as he dug into his leftover Chinese food.

"You ever think about being with a human?" He asked.

Donatello paused food halfway to his mouth. He put the food back uneaten. "In what context do you mean 'with'?" He asked.

"Any context Donny." He said slumping down on a chair.

Donatello rubbed his eyes. "Not really Leo." He said. "If you mean physically, we would be more than capable, but humans are hardwired to be attracted to their own species. There is the whole biological drive to mate, produce children, that sort of thing. We're reptiles, they're mammals."

"So you are saying it would be impossible for us to be attracted to humans and for humans to be attracted to us?" He asked completely ignoring the whole children issue. He had never really thought about having children, but he supposed it made sense that they would never have any families of their own. But the thought of being alone forever seemed to strike a raw spot he had never known existed.

Donatello paused before answering. He blew out a breath. "No, I'm not saying it is impossible, just highly unlikely. The problem is there are no females of...what we are I guess you could say. We are mostly humanoid so it would not be beyond the realm of possibility for us to be attracted to a human woman, however the chances a human woman could reciprocate those feelings..." Donatello shook his head.

"That's what I told Mikey." He said softly.

Donatello gave a half smile. "Mikey's been aware of human women for a while. Not too surprising since he is the one who probably watches TV the most. Raph is probably second."

"So Raph...?" He asked his brother.

Donatello shrugged. "Not sure about Raph, but Mikey's thought about it, still thinks about it. He's the one who wanted to know if we were physically compatible."

"How'd you even figure that one out?" Leonardo asked curious.

Donatello blushed slightly. "The internet." He said with a slight cough.

Leonardo stood up slowly and nodded.

"Where you going Leo?" He asked.

"I feel like I need some fresh air." He said walking towards the garage where they kept all of their vehicles. He looked at Raphael's bike, grabbed his trench coat, pulled his arms through the sleeves, put Raphael's helmet on, started up the bike and swung his leg over the seat. It roared beneath him. He smiled and punched it. Tires squealed as he raced into the cool late September day.

He rode back into the lair a few hours later. He had done some serious thinking as he had rode the streets of Manhattan. He wished their father, Master Splinter was around to talk to. Leonardo did not think he would have been able to help with the current problem anyway, but he still missed his father's advice. He had passed away two years ago, and sometimes it felt as if it was only yesterday.

He pulled off his helmet and got off the bike. He could hear voices raised in anger. It sounded as if Raphael had woken up and he was furious. Leonardo shook his head, he felt reluctant to deal with his hot-headed brother. Instead he walked into Donatello's workroom. It was empty except for the woman, which meant that Donatello and Michelangelo were both trying to keep Raphael in his room.

He looked at the woman on the cot. Her face looked a little more flushed than when he had seen her a few hours ago. She turned her head and looked at him. She whispered something. He blinked, leaning down to hear what she had said.

"Water." She whispered.

Leonardo stood up swiftly and looked around the lab. There was a bottle of water sitting on the table. It was Donatello's and he had been drinking from it, but otherwise he would have to leave and come back. He grabbed the bottle. She was struggling to sit up. He rushed to help her sit. She winced in pain as he slid behind her, supporting her while she drank thirstily. Her naked back was pushed up against his chest, her head cradled in his shoulder. She gave the water bottle back. He put it on the floor. His movement shifted her more into his body. Her head lay in the crook his bare neck. "You're nice and cool." She whispered.

He looked down at her in shock. She was warm. He clutched her a little closer. In fact she was very warm. He looked at her. Her eyes were closed, lashes brushing against an overly flushed face.

"Leo, what are you doing!" Raphael yelled at him.

Leonardo looked at Raphael in panic. "Get Donny, get Donny now!" He yelled at his brother.

Raphael looked at him in shock, turned and limped a few steps out the door calling for Donatello.

Raphael limped back into the room and Donatello and Michelangelo rushed in after him.

Donatello took one look at her flushed face. "She's got a fever." He said grimly.

"Which means what?"Raphael asked.

"It means she's got an infection. Her body is trying to fight it off. We have to get some antibiotics into her now." He said grabbing a needle and injecting her with antibiotics. "We are going to need more blankets. We need to try to keep her warm and hydrated. She may start thrashing around, and we don't want her ripping open her stitches. Raph, go grab some more bottles of water, Mikey blankets." Donatello ordered.

Michelangelo ran from the room, while Raphael followed as quickly as he could. Leonardo stood laying her gently back on the cot.

Michelangelo rushed in with a pile of blankets. They threw a heavy blanket over her. She frowned and tried to push it off.

Michelangelo grabbed her hand. She stopped trying to take the blanket off. Michelangelo knelt down at her side his face turning serious.

Michelangelo was always joking, always laughing, occasionally there would be hurt or worry, but Leonardo had never seen the look of absolute seriousness he saw on his brother's face right at that moment.

Raphael limped in with a few more bottles of water. He looked at Leonardo and Donatello. "You two, go have a nap or something. Me and Mikey got this." He said as he knelt down on her other side and took her other hand.

Leonardo looked at Donatello and shrugged. He was tired, and there wouldn't be much for him to do with Raphael and Michelangelo keeping watch. "Wake us if there is any change." He said to his two brothers. They nodded their focus completely on the flushed woman's face.

Donatello went to his room but Leonardo paused outside of his. He turned and made his way back to the living room. He flopped down on the couch and took up the remote. He began perusing the channels. There were a lot of women, a lot of scantily clad woman on some of the channels. He acknowledged to himself that they were not bad he supposed, but, they just really didn't do it for him. He watched TV for a bit before turning it off. He now had a pounding headache. He didn't know how Mikey sat there and watched TV for so long. He felt as if his brain was beginning to rot. Many of the women on the TV were very pretty, and annoying. They were either dumb, or selfish or manipulative, or screechy. Yet this somehow made him feel better. Just because he was attracted to her didn't mean anything when he didn't even know what kind of person she was. She was probably going to be as stupid as she was beautiful.

He went to bed feeling oddly disheartened. He shoved the feeling away and drifted off to sleep.

Katherine groaned. She felt like crap. Her mouth was dry, she was twenty times way too hot, and her body felt like she had been hit by a truck. Everything hurt, especially her right side, her head, and her chest.

She had had the strangest dream, something about...a three fingered hand that was green, and a green face with a blue mask, or was it purple, or red? She opened her eyes struggling to push a mound of blankets off her and sit up, but found the effort too painful. She turned to her right and looked into a green face with a red mask. Worried honey-brown eyes bored into hers. She blinked in shock as she realized she hadn't been dreaming. She stared at the face and began rearranging her entire world view.

She closed her eyes. She was in a great deal of pain and panic bubbled up inside her. She remembered. The creature in front of her had stabbed her with something, some sort of weapon. Although it had seemed as shocked about it as she was. She grabbed her panic rolling it into a little ball and threw it into a box in her head. Panicking would not help her at the moment. It would be much better just to figure out what was going on, and take her little ball of panic out to be examined at a later date.

She opened her eyes and said the first thing that came to mind. "You stabbed me." She accused.

A three fingered had reached up and touched her forehead. "She doesn't feel hot anymore." He said ignoring her. The deep timber of his voice confirmed her impression of maleness. His voice was gruff and rather pleasant. He talked in what she guessed was a New Jersey accent.

"I'll get Donny." Came a voice from her left. She looked over at the retreating back of another green skinned creature with an orange mask. She assessed the figure that was standing in the doorway calling for someone named Donny. He was wearing grey sweats but no shirt. The shell on his back was plain to see. She turned back to the creature who had ignored her accusation. He was wearing a brown hoodie and blue jeans. She scanned the room where she was laying. It seemed to be some sort of workroom/lab/garage. There were test tubes, beakers, machine parts, broken appliances, a computer and books that were haphazardly piled everywhere.

"Has she said anything?" Another creature asked as he entered the room with the orange masked one. This one wore purple. Another one wearing blue walked in after the purple one.

"Only that I stabbed her." The red one said.

The purple one knelt down and was looking at her. He touched her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief. "Well she remembers you stabbing her so that is a good thing...I guess." The purple one said.

"Do you remember what happened?" The purple one asked gently.

Katherine reached out a hand touching the purple one's cheek. His skin was textured, cool to the touch, but not unpleasant. Somehow the sensation felt familiar as if she had done it before. She closed her eyes leaning in closer to him, hand still touching his face.

"Are you..." The purple one began, but she held up a hand to silence him.

"I'm trying to remember what I can't remember." She said softly. "I remember...you. You were the one who saved me." She pulled her hand away from his face. "You told me not to die." She said, eyes still closed she pointed to the red one. "You said I was safe." She pointed to where she could feel the blue one standing. "And you were the one who was talking non-stop when I woke up." She said pointing at the orange one. She opened her eyes and focused on the red one. "It was you they were after, the men with guns." She frowned. "And you were hurt."

"I...yes." The red one said nodding in confusion. "But how...? He asked.

"They were screaming something about turtle freaks. But when I ran from them they began chasing me." She said in confusion. She was starting to feel tired and the pain was getting harder and harder to ignore. Her brain quickly processed the facts. She closed her eyes as she thought furiously. She felt as if she was underground. By the smell she would guess some sort of abandoned sewer. She was surrounded by walking talking turtles who appeared to wish her no harm. She reassessed that thought. No they did not mean her any harm. She opened her eyes again.

"I don't get it. What did you just do?" The red one asked. She looked blurrily at him. "And why aren't you freaking out?"

"Sometimes you can remember things better if you can't see them. Your other senses can trigger a memory. I remember the sound of your voices, and each of you smells different." She said painfully. Sleep or possibly unconsciousness was trying to drag her down again. She didn't think that would be such a bad thing at the moment. It hurt too much to be conscious.

She tried to lay back down but winced in pain. She felt where there were a bunch of bandages wrapped around her lower chest. The red one helped her lay down. "Sorry, but I hurt." She said clenching her teeth in pain. "Red smelled like blood and sweat and steel and leather. Blue smelled like sweat and steel and tea. Purple smelled like grease and burnt metal, and chemicals. Orange smelled like food, really greasy food like chips and pizza."

She furrowed her brow trying to think past the fuzziness that had enveloped her brain. "What was the other question again...oh yeah, why would I freak out?" She asked in confusion closing her eyes. "Seems kind of a silly thing to do, it just wastes time and energy. Much easier just to figure out the situation. I'm not dreaming, so you are real. Red stabbed me and said it was an accident, wrong place wrong time." She opened her eyes again. "I seem to be safe, I'm not being held prisoner. And I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for who and what you are. Quicker to find that out if I'm not freaking out." She slurred. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt in your philosophy'. Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5. Um...I think I'm going to probably pass out now." She said as she lapsed into unconsciousness again.

Donatello looked at the woman in shock. It took all of his willpower not to touch the spot where the woman had touched his cheek. The fission of awareness that had shot straight through him startling him.

"That was...interesting." Raphael observed.

"She didn't freak out." Michelangelo said in surprise.

"I think she was half asleep Mikey. Don't think too much about it. She probably thought she was dreaming." Donatello said to him.

"But..." Michelangelo protested.

"No buts Mikey." Leonardo growled. "Come on, it's been a long couple days and everyone needs some sleep."

Raphael stood and slumped onto the cot that was close to her. "I'll just sleep here." He said laying down. "We don't want her wakin up and wandering around."

"I don't think that she'll be wandering much of anywhere Raph." Donatello observed but stood to go to bed anyway.

Leonardo glared at Raphael but followed him out.

'What do you think Donny?" Leonardo asked him.

"Not sure." He said. "Her fever is gone which is good, but I'm really not sure if she was completely awake."

"So she may freak out in the morning, if she wakes up in the morning." Leonardo asked her.

He shrugged. "Possibly, but we won't know anything until morning so the best we can do is just get some rest."

Leonardo nodded, walked to his bedroom and closed the door. Donatello walked into his room, closed the door and sat on his bed. He touched the spot on his cheek where she had touched him. Was he just imagining it or was it still warm from her touch? Donatello shook his head. He was obviously exhausted. He undressed, put on his sweats and lay down in his bed. He closed his eyes to sleep, but Leonardo's question from earlier in the day kept intruding. Had he ever thought about being with a human? No. He answered truthfully. Everything he had told Leonardo was truth. The problem was, just because your brain told you a human would never feel anything for a creature such as himself besides friendship, didn't mean your body and heart would listen.

He turned onto his side. It wouldn't matter anyway. In a few days she would be gone and his nice little, well ordered, logical existence would be restored.