A/N: Slowly but surely

WARNING: Raph has a mouth in this chap.

Brenna crept to the edge of the alley, looking up and around to make sure no one was following her. Tyler had sounded urgent on the phone; She had barely caught the nervous whispers to meet him. It was nearing midnight, and a chilly wind whipped in between the tall brick buildings.

"Brenna," a soft voice hissed as she turned the corner. Brenna froze, singling out the dark shadow against the wall. She mimicked his position and pressed her back to the cold concrete, blending into the darkness.

"What?" she whispered. The scrawny boy next to her slowly came into focus, his straggly blonde hair outlining his dirty face, and the deep purple tattoo across his neck slithering around him like a noose.

"What the hell happened last night? You care to explain how you know those freaks the big guys are always talking about killin'?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she hissed, the fresh cuts on her arm leaking down her hand. She pulled her sleeves over her knuckles to cover the blood.

"Dem turtles!" the boy grabbed her wrist in anger, eliciting a hiss of pain from her clenched teeth. "Viper was on the roof watchin, and he and his vigilante buddy were the ones that knocked everybody out, except you. Viper told the boss he thought they was gonna kidnap ya, but when he followed and saw him took ya home, Hun figures yer in line with em and your a spy for em. Please tell me ya ain't." Tyler growled.

Brenna's chest suddenly felt tight and fear gripped at her throat. She jerked free of his grasp and backed away a few steps. "What the... I don't know any freaks. I've never seen either of them before. I have no clue how he knew where I live. He must be stalking me. I'm not a freaking spy."

"Yer gonna have a hard time convincing Hun of dat. Yuh gotta get outta here. Just run. I dunno when he's gonna come after yuh, but Huns gotta shipment uh drugs comin in tonight. Yuh gotta run brenna. He ain't gonna listen to you when he thinks yer one of them. Go. Get outta here." Tyler pushed her out towards the alley mouth and her feet instantly began flying across the frozen pavement. Her apartment building came into view, but she flew past it, her short hair whipping into her face as she ran for her life. Her mind swam with scenes of her being beaten to death in the back of an alley, screaming but no one coming to rescue her.

Her lungs began to burn with exertion. Tears raked across her face, and air came in desperate gulps. Suddenly, her bare foot struck the pavement and she stumbled. She looked behind her, her abandoned shoe several yards behind her. She slowed for a moment, wincing as her heel throbbed in pain. She gingerly tested her weight on it, pushed through the pain, and lurched forward as fast as she could. Moments later, she cried out, and stumbled into an alley, landing on her knees, sobs shaking her entire body.

A flutter of rough feet and a thump that shook the ground sent her over the edge. "Please! Please! I'm not a spy!" She screamed, but a rough hand clamped over her mouth from behind. She struggled against the hard body behind her, to no avail. They shifted, and a gruff voice made her freeze.

"I ain't gonna hurt ya, so hold still and be quiet."

Brenna took several shuddery breaths.

"If I take my hand off, ya gonna be quiet?"

Brenna nodded and it was gone. She spun around, but there was no one behind her. She stumbled forward a few steps and nearly lost her balance, but a dark green hand shot out and held her steady. Her eyes flew open and she sucked in a deep breath. Her knees gave out, and she slid onto the pavement and started hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey. Stop that. You're gonna pass out." She heard the voice faintly from somewhere to her left, but she didn't bother looking for him. She knew she wouldn't see him unless he wanted her to. She nodded and started taking deeper, even breaths.

"You're, you're one of them. Those turtles." She gasped out. A deep, dark chuckle sent shivers up her spine.

"Yeah, kid. I'm one uh dem freaks."

Her slowly quieting breathing was the only sound in the alley for a few uncomfortable moments. She hadn't seen so much as a shadow move.

"So, uh, what were ya runnin from kid?"

She shook her head and took in a deep breath to calm herself. "I thought Hun sent someone to take me out." She whispered nervously.

"Hun?" the turtle exclaimed. "You're mixed up with Hun? Shit."

"I know. I got into the PDs a few months back, but when you're brother took me home the other night after he and his buddy stopped a robbery, they figured I was a spy since he didn't kill me."

"Leo took ya home? So dat's where he's been goin."

"Huh?"

"Nothing." He said softly. He shifted, and she could see his outline sitting on top of a nearby dumpster. His silhouette looked almost normal, except for a large bulge across his back.

"So you're really a mutant turtle?" she asked cautiously.

He chuckled again, lighter this time. "Yeah, I am."

"Hmm," she considered.

"So what're you getting mixed up with the PDs for, kid? Ya should know they're bad bidness."

"First of all," she said with an edge of offense, "My name is Brenna. And, I dunno, I needed somewhere to go, and I needed to get away from my parents' rules and crap."

"Didn'tcha have anywhere else? Friends, maybe? Anyone at school? How old are ya anyways?"

"I'm sixteen. People at school didn't understand." She trailed off.

"Understand what?" he asked after a moment.

A flash of anger, and she ripped up the sleeve of her shirt, revealing hideous, bloody slashes across her arm. "They didn't understand this! They didn't understand how tortured I was at home, or how my dad would tear me apart and even hit me once in a while. They didn't get how I couldn't cope, and the PDs didn't ask questions."

"Holy shell," he hissed. The silhouette slipped off of the dumpster. "Brenna."

Brennna crouched backwards and prepared for a violent outburst with his growl. Her eyes slammed shut, preparing for a blow, but after a moment she only heard a defeated sigh. Her eyes shot open when a cold, calloused hand gently wrapped around her wrist and pulled her towards him.

"Brenna," he whispered again. All of the frightening fierceness and anger seemed to have dissipated from him, and he seemed tired. His shoulders slumped and his arms rippled with muscles. His eyes drooped as he gazed across her arm. He held her arm with one hand and reached behind his back with the other, and withdrew little strips dark cloth, similar to the strips he had around his own wrists.

Brenna pulled back, but his grip was like iron as he held her in place. "Don't," she whimpered. "You don't have to do this."

He looked up and his eyes met hers, his intense amber gaze boring into her with a fierceness that gave her goose bumps.

"Tell me why." He said gruffly as he looked back down and began to wrap her arm.

Brenna was quiet, her head bowed in shame. Raph looked up again.

"Well?"

Her eyes began to water as she opened her mouth. "My dad is an alcoholic. Two and a half years ago, my mother finally decided to divorce him because he had lost his job and had been with other women. She moved away because he threatened to kill her, so I was left with him for six months. He only got worse, and his anger problems got violent. We lost our house, and got evicted from the first apartments we lived in. He forced my mom to move back in order to finish the divorce, and she had the nice apartment we live in now, and he has to stay there with me every other weekend." Her voice shook, "He tells me that I'm ugly, and that I suck at everything I do. He threatens to pull me out of school and make me work since I'm not very smart."

"Shell, Brenna. I'm so sorry." He gently tied the last knot across her wrist and patted his hand gently. Silent tears slipped down Brenna's cheeks as she stared sadly at her feet.

Raph sat and studied her for a moment, then slapped his knees and stood up. Brenna looked up slowly. Raph's hand was held out in offering to her. She slowly took it, and he pulled her up with ease. He started pulling her back into the alley, away from the street.

She resisted, but he confidently pulled her into the darkness.

"Where are we going? Are you going to kill me?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah, B, I'm gonna kill ya and wear yer eyeballs as earrings." They had reached the brick wall at the end of the alley.

"But," she thought for a moment as he pulled something out of the belt around his waist, "You don't have ears."

"Exactly. Here, strap this around yer waist. Don't wantcha to fall. That'd be awflee anticlimactic, huh?" She did as he instructed and looked up at him, awaiting his approval.

He gave her a crooked smile. "Hope ye ain't scared uh heights."

She smiled softly back at him, "Try me."

"Challenge accepted." He grabbed her arm and swung her around onto his shell, and began to climb up the wall. Her hands clung around his neck and he laughed. "Yer gonna decapitate me 'fore we get to the top, B."

"Sorry," she whispered and let go of his neck, instead clinging to the edge of his shell, rubbing the whorls with her thumb.

As they peaked the roof and he began to run across the rooftops, she couldn't hold in the small bubble of joy and exhilaration that escaped her mouth as a giggle.