Dis: Don't own TMNT

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Alice winced as she leaned against the wall of the elevator as it moved downward. One of the punks had gotten a lucky shot in and sliced the skin of her outer thigh before she could disarm him. Even now, after a half assed job of cleaning and wrapping the wound, she could feel the stickiness of the blood on her jeans. The damn woman that had been in trouble hadn't even thanked Alice or even offered a reward! Alice found the hero thing to be one large jip. After limping her way home she'd showered to be rid of most of the grime then slipped on a pair of jeans and a baggy Yankees hooded sweatshirt along with some plain white canvas shoes.

"Probably need stitches," she muttered. "Should have just taken the time to do it."

It would have also given her time to think of a story to tell Raphael. She was certain that no matter how innocent she tried to make herself he'd still deem her guilty and rail on her for sneaking out. Perhaps she'd do what all women around the world did when they wanted to get out of a jam, and that's use her looks and charm to weasel herself out of the doghouse.

"Damn it," she muttered, hand going to her thigh as the muscle started to shake from overexertion. "This sucks."

The elevator stopped and she limped her way to the entrance of the lair. All was quiet and Alice was grateful for the small reprieve. Hurrying to the medical area she hesitated for a moment when hearing the familiar clicking and clacking of a keyboard. Donatello was obviously up and so she straightened her back and entered the room.

"I need some help," said Alice, making Donatello quit his typing and twist around in his chair. His eyes practically bugged out of his head when seeing her leg and he hurriedly vacated his seat to get to her. She gripped his biceps as he carefully maneuvered her up on the examination table. Within a moment he had a scissors in his hand and was cutting up the leg of her pants, they were ruined anyway, stilling when seeing it had already been bandaged.

"Dare I ask?"

"Ok, fine, so I snuck out to my place. Sue me. I ran into a group of guys wanting to do damage to a girl and I stepped in," said Alice, wincing as he pulled at the bandage that stuck to her wound. It'd been the truth with a couple of details left out. "One of them got a lucky shot in."

"Knife?" he asked, uncapping a brown bottle that Alice knew all too well.

"Yeah. Oh God, I hate that stuff…"

"Would you rather have an infection?" asked Donatello, eye ridge rising.

"No." Alice gripped the edge of the table with white knuckles and squished her eyes closed while clenching her jaw and within two seconds she felt the liquid and a hot second after that, heated pain. "FUCK! Ow! Ow, ow, OW!"

She cursed through gritted teeth and Donatello looked at her sympathetically as pink, white, and even grey bubbles rose from her wound.

"Just be lucky they didn't knick the femoral tibial artery."

"I'm supposed to be indestructible," said Alice with a slight pout. "Why must I be so fragile still?"

"Well, from the looks of it, some tissue has already reattached itself," he said before injecting her leg with a numbing agent. After it kicked in he started suturing. "Perhaps enhanced regeneration?"

"Whoopie, I'd rather have the Emma Frost advantage," said Alice. "Plus you have a shell for protection. You have no idea what us mere humans go through."

"Hm, yes, I so pity your weakling skin," said Donatello around a smile, making Alice want to swat him but he was stitching her up and so she decided to give him a break. Besides, it was the first smile she'd gotten from him that wasn't tense.

"Raph is gunna kill me," she said after he instructed her to lift up her leg so he could wrap it with gauze.

"You'll have a slight reprieve because he hasn't come home yet. The sun is coming up now so if he isn't home within the next few-" Donatello's shell cell beeped and he handed Alice the unrolled gauze to answer. "Hey Raph...yeah…mhm… She's right here, I'll tell her. Ok. Bye."

He set his phone down then took the gauze from her.

"Your execution will be postponed for Raphael is spending the day at Casey's."

"Sweet!"

"As for you…" He finished gauzing and taping her leg. He went to the small corner where a sink was and washed his hands before filling a paper cup with some water. He handed that as well as some pain pills to her that they had on stash. "Rest that leg up, you are going to need it. You want crutches? I'll even carry you up there if you need hel-"

"Donnie! I heard some screaming and decided that finding out what was going on was worth more than sleeping in… Whoa! Alice! You ok, Dudette?" Mikey's concerned gaze traveled up the length of her leg where the tattered and bloodied jeans gave way to a snow-white gauze. "Did Raph finally stab you with a sai in a fit of rage?"

He was teasing, but Alice saw the edge of concern.

"She decided to play vigilante last night and got stabbed with a knife," said Donatello as he walked to his computer. Alice huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and Mikey 'awed' while ruffling her hair, irritating her, but she shrugged it off. Because the concern was still there in his baby blues she reached out and patted his shoulder.

"I'm ok. I'm more worried about what Raphael will do once he finds out about this. He's staying at Casey's. Oh! Don? Can you call him back on the thingy?"

"You're not going to do what I think you're going to do… Are you?" he asked, reluctantly giving her his cell because even if he didn't do it, Mikey would, the little anarchist.

"It'll give him time to cool off…" She furrowed her brows. "I totally don't know how to use this."

She watched as Donnie brought up the contact menu and then waited. The phone was on speaker because Mikey insisted and while it rang Don felt his anticipation rising. On the third ring Raphael answered.

"Yeah?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Alice?" asked Raphael, sounding tired. He'd probably been up all night and was looking to get some shut eye. "What's up?"

"Just giving you the heads up that I got into a little, teeny-tiny scuffle last night that ended up with me barely getting scratched on my leg."

"WHAT? You went out last night? Of all the dumb-" He broke off and Alice heard him inhale then exhale deeply. "Yer ok?"

"Donnie stitched me up and Mikey is hovering over my shoulder making sure I don't fall over," she said.

"You said it was just a scratch," he said and she knew his teeth were gritted and she wondered if his wonderful amber eyes were glowing yet. "How bad is it, really?"

"Donnie said it's already healing. I'm going to crawl in bed and rest today, ok?"

A long pause and Alice wondered what he was doing. Was he still trying to contain his anger? Was he trying to think of something else to say? She bit her lower lip, her now worried, grey colored eyes meeting Mikey's blue.

"Raph?"

"You told me on the phone on purpose, didn't you?" he said in an accusatory tone.

"Maybe. It'll give you time to cool off before you see me."

"Tell me you at least beat the livin' shell out of the fucker that did it," he growled.

"Yep. Then after all that, not even a thank you from the girl I saved," she whined.

Raphael chuckled. "Welcome to our world, Sweetheart."

Mikey sounded like he was choking on something and Donatello's eyes had widened at the endearing sounding pet name. Raphael had said it softly, almost… Lovingly? No way…

"I…" Alice cleared her throat, kicking at Mikey with her good leg. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Goodnight Raphael." Wanting to get back on familiar ground with him she lowered her voice seductively. "Your bed won't be the same without you."

Raphael's breathing hitched and a soft growl sounded through the tiny speaker.

"I knew I shoulda come home," he growled.

"G'nite, Lover," purred Alice before ending the call. Luckily, hitting the red button had been the correct way to go. She brought her wrist up to her mouth, suppressing a yawn the best she could but failing. "Tired…"

"I'll help you up," said Mikey and Alice didn't protest as he cradled her in his arms. In fact she snuggled into him, sighing contentedly.

"Careful of her leg, Mikey," reminded Donatello and Michelangelo nodded before carrying the female up to Raphael's room.

"Stay awake so that you can get into cleaner clothes," said Mikey.

"Mhm…"

"Alice?" He gave her a gentle shake and sighed. She was out like a light and he hadn't the heart to wake her up. Luckily, Eve chose that moment to exit her room, looking refreshed. "Eve! Little help?"

"What happened?" she gasped, blue eyes widening. "Is she ok?"

"Yeah. She got into it with some punks and is now sleeping it off. Thing is her clothes are all bloody and…" Mikey blushed as he lay her upon Raphael's bed, ignoring the small pang of… Jealousy? Longing? Not for Alice, no, he thought of her as a sister just… Someone… "She needs different clothes."

"Oh! I get it. Ok."

"Careful for her leg," instructed Mikey before backing out of the room. He heard Eve scold Alice about not being careful enough before he descended the stairs. Doing his best to forget all about what he'd been thinking about having a companion, he flipped over the end of the couch, slumped back while grabbing the remote on the cushion, and let the news reveal what his brother had been up to the night before.

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Karai looked out through the window of her office, the bright sun making her squint. She never would admit it but she missed the trees, mountains, and lush foliage in rural Japan. She disliked the loud sounds of the city, the concrete buildings that held no soul like a tree did, and most of all she hated all the people.

Sighing, she watched as her breath fogged up the glass, and then brought up a delicate fingertip to trace the number three. In three days, she would use Alice to unleash a force so powerful… She'd be able to see the one she missed so dearly again. Karai had hoped she'd be the one worthy of the power, and with it being someone so unwilling to cooperate with her she had to resort to dirty tactics.

Twisting away from the window she went to her computer and pressed the 'enter' key, revealing a camera feed. On the screen was a pregnant woman they'd acquired a few hours ago. She was in her seeping attire and Karai had also decided to not blindfold her. Karai could tell she was crying while fighting against the loose bonds. Karai knew she held no real threat to escape, and in her delicate state, had ordered her men to be gentler with her.

Alice's sister.

They had taken her right out of her bed, her sleeping husband none the wiser. He had Alice's number, Karai made sure, and she knew he'd be calling Alice. Of which then, the worry would start… Karai looked down at the small, pink phone on her desk. Danica's phone. She wouldn't call Alice yet, had to wait for the right moment. When it came, she would get what she wanted.

She would bring the Shredder back to life.

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Raphael had risked a lot to leave Casey's during the day. However, he made it without being seen, and was tired as fuck by the time he got to his bedroom. Yawning deeply he pushed the tiredness aside while climbing into his bed. He looked Alice over, from the delicate features on her face, to her scared lip, and down the column of her throat. The steady rise and fall of her chest was reassuring but he still frowned when getting to her bandaged leg. He saw a small spot of blood that came through the otherwise flawless bandage and his thick finger slowly trailed right above the bandage, rousing Alice.

"Raph?" Her voice was husky, laced with sleep. "What're you doing here?"

"Had to come."

"Worried?" she asked, closing her eyes while his fingertip went down her cheek.

"Yes."

"I'm fine," she whispered, body trembling. From his touch? The cold? Perhaps remembering the fight she'd been in and knowing how close she'd been to losing TOO much blood.

"I'm too tired to argue with ya now." He settled down, carefully pulling her to him, his chin resting atop her head. "Later…"

"Hmm…" She took in his scent, shivered again when feeling those strong, deadly arms coming around her as if protecting her. "Ok…"

"But if you evah do somethin' that dumb again. I might kill ya myself."

"Love you too, Raph…" she whispered before darkness claimed her, unaware of how the turtle tensed, then looked down at her in complete awe, fear, and maybe even a little love of his own.

"Ah, shell…"

Had she meant it? Had she been joking? Sarcastic? He wouldn't be getting any answers right this moment but… If the warm feeling that suddenly spread through his chest was any clue… He might actually love her as well.

"Double shell."

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Leonardo watched as April continued to call for him in the darkened cave. A part of him felt bad for just leaving her like that, but he couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't keep hearing about how much they all missed him, were lost without him, and wanted him back. His hands clenched while the debate roared inside his head. He didn't feel like a better leader, didn't know if he was ready to come back yet. What if Splinter was disappointed in him? His brothers? He couldn't face them without having bettered himself a little...

Then again, what April said made his heart constrict in pain.

Maybe... maybe it WAS time to go back.