A/N: Thanks for the reviews! I'm taking this from an angle that I've not seen done yet. I hope you enjoy it. Also I'm still working on chapter 13 of ANEB, it's coming along slowly.

Splinter entered the living room to find three of his sons pacing back and forth. "What is going on?"

Donatello stopped to look at him. "Leonardo is missing."

Splinter raised a brow. "Missing?"

It was Raphael's turn to stop. "Yes, Master. He should have been back hours ago and we haven't heard from him."

Michelangelo stopped to rub his stomach. "Yeah, and he was supposed to bring back dinner too."

"Have you tried his turtle-com?" Splinter suggested.

"He's not answering and it's already dawn. We're worried, Master." Donatello said, his brothers nodding in agreement.

"Then you must go and search for him. I will attempt to reach him in meditation."

Raphael started for the door. "Come on, fellas. We gotta find him."

Splinter watched the three rush out of their home with a growing knot of worry in his stomach. Leonardo was the most dependable of his students. If he had not contacted anyone, there was sure to be something wrong. Returning to his room, he settled in to a meditative state in order to search for him.

"His turtle-com signal is this way." Donatello held the tracker in front of him as he led the way up the street. "He should be right here."

They stopped just inside an alley. "Are you sure, Donatello? There ain't nothing here except garbage cans and rats."

"Hey, check it out!" Mikey pointed at something just behind a set of cans.

Donatello grasped it. "Leonardo's trench-coat!" He reached into one of the pockets. "And his communicator."

"And the pizzas!" Mikey knelt to pick up the four boxes. The pies inside were cold but unharmed.

Raph ignored Mikey in favor of Don. "Oh, great! Now how are we supposed to find him?"

"With the bio-meter in the van. I can use it to track his biological signature." Donnie turned leading the way back to where they'd parked the van up the block.

Mikey opened one of the boxes and popped a slice into his mouth. Raph grimaced. "You know that's been sitting in an alley with a bunch of rats and cockroaches for several hours, right?"

"So dude, it still tastes good." Mikey mumbled with his mouth full.

Raph rolled his eyes as they climbed into the back of the van. Don settled at his computer console and began the tracking process. Finally, he frowned at the screen. Raph leaned over his shoulder. "What's the matter? Did you find him?"

"Not exactly. There must be something wrong with my equipment." Don muttered.

"Why? What's it saying?"

"It says he's right here with us."

Mikey looked around them. "I don't see him. Is he invisible or something?"

Raph groaned, palming his face. But Don remained ever patient. "No, Michelangelo. He's not here. My computer must have a screw loose or something."

"How accurate is it?" Raph still wasn't willing to give up that quickly.

"It should be within feet." Don frowned again, shutting off his computer. "I guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

Mikey stuffed another slice in his mouth. "How's that?"

Raph took the pizzas from him and tossed them in the front seat. "By looking shell-brain." He dragged him from the van and the three moved off to search the surrounding area.

Leo woke with a throbbing headache that echoed the throb in his leg. He opened his eyes slowly, feeling the soft sheetless mattress beneath him. The room around him was bleak and pretty empty. A small table and chairs took up what was most likely the kitchen area, while the daybed he was on was the only other substantial piece of furniture in the room. He could hear water running somewhere nearby. Where am I? What happened? He rubbed his pounding head. He recalled getting into a scuffle, but not much after that.

A door opened and the young woman from the previous night appeared in a robe, her damp blonde curls, sticking to her face. She smiled a bit. "You're awake. That's good. I was worried when you passed out."

"Where….where am I?"

"In my apartment." She frowned, moving off into the kitchen to find a cup. She rinsed it well, before filling it with water. "I'm not surprised you don't remember. You were pretty out of it." She carried the cup over to him and he sat up to accept it.

"Thank you." His eyes went to his bandaged leg, which now had a real gauze bandage on it. She'd had to use her t-shirt temporarily, until she could make it to the store for supplies. He touched the wrapping, which was as good as any Master Splinter might have done. "You did this?" She gave a small nod. "Again, thank you." He frowned. "I don't think I ever asked your name."

"Samantha, but people usually call me Sams."

Leo gave her a smile and offered his hand. "Leonardo."

She took it with a lopsided grin. It was a rather silly gesture considering they'd spent most of the night together. Granted he had been out cold the majority of it. "Nice to meet you, Leonardo." She gave a small giggle and his smile grew. "I'm afraid I don't have much to offer you. But would you like some toast?"

He nodded. "Yes, please." She rose and crossed the room to the tiny oven to put in a few slices of bread. He looked around at the sparse room. "Do you know what time it is? I should let my family know I'm alright."

She glanced at her watch. "It's ten-fifteen in the morning." Leo's frown returned and he tried to get up. She rushed back to the bed as he climbed to his feet. "You really shouldn't get up yet! You'll tear your stitches!"

He grunted. It hurt to put any weight on his leg. "I've been gone a long time. They'll be worried. I need to call them."

"Okay, but not yet. You're still weak. And I need to put some clothes on." Leo was about to protest when his leg gave out, Samantha caught him. "Easy."

He opened his eyes to find her face very close to his own. He felt the blush rise. "Sorry."

"See, I told you." She eased him back onto the bed. "I can help balance you, but I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to carry you down to the payphone." She gave him another small smile.

"You don't happen to have a cellphone, do you?" He'd already checked his belt for his com and found it missing.

It was her turn to blush and look away. "No, I'm sorry."

Leo looked around the room again. He noted the lack of personal affects. She was obviously poor – not much better off, if at all, than them. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you."

Her head snapped up. "What! No!" She touched his hand making him look at her with a touch of surprise. "You are not an inconvenience, Leonardo. You helped me out last night. That's more than most would do in this city."

He felt his heart skip a beat as their eyes met, blue to caramel. "It seems you have some pretty good moves though."

She chuckled as she stood, heading back into the kitchen nook, leaving Leo feeling suddenly cold. "Yeah, I got some basic self-defense skills. Red insisted on it. Not that I thought it was a bad idea considering the neighborhood I grew up in."

Leo sat back on the bare mattress to prop his leg up. "Who's Red?"

"She's kind of like my big sister. Her and my brother were good friends for a long time." She pulled out the pan with the toast and frowned at it. "Um, I just have butter. Is that okay?"

Leo waved a hand dismissively. "That's fine. I've lived off less."

Her smile grew a little tight and her response was soft. "Yeah, me too."

Seeing the subject was a little uncomfortable to her, he changed it. "I've been wondering something. You don't seem scared of me."

This elicited another chuckle from Samantha as she carried over the plate of toast and a chair from the table. "Why should I be?"

"Well…because I'm a turtle."

She set the plate on the bed beside him and put a hand over her heart. "Oh! I didn't realize! That's why you're green!"

Leo snorted, but he couldn't suppress the grin at her feigned shock. "Okay, okay. But really why not?"

She shrugged, taking a slice of toast from the shared plate. "If you wanted to hurt me, you wouldn't have bothered saving me."

Leo's expression grew serious as he reached across the small space between them to touch her shoulder. She had no idea what her easy acceptance meant to him. Even April had not accepted them so quickly. "Thank you, Samantha."

She smiled. "Sams."

He smiled as well. "Sams."

"Leonardo's spirit seems to indicate he is injured, but he does not seem to be in danger." Splinter's small image said over the turtle-com.

Donatello frowned back at him. "You're sure, Master?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, I cannot provide you with more details." Splinter said sadly.

"Thanks anyway, Sensei. It's better than nothing." Raph leaned close so he could be seen.

"We'll call you back if we find anything." Don said and hung up. "Well, if he is hurt. He couldn't have gone far."

Raph kicked an empty soda can on the ground. "But we've been looking for hours with nothing to show for it."

"Dudes, I am wiped." Mikey grumbled as they returned to the van still parked where they'd left it earlier that morning.

"Donatello, maybe you should try your tracker again." Raph opened the back doors.

"Sure, why not?" Donnie climbed tiredly inside with Mikey and started hitting keys on the computer again. He sighed, slumping in his seat. "Sorry guys, it's still saying he's right here."

"Maybe because he is. Maybe he's been in this apartment building all day." Both Don and Mikey turned to look at Raph, who was staring at something they couldn't see.

Donnie couldn't suppress the soft groan. Why did his brothers always start jumping to conclusions? "Why do you say that, Raphael?"

"Because he's right there." Raph pointed towards the sidewalk and then disappeared from sight. Don and Mikey jumped out of the van to stare at Leo leaning on a small curly haired woman as he climbed a small set of steps. Raph reached him first. "Leonardo! There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!"

Leo lit up at the sight of his brother. "Raphael! Guys! Boy, am I glad to see you. Sams was just going to help me down to the payphone, so I could call you."

Donnie's eyes automatically latched onto Leo's injured Leg. "You're hurt!" He hurried forward to take some of Leo's weight.

"It's okay. Sams patched it up for me." Leo smiled down at her.

"But you still need to stay off it." She ordered in a teasing tone.

Leo chuckled, his smile widening into a grin. "Yes, ma'am."

Mikey peeked over the railing down the small set up steps at the apartment door. He glanced back at his brother casually leaning on the young woman. He lifted an eye-ridge. "So, you've been here…all night and all morning," his gaze flickered to the Samantha, "with a girl?" Leo shot him a hard glare and Mikey put up his hands in a pacifying motion.

Don rolled his eyes and tugged Leo towards the van. "Michelangelo's nosiness aside, exactly what happened last night?"

"Some guys jumped me." Samantha provided as they eased Leo into the back of the van. "And Leonardo saved me."

Leo's smile returned. "And then she saved me."

Raph was surprised that there wasn't even a hint of embarrassment with those words. He watched the girl smile at his brother. "It was the least I could do."

Raph patted the girl's shoulder. "Thanks for looking after him, but we really need to be getting home. Master Splinter is worried." Again, he was slightly surprised when she didn't jerk away from his touch.

Instead, she nodded. "I understand. I have to work tonight anyways."

"Just try to keep away from dark alleys." Leo smirked.

"That goes for you too." She turned to Don. "Keep him off that leg or my patch job will come loose."

"That's easier said than done." Don muttered as he climbed into the driver's seat.

She smiled at Leo again. "Well, maybe we'll see each other around."

Leo's smile wavered this time. "Yeah, maybe."

"Thanks again, dudette!" Mikey hopped into the back followed by Raph.

"Sure, bye." Samantha's own smile wavered as well.

"Bye." Leo gave a small wave as Raph pulled the doors closed. Samantha watched as the van drove away. She suddenly felt very alone, more alone than she ever had before.

Splinter was waiting for them as they entered, Leo supported by Raph and Mikey. "Leonardo, we were very concerned for your safety, my son?"

"I'm sorry, Master Splinter. I couldn't reach a phone and I lost my turtle-com somewhere." Leo explained a bit sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah, you mean this." Donnie produced the device from his belt.

"Hey, you found it!" Leo smiled at his brother.

"Yeah, along with your trench-coat and our pizzas in that alley where you must have fought those thugs." Don handed over the com. "Try to keep track of it this time."

"I will, I promise." Leo assured him.

Splinter was eyeing Leo's leg. "Bring him here, so I may see the wound." They followed their sensei to the couch where they helped Leo prop up his leg. Splinter raised a brow as he examined it. "This wrapping was done quite well." He removed the outside bandage to look at the stiches that were on both sides of his leg. "And these sutras demonstrate skill and experience."

Leo leaned forward to look at the wound himself. He hadn't actually laid eyes on it yet. The dressing had seemed fresh and clean, so he'd let it be. Now, he smiled a bit to himself. "Sams, uh, I mean, Samantha wrapped it and stitched it for me. I don't really remember much, except that a punk attacked me with an old rebar rod." He touched the tender flesh where the tiny stitches were. "It went straight through."

"This Samantha sounds intriguing. Is she a doctor of sorts?" Splinter turned Leo's leg examining the damaged flesh.

For some reason, Leo felt himself blush. "Uh, no. Not really."

Raph leaned over the back of the couch. "So, who is she exactly?"

Leo wasn't sure he liked Raph's suspicious tone. "She's a friend, Raphael."

"Maybe." Don moved around so Leo could see him. "But what do you know about this girl?"

Splinter had just finished re-wrapping Leo's leg in a clean bandage. Now, he sat up, glaring at two of his brothers. "I know enough."

Don stepped closer. "Leonardo, you know we have to be cautious." He frowned. "All I need is her full name and I can-"

"No!" The glare turned cold. "You are not doing a background check on her! That's an invasion of her privacy! She helped me! I am not going to betray her like that, Donatello!"

"Look, if she ain't got nothin' to hide, then his search won't pull up anything, will it?" Raph pointed out matter-of-factly.

Leo folded his arms with a scowl. "No. It's not right. A million things could have happened to me out there last night. I lost a lot of blood and instead of leaving me there to die or fend for myself, she took me to her home, fixed me up, and let me sleep in her bed." He looked away. "I don't think she got a minute of sleep herself last night."

Splinter sighed, resting a hand on Leo's arm. "She may very well be an ally, but it is always wise to err on the side of cation, my son."

Leo ground his teeth for a moment, his heart twisting and tumbling. He bit his lip, hating himself even as he spoke. "Riggs. It's Samantha Riggs."

A/N: Remember guys this is the 1987 Leo, so he's a bit more light-hearted than the his other versions. Don't forget to review!