Chapter 29:

Raphael flicked the lights on and she saw him in a nice tuxedo and a corsage in one hand, a matching boutonnière in the other. He smiled at her and she saw his eyes swipe over her body in the dress. She had to admit, he had good taste.

"And Ana wanted me to pick the red one," he shook his head and walked toward her.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"I wanted our first date to be memorable," he smiled and went to one knee, "And someone told me that you never went to your prom. I think it's time we remedy that."

She put her hands to her mouth in a small laugh, but happiness shone in her eyes. She shook her head and pulled at the lapel of his jacket, "Stand back up, you're not proposing."

He chuckled and stood back up and offered her the boutonnière, "So, whaddaya' say? Be my prom date?"

She smiled, took the boutonnière and pinned it one of his jacket lapels like a professional. He returned the favor and slipped the corsage on her wrist. He held out his arm and she took it comfortably.

"So what songs did you choose for our prom night?" she asked and looked at the music system in the living room.

"Oh no," he shook his head, "We're going out to prom. I promised your roommate the full night to herself and Mikey tonight for all the help she gave me."

"Then where?"

"It's a surprise," he held out a blindfold for her and she cringed slightly at the sight of it. His smile faltered, "What's wrong?"

"I… just don't like blindfolds," she eyed it warily.

"Hey," one of his hands took hers and her eyes shoot up to meet his. He smiled warmly and shook his head, "We don't have to use it. I won't force you, if you don't want to. But you can trust me."

She stayed connected with his eyes and tilted her head a little in wonder. He was different. And if he wanted to hurt her, it would have happened long before now.

She reached for the blindfold and tied it around her own eyes. He looked at the motion and smiled as she reached her arms out to him.

"Lead the way," she smiled.

"As my lady requests," he chuckled and put her arm through his again and led her out of the apartment.

"I can't believe that you didn't tell me that you were going to work at the museum," Analise chuckled as she walked with Michelangelo.

"I thought that you would have actually found me out before hand," he laughed back at her. He had his uniform packed back in the bag on his back and his eyes open on the road around them. Michelangelo kept a firm grip around her waist and stared down any guys who decided that they wanted a once over of Analise even though she was under quite a lot of layers. They rounded the corner to the apartment building and Analise was surprised to see their 'new doorman' awake this time around.

"They just leave?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah, she was nice enough to give me a kick before he got here," he smiled.

"Why are you always napping anyway?" she asked as Michelangelo opened the doors.

"Watching you guys are a full time job," he shrugged.

"Don't I know that?" Michelangelo smiled at the guy and ushered Analise in the building.

When they entered the apartment Analise plopped all her items down on the counter and threw herself over the couch while Michelangelo sat down on the side of her feet and draped them over his lap to help her out of her boots. Analise watched his face as he helped her out and rubbed her feet down.

"You're thinking over something in that noggin of yours," she said and gained his attention, "What is it?"

"Were you helping to plan that thing tonight for Deidra?" he asked and played with a piece of lint that was left on her sock.

"Yeah, why?" she smiled a little confused.

"You were just spending so much time with Raph the last couple of days…" his voice tapered off and he looked out the window.

"Wait… Mikey, are you jealous?" she asked and sat up toward him.

He didn't answer, but looked back at her a little guiltily.

"Aw, honey," she shifted on the couch and hugged him from the side with a kiss on his cheek, "Why'd you start to think like that?"

"Well, there was a lot of time, and I wasn't involved… and you know, he did manage to take Deidra from Leo."

"Look at me," she put both of her hands on either side of his face and turned him to look straight at her, "No one- and I mean, no one- will be able to take me away from you."

"Not even Neal McDonough from Tin Man?" he asked with a quirked brow and worried expression.

"Not even if Wyatt Cain came to that door right now and asked me to come away with him," she shook her head and kissed the tip of his nose. She stood up and backed up toward the kitchen, "Besides, I have something special for the two of us tonight."

"Really?" Michelangelo turned and leaned over the back of the couch to see his girlfriend dig through the under counter space on the kitchen island, "And what would that be?"

She brought a medium box to the top of the counter and turned it toward him, "Ever heard of Chocolate Fondue?"

"You know, Raph, if you wanted me to walk this much, you probably could have put me in better shoes," Deidra smiled from behind her blindfold.

"Stop complainin', we're here."

She could tell that he was smiling just by his voice. She heard heavy door open and a slight whoosh of air from an air conditioning system. She heard soft music coming from inside and could smell a lot of plastic and cheap decorations.

"Where are we?" she asked as he took hold of her hands and walked backwards with her into the building.

"You'll see," he brought her in, stopped her in the middle of the room and then shut the doors again. She turned toward where she could hear his footsteps. He took a deep breath and then took the blindfold off of her eyes.

Banners covered the high ceiling and streamers and snowflakes hung from long strings, dancing in the air. The banners' words were perfectly spaced and painted beautifully and Deidra could tell that Analise had her hand in that as well. They all spelled out something along the lines of 'Good Luck, Class of 2005' and 'PROM life Class 2005' and lastly 'Welcome to Crystal Winter Night'. There was a small catering option for food in the corner and in the other a small entertainment stand with DJ included. The woman smiled and nodded at her before she started another song. All the decorations were white, silver or sparkling glitter as if in a winter night, just as the theme suggested. The ceiling of the old gym was decorated as the night sky and she could pick out a few constellations above them.

"Whatcha' think?" Raphael asked and wrapped his arms around her middle from behind.

"You did a great job," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his that caressed her waist, "This is… definitely unexpected."

"That's what I was going for," he chuckled and kissed her neck. He put his chin on her shoulder and tucked his face behind her ear as he breathed over the outer shell of it, "Dance with me?"

"Actually dance at prom?" she quirked her eyebrow as she turned in his arms to face him, "That's redickalus."

"Well I'm just a redickalus kind of guy," he smiled and put his hands on her hips and began to sway.

"I never thought so," she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Analise told me that you never got to go to your prom and enjoy all that comes with it," he shrugged, "I thought that you should probably enjoy at least one, right?"

"This coming from a guy I'm pretty sure didn't go to one either," she narrowed her eyes at him, "Unless I missed the national news of giant reptiles invading a high school function."

"Didn't really need one until now," he smiled and looked down into her eyes, "I mean, you're supposed to take your first love to a shin dig like this, right?"

Her breath caught in her throat as he kept them in time with the gentle music behind them. She never really heard that before; at least not with that kind of emotion behind it. He continued to dance with her and she knew that he was a little smug in the fact that he made her so surprised. She tried to regain function to answer him, but she saw that she didn't have to. He wasn't waiting or prying for her to answer him back. He just kept leading her and dipping her at moments in the music.

Her arms wrapped tighter around his shoulders and she buried her face into his neck. His head settled against hers as the music swept over them both. He didn't expect her to answer him back. He probably wouldn't have either, but it needed to be said.

"Hey Raph?" she asked against his neck.

"Yeah?" he kissed the top of her head.

"You aren't going to do a prom queen crowning or anything, are you?" she asked.

"Nah, not your style," he chuckled and turned them to face the DJ.

The DJ picked up a small crown from behind the stand and showed it to him. He gave her a minute shake of his head and she shrugged and put the small crown back. He wasn't sure about it and only got a plastic one anyway. He was kind of glad she didn't want one, because than he would be the king and he wasn't one for wearing crowns either.

They went through a few more dances, both slow and a little quicker, and then had a plate full of the food that he had ordered for the occasion. She looked at the punch bowl and watched as he poured some whiskey into the mix and stirred the bowl.

"Raphael, are you trying to get me drunk?" she asked in a fake innocent expression.

"Like that's going to happen," he chuckled and capped the flask that he had under his jacket.

"You know that too well, already," she took the cup that he handed to her. She sipped at the mix and then downed it quick, "So how did you pay for this exactly?"

"Bartending tips," he smirked, "Mostly girls."

"Girls, huh?" she quirked a questioning eyebrow and then pulled at his lapels to lead him back to the dance floor, "Just what did you do to get such good tips?"

"Gave them drinks, and refills," he shrugged, "Apparently they thought if they dropped a hundred in the tip jar with their phone number on it will persuade me more than just a twenty. Or the five twenties before that."

"Oh wow," she smiled and leaned up to kiss him, "And here I thought I was going to have to cut a bitch."

He then laughed uproariously, surprising even her. She never heard him laugh so loudly before.

"Yeah, no girls could measure up to you," he hugged her to him and kissed at her neck again. With every declaration he kissed against her throat and then blew on the spot working back up to her ear, "Girls are nothing compared to you. Your passion, your determination, your stubbornness, your beauty…"

"Raph…"

"Your spirit," he stopped and kissed her on the jaw line to brush over her lips.

She looked at him straight in the eyes, "Raph…"

"What?"

"Guess what's going to be down your throat in five seconds."

"What?"

She smirked with half lidded eyes, "My tongue."

"Wh-"

Deidra launched forward and wrapped her arms around his head and crashed her lips against his. He caught her in mid leap and wrapped his strong arms around her and held her steady at her back. His hands roamed over hot skin as her fingers tangled in his hair. Time froze for them both as the music faded into the back ground of the high school winter night. One of her small hands dipped under his jacket and went to his neck to feel his own skin. His hand shot out to grab it before it began to unbutton anything and he tore away to look down at her. Her pupils were nearly completely black except for thin slit of green around them.

"Not here," he shook his head and put his forehead to hers, "You start that up, and I ain't going to stop."

"Home then?" he asked with a small quirk to his smile.

"Home," she nodded and turned toward the doors to the car still waiting outside.

Raphael walked quickly to the DJ and paid her fee and then some. He had some people coming in to clean up in about an hour or so, but he didn't think that the night was going to be over so quickly. He walked out the door to see her get into the car, with the look still planted firmly on her face. There was that passion and determination again.

Maybe the night wasn't over. He was going to owe Analise for the night interrupted though. Somehow, inside, a little bit of him just didn't care.

As they entered the apartment still attached at the lips since the elevator doors closed on the first floor, they quickly shed all jackets and bumped into pieces of furniture as they made their way to the hallway. Before they could even reach it they both jumped away from one another and turned toward Analise's door as a scream blasted from behind it.

"Oh my God!" Analise's muffled yell fell from behind the door, "I am so sorry, honey! Just a second."

Raphael and Deidra looked at one another and then back at the door as it opened with Analise in a thin robe.

Analise rushed to the kitchen opened the freezer and filled a plastic bag with ice cubes before she ran back toward her door. She looked at them both and smiled. She took a moment and looked them over. They were both confused and Raphael seemed a little concerned for his younger brother.

"Please note," Analise said carefully in explanation, "Make sure that if you choose to enjoy Chocolate Fondue that it is cooled to an agreeable temperature before adhering to any part of the human body."

With that she heard another yell from her room, "Uh, babe?"

"I'm coming!" she called as she reached her door and closed it behind her.

Raphael chuckled to himself and looked down at Deidra who was still a bit unsure. He turned her toward her bedroom and began to pat her on the behind to push her further toward it. She looked back at him with a smirk.

"Are you shooing me again?" she asked with a chuckle.

"Absolutely," he said with a growl.

An hour later Deidra was draped over Raphael's chest, bare skin to skin. One of her dark red sheets covered them from hips down and legs still tangled with one another. She felt his fingertips trace along her back and spine in lazy circles and lines. She felt his smooth heartbeat with the one hand that she had placed on his chest. Her eyes focused on her own hand as it rose and fell with his chest as he breathed evenly, a big difference from a few moments before.

He hummed deep in his chest as contentment kicked in and he leaned over to kiss her on the top of her head.

"What are you thinkin'?" he asked carefully.

She shifted her body and then leaned on her elbows and looked down at him, "That I am pretty damn lucky."

"Oh? For what?" he smirked.

"You," she gave him a quick kiss and lingered on his lips, "I think I may be falling in love with you."

He then smiled and curled his fingers in her short hair to bring her down to his lips again.

Outside on the third building over from the large apartment building a lone figure watched one window with eyes silted. Even with the blinds he found a small enough peek into the room and seethed at what he found. His perfect match, the perfect woman he knew would survive it all was in the arms of another. He held her close and kissed her hair as he whispered back to her. Her skin was marred by his scent. He would have to rectify that when the time was right. And only when the time was right.

He picked up a long range radio and spoke into it, "Hun."

"Yes, master?"

"It's time to set in motion my last step."

"What about the other experiments?"

"Cancel them," he paused and lowered the radio from his mouth, "I have prepared all I need for her."