"Fuck," I muttered to myself as I reached the platform just as the subway I needed to catch rushed away. I stood in the tunnel, alone, silently scolding myself for being so spacey and not noticing the time earlier. I looked at the map and time table for the next one, not excited about the hour long wait. It was early evening, so I figured that I would still have a good hour or so of daylight left before it got dark. Even though I loved the city, I made it a point to be home, safe and sound, before night fell. In my few months here I had learned my way around some what, so I pretty much knew my way home. It wasn't all that far. So with my impatience driving me, I returned to the surface and started off in the direction of my apartment.

The darkness grew faster than expected. Once the sun had begun to go down about half way through my journey, the tall buildings started to block out any of it's remaining light. It was growing colder, and since I hadn't expected to be out this late, I didn't have my thick coat. Shivering a bit, I thought of the hot coffee I would be making as soon as I got home. I rounded the corner onto a silent street and a chill went up my spine. I tried to shake off the feeling of someone watching me, telling my rational side that I was only making myself paranoid. I was only about three blocks from home now so there was no reason to worry...

It was then that someone grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the alley I had just been passing. Their hand clamped over my mouth to keep my shriek at bay. I gasped as they drug me to the very back of the alley and then flung me around so that I would fall onto the dirty ground. My head almost slammed against the wall, but I was somehow able to catch myself. I was so shocked that I didn't even scream or feel the pain as I landed hard on the ground. I looked up at the man who had grabbed me, his features a bit blurred from the darkness and my welling tears. I started to get up slowly, but he lunged at me, getting even closer. All I could make out was that he was younger, probably around my age, and had big diamonds in his ears.

"Don't move or make a sound. I will shoot you." He said quietly, forcefully, as he pulled a gun from behind his back. I froze, realizing how very real this was. It hit me in an instant, that I was seriously fucked. I was probably going to die. It had always felt like something that only happened in movies and all the crime TV shows that I loved to watch, yet here I was, sitting on the trash covered ground in an alley with a gun in my face.

"Toss me your bag." He ordered, looking quickly over his shoulder towards the alley entrance, probably making sure no one had seen him pull me from the street. "Now."

I did as he said, pulling every ounce of courage I had inside of me to not cry. I had always told myself that in a situation like this I would not show signs of weakness. I would not scream or beg. If he was going to steal from me, rape me, or kill me, he would not get the satisfaction of knowing how scared he had made me feel. Of course, now that I was actually living this nightmare, staying strong seemed like an impossible task. My whole body was shaking, my throat felt like it was closing in on itself, and my blood was slamming though my veins at an unbelievable pace. The darkness had grown even more, and the alley was now pitch black. The dim light from the street was doing nothing. We were so far back that even if someone did walk by, I doubted they would see us. I still hadn't even had a good look at my attacker, aside from the earrings.

I stared at him as dug through my bag, tossing all the random contents on the ground as he went. I tried to think of a way to escape. The only rational idea seemed like hoping someone would pass by, then scream as loud as I could. Even if he shot me, at least there would be a chance he would get caught, and if he didn't kill me, that person would probably be my only chance at living. I stared at the alley entrance, praying that someone would appear.

It was because of my staring that I saw everything that happened next. It seemed like only a blink of an eye. One second, the man was going through my things, the next second, a large figure stood behind him. I didn't even have time to react before this other person grabbed my attacker, removed the gun and my bag from his hands, then tossed him against the alley wall with such force that it knocked him out cold. My attacker slumped to the ground in a heap and my jaw almost hit the ground in shock.

Had that really just happened? Or was I imagining things?

I blinked about ten more times, shaking my head, but the tall, oddly bulky figure was still standing there before me. I looked at the man against the wall, wondering how a single toss could do something like that to a person. In movies it usually took a couple good punches.

"Are you hurt?" A deep voice asked me.

I pulled my eyes away from the unconscious body to the other man, who still hadn't moved an inch since magically appearing. First, he tossed my bag to me. I made no movement to catch it. He swiftly emptied the bullets from the gun, letting them fall to the ground, and then, with what seemed like no effort, threw it onto the rooftop.

"N-no." I stuttered, starting to feel a little dizzy from the blood racing through my veins and the adrenaline. I somehow managed to stand up, an ache running through my body from hitting the ground so hard before. I would definitely be feeling that in the morning.

"Thank you." I managed to say as I wobbled slightly. I felt slightly more comfortable now that the gun was gone. "You saved... you just saved my life."

"Don't mention it." The man said, starting to back away. "Go home now."

I didn't understand why he was leaving so quickly. My mind flooded with questions: first and foremost, shouldn't we call the police? There was no way they would believe my story of a man falling out of the sky to save my life. I needed to see his face, to know how he had appeared out of literally nowhere and knock an armed man out cold with a single throw. Something didn't feel right. His figure was strangely shaped, like he was carrying a large backpack or wearing a coat two sizes too big. Before I even knew what I was doing, I lunged forward, my head spinning, breathlessly saying "wait!" before I lost my balance and began to fall to the ground.

Once again, the man moved at an nonhuman pace and caught me before I hit the concrete. I closed my eyes, waiting for the spinning to pass before I tried to stand on my own. His arms felt incredibly large and hard as they supported my weight... too large and too hard to be normal. I froze in fear and my eyes snapped open to take in the face of my savior. He quickly pulled away from me.

This time, I wondered if I really had hit my head when I fell. Or maybe this was all just a dream? Had I actually caught the subway home and fallen asleep? I had never hallucinated before, but it was the only thing I could think of that would make what I was seeing make sense.

It was dark still, but being this close to the man made me see that he wasn't really a man at all. He was even taller than I had thought, at least 6'2 or 6'3. His skin was a deep green. A thin red mask covered the top of his head and two green eyes that were staring at me intently. His body was covered in muscles, as well as what looked like some kind of armor around his arms and legs. At his sides were two weapons, each with three sharp points. And the last thing I took in was what had been causing his figure to seem distorted. It was a shell, a large shell on his back, because as far as I could see he was some kind of half human-half turtle... creature.

I returned my eyes to his, not expecting to feel such a jolt as they met. He was still looking at me fiercely, almost like a cornered animal trying to plan it's escape. I realized that I was probably being rude. As freaked out as I was, this... person had just saved my life and now I was treating him like he was an alien. I was also fairly certain this wasn't a dream, and that I hadn't hit my head. This was real, and he was armed, so I needed to get out of his face before he took me down too. I backed away a few steps, slowly, and I saw him finally let out a breath as I did.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I uh, didn't mean to be rude. I just didn't, uhm..."

I silently scolded myself for sounding so freaked out. He didn't say anything in return. He just stood there as still as a statue, watching me. My mind was still spinning, but I felt myself start to calm down a bit. If he was going to try and kill me, he probably would have done it by now. I figured that he probably didn't want to hurt me, which just made me even more curious. Was he actually an alien? Were all my childhood dreams of spaceships and green men true?

"What's your name?" I asked, happy that my voice finally sounded normal. "I'm Lily."

He didn't respond right away. He looked like he was in deep thought. Finally though, he gave me an answer.

"I'm Raphael."

I smiled at him, trying to think of something else to say. But he beat me to it.

"Say a word about what you saw tonight, and I will find you." Raphael threatened, his voice low and dangerous. I stepped back again, a small jolt of fear going through me.

Okay, maybe I did need to be afraid of him.

"I-I promise that I won't." I squeaked out, but I was barely through my words before he had moved to the fire escape, jumping onto it in a way that looked effortless. My heart jerked in strange way when I realized he was leaving. I wasn't sure if I was afraid or curious of him.

And how was someone so freaking huge so quick on his feet?

"Wait!" I called after him.

"Go home." Raphael told me firmly. His tone had changed to one of desperation.

I watched as he climbed with grace up to the top of the building and then disappeared from my sight. Nothing made sense in my mind. I felt like an amazing opportunity had just been ripped away from me right before my eyes. I quickly gathered up my things, throwing watchful glaces at the heap against the wall to make sure my attacker wasn't waking up, and then I ran all the way home.