Sorry for the long wait, I hit a slow spot- might post a little Leopril drabble I wrote to make up for it. As usual, I don't own the turtles. Please review, I like seeing what you think of the story. Also, if anyone wants to draw some stuff for the story, please feel free too. I'd love to see what you come up with.
"We should head back for the night." Leo announced. Mikey and Raph stopped and turned to their leader. A bitter cold rain fell around them, icy needles on their skin. Donatello was still back at the lair, looking for any sign of her he could online. "It's getting late, and the weather is getting worse."
Raph scowled darkly out across the rooftops. It had been over two weeks since she had first attacked him. They couldn't find any trace of her, nor any of the Foot Clan. Then, just the day before, the news reported that a Super Max Prison had been broken into, and Eric Sachs had escaped during the chaos of the resulting riot, which ended with a few of the prisoners and many of the guards being killed. When they had interviewed one of the guards who had helped Sachs escape, they declared that the Foot Clan was back and they had bigger plans then what they had before. It made them all sick knowing that April had been a part of the entire thing.
"I donno know Leo, maybe we can look around just a little more-" Mikey was cut off by a sudden sound behind them. They whipped around, drawing their weapons. A figure stood on the other side, drenched, something hanging loosely in one hand, and the other hand clung to their side. The turtles moved into a fighting stance, ready for anything. Stepping from the shadows, blood trickled down the figure's temple.
"April?" Mikey said in a near whisper, his eyes wide, focused or her approaching figure. She took a few shaky steps towards them, and everyone but Raph tensed up. She froze and her eyes went wide, taking a tentative step back, shaking badly.
"Please," she whimpered, her voice small and scared. "I need your help. Mas-" She stopped and shook her head. "The Shredder tricked me into helping Sachs escape. He told me that everything was a lie. That Sachs killed my father, and he used me to get to you. He said I had outlived my usefulness and he that didn't need me anymore. Then he had Karai and the other foot members beat me. She was about to kill me when I managed to catch her off-guard and escape." Wide blue eyes looked at the turtles, pleading "Please help me. I don't know what to do. I don't where I can go. I just…" she broke off into sobbing, her knees giving out on her as she collapsed onto the rooftop. "Please help me."
Raph immediately had his sais sheathed and was next to her in a heartbeat. As he gathered her into his arms, she flinched slightly, but he attributed that to what she had just gone through. Pulling her close, he pressed his face into her wet hair.
"It's okay." He murmured "Everythin' is going ta be okay, I'm here April, it's gonna be okay." He felt his brothers move up close to them. He could tell that Leo was still a little tense, but Mikey knelt down next to him, and placed a hand on April's shoulder.
"Here, give your kusarigama, and we can head home, okay?" the youngest turtle asked gently and held out his hand. She froze for a second, eyes wary, but she slowly moved to give it to him. Leo watched all of this unfold cautiously.
"I'm calling Donatello." He said, pulling out his phone out of his belt and hitting the speed dial. Leonardo put it on speaker and let it ring, knowing that the intellectual brother could be absent-minded and take a bit to notice the phone ringing. Raph looked up at him, frowning.
"What for?" asked Raph, a slight hostile tone to his voice. Leo regarded his brother calmly. He wanted nothing more than to get the shivering woman dry and warm, but he still had to take precautions.
"I just want to make sure she's not bugged with anything. We'll meet him in that abandoned warehouse where we can at least get her wounds checked out and we won't lead anyone back to our place." The ringing stopped as Donnie finally picked up the phone.
"Leo?" the purple turtle asked, sounding slightly distracted.
"We found her. She says that the Shredder told her the truth and roughed her up pretty bad. We're going to need you to bring the medical kit." Leo replied, getting straight to business. There was a slight hesitation on the other end.
"Are you sure she isn't…" Donnie began, but was cut off.
"Bring that too. Meet us at the warehouse. See you there in five." He hung up and turned to the other two. Raph had already collected up April in his arms, and both seemed ready to go.
"I'm taking lead," Leo ordered them. "Raph, you'll be behind me and Mike, I want you to take up the rear in case anything happens." They both fell in behind him, moving quickly and silently across rooftops, slipping into the shadows of the night.
Erin in the meantime, was confused. The turtles had shown nothing but concern for her and the red one currently was cradling her to his chest like she was made of glass. They were her sworn enemy, why where they treating her the way they were? They didn't even suspect that she was tricking them, just that she was bugged.
She did have to quietly admire the easy way she was being carried. Raphael didn't even seem to be bothered by her weight at all. In the brief flashes of light she could see the curve of his muscles ripple under his scales and a wave of heat coursed through her body. Flushing, she inwardly cursing herself. Why was she reacting this way? They killed her father, ruined her life, but…
She couldn't help but feel safe in the largest one's arms. He held on to her tighter as he jumped onto a building that was lower then the one they had been on.
"Easy, I've got ya." He said softly to her. He looked down to her for a brief second, and she felt her heart squeeze. The look in his eyes said that she was the most important thing in the world to him. "You okay?" She managed to nod and press herself closer to him. "Don't worry, we'll get you dry and patched up here soon."
They continued their way across the rooftops until they reached an abandoned warehouse near the river. Going through an open window, April saw the last of the brothers standing near a cot. He was sorting through the medical kits on a nearby table when Leonardo moved up next to him, as Raphael gently laid her down on the cot. He smiled warmly down at her and laid his hand on her shoulder, taking a blanket that Mikey was handing to him.
"Don't worry, Donnie'll fix you right up." Raph told her as he wrapped her up in the thick military surplus blanket. He looked at the turtle who was messing with a small handheld device. Mikey leaned against a nearby post, keeping watch while the others attended to April.
"Since she has nothing life threatening, I'll just do a quick scan first." Donatello looked over her quickly, and started to slowly move the device her legs, working his way up. He continued to move up and down her body in slow, steady movements, until he nodded in satisfaction, and turned it off.
"She clean?" The Leo asked, every inch of his body tense, like he was ready to either fight or take off if necessary. The Donnie turned to the table, and started to collect up a towel and a large bowl. "She's good. I'm just going to wash up and then I'll get started."
While he was off getting cleaned up, Leo looked over at April, who was shivering on the cot. Raph wrapped his arm around her shoulders, trying to give her some warmth, and stroked her hair. When he leaned over and kissed the top, they all noticed her visibly flinch. Leo frowned at the action and went and knelt down next to her.
"Did they hurt you?" The leader asked, searching hers eyes. She averted her eyes from his and he swore softly. Mikey looked livid from his place as look out and Raph just pulled her closer to him, pressing his face deep in her hair.
"They haven't touched me like that in years, but in the beginning…" she trailed off, looking down, ashamed, like what had happened was somehow her fault. Dark anger raged in Leo's chest. He would have the head of whoever had touched his Hogosha like that. Shaking his head, he mentally corrected himself, their Hogosha, not his. If she was anyone's specifically, it was Raph. He looked back at April as she continued to speak to them. "Look, I just want to forget any of that ever happened, okay? I'm physically fine, and all I really want to do is get back at those bastards who hurt me. I wanted nothing more than to make them scream." Her voice and eyes were hard, and they all stopped to look at her. Her vibrant blue eyes where dark with anger and hatred, nothing like they had seen before. Raph tipped her head up to meet his eyes, his own anger matching hers.
"Don't worry, Babe. We'll get those bastards back, every one of 'em. We'll make 'em pay for what they did to ya." She gave Raph a dazzling smile, and Leo again had to suppress the jealous feeling that came to him. Mikey looked over at them from where he was standing, nodding in agreement.
"Yah Angelcakes, we'll take care of all those assholes, just wait until you get better." The youngest turtle said, an unusually dark look on his face. The two younger turtles looked over at Leo, who nodded in agreement.
"They attacked you without any provocation. We will show them what happens when they mess with our family." Leo added, clenching his fist tightly. Any other words where halted by Donnie coming back to them, the bowl filled with warm water. Dipping a towel into the bowl, he began to wipe away the blood around her temple. She flinched at the touch, and Raph glared at their pseudo-medic.
"Easy, April, I know it stings, but I have to clean it to see the damage." Donatello said gently, continuing to clean her wound. He frowned as more of the blood came off. "You're going to need stitches for this one." He continued. "I'm sorry we don't have any painkillers for it." She just smiled at him as he finished cleaning the gash on her temple
"Don't worry, I'm used to it." She said. "I've stitched myself up without painkillers before- I can handle it."
She didn't flinch as he stitched it up, the only sign of pain in gripping Raph's hand a little tighter. Donnie taped it up, and continued to treat the various scrapes and bruises on her, but the head wound seemed to be the worse. While he was working, he asked various questions to make sure that she didn't have a concussion, and when he was satisfied that she didn't have one, he patted her gently on the shoulder and turned to his brothers.
"We should get her home and into dry clothes before she ends up with pneumonia." Donnie said. "Other than that, she's good to go." Leo nodded while Raph smiled down at her.
"Ya ready to go home babe?" Raph asked, looking into her eyes. She seemed hesitant for a second, then smiled back.
"Yah, home sounds good." April said softly.