The woman was startled awake, and nearly fell off her bed in the process of grabbing for her phone.
"Hello?" she answered groggily.
"April, I'm sorry to wake you," said a familiar voice on the other end.
She sat up, instantly wide awake. "Master Splinter? What's wrong?"
"I'm afraid we are in need of assistance. Donatello is hurt, in a way that I cannot help. We need a doctor."
"Is he critical?"
"He's in a coma. He took a bullet to the shoulder, but that is the least of his problems. He was also hit by a tranquilizer, and the drug is having an adverse effect on his nervous system."
"Okay, look, I'm gonna get with my guy. I will work this out, I promise. I'll come as soon as I can."
"Just find him, and call Leonardo. He will meet him first, so that he's fully prepared before coming down here."
"All right, Master Splinter. I'll make things happen as fast as I can."
She hung up with him, and hurriedly threw on some clothes. It was just now about 11:30PM, and Luke kept weird hours. Chances were, he would be awake. She darted silently down her hallway, stealing to the door on the end. She knocked as firmly as she dared, and in a few moments, the young man answered.
"April? Is something wrong?" He was instantly on guard.
"Can I come in?" she asked mechanically.
"Uh, sure." He threw the door open, and waved to the couch. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look so good."
"I um...I have a problem, Luke. You told me if I ever needed anything..."
"How can I help?" he asked immediately, sitting down across from her.
"A friend of mine is hurt. He's not doing well, and he needs help."
"Is he in the hospital?"
"Well, see, there are complications with that."
"Complications?"
"He can't check into a facility."
"Is it an insurance thing? You know if it's really serious, the hospital doesn't turn people away."
"Money isn't the issue. Luke...there are certain things in this world that we can't explain."
"Okay..."
"He's one of them. I don't know how closely you follow the Phantom rumors..."
"April, what are you trying to say?"
"In a sense, they're true. Not everything you hear of course but...the creatures who inspired the stories are real."
"Creatures?"
"They're not...human. But they think, act, talk like one of us. Through a series of circumstances, I met them about four years ago. They're my friends."
"You're telling me you're acquainted with some...non-human creatures...that talk," he slowly verified.
"I can prove they exist, if you'll trust me, and if I can trust you."
Luke sat back against the cushion, appearing confused. He held up his hands up helplessly. "I don't know what to say."
"Will you let me prove they exist?"
"Does it mean you're going to have to kill me?"
"Luke, don't joke. This is serious."
"All right. Okay. I trust you. You have to believe I wouldn't do anything to hurt you either."
She turned away from him, and flipped open her cell to dial Leo.
"What's up?" he asked on the other end.
"Luke's ready to meet, Leo. How soon can you get here?"
"I'm outside, so I can be there in seconds."
"I'm in his apartment - same floor as mine, last one on the far left. Do you see the light?"
"I see it. Want me to come up?"
"Yeah," she replied, and swiftly hung up. Glancing at Luke she let out a deep breath. "He'll be here in a minute. I promise...Leo won't hurt you."
"He's coming here?!"
"Don't panic," she assured him, but he looked no better.
Luke appeared on the verge of freaking out in the following few moments, and jerked in surprise when there was a knock at his balcony.
"It's him," April volunteered softly, and walked over to let him in.
Luke got rigidly to his feet, watching as the blue-masked turtle crossed under the door frame, clothed only in a dark cloak. Leo stopped a few feet from him, slowly drawing down his hood.
"This is Leonardo," April introduced simply. "Leo, this Doctor Luke Barrows."
"Hello, Doctor. I'm very sorry to drop in on you like this," the turtle apologized sincerely.
Luke struggled to find his voice for a few seconds, and then stammered. "I...uh...that is...um..."
"I don't mean you any harm. We just need help...and we have nowhere else to go," he explained.
"May I ask...what you are?"
Leo sent him a wry smile. "You may. I'm a mutant...my brothers are mutants...our Sensei is a mutant. You may as well know that before you agree to anything."
Luke looked at April for a long moment. "April is a good friend...has been ever since I moved here. She's done a lot for me, and I've always said that I would do anything for her. So what's the deal?"
"We're vigilantes of a sort," he told him evenly. "We live apart from your race mostly, and mind our own business. But because of the growing crime rate, we started intervening throughout the city in secret a few years ago.
"My brother saved a life earlier this evening, and he was hurt badly in the process. He took a gun shot to the left shoulder, and a tranquilizer. The drug left him in a coma. Our Sensei has never told me he couldn't handle something, until tonight. Believe me, if we had another choice, I would not be here. I know this is a lot to take in quickly, but I hope you can appreciate the risk we're taking too."
Luke let out a long breath. "I do see that. Look...medicine is an intricate process, and I'm not a master of every aspect. And this...this is a whole other ball-game entirely, dealing with a physiology I know nothing about. Is he dying?"
"My Master wouldn't have sent me...if he wasn't." His voice cracked, showing the first sign of emotion.
When the tears in his eyes became obvious, April collapsed on the couch, covering her own face with her hands. She couldn't do this again.
"Well..." Luke continued slowly. "I suppose if he's...already dying, I'm not going to hurt him worse. I honestly don't know if I can do a single thing, but...I'm willing to try." After a short pause, he ventured closer to the turtle. "Please don't get your hopes up. I know nothing about any of you."
"Thank you for even considering it," Leo replied with a tinge of awe.
"I just want to make sure April's coming." The doctor remained apprehensive.
"I would already have been down there if it wasn't for needing to talk to you." April stood rapidly. "I'm right behind you."
Luke looked squarely at Leonardo. "Okay. How does this work?"
"I brought our van. I'll go down the back way - will you two meet me around the side?"
"We'll be down in a minute," April agreed and Leo disappeared out the balcony door.
Luke grabbed a few things together, stuffing them into a duffle bag. He slipped into his tennis shoes and followed April back down the hall, looking at her the whole way.
"You're a reporter. How do you keep something like this under wraps?"
"Their survival depends on it. Can you imagine what would happen if the authorities found out about them?"
"How did you find out?"
"They saved my life of course. And they're one of the best things that's ever happened to me."
"I really will try to help them, April. I just don't have much optimism at the moment." He sighed.
He followed her outside, getting into the van with a little hesitation. The windows were tinted, and a portion of the same dark glass separated Luke and April from Leo driving.
"Are they going to be able to trust me?" Luke wondered.
"This is a huge deal Luke. They don't invite people into their world like this. You're not the only one who's scared," April finished.
"Tell me about them, and this Sensei. That's a Japanese term, isn't it?"
"For teacher. Their Sensei is also like a father to them - he raised them, he taught them ninjitsu. His mutation is different from theirs, but no less shocking if you're not expecting it. Then you have the four brothers - they're teenagers, and they act like it for the most part. Leonardo is the leader among them. I'm not surprised he was the one who came." She stopped for a few beats and looked up at him then. "Thank you for doing this."
The drive lasted for several minutes, until Leo came to a short stop, and rolled down the glass. "Hey - we'll go on foot from here, it's not far."