A/N: We finally got this chapter out. It took forever and both of us experienced constant writer's block, but thank you to everyone who's reviewed and has continued to read this story despite its tardiness. And a special thanks to Icecreampopstar, immakittykat, lightan117, and redxcanary, to whom I would like to say that this chapter is mostly Raph and Li, so enjoy.

Mating Season

"Are you done yet?" Piper stood in the middle of the living room with a pained expression on her face. It was graduation day, and Leo was dancing around her with a camera while she stood in her green commencement gown and cap. Raph and Li sat on the couch, waiting so they would move out of the way of the TV.

"Just a few more. Smile." Piper groaned and covered her face; she'd been trying to convince Leo that she didn't need to go to her commencement for the past two weeks. He hadn't listened.

"Da Vinci seriously, if you're going to make me go than stop taking my picture or I'll be late." Leo relented and put the camera away.

"Fine." Piper relaxed now that the camera was gone. She shot Li a look.

"You sure you don't wanna come?" Li waved her off.

"I'm sure. Raph and I are going to stay here." Piper sighed and enviously watched Li flip through a magazine, wishing she could do the same. Leo came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"We should get going." Piper got a sly grin on her face and wrapped her arms around Leo.

"You know if we stay here we could have a lot more fun than if we went." Li's eyebrows went up while she read her magazine, and Leo blushed.

"Ah ha, come on." He pushed her out the door. As soon as it shut, Raph snorted.

"She shouldn't tease him like dat, Leo don't know nothing about that sorta ting." Li held her tongue, she wasn't going to be the one to tell him that his brother got some before he did.

"You sure you didn't want ta go? Ain't this kinda important?"

"No way, and I'm done, graduation is just done for the family and stuff." Raph wrapped an arm around her. She still wasn't talking to her parents.

"Well, I ain't gonna say no to some alone time." Li grinned as Raph pulled her closer, there was nothing like alone time.

"I present the class of 2010!" Piper wasn't going to throw her hat, but the person next to her turned and grabbed her hat off her head and threw it anyway. She glared at the person, and was promptly spun around in a circle by a fellow graduate. Everyone was very excited. She looked around, wondering where Leo was, and if he really did have a video camera. She felt a tap on her shoulder and spun around expecting to see a fellow graduate, instead she was greeted by a bright flash.

"Gah!" She covered her eyes. "Dang it Leo I am never letting you near a camera again!" She tried snatching the camera from his hands. He held the camera out of her reach and bent down to kiss her.

"Congratulations." She waved him off.

"Yeah, yeah can we go home now?" Leo looked vaguely surprised.

"Of course not. Don't you want to go to any parties?"

"No. What parties?" Leo took her arm and led her through the trees at the end of the parking lot.

"They're having a party for all the graduates! Come on!" Piper wondered what on earth was possessing Leo as he lead her away. Why did she have to go to a party? She just wanted to go home!

"Leo what's wrong with going home?" Leo turned around and for a moment it looked like he was pouting.

"But they have games." Piper sighed and relented. Leo was having fun with this and she decided not to spoil it.

"Ok. Fine. We can play a game."

Li and Raph sat on the couch watching Hellboy on TNT. Li was slightly nervous, as it was actually the first time they had really been alone before. She would call it school girl jitters, but she was a little too old for that. Not to mention if he knew she was nervous, he would get that smirk on his face that was soooo sexy. She melted a little in her seat and Raph looked at her strangely.

"What was that?"

"Ummm, nothing." She blushed as she became more aware of Raph's physique, damn those muscles were hot. She was staring at his shoulders with a dreamy look on her face when he waved a hand in front of her eyes.

"Anybody in dere?" She swatted his hand away.

"Knock it off." Raph shrugged his shoulders.

"Jus' wonderin, yah had a weird look on your face."

"Uh, heh, yeah." She rubbed her arm and looked away, but she could still feel Raph's eyes on her.

"Were yah tinkin' bout me?" Li felt her face burn hot.

"Of course not." Raph's face broke into a smirk.

"Ah, you were tinkin' about me." If it was possible Li blushed even brighter.

"Don't be stupid." Raph's smirk grew larger and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Don't be embarrassed babe. If I were you I'd tink about me too."

"So what are you thinking about then?" He caught her eyes with a lazy grin.

"You." She nodded and grinned.

"Yeah, if I was you I'd be thinking about me too." Raph let out a bark of laughter and pulled her onto his lap.

"Wanna know what I'm tinking about now?" He eyed her up and down and wolfishly grinned at her.

"Not too hard to guess." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Not for the first time she wondered why it took her so long to realize she wanted to be with Raph. He was a great kisser. His large hands settled on her hips for a moment, before gripping them and hoisting her on top of him. She straddled him as they continued kissing, his grip on her hips was becoming painful now, but she paid it no mind. She played with the tails of his bandanas as he moved his mouth to her neck. He hooked a finger in one her belt loops, while his other hand moved under her shirt to stroke her skin. He growled into her neck and she shivered. Something was different, he wasn't sure how, but for some reason her scent seemed…stronger? Sweeter? He wasn't sure, all he knew was that at that moment, he wanted to take her right there on the couch. He bit her neck hard enough to draw blood and Li winced. He lapped at the wound and felt something come over him. He needed to flip her over and show her who was in charge-dominate her. She yelped and his mind cleared and he leapt up and she toppled back onto the couch. He made a run for the bathroom and slammed the door. Li lay there rather bewildered. Was this a turtle thing? What just happened? She walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"You okay in there?" Raph winced and wished he had an answer, he had realized what was different. He wondered if Leo realized yet that they were so close to their seasons. He almost always started first, leading to a debate when they were younger about whether he really was the oldest...but that was history now. Every year since they entered puberty, the turtles had to endure what Donny liked to call their 'season.' Their mating season. It was one of the things Raph rather wished they hadn't gotten from their turtle genes. Sensations became more intense, they couldn't go topside at all, and aggression ran high. With no outlet for their lust, they fought constantly, and Splinter just tried his hardest to maintain order until it ended, which was usually in a month. Raph always lost control, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt Li in his aggression. There was no need to panic yet, he just had to take a lot of cold showers and try to keep his distance, that's all.

"Uh yeah, say ya looked cold go put on a sweatshirt, a really baggy one."

"Its seventy degrees outside."

"I have to take a shower now!" She stared at the bathroom door bewildered. She was going to have to ask Piper if this happened with her turtle too. She gave the door one more suspicious glance before she left him alone. She put a hand to her neck and could feel his bite, she just put a kleenex to it until it stopped bleeding. Li wasn't squeamish and she was no stranger to pain, but it was out of character for Raph. Jumping away from her when they were making out wasn't normal Raph behavior either, maybe she did something wrong. She took a hesitant sniff, she didn't smell bad, but maybe she should take a shower once Raph got out.

Piper was confused. This wasn't normal Leo behavior, he was running around the carnival like a kid in a candy store, he didn't even seem to care if he was attracting attention in his disguise. He was smiling and joking around, and frankly it was weirding her out. She was the funny weird one in the relationship and he was the serious one, that's how it worked, and she had no intention of becoming the somber one.

"Uh, Leo why don't we go home. I think there's a program on Japanese swords on tonight. Don't wanna miss info about weapons!" She gave him a fake smile, and hoped he would take the bait. He sighed and put his cotton candy down and followed Piper to the car. Maybe he was just excited about leaving the Midwest. That would make sense, he was from New York after all, the fresh air must be getting to him.

"Alright." They went back to her car and climbed inside.

"Well, let's go I need to start packing." Leo looked confused.

"Packing?" Piper started the car and they pulled out of the parking lot.

"Yeah, you know, for New York." Realization dawned on Leo's face, and he gave a little laugh.

"I almost forgot! Let's go." She eyed him again, forgetting things wasn't in Leo's nature either. He was acting more like Mikey than he was himself, she silently wondered if they just swapped masks and Mikey was pretending to be Da Vinci. She won't put it past him. They drove back to the apartment, Piper watching Leo out of the corner of her eyes, suspicious, but he was quiet and watched the scenery. They got back to see Li in a Transformers sweater tapping on her laptop on the couch, Raph no where in sight. Piper sighed and set her things on the coffee table.

"Where's Raph?"

"On the roof, training." Leo went to the window to join him and Li gave Piper a worried look. Piper just stared out the window Leo jumped out of, she turned to Li.

"Has your turtle been acting weird? Cause I think Mikey's replaced Da Vinci and no one thought to tell me."

"Oh my god! Raph's been acting whacko! We were just...you know..."

"Doing da nasty?"

"Making out. And he just flipped out and has been avoiding me ever since."

"That is weird. It's gotta be a turtle thing, what else could it be? I mean, they both got weird at the same time. Google it!"

"All ready on it." Piper sat next to Li and examined the Wikipedia page she had up.

"Turtle habits?"

"I was just about to read it when you guys got back."

"Looks promising." Halfway into the article they realized they didn't know what species the guys were, and they instead fished Piper's phone out of her purse to call Donny.

"He'll know what's going on, okay, it's ringing." She put the phone on speaker so Li could hear and waited until she heard Donny's voice.

"Piper?" He seemed kinda surprised she was calling him.

"Yep. Me and Li have some questions for you." They could practically hear his curiosity through the phone.

"Okay, shoot." Piper looked at Li and she leaned toward the phone.

"Well, Raph started acting really weird today, like he..." She looked a bit embarrassed now. "He bit me, and he was acting really aggressive..." She trailed off and Piper took the phone.

"Yeah and Leo's been acting...giddy. There's no other word for it, kinda like Mikey." Donny was silent for a moment.

"Are either of them nearby?" The girls looked at each other.

"No, they're on the roof training, Raph has been avoiding me." Li replied. More silence.

"...You're going to need a pen and a pad of paper and both of you better sit down for this." Both girls' eyes widened as Donny explained the intricacies of mating season.

Piper hung up the phone and sat back against the couch, traumatized.

"That was the most disturbing conversation I've ever had, ever." Li stared in horror while she looked at the pictures of turtle anatomy Donny sent them.

"He made a power point. He made us a power point. Why did he make us a power point?" Piper tried ridding her mind of the video he sent them with the turtles having sex. On the flip side it was nice to know that the sounds Leo made were normal for turtles.

"Why did he have those things on file?" Li shook her head and closed her laptop with a snap, she wasn't opening it anytime soon. As she was about the hide it under the couch, the turtles of the hour appeared.

"'Ey." Li screamed, spun around and pointed her finger at him.

"You stay away from me!" Raph looked confused and slightly hurt. He followed her to her room trying to find out what made her so upset and how to make it up to her. Leo plopped down on the seat next to Piper, he nuzzled close to her. She just looked at him and nodded her head.

"It's okay Leo I understand now. I understand." Leo stared at her in confusion.

"What?"

"I just got off the phone with Donny." Leo paled, Raph had told him on the roof that he had started his season, and Leo realized belatedly that he had too. Then he had received a text just before he and Raph came inside saying Donny was aware of their situation and 'had it covered.'

"Ummm, about that." Piper held up a hand.

"It's alright, Donny was very...descriptive. And though I didn't tell him we were...physical...I deduced that that's probably why you're more giddy and not violent, right?" Leo cocked his head.

"Yeah, that's true." She didn't tell him that their love making had been a little rough, it wasn't anything she couldn't handle, after all.

"Well, I'd just like you to know that I'm here for you...in your time of need." She said awkwardly. Leo smiled at her widely, a little too widely, and his eyes darkened.

"Why don't we take this somewhere more...comfortable." He took her hands and led her to her room. Piper was slightly nervous. Though they had done it before, with him acting odd it was different. He shut and locked the door and turned to her, stroking her waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he kissed her slowly. She relaxed, this wouldn't be so bad. It wouldn't be like Donny's slide show, Leo was, after all, a gentleman.

Raph banged on Li's door, trying to get her to open it.

"Babe, I don't know what I did, but open da door so I can apologize." The door opened a crack and Li peered out at him. She gave him a look, but her eyes softened when she saw the look on his face. She felt bad for overreacting like that. She opened the door and they sat down on her bed.

"Look I know I ignored yah a bit and was actin' funny, and I'm-"

"I'm sorry." She cut him off.

"For what?" She noticed she was playing with her hair, a nervous habit. She put her hands down and gave him a small smile.

"I overreacted. It's just, well, Piper said Leo was acting odd too, and we called Donny and...did you know he has power points? It was unsettling and I was thrown off and I overreacted when I saw you. I'm sorry." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

"No sweat, I'd been on da recievin' end of a Donny lecture. Yah don't come out da same." They both laughed and Li relaxed into Raph's arm, as he started telling her about the time Donny lectured them on the birthing habits of walrus seals. She laughed and his eyes took on a dark amber hue and he buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. Li swallowed, wondering if he'd do what he did earlier. Don had explained the how's and why's but he failed to mention what either of them should do about it. And while she was sure Piper had the answer to her problem, that still left Li out in left field. But this was Raph and she trusted Raph. She turned and kissed him on the lips. He took full advantage of the open invitation and was soon running his hands up and down her body. She could tell he was trying to be gentle and not hurt her but he was radiating want. His right hand snaked its way up her shirt and found its way to her bra, which was off before she knew what was happening. She guessed it was true a ninja could remove your bra and you wouldn't even notice. He was in the process of removing her shirt when she let out an involuntary yelp of pain. He'd hit the spot where'd he'd bitten her earlier. He paused mid-action and stared at the wound.

"I did dat to yah." Her hand came up to cover the bite involuntarily.

"It's fine, really." But Raph was looking to the side, trying to get himself under control. He couldn't trust himself around her, he could really hurt her, and he'd never forgive himself...He stood up abruptly and headed for the door.

"Raph, wait. It's not that bad..." He just shook his head, his hand on the door knob.

"I can't risk hurting yah again. I always get so outta control...I can't risk it." He repeated, and left the room. She heard the bathroom door close and the shower come on. Li sighed. She wanted to help him, but how was she going to convince him she wasn't made of glass? She didn't mind a little pain. She'd find a way to help him, she just had to be creative.

"Oh Leo!" Piper's room was dark, the only light coming from the partially closed blinds, where moonlight was spilling in. There was something to be said for rough sex. Leo rolled over next to her with a grunt and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close and nuzzled the crook of her neck. Piper sighed sleepily, damn that was good. She thought he had stamina before, but tonight was amazing. Leo had always had excellent discipline, so turning his more violent urges to more...passionate ones was easy for him. She thought of Li and Raph, she wondered vaguely if Raph could pull that off, but doubted it, he let his emotions and instincts rule him after all. Leo kissed her neck lightly and her eyelids drooped. Thank goodness she didn't have school anymore...

The next morning saw Li up rather early, drinking coffee in the kitchens and browsing the newspaper. Raph was nowhere to be seen, though she thought she heard him on the roof. Leo and Piper had yet to come out of Piper's room, and Li had no doubt as to why. Lucky Piper. Bet Leo didn't freak out like Raph did. She passed the time by watching TV and reading, waiting for Piper to wake up. Maybe she could help her with her Raph problem. She finally got fed up with waiting and at about twelve o'clock and went to bang on Piper's door.

"Piper wake up! There's stuff we need to do." She heard ruffling and the door cracked open revealing a disgruntled Piper with her hair in a mess and her shirt on backwards.

"What? What stuff do we have to do that could possibly be this important?"

"Uh...there's a new magazine out! And we need to get boxes and would you like me to buy you a latte?" Piper narrowed her eyes, then opened the door wider.

"You had me at magazine." She walked into the bathroom and Leo tried to follow her in. She pushed him out into the hallway. "No. Showers are me time." She closed the door and Leo stared at it, looking like a puppy that had just been kicked. Li tried to make him feel better.

"She doesn't do shower sex." Leo stared at her, only just realizing she was standing there. They stared at each other for a moment, before Li headed for the kitchen. She decided to eat cereal and Leo came in as a thump was heard from the roof. He looked up and she nodded.

"He's been up there all morning." Leo turned to her and noticed the mark on her neck. Raph always did have the hardest time with his season. He was obviously keeping his distance so he wouldn't hurt Li, but Leo wondered if that was a good idea. It always got worse before it got better, and he wasn't nearly as bad as he usually was because he and Piper were being physical. Maybe if Raph let Li help him, he wouldn't be so wound up. He nodded toward the roof.

"I'll go talk to him." Li raised an eyebrow. Just the other day he had been all about Raph sleeping on the couch, guess he was a lot more agreeable at his time of the year. Piper came into the kitchen shortly after Leo left and sat down heavily. Li handed her some coffee and the box of cereal. Piper nodded questioningly at the roof and Li nodded.

"Yep."

"Is there really a new magazine?"

"No." She sighed and stood up.

"You're still buying me coffee." Once in safely in Li's car where no turtle could hear them, she turned to Piper and explained her problem, she nodded along while she sipped her latte, before finally giving Li an answer.

"Blow up sex doll." Li looked horrified.

"What?"

"Blow up sex doll. He gets all his aggression out on that, and then once he pops it you two can have safe sex...safer sex."

"That's terrible! I'm not getting him a sex doll! Think of something else!" Piper took another sip of her coffee and directed Li to go to Target, insisting that better ideas came to her when she was shopping.

They walked around the store, looking at various things and finally settling down in the magazine aisle, lazing flipping through them.

"You know it's funny, when you guys were first beginning Raph was trying to get into your pants and now the situation's reversed.

"I'm not trying to get into his pants, I'm just trying to prove I'm not breakable." Piper finished off her coffee.

"Well if you look at it from his perspective he does have a reason to be worried." Li waited for her to continue. "Well, aside from you mutating into a cat under his watch, he's always had temper problems, and reacts violently to most things, and everything tics him off."

"Not everything." Piper flipped through another magazine.

"You're right. You don't tic him off." She threw the magazine over her shoulder and spun around dramatically and pointed at Li.

"Listen chica, this is what you're going to do. You're going to take your man by the reins and ride him like a horse. He has less control if you're on top and you get to control the action. So even if you don't have sex, it will still prove to him you're not going to break." Li stared at her.

"You're serious?" Piper nodded energetically. Li sighed.

"We'll see." She said with little conviction. They returned home an hour later with several bags and some groceries to see Raph pacing the living room and Leo laughing at something on TV. Li paused, then went into the kitchen to put away the food. The footsteps that followed her were not Piper's. She waited for Raph to say something as she put away the milk and juice, and he finally sighed.

"Look, this ain't easy for me, okay? I can always beat up my bros at this time or go after Purple Dragons, but now...all my instincts are telling me ta go after yah." She paused, it wasn't that she was frightened, but something about the way he said that sent a chill up her spine. "And I kinda lost it before, I don't wanna hurt yah again, who knows what I could do ta yah! She turned around and faced him.

"Is Leo generally violent?" Raph scratched his head.

"A little." She gestured to the living room, where you could hear him laughing.

"Is he now?" Raph frowned.

"Look, I think the reason you were so bad in the past is that you were repressed, but now..." She put her hands on his plastron and looked him in the eye. "I can help you with that. I trust you, and I won't break, I'm stronger than I look." He looked uneasy.

"Yah could get hurt."

"I trust you." He wanted nothing more than for what she was saying to be true.

"Yah know what you're sayin'?" She smirked at him.

"Just try me Raph." His eyes darkened and he grinned at her before swooping down and kissing her. She responded in full, opening her mouth and grinding her hips to his, he lifted her up and hit the table, making a loud thud. He didn't seem to notice as he was too busy exploring her mouth. She ran an experimental hand down his side and to his tail. He shuddered and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he suppressed a groan. He retaliated by grabbing her ass and giving it a quick squeeze, she gasped out in shock and licked his neck.

Meanwhile in the living room a very disturbed Piper and Leo, sat trying to watch The Price is Right, trying to pretend they didn't notice what was going on in the kitchen. After Piper heard a rip, she decided enough was enough. They were not going to do it where she ate, dammit. She turned the volume on the TV to high and Leo covered his ears. In the kitchen, Li and Raph paused and looked at each other.

"Think that's a hint?" He hoisted her up and carried her to her bedroom. The door slammed and Piper turned down the volume. Leo sighed in relief and looked at her hopefully.

"Not on the couch."

Meanwhile, Raph had locked the door and was currently sucking on Li's neck, making sure not to use his teeth. Li just stroked his plastron, biting her lip. Her neck was rather sensitive territory. He seemed to notice and paid extra attention to it, but continued to be mindful of the bite mark he left. His hands found their way under her shirt and in one fluid motion he removed it and tossed it on the floor. Her bra came off next followed by his belt, his sias left forgotten in the kitchen. He ground roughly against her and crashed his lips against her, leaving almost no space between their bodies. She ran her hands over his body and matched his intensity. His hands left her hips and snaked their way up her body to her breasts that he started kneading. She let out a groan that drove him over the edge. He slipped his finger into the gap between her jeans and her skin and tugged them lower, grinning in delight when he saw her red underwear.

"Nice packaging." She flushed and hit him up side the head. He grinned again and kissed her. She undid the button on her jeans and kicked them off. She momentarily realized that she was about to lose her virginity, then grinned. She couldn't think of anyone better to give it to. He played with her, before finally succumbing to his need and ripping her underwear off her, muttering a small apology about how he'd get her a new pair. She held on to his shell as he finished what he started and thrust into her and kissed her again.

The next morning saw Piper up early and Li still in bed. Leo was already training on the roof, and had woken Piper up. Since she had been unable to go back to sleep, she just watched cartoons. Thank goodness for Saturdays. Li, meanwhile, was still fast asleep. Raph was wrapped tightly around her, snoring quietly. He awoke when Leo did a jump kick and landed above them, making a soft thump. He blinked and took in the sight of Li, her long hair around her shoulders, and the many new marks on her neck and chest. He felt guilt and revulsion at himself build up in his stomach and work its way up to his throat. He took his hands off her and tried silently detangling her from him, so he could leave. She brought herself closer to him and snuggled against his plastron.

"It's okay, I love you." She said sleepily before she fell asleep again. He froze, his breath caught in his throat. She...loved him? He stared down at her face, smiling softly in her sleep and sighed. He kissed her forehead and promised that next time would be better.

"I love yah too."