***YAYY I'm done all my exams! Ugh, it has been a very stressful few days but here I am again, writing fanfics! hahahahaaa. I was kind of reluctant on posting this chapter though. I dunno, I could have done so much better on it. But I'm already caught up on the 5th chapter and i'm waaay too lazy to change this one up(I actually tried to change it...), so i'll just make up for this chapter by making the other ones super good. Okay! :D ****

It was cold. I couldn't remember how I had gotten myself into this mess, but I knew that I was going to get myself out. I was in a hallway of a hotel.

CRACK.

I turned around, trying to discover what the source of the noise was. At the very end of the hallway, I saw one of the light bulbs had broken. I squinted my eyes, trying to get a better look, but suddenly I heard another CRACK. I saw that the light bulb in front of it had popped as well, and the end of the hallway was suddenly getting very dark. The light bulbs broke, one by one, and the darkness grew thicker as it headed into my direction.

I turned away, running in the opposite direction, hoping the darkness wouldn't catch up to me in time. The light bulbs broke at a faster pace, and I ran at a tiring speed, trying not to get swallowed up by the darkness. I ran and ran down the hallway, finally reaching the end. The only thing standing between me and freedom was a door. It had the number 265 on it. I yanked the door open, hoping to find something better than the darkness, but what I saw only shocked me.

It was a fairly kind memory- a memory I had thought I had forgotten. I saw as my brother and I ran around the yard playing with our action figures, and my parents were casually barbecuing some steaks. They smiled as they stared at us playing. Nostalgia hit me hard, and I stared at the memory wanting to enter it. As soon as I took a step towards it, I felt myself being pulled away from it. The darkness had gotten me.

I woke up with a gasp and my eyes shot open. I was breathing hard. Thank god it was just a nightmare, I thought to myself. Just a terrible, terrible nigh-

My face felt wet, as if I was crying or sweating. I moved my right hand to my face, lightly touching my right cheek with my fingers. Okay. My cheeks are wet so I was probably crying. I sighed. The nightmare was bad. Just terrible. But what the hell did it all mean?

The dirt on my sweater caught my eye, and I immediately brought it closer to my eyes. It was really dirty. Wait a second... This isn't dirt. I pulled up my sleeves and saw bloody bandages covering my forearm. It`s... blood. I quickly glanced over at my other arm, noticing the same stain covering the sleeve.

The memories of what had happened slowly started flowing back to me, and they made me feel quite unpleasant. I looked at the mattress I was sleeping on, and realized it was actually an unfamiliar couch. I slowly looked up; my heart beginning to pound in my chest. I wasn't home... but I wasn't on the roof either. Thankfully, it wasn't too cold anymore.

It was dark everywhere. I couldn`t quite understand why I was here, and how I got here. I felt like I was in another terrible nightmare... all alone.

Suddenly, I felt someone – or something – moving somewhere in the darkness. My heart stopped. If they're going to kill me, they might as well just do it already! I hated the suspense. I especially hated it in movies, too. Why doesn't the bad guy in the movie just come out and kill them already? Why go through the trouble of making them wait? God, I just hated suspenseful movies, and especially horror movies. I suddenly heard something meow in the distance. I shook my head. I was probably just delusional.

I stood up from the couch, hearing it creak under me. A sudden pain shot through my head, and it seemed all too familiar. I fell back into the couch, holding my head with both my arms. I groaned quietly. "I could really use some Advil right about now." That's when I heard voices approaching.

I panicked, knowing that these were probably my kidnappers, so slid back down into a comfortable position on the couch and closed my eyes. I tried my best to make my face look relaxed, but it was hard to when I could practically feel my whole body shaking. It took all my will power to stop any movement from my body. I breathed slowly, making it appear as if I were in a deep slumber.

The voices finally entered the room.

"Raph... I told you not to leave her alone on the couch. Is she hurt? What if she's woken up? And you brought her here because..." Another guy. That name sounded really familiar too...

" 'cause," a familiar voice spoke, "she passed out. What was I s'pposed to do? Leave her there on the roof? It was freezin' outside! And get this; she didn't even freak out when she saw what I looked like. She didn't scream or nothin'."

"That's..." the voice paused, "good, I guess?"

They were closer to me now. I could feel them at the end of the couch, staring at me.

"How long has she been out?"

"Well. It took me 'bout... dunno, a minute of hesitation before decidin' to bring 'er here, then 30 minutes ta get here? Then a few minutes of ya freakin' out at me. So... I'd say she's probably been out for roughly 40 minutes now."

There was a sigh, "Okay, well I guess we'll have to wait until Don is finished with his experiment to check up on her. Which will be soon. You chose one hell of a time to bring her home. When Master Splinter gets back from his trip, he's going to be pretty... surprised to see what you brought home." There was a pause. "Have you checked her for wounds?"

"No, I was 'bout to after I put her on the couch then ya came in and started freakin' out at me."

Another sigh came from the unfamiliar voice. "Just check her now, and be careful not to wake her."

"Whuteva', fearless."

Finally, I remembered where the name and voice came from. It was from the roof of the building, when I was going to jump off and he tried to stop me. I felt relief wash through my body, and I felt a little more comfortable knowing that it was Raph that had taken me, and not those gangsters I had a very bad encounter with.

I slowly opened my eyes, making it appear as if I had just woken up. I hadn't realized they turned on the lights, because as soon as my eyes opened everything was just... bright. It blinded me for a second.

My eyes eventually adjusted, and I saw a giant green turtle beside me, wearing a red bandana around his eyes. I stared at him, waiting for him to notice that I had awoken, but he was too focused on searching for injuries.

"Um... Hi," I squeaked out. His eyes moved towards my face.

"Oh uh... hey," he said awkwardly. He turned to face another direction. "LEO! SHE'S AWAKE."

I hadn't even realized his companion left the room. His sudden shout was ringing in my ears, and made me feel light headed. I started to get up, but he quickly grabbed my shoulders and pushed them back down on the couch. "No. Don't move. And you better listen to me this time." He looked down at me, giving me this look that made me give in and lay back down. "LEO HURRY UP 'ND GET YER ASS OVER HERE."

"What? What?" Another turtle entered the room, but he was wearing a blue mask and was a different shade of green. He was holding a tea kettle and a few cups. He walked over, putting down what he was holding onto the coffee table located in front of the couch I was on.

"Took ya' long enough. I told ya she woke up."

"Sorry, I was making tea for when..." he stared mostly at me, rather than Raph.

"Whateva'." Another sigh from the one with the blue bandana.

The blue masked turtle looked at me and gave me a small smile. I stared at him. Not wanting to make the situation awkward, I smiled back. He finally spoke up.

"Hello, I'm Leonardo. And this is-"

"She knows that already." Raph rolled his eyes, and stared at the one named Leonardo. They glared at each other for a moment.

"Hello Leonardo," I nodded as a greeting, and my eyes shifted quickly between the two turtles, trying to figure out distinct differences between them. Raph was a little bigger than Leonardo, but not by much. I noticed now that they both carried different weapons; Raph had the sais and Leonardo had katanas. From what Raph had told me earlier, I assumed that Leonardo was one of the brother's he spoke about.

"What's your name?" the blue masked turtle asked me softly. Raph looked up at me, wanting to know my name as well.

"I'm Leanne," I answered, forcing a smile onto my face.

"Leanne... that's a nice name," Leonardo smiled in approval.

"So um... Raph. Is Leonardo –"

"It's okay to just call me Leo, Leanne."

"Oh, okay. So, are you two... brothers?" I asked.

Raph looked over at Leo, and quickly looked back at me. "Yeah."

I looked around the room we were in; it was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. There was a huge Television in front of me, combined with other tiny televisions surrounding it, empty pizza boxes at every corner, and the ceiling was just... so high.

"And you guys... live here?"

It wasn't really your typical townhouse in New York. It was nothing like my cozy warm house. If not, it was probably the complete opposite. There weren't... many, wall decorations besides this one wooden square hanging beside the Television that had the words "Sewer Sweet Sewer" carved in. The walls were all covered with grey stone, and I assumed the ground was just as the same. I looked behind the couch, and noticed that the place extended further on. I decided to investigate this place later; if I would be allowed to.

"So... Leanne," Raph finally said, trying not to sound too harsh. "Will ya... tell us what happened? Why it's not safe to go home? And... the other thing?"

Leo looked confused. "What other thing?"

"Okay, I'll explain..." I said quietly.

So I did.

I told them everything that happened; from when I left the house, how fast I walked, how the big guy's looked, how I didn't call the police... I tried to make it as detailed as possible. I changed the ending up a little though, not wanting to draw too much attention to myself. I wanted the poor cashier at the corner station to be given his money back, and for those thieves to be brought to justice.

"And so, after I got onto the roof, I uh... dropped my phone." I took it out of my pocket, displaying the little pieces of it that was left along with the battery. Leo took it with his hand and placed it on the coffee table, reassuring that their other brother – Don, was it? – would be able to fix it up. "And... I fell... off the roof and Raph saved me." I said the last sentence too quickly.

"Liar," Raph whispered, glaring at me. I returned the glare.

Leo looked at him, then to me, then back to him. "Okay... well. These guys sound a lot like Purple Dragons."

"Purple Dragons?" I thought about the name for a second, realizing they were a pretty big street gang in New York. "OH! No wonder their tattoo looked so... I don't know, weird. I didn't realize that it was part of their gang logo, or whatever."

"Ain't it obvious? They're called the purple dragons and they had DRAGON tattoos? ...And don't change tha subject." Raph said through his teeth. "Tell Leo the truth 'bout what happened!"

"That is the truth," I countered back. My eyes stared directly into his; pleading for him to go along with what I was saying. He didn't go with it.

"You tried to jump off the building. I tried to stop you before you did, but you just said 'I'm sorry' and ya just JUMPED!" Raph was yelling, but he wasn't mad at me. He sounded more... sad, I guess.

I stared at him, too nervous to look at Leo. Raph was standing now, staring down at me, while Leo was still crouched to my side, his eyes on me.

"What... what's that on your sleeves?" Leo asked quietly, gently touching my right arm.

I pulled my arm back, trying to hide the stains. "Oh, what? These stains? Oh I just... I just fell earlier. It's just – "

It was too late. Leo had already grabbed my right arm and pulled up my sleeve. I cringed at the sudden contact with my wound, but I said nothing. I stared at my wound like it was nothing. I glanced up at Raph, who gaped at the sight of my arm. My focus switched back to Leo's expression. He was quiet. Surprised, even. His eyes were wide.

"Thos... that wasn't... dirt? Mud? It wasn't mud?" Raph crouched beside me in disbelief. He grabbed my left arm, doing the same action that Leo did, and I heard Leo gasp beside him. This only confirmed Raph's story about me jumping off the roof of the building. "...I'm so fuckin' stupid."

I bit my lip. I really wanted to grab my arm back and say that I just fell or that my friend's cat scratched me, but I knew it was too late. It was too obvious that they were self inflicted wounds. The lines across were too... perfect. Too deep. I tried to say something that would ease the situation.

"Don't... Don't worry about it. It doesn't hurt or anything. I just... it's not like I..." I didn't know what to say. There was nothing to say. Of all the emotions I could be feeling right now... I felt... embarrassed.

I yanked both my arms away, pulling both my sleeves down at the same time.

They were at a loss for words; and I wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. I haven't been around them long enough to know what they were like. I just... didn't know what to do. They stared at each other, then back to me, then to my arms, then continued on thinking.

"Hey guys! I'm done, sorry I took so long. So, who am I checking over?" a turtle with a purple mask suddenly appeared behind the couch he had a bo-staff attached to his shell. He was also a different shade of green. Weird.

He looked down at me, giving me a warm smile. "Hi, I'm Donatello. Call me Don for short." He gave me a tiny wink. I smirked, but I was still feeling awkward.

"I'm Leanne."

He nodded at me... such a friendly turtle guy. He looked at his two other brothers that were crouching down beside me. "Guys? What's wrong?" he asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Don," Leo finally spoke up, "Her arms are really hurt. Can you help her?"

Don looked at me, then back at Leo. "Uh, well how hurt is she?" He gently grabbed my left arm, but I immediately pulled it back. He gave me a strange look.

"I... er... look for yourself. I'm not exactly... sure how to... deal with this sort of thing. I've never..." Leo trailed off.

"Okay. Let's bring her to my lab, and I'll take a look," Don ordered calmly. The purple one wasn't smiling anymore. Maybe Leo's reaction to this situation had caused him to feel some sort of... discomfort? Maybe this wasn't Leo's usual way of reacting to situations? But what I did wasn't even bad, and it didn't involve them in any way. Why were they acting so surprised by it? They barely knew who I was.

I immediately felt someone lifting me in a bridal hold. I looked up to see it was Raph, his green eyes were soft but he wasn't looking at me. He was carrying me to Donatello's lab.

As soon as we entered, I noticed a nicely decorated bed – or operating table, I wasn't sure which since it was decorated for some reason – and many test tubes, bandages, and other typical things you'd find in a lab.

Raph placed me onto the table, and I sat up right away trying to hide my forearms by pushing them into my lap. My head began spinning, but I forced myself to look natural, and ignored the pain.

"Okay. Show me your arms," Don commanded.

I shook my head quickly, "I can't. I uh- they're... They're fine, really. I'm used to them. I usually let them heal over time. I know how to treat them."

Leo and Raph were both concerned for me. I could tell, since they were anxiously waiting behind the doctor of the family. Raph sat down in this big chair, leaning towards where Don and I were, while Leo paced around slowly, occasionally glancing over in our direction. They were both listening carefully to what I was saying.

Don turned around, and then looked back at me. "Will you show them to me if they leave?"

I paused for a moment. That would seem... kind of harsh to them, wouldn't it? I guess them leaving would've been better than them WATCHING me roll up my sleeves again. I didn't feel comfortable with them staring. Their reaction earlier sort of... hurt. They looked at my arms like I was some sort of... freak. I nodded, not wanting to speak.

Don whirled around in his chair. "Okay you two, off to bed. It's almost 2 am." He stood and started pushing them out of the room. I could tell they were about to protest, but I'm guessing Don gave them a glare of death that told them to 'leave now, or you will feel my wrath'. It was strange to see, since he seemed like the calm one of the three. Leo and Raph slowly made their way out of the room, looking back quickly before the door closed.

"Okay. Let's do this... show me your arms," Don repeated. I hesitated, almost regretting letting Leo and Raph leave. But it was now, or never. I rolled up my right sleeve, hoping his response wouldn't be as bad as Raph and Leo's.

****once agaainnnn... I really almost didn't post this because I wasn't sure if they were completely in character or not... but then I started working on the other chapters, and I'm hoping that the next ones will make up for some of the ooc in this chapter. I'll probably update the story again tomorrow, since chapter 4 is already done :D****