Chapter 10

Discovered

Rummaging through his collection of films, Michelangelo was trying to find something good to watch after their run-in with the Foot earlier that night. While he did however, Kate entered the room.

"Hey, Mikey."

"Oh, hi, Kate. What's up?"

"Nothing special, I just wanted to thank you for watching my back during the fight."

"Don't mention it, it was my pleasure."

"Enjoyed the view then, huh?" Kate said with a mischievous smile.

"What? No! I… that is… I mean… I didn't..." Michelangelo half panicked, blushing quite a lot as he tried to explain himself, with no success, but Kate only laughed at him.

"You're a fun guy, you know that, right? I like that."

"You do? Well… thanks, I guess."

"So, find any good films?"

"A few, yeah, what do you think, Avengers or Return of the Mummy?"

"Don't think I've watched Return of the Mummy before, have seen the first one though. It was a bit creepy sometimes, but I liked it."

"Then that's the one we take. Hope the other's don't mind."

"Can't see that it would be any problem. But, Mikey, do you think maybe we can do something together sometime? Just the two of us?"

"You and me? I guess, but why just us?"

"I like you and would like to get to know you a little better. And since those fuckers interrupted us when we talked earlier, I thought that maybe we could continue or maybe play a game together, or skate a while."

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I think we can hog the TV for a couple of rounds of Mortal Kombat or Smash tomorrow night. If that's okay with you."

"Sure, I'm game for that." Kate said with a warm smile, and for a while, Michelangelo didn't feel as scared of the viper as he used to, maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

The next night, after completing their training, Michelangelo once again headed out skating, going to meet up with Shari. But his activities didn't go completely unnoticed, both Monalisa and Sephie were growing suspicious of him, and against better judgement, they decided to follow him.

"This is the fourth night in a row that Mikey goes skating, and roughly at the same time too. Something isn't quite right here." Monalisa whispered as the two lizards stealthily hurried after the turtle.

"I know what you mean, it feels almost as when Tyroth was blackmailed by Arashi not too long ago, but I can't believe that something like that would happen to Mikey."

"No, he wouldn't be able to handle something like that, he would break under that kind of pressure. This is something else, but I can't figure out what."

"Wait… does this place look familiar to you too?" Sephie asked. Monalisa looked around and she too recognized the area they ran through.

"You're right. We're near where we found Mikey's skateboard the other day."

"Speaking of Mikey, I think we lost him."

"Look again, Sephie. Over there." Monalisa pointed to the wall further ahead of them. It was the exact same place where they had found the skateboard wedged between the pipes near the ladder, and it was once again.

"Okay, there is definitely something going on. Let's go up somewhere else and see if we can find him."

Backtracking a few blocks, the two lizard girls climbed up into a dark alley, from there, they continued up onto the rooftops, stealthy and completely unseen by any humans that walked the streets of New York. Letting their gazes sweep the surroundings, they soon found Michelangelo not far from where he had surfaced.

He was standing in plane sight, not making any noticeable effort to hide from prying eyes. Granted, not many humans went onto the rooftops at this time, even if it was still rather early, but the Foot could easily spot him.

Monalisa and Sephie quickly moved to a rooftop adjacent to the one Michelangelo was on, being extra careful not to be detected. Hiding behind the edge, they kept a close eye on the orange-masked turtle.

"What is he doing? It looks almost as if he's waiting for something." Sephie whispered.

"This is getting stranger by the minute. I wonder-"

"Look! The door's opening!"

They saw the door open, and Michelangelo quickly taking cover in the shadows, then a young woman stepped out on the roof, and once she had closed the door behind her, Michelangelo stepped out of the shadows and greeted her, to the great surprise of the two mutant girls.

"Who is that? I can't remember hearing anything about her." Sephie said in a very hushed voice.

"I don't know, I've never seen her before. And she doesn't match any of the other human friends that the turtles have told me about."

As Monalisa and Sephie kept a close eye on Michelangelo and the young woman, the turtle and human had started talking, completely oblivious that they were being spied upon by the lizards.

"Thank you for coming again." Shari said. "It must be difficult to come see me every night."

"Don't mention it. I just told the others that I was going skating, like I did the other nights. I do that sometimes either way."

"That's clever of you, but when do you think I can meet them? I'm so very curious to how they are like, and what they'll think of me."

"I'm not sure, I'd like to introduce you right away, but I'm not sure if they're ready, or if we're ready for that matter."

"Okay, I understand. It can't be easy for someone like you to be around a normal human."

"Yeah, most humans freak out when they see us, but we're used to keep hidden, but it sure is boring. Speaking of boring, we were gonna do something fun tonight. Remember?"

"Oh yeah! You knew a good place for stargazing, didn't you? But, how do we get there?"

"Well… I hadn't really thought about that, to be honest. We mostly get from place to place either by going through the sewers, or jumping across the rooftops."

"Jumping? Across the rooftops? You can jump that far?" Shari asked, slightly wide eyed, impressed by Michelangelo's claim.

"It takes some effort, but we're stronger than humans, so we can make that kind of jumps, but I'm not sure how you're gonna be able to get there."

"I'm not very keen on going through the sewers. I know you said it wasn't that bad, but still. Maybe I could take a cab there, but it was high up, was it not?"

"It was, yeah, but I got an idea. I could carry you while I make the jumps."

"You can? Are you sure? I mean, it's pretty far between buildings."

"Shouldn't be that hard, I clear those jumps easily, though, I'll have to put a little extra into them if I'm carrying you. That is, if you trust me."

"Of course I trust you, I'm just a little worried that something might happen anyway."

"Don't worry, I'll hold you tight, if you still want to do this."

"I do, just… just let me get mentally prepared first."

Once Shari felt that she was ready, Michelangelo picked her up bridal style. They both blushed as he held her close to his chest, and Michelangelo once again felt her sweet perfume. The sweet fragrance of vanilla and roses was almost a bit intoxicating, but Michelangelo shook it off so he could focus on making the jumps. He was kind of nervous, jumping while carrying someone wasn't easy, but he believed that he could do it.

Taking a running start, he made the first jump, and as he did, he felt Shari press herself against him, and his heart almost skipped a beat. But they were not the only ones moving across the rooftops, Monalisa and Sephie followed them at a distance, being far too curious to leave well enough alone, even though they knew that they should. Ten minutes later, Michelangelo had made his way to one of the taller buildings, and let Shari down. Her legs were a bit wobbly at first, but that passed quickly. The two lizards had stopped on a neighbouring roof, continuing to spy on them.

"Wow! This is incredible!" Shari said, looking at the starry night-sky. That high up, it was almost completely free from the light pollution from below.

"Sure is cool, huh? We do things like this every now and then, just chilling and looking at the stars."

"I understand why you like it. I don't think I've ever seen them so clear before. Thank you, for doing this for me, Mikey." she said, standing next to the turtle.

"You don't have to thank me." he said, blushing a bit.

"Yes I do. You saved me from those ruffians, you have been coming to meet me every night since then, and now you do this for me." she said, turning to face Michelangelo and placing her hand on his cheek. "You're the nicest guy I have ever met, and I just can't thank you enough for all that you've done for me, even though you didn't know me."

"Shari, I..." he began, but he was so taken aback that he couldn't find the words.

Shari leaned closer to him, and Michelangelo felt himself drawn closer as well, both by his own will and by her hand on his cheek gently pulling him in. His heart beat faster and his pulse raced as their faces nearly touched, blushing greatly when he looked into her eyes, feeling her breath against his lips.

They both closed their eyes and their lips met.

His first kiss. It was heavenly. Time almost seemed to stop as he felt her soft lips against his, he could never have imagined that it would feel so good to kiss a girl.

On the next roof over, Sephie and Monalisa looked on with eyes wide and their jaws had dropped, they were so stunned that they couldn't have made a sound even if their lives depended on it. They couldn't believe what they just had seen, it was just too unreal. The goofy and carefree Michelangelo and a human girl, and they kissed each other.

It took a few moments for the lizards to regain their senses and actually be able to think clearly again. With a lot to process, they decided to head back home, and they didn't want to intrude. Quietly and quickly, they made their way down to street level and entered the sewers in an empty alley.

"Did we just see what we saw?" Sephie asked after a few minutes of silently going over everything, but still not believing it.

"I'm honestly not sure, but I think we did." said Monalisa, still just as shocked as her friend. "They kissed..."

"Mikey's got a girlfriend… a human girlfriend… I… I… I don't even know what to think about that!"

"Me neither. I couldn't imagine this, not even in my wildest dreams."

"And I that thought he and Kate was starting to get along well too."

"Oh no... Kate! What will she think of this?" said Monalisa, worried about how the viper would take the news that the guy she fancied had chosen someone else, remembering how Leonardo had reacted when she picked Raphael.

"Shit! She might go after that girl if she gets really mad. What should we do?"

"I don't know. This has all gotten so complicated now."

Back topside, Michelangelo and Shari held each other close as they continued to watch the stars. They seemed to have a different glow about them as opposed to before the kiss. Michelangelo was happier than he had been for a long time and he felt at peace, but that couldn't last forever, at least not at that time. It was starting to get cold, so he thought it was best to take Shari back to her home, and head back to the lair himself. He didn't have a thought on what he would say to the others when he inevitably had to tell them about Shari, it didn't matter at that time.

Carrying Shari back to her apartment, he held her extra close on the way there. Once he reached her home, they said good bye, but before he left, he was given another kiss, this time on his cheek. Blushing like crazy, Michelangelo went down into the alley and the manhole, leaving Shari on the rooftop, as she watched him slide the lid back in place.

However, from the shadows on another rooftop, emerged several Foot ninja. Having kept watch over the building, they waited until the turtle had left before making their move. Swiftly and without a sound, they moved from their hiding place and onto the rooftop where Shari was just about to enter the door and go to her apartment, but she never reached the door as the ninja appeared as if from nowhere and blocked her path.

"Master Arashi wishes to speak with you." said one ninja.

Wow! Mikey just got his first kiss! Now things are really heating up around here. But that kind of news won't sit well with Kate, and that viper has a temper.

Bet you're all glad that Shari wasn't in any danger after we last saw her, and angry now that she is. Don't go anywhere, this will keep on getting complicated.