Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT. All rights to all characters in this story belong to Mirage Studios, except my girls (Vanessa, Rachel, Lily and Sam)

Okey dokes, just before we start this chapter, I would like to remind you that we Fan Fiction authors like support to keep us going, so every story you read, please give a review, it makes us all so happy! I truly and honestly have nothing else to say (there's a first time for everything) so I suppose you'll be off.

Okay, enjoy!

After Lily, Sam and Rachel are dropped off at their respective homes, Leo drives to Vanessa's house, having taken over Raph's position for the safety of all in the vehicle. Raph sits in the back beside Vanessa, dozing lightly on his shoulder as worst case scenarios race through his mind like tadpoles, impossible to ignore. Once Leo pulls up to Vanessa's dark house, Raph says quietly, "I'll take 'er inside. No one's home and I don't think she can get up the steps by herself."

Leonardo nods, eyeing Raph as he nudges Vanessa awake. Raph helps her out of the van and puts his arm around her waist, draping her arm over his shoulders. He walks her to the porch and Vanessa fumbles with her key as she shivers, finally shoving it into the lock and turning it. She pushes the door open and clutches her forehead, feeling a head ache coming on. She staggers to the couch to take a seat and loses her balance, almost plummeting to the floor. Luckily, Raph catches her about the waist with his quick reflexes, but is pulled down on the couch himself. Her vision blurry, Vanessa looks up at Raph and smiles at their new position, stroking the side of his face. Raph relaxes slightly to the sensation of her soft fingers upon his skin and Vanessa presses her lips to his. He is alright until she pushes her lower body into his a little too earnestly; then, he tenses and pulls back quickly. Dazed, Vanessa asks silkily, "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this. Ya don't feel well, this might be considered takin' advantage of ya," he answers, trying to ignore her fingers walking up his bicep slowly. Vanessa rolls her eyes at him and murmurs, "C'mon, baby. Who cares? I don't mind." She leans in again and again Raph stops her.

'This ain't like Vanessa.'

"Do ya remember drinkin' anything alcoholic?" he demands sharply, his distaste for alcohol apparent in his spiteful tone. She shakes her head 'no' honestly, and he replays the night through his head to remember any vital information.

'Got to the restaurant, ordered, talked about NASCAR, sang, talked about those jerks who think they can run our country, compared scars, fought about if 'The Rolling Stones' or 'The Beatle's were better, told off waiter, talked about how dumb sequels are, kissed—hold it. The waiter…he was prowlin' around our table, and I thought I saw somethin' drop from his hand…'

"The bastard," Raph breathes venomously, another wave of anger flooding over him. Looking at Vanessa and taking his body from atop her, he explains, "I'm gonna carry ya back ta the car, and I'm gonna make ya feel better, 'kay?" He doesn't wait for an answer and lifts her from the couch, cradling her to his chest.

He locks the door with one hand and make sure he has Vanessa's key. Raph gives the door knob another turn to be certain it's locked then carries her to the Battle Shell. Mikey opens the door after he raps on the window, and Leo asks with annoyance in his tone, "Raph, what do you think you're doing?"

"I think that I'm bringing Vanessa ta the lair so Master Splinter can check her out," he responds, releasing a grunt as he leaps into the vehicle with Vanessa in his arms. Taking on an expression of utmost seriousness, Mikey informs, "It won't make him jealous to see how pretty she is, Raph."

Raph lets out a growl and shouts, "I don't want ta show 'er off, I want ta help 'er! That damn, womanizin' waiter drugged 'er somehow, and she's shiverin' like crazy!"

Sure enough, Vanessa's body shakes and her teeth chatter, her arms crossed over her chest. Leo's eyes narrow and he revs the engine. He speeds down the street and takes the corner a little too sharply, racing to their garage nine blocks away.

As they enter the lair, Master Splinter chances to peek from one eye while he meditates and sighs, asking, "Must you boys bring every wounded girl you find to our lair?" He struggles to stand and winces as his old knees creak. "It's Vanessa," Raph replies fleetingly as Don rushes ahead of him toward the medical room. Concerned, Master Splinter asks, "What is the matter, Raphael?"

However, his question goes unanswered as Don and Raph are already in the 'Doctors Office', laying Vanessa onto the cold metal table. Unable to do anything challenging with more than three fingers, Don takes off his molecular changer, Raph and his brothers following suit. Vanessa continues to shake as Don feels her glands, takes her pulse and temperature, checks her pupils to see if they're dilating, and finally takes out a needle.

"Yer gonna jab that in her arm?" Raph asks, becoming a little protective Vanessa when she seems so frail. In an effort to be a doctor rather than a brother, Don replies professionally while cleaning an area of her skin with a cotton ball dipped in disinfectant, "I have to take a blood sample to see what we're dealing with."

Holding her arm gingerly in one hand, he uses the other to push the needle into her vein, pulling back the plunger part slowly. Not wanting to panic her, Don explains what he's doing and why, like talking to a scared child at their annual check up. When the syringe is full of the crimson liquid, he examines it, comparing it to diagrams of the molecules within the blood stream. A few minutes of calculations and tests later, he discovers what was used.

"It was a laboratory made sedative narcotic, though I can't find any agencies or companies that produced it. It' like this guy made it himself, or had some connection with some scientists of such matters," Don says. Seeing the worried expression on Raph's face, Don assures, "Don't worry, it was only a small dose. She should be fine. In the meantime, we should give her some tea, wrap her in a blanket, and wait until she stops shivering."

Leo nods and hurries to the kitchen to make a pot of tea. Mikey takes the stairs two at a time and ducks into his room, emerging seconds later with a fleece blanket, and Raph sets Vanessa gently on the battered blue couch. Her teeth click together even after the blanket is draped over her. The old rat kneels in front of her and informs kindly, "You will have warm tea in a moment, child. Now, tell me about yourself."

Don opens his mouth to object, but his Sensei raises a paw, saying wisely, "It will help her gain her bearings." He smiles at her as she stumbles along memory lane, until a cup of steaming tea is pressed into her hands by Leo. Stopping in the middle of her story about the go-kart incident, she smiles graciously and murmurs, "Thank you," taking a long sip of the sweet liquid, becoming more conscious of herself and her surroundings by the moment. Master Splinter begins to tell her an old Japanese tale about a man searching for his heart's desire. In the middle of the interesting tale, slow steady breathing can be heard from the couch. Vanessa's eyelids are closed firmly and she nuzzles her cheek into the tread-bare arm of the couch, causing the blanket to fall from her shoulder. Their father nods at them, and Leo and Raph oblige. They turn on their molecular changers and Raph lifts Vanessa, the two brothers leaving the lair.

For the third time this evening, Leo and Raph pull up to Vanessa's house. Raph carries Vanessa up the steps and manages to unlock and open the door using only two fingers. He finds what he assumes to be her room and lowers her onto the bed, pulling a blanket over her body. His ninja stealth always useful, he sneaks from the room and finds her parent's cell phone number on a piece of paper by the phone in the kitchen. Dialing nervously, he listens to the endless ringing until Vanessa's mother picks up. Interrupting her pleasantries, Raph says, "It's Raphael. Listen, I'm just gonna come out with it: a waiter at the restaurant somehow drugged Vanessa, but my brothers and I took to a …'doctor' ta get her looked at, an' she's fine now. Are ya okay, Mrs. McMillan?"

"Go faster, George!" he hears the woman hiss loudly, then the small but mighty woman returns to the phone and thanks him, promising they'll be there in a few minutes. He can't help but smile when he hears her shout, "I said faster, George!...I don't care if we're past the speed limit, I said faster!"

Swallowing his smile, Raph offers generously, "I'll wait here 'til ya get back."

"Thank you, Raphael, dear," Vanessa's mother replies, snapping her phone shut. Raph hangs up the phone with a click and the quiet of the house hits him. Nothing else striking his fancy, he wanders to Vanessa's room and seats himself on the edge of her bed. Vanessa's eyelids flutter open, a relived smile crossing her face when she realizes it's only Raph. She sits up slightly and runs a hand over her face, whispering in a cracked voice, "It was really weird. Where you took me I saw…giant turtles and a huge rat…I think I'm hallucinating."

"Don't worry," he breathes, "It's all over."

Ten minutes later, they hear the door open and Vanessa's parents rush into her bedroom. Raph moves aside just in time to miss being bowled over by Vanessa's mother who takes his seat at her side. Vanessa squints in confusion and asks, "Why are you so worried? Raph was with me the entire time; didn't you know I'd be safe?"

Her mother turns her gaze towards Raph who casts his eyes down, worried he will be blamed for what happened. After a moment she shifts her sight back to her daughter and strokes her hair gently. Kissing Vanessa's forehead, she leaves her daughter to rest, and Vanessa's father steers Raph into the hallway.

"We want to thank you again for looking after Vanessa. But I was wondering, exactly what happened?" her mother presses, and Raph tells the whole story, including how the waiter got fired, but omitting that he kissed her. Duty fulfilled, he bids goodbye to her parents and walks into the lamp lit street, relived to see his brother waiting for him. He hops into the armored car as Leo starts it, driving in silence until Leo asks, "Is she alright?"

Raph snaps out of his pondering and replies awkwardly, "Yeah, she's feeling better, though she'll have a killer headache in the mornin'."

They're quiet for a few more moments, when Leo asks, "How was it?"

"How was what?" Raph wonders, confused. Leo grins and looks both ways, taking a turn and teasing, "Don't play innocent with me, Raph. I know you kissed her, I had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that has become so accurate over the years."

Raph looks down at his hands, blushing and he begins, "It was—" He stops abruptly and demands with a raised eye ridge, "If ya knew that I kissed 'er, why didn't ya pull me aside and lecture me like always?" Leo inconspicuously avoids his brother's eyes by fiddling with the radio, and realization dawns on Raph. A smirk spreading over his face, Raph guesses, "Ya kissed Rachel, didn't ya?"

Leo neither denies nor confirms this, slamming in the brakes and cursing under his breath as some idiot pulls out in front of him. Raph takes his silence as a yes, then muses aloud, "Wonder if brainiac did anythin'?" He receives a shrug from Leo, and Raph laughs, muttering "Doubt it." They both think about this for a second and then both have a horrible thought. Looking at each other, they shout in unison, "Mikey?!"

Haha, they finally catch on. Of course Mikey kissed Sam, of course he did...

This chapter wasn't very interesting, but it was important, and important is all that matters!

I actually like making Raph seem softer, it was cute, and the short brother bonding time at the end was classic. More to come, I hope you liked it! All you have to do is click the little button below that says 'Review' and you will have a very happy author! XD

Have a nice day, and R&R!