When Tracey came back to consciousness her body ached like she'd tried to lift weight too heavy for her but it wasn't the mind wrenching agony she'd been in before. Leo was sitting next to the bed reading another Manga.

Tracey blinked as she opened her eyes and her body twitched as she flexed her limbs, over all very grateful that she was still able to move them and now with a lot less pain than before. Slowly she rolled over and was able to tuck a spare pillow under her arm before a dull pounding started to throb in her head. Tracey pushed her hair out of her face and then studied Leo's facial features as he read his manga, it was the first time she had been able to really study his more human features without noise and distractions. "What is this manga about?" She asked quietly. "I haven't had much time to read manga since I have to work two jobs."

He glanced over at her and held the book out. "Tsubasa." He smiled a little. "How are you feeling?"

"Better but still like a herd of wild horses just dragged me through a large rock quarry." Tracey replied, nodding to the manga title. "I've heard it's a good manga series.

I'd also suggest Rurouni Kenshin and D. if you have the time." She slowly rubbed her temples to try to stop the throbbing headache that threatened to surface with a vengeance. Looking around she didn't see Artemis with her and that concerned her.

"Where is Artemis? Is she okay?"

Leo nodded and handed her a bottle of water and a bottle of tylenol. "She's already awake, she said to give you these when you wake up."

He looked around his room his finger stuck in between the pages of his Manga to keep his place. "She's had Donnie going through those files you found narrowing down places where we might find the Ooze and the information on how it was produced. She's narrowed down the list by a lot."

Tracey's fingers gently brushed over Leo's when she took the water and Tylenol from him and she let out a sigh to hide the blush. Popping the top off and breaking the seal on the water, she shook out two of the capsules into her hand and then downed them with a mouthful of water. She put the top back on and set them both on the bedside table next to her. Tracey slowly pushed the blankets from her waist and swung her legs around until she could touch the floor, which she did quiet gingerly seeing as it was a lot colder than she had formerly anticipated. "God that's cold." She said quietly, shaking and shivering a bit as she applied some weight to her tender feet and slowly falling to the side before she could catch herself. "Aw crap!" Wildly she flailed her arms, trying to catch a hold of something before she landed on her face, but the only thing she caught was Leo.

He helped her back up and kept his hands on her shoulders to be sure she'd stay upright, he was smiling and she was caught by the sparkle in his blue eyes. "Sorry, should have warned you, it took Artemis a few minutes to get herself upright."

"It's okay..." Tracey replied softly, unable to draw her attention away from his unusually blue eyes. "I should have figured my legs weren't going to hold me just yet. Ha, Artemis was always able to recover quickly, something I admire about her."

She rested her hand over his on her shoulder and noted that her other hand was resting on his chest, glad that he was letting her use him as a prop until she was able to get her balance again. She could feel his heart steadily beating beneath her hand and and she felt her fingers twitch. This was just another reason why she liked him the most and why he was such a capable leader. Leo had a strong heart and an unwavering loyalty which could be drawn upon whenever there was call for it. He allowed her and his brothers to use him as a pillar of strength and he in turn was able to use their specific abilities to bring them to victory. They may get on each others' nerves but that's what siblings did best and so long as they overcame their differences together, than they would always be close. She could relate to that, since she had three brothers of her own.

"I think I've regained some balance in my legs... thanks Leonardo." Tracey said, looking at her hand over his heart. "I think before I check on Artemis and Donnie I need a shower, cold sweats aren't comfortable."

He covered her hand with his and gave her a slightly shy smile. "She might be able to recover quickly but you do something just as important. You offer hope, the hope that things can be different. You gave me hope that we can be part of the world, no matter what we look like." He reached up and brushed a few strands of hair off her cheek before he leaned in and kissed her his lips smooth and sweet against hers.

Tracey was quiet taken aback by his sudden forwardness, but wasn't exactly overcome with surprise. Now was a good a time as any to do what she's always wanted to do, but would have been next to impossible to do until now, of course who could have foreseen Tracey and Artemis being pulled out of their normal world and subjected to a new one like this? Slowly Tracey stepped closer to Leo until she could wrap her arms around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to give her a little more of an advantage. His lips were unbelievably soft and she pleasantly relieved to see that he wasn't only well skilled with the katanas but also pretty smooth with his kisses too.

After a moment, Tracey slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Leo, a slight smirk spreading over her lips. "I hope you know I would have done this even if you were a turtle, it matters not what's on the outside." She stated quietly, resting her hand over his heart again. "But what's on the inside... and you have it in spades."

He smiled but turned when someone knocked on the door, Artemis opened it and walked in before Leo and Tracey had a chance to disentangle themselves, she stopped and raised an eyebrow but smiled and backed out of the room without saying a word. Leo blushed and cleared his throat. "I guess she needs to talk to you."

Tracey giggled under her breath and rested her hand against his cheek for a moment before giving him a quick kiss on the lips again and then going to the bedroom door. Quietly she pulled the door open and stepped out to meet with Artemis, who was leaning against the wall.

"Okay, we were having a moment..." Tracey said softly, a smirk on her lips. "But now you have my attention, though I was going to come and find you after I took a shower... shivering and cold sweats and nasty and they suck."

Artemis grinned. "Hey… if I knew you were having a moment I'd have left you alone. And yes they suck." She motioned to the bathroom. "Go get a shower, I'll be in the kitchen."

"Alright I'll find you there in about fifteen minutes." Tracey replied, turning around and stepping back into Leo's bedroom to retrieve a fresh set of clothes.

She gave Leo a wink and then shut the door again, making her way to the bathroom and making sure that it was empty before stripping down to her skivvies and turned the water on hot. The water rushed over her and eased her sore muscles. Its cleansing steam opened her pores and with a quick lather and soapy suds, Tracey was clean and refreshed. She turned off the water, dried herself quickly and dressed, hanging her towel up just before she left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen.

"Alright Artemis." Tracey said as she shook her head and let her wet hair fall passed her shoulders. "Now please tell me what you've found out... and also what we're having for dinner because I'm starving."

Artemis flipped a pair of fried eggs into a bowl of rice with panfried veggies and handed it to her along with a fork. "Eat while explain."

She sat down across from Tracey. "So we narrowed down the safehouses. It looks like there are only three that have the necessary equipment and facilities to house and disperse the ooze. I think the boys can handle a three part strike on all three at once if we're with them."

Taking in steady forkfuls of the delicious food into her mouth, Tracey listened intently while Artemis explained everything to her and then set down her fork halfway through her food and folded her hands in front of her. She mulled over the information and tilted her head to one side before speaking. "But what about our condition? You suggested that we shouldn't change to our other forms, but what if we need them when we hit the safe houses and get stuck permanently?" She questioned before something occurred to her. "If we lose our abilities with every world we get sent to, even if we do get stuck in our mythical forms we should be able to revert to our normal selves when we arrive in the new world... right?"

Artemis leaned on the counter and sighed. "We couldn't change even if we wanted to. I had Donnie run my bloodwork when I got up. The mutagen is completely out of my system which means it's probably out of yours too. Our condition just means that we don't have that particular ace in the hole."

Tracey let out a sigh and looked a little crestfallen with the knowledge that they wouldn't be able to use their other forms to their advantages. She picked up her fork again and slowly ate her food again, watching as the morsels vanished from her bowl. The silence between them was stifling and she didn't know what else to think. She took her bowl from the table and washed it out before pushing some stray strands of her hair out of her face and then looked at Artemis again. "I guess that means that I won't be able to shock anyone now?"

It was a little bit more of a rhetorical question than anything else, but she still felt that she had lost an awesome ability, much like she did when they were dropped here in the boys' laps and she lost her elemental abilities and Artemis lost her fire powers.

Artemis reached over and put her hand on Tracey's shoulder. "Tracey hon, relying on magic, innate, gifted or otherwise is like holding a razor by the blade. You can use it but odds are the blade will slip and you'll cut yourself or drop it. You can't shock people or fly but you have your training with the Boken and that can't be taken from you."

Tracey gave her a lopsided grin and hugged her tightly. She remained that way for a few moments before she pulled back and dried her hands on a paper towel. "True... what a pain though." She said with a sigh. "I guess now we have to get the boys together and plan our next moves carefully, like who's going to be paired up with who and which of the three safe houses everyone will hit..."

"I already know which three houses and I have some ideas on teams now." She teased with a smile as she grabbed a coke and cracked it.

Tracey raised an eyebrow and smirked while shaking her head. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me any time in the near present are you?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest and shifting her weight to one side. "Regardless of the teams and houses that we get sent to, we should probably get to bed early tonight and rest as much as we can, that means no patrolling tonight."

Artemis motioned to the clock which read 2:34. "Honey it's already night… We were out most of a day." She nodded her head towards Mikey's room. "Mikey and Donnie are asleep right now, Leo is in his room and he doesn't seem to sleep much at night anyway and Raph is in his room knitting I think. Even Master Splinter is asleep."

"Then we should rest too and pair up tomorrow." Tracey sighed, looking at the clock. "I think I can convince him to at least snuggle tonight... well good night Artemis. Rest well and I'm pretty sure it's safe to assume that you'll be in Raph's room, am I right?" She let out a soft snicker while stretching her arms above her head and stifling a yawn.

Artemis gave Tracey a light push. "No. I'm crashing on the couch. Raph is sweet and cute enough but…." She trailed off and looked down at her hands, Tracey couldn't help but look too and noticed one of her rings was missing, the Dragon ring she wore on her thumb.

"Did you give him one of your rings?" She asked quietly, stumbling a bit before she found her balance again. "A keepsake for him perhaps?"

Artemis rubbed the mark on her thumb where the ring used to rest. "I gave Iolaus the ring before Zeus sent us on. Not a keepsake though." She hesitated and took a steadying breath. "I love him Tracey, not as a fling or a rebound. I love him the way I loved Fox. It was a promise, that I wouldn't forget him, or replace him."

"Oh I see... I'm sorry Artemis." Tracey said quietly, giving her best friend a strong hug and stepped back. "Rest now my sweet, we need to be at our best later today."

She hoped that one day Arty would find peace with her love affairs and soon, if there was one thing she didn't like it was a mopy sisterly figure hurting on the inside... it makes for a lousy traveling companion. As quietly as she could, Tracey stole away to Leo's room and upon entering the bedroom she saw him still reading his manga, but it was the next volume. Taking a deep breath and shaking her head, Tracey went to the bed and pulled back the covers to make it welcoming and inviting and then she made a bold move and plucked the manga from his hands and marked his place for him before he could even protest.
"Come on Leo, Artemis and I think we all need rest because tomorrow we're going to the safe houses and I have a feeling it's going to be a rough day tomorrow." Tracey said, leaning in close to his seat and smiling sweetly. "At least cuddle with me until I fall asleep, then you can go back to reading manga. You should believe me when I say that a good cuddling will let you sleep easier." With a final smile, she blinked tiredly and straightened, heading for the bed and taking off her glasses to set on the night stand.

He shook his head with amusement and shucked his shirt leaving the sweatpants on before he crawled in next to her and wrapped his arms around her. He was asleep before her and while it didn't take her long to fall asleep she thoroughly enjoyed every moment before sleep claimed her.