Another chapter! Isn't this nice? Anywho, here it is. PLease review and tell me who you like Alex with, etc, etc.
Thanks go out to the following people:
kaaayyytteee, Yuki101, CORA DA REVIEWR, pokemonjkl, dream lighting, Summer903, and TMNTluckygirl. Thanks guys!

Chapter 11

Return to the Underground

Sleep was something hard to come by if you were Alex O'Neil. Alex, despite having let go of the past, was still worrying about the future and the safety of her brothers and friend. Then there was the added stress of helping set up everything for April's new shop. Alex was going to be working part time for April. Until they could get the place running and making money, Alex wouldn't be getting paid. There was also still training, school and whatever crazy thing the guys would get her involved in.

Life was hectic.

So, when Alex usually got a good night sleep, she didn't want anything to disrupt it. However, it wasn't like there was much she could do to avoid anything from happening to wake her up, seeing as she was asleep. However, she could lock her bedroom door, pull the blinds and hope. That was really all she could do those.

There was one other thing she could do, but having been exhausted, Alex completely forgot to do it. And of course, being the ironic and slightly cruel thing called life, that one thing that Alex forgot to do would be what woke her up from the first good night's rest that she'd had in a couple months.

Alex's Shell Cell started to ring from her bedside table. A groan could be vaguely heard coming from the girl who didn't move at all at first. Finally, after three rings, she lifted her head off of her pillow and looked at the alarm clock next to the phone. It was only two in the morning. Now there was just a growl to be heard as she reached for the phone and picked it up.

"There better be a good reason for calling me at two in the morning," Alex mumbled, her head plopping back down in the pillow, face first.

"I was finally able to create an antidote for our friends in the Underground!" an excited Donny yelled, causing the girl to pull the phone away from her ear.

"Good for you," she said without sounding enthusiastic at all. "May I go back to sleep now?"

"Well, I thought you'd want to come with us," he added.

But, but, but….That just kept playing over and over again in Alex's mind. I just wanna go back to sleep! Plus, she had school in the morning. Despite her better judgment Alex said with a sigh, "Alright. I'll be down as soon as I can." With that, she hung up.

o0o

Sluggishly, Alex walked into the lair. One hand was covering her yawning mouth, the other scratching the back of her head. She was dressed completely in her uniform, except her mask. Her mask was in the sash of her uniform, hanging loosely. Her eyes were half open and not nearly as focused as they should have been, but she hadn't slept well for so long and then she was woken up from the only good night's sleep that she had been getting.

"Alex," Mikey greeted as she walked over to a very large transportation device that obviously Donny built. Raph, Leo and Donny were also standing about, making final preparations for their trip. "You look horrible. Are you worried about going back down to the underworld too?"

"Mikey," Alex started, "first of all, it's not the Underworld, it's the Underground. Secondly, I'm not worried about anything. I was finally getting some well needed sleep when Don called. And thirdly," she said as she walked up to him and smacked him on the back of the head, causing Raph to laugh, "that's for telling me I look horrible. Never tell a girl that."

"Yeah, Mikey," Raph said. Alex walked up to Raph and then smacked him in the back of the head. "Hey! What was that for?"

She pointed her finger at him and said, "That was for laughing at your brother's pain." Alex then walked over to Donny and smacked him in the arm, not the head. He was too smart to get hit in the head. He had to make up for the lack of brain cells in his brothers. He couldn't afford to lose any. "That was for waking me up."

As she walked over to the opening to go inside the machine, she passed Leo, who raised his hands up as if to surrender. She just rolled her eyes and smirked. She went in and sat down, trying to get comfortable while everybody else finished getting ready. Normally, she would have helped, but they had already been doing it and she didn't want to join in and mess everything up. It would have just taken them more time.

Once everybody was inside, Donny started up the machine. "Tuneler engaged," Donny said right before they lurched forward.

As they went, Alex got bored. And being tired and bored didn't mix well for her. She slowly started to fall asleep. Her head bobbed up and down every once in a while until she leaned her head backwards to reason the back part of her seat. Once again, Alex felling to an half asleep, half awake state. As the moved on, the rockiness of the ride caused her to tip sideways a little. Her head landed on the shoulder of the person next to her.

"Alex?" she could hear Leo asked in the distance, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to her.

"Mmmhm," she was able to get out.

"Dude, just let her rest," Mikey told his leader. "I don't want her to hit me again! She hits hard."

Normally Alex would have laughed at that because it was very true, but she was too tired and too out of it to do so. She staid where she was, resting again, or so she assumed, was Leo's shoulder. All she really cared about was that she was comfortable, warm and falling asleep. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was thinking, Leo's nice and warm.

o0o

When the girl finally woke up, she sat up from the seat that she had been spread out across and looked around. Nobody was in there with her, which she found oddly strange. She couldn't help but wonder where they were and why she was left alone. She sat up and headed for the exit, but stopped in the doorway when she saw Donny and Quarry heading her way.

"Hey guys," she greeted. "What's going on? Why didn't anybody wake me?"

"You were exhausted," Donny said. "You needed your rest so we left you here."

"Hi Quarry," Alex said, putting out her hand to shake.

"It's good to see you again, Alex," she greeted. "And please, my name is Sidney."

"All right," Alex said. "But that still didn't explain what is going on."

"Buckle up and we'll tell you on the way," Don said.

"Okay," she said, hesitantly.

"Okay, so when we got here, we discovered that the crystal moon was gone. We were attacked by the others and then Sidney, but I was able to use what I had of the crystals for one serum. Sidney informed us that they had tried to create their own cure, but ended up sending the moon into the lava. It's our job to retrieve it."

"Okay then," Alex said. She sat down next to Sidney and buckled up. Add another fear to my list; being burned alive in a bit of lava.

"Sidney, you don't have to do this," Donny told the other female.

"Yes I do," she replied. "I'm the only one who knows where the crystal moon went down."

"She has a very good point," Alex said.

"Okay," Don said. "Engaging inferred scanner. Let's do this quickly. I don't know how long the heat shields will hold."

They moved forward and into the lava. "Thanks, Don. That makes me feel a whole lot better about this." Her sarcasm was dually noted.

As they continued forward, Alex could feel the temperature of the cabin start to rise. She kept her eyes on the heat shields, making sure they would have enough for the trip. It just kept going down though and that was making the ninja even more uncomfortable with the situation and the temperature. She never was one for the heat.

"Stall them, but try not to hurt them," Donny suddenly spoke and Alex realized that he was talking to the others over their comm. links.

A moment later, Sidney said, "There! The crystal moon!"
"Good," Donny said. "Keep an eye on the heat shields. They're starting to go."

"I know, Don. I've been watching them this whole time," Alex said. "We need to get to that moon now!"

The heat just kept getting more intense. Alex had to lean back in her seat to focus on her breathing. She was so hot that she was having a hard time with that task. She could feel the sweat rolling down her face and she was disgusted by it, but she couldn't really do anything about it. It wasn't like she could turn on an AC or open a window. She just had to pray that the shields would hold.

"I can promise you I'm never going in a sauna," Alex muttered.

"Heat shields are down to fifty percent," Sidney said. "Structural breach in two minutes. We have to pick up the pace."

"Almost there," Don said.

"We better be because if we're not, I'm going to haunt you in our afterlives, Don," Alex said. Alex was panting so much that she almost sounded like a dog. She leaned forward a little, trying to put her head between her knees to help with her breathing, but it wasn't working. She ended up falling forward onto the floor. "Ow," was all that could be heard from her.

They finally made it to the crystal and Donny circled it, wrapping the cord around it. "Crystal moon is nearly secured."

"It's about time," Alex muttered, still lying on the ground.

"Heat shields are almost gone," Sidney said. "We've got thirty seconds before we're cooked.

"I think I'm already turning into a biscuit," Alex mumbled.

"I just have to lock off the cable," Donny said. "No!"

Alex assumed he didn't do it. I'm going to burn to death. Yeah, that's the way to go. Burning to death! Those horrible thoughts were playing through her head. That sounds incredibly painful! Alex went to wide off sweat from her face, but she didn't find any despite the heat. She had already sweated it all out.

That wasn't the only thing going on with her either. She had a major head ache while she was also dizzy and lightheaded. Her skin was hot, dry and red. Her limbs felt as if they weighed a hundred pounds each while her heartbeat seemed to be pounding against her chest like an Inuit drum. Her breathing was fast, yet shallow.

"Heat shields are down to ten percent," Sidney said. "We're not going to make it."

"Yes!" Don yelled. "Guys, go now."

"We need to…get out…of here, Don," Alex panted.

"We're heading up as fast as I can make this thing go, Alex," Don said.

"Alex," Sidney panted. "You don't look so well."

"I…don't feel…so hot," she said. "Pun…not…intended."

"What are the symptoms of heat stroke?" Sidney asked Donny.

"Throbbing headache, dizziness and lightheadedness, muscle weakness, rapid heartbeat or stronger or weaker, lack of sweat, red, hot and dry skin, nausea or vomiting, rapid, shallow breathing, seizures or unconsciousness," Don listed. "There could also be confusion, disoriented, or staggering."

"Uh, check, check…check, check, check….check, check, check, not check and not really," Alex said. "And nope. Wait, what are…we talking…about?"

"I think we could check the confusion," Don said.

"We can take care of it when we get to the surface," Sidney said.

"Surface of what?" Alex asked, completely confused.

"Please hurry," Sidney added.

They finally arrived at the surface. When the door opened, Donny went out first while Sidney helped Alex to her feet. She put her arm around her neck and helped her out to the door. When she made it outside, she was washed with cooler, but still hot air. It didn't really help though. Alex was still completely out of it.

It took a couple minutes before the rest of the guys noticed the state Alex was in. While they were talking, Alex was completely out of it, trying to figure out what was going on.

Why are these people green? Alex asked herself. And why do they all have funny looking backpacks on? They're not wearing shoes. They only have three fingers…Wait do I three fingers. Alex lifted her hand to her face and looked at it as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. "Wow," she muttered, catching the attention of the people around her. "I have five fingers and you only have three."

"Alex?" Leo asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm Alex!" she yelled, raising her hand. She tried to step forward, but ended up tripping. Donny had already moved to the side off of the stairs so he wasn't there to catch her. Leo was the first to get there. He caught her and held her bridal style. Alex giggled and looked up at him, poking him in the cheek. "Your skin in green," she giggled. "I wish I have green skin! Then I could be Lizard Lady!"

"Donny, what's wrong with Alex?" Leo asked.

"She has heat stroke," Donny informed them. "We need to get her cooled down. I should take care of her before I administer the rest of the serums. Is that okay, Sidney?"
"Yes, please, make sure Alex is okay," she said. "I know somewhere we can take her to cool down."

"Come on, Leo," Donny said.

Alex was carried by Leo to a building. Sidney brought them in and had Leo place Alex on a bed. The blankets were removed so they wouldn't make her warm. "Don, if you come with me, we can get some cloths, a bucket of water and some ice."

"You're not human," Alex said to Leo.

"No," Leo said. "I'm a turtle."

"I like turtles," Alex said. "They're cute."

Leo blushed at the compliment. It was then that Don and Sidney came back. "We have to get her temperature down."

"How do we do that?" Leo asked.

"We have to place the ice in areas that are rich with blood vessels close to the skin," Don said. "But first we have to get the, ahem, excess clothing off." He turned to Sidney and asked. "Could you see if there is anything we could take off of her without making her completely indecent?"

"Okay," she said. She removed Alex's breast plate and top to reveal a sports bra while Leo and Donny turned around. Her elbow and knee pads were removed, along with her headband and mask. The last thing to be removed was Alex's shoes. She was left in her sports bra and her spandex pants. "All right," Sidney said. "I've done it."

"Can we turn around?" Donny asked.

"I'm really warm," Alex groaned. The delusion and confusion she had been feeling had faded, just leaving her rather exhausted. She was starting to remember who was around her, but she still wasn't completely all there. "I need to take a shower."

"There aren't any showers," Sidney told the younger girl. "But Donny and Leo are willing to help you cool down. They just need your permission to see you like this."

"Make it stop," Alex said. "Please help me."

"I'll take that as a yes," Sidney said to the two turtles.

Leo and Donny both turned around with bright red blushes on their faces. However, their redness was pale compared to how red Alex was due to how warm she was. "Okay," Don said. "We need to put the ice behind her neck, back and under her armpits." Sidney help Donny while Leo stood there. He was trying not to look at Alex.

"Okay, Leo," Donny said turning to his brother. "I need you to keep this up. We need to go create and distribute the serum."

"What?" Leo asked, slightly freaking out. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Wet one of the cloths and run it across the exposed skin," Don told him.

"But Don!" However, it was too late. Don was out of the room along with Sidney. He sighed and slowly and awkwardly moved over to the bed. He picked up the cloth and gently ran it across Alex's forehead.

Alex let out a small content sigh. The cool water felt nice on her warm head and the way he was gently rubbing the cloth on her forehead made it feel like he was massage her head. He re-wet it and then hesitantly, with an even brighter blush on his face, placed the cloth of her bare stomach and ran it there. Alex shivered for a moment but then stopped with a slight sigh.

"Mmm," she sounded. She opened her closed eyes and looked at the blue bandana turtle. "Leo?" she asked.

"Alex?" he asked. "Are you okay? Do I need to get Donny?"

"No," she sighed. She managed to push herself up into a sitting position. Her face was flushed, her hair slightly messed up, without a shirt on. Leo's face flushed. He wasn't thinking very honorable thoughts. "Thank you," she said. "For this. You didn't have to, yet you are."

He smiled softly and pushed her back down by her shoulder, trying to avoid looking down. "It's nothing," he replied.

"No," she said. "It is. Not many people would so such a thing without anterior motives."

Leo gulped, but Alex didn't catch it. "Anything for you, Alex."

"Anything for you too, Leo," she replied, closing her eyes as he gently ran the cloth over her shoulders and her neck. Alex fell asleep like that, completely content, but a little hot.

11