I do not own the tmnt.


Chapter four

Raph watched the girl jump much to his horror. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since she had received her wound. He saw her crash and burn cringing as her body scraped across the roof. Times like that made him happy to have a shell. The brawny turtle knew Leo had banned them from seeing her, but what did Leo know. He was just a paranoid bastard. The girl felt pure and trustworthy, and Raph couldn't fathom why Leo would think otherwise.

Even battered up like she was, the female was stunning. In fact, to Raph the protruding scars on her arms and legs made her even more attractive. She had soft brown hair despite her hard body with silver flecks randomly spread throughout it. Her eyes were deep blue and determination flourished in them. The kunoichi's body was so toned he couldn't imagine a single fat cell was on it, but of course with her life style he imagined it was necessary. She was around 5 '1" and very pale but she made it look good. Her lips were full and her busted lip just made them look abnormally large. High cheekbones made the girl's face look edgy and strong.

"That was a pretty stupid idea if ya ask me," he told her stepping out of the shadows with a smirk.

Her body went rigid and she was up and ready to fight him if she needed to. He was impressed and raised his hands up in surrender. She relaxed once she saw it was him.

She sighed, "I know. I just feel so useless. Raphael was it?" her smooth mezzo-soprano voice replied sticking her hand out.

"I didn't exactly get the introduction I was hoping for the first time we met," she explained as he took her hand and nodded.

"I'm Leah," she introduced herself smiling, "And it is nice to OFFICALLY meet you."

Raph chuckled at her emphases on officially; "Yeah, Leo can be a hard ass sometimes," Raph said understanding her exact meaning.

"I've noticed. Where is Leo anyways? I always thought you turtles traveled in a pack," Leah asked curiously.

Raph scoffed, "Fuck Leo. He thinks he is so high and mighty. Our fearless leader," he replied suddenly angry making 'fearless leader' into an insult.

"I take it you two don't get along to well?" she smiled at his sudden emotion.

Raph hesitated for a moment, "If he wasn't so god damn controlling! Ya know by his orders we ain't even supposed ta even be talking to ya," he explained furiously.

Raph noticed Leah's facial expression change. She was hurt by his words or rather Leo's decree. He hadn't done anything to her. This was all Leo. He shook his head. Who was he trying to kid? He felt bad for upsetting her.

He watched as she composed herself, "Regardless of his feelings towards me, it is unwise to fight against your family. You never know how long you have them for," she finally said to him a hint of emotion in her voice.

He could tell she was talking from experience. As far as he knew there could have been more than just her and the other guy that fought against the Foot. She really opened his eyes up on that statement and not just by the words but by the way she said them. He let out a great sigh his temper vanishing.

"Maybe yer right, but Leo is still a dumbass for not trustin' ya. As far as I'm concerned you are definitely a friend to us or me at least," Raph carried on.

She smiled sadly, "It's nice to have a friend," she told him.

This struck his heart. Did she not have any friends? Surely she did. She had too. Raph couldn't understand how someone like Leah did not have a friend. Even he had Casey. He suddenly found himself wanting her. He wanted to take her under his arm and tell her not to worry that he would take care of her.

"Are you trying to tell me you haven't got any friends?" he replied astonished.

She scoffed, "Not any true friends. Technically, I don't even exist. If someone saw me on the side of the street they would call me Andrea, the normal part of me that does not fight the Foot, stay out late, and train relentlessly. She is just a normal teenager," Leah explained twisting a lose thread on her shirt.

"But that's not you is it," Raph replied understanding what she meant.

"Bingo," she sighed, "But that is how it must be."

Before Raph could get any deeper into the subject, he heard Mikey shouting his name. Raph groaned and ran a hand down his face. He knew Leo was looking for him. They had gotten into a small fight earlier about his continuous tardiness to training. Leah looked at him curiously, but he waved her off.

"It's only Mikey," he explained easing her a little.

Mikey didn't take that long to reach them. When he got there he seemed surprised to see Leah there, but smiled and winked at her new friend. It made her feel uncomfortable. She could tell Raph had some kind of affection towards her, but had ignored it. She enjoyed talking to him, and didn't want to make it awkward by saying she wasn't interested in him. Leah watched as Raph in turn glared at the new turtle.

"Hey Raph, whatcha doing?" Mikey asked mischievously.

"Cut it out Mikey," Raph warned annoyed.

Leah blew some of her hair out of her face and yawned trying to look casual, but it still got the turtles attention. Both Mikey and Raph turned to look at her making her want to hide from them.

"You're up way past your bedtime," Mikey joked smiling. Leah noticed he was the one who was smiling at her when she first met the turtles.

Leah returned his smile and stuck out her hand, "I'm Leah, I never really got to introduce myself properly when we first met," she tacked on seeing his confusion.

"Oh, I'm Mikey, pleasure to meet you," he replied shaking her hand. She still couldn't get used to the fact that they only had three fingers.

After the introduction, Mikey got a more serious look on his face and turned to Raph, "Dude, Leo's looking for you, and with the way you pissed him off earlier he really isn't going to like this," he explained trying to keep his voice low probably in an effort not to offend her.

She knew what he was talking about. Leo didn't want to see her or any of them to see her. Her heart hurt and her body sagged at the thought that he didn't want her. She had always wondered what the term 'love hurts' meant because she loved her family all the time and it never hurt her. But now she realized what it meant. She wondered what was wrong with her as Mikey and Raph talked in the background, but before she could determine anything Leah heard light footsteps coming her way.

Leah looked around as Mikey and Raph cut themselves off. Raph cursed and Mikey groaned. Leah could only assume Leo was coming this way. Her emotions were suddenly scattered. She was giddy to see him, but scared to see his reaction to her. She was already upset, and this meeting could end in her tears.

"Raph!" Leonardo called angrily with Don flanking him as they came into sight.

Leah winced as his eyes flashed a disapproving scowl her way, and at that moment she could have hated him. He had dishonored her by lying to her last night, basically telling her that her honor meant nothing, and slowly breaking her heart. She wanted to lash out at him, but kept her cool. A true kunoichi kept her emotions in control.

"What?" Raph retorted as Leo's nose flared.

"Raph you have disobeyed orders more than once tonight," Leo explained throwing her a hateful glance.

That did it for her. She needed to get away from here. Doing her best she backed into the shadows, and let silent tears slide down her face. What was wrong with her? She began beating herself up emotionally. Why did she have to meet the turtles? She would have been just fine with just fighting with her unknown allies, but then she wouldn't have met her first friend. Leah sighed as she slipped down the fire escape without a noise and wiped the snot off from under her nose. What would it take for Leo to accept her?

She woke up the next morning with a headache and slammed her hand on the alarm clock. Leah was honestly surprised the thing hadn't broken yet from all the abuse it went through. She pulled her half-dead body up with a loud groan. The girl was depressed from the previous night, but planned on hiding it from her brother. She got ready for school as Lee came into her room with the first aid kit and crutches. He frowned when he saw his sister.

"You went out without me again," he stated disappointedly.

Her eyes widened, "How do you know?" she asked as he touched her skinned up arm.

Leah had forgotten about that, "My nightmares Lee! They are getting worse, and my only outlet is going out. I just can't lie in bed and think about them," she defended herself.

"Next time would you please take me with you? You are wounded, and I would hate myself if I lost you," he replied hopefully.

She sighed knowing she worried her brother to death, but she didn't want to take him with her. The girl needed time to herself besides she could take care of herself, so she refrained from answering him and instead changed the subject.

"Look my wound is actually looking better," she said brightly pointing to it.

Sure enough all that was left of it was a slender scab. Her brother's eyes widened, "Wow, that healed quick. I thought it would take at least two weeks before it would even look that good. It must not have been as bad as you said," he answered her feeling the scab and raising a brow.

"Still use the crutches though. We still don't need the wound reopening," he stated handing her the crutches.

They told their grandmother bye, and headed to school. The twins were surprised to see Jessica there waiting for them. Lee groaned and scowled at Leah who could only shrug. She watched him sigh as they got out of the car. Jessica waved at them.

"Hi Andrea, Lance!" she called walking up to them in her pumps.

"Hey Jessica," Leah replied nicely, looking over at Lee to make sure he spoke. He gave a slight shake of his head and took off ahead of them.

Jessica did a little sigh, but walked with her. The blonde began chatting away about the recent gossip and drama. Leah hardly kept up with it, and only asked an occasional question to appear interested. The kunoichi's school day was uneventful as usual. It went by so slow Leah could hardly believe there was an end to it and to make matters worse her mind constantly wondered back to Leo's furious face. She could hardly focus on anything her teachers said. The girl was more than happy when the final bell rang. On the way back to the car Jessica walked with the twins much to Lee's discomfort.

"So, Andrea, who's the guy?" Jessica suddenly asked catching Leah off-guard.

"What?" she exasperated surprised as Jessica raised a brow along with Lee.

"I saw you in French class today. Don't think I do not know what it looks like when a guy dumps a girl, and just know I'm here for you, girl," Jessica replied confidently.

"Uh, well, thanks, Jessica," Leah managed to squeak out. Did she really look so miserable?

"Anytime, just let me give Lance my number since you've got your hands full," she explained as Leah fought to roll her eyes. She realized now Jessica's true intent.

When the twins finally managed to get into the car Lee stared at Leah, "So, who is the guy?" he questioned, "Is he the reason behind your outings?"

Leah could tell he was getting angry, "No, I'm not seeing anyone! I have told you the truth. I'm just tired from not getting enough sleep. I'm sure that was just one of Jessica's schemes to give you her number," Lee's twin replied as he relaxed a little.

"Want to go with me to the gym?" he asked curiously as she nodded in return.

There wasn't much conversation after that as Lee drove into the gym parking lot. She couldn't do much running on the treadmill as Lee had, but she did still lift her weights. Leg strength had nothing to do with that. The girl could lift as much as one-hundred and forty five pounds without a problem, and her brother lifted about two-hundred and fifty.

It was dusk when they left for dinner, and after Leah did some meditating she decided to give sleeping a try. The girl was asleep before her head hit the pillow, and she was thrust into the world of her nightmare. She had just managed to rescue her brother when a lightening sharp pain woke her up with a piercing scream.

She just laid there for a second unsure if she had woken Lee up. After not hearing any movement for ten minutes she assumed he was still asleep. Leah stood up and hardly felt any pain from her leg. She grinned and grabbed her sword and made sure she had her cell phone this time. Leah was going jumping.


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