CHAPTER 3! I DID IT! Lol. Sorry for such a late update everyone! My summer math class started this month and the summer musical I'm in went through Tech week and opening this month. Plus with my work schedule I've been just a LITTLE bit busy. BUT, to make up for it, this chapter is a lot longer for your reading enjoyment! You get to learn a bit more about Leena's life in this chapter!
Also, I have a couple updates! Someone asked me if I would be pairing Donatello up with an OC and I can assure all who are reading my story that due to my recent brainstorming and imagination, I will be pairing up all the boys with an OC. And I can tell you I've had sooo much fun coming up with the OCs for each of the boys. They are all very different from each other and will compliment the boys well I think. For this story you'll only be meeting them in passing, but I will have a few small spin-off stories (Which I'm already working on) that will detail the other OCs' and their romances with the boys! So please look forward to that!
As Always, thanks for reading and please leave me a review/comment about what you think of the story so far! I always love to hear from my readers as it is what helps keep me going! Remember, constructive comments and thoughts are welcome, flames are not!
Chapter 3: It's a Hard-Knock Life
"No dude, don't go around that corner, you're gonna die!" Mikey sat on the floor next to Leo, a ball of tension as he watched Leo play a zombie game they had recently acquired, looking like he was about to fly off the floor in his excitement.
"Mikey, chill. It's my turn to play and I'll play the way I want to play!" Leo snapped back, his own irritation starting to rise with Mikey's backseat playing. Donatello glanced up from the gadget he was currently working on, a smirk slipping across his face before he returned his full attention back to his work. Leena was sitting on the back of the couch, watching the guys play, Raphael sitting just blow her on the couch and leaning against an arm rest.
"OH MY GOD LEO LOOK OUT!" Mikey yelled, jumping to his feet as zombies came running straight at the screen.
"I SEE IT, I SEE IT! BE QUIET!" Leo shouted back, wildly hitting buttons to try and take down the zombies rushing his character. Leena couldn't help but chuckle as she watched the scene unfold, leaning forward to rest her chin in her hands.
"Is it like this every time you guys play video games?" She asked, looking down at Raphael who seemed more bored then anything.
"Usually." Raph replied without looking at her. "Though, sometimes we jump Mikey if he gets really irritating." With that he smirked to himself and glanced back up at Leena. "You entertained?" His tone was a bit gruff, but she could just make out a note of amusement in his voice as he asked her the question.
"Quite." She replied back with a small smirk of her own. "You all seem to have a lot of fun together, that's for sure."
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say we have fun all the time. Right now I doubt Leo would call that fun." Raph replied, gesturing to the fact that Leo's character had just died and Mikey was now doing a backflip to avoid getting punched by Leo. Raph shook his head and chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's definitely never a dull moment around here though; something is always going on."
"It would seem so… I envy you guys…" Leena replied, quirking an eyebrow as Donatello quickly moved in front of the TV and picked up the controller. "Wonder how long it'll take for them to notice their game has been commandeered." Raph chuckled in reply and shrugged.
"Depends on how long Mikey can keep back flipping away from Leo." Looking away from Donatello and turning his full attention back to Leena; Raph gave her a curious look. "What do you mean you envy us? Cause I can point out a lot of things to envy about you, like not being a mutant stuck living underground."
"No, I meant, I envy your family, the relationship you have with each other." She replied, watching Donatello play the zombie game. "I don't have a family." She finished, causing Raph to stop short with his reply. "It gets lonely when you're by yourself all the time."
"What about your parents?" Raph asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know… I never knew them. I grew up in an Orphanage." Leena replied honestly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"It's ok." Leena cut him off with a smile. "It's not a huge deal, it's something I came to terms with a long time ago. " Raph nodded, not really sure what to say. "I mean, I had a lot of close friends in the orphanage, but I got moved around through foster homes a lot so I never got too close to people as a result."
"None of the foster homes you stayed in kept you long term?" Raph asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
"There was one… and I really did like them, but they ended up falling into a bad financial situation and they just couldn't afford to take care of me." Leena was looking at Raph as she said this, but her gaze was far away, as she thought back to a time in her life she'd been really happy.
"Do you want a soda?" Raph suddenly interjected, pulling Leena from her thoughts. She gazed at him for a moment, before nodding her head.
"Yeah, actually, a soda sounds good, Thanks." Raphael smiled at her, and it was the first genuine smile Leena had seen out of him. Raph was usually smirking from what she could tell, but here he was smiling at her in a way that made her smile right back.
"Would you grab me one too?" Donatello interjected without looking from the game. "I'm busy trying to beat Mikey's score now."
"I'll get you a soda Donnie, you don't need to tell me why you can't get it." Raph barked back, rolling his eyes and standing up from the couch. Leena stifled a laugh and stood up too.
"I'll come with you." She offered, Raph nodding in reply and motioning her to follow. "Do you think the other's might want one?"
"They can get their own sodas, besides; I think Mikey is too preoccupied with bugging the hell out of Leo." Raph shrugged. The two of them made their way out of the main room and back towards the kitchen again, discussing their favorite types of soda. They rounded the corner leading into the kitchen and were stopped short by someone they hadn't expected to run into just yet; Splinter.
"I think cherry coke would be my favorite, I just prefer Coke to Pepsi." Leena was saying.
"I'm more partial to Coke myself, Pepsi can be too sweet if you ask me…"
"Raphael, what is going on here?" Splinter's voice cut Raph's thought short and they both looked up to see him standing next to the fridge with a cheese-sicle in hand.
"Oh, Master Splinter!" Raph greeted, surprised. "Um, I can totally explain why she's here." He obviously hadn't been prepared to talk to Splinter about Leena just yet, mostly because he'd been hoping Leo would do it.
"Please do." Splinter replied with a stern look, his gaze briefly flicking to Leena before focusing back on Raphael.
"Well you see Sensei, when we went topside for our usual patrol, we noticed the Foot Clan was on the move and we had split up to follow a few different groups moving about the city and then I happened to get ambushed by Fishface and a group of foot bots and so I tried to lose them in the back alleys and it was at this point that Leena here ran into my shell and got knocked out cold. Because Fishface was hot on my shell I knew I couldn't just leave an innocent laying there defenseless and I knew Fishface might kidnap her if he saw Leena with me at all." Raphael explained, Splinter silent and impassive through the whole explanation.
"While I'm not sure bringing this young woman here was the best idea, I do commend your act to protect an innocent." Splinter replied calmly. "And since it can't be changed, I am happy to welcome a new guest to our home. I am Splinter; it is nice to meet you." Splinter bowed formally to Leena, a smile on his face. Raph seemed to let out a sigh of relief at Splinter's response and both he and Leena visibly relaxed.
"Oh, it's very nice to meet you as well Master Splinter, I'm Leena and thank you so much for your hospitality, I am very grateful to you and your sons." Leena replied, returning the bow.
"I must admit, it is nice to have a new face around here; as I'm sure you can imagine, we don't have many guests here." Splinter chuckled. Leena smiled sweetly at him and nodded. "I'm honored to have been given the opportunity to meet such new and interesting friends." Leena replied, getting a small look of surprise from Raph at the word friend. Splinter nodded his head and moved to stand beside them.
"That's wonderful to hear. I hope my sons haven't imposed upon you too much…?"
"Not at all, I feel like I should be the one apologizing for imposing! Your sons have been nothing but generous hosts." Leena replied with a bright smile.
"Good." Splinter replied with a nod of his head. "Well, I shall go and check on the others briefly and then return to my meditation." And with that, Splinter left the kitchen. Raphael and Leena looked at each other for a moment and Raph let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, that went a lot better than I thought it would." He chuckled. "Leo is usually a bit better at dealing with Splinter and I just tend to end up in trouble with him." Leena smiled.
"It seems this time things worked out better for you then."
"Yup! Let's get those sodas and get back out there; we can go steal the controller from Donnie." Leena laughed and followed Raph to the fridge, taking the soda he passed to her.
"Sounds like a good plan to me." She replied.
...a few hours later...
The rest of the evening passed pleasantly, the Turtles and Leena passing the time with more video games, a movie and then a humorous game of hide and seek, which had proved that Leena, despite not being a Ninja like the guys, was the best at hiding and not getting caught.
"Honestly, you guys try to run around and show off too much while you're playing… it's like, who can be the most Ninja." Leena had laughed. "If I stood still and just watched, it was so easy to spot you rushing about to new hiding spots."
"Well that explains how you could find us… still doesn't explain why we could never find you…" Raph replied, eyeing her suspiciously.
"Yeah, how did you do it Leena? You don't even live here so how did you find such awesome hiding spots?" Mikey added, throwing his arm around Leena's shoulders.
"That, boys, shall be my own little secret." Leena said with a smirk.
"We'll definitely have to play again next time you come to visit." Leonardo smiled.
"Next time?" Leena looked at him surprised.
"What, you weren't planning to come back?" Raph asked, a little gruffly.
"Well no, I just, I didn't know you would want me to come back since you live so secretly."
"But that's why you have to come back! We don't have that many friends who can come hang out!" Mikey said cheerfully.
"You could even meet our other friend April next time!" Donatello added.
"That sounds like a great idea." Leena smiled. "Though, I don't know if I could find this place on my own, how will I get in contact with you so I can tell you to come meet me?" Leena asked.
"We have phones!" Donnie replied happily, pulling out his T-phone. "We can exchange numbers."
"Ok." Leena pulled out her own phone and quickly exchanged numbers. "Cool! Then I will be sure to stay in touch!" Leena said happily, beaming at the guys. "Thanks for everything; the past few hours have been pretty awesome." She said.
"Come on, I'll lead you back up to the surface." Raph said, motioning for Leena to follow him. She quickly hugged Leo, Mikey and Donnie, surprising them a bit with the friendly gesture, but each of them returned her hug. And with that, she was heading back up to the surface with Raphael.
As they moved through the sewers they talked and joked, mostly discussing the silliness of the night and lamenting that it wasn't often they could act so silly and carefree now that they weren't kids.
"I wish I could go back to being a kid again." Leena said. "Things were so much simpler and I didn't really have to worry about anything except whether I would be adopted or not."
"That must have been hard, not having a family to call your own and wondering if you would ever have one. I mean, my life isn't normal or perfect but I was always glad to have my brothers and our father." Raph replied sincerely.
"It could be tough, but I wasn't one to really dwell on what could be and I just, enjoyed what I had." Leena replied. "When you grow up with so little, you learn to appreciate so much more."
"Deep." Raph replied with a small smile.
"I'd like to think so." They both laughed.
At this point, they had made it to the surface, standing in an a+lley just above the manhole they had come out of, Raph really studying Leena for the first time as they gazed at one another. The first thought that came to mind as he looked at her was that she was very beautiful with her pale skin and black hair, but it was her eyes that he liked the most; they were such a deep blue and so bright. It was like there was a fire burning behind them and it made him feel like she had a wild spirit, something he could relate to.
After a few silent moments between them, Leena smiled at Raph, who returned it, and she leaned forward to hug him. At first Raphael seemed a little uncomfortable with the gesture, but after a moment he returned her hug, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her just a little bit closer. He noticed she smelled nice; like almonds and vanilla and he quite enjoyed it.
"Thank you, truly. I haven't had so much fun in a really long time." Leena said. "I'm actually glad I ran into you." She giggled and Raph just grinned back.
"I think my brothers are pretty happy you did too." He replied.
"Are you?" She questioned teasingly.
"Well sure, it's not like it was a bad thing." Raph replied a little bashfully. Leena just giggled again. "So where do you live? I'll get you there safely." He offered, starting to walk further into the alley. "We'll have to stick to alleys and all, but you don't have to worry about anything with me here. I'll keep you safe."
"Oh, no worries, I can totally get home from here by myself." Leena replied quickly. "I wouldn't want to trouble you with that!"
"It's no trouble at all." Raph replied with a grin. "I don't get to come up here too often for leisure so this is a nice change for me anyway."
"Really though, I know the way from the main streets and it's not too far…"
"I'm not letting a young woman walk around the streets of New York by herself at this time of night; I'm walking you home." Raph replied, cutting Leena off and looking her dead in the eye. His tone suggested he wasn't going to argue about it and so Leena let out a little sigh and nodded her head.
"Alright, you win." She replied meekly.
"Good. Now what street are you on?"
As it turned out, the place Leena called home was further then she had originally let on, plus, it wasn't even much of a home. Leena had directed Raph to one New York's poorer neighborhoods and tucked among other old and decaying houses was the one that Leena called hers. The only problem, it wasn't actually Leena's at all and you could tell that it was an abandoned home with boarded up windows and doors and the graffiti that littered the walls where paint how long since peeled away.
"You're living here?" Raph said in disbelief, still staring at the wreck of a house.
"Yeah… I have been for a few months. No one has bothered with this place because it's so old and so damaged. I think the city just forgot about it or doesn't want to waste the resources on it because of the neighborhood it's in." Leena replied quietly, obviously ashamed of her circumstances.
"Leena, you're a squatter. Do you even have power or running water?" Raph turned intense gaze on her, his question sounding angrier then he meant it to. He wasn't angry at her; he just couldn't believe she had to live like this. But Leena flinched at the sound of his voice.
"No… I just stay here for shelter and a place to keep the few items I have. I go to the local homeless shelter to bathe and sometimes get food." Her voice was almost a whisper.
"You can't live here… it's not safe." Raphael said, shaking his head.
"I don't have anywhere else to go Raph." Leena replied sadly. "It's just as unsafe in the homeless shelters when you're a girl… and people will steal your things if you aren't careful."
"But you can't live here either!" Raph replied, gesturing to the house. "That's not safe! What if there's structural damage to the house, or other squatters break in? Did you ever think of that?" Raph stopped for a moment, taking a breath to calm down. He was letting his temper take over and the last thing he wanted to do was yell at Leena just because she was trying to care for herself the best way she could. Obviously life had not been so kind to her. "You're coming back to the lair with me."
"No. I'm perfectly fine here." Leena replied with a shake of her head.
"No you're not. If you want any of the things you keep in there get them now, but I'm taking you back with me." Raph said.
"No I'm not. I can take care of myself." Leena said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Obviously not very well if this is the best you can do for yourself." Raph snapped back, feeling immediately guilty that he'd said it when a look of pure shame crossed her face. She dropped her gaze from Raphael and looked at the ground, obviously trying to hold back the tears he managed to see just before she'd looked away. "Leena, I'm sorry, that came out wrong…" Raph began, unused to apologizing. "Just let me help you ok? This isn't a place you should be. At least at the lair you'll be safe and we can help you figure out a plan for the future… that's what a friend does right?"
"Yeah… ok." Leena replied with a small sniff. "I'll get my things…" And with that, Leena trudged up to the house, pushed aside a loose plank on the boarded up door and slipped inside. A few minutes later she returned with a small backpack. "This is everything to my name." She said, still unable to look Raphael in the eyes.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of you know." Raph replied. "You obviously were trying your best to take care of yourself." He was trying to make amends for what he'd said to her earlier. "And if you're trying at least it means you haven't given up." Leena managed a small, though sad, smile at him and shrugged her shoulders. "Well let's get back… we have to talk to Splinter about this, though I'm pretty sure he'll help; its what he does." Raph gave her a hopeful smile in return and Leena nodded her head.
"Ok." She said.
"Leena, I am sorry… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Raph finally said.
"I… I know." Leena began. "It just hurt so much because you were right. And I was being stubborn because I hate relying on others; I don't like being a burden. I hate that feeling." Leena replied.
"You won't be a burden. In fact, it'll be nice to have someone new hanging around, might be a good change of pace." Raph said. Leena actually smiled at that comment and with a sigh of acceptance, laced her arm through Raph's.
"Lead the way good sir."
"Will do Miss." And the two of them headed back towards the Lair arm and arm.