After performing her newest morning routine in the bathroom of a small convenience store a block or two down, Emilynn walked into the bustling New York sidewalks. She tried to get her bearings from within the huge crowd that continuously shoved her small figure to and fro. Finally she found a sign. Genesee street. It sounded familiar. After spending her whole life in the city, it was almost sad how lost she still managed to get in it. Scratch that. It was sad.

Directions would have been helpful. She thought to herself as she trudged in the direction she thought was right. She munched gratefully on the cheese danish she had bought for herself in the store, using new money given to her by the mystery boy.

By Mikey, she thought to herself. He wasn't just a mystery anymore. At least, his name wasn't. The rest of him was, so the name still fit. But Mikey sounded better.

Her wet hair began forming small icicles in the cold air. She crunched one between her fingers, before remembering that this bag of supplies had included a hat. She stopped to pull her backpack off, and some guy ran into her from behind.

"You can't just stop in the middle of the sidewalk, moron." He spat as he walked around her.

"S-sorry." She muttered, even though he was already out of hearing distance and he most definitely did not deserve an apology anyways. She moved to the side of the crowd, crouching in front of a store window. She yanked the hat from the bottom of the backpack, and her wad of money fell out with it. It fluttered to the ground. She gasped and snatched it from the ground, eyeing the crowd warily. She shoved it into her pant pocket.

"You shouldn't carry money around like that."

Emilynn jumped. She turned to see a woman sitting on a lawn chair outside of the store's entrance. Smoke from her cigarette wisped out of her mouth as she talked. The woman shook her head and her long dangly earrings shook with it.

"In a city like this, anyway." She tilted her cigarette-bearing hand at the huge mob of people rushing by them. "There's thieves. Pick-pockets."

Emilynn couldn't think of anything to say. The woman didn't seem to mind.

"Don't feel bad. All new people make the same mistake. Thing is, most of them have to learn the hard way."

Yeah, new. Emilynn thought. New to the concept of owning money.

"Uh, thanks." She said. "Good to know." She took her money from her pocket and shoved it into the envelope that held the note. Then she shoved the envelope to the bottom of her backpack, beneath her clothes.

The woman nodded, seeming satisfied. "Better." She said.

Emilynn didn't know if she was supposed to respond to this, so she just smiled and nodded once at the woman before quickly turning and shoving herself back in the crowd. She crammed her hair into her hat as she walked.

Eventually she came to the street indicated in her newest note. She watched the building numbers.

55... 56... 57... 58...

Emilynn stopped and looked at the numbers again.

56. 57. 58.

She frowned and looked down at the address given to her.

57 ½ Martin st.

Where is 57 ½?

She walked over to the separation of 57 and 58. A paper fluttering in the wind attached to the side of 57 caught her attention.

57 ½.

There was an arrow on it, point to the narrow crack between the buildings. She could barely see any more than a couple feet into it, on the sunniest day of the season.

This has got to be the shadiest thing I have been dragged into.

Nonetheless, she quickly slipped into the dark crack. She walked forward slowly, hardly being able to see anything. Her foot hit something, and sank into it. She shrieked and jumped backwards. She shook her head and moved forward again, questioning her motives.

"Lynn." Someone whispered behind her. The person was so close that she felt their breath on her neck. Her frightened cry was cut short as a large hand fell over her mouth. "Shh! It's me. It's Mikey."

Emilynn nodded, and the hand left her mouth. "Why did you bring me here?" She asked.

"I wanted to talk. Face to face."

Lynn turned around to see a dark figure hulking over her. "I can't see you." She breathed.

"Exactamundo."

She looked upwards at the dark form's head. "You're so big." She said. It was almost scary. Added to the dark alley, it was not the most welcoming image.

Mikey laughed. "Actually. You're so small. What are you? Five foot? Not even, maybe?

Emilynn thought about it. She couldn't recall the last time she had been measured. It had to be five years ago, at least.

"I don't know." She said honestly.

"Hmm." Mikey's form shifted. "I'd say about five even."

"O-okay." Emilynn said, not being able to think of any other response.

"You're kind of shy, aren't you?" Mikey asked.

"W-well, I barely know you." Emilynn responded.

Mikey's form shifted again. "I guess that's true." He said. "Let's get to know each other, then. Ask me anything."

"Can we go somewhere else?" Emilynn blurted. Her face flushed at her sudden brashness. She looked down, despite the fact that it was much too dark for him to see.

Mikey's form moved back in what seemed like mock offense. "What, don't like my creepy dark alleyway?"

"Not really." She admitted.

"In that case, M'lady," He said, developing a fancy accent, "Your wish, is my command." He moved in a way that Emilynn guessed was a bow. "On one exception."

"What is it?"

"You have to wear a blindfold."

And it gets more and more creepy.

Stupid as she knew it was, Emilynn trusted Mikey. "Fine." She agreed.

Mikey seemed happy with her response. "Okay. Hold your face still."

She did as she was told, and after a second she felt a soft cloth over her eyes. She didn't bother to question the fact that he had a blindfold on hand. He never seemed to be done surprising her.

"Can you turn around?" Mikey asked. Emilynn nodded and turned her back to him. He tied the blindfold behind her head, under her hat full of hair.

"You can see that?" Emilynn asked.

"Uh, yeah. Good eyes."

Emilynn tried to think back and remember if she had been making a stupid face this whole time she had thought she was invisible. She settled on yes. Her face flushed.

"Done." Mikey said. Emilynn turned around, careful to behave her facial expressions.

"Okay. Now promise me you won't peek." He insisted.

"I promise."

"Swear?"

"Swear."

"Swear on your life?"

Emilynn shook her head, smiling. "On my life." She said.

"On your mother's life?"

Emilynn's smile fell. "My mother is dead." She said quietly. She ignored the flashbacks shoving themselves into her thoughts.

"Oh. I'm sorry Lynn." Mikey said softly. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine." She said, feigning confidence.

"If it makes you feel any better, I never had a mom." He said.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said.

"It's whatever." He said nonchalantly. She felt the shrug in his words. "You ready to go?" He asked.

She nodded, knowing now that he could see.

"Oh, and there is kinda one more thing." He said.

"What?"

"You can't make any noise until I say so."

He's about to abduct me.

Emilynn couldn't believe what she was getting herself into.

What am I getting myself into?

"Uh, Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you just promise you're not planning on murdering me or something?"

He laughed. "You got me there."

Emilynn made a face into the darkness. He laughed again.

"Okay, jeez, fine. Don't act so scary."

"Promise."

"I, Michelangelo, solemnly swear on my nonexistent mother's life, that I will not kill you."

Emilynn's brow furrowed. "Michelangelo?" She asked. He made a nervous sounding noise.

"Oops. I spilled the beans. Yeah, that's me."

"That's the weirdest name I've heard in the past couple hundreds of years."

He scoffed. "Well thanks. I'll just take back that whole 'not gonna kill you' thing now."

She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted as huge hands suddenly grabbed her around her waist, lifting her up and pressing her against something hard that she could not see to know what it was. She cried out, but Mikey shushed her.

"No noise, remember?"

She shut her mouth, swallowing hard. So she was being carried, then.

She scolded herself over and over again in her head. This entire situation went against everything every child is taught from the moment they can understand even the slightest bit of english. But here she was, blindfolded and trusting a strange boy that she was just now talking to for the second time in her life. She wasn't even walking on her own two feet. She didn't even know what on earth she was being held against. It felt almost like a soft plank of wood was strapped to his chest. The top was rounded off, and this she clung to for her life as she was roughly shaken around in his arms.

She was embarrassed by the way he was holding her. His large hands were able to wrap almost entirely around her small body. She had always hated when people tried to touch her, and now the way she was being held so close made her uncomfortable. She tried to shift herself as they were in motion, but that only made him grip her tighter and made her feel even more awkward. She wished he would have just let her walk on her own.

Though she was embarrassed by it, she did had to admit to herself that after all these long years of basically no physical contact with anyone, it felt kind of nice, in a way. Still, she would have preferred to walk.

After what seemed like only a couple of minutes, Mikey slowed down. Without the air blowing in her face, Emilynn noticed that it was suddenly much warmer.

"Okay," He whispered in a voice so low that Emilynn almost didn't hear it, "Don't. Make. A sound."

Although those had been the instructions for this entire trip, Emilynn understood that suddenly they were more important. She nodded, clinging to whatever it was she was being pressed against more tightly. Mikey sucked in a breath with a small, almost whimper-like noise.

"Hey. Go easy on that, will you?" He murmured. Emilynn immediately unclenched her fingers, her face heating up. She hadn't realized that whatever it was that she was holding had been important. She hoped she hadn't damaged it. She had been holding onto it so tightly that her fingers hurt. She figured with her luck whatever it was had to be ruined now.

"Okay, now, shh." He said. She did as he said, trying even to breathe as quietly as possible. She felt him start to move again, this time much slower. Despite the sudden decrease in speed, his hold on her tightened further. She bit her lip, not wanting to make any protestant noises. He continued to slowly move, until suddenly Emilynn heard what sounded like a door opening and closing.

"Mikey?" Someone called.

Mikey made a noise that could only be described as a mixture of a yelp and a gasp, and suddenly they were flying again.

"Mikey!" The second person yelled, his voice noticeably farther away now. "Get back here! I know you're home!"

"Code red code red code red." Mikey said in a panicked whisper. Emilynn found herself clinging to the plank-like object again.

"It's cool, we're cool. Mikester's got it under control." Mikey whispered quickly. Emilynn couldn't tell whether he was saying it to himself or to her. She couldn't tell much of what was happening at all at this point. Another door opened, this time right by her, and then suddenly she was not in Mikey's arms anymore. Her body landed hard on something soft, knocking all of the breath out of her with a loud gasp. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, unsure if her silence still mattered.

"Lynn, stay here for a sec, 'kay?" Mikey said quickly, his voice coming from somewhere in front of her. Before she could make any kind of response, she heard the door close again. She waited, not getting up from where she lay. Then, after a long moment of silence, she slid her hand off of her mouth and took a deep breath. She sat up, feeling around her.

It was a bed. It had to be. She confirmed this as her hands found what had to be a pillow laying next to her. She didn't dare to take off her blindfold now, despite the fact that she was obviously alone. She felt like it would be wrong. And, somehow, she felt like Mikey would know. So she waited in darkness.

After she could breathe normally, she could make out slight voices from somewhere outside of whatever room she was in. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but she thought that one of them sounded like Mikey. She hoped it wasn't bad. Eventually, the conversation seemed to turn into a one-sided lecture, before ending entirely. And then the door opened again. Emilynn jumped with fright.

"It's me, It's me." Mikey's voice said. She calmed herself down again. "Sorry." He said, with a small laugh. "Dude's crazy." The door closed again.

"Who is he?" Emilynn asked.

"My brother." Mikey said. The far side of the bed suddenly sunk as Mikey sat down. He watched Emilynn carefully. "You know, you've got a lot of guts. Trusting me with all this stuff."

Emilynn shrugged with a small sigh. "Guts are pretty much all I have to lose, at this point."

Mikey seemed to find that funny. The bed shook as he laughed, making Emilynn rise and fall slightly with the ripple of the mattress. She couldn't help but smile. His laughter was so contagious, somehow.

The bed rocked again, and suddenly there was a tug from behind her. "And this." Mikey's voice said, surprisingly close to her face.

Emilynn had completely forgotten about the backpack she still had strapped to her. She frowned with confusion. That bag had seemed so bulky earlier, and now she didn't even notice it was there. She hadn't even felt it as she was being carried.

"Right." She said, perplexed.

"You can take that off now, you know." Mikey said, his voice had moved away again.

"Oh. Right." Emilynn said, again. She could feel her face heat up as she realized how stupid she sounded. He realized it too, apparently, because he laughed again. She shrugged out of the bag and set it to her side. There was a 'thump' as it rolled off of the bed. Apparently she had been closer to the edge than she had thought. "Oops." She mumbled, embarrassed. Mikey didn't seem to mind.

"So we're here." He said.

"Is this your house?" Emilynn asked. It was awkward for her to talk to him with the blindfold on. She tried to face the direction she thought he was in, but she knew she looked like an idiot anyways.

"Yeah," He said, "I didn't know any other place to take you." He sounded slightly sheepish. "That wasn't freezing." He added. Emilynn nodded. She was glad to be out of the cold for once. Thinking about it made an involuntary shiver run through her body. Something about it made Mikey smile, but he didn't mention it to her. "We gotta stay on the down-low, though. My brothers are here, and they'd kind of kill me if they knew you were here."

"Not so fond of girls?" Emilynn asked.

"I think they just hate everyone." Mikey laughed.

"What is it with you guys?" Emilynn asked. "I mean, like, why so... secretive?" She recalled the first night she had been here. She told herself now that it couldn't possibly have been just a dream. The people who Mikey had been arguing with, his brothers, she now guessed, had been so eager to get rid of her. They acted like she was some sort of disease.

Mikey paused. "Well, uh..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say. "I... can't really explain." He finally said, giving up. He couldn't find it in him to lie to her, anyways. She was obviously disappointed in his lack of explanation, but she seemed to shake it off.

"It's okay." She said. "We all have our secrets." Then she laughed at herself. "I mean, I guess some are a little bigger than others." She gestured at her blindfold. Mikey grinned.

"What's your secret, Lynn?" He asked. She scoffed.

"Don't you know the rules of having a secret, Mikey?" Mikey smiled at her use of his name.

"I bet it's not as big as mine." He said, smirking evilly.

"I'd be willing to bet against that." Emilynn said after a moment, her expression copying his. Her chest throbbed thinking about just how big of a secret she did hold, but she kept the smile plastered on her face.

"Are you okay?" Mikey asked. The question surprised Emilynn. Apparently she wasn't that great of an actress.

"Yeah, why?" She asked, keeping up her act anyways. Mikey shrugged and the movement caused another ripple in the bed. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it.

"I bet you're like Batman." He said suddenly.

"What?" Emilynn asked.

"You know. Deep dark secret. Angst." Emilynn's breath caught slightly, but suddenly his words took a lighter path. "I bet you're actually rich. A billionaire. This whole thing you got going on is all an act." He laughed at himself. "There's probably a tunnel under that dumpster of yours that leads to your secret lair."

Emilynn cringed at his blatant statement, "that dumpster of yours." She never really looked at herself from an outsider's perspective, but she really was just a homeless girl living by a dumpster. Real classy. Mikey was still rambling away, seemingly lost in his own head.

"...and at night you crawl down there and snap on some fancy spandex suit and fight villains and save cats from trees."

This time they both laughed. "I would pay good money to see that." He said.

"I think I would, too." She agreed. The image of her stick figure in a spandex suit repulsed her, but she played along. "What about you?" She asked.

"Huh?" Mikey said.

"Do you ever sneak out into the night and beat up bad guys?"

A loud snort of a laugh came from his side of the bed. "Oh, you have no idea."

They laughed in unison. Emilynn hadn't felt this good in a long, long time. She'd forgotten how nice it was to have someone to talk to. Especially someone as entertaining as this Michelangelo character.

"What's with the name, anyway?" She asked suddenly, being reminded of it.

"My name?" Mikey asked.

"Well duh." Emilynn said.

"I don't know." Mikey laughed. "Dad's an artsy fartsy dude I guess. Went and name all of his kids after famous artists."

"All of them?" Emilynn asked. Mikey nodded, knowing full well that she couldn't see him.

"There's four of us guys."

Emilynn made an over-the-top sound of disgust. "A house full of boys?"

Mikey laughed. "Yep."

Emilynn put her nose between her fingers and tilted her head away, waving her other hand in front of her face as though she had smelt something terrible. "Blegh." Was her response. Mikey just laughed more, and eventually Emilynn had to laugh along. There was just something about the way Mikey laughed. You couldn't just witness it. You had to join in.

"Ah," Mikey said, still laughing slightly. "You know, you're actually pretty cool."

Emilynn stopped laughing, surprised. "I am?" She asked.

"Yeah." Mikey said slowly. There was a moment of silence, then, "I like you, Lynn."

She swallowed hard. Such simple, kind words suddenly made her want to cry. But she held it back.

"I like you too, Mikey."