(A/N) I know! I know. So many unfinished stories, so many promises. One day I will fulfill those promises, but not today. A new story! Centered on Leo instead of Raph this time. I find it amazingly easy for me to write his character, where it's a struggle for Raph. Maybe because I'm an older sibling as well.

A wordless growl issued from Leo's mouth as he glared into the homeless girl's eyes. Emeralds blinked owlishly back at him. Very slowly, and to Leo's rising astonishment, she handed him the crowbar she had just taken from the gang member. She moved awkwardly back on all fours, delicately stepping over Mikey and away from the angry turtle. She fought down a grimace as her back cramps returned with a vengeance.

"Le…o?" came the groggy murmur from the ground between them.

"I'm here, Mike," he said as reassuringly as he could. He reached out and held his little brother's hand tightly. It had been too close. Much too close. If this woman hadn't been there… He couldn't bare thinking about it.

It was when Leo finally dropped his wary gaze from the mysterious female that he noticed a worrying amount of blood dripping onto the ground from the head wound. The woman noticed it at the same time. She disappeared as silently as any ninja behind a dumpster, and reemerged with a surprisingly clean cloth.

She regarded him warily, pausing two feet away, before creeping towards the fallen turtle. Leo shifted uneasily, ready to pounce if she proved to be up to no good. Mikey groaned again as she pressed her cloth to the wound, but settled down when she placed his head in her lap. Lying on his shell caused his neck to bend at a strange angle. Her lap relieved that stress and further cushioned his wound on her thighs.

"Thank you." She looked up, startled, when Leo spoke. She nodded solemnly in response. Satisfied that there was no additional danger, Leo took out his shell cell and called his brainy brother. "Don!"

"What happened, Leo?" Don was suitably worried. He had heard Leo and Mikey leave the lair earlier. Leo didn't call for nothing, either. What had his danger-prone brothers gotten into now?

"We're in the alley by the warehouse on Sixth. Mikey's hurt. Bring the battle shell and your first aid kit. We need to get out of here!"

"Aw, shell, Leo…!" Donnie groused worriedly over the phone as he grabbed his first aid kit and ran out the door. "I'll be there in five minutes." He hung up. "Raph! Come on, you're driving!"

"Where? What happened?" With the troublemaker out of the lair, Raph had saw fit to come out of hiding. He was reclining on the couch, beak buried in a motorcycle magazine and ignoring the soaps on the television. Master Splinter looked up, a worried frown on his face.

"Mikey's hurt! Leo called, said they're in the alley by the warehouse on Sixth." The magazine went flying as Raph booked it toward the elevator. Mikey must have been hurt bad…

Back in the alley, Mikey was becoming more lucid. "Oww…Duuude…What hit me?"

"A crow bar, you crazy turtle. Why the shell did you take off running like that? If this girl hadn't saved your sorry shell, you'd be turtle soup!" Leo was practically beside himself. So he did what agitated siblings do. He scolded and lectured.

"Hey there, pretty lady. Do you know how to turn the volume down on this thing?" Mikey asked the woman. Her face looked upside down to him, but he could still tell when she smiled. She shook her head, playing along with him. Leo, though, took the hint behind Mikey's joke and lowered his voice.

"Miss? Do you have a place to stay?" He had to repay this lady somehow. She was dirty, with lank hair, tattered clothes, and a strangely hunched back. She looked to be about 18. It was pretty obvious she was homeless, and Leo figured it was safe to offer shelter to someone that had just saved his little brother. She looked at him with big eyes and slowly shook her head. "Would you like to stay with us? It's the least we could do…" She bit her lip, unsure.

"What's your name, Pretty Lady?" Mikey squinted up at her. He rather liked the idea of someone knew around the lair. She just stared at them, looking frustrated.

"Can you talk?" Leo asked softly. He didn't want to sound rude, but she hadn't said a peep in all this time. Slowly, a blush spreading across her dirt streaked face, she shook her head. "I see…" What was he supposed to say to that?

Suddenly, there was the screech of tires as an armored truck pulled up to the alley. Her eyes widened when two more turtles jumped out of the green vehicle, one wearing purple and carrying a bag and a bo staff, and one wearing red and carrying sais on his belt. They stopped and stared when the saw her, but then continued when they realized that Leo seemed fine with her presence.

Wordlessly, Don let the stranger help him bandage Mikey's wound. She had done a good job herself, but he was glad to get some anti-infection cream on it. No telling what was on that crowbar, and her cloth was only mostly clean.

"What's with the girl?" Raph whispered to Leo.

"She saved Mikey's life. I'll explain more when we get home." Raph raised his eye ridges. She was a pale, sickly thing. She didn't look strong enough to bat at a fly, let alone save his little brother.

"Is she coming with us?" Don asked. He knew right off she was homeless, and had come to Leo's conclusion. Raph frowned. He wasn't all that fond of strangers, but this one seemed harmless enough. He studied her, and when he got to her face he found big green eyes staring avidly back at him. They were expressive and showed him her fear and uncertainty. He suddenly couldn't bring himself to voice an opposition to the idea.

"I'd like her too." Leo's statement somehow sounded like an order. Her gaze went from Raph to him, then back again. She was still unsure.

"I like her! She should come…" Mikey's voice had gotten weaker, and they all looked at him concernedly. Her gaze seemed to soften, and she nodded shyly to Leo.

"Well, then, that's settled. Grab what you need, Miss. Let's get out of here!"

After she had made sure Leo and Raph had Mike supported between the two of them, she darted behind her dumpster and reemerged with an old pillowcase half full of possessions. It always paid to be able to move at a moment's notice when living on the streets, she found. You had no idea when someone bigger and meaner than you came along wanting to hurt you or take your spot and possessions.

She scuttled oddly after them, sometimes on all fours and sometimes so hunched over she might as well have been. Don raised a worried eye ridge. Seemed Mikey wasn't the only one needing medical attention. Raph and Leo noticed as well. Raph was somewhat disgusted; it was grotesque the way she moved. Leo was worried like Don; what was wrong with her?

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