The Frenemy

Disclaimer : I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE FRANCHISE, THIS IS STRICTLY JUST A FANFIC!

3 ~ You Don't Have A Choice Anymore

Louise inhaled what was left of the cigarette she began smoking about an hour ago, which wasn't much. She kneeled down to Elisa's height and blew a puff of smoke in her face.

"Now let's set the record straight here," Louise croaked. You can most definitely tell that she'd spent the last few years smoking her life away.

"I'm not your mommy or your caretaker. And this whole fostering shit ain't permanent, so don't catch feelings." Louise wasn't much different than the caretakers at the orphanages, Elisa and Dylan had been through.

Louise had ocean blue eyes and dirty blonde hair that was pulled into a high ponytail. She always wore camis or tight t-shirts and track pants. She looked nicer than she came on.

"You are to go to school and behave yourselves. I get one phone call or one fucking letter from the school complaining about your behavior, you're ass is out on the streets." Louise warned.

She gripped the tip of Elisa's chin and pulled her face close to hers. "I don't play games, girlie," She snarled. Her eyes flickered from the seven-year-old to her frightened little brother Dylan, who was only a year younger. "You and your little fuck-up for a brother are here 'cause I need a job and they won't let me have it if I don't prove that I'm over my addiction." Louise continued.

She stood back up and adjusted her neon pink cami. "Go and get unpacked." She ordered before walking away. Elisa turned towards her brother. He was chewing his bottom lip, forcing back tears.

She wrapped her arm around Dylan. "It's gonna be okay," She reassured him. He rubbed his lids and looked up at Elisa, with red rimmed eyes. "Like Madame Louise said, this isn't permanent. We'll be outta here before you know it." Elisa brushed a lock of Dylan's golden brown hair behind his ear.

His mesmerizing emerald eyes met with her soft hazel eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a warm embrace. "We're gonna find a better home, I promise." Elisa whispered, while she stroked her brother's back gently.

Elisa pulled her damp curly hair into a messy bun and left a few strands of hair dangling, framing her face perfectly.

She buttoned up her jean jacket and tip toed out of Raph's room, making sure it looked exactly the same as it was the night before when she had arrived.

Raph was knocked out on the couch. He was lying face down, his body sprawled over the love seat.

The two had stayed up till' 1 in the morning talking away. Elisa still felt horrible for going along with Shredder's plan. She may not know the turtles & Splinter very well but they seemed like a very nice family and she didn't feel right screwing things up for them.

Elisa made her way to the kitchen. The clanking of pots and slamming of cabinets woke Leo up. The mutant slugged to the kitchen to investigate where the noise was coming from.

"What're you looking for?" Leo asked in his husky morning voice. Elisa quickly turned around and sighed. "Sorry, I was looking for the coffee pot." She responded with an apologetic expression.

Leonardo kneeled down and opened the cabinet located under the sink. He felt around for the dainty pot until he spotted it under the pot he used to boil Ramen noodles for the boys. He handed it to Elisa and plopped down at the kitchen table.

Though he hasn't said much to her or about her last night, Leo felt uncomfortable with Elisa. Why did the Kraang back off so easily? If they really wanted to know about April, they would've done more than just walk away without a fight. And why wasn't Elisa reluctant to go home with Raph? He was a freaking walking-talking turtle for Pete's sake!

Overall, Leo didn't trust her and it seemed-according to him of course- that he was the only one that felt this was. Donnie feels that it's the same situation with April and as far the Kraang situation goes, they're not fully developed robots. Donnie always tried to be positive, so of course he would welcome Elisa with open arms.

Mikey-well Mikey is Mikey. He's the most laid back and fun person out of the four. He doesn't really look too much into anything and is willing to protect anybody-even a sociopath- just to get the satisfaction of doing a good deed.

And Raphael was obviously mesmerized by Elisa's beauty and wanted to make a big hero gesture to win her approval. You would think Raph, being the hot head of the group, would at least question her before bringing her home like a stray dog. But he's just as love struck as Donnie.

"Not to sound rude or anything, but why are you here?" Leo asked, narrowing his eyes at Elisa. That was something he'd seen Splinter do whenever he wanted information. Elisa watched with great attention as the coffee began to brew. She glanced over her shoulder and shrugged.

"Just needed a place to stay for the night." She responded as nonchalant as she could. Way to be discrete, Leonardo thought as he watched her grab a mug from the cupboard above the sink. "Want some?" She offered, waving the mug in his face. Leo shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

"So," He said, dragging the 'o'. Once the pot was halfway full, Elisa poured some coffee into the turquoise colored mug. She turned around to face Leo and took a long sip of her beverage, waiting for him to continue. "What did the Kraang want with April?" He inquired, staring hard at Elisa.

She fixed her gaze on the pile of magazines, scattered on the kitchen table. "I mean, sure, they've been wanting to kidnap her for months now but why would they bother you about it? Since you claim you don't know April." The turtle continued. Elisa looked back at Leo with cold eyes and set down her cup on the counter.

"You don't trust me do you?" She challenged. Leonardo shrugged and began to play a rhythmic beat on the table with his fingers. "I never said that, I was just making conversation but since you're implying it-" "I'm leaving today anyways so you don't have to worry about me, anymore." Elisa announced.

Leonardo shrugged again and stood up. He flashed Elisa what was supposed to be a smirk but ended up looking like a distorted frown, then walked away. Elisa rolled her eyes and grabbed her mug.

She wasn't even there for a full 24 hours and they were already getting suspicious- at least one of them. Today was her last day she planned on being with them so she didn't really worry about their opinions on her.

She was glad she had made her decision. Like Casey told her, they're going to find Dylan with or without Oroku Saki's help. Elisa also realized that working beside the Shredder wouldn't change what he did to her. He ruined her life and yet she still wanted to turn to him for help.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Casey's number. She glanced at the clock on the stove, it was 7:04 AM, Casey had to be up by now. After three rings, he finally picked up. The sound of heavy metal blasted in Elisa's ear. "Okay, you are definitely awake." She chuckled.

"What's up, Lis?" Her best friend greeted in his Brooklyn accent. She smiled, blushing a little. It was probably his accent that made Casey attractive. Elisa always found accents a turn on. "Are you busy?" She asked, glancing at the clock again.

"Not really, no. Wanna meet at The Grove?" He offered. Ever since Elisa first met Casey, when they were freshmen's in high school, they always had breakfast at The Grove. While Elisa made her way over there, Casey would stop at Starbucks and grab coffee for them then meet her over there. It beat any date she'd ever been on.

"Sure, sure." Elisa responded with excitement in her voice. "Alright then, see you there." Casey replied. Shortly after she bid farewell, Elisa hung up. She looked up to see Raph leaning against the refrigerator.

"That your boyfriend?" He interrogated with cold eyes. "Not really." Elisa shrugged. Raphael sighed, he knew that if she walked out the door, there'd be a slight chance that she would come back.

Elisa coughed awkwardly, trying to break the silence. "I'm, uhh, leaving today." She announced. It felt awkward telling people when she was departing. Back at the foster home, no one ever asked where she was going or when she'll be coming back, so she felt uneasy announcing her departure.

"It's your choice," Raphael decided, a glum look about his face. "I'm not gonna force you to stay, just..." He paused, looking up at her. His emerald eyes met her soft hazel eyes. Elisa quickly broke their gaze and turned around. She squeezed her eyes shut, forcing back her tears.

Dylan had the same color eyes that Raphael has. Had. She hated using that word and it bothered her when others used that word. It felt like a bullet to the chest hearing it, 'cause it took away the hope of Dylan being alive. She knew he was, but she didn't wanna be shot down by past tense use of words.

"Be careful." Raphael continued. Elisa nodded quickly, almost as an obedient gesture. She turned around and flashed him a smile, before heading towards the front door. Raphael followed her with his eyes and shook his head sadly. Be careful. The words echoed in his head over and over.

Sure he didn't know her that long, but that didn't change the fact that he liked her. Elisa always knew not to grow too attached. She thought the turtles were nice but she didn't want to befriend them this way.

"Do you ever plan on going back to school?" Casey asked, staring at his empty cup. Him and Elisa had just arrived at The Grove and were waiting for the waitress to come back with their breakfast.

Elisa shrugged, "Maybe. I just have a lot going on right now and I don't need the stress of school to top everything." She responded glumly. Casey graduated a year early and was looking all over Manhattan for a decent job to pay off his apartment.

Finally, the tall red-headed waitress came back. She reminded Elisa of Annalise, her foster sister. She had the same rosy cheeks, blue gray eyes but a totally different hair color.

The waitress was probably a couple inches taller than Casey. She had a piercing in her right nostril. She placed down two plates: one had pancakes with whipped cream and four blueberries on top and the other had a plain breakfast burrito.

"That's all your getting?!" Elisa said, raising her eyebrows in bewilderment. Casey smirked, "Is it a surprise that I'm not that hungry?"

"Uhh, yeah, considering you're a fat ass." She joked. Casey shook his head and took a huge bite out of the B&E burrito. "There's the Casey Jones that I know." Elisa smiled brightly at her best friend.

Casey wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and set down his burrito. "Have you decided what you're gonna do about Oroku Saki's plan?" He inquired. Elisa grabbed her cup quickly and took a long sip of her cappuccino. Casey rolled his eyes and waited for her to finish.

"I told them I was leaving." Elisa revealed, avoiding her friend's stare. "For good?" He pressed. Elisa nodded sadly. "That's good." Casey mumbled.

Elisa looked up in an offended gesture. "You were the one who suggested I do this in the first place!" She snapped. "Yeah, well, I changed my mind. Working for Oroku Saki isn't gonna take back what he did to your family." Casey reminded her.

Elisa rolled her eyes and began to pick at the blueberries that floated on the thick layer of whipped cream. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore. "Sorry Lis..." Casey placed his hand on hers, but she quickly pulled it away. "It's fine-I'm fine, can we just drop it?" Elisa pleaded. Casey threw his hands up in surrender. "Thank you." Elisa whispered.

"Mikey, quit cheating!" Raph shouted, pulling the controller closer to his face. They were playing Mario Kart and ,as always, Mikey was winning. "Hey! It's not my fault you're a sore loser!" Mikey giggled.

Raph threw the controller onto the floor while Mikey continued to play. "Whatever," He scoffed. "This game is stupid anyways." April pushed past Raphael and strolled into the kitchen. "Morning sleepy-head." He greeted warmly.

Donnie jumped out of his seat violently and went to go greet April. "Where's Leo?" Raph scanned the lair with his eyes, looking for his brother. "In his room watching Space Heroes." Mikey replied. Raphael chuckled at this response and made his way to Leo's room.

Leonardo sat in front of his TV, watching his favorite show with full attention. "Hi." Raph said. Leonardo looked up, surprised to see his hot-headed brother so calm. He turned off his TV and stood up quickly. "Hey, is everything okay?" He asked ever so calmly, trying hard not to piss Raphael off.

"Yeah, I just..wanted to talk." Raph responded. Him and Leo both sat at the edge of his bed awkwardly. They stared at the poster of Captain Ryan from Space Heroes that hung above Leo's TV. Leonardo opened his mouth to say something but Raph cut him off. "Look, I don't hate you." He started. He paused to see the expression on Leo's face as he began to talk.

"I'm just..." Raph paused again. "Jealous." He confessed. Leonardo raised his nonexistent eyebrows at his little brother. "I know what you're thinking, 'Why is Raph jealous of me?' I just feel like I have to make a big fuss to get Sensei to notice me." Raphael turned away from Leo.

"Sure, you're nerdy and you fail at being cool but when it comes to saving people and patrolling, you always know what to do. And Sensei loves that about you, that's probably why he chose you-"

"Raph," Leo interrupted. "Sensei didn't choose me because I'm smart or that I always come up with a plan, he chose me 'cause I asked to be the leader." Raphael turned to face Leo. "Really?" He seemed shocked.

"Yeah," Leo chuckled. "And if it bothers you this much, I'll try not to go all 'hero-boy' on you when we're training." He placed a hand on Raph's shoulder awkwardly. "We okay?" He asked with sincere eyes. Raph nodded and pushed his hand away. "That doesn't mean we're gonna get touchy-feely." He joked, giving Leo a light push. Leonardo pushed Raph harder and then they begin to wrestle.

Splinter stood at the doorway and smiled brightly.

The chilled air nipped at Elisa's skin occasionally, causing her to shiver violently. She had just finished her shift at a local coffee shop and was now heading to Casey's apartment.

It felt good knowing that she didn't have to play the "damsel in distress" and hope one of the turtles would show up. She hired some of Casey's friends, the other night, to dress up exactly like the Kraang droids. They stood near the turtle's manhole and waited for one of them to show up. She can still remember what the Shredder had told her the day they made the deal.

[ Flashback ]

"Once you make your decision, it's final. You can't change your mind all of a sudden 'cause remember, you came to me." Oroku Saki said, towering above Elisa.

Shredder grinned evilly. "I'm surprised you'd even give me a passing glance, considering I-"

"This is for Dylan, so don't get greedy." Elisa reminded him. Shredder raised his right arm slowly and smacked her hard, leaving a stinging pain in Elisa's right cheek.

He grabbed the collar of Elisa's shirt and pulled her face close to his, the way Madame Louise used to do. "Don't think that I owe you because of what I did. You WILL find the turtles and lure them to me." Shredder ordered. He let go of Elisa, causing her to fall to the ground.

Elisa shook this thought out of her head. It wasn't like the Shredder had eyes everywhere. He couldn't do anything to her unless he knew that she dropped the deal.

The sound of a tin trashcan falling over caused Elisa to break away from her thoughts. She spun around quickly. "Hello?" She hollered. There was no one around...according to her.

She shrugged and continued on her way to Casey's apartment. She had been bunking with Casey ever since they met. Elisa hasn't been to her foster home since she was fourteen.

She was seventeen now, almost a legal adult, so what was the point of going back there?

A shiver ran up her spine. Thinking of her foster home always made Elisa uneasy. She let out a sigh of relief when she neared the apartment complex Casey lived in.

As she strolled to the front doors, she got the weird sensation that someone was watching her. She turned and gasped in horror then everything went black...

An hour later, Elisa awoke with a terrible headache. She had a weird taste in her mouth. She had definitely been drugged. She looked up to find Oroku Saki towering above her.

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Elisabeth Martinez?" The sound of her full name being used made her cringe. "What're you talking about?" Elisa panted.

"Spare me the idiocy, I know you dropped the deal." Shredder revealed. Elisa looked around, there were Foot soldiers everywhere. She attempted to get up, only realizing she had been tied to a chair with wires.

Elisa let out a sharp cry of pain. She could feel the wires cutting into her wrists. Salty tears spilled out of her eyes and onto her cheeks. "Why are you doing this?" She cried.

"Because what you don't seem to realize is that you don't have a choice anymore." The Shredder answered as if it were the dumbest question he had ever been asked.

"I offered you a deal which you accepted. You were warned that once you made your decision, it's final, you have to do what I tell you." He explained. He let out a disappointed sigh. "But now I see you've failed to understand."

Oroku Saki nodded at one of the ninjas then strolled away as casual as ever. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Elisa shouted.

Two foot ninjas now stood before her. They exchanged glances then one by one began to attack Elisa. One soldier grabbed her by her ponytail and held her head back while the other punched her repeatedly.

Blood trickles down her nose and pain struck her whole face. Another Foot ninja decided to join the two, wrapping a nunchaku around Elisa's neck and pulled tightly. All the air in her lungs disappeared and suddenly everything became blurry.

April sat beside Master Splinter and closely observed as the four mutants began their training. "Now, pay attention to how and when they attack each other." Splinter ordered.

Donnie and Raphael stood in fighting stance, waiting to begin. "Hajime!" Splinter shouted. Donatello thrusted his staff at Raphael, aiming for his stomach but Raph dodged it. He quickly swung his leg over, hitting Donnie right under his chin causing him to topple over.

Donnie quickly arose and dodged another one of Raphael's blows and jabbed him with his staff. The two danced around each other for a bit but quickly stopped when they heard a knocking at the door.

"I didn't say stop." Splinter grumbled, shaking his head. "I'll get it." Leonardo announced. Raphael and Donatello quickly started up again after Leo exited the dojo.

It was unusual for anyone to knock at their door unless it was April, but since April was already at the lair it was probably Elisa. Leonardo quickly paused. What if it is Elisa? He thought.

Leonardo felt uneasy having Elisa around ever since yesterday so why should he let her back in? Then again it wasn't his choice who should come into the lair and who shouldn't. He answered the door anyways.

Elisa stood before him, slime all over her from trudging through the sewers. Her whole face was swollen, her nose all bloody and scars were all over her. "Is it okay if I stay here for a while?" She asked this as if it were a normal day.

Leonardo widened his eyes at the sight of her. 'This was definitely not a joke anymore, someone is definitely after Elisa.' He thought. "Of course, come inside." Leonardo responded, gently taking Elisa's hand and guiding her inside.

Suddenly, it wasn't a game anymore. Shredder WAS going to kill Elisa if he didn't get his way. There was no way out...