Sorry guys - know it has been a few weeks. I was pretty sick last week and I'd crash every day after work and this week as always has been crazy. But here it is the long awaited chapter. The turtles know where their brother is and they're going to get him... or will the Foot get him first? ;) Thanks again to all those who review. I promise I will respond to last chapters reviews when I get home this afternoon. I'm on my way out the door right now I have to teach a class. Meanwhile enjoy this chapter and I'll write again soon. Thanks for sticking with me and being patient through all my craziness.

Chapter 8

"Popcorn and soda… and there's some chips too. What's the point in game night if there's no junk food to enjoy it?" Melinda asked with a slight grin as she sat next to the turtle again.

"It's your turn." The turtle said, smiling back as he reached into the popcorn bowl and grabbed a handful in his large hand, making a sizable dent in the almost overflowing bowl.

"Ok let's see how long it takes for me to die this time," Melinda said with a laugh.

"Well just don't fall in a hole or run into any spiky bugs and you won't die."

Melinda shook her head and rolled her eyes, a little exasperated. "Show off, just because you're better at it. Where did you learn to… " she stopped when he frowned. "Sorry. I keep forgetting."

"Me too."

Melinda did laugh then. This turtle was something else. He gave her a slightly crooked grin as he reached for one of the soda cans, he popped the lid with ease and took a long pull, then made a face as the carbonated drink fizzed, obviously tickling his nose and irritating his throat. He swallowed, waited a few seconds then took another long pull from the drink.

"Oh man, it's the chocolate world," Melinda groaned. "My sister was always a lot better at this than I was. "

Melinda pushed the button and entered the next level. Jumping over a giant green monster and landed on a smaller one before it could blow fire on her. She made Mario run as fast as she dared to get Yoshi before going into the tunnel. She shifted to the edge of her seat, biting her tongue, totally focused on the screen as she tried not to slide off the edges of the slanted cliffs and not get killed by the flying turtles as she tried to get to the end of the level.

"Better watch out for that… oh that was close… look out for that… "

The turtles commentary was not helping.

"Gah! Look out for that… "

Yoshi smacked into the turtle, he bolted and took Mario with him down the hole and she died.

"Told you to look out for the… "

"Flying turtle?"

"Yeah, that."

"Gee thanks."

He gave her a weak smile.

Melinda snatched the popcorn bowl from him and popped a few of the popped kernels into her mouth as he moved Luigi to the same level, easily dodging the large and small fire breathing monsters, he too grabbed Yoshi, but unlike Melinda he seemed to have no trouble avoiding the flying turtles while sliding around on the slanted cliffs. Not only that but he managed to grab one of the turtles with Yoshi's tongue and blew fire balls at the next, catching the coin as he leapt to the next cliff.

She leaned back against the couch cushion. If she were being honest with herself she was having more fun watching him play than actually playing herself, although she had the feeling that he found the fact that she kept dying funny.

After passing several more levels with ease while Melinda kept dying quite easily, much to both of their amusements. With the turtle the game seemed to go quite fast. "Think you can beat Bowser?"

He smirked. "No problem dudette."

But whether he could really beat Bowser or not Melinda never found out, because as soon as he hit the start button, Melinda's windows caved in as people clad in black pajamas came swarming in.

Takeshi waited for the scout to report back to see which apartment the turtles had gone into impatiently. He was not a patient man and having to wait for the newbie to check it out and come back was wearing on his already tightly strung nerves. These turtles were such thorns in their sides. He really wished that mistress Karai had gotten rid of them years ago. Back when the turtles had been more neieve in the ways of the world. But Karai had been foolish, toying with the leader of the enemy clan as if he were her own personal play thing. Going on about honor. Not that Karai didn't value honor. Especially the Shredder's honor, which is why she'd finally seen the light and turned on the turtles. The leader, Leonardo, he was responsible for the banishment of the Shredder. Karai seemed certain that it was all Leonardo's fault, that the others had just followed his lead and done what they were told since he was the leader. And because of that, Karai's personal vendetta against the turtles was mostly aimed at Leonardo.

Takeshi wasn't sure if that was because Karai had formed a friendship with the turtle when she had first come to the states to help restore order to the Foot clan.

At last the tall and lanky scout returned.

"Well?" Takeshi spat.

"They went into the last apartment on the right, ground floor sir. One of the turtles is on the couch with the woman in there."

Takeshi's eyes narrowed behind his mask. As a member of the Foot Clan he had many enemies, but he didn't hate any as much as he hated the turtles and their allies. If a woman in there was friends with the turtles she had just made a very powerful enemy. However, if he could somehow get her away from the turtles, take her back to the Foot Tower, make her tell them where the turtles filthy lair was, she wouldn't be useless. However, killing them all would be a greater honor.

"Sir?"

He drew his katana. "Kill them all."

Melinda had never been more terrified in her life. Her apartment had been swarmed with black clad pajama wearing people who had all had weapons. Some with swords, others with long sticks. They didn't seem to stop coming, like a cockroach infestation. The less you wanted the more there were.

The turtle next to her was instantly on his feet, hauling her to hers, the popcorn bowl tipping over and the popcorn spilling all over the floor, crunching under their feet as he pushed her back towards the door, only to have that kicked in and more black pajama clad people came in.

If that wasn't shock enough Melinda thought she would pass out when three more giant turtles came rushing from down the hall. None of them were injured like the one she was currently hiding behind was, and all three of them had fire in their eyes when they saw the pajama clad people.

The one in the red mask growled, his sharp fork like weapons drawn, his amber eyes sparked fear into Melinda's heart. He was terrifying and as he threw himself right into a fight with these other guys Melinda felt her adrenaline shoot through her system. They had come for their friend, they had come for their friend and they were going to kill everyone in the process. She was going to die!

She gripped the edge of her new friend's shell, hoping he could convince these other giant turtles that she had only been trying to help.

But for now they seemed to have no interest at all in her. The one in blue, who's dark brown eyes were just as scary as the red banded turtle drew his swords, the metal flashed in the light and clanged against the black clad men's swords. The third was drawing a stick and spun it expertly as he too went into battle against these… whoever they were.

Several of them advanced on her and her new friend, he pushed her more firmly into the corner, protecting her with his shell.

From the corner of her eye she saw movement and ducked just as a stick swung where her head had been. The turtle growled and moved away from her, catching her would be attacker with a hard punch, that put him down on the ground. But it was a small victory as several more quickly moved in on him, sensing weakness.

Melinda knew his injuries hindered him, and he moved a bit stiffly as he fought back. Melinda's eyes snapped to the other turtles, wondering if they knew that their friend was in big trouble. But they all seemed distracted with their own battles, trying to prevent more of these people from coming in through the windows.

As Melinda's eyes snapped back to her friend she saw him fall when a lucky strike with a bo caught him across the shell. He grunted going to his knees. Melinda screamed and ran forward without thinking. He was hurt! Were these people trying to kill him? She wasn't just going to sit back and watch them do that! She knew they were armed and she wasn't. She knew they had fighting skills, which was something else that she lacked. But it was as if watching someone else controlling her body. The logical part of her mind had no control over what she was doing even as she raced forward she knew it would be too late. She grabbed a hold of the bo before it could smash the turtle's head in and hung onto it desperately trying to kick the man wielding it as he tried to shake her off. Still she held out. She heard him grunt when her foot connected with his jaw.

She had no time to congratulate herself for her victory because a kick to the ribs winded her. She blinked, her eyes watering in pain as she fought to get air into her lungs, but they stubbornly refused to work. Still she did not let go of the bo. She felt another blow this time to her back, she felt something give in her chest, it felt as if she'd been hit by a bus. Her fingers went numb and she felt the bo pulled away.

She heard them speaking in a language she couldn't understand, she saw them reaching for her, but could do nothing to prevent it as her world bled into gray. Then black. And she knew nothing else.

"Raphael, calm down."

"Dey knew 'e was dere! Dey were tryin' ta kill 'im!"

"Raph, storming off to foot tower right now is a bad idea and you know it!"

Raphael glared at his girlfriend and she glared right back.

Raphael had been on edge ever since the turtles had returned home almost an hour ago. He had barely sat still long enough for Elizabeth to help with his stitches for a nasty gash on his arm. She was now working on a deeper cut on Leonardo's arm thanks to a lucky strike from Takeshi. Leonardo was positive it was Takeshi because he'd heard one of the other Foot soldiers call to him. And if Leonardo recalled right Takeshi was right up there in the ranks of Karai's first in command. If he wasn't her first in command.

Leonardo had been fighting to get to Michelangelo when he'd seen his brother go down, and Takeshi had caught him with a lucky swing of his katana, furious, Leonardo had returned the favor. Takeshi had fallen back, blood falling from the deep cut on his arm. Leonardo had turned just in time to avoid being hit with a bo and had countered, taking the soldier out and had once again glanced towards his fallen brother to see a petite blonde girl who could weigh no more than 110 pounds holding onto the bo of a would be attacker and kicking furiously at him while he tried to get her off.

It was almost funny if the situation hadn't been so serious. They were already one brother down, Mikey wasn't getting up and he'd seen Raph take a few good hits. They needed to get Mikey and get out. But he knew that they couldn't just leave the girl here, especially not now that the foot would associate her with them.

And then he'd heard her cry and she too had gone down. It had been time to leave. Calling to his brothers they'd fought together to get to Mikey and the girl. Raph had gathered up their fallen brother, Don the girl and Leonardo had acted as a rear guard as they'd made their escape into the night.

The girl and Mikey were both still unconscious, Don hovering anxiously over their brother checking his wounds, old and fresh, for himself.

Elizabeth scowled as she pulled the needle through Leonardo's flesh, she was only halfway done and Leonardo really wished that she and Raph could wait until after she was done stitching him up to fight. She was less gentle when she was angry and stitches weren't exactly fun when she was gentle.

"Raph, you know she's right. Going in half cocked isn't going to do anyone any good."

"Leo!"

"Raph, Mikey is going to be ok. He's home now. They aren't going to get him down here."

"But what if we hadn't known 'e was in dat apartment, Leo? What if dey found out before we did?"

"I know, Raph. But it didn't."

"Leo!"

"Raph," Leonardo sighed. "We'll handle the Foot, on our terms. "But Mikey is in no shape to fight tonight, and how far do you think you're going to get with that arm like that?"

"I'm fine."

"You say that now, but we both know better."

Raph scowled. If there was one thing he truly hated it was being told that he was weak. Not that that was what Leonardo was implying. But Leonardo was too tired to really get into it with his brother now. It had been a long few days, worrying about Michelangelo, the long patrols, and the fight tonight.

"Raph, why don't you go check on Akemi?" Elizabeth suggested. "You know she's been waking up in the middle of the night lately – she goes to sleep better if you're in there with her."

Raph scowled but headed for the nursery.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to Leonardo's arm, moving the needle more gently through his flesh this time.

"What are you going to do with her, Leo?"

Leo's fingers drummed on his knee for a minute as Elizabeth tied another knot in the flesh, closing more of the wound.

"She'll have to stay here until we can figure out what to do with her. It's too dangerous for her to go home, especially since the Foot knows she's helped us. They'll try to use her to get to us. The fact that she doesn't know anything won't stop them from taking her if they get the chance. She'd die trying to tell them she knew nothing about where we were, and that's even if she said that. She was defending Mikey from them, or trying to anyway."

"Really?" Elizabeth was surprised by this.

"Yeah, saw her clinging to a bo, stopping the Foot soldier from crushing Mikey's head with it."

"She sounds brave," Elizabeth said thoughtfully as she finished the last stitch and put an ace bandage over the wound, taping it in place. "But, Leo, being down here with all you guys might be a bit overwhelming. Seeing one of you is one thing, but four… "

"She's already seen four of us, Elizabeth."

"Yeah while her apartment was full of Foot soldiers," Elizabeth put her needle down and wiped the blood off her hands with a damp towel. She shook her head as she gathered up her medical supplies. "Might be different when she's down here and there aren't any Foot ninja to distract her."

"If that's the case, Elizabeth, we'll deal with it then." Leo said calmly though his tone indicated his patience was wearing thin. "Right now we don't have a choice. She's in danger if she goes home and we both know it."

"She might not see it that way," Elizabeth warned. She headed to the bathroom.

Leo shook his head, his patience at an end and went to talk to Splinter about their retrieval mission.

Filthy Foot scum. Raphael wanted them all to disappear. If they hadn't found out where Mikey was… and if the Foot soldiers had gotten to him first, then Mikey wouldn't be downstairs in the infirmary. Mikey wouldn't be safe with his brothers. Mikey would be being tortured in the Foot headquarters, Mikey could have been used as a science experiment, or Mikey could've been sold to the highest bidder just for Karai's amusement.

And then there was this girl that Mikey had been with. Raph wasn't exactly thrilled that they'd had to bring her back to the lair, although he knew Leo had a point when Leonardo had told him it was too dangerous to leave her in her apartment where the Foot could come back and grab her. Although she knew nothing about where they lived and her knowledge of them couldn't be too extensive, the Foot would torture that out of her before they killed her. If she was that lucky. Thrilled about her or not, Raph didn't want that.

But why hadn't Mikey called to tell them where he was? And how did they know they could really trust this chick? For all they knew she could be working with the Foot. It was quite convenient that she had been the one to find him, that he had been right outside her apartment building, and that the night the turtles had come to retrieve their brother had been the night the place was swarming with Foot. Was she really a lousy Foot ninja spy and tonight had been the night she was going to sell Mikey out?

Raph's blood boiled at the thought. He didn't like strangers and he didn't trust them. Elizabeth had been the only exception to that rule and as far as he was concerned that was how it was going to stay. This girl in their lair was a stranger and Raph didn't trust her. What if it had been a ploy? She acted like she was helping Mikey, acted liked she was trying to protect him all so she could find out where the lair was and report back to Karai and tell her so that Karai could come down and kill them all?

Raph opened the door to Akemi's room, but the toddler wasn't awake. She was laying on her stomach, her head turned away from him, hands up over her head like they always were when she slept. Her chest rose and fell steadily, her brown curls were tangled and knotted, framing her small head. Raph quietly closed the door so she could sleep. He was staying close to Mikey and this stranger until he figured out exactly who she was and what she had to do with his brother.