Hey guys. Hope everyone has had a good couple of weeks. Work has been really crazy for me and I've been working long hours. Our company sold almost a million dollars worth of product in one week so I was working overtime hours and came home exhausted and had other responsibilities come up this past week. Worked really hard to get this next chapter done today so I could get it posted. So I hope it was worth the wait. Thank you for being patient with me and sticking with me. I hope everyone has a great week. And thanks for those who take the time to review, really appreciate it.

Chapter 9

Elizabeth was incredibly frustrated with Raphael. She had known he was stubborn and difficult at times, but the arrival of this girl in the lair had really set his teeth on edge. Elizabeth had tried to talk to him about it, but when his temper had gotten too close to the surface for Elizabeth's comfort she had backed down. Raphael had never, and she knew he never would, strike her, but she found it hard to control the impulse to flinch away from him when he was really angry. She knew he tried hard to be patient with her, and their arguments were usually rare and short lived. Elizabeth didn't like confrontation so she would either let Raph have his way or she would drop the subject and bring it up later when he had had time to cool down and it was then they would work things out.

However, there were times like this, where Elizabeth found trying to reason with Raphael incredibly frustrating. He wasn't in the mood to be reasoned with and Elizabeth was wasting her breath trying to reason with him. She knew what Raphael thought of this girl, she'd gotten him to open up to her about what he thought about her when he'd refused to join the rest of them for lunch. Elizabeth had no doubt that his accusations were false. She remembered what Donatello had said when he'd finally come out of the infirmary after checking over Mikey's injuries for himself.

It could have been worse. A broken arm, just below the elbow, several bruises and a few gashes, some deep some not. From what Donatello had said this girl had tried to help by doctoring Michelangelo's injuries, the broken arm could have easily gone septic if it had been left untreated and she had stitched his wounds just as neatly as Donatello would have. The injury that worried Donatello the most was the head wound. Head injuries were tricky even with professionally trained doctors – and Donatello had a feeling that the most recent battle hadn't helped. Don couldn't tell them whether the head injury had been inflicted from the Foot or when Mikey had probably fallen from the rooftops to the alley below. Either way, he was worried about what the outcome would be. They all were.

Elizabeth had missed the rest of the conversation because Akemi had woken from her nap and had wanted to watch The Lion King again. Elizabeth had put her foot down. She would put in any other movie except for that one. Akemi had pouted and had acted like she was going to throw a great big fuss; Elizabeth told her if she did The Lion King would not be put in for a week.

Rather than having her favorite movie being banned for a week, Akemi had reluctantly walked over to the large selection of DVDs Elizabeth had been collecting for her daughter. She preferred this to letting Akemi go channel surfing, having caught her watching a cartoon show that had such foul language that Elizabeth had been appalled. After that the DVD collection had grown immensely and Elizabeth was always looking for new movies hoping to captivate her daughter and take her attention away from The Lion King. From the moment she'd put that one in Akemi had been spell bound, and Elizabeth had had no luck in replacing it yet.

Of course, it helped that Akemi was only aloud to watch two movies a day. Elizabeth insisted from an early age that Akemi get into books, her library for Akemi was larger than her DVD collection, which was saying something. But she'd always found good prices for used and still in good condition children's books online and had had them sent to a P.O. Box that she frequently visited. Akemi loved reading with her mother or her adopted uncles just as much as she loved trying to make them watch The Lion King with her.

Because Akemi had chosen to do reading time instead of a movie earlier she could still choose two movies she wanted to watch, and as usual she went straight to the Disney section of the DVDs. Disney movies seemed to be her favorite. She sat on the ground staring hard at the covers and small pictures underneath the titles on the outer edge of each case, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration, her long brown curls gently lying over her shoulders and down her back.

She really did need a haircut, Elizabeth thought with a sigh. But she just couldn't do it. She loved her daughter's curls. She looked just like she did when she was Akemi's age. She had very little of Graham in her face, although when she got angry and threw a tantrum, Elizabeth could see Graham in the lines of her strong jaw. She tried not to focus on that too much. Akemi really didn't throw tantrums that often, and Elizabeth knew she had Leonardo to thank for that. From the moment Akemi had been big enough to scoot across the floor on her own she'd gravitated towards the blue banded turtle, and as she'd begun to crawl and then to walk she had always sought him out. There was just a stillness about Leonardo that Akemi seemed drawn to.

That didn't mean that Akemi was as calm as Leonardo was. Sure she seemed more peaceful and calm around him, but as quickly as she'd calm down she'd be wound back up again and just as hyper as before. Of course that was what happened with toddlers. Elizabeth was growing used to it now, they all were.

Akemi selected a DVD and ran over to Elizabeth with it. Elizabeth took it expectantly. Robin Hood. Well at least it wasn't one of the other two in The Lion King series. Elizabeth knew that Raph had tried to hide those DVDs at one point and Akemi had thrown such a fuss that Raphael had reluctantly pulled them back out again, grumbling the whole time.

Elizabeth took Robin Hood and put it in the DVD player, starting it up for her daughter. Akemi sat, eyes wide as she saw the rooster come out singing and start to tell the story about Robin Hood and Little John. As the song progressed it got faster, more enthusiastic, and that was what Akemi had been waiting for. Jumping up off the couch cushion she began to run around the couch as if chasing something or being chased herself as the soldiers chased Robin Hood and Little John through the woods. She giggled to herself as she did this, obviously thrilled with this game.

"Akemi, we don't… " Elizabeth shook her head not bothering to finish the sentence. Akemi was always like this when there was new music she liked and this music was just as much fun as The Lion King's music was for her. Akemi kept running around the couch giggling happily even after the song had ended.

"Akemi, sit down please and watch the movie or mommy is going to turn it off."

Akemi stopped running and immediately sat down to watch the movie. Usually Mikey would sit there and watch it with her, Elizabeth hoped that he was up soon. She knew Akemi missed him.

He was home now. He was safe. And he'd be ok. He'd be back to driving Raph crazy and watching movies with Akemi in no time. Elizabeth was sure. She headed for the kitchen to start dinner.

Melinda had never known that her body could be so heavy, that her limbs could weigh more than a ten ton weight, and that her eyelids would be glued down. She struggled to lift them, trying to make her mind focus on what had happened and why she hurt. It felt like someone had hit her with a truck, though she couldn't remember being hit by a car, and this didn't smell like a hospital. It had an odd musky smell, damp, she could hear the slow drip drop as if a pipe was leaking somewhere and shivered a little in the cool air. How strange. This definitely wasn't a hospital.

She forced her eyes open, surprised by the fact that they weren't glued shut like they'd felt. She was in what appeared to be a room of some sorts. But this wasn't what she'd expected to see. A hospital maybe, or even a police station. But this room was very different.

She was on an old, very worn but soft bed covered with blankets that had definitely seen better days, several patches had been sewn into the worn fabric of the top quilt and she had a feeling the extra blankets folded at the bottom of the bed were in similar shape.

She pushed the covers off herself and stood up, wincing a little as the pain radiated up and down her neck and back. She sighed, rubbing her neck gingerly. She had to find out where she was, and what had happened to her new friend. Surely those men in the black pajamas wouldn't have given her the four star hotel treatment, and weren't there more turtles? She felt her stomach tighten as she remembered the fear she'd felt when she'd seen the demonic eyes of the turtle in the red mask, and the fire in the blue masked turtle's eyes. They had been terrifying. They wouldn't hurt her would they? She had never hurt the turtle she'd been trying to help him. Maybe he could explain that to them for her? Or she could tell them that she'd been trying to help? But would they give her a chance to explain?

She had to get out of here. She had to go home. She had a job she had to get back to. Buddy and that meeting… he was expecting her to be there. He'd fire her if she just didn't show up. And then what would she do?

She was surprised to find her feet were bare, but then again she hadn't been wearing shoes when the pajama men had broken into her apartment, she had been at her home after all. And she rarely wore shoes when she was just relaxing around the house. But this stone cold floor sent shivers up her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself as she made her way across the small room.

But before she could reach the door it opened and a slender woman wearing a red one-shoulder bra top that clung to her thin waist showing off her perfect figure and hip hugger jeans, her long brown hair trailing down her back the light catching a few of the golden highlights in her hair made Melinda pause.

"Oh," bright emerald colored eyes met her own and Melinda automatically took a step back.

"You're awake wasn't sure if you would be."

Melinda stared at her, not quite sure to say to this. The girl smiled at her, warm and friendly. "I'm Elizabeth."

"W… where am I? What am I doing here?" Melinda didn't want to panic but she was feeling alarmed now. She had no idea where she was, why she was here, or who this Elizabeth was or how Elizabeth had gotten her here.

"Whoa, easy, easy," Elizabeth made her way into the room quietly closing the door behind her. "Just take it easy, the guys brought you here after you were knocked unconscious by one of the Foot."

"Foot?!" What did a foot have to do with anything? She wasn't kicked in the head... or was she?

"The Foot Clan, an enemy of my family. When the guys found Mikey at your place they knew they had to get him out and when the Foot showed up… well they didn't think it would be safe for you to stay there. So they brought you back with them to keep you safe."

"Whoa, whoa! Slow down. What are you talking about?"

Elizabeth's warm smile faltered and she looked at the girl as if expecting Melinda to explode, and Melinda wasn't at all sure if she was wrong or not.

"Michelangelo. They found him in your apartment. You were caring for him weren't you?"

"Michelangelo?" Melinda looked at Elizabeth for a minute. "You his owner?"

Elizabeth frowned and her eyes darkened a bit. "No. They aren't animals."

Melinda had a feeling that she was about to poke a sleeping grizzly in the eye with a stick, so she changed the subject. "Is he ok?"

"He's still unconscious. But he should be fine in time. All the guys are fast healers."

"There were more… I saw them in my apartment."

Elizabeth nodded slowly as if she'd been afraid of this. "Yes, Michelangelo's brothers. They found out that he was in your apartment and came to bring him home. They'd been looking for him for a couple days."

"Michelangelo? So he does have a name?"

Elizabeth seemed surprised by this. "He didn't tell you his name?"

"He couldn't remember his name when I asked him."

Elizabeth sighed. "Donny was afraid of this," she said almost to herself.

"Donny? That one of the others?"

"Yes, he's the medic in the family. He's been caring for Michelangelo ever since they got him home. He was worried there might be some side effects from the blow to the head Mikey took. Guess we'll have to see just how bad it is when Mikey wakes up again. Anyway," Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm sorry I'm being rude, I came in here to see if you are hungry… dinner is almost ready."

"Oh, um… yeah I am." Melinda was surprised when she felt her stomach aching with hunger pains.

Elizabeth nodded. "It'll be ready in about fifteen minutes. There's a bathroom just across the hall and I can lend you some of my clothes until the guys have a chance to go up and retrieve some of your things for… "

"Wait, wait, what are you talking about? I can't stay here. I have to go home. I have to go back to work." Melinda was alarmed at the fact that they weren't going to let her leave. No one would know what had happened to her. She'd just be gone! What would that do to her family? She'd be fired if she wasn't there for that meeting, Buddy was a fair boss but he frowned on unexcused absences and this meeting was too important for her to just miss.

"Look, um… "Elizabeth looked at her.

"Melinda."

"Melinda," Elizabeth continued, she made sure to keep her voice steady and gentle, soothing. "It's just not a good idea for you to go home. If the Foot come back looking for you they won't hesitate to take you back to Foot Tower and will use any means necessary to get any information you have on my family."

"I don't know anything about your family."

"But you could die trying to convince them of that! They've killed for less. They aren't an honorable bunch and your life will mean little to them."

"I'll be fired if I don't go back to work! I can't afford to lose this job!" Melinda was getting desperate now. The fact that these Foot guys whoever they were might be looking for her was less scary than the thought of facing an angry Buddy if she missed this meeting.

"What's more important your job or your life?" Elizabeth watched as Melinda's jaw clenched and the blue eyes met hers defiantly. Melinda was more stubborn than Raphael. "Melinda, I know this has to be hard for you but… "

"You can't keep me here!"

Elizabeth's shoulders slumped a little. "We aren't trying to keep you here against your will. If you really want to leave we aren't going to stop you. But it isn't safe for you to go back to your apartment. At least go to a hotel or something."

"Don't be ridiculous. For the amount I pay for that apartment, it's stupid to be paying for a hotel too!"

Elizabeth shook her head. "I'll ask the guys to take you home if that's what you really want. Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Melinda shook her head. She didn't need anyone else trying to convince her that it wasn't safe to go home. She just wanted to go home.

"I'll see if Raph or Leo can take you home then." Elizabeth left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her.

"Told ya she was a bloody Foot spy! Why else would she wanna go 'ome where dey can get 'er!"

"Raphael, calm down!"

Raph glared at his girlfriend and she glared back.

"Elizabeth, did you tell her that it isn't safe for her to go home?" Donatello asked quietly as he gently sponged Mikey's forehead with a cool cloth. The youngest turtle lay quite still under his brother's ministrations.

"Of course I did, but she's worried about losing her job."

"What's more important? A job or 'er life?" Raph growled.

"Raphael, please." Elizabeth said though she'd asked Melinda that herself and felt the same way he did. It would seem like the answer was obvious, but it was hard to explain the way Melinda's jaw had tightened, her muscles bunching, here eyes getting the same stubborn look in them that Raph's got when he was about to give an answer that only made sense to him.

Leonardo sighed stepping away from the wall. "If she really wants to go home we can't stop her from leaving. Don, can we set up surveillance at her home? Make sure the Foot doesn't touch her?"

Don frowned. "Leo, I can't leave… "

"I can watch Mikey, Don. I think that this is just as important. She doesn't want to be here, and she wants to go home. She won't stay in a hotel. You're the best with this kind of stuff. You could set up a security camera outside her apartment. You know the Foot will be keeping an eye on her now that they've associated her with our family," Elizabeth said. "What's to stop them from coming after her?"

"Security camera won't do much for protection," Don said with a slight frown.

"No, but I'm sure you could rig up something that would let you guys know if the Foot came back for her couldn't you?"

Don sighed. "I supposed I could do something. Doubt she'd let me set it up though."

"No," Leonardo agreed. "Doubt she'd like the idea that we are setting up cameras outside her apartment. Don, Raph, you two go ahead so Don can get that set up. I'll follow with Melinda, meet you two on the roof when I know she's in her apartment."

Don shook his head as if he were doing this against his better judgement and went to get his bag. "Just keep an eye on his temperature, Elizabeth. Call me if he wakes up."

"I promise, Don."

Slipping the strap over his shoulder and with a still muttering Raph the two turtles hurried out.

Leo glanced at his brother and then at Elizabeth. "I need to go talk to Splinter. Tell Melinda we'll leave in ten minutes. That should give Don and Raph a good enough head start that Don can be finished before we get there."

"Ok, Leo," Elizabeth agreed, "just be careful."

Leo nodded and left quickly. Elizabeth knew that they didn't like her clinging. But she couldn't help it. The Foot were out there and even though Raph and Don would be together, Leonardo would be taking Elizabeth alone. They didn't need another injured turtle. Especially if Michelangelo's head wound was as bad as Melinda had said. She hadn't told Don, she hadn't told any of them. How was she supposed to tell them that their brother, their baby brother that they had finally found, might not have a clue as to who they were?