I am so sorry guys. I've had so much going on these last few weeks that this story has been pushed to the back burner. I've been working on it all week trying to get it done. I am going to work on the next chapter tomorrow, which'll have more Mikey in it, trying to get that started and as far as possible so I can get it posted this upcoming Saturday. I really appreciate your guys' patience and those who take the time to review, I appreciate it and I promise I'll try and do better. Hope everyone had a great weekend and I'll do my best to post again on Saturday. Have a great week.

Chapter 12

"Wha… what are ya talkin' about?" Raph was the first one who found his voice, although he sounded sick. "He don't know who we are?!"

Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic look as she walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his arm, trying to reassure him. "It might not be permanent, Raph. Don did say that he took a hard hit to the head, and maybe more than one. It'll be ok, we'll help him through this."

Don frowned. He knew that memory loss was quite common for serious head injuries, but that didn't mean he had any idea on how to care for it. He knew that head injuries were tricky even for the best trained doctors. Brains were just so complex and complicated. He also knew there was a slight chance that the memory loss could be permanent, but until that was proven they were going to try and help Michelangelo recover his memories.

"Of course we will," he agreed with a fierce nod. "I need to get Melinda stabilized and then I can do a more thorough exam on Mikey. See just what we're… "

"Um, Donny?"

Don looked at Elizabeth, confused.

"I don't think we should overwhelm Michelangelo. Seeing all of you might scare him."

"She's right," Don agreed. "For now it'll probably be best if he just sees one of us."

"And we need to get that arm sewn up, Leonardo." Elizabeth said as blood began to drip off Leonardo's arm and onto the ground.

"I can wait for Don, Eliz… "

"Don't be so stubborn! You know he has his hands full with Melinda and Mikey. You won't lose an arm if I patch you up. Just go meet me in the kitchen, I'll get the medical supplies I need and meet you in there in a minute."

If he hadn't been so worried about their youngest brother, Raph would've smirked at the look on his older brother's face. Leo's jaw clenched for half a second before he reluctantly headed for the kitchen, knowing better than to mess with Elizabeth when she got like this. She might be mellow most of the time, but she was like a fire breathing dragon when she wanted to be, and when one of them were injured, she usually acted like a fire breathing dragon when one of them was being stubborn about their injuries. It amused him that his older brother who had taken on Hun and faced the Shredder alone would back down from a five foot two hundred pound girl.

Elizabeth followed Donatello into the infirmary so she could get the supplies she'd need to patch Leonardo up, Don carefully adjusting his own patient, leaving Raph alone with Akemi.

Small hands patted the sides of his face. "Lion King!"

Raph nodded, if it would keep Akemi distracted long enough for Don and Elizabeth to patch everyone up then it would be worth listening to Hakuna Mata for the sixtieth time this week. "Sure, Akemi, go get it and I'll put it in."

Delighted Akemi squirmed until Raph put her down and she scampered over the racks packed with DVDs easily finding the one she desired and ran back to him, waving it triumphantly. She threw herself back into his arms. Raphael gently extracted the movie from her small hand, holding her on his side he managed to get the DVD out of the case and put it in the player. Grabbing the remote and with a worried glance at the infirmary he sat on the couch with Akemi, settling back as the familiar Disney theme started up announcing the Disney DVD that was playing, and he pressed play, starting the movie, Akemi settling herself against him, sucking on her thumb.

Elizabeth hadn't expected Mikey to be happy when he saw Melinda considering that seemed to be the only name he could remember. But she wished she'd warned Don a little bit better. If Splinter hadn't already been in there Michelangelo would've gotten off the bed despite his injuries when Don carried Melinda in. His face had twisted in concern and worry for her. And despite not knowing her for long it was clear that Melinda had been kind to him and he considered her to be a friend to him.

"Mikey, just stay there, I need to get her patched up and you hovering won't help," Don said as he put Melinda on the second cot.

"Calm yourself, my son." Splinter said softly. Michelangelo looked at him and shifted a little uneasily. He still wasn't quite sure what he made of Splinter.

Elizabeth sighed, this wasn't going to be easy to get used to, and she was worried how Akemi would react when Michelangelo had no idea who she was. She loved playing with Mikey. And for her uncle to have no idea who she was, was going to be devastating to her.

Grabbing the supplies she would need to patch up Leonardo, knowing she might have to come back and help Donatello with Melinda, Elizabeth quickly left the infirmary. She was happy to see that Raph was with Akemi, but wasn't exactly thrilled that he'd put The Lion King on for her. If he started telling her yes when Elizabeth said no she was going to turn them against each other. Elizabeth's jaw clenched. She'd let it go this time, there were bigger concerns than Akemi watching The Lion King again. And at least she had Raph there to keep her company and stop her from going into the infirmary.

Heading for the kitchen she saw Leonardo sitting and waiting for her at the kitchen table. Putting down her supplies she sat next to him. She saw him shift and reluctantly take his hand away from his arm so she could treat it.

Shifting a little closer to the blue banded turtle she gently prodded the wound, opening it to see just how deep it went. Leo shifted again but said nothing, but then again he'd always been pretty stoic, and he was a much better patient than Michelangelo was when it came to needles. Like Raphael, Leonardo would usually sit stoically and allow his wounds to be treated. Donatello was usually full of questions and so curious about what she was doing he never seemed to notice that he was the one being treated. Michelangelo, well he was the complete opposite. He would have to be caught, and Raph would often have to threaten to sit on him in order for him to sit still long enough to be treated.

"It's pretty deep, Leo. I don't think glue is going to hold it, it'll have to be stitched."

"Figured as much," Leo's voice was just as calm and collected as always. Elizabeth resisted the urge to shake her head at his laid back attitude with her news. She gently began to clean out the wound. "How bad was it, Leo?"

"Wasn't that hard getting in and getting to her – the virus for their communications devices worked perfectly like Don anticipated. Getting her out was a bit harder."

Elizabeth shook her head as she picked up her needle and thread. "Must've been a lot of them."

"We've faced worse."

"Well at least this isn't worse than it is. What was it – a katana?"

"Shuriken." Leo said through clenched teeth as Elizabeth, now finished with threading the needle pinched the skin together.

Elizabeth kept her face carefully blank. She knew from experience how sharp shurikens were, she'd cut her hand on one when Raph had been trying to teach her how to throw them. The deep hadn't been too deep but it had sliced through flesh easily without effort, she hated to think how deep a shuriken could go when effort was put into it. She decided to change the subject.

"You think she'll be fighting to get out of here again?"

"Don't think she's in any shape to," Leo said with a frown as he watched her stick the needle into his skin.

"I suppose not, but she's stubborn she's not going to like being trapped down here."

"She's at least safe here, Elizabeth. It's too dangerous for her to go home. They came for her once, they'll come again. Especially now that we've come for her."

"Leo, don't bite my head off. We're on the same side here." Elizabeth said with a frown as she began to tie the stitches. "I'm just saying, considering the fact that she wasn't happy to wake up here in the first place… "

"I know, Elizabeth," Leo said reluctantly. "We'll figure out what to do when she wakes up."

Elizabeth nodded and continued to delicately stitch Leonardo's wound closed. In the other room they could hear "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" playing and Akemi joining along with the DVD. Elizabeth smiled, for a minute she could believe that nothing had changed. That this was just an ordinary night, that everyone was home safe, and that Leo's arm had been the only casualty of the night. But she knew that that wasn't the case tonight. Michelangelo had had no idea any of them were. Michelangelo's body might be home, but their son, brother, and uncle, still felt as gone as he had been two days ago.

Melinda felt as if she'd been put through a blender, on liquefy. There wasn't a part of her that didn't hurt. Her chest was on fire with every breath she forced into her lungs, something heavy was on her leg, weighing it down, and she felt puffy. Like she'd gained fifty pounds overnight. She shifted and opened up her right eye. Her left eye… well she wasn't even sure if she had one. It felt funny.

Pipes crisscrossed over the ceiling, and the musky smell of the sewer greeted her again. But how had she gotten back here? And what had happened to the men in the black pajamas? She shifted, trying to sit up, but a hand, firm and strong pushed her back.

"No you don't."

Her eye shifted turning to the turtle that was sitting next to her. This wasn't the turtle that had been in her apartment as her guest over the weekend. This was the one wearing the purple mask, not one of the more terrifying turtles wearing the red and blue masks. This one's eyes were warmer, softer, more friendly than the other two turtles had seemed. Although when he'd walked her home Melinda had to admit that the blue masked turtle hadn't made any indication that he was angry with her and hadn't turned that terrifying glare on her. Though she'd felt uncomfortable around him anyway.

The turtle was gently prodding her aching ribs, and Melinda tried to push his hands away.

"D… don't… " Her voice didn't hold the strength she wanted it to. It sounded weak and wheezy, almost breathless, which was fitting since that was how she felt right now.

"Sorry," the turtle drew his hand back. "Just checking your ribs, they're cracked, but not broken."

Cracked. Cracked could be dangerous – if she wasn't careful cracked could become broken. And broken ribs could shift around in the chest if not bound properly, puncturing a lung… or worse.

"How bad is the pain?"

Melinda ignored the question. "W… why am I here?"

The turtle frowned, his eye ridges pulling together. He seemed to be thinking his answer over very carefully before speaking. "It would be too dangerous to take you to a hospital. The Foot will be looking for you."

"Foot?"

"The clan that took you. We got you out."

The monsters that had been in her cell with her. They hadn't been monsters at all. She must've been hallucinating when they'd been in the room with her.

"Ho… how'd you know I was there?"

The turtle shifted uncomfortably, from the look on his face Melinda could tell that he'd been hoping she wouldn't ask him this question.

"Leonardo and Raphael went to check on you at your apartment, you weren't there… so we just did some investigating. We just wanted to make sure you were safe since you helped our brother."

Leonardo, and Raphael. Those were the ones that scared her. Though she couldn't work out which one was which, all these turtles looked so much alike. Although as she stared at the turtle next to her she saw distinct differences between him and the other turtle that she'd cared for, even come to like over the weekend.

His skin was more of an olive green, his muscle mass impressive, but not as impressive as the blue masked turtle that had walked her home. The definition of his muscles wasn't as well toned, and from the way he was sitting now she could tell that he would spend more of his time leaning forward with a book than building up those muscles. His eyes were brown, but they were more a milk chocolate brown than the intimidating dark brown the blue masked turtle had, soft and warm – but Melinda had found that the other turtle's blue eyes had been more inviting, welcoming and friendly. This turtle's tone was welcoming enough and she felt comfortable with him, but it also felt a bit strange.

"Melinda?"

Melinda met his eyes, seeing the questions there.

"You didn't… did the Foot get anything from you? About us, about where we are?"

Melinda went to shake her head but pain spiked in her neck and shoulders. "No. I didn't tell them anything."

The turtle relaxed at once, obviously taking her for her word. He got up moving to a small table and came back with a needle, slipping the sharp point under her skin, at first she was terrified but as the pain eased and slowly drained she relaxed, relieved that the pain was no longer her sole focus.

"That better?" The turtle asked, watching her face.

"Yes, thank you."

He nodded. "Melinda, I have to tell you – it's not safe for you to return to your apartment. The Foot came for you once, they are going to come again. Especially now that we've come for you. If they get you again… there's no telling what they'll do to you."

Melinda swallowed hard. Was he trying to tell her that she could never go home? That she'd be stuck down here in the sewer forever? The thought alone depressed her.

"You have family here in the city? Someone we should try and get out, make it so the Foot can't use them against you?"

Melinda blinked thinking of Christine and Mark, the only family she had left and she silently prayed, grateful that they were so far away.

"No, there's no one."

The turtle seemed to study her thoughtfully for a minute. "You have family?"

"My sister, but she's on the other side of the country."

"Must be hard living so far apart from each other."

"Sometimes it is," Melinda confessed, not sure to why she was. "We only see each once or twice a year. She has a hard time leaving her ranch, they are always so busy – and work usually keeps me tied down here."

He nodded as he sat down again. He reached for a rather old, tired looking mug with a chip in the glass on one side and sipped at the contents.

"How long will I have to stay down here? My job… "

"Your job more important than your life?"

Melinda swallowed hard. She'd worked really hard to get this job, but was it worth dying for?

The turtle sighed. "Look, Melinda, I understand that this doesn't seem fair – and that you've been thrown into something that a lot bigger than you probably understand. But by helping Mikey, you made a very powerful enemy. Believe me when I say that they have no sense of honor. They won't care that you don't know anything, they won't care that you stumbled across Mikey by accident. They won't stop until they get what they want, and since they didn't get it from you last time, they will turn to more drastic means to get information out of you. Karai can be brutal, and she has it in for us and anyone she considers our allies. The only safe place for you here in the city is down here with us. Once it's reported to her that we came for you, that we got you out, she will have the Foot searching the city for you. There will be no where you can hide to get away from her except for right here with us."

Melinda swallowed hard.

"We aren't going to hold you prisoner down here, Melinda. We aren't kidnappers. But I'm asking you, please let us figure out a way to make you safe before you head back to the surface. I promise we will do what we can to help you get back to your daily life up there but it's going to take us time."

Melinda mulled her options over in her head. Staying down here with the turtles, two of which terrified her with their sharp looks and intimidating builds. The red banded one indeed scared her the most. There was just a presence about him that made her want to stay as far away as possible from him.

But on the other hand did she really want to go back only to be taken back to that white room, the room that had had its walls painted with her blood? Which was the lesser of two evils? The purple masked turtle seemed nice enough and she had grown to like the turtle that she'd cared for over the weekend. Maybe she could just avoid the other two turtles and stay out of their way, keeping as far away from them as possible in her forced stay here. If she could then maybe… just maybe. She knew there would be other jobs. And if she really couldn't find another job out here in New York she'd call Christine. She knew Christine would welcome her out there. Not that living on the ranch was more appealing than living in the sewer.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yeah, ok. I'll stay."