Mikey ran. Faster than he ever had before. He slammed the door and ran down stairs, sliding into his seat at the table, his heart pounding and his breath coming quickly. He was scared for his life, twice over. Two of the five scariest people he had ever met were going to try to kill him. He knew it.

And he didn't like it.

He ignored Don's and Leo's glances as he hid behind the cereal box, pretending to be fascinated by the nutrition information while he contemplated how he would meet his fate. Maybe a broken neck. Maybe bludgeoned to death. Maybe strangled from behind with Em's shoe lace. No matter what way, he was going to die.

He heard one set of footsteps come down the steel stairs. It had shoes on, making little soft thuds on each step.

Emily.

He braced for the shouts, for the blows, for his imminent death.

"Morning," she greeted the boys, taking her seat at the table.

Mikey slowly glanced up from behind the box. Don handed her a plate of waffles and nudged the syrup across the table. "Morning, Em." He greeted back.

Another set of footsteps coming down the stairs. Everyone else was already at the table so it was obviously Raph. Maybe death would come from his second eldest brother.

Raph shuffled into the kitchen, pulling out his customary seat between Emily and Don. He was also passed a plate of waffles and Emily handed him the syrup. Only Mikey seemed to notice how he gently touched her hand with his own and how their eyes lingered on each other longer then what was normal.

After a few moments of silence, Splinter, who was uncharacteristically sitting at the table, cleared his throat. "Emily, I have come to a decision." Everyone watched him silently. "You are ready to join my sons on the surface. You are not as, traditional, as they are, but you are strong. A strong fighter and strong woman. And wiser than most. Perhaps it will help Leonardo to have you on the outside with him."

Emily brightened, fighting the urge to look over at Raph. His father did not need to know what his son had done the night before. "Are you sure, Master Splinter?"

He nodded slowly. "You still have much to learn. But you are ready. Tonight, you will go out with my sons to learn in the act." At that he got up and walked slowly back to his room.

Everyone was speechless. All eyes turned to Emily, who was sitting there in shock. Leo broke the silence, clapping her on the shoulder. "Congrats, Em!" he smiled.

Raph gave her a sideways hug, repeating his brother's sentiments. Don came up behind her and ran his hand over her hair, saying he was proud to know her and he was proud of her. Even Mikey couldn't hide forever and he gave her a high-five and a congratulations.

Leo almost immediately turned solemn. "Em, this will be completely different than your training. You can and might very well be hurt. We can protect you, but not forever. And worrying about you will put us in danger."

"I get it, Leo. I'll be careful." Emily sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Do you?" Leo asked. "You will follow Mikey and I tonight." He delegated, getting up to put his dishes in the sink.

Raph stood as well, his chair screeching back on the worn laminate. "No, she's not. She's comin with me and Don." He countered gruffly, his hand tightening on the back of his chair.

"Why?" his older brother countered, looking at him strangely. "I am the leader, and I will make the decision."

"But I've been the one protecting her! I've been there with her through all this! I'm not letting her out of my site the first night she's topside with us." He growled, daring Leo to challenge him.

But his brother only nodded. "You have a point." Taking a breath, he looked between the two. "She'll go with you."

Raph nodded, putting his dishes in the sink and beginning to walk to the stairs when he heard another chair scratch back quickly. "Don't I get a choice?" Emily shouted. "Isn't this my safety we're talking about?" she shouted again, glaring between Leo and Raph.

Leo held up his hands placidly. "We are thinking about your safety. We just need to fit you in with our patrol groups."

Emily through up her hands and stormed up to her room, blowing past Raph, who had tried to reach out to her. Her boots pounded on the stairs and her door slamming shut could be heard clearly in the kitchen, sending a cringe down Raph's spine. He had wanted this morning to be good, especially because of the night before. But now his temper was flaring. Why did she have to set herself off over something that made so much sense?

Raph took the stairs quickly after her, not even bothering to knock on the door, just pulling it open and nearly slamming it behind him. "What was that about?" he nearly shouted at her. "That was an honor, and I just want to protect you!"

Emily snapped her head around, glaring up at Raph. "I get that. I just wish you guys had given me a choice. I would have chosen you anyways, Raph. But you do not make decisions for me. No one does except for me. Get that through your thick skull sooner than later." She snapped, getting up in Raph's face as best as she could despite their height differences.

He glared right back. "Not every decision is yours to make." He growled. "Ya don't get to make every choice. Some things are out of ya control. Did you make the call when them guys killed Austin!" he shouted, knowing he was about to start a fight. He almost relished the idea.

"Why would you even go there?" she seethed, a few tears pricking at her eyes. "I'm just tryin to stand up for myself!" she shouted

Raph started advancing on her, driving her against the back wall with every step. "But sometimes ya don't know what ya doin, whatcha asking. I know. We know." Emily was against the wall, refusing to look away from Raph's angry caramel eyes. His arms shot out to the wall, caging her in. In a split second, his eyes softened and his head drooped, the fight out of his blood. "What am I supposed ta do if ya wind up like Austin, because a somethin I coulda stopped?"

All Emily could do was look at him. He was right. She was acting like she knew what was best, but she didn't. "Next time," she told him quietly, reaching up to gently touch his face. "Ask me first."

"Deal." He smirked slightly, leaning in to kiss her.

It was amazingly gentle, but both felt the need to say sorry without the damage to their pride of actually saying it. Emily pushed his bandana off, enjoying seeing his whole face and let Raph wrap his arms around her waist. After what seemed like forever, they broke apart; in a much better mood than before.

Emily smiled and kissed him quickly before grabbing his bandana and tying it back on for him. "Come on, let's get training." She walked quickly to her door and out into the hallway, Raph's eyes on her the whole time.

I'm back!

Sorry this chapter has taken SOOOO long, but school is school and it's been a crack-down up until lately. (*grumble in the corner about AP Exams*)

Sorry it's kinda short, but I'm getting rolling into it again. The next chapter will be action-packed…I promise.

So…Questions? Comments? Concerns? Quips? Quibbles? Quandaries? Conundrums?

(One of my bosses does that all the time, couldn't help it!)

But if you've got one (or another synonym for question), shoot me a review or PM.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely,
C M
(idkaname)