Emily was distant for a few days, but quickly returned to her normal self. She also subscribed to Raph's bright side that she didn't have to know if the baby was some twisted experiment from the Foot. As far as she was concerned, it was just from her and Raph's relationship and had miscarried because humans and turtles have different chromosomal counts.
She continued training at the gym; she even scheduled a fight a few weeks down the road. She even went as far as to talk Leo and Splinter to let her back out with the brothers.
She and Raph were on the road to a peaceful relationship. They shared a bed, but hadn't returned to their past intimacy since she had returned from captivity. Emily planned to change that, setting up candles in their room and waiting on the bed for him to come in. Hours ticked by, and no Raph. Several hours after his usual return to bed, she got dressed and cautiously walked down to the living room. She already knew Mikey and Don were asleep, they had gone up to bed the same time she had. She heard the sounds of a heavy bag in the dojo, and hoped to see Leo and Raph working out, having forgotten the time. She walked in and saw only Leo; sweat trickling down his brow as he mercilessly pummeled a heavy bag.
Emily smiled, Leo had become like a brother to her, the quiet supporter who was always there to lend a helping hand. "Leo," she called out to get his attention. "Have you seen Raph?"
Leo stopped his workout, looking over at Emily, a warm smile on his face. She was his little sister now, his to protect and love. "Not for awhile. I thought he went up to bed with you?" He was the most open about the two having a relationship. He supported his brother in being happy with Emily, and it gave him hope all the brothers could assimilate.
She shook her head, biting her lip. "Did he have any plans or errands to run? Maybe for Splinter?"
Leo thought for a few seconds. "Still no idea. I'm sorry, Em."
With a nod, she walked into the living and sat on the couch, nervously twitching until the clock in the kitchen ticked itself to 4 a.m. Worried, but trusting Raph to at least be with Casey, she walked back upstairs and drifted off to sleep in a cold and lonely bed.
Stretching gently, Emily woke up a few hours later next to Raph, his right arm wrapped around her shoulders and underneath her neck. She didn't remember him coming into the room or shifting her sleeping position. Without waking Raph, she crawled out of bed and dressed to work out early with Leo. They were usually the only two awake before ten in the morning.
Raph was disgruntled throughout the entire day, tired and grumpy. He spoke little to anyone, even Emily. Finally, after dinner, Emily managed to sit down with him for a time alone, cleaning dishes in the kitchen.
"Raph, are you alright? Where were you last night?" she asked gently, wrapping her fingers around his. She had learned becoming argumentative with him only shut him down.
He nodded, holding her gently around the waist from behind. "I was out with Case. Probably goin' to be out for a couple more nights. He's gotta hunch and I'm helpin' him look around."
Emily held him close for a second before releasing him. Part of her doubted that Raph was telling her everything, but after the pregnancy, the miscarriage, and all they had gone through, she trusted Raph with her life. If he wasn't telling her everything, it was for a reason.
After a week of Raph not coming back until dawn, Emily was getting suspicious. He always claimed to have been helping Casey, so she decided to investigate. One night, just before dinner, Emily snagged Casey away from the group, pulling him into the hallway.
"Where have you two been every night?" she asked him, annoyance seeping into her tired voice.
"What are you talkin' 'bout, Em?" he laughed.
Emily froze. "You and Raph, he said he had been out with you helping you with a hunch. He's been out until dawn all week."
"Not with me, Em." Casey was quiet, understanding what Emily was feeling. Raph was moonlighting again. Last time he went out on his own, as Nightwatcher, he almost got himself killed.
They agreed not to talk about it, to keep it between themselves. They both feared for Raph's safety. He was Casey's best friend and Emily's boyfriend. It felt alien for Emily to even think that in her own head. After all they had done and all they had been through, boyfriend didn't seem like the right word.
After another week of Raph sneaking into their bed just before dawn, Emily was beyond worried. On the way to the gym, she pulled out her small flip phone and dialed one of only four numbers in the contacts list.
Three harsh rings before the call connected. "Hello?" a tired gruff voice spoke into the phone.
"Case? It's Em. I need a favor." Emily spoke with hesitation.
"Anything." He responded with no hesitation.
Emily nodded with a smile, even though she knew Casey couldn't see her. "I'm worried about Raph. It's been Weeks since he went to bed without sneaking out. Please, talk to him." The door to the gym came into view as she waited for Casey's response.
"Sure, doll. I'll talk to him tonight while you're at the gym." Casey disconnected the call at his end and left Emily in silence.
It was a long class, Emily constantly looked up to the clock, waiting for the two hours to be over. Finally, she was free to walk back to the lair, to see Raph, and to meet with Casey about what he learned from Raph.
The lair was empty except for Casey when Emily arrived. His black hair was hanging in shaggy strands around his face, which was cemented in worry. "Raph bolted when I started talkin' to him." He sighed glumly, not wanting to look up at Emily.
She plopped down on the couch next to him. "What did you find out?" she asked quietly, watching the door, waiting for someone, preferably Raph, to come in.
Casey shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "He got the paternity test done after all. And it wasn't him or any of the guys. It was a normal guy, and he had a rap sheet, so Raph got a name. He's tryin' to find him, Emily. Raph's tryin' to find the guy that did that to you."
Emily was in shock, just sitting on the couch next to Casey. Her hand absentmindedly came to rest on her abdomen, even though she knew it was empty. "He's gonna kill him." Her voice came out as a whisper.
"I think so." Casey mumbled back.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, simply looking at each other on the couch. "We have to stop him." Emily's voice gained strength with her certainty.
"Ya know he ain't gonna stop, Em. The best we can do is help him. Ya know three, or, better yet, seven people have better odds than one." Casey was quiet because he knew his opinions weren't going to go over well with Emily.
Sure enough, she shook her head at him as she stood from the couch, Casey following her to his feet. "I'm going to go stop him. I won't let him have blood on his hands because of me." She left Casey alone in the lair as she walked out the hidden door, heading to where she knew Raph would be.
The roof top of 5th and Madison found her quickly. Sure enough, hunched over while he sat on the low wall, was Raph. His eyes looked up quickly when he head Emily on the fire escape. "Hey, Em." He murmured quietly, straightening up to look at her.
Emily walked to him quickly, her hands enveloped by his as she got within reach. For a few seconds, they just looked at each other. "Raph, Casey told me about your plans." Her voice was quiet and apprehensive, a stark difference to her usual pride.
Raph only nodded, pulling Emily close. She sat on his right thigh and curled against his shoulder, his arms coming to wrap around her. "I know who…who…did that to ya, Em. I can't just let him get away with that." His voice was hard and quiet. There was no anger, only resolution.
"But I won't let you kill someone because of me." Emily pleaded quietly, finding and squeezing one of his hands.
The anger began to bubble beneath his skin as he tensed around her. "He will be in the ground tonight, Emily. Ya can't change my mind." Emily opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Raph. "But while yer up here, I gotta ask ya somethin'. The last time we were up here, I said some things that I'm startin' to see were wrong." Before Emily could jump to the wrong conclusion, he kept talking. "I remember I said I couldn't give ya a life or anythin' like that. I was talkin' with the others, and I was wrong. I can give ya one thing I didn't think I could."
He found her left hand as he pulled a small piece of twine out of a pouch on his belt. Emily watched silently as he gracefully tied a small bow around her ring finger, his fingers tracing lightly over hers.
"Case said he'd get the license online if you want to make it official, but I'm gonna leave that up to you." His chuckle filled the small gap as he took a deep breath. "Emily Maria Fredricks, I was hopin' you'd be willin' to marry me someday." His caramel eyes shyly found hers.
Emily's smile was small but telling. The small, asymmetric tug of her lips was a direct translation for Raph to see her happiness. "Yes." She murmured.
Neither one was ever prone to extreme displays of emotion, beyond physical passion, but their kiss was slow, long, sweet, and tender. Emily gently coaxed Raph off the roof and back to the lair. She was ecstatic to the point she forgot about his refusal to surrender his revenge. Raph was excited to have asked, but he saw his path clear for that night.
There were celebrations galore when they returned. Raph discovered that even turtles could blush as he was hounded with comments, congratulations, and suggestions from their informal family. Emily's cheeks were crimson, a harsh contrast to her blue eyes and black hair. A few six packs were emptied, a few pizzas were killed. April and Emily left the boys for nearly an hour to gossip about April's hopes of a proposal from Casey.
As soon as Emily left his side, the euphoria began to fade away from Raph. His mind began to play his plan for the night over and over, rehearsing every detail he had been developing for weeks.
Later than usual, everyone bid each other good night. Emily's plans to rekindle their passion were finally fulfilled. It had a different depth than before. The little twine tied around her finger had lifted her heart and her hopes for their relationship and their feelings for each other.
Raph lay awake as Emily's eyes began to lazily flutter with satisfaction and sleep. A few minutes later, the blue orbs were covered completely and her breathing had slowed to a deep and rhythmic pattern. Slowly and gently, Raph pulled himself out from underneath her sleeping body, leaving Emily alone in the bed. He dressed silently and sheathed his sais as he pulled open the door and crept down the stairs and out of the lair.
Emily awoke with a shiver, her body cold in the subterranean room. This was odd for her, because Raph's body usually kept her warm under the thin sheet. But Raph's body was gone.
She bolted out of the bed to find her close, dressing quickly. She knew that Raph had gone to kill the man. She knew that Raph had gone to get revenge for her.
Downstairs in Don's lab was a modified tracking system. Don had recently installed trackers in everyone's belts, so that they could be located if something happened to any of them what happened to Emily. She grabbed the hand-held device and raced out of the lair. The dot was a bright green on the screen, several miles away. She could get there quickly, she knew that. She just hoped it was fast enough to stop Raph.
Her lung burned and her legs ached when she reached the roof top. She opened her mouth to call out to Raph, but there was no air for her to use. Besides, she realized, he wasn't there. The tracking device said she must be close to him, but she did not see him. Looking around in pure panic, her black hair whipping in front of her face and sticking to her sweat covered forehead, Emily searched for Raph.
Over to the right, there was an open window into an apartment. Emily slid in silently, wishing she had grabbed her knives before sprinting from the lair.
Her eyes began to adjust to the darkness as she crept around the shabbily furnished apartment. A slight squeak snapped her head to the side. Under a door farther ahead of her, light seeped out and washed over the old floorboards. Emily silently approached and pressed her ear to the door.
"Why don't you just kill me now, you monster?" a man's voice laughed quietly from within.
More squeaks. Someone was walking back and forth on the floor. "'Cause I wanna make you suffer, like ya made her suffer, like ya made us suffer." Raph's voice was a terrifyingly dark growl.
"The little whore enjoyed it, you know? She probably told you she doesn't even know it happened, but she knows. Trust me. She asked me to because she was sick of being touched by you." The man was taunting Raph, like he didn't know the danger he was putting himself in.
Emily heard Raph's wordless growl and heard the slide as he pulled his sais from the leather sheath. "Yer gonna wish you never laid eyes on her, ya little…"
She threw open the door, blinding herself in the sudden harsh light. Raph stood to the right, one of his sais drawn and at the ready. She had thought the man would be tied down or otherwise restrained, but he was leaning against a dresser to her left. As she orientated herself in the room, Raph reached out to her. Quickly, her unfocused eyes darted to the other man, who had pulled a small handgun from the dresser and was pointing it at her.
Emily had never felt so small and defenseless. She was a small, tired, unarmed woman staring at a tall, muscular, and armed man. She knew Raph was behind her, his weapons at the ready, but the whole world became her and the gun trained at her chest.
The floor creaked behind her. The man's eyes moved to look over her shoulder.
Raph lunged out of her peripheral vision and the man pulled the trigger.
AN: It's finally done!
This had been a several year, several thousand word project, and I can only thank all of you readers that have stuck with me from the beginning or whenever you jumped in on this controlled chaos.
Remember that "sequel"? The votes are in and you will either be happy or unhappy to know that you all voted to keep Emily. The first chap will be uploaded as it's on story as well as attached to this, so don't get rid of your alerts for this just yet.
Again, I can't thank you guys enough for all your support and all your patience.
I hope you guys have enjoyed my final installment of Underdog!
-CM