Three days later and no truce had been reached. Every time Kait entered a room that Emily was already in, the younger of the two women would shoot an ice cold glare at the older one. If Emily entered a room that Kait was already in, she pretended Kait had never been there. And Raph and Don were stuck in between them, neither wanting to pick sides for fear of upsetting their significant other or their brother.

Three days in, both women had begun their recovery, but Emily was recovering much faster. Because of the electrodes that Don had used during her coma, her muscles had barely atrophied, meaning within three days Emily was walking on her own, only needing the occasional support of Raph's forearm. Kait, on the other hand, couldn't walk or pick anything up on her own, Don had to be constantly around her to help her do even the most basic tasks. Doctor Perry told them that it could be weeks before her feet healed and months before her hands healed, so Kait was to be defenseless for a while longer.

Especially defenseless against Emily and her acrid attitude towards her. The third morning in the farm house, Emily came into the living room, where Kait was looking out the windows, watching the boys train in the front yard. She smiled whenever Don glanced in at her, making sure she was alright or if she needed anything.

"I don't see why he brought you here." Emily hissed, standing over top of Kait's perch in the couch.

The blonde looked up at her, shocked at the directness of the comment. "Because I wasn't safe in the city." Her voice was as quiet and shy as it used it used to be, any confidence she had gained in the past months washed away by the steely blue glare Emily was giving her.

Emily scoffed, crossing her muscular arms over her chest. "You're the one that put them in danger." The icy edge to her voice terrified Kait, making her pull herself in even farther.

Kait glanced out the window, hoping Don would look back, hoping that he would come in and help protect her from Emily. But Don was busy talking to Leo, he didn't notice Kait's desperate look.

"Don's not gonna come and save you this time." Emily hissed. "I just wish he could see who you really are. But you've got him all twisted around your finger with your lies and your seduction!" She was shouting by time she finished the rant, standing all the way at the foot of the couch, inches in front of Kait's curled in legs.

"I didn't do anything to him!" Kait shouted back. "I love Don!" Kait's voice was higher pitched than Emily's her voice strained with emotion.

Emily scoffed again. "You can't love them like I can. You don't understand them like…"

"I was there when you were asleep!" Kait's voice was being strangled by her emotions. She hadn't loved anyone like she loved Don and she hadn't fit in with anyone like she fit in with the family. But it was coming under fire from the last person she had expected. "How can you know how I feel about Don, about Raph and Mikey and Leo and Splinter? You've only known me for three days. You had months to be with the boys, so have I. We both got into some hot water. So don't go saying I don't care about them when you ended up in even worse shape than me! You never saw Raph when you were out! You never saw what you did to him!"

In a fit of rage Emily hadn't experienced in years, she grabbed Kait by the shoulders of her sweater, pulling her off the couch and onto the ground, standing over top of her, ready for a fight. Kait reached out to catch herself out of habit, her weight coming down onto her useless hands, pulling a bloody shriek out of Kait as she skidded across the wooden floor.

Don and Raph had heard the shouting, but didn't think they were really needed until Don heard Kait scream. He grabbed his older brother by the arm and dragged him to the house. When they burst through the door, Emily was on Kait, punching and elbowing as Kait just tried to curl in on herself, her arms brought up around her face and her knees struggling to protect her ribs. But Emily was ruthless and she was trained, her punches and elbows landing hard and fast as she sat atop the older woman. Kait didn't even have the wind to shout for help as Emily repeatedly hit her.

Raph was the first to react, grabbing Emily around the waist and dragging her off of Kait, pulling her to the other side of the room and holding her tight, Emily's feet flailing off the ground as she tried to fight out of Raph's grip. Don was quick to reach Kait's side as she lay on the ground, not moving any more than sucking in deep and broken breaths.

"Kait, baby, are you ok?" Don asked her, pulling her head into his lap and looking at the blood leaking out of her mouth and nose.

She shook her head, a sob coming through in between breaths. Don took hold of her sweater's zipper and unzipped it, gently pulling her out of it so he could lift up her shirt to check her ribs. Her small little body was already starting to bruise under his hands as he found no broken ribs, just very tender flesh.

"I'm taking her upstairs." Don growled to his brother, his anger rising up his spine as he collected Kait in his arms, her head lolling against his shoulder as she began to sob more. "Keep Emily away from her!" he shouted before taking the stairs as quickly as he could to get Kait into their room.

Raph finally set Emily down but kept a firm grip on her arm. "What the…"

"She isn't what you think she is!" Emily shouted at him, glaring up at him with anger and frustration.

Raph wanted to laugh, but his own anger turned it into a harsh cackle. "And ya think ya know what she is? Ya've been awake fer three days and ya think ya know?" He squeezed onto her even harder. "Kait was there fer us and fer Don fer months. We trust her. Ya better trust her after all she's tried ta do fer us." Raph let go of her with a bit of a push. "Stay away from her, Em. She's hurt and she isn't a fighter. And ya got no right trying ta go after her." He stormed out of the room and up the stairs to check on Kait and Don and try to apologize, because he knew Emily never would.

That left Emily in the living room to try and rationalize what had just happened, to try and come to terms with the idea that another woman would have come into their lives. She had to understand that she wasn't the only one that had worked their way into the family anymore. She wasn't the only one that had their love and their affection. It hurt her and her ego to think that, but part of her, a very small part, was almost happy that now Don had someone to love. Maybe Leo and Mikey would be next.

She still hated Kait. That would take a lot to weed out. But Emily decided right there and then that maybe she could have been wrong, and that thought scared her. As someone that had lived their entire life based on get reactions, to be wrong was unsettling.

Emily was silent in the living room when Raph came back downstairs, wiping his hands off on his thighs after helping Don change Kait's bandages after the scuffle. "Ya didn't break anythin' on her." He growled, standing in front of Emily, looking down at her.

She scoffed a little, her ego and attitude still in control. "I'm surprised. She's weak."

"She's stronger than ya think. They crucified her. Em. That's why her hands and feet are bandaged. They nailed her to a cross because she was sleeping with Don." Raph honestly liked Kait. He liked the little light she was in their family. He just wanted his fiancé to understand that Kait was one of them, that she had earned their place with them.

Emily's face paled as she looked down at her own hands, scraped up from the beating. "I didn't know."

"Of course ya didn't know!" Raph almost shouted, but kept his temper in check. Emily's stubbornness had not been tempered by the coma, she was still the hard headed and strong woman he had fell in love with. Raph pulled her into a tight hug, his head resting on top of hers. "Ya gotta give her a chance, Love. She'll surprise ya."

Don was down a few minutes later, his face set in grim and harsh lines. "She's sleeping now." His glare rested down on Emily as soon as he reached the living room. "Don't even think about going near Kaitlynn until she is better. I don't want you near her at all. She told me what happened. You had no right to start yelling at her, much less pummel her. She's…"

"I know." Emily sighed, her head ducking down and her hair falling into her face. "She's not a fighter, she's recovering, and more importantly you love her."

Don was surprised that the usually stubborn Emily had admitted her mistake. "Yes, but she still is seeing the best in you. She told me to give you these, Raph." He fished out a small pouch out of his belt and put it in his brother's waiting hand before jogging back up the stairs, not willing to leave Kait unsupervised.

Raph opened the drawstrings on the small pouch before turning the contents over into his hand. Out tumbled three little golden bands. One had three little diamonds set in it, one was a simple gold band, and one was obviously a man's ring.

"Why would she give you those?" Emily asked, her suspicions rising again.

"She's givin' them to us." He sighed, shaking his head with a smirk.

Slowly, his muscles aching from an incomplete practice, he knelt in front of Emily, gently finding her left hand and beginning to untie the bow that had been on her finger for months. Once he had seen the women's rings, he had known they would fit her rather well. He slid the diamond ring onto her left ring finger with a small smile.

"Still wanna marry me, Emily?" he asked quietly, more than a little hopeful.

She nodded, a small smirk mirroring his. "Of course, Raphael."

He stood and hugged her, picking her off the floor a little. "I love ya, Em."

"I love you too, Raph."

AN: I'm so sorry that this has been a slow to arrive chapter, but I've had the worst technical time lately. New phone, new laptop, Windows 8, Word 2013…oh boy. Well, I have finally beaten the new laptop and word program into submission in order to churn out this chapter. Short, I know, but there isn't that much left to do in this story. Unfortunately, The Logic Puzzle is coming to a close.

But have no fear, this isn't the last you'll see of Emily, Kait, and the boys! Random Reviewer the 2nd, a loyal reader of mine, has been creating her own story, which introduces new OCs to the mix and continues the lives of my girls. Don't know when she's gonna put it out there for you all to read, but I've been beta-ing what she's been writing and it's great. She definitely carries on the girls very well.

As always, any questions, comments, or concerns are always welcome.

Sincerely,
C M
idkaname