Leo had to figure out a way to get out of Nebraska. On top of that, he needed to ditch the chopper before long as well. Surely, the commandoes would come looking for him and he didn't know where in Nebraska that he was in.

He flew it for a little while, then found some woods and he noticed it was getting low on fuel. He knew he would have to land it. It had just enough left to make it to a clearing in the trees. Leo had seen a small town close by before he landed. He knew he could get some food there and find out where he was. He left the chopper to its fate.

But before he would make his trip to the town, he had to sit down and rest for a little bit. Leo knew that he was exhausted. That had been a hard escape, but it had worked. He just hoped his last two babies would survive the trip.

He walked a good distance away from the chopper before he found a safe place to rest. As he sat down, he started taking deep breaths and looked down at his stomach. He put a hand on it.

Ever since his two surgeries to get rid of the two that had died, his stomach had gone down a bit more. Twins were a more reasonable multiple number to carry closer to full term anyway. But Leo still felt sad about losing Rachel and her sibling. The scars on his sides were still fresh and showing too.

When Leo caught his breath again, he got up and trudged on toward the town. He had to find a way to get food, water, and a place to rest.

The sun was setting when he made it to the town and his stomach was growling fiercely. "Food will have to wait, Little Ones." Leo said. "Until I can find a place for us to stay." He rubbed his belly.

He wandered further into town without being seen and he came to a section of abandoned buildings. He found one that didn't seem too torn apart.

It was empty and when he went upstairs, he found there was a bed up there.

Leo wanted desperately to fall asleep, but he needed to get some food for himself and the twins. He waited until the sun went down, and then went into the town to find a store. He had managed to find disguise in one of the closets that fit over his shell. Someone had unfortunately left some clothes behind, lucky for him.

He soon found a gas station. He could smell some tantalizing foods coming from the place, but he knew he couldn't just barge right in and help himself.

Leo sat in a place where he saw a clock. It was well after 10 before they finally closed and the shopkeeper was just closing up when some strange men came up behind her. He didn't like the look of them. He crept closer, just in case.

This girl was about 5'4, with reddish brown hair, green eyes, a slim figure, had a green t-shirt on, and some blue jeans.

"Hey sweet thing, where are you going?" One tall, blonde man asked her.

"Home, you dope." She said. "Now leave me alone. It's late."

"Oh, she's disrespecting us." The black haired guy said.

"You're coming with us, sweet thing." The blonde said and he and his companion grabbed her and were pulling her towards their van.

"I think you heard the lady say to leave her alone." A male voice came out of nowhere.

"Who said that?" The black haired guy said. They all had stopped and turned at the voice.

"I did." Leo said. He was grateful that he was in a disguise. The last thing he needed was some locals reporting a large talking turtle to the authorities. Johnson would surly find him then.

"Go home, Mister. This lady owes us a date."

"I don't owe you anything!" She said, struggling against their grip.

"Shut up, bitch!"

"I said, let her go." Leo demanded again.

"And what are you going to do if we don't?"

Leo began jumping hands over feet towards the tramps and he kicked them both in the head, making them fly back, falling unconscious instantly.

The girl suddenly looked at Leo with sudden shock.

"You!"

Leo knew that he couldn't stay so he turned to run.

"Wait! You saved my life. Who are you?" She asked.

"It's not important. I need to be on my way." He said over his shoulder.

"But did you want something? Anything, it's yours." She said.

"I could use some food and supplies. I am completely broke and I don't have any money, Miss."

"It's on the house for saving me." She smiled. "I'm going back inside to call the police."

Reluctantly, Leo followed her inside.

"My name is Allison. What's yours?"

"Leonardo."

"Thanks, Leonardo. Anything you want, it's yours."

"Thank you, Allison."

"It would be nice to see my hero's face. Do you think you can take the hat off?" Allison asked, tilting her head in an attempt to get a better look.

"Uh, before that happens, Allison, you have to know, you have to keep an open mind. How do you feel about turtles?" He asked nervously, doing his best to stay hidden.

"Turtles? I think they are noble creatures. Why?"

"Because I'm not a normal human. Now, please don't scream." Leo said.

He slowly and nervously took off the hat covering his head.

Allison gasped.

"Please… don't…" Leo said, raising a hand.

Allison didn't scream, but asked, "What are you?" She saw that her savior was indeed not human. She also noticed the number of fingers on his hand when he held it up.

"I'm a mutant turtle. I'll tell you the story later, but right now, you need to call the police about those punks trying to abuse you." Leo said.

"Yeah, right." Allison said and rushed over to call the police. "Just don't leave."

Once Allison completed her call, Leo asked, "Do you have somewhere I can hide? I can't be seen by anyone."

"The bathroom. But for now, you can stay here till they get here. You're coming home with me, Mister Leonardo." She said.

Leo's eye ridges went up. "Thanks for your hospitality, but I just need some supplies to keep me going on my way home."

"You look exhausted, Leonardo. You need a place to rest up before you continue on your journey."

"You can call me Leo." Leo said.

"My friends call me Ali."

The police car had just arrived with its flashing lights and Leo ran for the bathroom before he could be seen.

Ali talked to the police about the two punks and they were both arrested. She made sure to leave Leo out of the story. She just said a stranger stopped them and ran off.

The police got their statement and left with the two possible rapists.

Allison was grateful when they left. She went to find Leo, to tell him it was safe to come out.

When she entered the bathroom, she found him on the floor, holding his stomach and breathing hard.

"Leo! What's wrong?!" She ran to his side.

"Oh! My stomach! I hope nothing's wrong!"

"The nearest vet clinic is another town away and closed for the night." Ali said.

"I think I'll be fine, it was just painful gas." Leo faked a smile.

"I doubt that." She said. "If you're ok, can you get to your feet?"

"I may need a hand up."

She gladly extended her hand to help him up.

They both went out to her car and got in. Then they took off for her house.

….

Bishop's commandoes had landed in the area and were looking for the pregnant turtle. They had found the stolen chopper, but no sign of Leonardo. Perhaps he had headed to the town over the hill looking for a place to stay, as well as he would be looking for food and supplies. They would ask around in the morning. But they knew that Leo was a ninja and would usually avoid being seen by humans unless some others were hurting another.

…..

When Leo got into Ali's house, he found it smelled beautiful. Like strawberries and vanilla. It was a white one story home. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was beautiful.

"Leo, do you want me to take your coat?" Ali asked.

"Ok. Yeah, I don't always usually wear clothes, but it was more for a disguise than anything." He said as he slipped off his coat.

As he slipped it off, Ali saw the outline of his body was indeed turtle. Then she noticed the swelling in his belly.

"I can also see why you're exhausted. People who have bigger stomachs also get tired more easily."

Leo instantly put his hands on his stomach. "What are you saying? That I'm… fat?"

"I hope you aren't taking it personally. But you were exhausted following the fight."

"Allison, there's something you need to know about this. I'm not fat. I am a guy, yes, but I just escaped from a government place that was doing an experiment on me. I'm… actually… pregnant." Leo reluctantly said. "I lost two of them recently. I can't afford to lose these two."

Ali was quite surprised. "So… you belong to the government?"

"No! They just had me. They don't own me. They had captured me back in New York when I was saving a brother of mine. They'd had me for a few months making sure to see if this pregnancy was going to work out."

Leo proceeded to tell Ali the whole story of his life. She seemed trustworthy enough. Afterward, she gave him a good meal, which he was more than grateful for. He had seen a certain look in her eyes that said he should trust his gut about her, that she wouldn't turn him in.

She let him use the other bathroom to clean himself up, and he slept in the one of the guest rooms. He was asleep the instant he hit the pillow. It had been a LONG day.

Beta read by Applepye.

Thanks for all the lovely reviews thus far. And looking forward to more.