A/N: Raph and Amber bonding moment in this chapter. I figured he'd be the secret momma's boy of the group.

Phoenix Call

Chapter 3: Awakening

Amber calmed her breathing and assessed what she could with her eyes closed. The air was stale and felt damp. Maybe she was in the sewer? The air currents were shifting, indicating there were people around. Four, maybe five? Yeah, a fifth just came in. And if her nose was correct, the fifth individual had brought tea. She doubted the Foot would bring her tea, so the chances of her being a prisoner dropped dramatically at that. Cautiously, Amber opened her eyes, but she wasn't fully prepared for what she saw.

Big, baby blue eyes stared into her own hazel depths. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't seeing things.

"Guys, she's awaaaaake!"

"Give her some space, Mikey."

Amber closed her eyes and slowly, painfully, made her way into a sitting position before opening them again. Four mutant turtles and a rat with familiar brown fur met her gaze with a variety of reactions before the rat stepped forward.

"I am pleased to see you have awakened. Please, do not fear any of us Amber. You are safe here."

Amber blinked. "Splinter?"

"Duuuuude, she's totally a Jedi!"

Hazel eyes swept over the orange masked turtle. "Michaelangelo?"

Mikey's smile faltered. "Okay, that's a little creepy."

Eyeing the other three, Amber noted their mask colors. "Donatello, Raphael, and Leonardo. But, where's April?"

Master Splinter shook his head sadly as he offered Amber a cup of hot tea. "She has been taken by the Foot."

Amber choked on her tea, coughing a bit.

"We found spent tranquilizer rounds, so clearly they wanted April alive. We intend to rescue her as soon as we find out where she has been taken."

Donnie shifted nervously. "Um, Miss? Would you be willing to answer some of my questions about this Project Renaissance?"

Nodding, Amber made herself comfortable with an extra pillow Leo offered and all the turtles gathered around her.

OoO

Humming, Amber absentmindedly used the hem of her shirt to wipe forgotten pizza crumbs off of Mikey's sleeping face. At some point during the Q&A, he had found a pizza hiding somewhere and eaten it before drifting off to sleep on the couch beside her. Feeling eyes on her, she turned her gaze toward Raph. Hazel met hazel as she motioned to the open spot on the couch next to her. Cautiously, the hotheaded turtle claimed the offered spot next to the woman Donnie had declared their 'mother'. After taking a small blood sample to compare against their own, Donnie had shut himself in the lab to run the tests. Leo had gone to meditate and digest this new information. Mikey was out like a light, and Raph knew from experience that his youngest brother slept like the dead. Which left him practically alone with the older woman.

He'd always wondered what it would be like to have a mom, but suddenly he was afraid inside. What would she think of him, of his temper? She wasn't what he had always pictured when he thought about a mom. Standing just over 5' 8", she didn't seem fragile or delicate at all. But, when he looked into her eyes, he recognized something similar to himself that disarmed any suspicions he had. She was as intelligent as Donnie, shared a similar sense of humor with Mikey, and was as calm and reserved as Leo. But where was he in the mix?

"What troubles you, Raphael?" Her voice was rich and calming, too.

"I...it's just..If you're our mom, why am I not more like you? You have shared traits with the other guys, but I don't see any in me."

"Is that so?" Amber looked curiously at her 'son'. "Tell me, Raphael, if there was an innocent person in danger would you save them?"

Raph scoffed. "Of course."

"And if your brothers were threatened, would you protect them?"

"Yes," Raph snapped, "but what does that have to do with anything?"

"There is our shared trait, son. A willingness to fight to protect and put the safety of others above your own."

"There are a lot of people that would do those things though."

Amber shook her head. "Perhaps, but not to the same extent. It seems you inherited my spirit. And apparently my inclination for the arts." Amber motioned to a large wooden carving in one corner Raph had been working on earlier.

Raph sat quietly as he thought about her words. He was shaken back to reality when he felt a warm hand on his arm. Looking up, he saw his mom smiling at him. "I never got to finish my katas the night the Foot attacked. Perhaps you would care to join me?"

OoO

Mikey woke up to an empty living room. Where was everyone, where was their new mom? Hopping up, Mikey went to grab a soda from the stash behind the fridge when he heard the sounds of what seemed to be fighting in the dojo. Curiously, he crept closer. Master Splinter would have awoken him if it was time for training. What he found surprised him.

There, in the middle of the room, Raph and Amber were going full tilt at each other, sais out in both their hands. Mikey panicked and went running into the lab.

"Donnie, Donnie, come quick! Where's Leo?"

"What the hell, Mikey? I'm running lab tests, this better not be something stupid like a stray cat or something! And Leo's in his room. What's so important?"

"OhmyGod, come on bro, we gotta get Leo! Raph's fighting Mom in the dojo!"

"What? She's going to tear her stitches out, what was Raph thinking? LEO! COME ON!"

Leo burst into the lab and Mikey and Donnie were exiting.

"Mikey, go get Sensei."

Leo and Donnie proceeded to the dojo, and were surprised. Raph had been disarmed, and Amber was offering him a hand up.

"That was good, Raph, but you let your guard down when you thought you saw an opening. A skilled opponent will notice this and fake an opening in order to overcome you. All of you should take note of this."

Raph's eyes widened as he peeked around Amber to see his brothers standing in the doorway behind her. "How long have you guys been standing there?"

"Long enough to see that you got your ass handed to you, bro. What was that?"

Raph looked away, shame filling his features. Amber was less than amused by Mikey's treatment of his brother, however.

"Michaelangelo, step into the ring and prepare yourself."