A/N: This is a dark chapter, but explains a chunk of Amber's history. Trigger content is implied, but like I have said before and will say again, I do not write lemony crap. There'll be fluff later in the chapter to make up for this. It's also been called to my attention that more detail and longer chapters would be appreciated. I'll work on that, but my main goal is to get all my thoughts organized and written before I run out of steam for the fic. Thanks for your patience :)

Phoenix Call

Chapter 6: Deep in the Blood

The turtles and April trekked distraughtly towards the lair. They had decided to call it a night and April had agreed to stay with them for now. The search for Amber could continue in the safety of the underground. Donnie could hack hospital in-patient lists and see if she had been admitted at one, but for now the team needed rest. Reaching the lair, Mikey made a joke about Amber's pizzas, but it was only half-hearted and no one was really in the mood. Growling, Raphael stomped over to his punching bag. He felt so angry at not being able to find their mother. In a very short amount of time, she had become a part of their family and he felt especially close to her. Hit after hit after hit fell upon the already abused bag, making his brothers start to back away. An angry Raph was never a good thing.

Later, in the early hours of the morning, Raph decided to go to bed. He was exhausted, but he was still pissed and knew from experience that sleep wouldn't be easy. As he drifted off to sleep, he could have sworn he felt a tug in his chest. Unseen to anyone, a thread of spirit appeared to connect forlorn son and troubled mother. And Raphael was not prepared for the nightmares that followed.

OoO

Deep in the dark recesses of her mind, Amber curled into herself. She couldn't tear herself away from the horrible images replaying in her mind's eye. She was six again. She was so proud of herself in her new green gi. After two years of watching Eric learn martial arts, her mother had relented and allowed her to join him. A few weeks into her training, a gang called the Purple Dragons had attacked the karate studio during their class. Her sensei had ushered as many children to safety as he could, but being one of the smallest, Amber had gotten lost in the fray. She remembered how the Dragons leered at her in her thin leotard before forcing her to the ground and stripping her innocence from her. She had screamed, yelling and pleading for her brother and her sensei to help her. They found her on the dojo floor, battered and bloody and defiled. She had been barely concious, and flipped out when EMTs had tried to touch her.

The scene changed, and she was 14. She had gone to see her mom in her lab and maybe walk home together with her, but she planned to work late that night. Saying goodnight, Amber began making her way home slowly, enjoying the balmy summer air as the sun set on the city. Suddenly, the sounds of gunfire rang out into the peace of twilight, making her duck into a nearby alley. Squad cars flew past, heading the way she came. She ran the rest of the way home, and as she was about to open the door, Eric had burst through and grabbed her. Bewildered, she told him about the gunfire and police cars. Their grandmother had appeared in the doorway and gently led them both to the couch before telling Amber the news. The gunfire had been at her mother's lab. The Foot Clan had been sending her threats to stop her research, and made good on them.

"I never liked the Dragons or the Foot anyway, but now I have a real reason to bash their heads," came a growl from elsewhere in the darkness around her. Startled, Amber looked and saw Raph crouched next to her in the dark, glittering hazel eyes trained on the memories playing out before him. Reaching out, Amber grasped her son's arm, but she wasn't sure if she was comforting him or herself.

The darkness swallowed them and began to play a different scene. She was 17, and had just been presented with her own tonfa by her sensei. Eric had been proud of his little sister, as he had mastered his own weapon, a kusarigama, only earlier that year. On and on, he had told her all about the martial arts tournaments they should enter together over the phone. Focused on the conversation with her brother, she hadn't noticed the strange men watching her until they had grabbed her. She shrieked, dropped her phone, and struggled, but they were unnaturally strong, and dragged her with ease into the relative quiet of a side alley before making their way into an office building. There, she spent two weeks strapped to what seemed to be a lab table having God knows what injected into her system. But the worst part was when they needed to see if whatever it was worked. Thousands of tiny cuts would be made, very precisely, all over her body. Never deep enough to scar, but deep enough to feel. As always, there was never any sedative. Amber could feel the screams coming out of her throat as she watched again and again as the men went about their gruesome work with unnatural calm.

Somewhere in it all, Raphael had started screaming too.

OoO

"Raph! Raph, wake up bro!"

"Help me carry him to the lab guys."

Raph thrashed violently, screaming like Hell was coming for him. Leo shook him hard, telling him over and over to wake up. Mikey had dashed in and grabbed his sais from his belt so he wouldn't impale himself on them. April hid behind Master Splinter, looking terrified. As soon as they got Raph to the lab, Donnie started checking him over as the others held him as still as they could. He couldn't find anything physically wrong with his brother, but clearly he was sick. He was sweating, but felt so cold to the touch. And the inhuman screams. They were so pained and helpless, not like Raph at all. Suddenly, Raph's body went limp and the screams stopped. All eyes were on him as her groaned and struggled to sit up, rubbing his head.

"The hell happened?"

Leo put a hand on his brother's shoulder, noticing the uncharacteristic flinch. "That's what we'd all like to know. What were you dreaming about, Raph?"

Raph stilled and looked his brothers in the eyes, his hazel orbs looking decades older than they should, and drew a steadying breath. "Well, Mom was there.."

OoO

"Hey, how you feeling this morning?"

Amber turned tired eyes toward the door where Eric was leaning against the frame. "I'd be better if we could spar."

Eric sighed. "I know, but even with your incredible healing, you're not going to be able to for a couple more days until the bone heals. Joan would kill both of us."

"I know, I know, it's just I hate feeling helpless. Are you off today?"

Eric smiled. "I took the day off, yes. The chief understood that I was worried over my sister after her 'boyfriend' beat her. He said if we want to make an official report to come on down to the station, but I told him you were a martial artist and the 'boyfriend' probably looked just as bad if not worse."

"Thanks for keeping my secret." Her brother shrugged.

"They would have thought I was nuts anyway. Hell, it's a hard story to swallow, and if you were anyone but my sister, I'd think you were high on something."

Amber stretched. "Speaking of, I need to use your phone. I should call April and the boys and let them know where I am."

OoO

In the lair, Mikey was glumly heating up the leftover pizza from the night before. It smelled good, and he could imagine that Amber made it for them with love. She had taken the fact that they were mutant turtles in stride, saying it didn't matter and that family was family. Donnie had checked hospital in-patient records from the night before, with nothing to show for it. What if the Foot had captured her? It was clear from her phone call that some kind of fight had happened.

Donnie was still looking Raph over, worried about his older brother. How was it possible for Raph to enter into Amber's subconcious, and why had he not done so before now? He really needed to know what the Kraang had injected into Amber all those years ago, but he was hesitant to bring that subject up. It clearly upset Raph last night if the screams were anything to go by. He was still out on a cot in the lab anyway, Donnie had had to give him something to help him sleep but he still looked so tired.

In the meditation room, Leo drew deep, calming breaths but his mind was jumbled. He turned all the information that Raph had shared with them over in his mind. Their mom had been through so much, yet she remained a kind-hearted woman, accepting them like nobody else had. A burst of loud rock music from the direction of the living room caught his attention.

"Hey, Leo, Mom's on the phone with April!" Mikey's voice floated in the air and shook two of his three brothers from their thoughts. In a flash, they had converged in the living room with April and Mikey and crowded around the phone.

OoO

Blue eyes looked on in amusement as Amber fretted on the phone over her odd little family. Eric knew his sister had always wanted children, but had never been blessed. He imagined her welcoming four mutant turtle sons with little issue. And they seemed more than willing to protect Amber, which made them good in his book.

"Hey Eric, would you mind if they came here to pick me up tonight? I'd love for you to meet them."

OoO

Later that night, Amber was watching tv in the den when a noise at the window caught her attention. She had cracked it open when the sun had begun to set so when the boys arrived they would have a way in.

"MOM!" Mikey rushed over and buried his face in Amber's lap, crying in relief. The others followed in a more orderly manner, but soon Amber found herself being clung to by all three of her four sons. Raphael stood to the side of her, watching Amber reassure his brothers with haunted eyes. He tensed as a man came from the kitchen and leaned in the doorway, taking in the scene before him. The man met Raphael's questioning gaze, hazel meeting intense blue, and smiled gently.

"Amber, would you care to introduce your sons?"

"Yeah. Come on guys, I want you to meet my brother, your Uncle Eric. Eric, this is Michaelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael, or Mikey, Donnie, Leo, and Raph for short."

Mikey had gotten up from clinging to Amber to get unnecessarily close to Eric. "Cool, his eyes are as blue as Leo's!" His enthusiasm made Eric laugh. It reminded him of lighter times with his sister. Leo, on the other hand, was startled. No one had eyes like him, not even his brothers. It was Amber's turn to laugh. "That's the beauty of genetics, Mikey. You never know what you're going to get."

After a while, Eric had agreed to show the boys his kusarigama. Leo, Donnie, and Mikey were enthralled and followed their uncle to the living room, but Raph lingered behind. He jumped slightly when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. "What troubles you, my son?"

Raph turned to look at Amber, and she recognized the sadness reflected in his eyes. Leading him to the couch that occupied the den, she sat him down and put her arms around him as she would a small, frightened child and Raph broke. He cried, and Amber petted his head and told him everything would be alright, that all that happened a long time ago. They sat like that for who knows how long while Raph let go of his pent up emotions and Amber rubbed circles over his shell.

"How can you say it's ok, Mom? I saw what was in your nightmares like they were my own! It's not right for someone to suffer so much."

Amber hugged her second oldest son tighter. "I say it's ok because those experiences made me who I am today, and I choose to be stronger than what's hurt me in the past. It still haunts me sometimes, yes, but I'm not going to let fear control me." Amber paused, looking down at Raph comptemplatively. "I have some prayer beads that may help you from entering my dreams again. I usually meditate to keep the nightmares away, but with everything that's happened I haven't had a real chance to."

"How did Raph enter your dreams to begin with?" Donnie had made his way back into the den. Raph shot up from Amber's hug, trying to look tough. Well, as tough as her could with dried tears all over his face. Amber blinked at the sudden action, but dismissed it, turning to face Donnie instead.

"I've been able to enter the dreams of others since I was little. I can only assume that it's somewhere in my genetic code and Raphael ended up getting that particular alelle activated on the genetic locus. The talent would have lain dormant until he came into contact with a compatible consciousness. It CAN be trained, like any other skill, thank goodness."

OoO

"Master Shredder, there seems to be another, older human woman in aquaintence with the turtles now. They have been refering to her as their mother, of all things."

The Shredder's eyes gleamed maniacally. This was such an opprotunity to screw with the turtles, and he couldn't pass it up! He would relish her cries for mercy, for her sons to come save her. He would smile with glee over seeing their anguish as he slew their mother figure before their eyes.

"Bring her to me, alive."