Okay, where was I? Oh yeah.

AAAHHHHHHHHHH!

The scream kept going for a few more seconds as Leo looks up at the nice lady. He had just said 'hi' and she is screaming like the apartment is on fire. He needs to ask his question. "Do you know ninjatu!?" He yells. Then Heather is at his side.

"Heather! Heather what is that thing!? That- that- freak!" The lady yells. Heather puts a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"I am so sorry, Adel. C'mon Leo," Heather says calmly, like her neighbor wasn't having a panic attack. Leo is led back into the apartment and Heather closes the door. Leo presses close and listens to the conversation.

"What is that mutant freak doing in your home Heather! It's, it's-"

"He was so excited about his new costume that he forgot to take it off. I'm sorry, Adel. That was my little cousin."

"A-Andrew?"

"No, Leo. He he found his Halloween costume and well.." Heather trails off.

"So.. there is a little boy under that green? It looked so real," Adel says, shaking. Leo can hear the fear in her voice. He knows he isn't Heather's cousin. So, is what this lady is saying true? Is he a monster? A freak? Heather continues the conversation until it changes to what kind of pie Adel was thinking of trying to bake. Then Heather comes back.

"Let's hope no one pays to mind. She sees bugs out here all the time. Goes nuts about it. Leo?" Heather asks. Leo had backed up when she opened the door. When she went to talk to him, he backed up more. "Leo, you can't just talk to anyone."

"Am I a freak?" He asks, fear lacing his eyes. Heather stops her lecture about scaring the poor lady. She looks at him and he is looking at his hands. "I'm a monster aren't I!? We all are! My whole family!"

"No, Leo.." Leo backs up when she tries to come closer and runs to his room. He closes and locks the door. Heather gets there right as it clicks and she tries to open it. Leo retreats to his spot in the far corner. "Leo, open this door," Heather demands. Leo tucks his head to his plastron and doesn't move to obey.

Heather stands in the hallway, putting a hand to her forehead in frustration. This was bound to happen, she knew it. She should have watched him better. She tries to knob, but it's locked, like she heard. Leo isn't in any mood to talk.

"Leo, you aren't a freak. Or a monster. You're just, different than most of the people in the world." Heather waits to see if Leo does anything before continuing. "Humans, we.. well, we get scared from change. If something new happens, we are bound to at first think it is a threat." Heather kneels next to the door. "But Leo, that does not mean it is true. You are special. There are four turtles like you, you and your brothers. But, there is only one you." Heather waits for Leo to do something, anything.

He's in the corner still, but he is looking at the door. He wants to be close to Heather, wanted to hear the words come from her mouth when he can see them. But he's afraid. He's a mutant. She's a human. She should be scared of him. And yet she isn't. She treats him like a normal human boy. He gets up and walks over to the door. "Why aren't you scared of me?"

"Because you aren't something to fear, Leo. Splinter, yes, at times he is a monster. But it all depends on how you meet something that makes you scared of it. You knocked right on her door. I saw Mikey in the sewers. We reacted differently." Leo unlocks the door and opens it slowly.

"But-" he's interrupted by Heather pulling him close into a hug.

"But don't ever do that again, okay Leo? That is not okay. You can't just go up to a random person to ask a question." Leo nods into her shoulder.

"I won't. I won't." Heather sighs and sits on the floor, giving her knees a break. Leo curls up as best he can in her arms. "She was scary though."

"Yeah, she was wasn't she. You know Leo, Steve and I are different from people too."

"How?"

"Many ways. The missions we have been on have us interact with different types of people, most are not normal. And both of us have the super soldier serum."

"What is that?"

"It.. it makes us stronger, faster, the pinnacle of a human being. But I also had to train under Cap to get the abilities."

"I'm not allowed to have that stuff, am I?" He asks. Heather shakes her head.

"But, if you want to learn self defense, I'll talk to Cap and see what we can do."

"Okay!" Leo says, back on track of what he wanted in the first place.

"He really wants to learn," Heather tells Steve. Leo is watching a tv show and Heather needs to be with him by the time it is over. So Heather and Steve go up to the roof to talk. Steve pinches the bridge of his nose.

"He is just a kid, Heather."

"Okay, well how about this. He needs to learn." Steve looks at Heather. "He needs to be sure that he can handle himself if one of us isn't around."

"It will take a long time. Being-"

"Whatever it takes. He's determined. You'll break his heart. Because you are telling him that he can't." Steve looks at Heather. She has her don't-push-me face on. He holds his hands up in defeat.

"Okay. But where? We can't train him here. And it is still winter." Heather tucks the end of her jacket close to her body, thinking.

"What about spring? At the Ranch?" Steve looks at Heather. "You can be at the Avengers Compound, while Leo and I are at the Ranch. There's no one he'll scare, there's the A-house to sleep, and he can train freely."

"He won't have a room."

"He can't sleep without me anyway. He's just a little kid." They go over details some more and Heather goes back down while Steve calls the Ranch, whoevers there, about the situation. When Heather walks back into the apartment, Leo turns to her.

"So?" He asks. She chuckles at his eagerness.

"Yes, but-" she says, stopping him from getting too excited, "-We can't start until spring. So we have to wait, about three weeks," Heather decides, "And, when it gets to spring, we are going to where I was trained." Leo's face falls.

"Outside New York?" He asks. Heather nods.

"Sorry buddy, but that's how it has to be. But we can do somethings while we are here. Like, stretching. But right now, let's go to sleep. We have a long three weeks ahead of us."

My mom helped with naming the lady.
'Andrew' is a nod to Heather's little brother, Andrew Morse. Adel knows a little bit about her neighbor. (She just doesn't know she's a super soldier XD)

Leo gonna TRAIN! At the RANCH! Yay! If you have no clue what that is, read Country Lass. It's in my story list.

Me: One chapter of DfF, done. One chapter of Freedom, done. One chapter for Country Lass.. I'll do that next. (My goal, one chap per story a day.)