Chapter 21

"Good medicine"

Splinter led the way to the lab with quick steps as he retold the story to Arayah that the boys had told him. Concern rested on the old rat's features making Arayah worry about what was awaiting her attentions in Donnie's Lab.

A thousand possibilities ran through her head as the story of robots, guns, and Bishop was told. Her heart began to race as she imagined the state of the brothers, beaten, bloodied, and shot. God what if it was so bad she couldn't help? What if Raph was going to leave her to handle this on her own…

Upon stepping through the door she found she didn't quite know how to take the scene in the lab. All of the brothers had blood and sweat glistening on their muscled bodies from injuries that had stopped bleeding or had at least slowed their oozing. And a number of holes in their shells that gave them the look of cheap Swiss cheese was quite worrisome. But oddly none of them seemed overly alarmed by their state. Donatello was hunched over some … thing made of metal, gears and wires while Mikey talked a mile a minute about how "awesome" it had been to be fighting robots. And then there was Raph who had a hold of Leo's arm, his foot in his brother's side and counting down as Leo appeared to be preparing himself for a great deal of pain.

'How long had she been in her room?'Arayah wondered. 'Or were they just that good at finding trouble?'

"Two, one." Raph finished counting and his muscles tensed as he started to pull at Leo's arm.

"Everybody, stop!" Arayah shouted, She needed them to just stand still before Raph hurt Leo more or one of them bleed out or… died of lead poisoning… well maybe the last one would take a lot more than a few minutes, but that was beside her train of thought. "What in the hell were you guys thinking?"

That question was a mistake as she and Splinter were suddenly bombarded by four brothers all recounting their version of the story and the importance of their part in it all at once, all getting louder as they attempted to speak over each other.

"…But it's all good." Mikey finished up.

"We took care of it." Leo agreed with a nod and a wince.

"You're safe." Raph assured with a nod.

'What? Had she not been safe before?... and what?' Arayah blinked at the brothers. She hadn't caught any of the jumbled words they had said. "Ok well, we will make sense of that later."

They didn't appear to have any serious head injuries. At least as far as a vet could tell by their enthusiastic babbling. So she decided to just set in to a general examination of all obvious injuries. "I need you all to sit down, and remove your jeans. Splinter, would you please get me the first aid kit?"

Splinter nodded and went to getting the first aid kit out.

"Make sense of it? What about it doesn't make sense?" Don asked.

"And why do we need to take off our pants?" Leo's forehead furrowed with confusion.

"You were all talking at once. How am I supposed to make any sense out of that, Donatello?" Arayah then reached out and poked a bloodied spot on Leo's jeans.

He jumped in response. "Owe."

"You have injuries. And your pants are ripped."

"That's just a scrape from when Raph pushed me." Leo mumbled. "I'm fine."

Raph started shaking his head in noncompliance he had no intention of removing his pants in the presence of the woman that both constantly got him going and continually turned him down. There would be no way he would be able to handle the double humiliation well.

"I'm the vet I'll decide that. Now take them off."

"Everybody?" Mickey asked a little too cheerfully earning him a glare from Raph. Mikey retaliated by sticking his tongue out at his brother and dropping his jeans.

"Yes." Arayah answered as she shook her head at Leonardo and Raphael. "I don't see what the big deal is. You're turtles it's not like I'll see anything worth seeing."

"She has a point." Don agreed as he started to remove his own jeans.

"Doesn't mean we don't have anything worth seeing." Mikey waggled his eye ridges at Arayah.

That was all Raph was putting up with. He reached around Leo and smacked his smaller brother upside the head and growled, "She's pregnant, you dumb ass."

"Doesn't mean she isn't hot." Mikey retorted behind Leo's back as he rubbed where he had been smacked.

Raph couldn't argue with that fact, so he pointed out another one. "With MY kids."

Mikey opened his mouth to say something in return but found under the 'If you don't shut the hell up I am going to beat the living daylights out of you' glare he was getting he really had nothing more to say on the subject. So he snapped his mouth shut and turned back to face the vet.

Arayah gave Mikey a quizzical look that didn't seem to faze his goofy grin. "Uh one, don't talk about me like I'm not here and two, not gunna happen Mikey."

Arayah's lack of interest in the now naked turtle brought a grin to Raph's face till the naked turtle started to speak again.

"Aww, you're breaking my heart, beautiful." Mikey replied faining an over exaggerated frown.

Raph tried to lunge through Leo to knock the grin off of Mikey's face.

Since no one seemed to be dying Arayah turned her attention to Donatello, Despite Leo's complaints about his shoulder and being between the two squabbling brothers. She just decided Leo wouldn't die and she didn't want to be between whatever was going on between Mikey and Raph.

Luckily for Leo, splinter came to his rescue and made Mikey and Raph put some distance between them.

"I can take care of most of these." Don informed Arayah as she inspected the cuts and one deeper bullet graze on his outer upper thigh.

"I agree, Donnie. I think that a good shower will take care of most of these miner cuts. But I am going to betadine and gauze this one on your leg though. Do you want me to stitch it, leave a smaller scar?"

"No need. What is one more scar?" Don smiled down at the green eyed beauty that was now focusing all her attention on his upper thigh. Taking a deep breath he turned his attention from her gentle touch and the dull pain of the slight injurie to the subtle but encouraging and slightly suggestive hand motions Mikey made between Raph and Arayah. Raph returning the gestures with defiant facial expressions and head shaking as the stubborn turtle went back to trying to relocate Leo's arm. Don couldn't help but wonder if Mikey's tactic to get Raph to do something about his feelings was going to work or if it was just going to get Mikey beat up.

"Raphael do not pull on Leo's arm." Arayah scolded suddenly.

"It hurts." Leo complained. "It needs to be relocated."

"Which is why I am going to do it." Arayah answered as she finished taping the gauze to Donnie's leg. "Can you handle Mikey?"

"Sure." Don started rummaging through the medical kit and pulled out some betadine and gauze.

"I know how to relocate a shoulder Arayah. I got a little bit of know how under my belt." Raph smirked at Arayah as she ran her hand over Leo's shoulder. "Done it lots of times."

"I would hate to see the state of whoever's shoulder has been relocated the most." Arayah frowned as she inspected Leo's arm. It must have been paining him a great deal since he tensed considerably when she touched it even though she was being very gentle at the moment.

Raph grumbled at her lack of faith in his abilities on the matter of joint relocation.

"Remember when we had to relocate my knee when I ate it on that half pipe I made." Mikey chuckled as he leaned back on his elbows and smiled up at everyone from his spot on the floor, before letting Don look over some of his injuries. "God, that hurt."

Arayah raised an eyebrow at him then looked back at Leo and Raph. "Did he hit his head?"

Raph shook his head. "He's just like that. Haven't you noticed?"

"Right." She turned her attention back to Leo's arm. "Ok, we are going to do this gently so just follow my lead."

Leo gave Raph a side long glance that screamed 'get her away from me!'. Though his reasons weren't the reasons Arayah assumed but Raphael picked up on.

His brothers had all experienced what Raphael hadn't. They had had what was now held out in front of him just out of reach, now that he had found someone he deemed worth wanting. And for some reason he wanted someone besides himself to suffer for it. So, in response to Leo's look, Raph shrugged and walked from the room while Arayah was busy. If he was lucky he would be able to shower and look after his own injuries before she finished with his brothers.

Leo glared at his brother as he walked from the room leaving Leo in his discomfort. With a sigh Leo looked down at Arayah and tried to focus on her instructions.

"Leo, you are going to have to try to relax." Arayah clicked at him. "Just let your arm hang at your side to start, ok?"

He focused his sight on a spot on the far wall trying desperately to ignore her fingers as they danced delicately down his arm. It had been too long since he had been with a woman and he was finding it difficult to push down the thoughts this woman's touch was pulling to his mind's forefront. He was glad she hadn't talked him out of his pants. Taking a deep breath he gave the wall his utmost attention taking in every brick, chip, and groove until he was successfully able to bring his muscles to relax.

"Good." Arayah praised. Keeping his elbow at his side she gently led Leo to bend his arm.

Leo groaned a little when she had him rotate his hand out to the side.

"Take a deep breath, then slowly let it out." Arayah instructed as she helped Leo raise his arm above his head straitening his elbow as his arm rose. There was a soft sucking sound and pop as the bone slid into place.

Leo's grimace slid into a slightly surprised expression as he moved his arm around slowly.

"Any tingling or numbness?" Arayah asked as she caught hold of both his wrists so she could make sure his pulse was the same in both extremities.

Leo shook his head in response to her question. "Feels pretty good actually."

"Don't sound so surprised. I'm worth my salt." Arayah grinned brightly at her self-praise. Then, again oblivious to her patience's discomfort with her closeness, reached for the button on Leo's jeans. "Now let me take a look at that leg."

Leo jumped back while simultaneously pushing her hands away. "You know I think Don can handle my injuries maybe you should make sure Raph is ok. He is always more hurt than he lets on."

Arayah frowned when she realized the red clad mass of muscle had snuck out of the room. "ok. Can you handle him, Donnie?" Arayah motioned to Leo.

"I would rather him than Raph." Don answered honestly from beside Mikey.

"Just make sure you guys get all those bullets out of your shells. You may not be human but you can still get led poisoning."

Don nodded. "Absolutely."

Arayah grabbed what she needed to look after Raph and headed out of the lab. The sound of running water and steam escaping under the bathroom door clued her in on where he had disappeared to.

Stopping outside the door Arayah raised her hand to knock then stopped. A mischievous grin slipped across her lips and she quietly opened the door and stepped in. Carefully she sat her supplies on the counter and made her way to the side of the tub, gripped the curtain, took a deep breath, and pulled. Though not as hard as he had when he had surprised her in the shower the night Don had impaled his leg.

She had had every intention of repeating back to him the line he had given her that night, yelling at her about being naked in the shower. But, she had not been prepared to see him, all of him, scarred emerald skin gliding over massive muscles that glistened under the spray of water that splashed and trickled down past his shoulders, over his armored chest and belly, to his thighs. God those thighs. She had seen him shirtless lots. Almost every time she had seen him as a matter of fact. And his arms were a glorious masterpiece to behold but GOD THOSE THIEGHS! All wet and soapy… all she could do was stand there and stair with her hands over her mouth. She felt she had graduated from cheer leader gawking at the jock to the virgin bride gawking at the surprise chip-n-dale stripper at a bachelorette party, despite the fact that she was definitely no virgin. She was going to have to give in and admit it. She couldn't deny it any longer. She found him attractive, no not attractive, hot as fucking hell… wait, was he yelling at her?

Her eyes shifted, from feasting upon the parts that had been hidden from her till now, to his face and suddenly she thought she might die. Just fall over and die from the death glair he was giving her. Every word he was yelling falling on deaf ears. When she had noticed he had stopped yelling all she could muster was a quiet, "What?"

His frown deepened impossibly as he crossed his arms over his chest the action flexing his dripping wet biceps and framing his armored chest. "What do you want?" He growled.

Damn it, she wanted to kiss him again. oh who was she kidding she wanted to do a lot more than kiss him, and to top it off she couldn't remember for the life of her why she had come into the bathroom in the first place.

"I'm pregnant." She suddenly blurted out.

"I know." Raph looked at her as if she had lost her mind.

"That's why I kissed you." It made as much sense as anything else at the moment.

Raph's expression changed from stern anger to that broken disappointed look he had given her back at the garage only this time he wasn't as quick to cover it and it broke her heart.

"Damn it!" Arayah snapped before storming over to the toilet and closing the lid. Sitting down she rested her head in her hands.

"You got no idea." Raph mumbled as he turned off the water. He then stepped out and, with his back to the beautiful woman, He proceeded to dry off and wrap a towel around himself. With every intention of leaving her there to stew in her own… whatever, he reached for the door.

"What is wrong with me, Raph?"Arayah whined.

He stopped.

"Wrong with you?" Raph turned to face her ready to let into her about what it was like to be him, to really have something 'wrong' with you. But she was looking up at him with those big bright devourable apple green eyes moist as if kissed by dew as she sat on the brink of tears brought on by some emotional roller coaster she seemed to be riding. She won, he gave in to that beautiful pitiful look. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he let out a sigh as he sat down on floor in front of her. "There ain't a god damn thing wrong with you Arayah. Why the hell do you think I put up with you making me crazy?"

He was full of it, there were a thousand things wrong with her and the situation they were in. But right now, she didn't care. He had said otherwise and she was inclined to believe it. So, sliding off the toilet lid she knelt down between his legs, wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in the crook in his neck. "I think I might already be crazy. Would you like me to show you around?"

With a deep chuckle he accepted the sweet torture that came with having her so close to him and he wrapped his arms around her and wrested his cheek against the side of her head slowly breathing in her honey ginger scent. "Sounds good to me. But could you take some of these bullets out of my shell first?"

Arayah leaned back in Raphael's arms and smiled. "I think I can do that."

*scene change*

"Twenty four." Arayah stated the amount of bullets she had pulled out of Raph's carapace and to prove it she sat the bowl containing the bullets on the table.

"Ooo… I have you beat Raph. Twenty six." Mikey grinned as if he had won some mettle.

"That's not something to proud of Mikey. If you were human you would be dead. " Arayah scolded.

"But we're not." Raph pointed out the obvious as he took a seat at the table before helping himself to a bag of chips that was being shared.

"That is not her point, Raphael." Splinter frowned. "What the four of you did was dangerous and could have been handled better."

"How sensei?" Leo asked. "We needed to lead those things away from here."

"In the most dangerous way possible?" Arayah waved her hands about in over exaggeration. "Why do you guys feel like you have to engage everything that comes at you?"

"Best defense is a good offence." Donnie pointed out.

"Or the other way around." Arayah slumped into a chair.

Mikey crunched on a chip as he watched the conversation unfold.

"What would you have us do? Hull up here till Bishop stumbles in on us? I think we need to have a little more of a plan than that." Raph put in his thought on the matter.

"Perhaps we need a plan that involves more tactical retreats. As Arayah's belly grows it will get harder for her to get around. We can not be facing a fight and we can not be running." Splinter proposed the growing problem.

Splinter was right. Arayah wasn't overly heavy with child yet but she showed more with each passing day and eventually the twins would make moving, at anything more than a waddle, a difficult task.

"You are saying we should consider moving our location." Leo frowned.

"I am suggesting it my son." Splinter stated. "You are our clan leader now. It is your decision."

Continuing to frown, Leo considered his father's suggestion. He thought about where they would go. Their options were limited and he had no intention of bringing any of their troubles to Casey and April's home. Besides, the apartment was too small to house all of them comfortably. Perhaps the farm if they could get out of the city.

After a long moment he spoke. "I will meditate on it. In the meantime, Don, I want you to see what you can find for optional secondary hide outs. Mikey you make sure we have some nonperishable foods ready to go, Raph you are in charge of weapons, extra smoke bombs things like that. And Arayah, you make sure you have anything you need packed up and ready as well as medical supplies. If nothing else we should be prepared to leave in a hurry."