Warning this chapter contains some mild language (and it's just a little little bit, so just blot it out) ! Other than that, this chapter is awesome! There is so much more I wanted to get in here, but I really felt like I should update! So please tell me how you guys like it! Now we get to see the start of Raph's acknowledgement of his feelings for a certain teenage human vigilante!

Ch. 13-Midnight Ride

(Past-the night when Raph was stabbed)

Two shadowed figures made their way laboriously through the sewer tunnels. The smaller, more lithe one was supporting the larger, who had one arm draped over her shoulders.

Raphael was weak from blood loss and his head was spinning, but he was still making an effort to support himself as best he could, knowing that Midori would not possibly have the strength to do so herself. The stab wound in his shoulder hurt like hell, and he hadn't been able to stop the bleeding. Unfortunately, since the blood loss had left him feeling sleepy and dizzy, he needed her help if he wanted to get back to the lair alive.

Midori had gawked at the fact that Raphael lived in the sewer, but the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Turtles were water-loving creatures, after all. And there are so many weird things in the sewer to begin with, so who's gonna notice a giant mutant turtle? She thought sarcastically. Then again, he is a ninja turtle. So being seen probably isn't much of an issue. But he revealed himself to me. He showed himself to save me, even though he knew it was risk. He saved my life. He trusted me. And now here he is bleeding out in my arms…What am I going to do? What if we don't reach his 'lair' in time?

"Stop here." The turtle grunted out, pulling the human teenager from her thoughts.

Midori, or Jade, since she still had her helmet on, looked around, "But there's nothing here." She stated, confusion clear in her voice.

"There ain't supposed to be. Lair's just a couple turns down from here. I can make it on my own. Thanks for the help."

"What? No! Raphael, you can't even stand up straight! How can you possibly make it back by yourself?"

"Look, I'm tellin' ya I'll be fine." Raph pulled his arm away and stood shakily on his own two feet. "Just trust me, I'll be okay. If I bring you back to the lair there could be trouble. The Foot could target you and my family would be upset…better if we avoid it."

"Something tells me they're going to be upset already. Besides, I want to meet your father."

"No. I'm not pulling them into this unless it's absolutely necessary. I assume that after tonight's events we are both aware of how dangerous the Foot can be. I have no problem risking my life this way. But risking theirs…like I said not unless there is no other alternative."

"I understand. But I still don't think you can make it back alone."

"I'll be fine." The turtle whispered.

The vigilante removed her helmet and held it against her hip. Then she stared him straight in the eyes. "Can you promise me that?"

Raphael grinned, the pain momentarily blotted out by the tenderness of this moment. "I promise."

Midori returned a half-hearted grin, the best she could manage while her trust in her friend warred with her concern for his well-being. "Okay, I'll see you round, reptile."

Raphael didn't bother to look back after they parted. He knew she wouldn't follow. He trusted her that much.

As the red-masked turtle made his way down the stairs at the lair's entrance, Leonardo wasted no time in confronting him. Fearless frowned and began scolding him, but Raph knew better than to interrupt.

Obviously Leo's so mad, he hasn't even noticed my injuries yet. I should probably be happy about that…

Leonardo finished his angry tirade, but before Raph could even think up a retort his head spun and he collapsed. The last thing the red-banded warrior felt before he swept into darkness, were strong arms catching him just before he hit the floor.

(Present-about a month after Raph was stabbed.)

It was early afternoon. The turtles were enjoying a nice quiet movie night at home…

"LEO!"

…Or as quiet as things could get with Mikey around.

The eldest turned to his younger brother. Yes, Michelangelo I understand you want to watch Super Robo Mecha Force, but I want to watch Space Heroes. I haven't watched in over a month!"

"Yeah, and its been a blessing for the rest of us." Raph mumbled.

"Shut up Raph!" Leo snapped.

Neon green eyes narrowed and the hothead was a fraction of a second away from tackling his older sibling to the ground when his T-phone rang. Raphael checked the caller ID, frowned and made his way out of the common area down the hall to his room. "Yello?"

"Hey you. How fast do you think you can get over to my place?"

The turtle tensed, "You okay?" there was a tinge of sadness in her voice that put him on edge. "Something wrong?"

"Fine and no, no there's nothing wrong, I've just got something really awesome to show you." The sadness was still there, but it was quickly being replaced by excitement.

Raphael grinned, a rare soft smile that he would never dare show in front of his brothers. "An hour from now to late?." He could practically hear her happiness growing, even over the phone and he smiled even wider.

"I'll be waiting." He was about to hang up when—"Raph, wait!"

The turtle put the phone back to his ear, "Yea?"

"You got a helmet?"

Eye-ridges knitted together in confusion the turtle replied hesitantly, "Yeah, why?"

"Bring it with you. And wear a disguise….If you have one." Before he could question her further, Midori hung up. He rolled his eyes, girls, never give ya straight answers.

Raphael began looking around the room for his helmet. Dammit where is that thing! Damn! I told her ten minutes and I'm gonna spend half of it looking for my stupid helmet!

He snuck behind his brothers in the main room and into the garage. Maybe I should just take Leo's he thought as he entered the Shellraiser. However, as soon as he did so, he spotted his helmet just under the seat of his station. Oh yeah that's right, I put it down so I could smack Mikey on the head…

He swept up the helmet and held it against his side. He moved rapidly back through the lair to his room to gather supplies. Hm…what will I need tonight? Shuriken? Yep. Sai? Always. Smoke bombs? Wouldn't hurt. With each item the turtle decided whether he wanted it or not and if so, put it in his belt.

Just as he finished 'packing' a thought struck him. Disguise huh? Hmm…

Raphael dialed the number he knew so well without even glancing at the t-phone.

There was a long, slow yawn before someone spoke, "…Raph? Sup dude?" came a groggy voice on the other end of the line.

Green eyes glinted eerily, "Hey Case, got any oversized clothing?"

Casey Jones raised an eyebrow, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. As the real meaning of Raph's question came to him through the sleepy haze he glanced around his room. "No," he smirked, "but I know where I can get some."

Luckily for him, Casey was scheduled to be coming over for movie night in half an hour, which would still give him plenty of time to make it over to Midori's before his time was up.

By the time the hockey-masked vigilante arrived, Raph had been waiting not-so-patiently for almost fifteen minutes. "Took ya long enough, knuckle head!"

"Hey it took me a while to get all this stuff together!" Casey said, motioning to the rather stuffed laundry bag he had over his shoulder.

Michelangelo bounded up between them, popping both of their person space bubbles. "Oooh what's in there? Can I see? Is it weapons, or pizza, or maybe a new pinball machine?!

Raphael face-palmed with a groan, "Sorry Mikey, it's just some stuff I asked Case to bring over."

"Aw. But can I see it?"

"Nope, tough guys only, little brother."

Baby blue eyes narrowed, "Oh please like you're any tougher than I am."

Raph growled and Mikey finally took a hint and scurried back over to the couch where he hid behind Leonardo. The red-masked turtle rolled his eyes before dragging the human teenager and his bag down the hall to his room.

The others watched them go and exchanged glances. "Okay, that was weird." Leonardo stated.

"Yeah, they're acting awful secretive."

Meanwhile in Raphael's room, the turtle pulled oven the bag and began sifting through all the clothing. He found a pair of really baggy black jeans, which he quickly pulled on, prompting his human companion to give him a strange, rather perplexed stare. Raph ignored him and continued looking through all the extremely oversized clothes until he found a black tank top and dark red hoodie that could fit over his shell without making him look like a hunchback. Next he found a large black baseball cap, which he put on his head, brim forwards and pulled the dark red hood of the hoodie over it so that is shadowed his face.

"Well?" The turtle asked his friend.

"Well what?" Casey parroted, still confused.

"How do I look Dumbass?!"

"Uh, you look like an alley creeper with really baggy clothing. Why?"

Raphael sighed dejectedly kicking the ground with his foot. "Just wonderin' I guess. I'm heading out. Thanks for the clothes."

Casey caught the reptile's shoulder as he turned to leave. "Wait, where ya going man? It's movie night."

"I got better things to do."

The human raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean by that?"

Raph's eyes narrowed, "Oh no, I ain't telling you anything else, you blabbermouth. Look, I gotta get going, so step aside."

Jones stepped even further between Raphael and the door, "Not gonna."

"Don't do this Jones. I ain't got time for this right now. And I will fight you."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't hurt me enough to take me down."

Internally, the mutant turtle was fuming. Oh yeah, I'll show you crapface! With that Raphael went to his weapons cabinet, grabbed his manriki and tackled the human. Within seconds Casey Jones, the nighttime vigilante was completely immobilized, his hands and feet secured with weighted chains. As soon as the human realized what had happened he began yelling at the top of his lungs, but by that point in time Raphael was long gone.

As his brothers rushed in the main room, the hotheaded turtle himself snuck out the back through the garage and up the subway tunnels, helmet in hand. The teenage mutant turtle smirked, job well done.

He landed on the fire escape outside Midori's window exactly ten minutes early. He peered inside carefully. There was no one inside but the light was on. None of the other lights in the apartment were on, so Raphael assumed she was home alone. He decided to take a chance and go on in. however as soon as he had crawled all the way through the window he was assaulted by blows. Raph blocked as best as he could, all the while yelling, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, M! M, chill it's just me! It's me!"

The blows ceased completely and the human canted her head at him for a moment. "Wow, when you're in disguise you go all out!"

Raph grimaced, "I look stupid, don't I?"

Midori's eyes widened for a moment before she jumped back in, "No, no, not at all." She tilted his chin up with her hand and looked him in the eyes. "You look very mysterious. It's kind of…alluring."

Thank goodness this hood shadows my face, Raph thought as his cheeks reddened significantly. "Thanks." He grunted. "So…what did you want to show me?"

Watching Midori's face light up filled his heart with a joy that he had never before experienced and Raphael couldn't help but smile. "Follow me." She said.

As they moved into the living room of the apartment, adjacent to the kitchen, something caught Raph's eye. Balloons? He did a double-take. Not just balloons. Birthday balloons. Happy Birthday, they said. His heart clenched. It's her birthday and she didn't… he ground to a halt and Midori turned back to look at him. "Why?" he whispered.

She canted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Raph asked softly, his tone slightly hurt.

Midori's gaze softened as she stared into his eyes. A small, forlorn smile curled at the corner of her mouth. "It didn't seem important. Besides, I didn't see much point in celebrating. Not after what happened to my mother…I've never had a birthday where she wasn't celebrating with me…It just didn't seem like the right thing to do."

The red-masked turtle's shoulders loosened and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I know." She whispered. Then she composed herself and brightened a little bit, "But I did get some awesome presents through."

Raph smiled, thankful for the change of subject, and impressed by Midori's strength. "Oh yeah? Whatcha get?

Midori smirked a smirk so mischevious it might even be called a shit-eating grin. "A Kawasaki Ninja ZX 14R."

The hothead's eyes went wide and he stood stock still. "Yer shitin' me, right?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nope. Though to be fair, I did pay for part of it. I've been saving up for years."

Beautiful neon green eyes narrowed and she grinned in reply, "You even have a license?"

The teenage girl, who Raph now noticed was wearing knee-high boots, blue jeans, and a black leather biker's jacket, pulled out a card and held it between her fingers. He didn't even have to look to know that it was, in fact a driver's license. "Well, Greenie, ya wanna see it?"

"Shell yes!" Raphael breathed out. It was no secret that he was a motorcycle lover, but how Midori had figured it out, he wasn't quite certain. "How'd you know?"

"What?" she asked.

"How'd you know I was a bike fan?"

"Oh, probably because about a month ago in the middle of a fight a bike drove by…"

"MV Agusta F4." Raph rubbed his neck as he realized what she meant. Whenever bikes were concerned he just couldn't help but stare.

His t-phone buzzed.

–where r u? –L

Ha, Leo's getting slow. He thought as they made their way down a flight of stairs to a small garage opening onto an alleyway. They stopped and Midori turned on the lights.

"Well? What do you think?"

Raph stood there slack jawed. The bike was beautiful. It had a sleek black paintjob complete with red pin-striping. "It's awesome." Then his eyes landed on a darker corner of the garage.

Midori followed his gaze and answered the question before he could even ask it. "That's my uncle's old bike. He gave it to me when I first got my motorcycle license. It's still in pretty good condition, though all things considered my uncle didn't take very good care of it. It's seven years old now."

"You kidding? This is a Ducati 1098! Manufactured from 2007-2009! This is awesome! Got anymore?" he asked glancing around the garage.

Midori chuckled. "No. Unfortunately not." She paused for a moment, staring at the Ducati as if in thought. "You know, part of the reason I called you up here was because my uncle asked me to take it to be scrapped."

The red-banded turtle's eyes flew back to hers with an expression of pure seriousness.

"You can take it. He probably wouldn't even know the difference. That is if you want to." She said quietly.

"IF I want to?! Shell yes I want to! I'll fix it up into a bike for myself! Oh man, Donnie's gonna be so jealous!" Raph said giddily, his eyes literally sparkling. Midori's heart warmed in her chest when she saw her friend, her strange mutant friend who had come to mean so much to her over the past couple months, so happy.

Her lips curled upward into a smile as he ran over and started examining the bike. "It's pretty beat up, and we've been having issues with it stalling lately, part of the reason why my uncle decided it was time I get a new one. Incidentally…" Raph looked up at her, "What do you say we take the Ninja out for a spin?"

Raph's smile could have melted the hardest of hearts. "Really? You'd let me drive it?"

She punched him the shoulder, "Shell no, Reptile, I'm driving!"

"Then what the shell am I supposed to do?!" The hothead asked as she straddled the motorcycle and started it up. The engine was purring like a kitten, still Raph held back.

"Well, don't just stand there! Get on and hang on!" As he slid onto the bike behind her, Raph was once again grateful for the fact that she couldn't see his face. He wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, his face getting warmer and warmer every second.

No sooner had he wrapped his arms around her, Midori gunned it and they took off, racing through the alley and out onto the street. Raphael had never felt more alive in his entire life. The rush of the air, the thrill of the ride, the love warming his heart at just the feeling of her in front of him, oh god. Love…could that really be what I'm feeling? He wondered as they rode on into the night.

(Much later that night...)

He returned home well past three in the morning and, unsurprisingly found his brothers, sensei, and Casey Jones waiting up for him. Raphael was still in a bit of a daze from, not only his experience, but the truth behind his feelings for Midori as well. In any case, the red-masked turtle was in no mood to be pestered by his brothers. He walked right into the main room from the garage without a moment's hesitation.

Of course Fearless was the first to speak up, "Hamato Raphael, where the shell have you been?" he asked, sounding even more hostile than usual.

"Keeping a business appointment." The hothead answered tersely.

Leo's eyes narrowed. The eldest turtle stepped towards his immediate younger brother, and then circled him, obviously checking for injuries. "At least you don't have any injuries tonight."

"Of course not, I didn't do any crime-fighting tonight." He said matter-of-factly.

"Then why all this?" Leo gestured to the clothes Raph was still wearing. "Why the elaborate hoax?"

"I told ya, I had an appointment."

"With who? What for?"

"With a guy. About a motorcycle."

Leo and the others just stared. Finally Jones found his voice first, "So all of this was about a motorcycle? Seriously?"

"Yeah. Met with the guy, managed to get myself a deal."

Donatello couldn't help his own curiosity, "What kind?"

"Ducati." Mikey and Casey's eyes were wide.

"Whoa!" said the youngest turtle.

"Dude! What model?"

"1098 manufactured in 2007."

"Sweet." Jones said with a vague nod.

Leo growled in frustration. Raph's gone for over three hours and all they do when he finally comes back is start having a conversation about motorcycles?! "If we're quite done with this?" Silence. "Thank you. Fact remains, Raph you practically worried us to death. We were beginning to wonder if you would even be coming back at all this time."

Master Splinter looked at Leonardo, then he looked at me as though he could sense the deep brooding tension between us. Finally he turned to the others and said, "Come my sons, we must let your older brothers sort out this conflict themselves. Casey, perhaps Donatello and Michelangelo can accompany you back to the surface?"

"Sure thing, Master Splinter. Let's go guys."

All Raph could do was stare directly across from him up into his older brother's gaze. He had no idea what was going to happen, what would result from this discussion, but he knew that somehow, it would change his life forever.

Please tell me what you thought!