Leatherhead sighed as he struggled with his vest. It had taken all of his considerable patience to not just rip the thing in half. Waking up to yet another day of acting crossing guard for Stockman Elementary made him almost physically ill. From irate New York parents, to children that either ran screaming past him or making snide remarks about his appearance, Leatherhead was absolutely miserable.

The only thing that made the whole thing bearable was at the end of the day when LH and Mikey met up after work for pizza. Honestly LH had been searching for other employment, and met with relative success when sending out his resume. It wasn't until the in-person interview that the employer would say, "the position has been filled." He growled at the memory as he again tugged at his vest.

It wasn't the first time his appearance had scared a potential job offer off, but the repetition of the situation had simply worn the big croc down.

And he was sick of it.

Why couldn't people look at his abilities and base their judgment on that? He was top of his class in med school. Patented several new medications that he had developed in grad school, and had even been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association! Why couldn't those aspects of himself be the forefront of employment decisions? Why did his sharp teeth, claws, and massive size have to—

RRRIIIIIPPP!

LH blinked slowly as he held the mess of atrocious orange mesh that was formerly his vest. Eyes narrowed, Leatherhead hurled the material at the wall where it made a very unsatisfying swish as it fell to the ground.

Panting heavily, Leatherhead clenched and unclenched his hands trying to bring his rising blood pressure back under control. The last time he had lost control…let's just say he didn't get his security deposit back. Whirling back to his closet, LH growled as he pulled a spare vest off the hanger, and somehow managed to slip it over his broad shoulders.

If this was going to be how the rest of his day went, LH didn't want to meet the person who made him snap.

…

Leatherhead watched as the young boy stood sniveling on the sidewalk. Timothy, as Leatherhead now knew him, had cried every day when crossing.

Despite his many assurances to the child that he would not harm him, Timothy was inconsolable once Leatherhead got too close.

"There's no need to be scared my little friend."

Timothy's eyes grew impossibly wide, as LH stepped towards him.

"I promise I will not harm you."

Timothy now began to shake, gripping his backpack in front of him like a shield.

"I'm not that much different from a Gecko!"

By this point Timothy was a mess of tears and snot as he shot past the desperate croc.

'Well that went well,' Leatherhead thought miserably to himself. He had done just about everything to gain Timothy's trust, and yet the boy remained absolutely terrified of him. It probably didn't help that Leatherhead had been on the cusp of insanity all morning after dealing with a few impatient parents who nearly ran his tail over in their haste to drop their kids off.

"Hey, lizard man!"

Leatherhead just barely suppressed a snarl. Now there was one boy he would love to have run away from him.

"Good Morning Brian," Letherhead said stiffly.

"Yeah yeah whatever. Hurry up and let us cross would ya?"

LH let loose a low rumble, but managed to keep his temper barely in check.

"It is polite to use the word please," he muttered.

"My dad says you don't thank the 'help,'" the little menace drawled.

Leatherhead froze halfway into the crosswalk. Just what the hell did the kid mean by not thanking "the help?"

"Cross," Leatherhead hissed. Whoever this kid's father was, just might have a giant croc to contend with in the near future.

With his nose in the air, Brian crossed the street with his gaggle of admirers, leaving the seething croc standing in the roadway.

This job sucked…

"Who da hell raises a kid like tha'?"

Leatherhead chuckled at Raph's outrage. He had felt the same anger at the time, but luckily, unlike his emerald friend, he had kept his temper in check. The turtle was having a hard enough time just sitting while listening to the story.

"Oh man, that's right. Brian," Mikey laughed, shaking his head. "Dude that kid was an up and coming psychopath."

Don canted his head at Mikey curiously, "What makes you say that?"

"Threatened another kid with scissors when they took a toy he wanted to play with," Mikey said nonchalantly.

Leo and Don gasped while Raph growled low in his throat.

Donny leaned forward anxiously. "Was the other kid alright?"

"Oh yeah, luckily I got the scissors before the little demon could do any damage," Mikey said lightly. "Would have been expelled if daddy dearest didn't pay a shit ton of money to keep it all quiet."

"How could the district just turn a blind eye like that?" Leo fumed.

"Money makes the world go round," Mikey nodded sagely.

Don shook his head but turned back to Leatherhead, who was quietly watching his friends' reactions.

"So what happened after the little devil crossed the street?"

"Oh man this is where it gets good!" Mikey squealed, bouncing excitedly in his seat, jostling Raph beside him.

Raph placed a large hand on top of Mikey's head. "Sit still ya little pinball, or I'm gonna pound ya!"

Leatherhead laughed at the young turtles' interaction.

"Actually, that is a perfect segue into what happened next," Leatherhead mused.

….

As part of his afternoon duties, LH found himself patrolling the outer edges of the school. Because of his size, the administration had thought that "campus patrol" might be a good role for the large reptile. It gave LH more paid hours, rather than just the start and end of the school day, so he had readily agreed. The only problem was how tediously boring the job was.

What was worse, it left him to his thoughts, which were not very pleasant the last few months. Sometimes Mikey made it out to walk with him when he wasn't prepping the day care, but more often than not, the croc was on his own.

Like today.

As Leatherhead turned another corner, he couldn't help but reflect on how metaphorically perfect this track around the school was when looking at his current situation. Yes he was going through the motions of a typical life. Working, paying rent, having some kind of place in society, but when it came right down to it, he was on the outskirts looking in while going round and round in circles. No destination. Just moving forward with nothing to look forward to.

LH shook his head and thought morosely, 'Any more depressing than that, I may have to call up my psychology professor for a session.'

LH shook his head again and forced his feet to move forward on his designated route. That was until he heard muffled shouts coming from the alley across the street.

Hesitantly Leatherhead turned his feet towards the commotion. It didn't sound friendly, and if there was one thing Leatherhead was, it was a protector.

"Like that time you stopped that bully from taking my chocolate milk!" Mikey said excitedly.

Thwap!

"Ow, hey! What was that for Raph?!" Mikey asked, rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

"Ya ruinin' what sounds like a good part a da story," Raph shrugged.

Mikey pouted as Leatherhead continued.

Leatherhead's pace picked up into a run. The sounds of fighting grew louder, and as he turned the corner, LH finally got a clear picture of what was going on. It was clearly a mismatched fight, with two men in purple hoodies fending off five men dressed in various shades of red. Or attempting to at least.

Leatherhead's eyes narrowed dangerously as the temper he held back all day rushed to the surface. With a roar the croc entered the fray, swinging a huge haymaker at the first man in his way.

The poor guy never stood a chance, as Leatherhead's forearm made contact with his chest, flinging the scrawny man across the alleyway. Not even waiting to see if the man got back up, LH whirled around to face the remaining adversaries, all of who had frozen in place. As it turns out, having a giant crocodile wearing a bright orange vest join your fight can be a little disconcerting.

For maybe about five seconds.

Yelling indiscriminately, the men in red charged at the new threat, leaving the men in purple to nurse their wounds on the ground. The first red man made a jab at Leatherhead's snout. Jerking his nose down to his chest, Leatherhead countered with heavy cross, catching the man in the shoulder. Wincing, the man followed up with a kick he aimed at Leatherhead's knee.

Stepping back, Leatherhead went to strike with a jab only to have a wooden pallet from the alley floor shatter across his back. With barely a glance, Leatherhead swung his tail slamming into his assailant's gut, folding the man nearly in two around the massive limb. This of course sent the man flying, right into two of his friends. As all three collapsed into an incoherent pile of limbs, the first man made use of the distraction by swinging an uppercut right into Leatherhead's chin. The croc's head didn't even move an inch.

Howling in pain the first man cradled his hand to his chest, shooting off enough obscenities to make a sailor blush.

The final man looked from his incapacitated friends back to the still very much conscious and furious croc. In the interest of self-preservation, the man took off down the street at a dead sprint without a look back. LH looked at the man who most likely had a broken hand.

"Are we done here?" he hissed.

The man quickly nodded and made great haste after his retreating friend. Turning from the cowards' retreat, LH turned back to the men in purple who were staring at the giant reptile with a mixture of shock and awe. Upon closer inspection, the purple hoodies where embellished with dragons on the sleeves and a logo emblazoned across the front. The Purple Dragon.

Leatherhead brought his gaze back to the men's' faces. "Are you both alright?"

"Man where you learn ta fight like that?!"

"Yeah man that was awesome!"

LH blinked at the compliments. He wasn't really a fighter. It was mainly instinct that took over when he finally lost his temper. It wasn't something he was proud of and certainly not something he had been praised for before.

"Hey man y'ok?"

The croc shook himself from his thoughts and turned his attention back to the two men before him.

"I am fine, thank you," he replied stiffly. It was rather odd that these two men took his brawling in stride.

"What's with the dorky vest?" the second man asked. "Ya workin' as a traffic cone?"

LH blushed as he looked down at his uniform. The vest was hanging limply from one shoulder, having torn when the wood pallet hit his back. The former white gloves where a filthy mess, speckled with muck and even a bit of blood.

"It's a uniform," he explained lamely. "I'm a crossing guard," gesturing weakly back at the school.

"Aw come on man ya gotta be kiddin' me," the man exclaimed. "Ya built like a brick house and ya watch snotty brats cross the street?"

Leatherhead stiffened. "It's a living."

"Hey man no disrespect," the guy said, wincing as he stood up, unfolding lanky limbs. "Just seems like ya could be doin' somethin' a bit more your speed."

Leatherhead canted his head at the man. "My speed?"

"Yeah man," the second man said, as his friend hauled him to his feet. A rather impressive feat considering the pudge the man was sporting around his middle. "In fact, ya want a new job?"

Leatherhead just stared open-mouthed at the men.

"Oh wait, shit man sorry. No manners. I'm Sid, and my counterpart that looks like a giraffe is Hal."

"I'm Leatherhead," the croc said.

"Here, take this," Sid said, digging out a business card. "Our boss is lookin' for some new bouncers for our bar The Purple Dragon."

"Yeah, and I'm tellin' ya you'd have the job in a heartbeat man," Hal said fervently. "And the pay ain't so bad either."

Leatherhead looked down at the gaudy card in his hand. It was so far removed from what he wanted to do with his life. But anything was better than what he was doing now wasn't it?

"Thank you my friends," he said as he placed the card in his pocket. "I will think about it."

"Hey no sweat man. Ya saved our butts!"

"Oh shit Sid we gotta split. We're late ta tha meetin'."

"Oh shit!"

Leatherhead looked back and forth between the two men as they volleyed the conversation.

"We gotta go my man but thanks!" Sid said. And with hardly a look back, the two men took off at a jog down the street leaving the shocked Leatherhead standing in a dirty alley with a pile of knocked out muggers.

….

When Leatherhead had taken up position in the street that afternoon, Mikey was for once shocked speechless at the state of Leatherhead's uniform, and by extension Leatherhead himself. Frantically ushering the kids into the daycare with his co-workers, Mikey ran up to his friend, narrowly avoiding a few irritated drivers.

"What happened?!" the hyper turtle screeched.

LH winced at the sound.

"It was just a little scuffle," he mumbled bashfully.

His vest chose that very moment to fall completely apart fluttering to the ground like a hideous one-winged butterfly.

Blushing furiously Leatherhead looked down at a livid Mikey. How was he going to explain himself to his dear friend, let alone tell him he was going to be a bouncer?

"You're kidding me," Leo said, falling back into the couch cushions in disbelief. "You broke up a mugging and got a job as a bouncer?"

Raph was snickering as Donny shook his head.

"Well eventually that was how it worked out," Leatherhead conceded. "I was just told about the job at that point. I still had to show up for the 'interview' technically."

Leo shook his head. "But a bouncer is a job that's all about fighting. I thought you wanted to be a doctor?"

Leatherhead bowed his head a little, trying to find the right words to explain.

"That is true my friend. I wanted to be a doctor, and a bouncer seems like such a far cry from that profession."

Leo nodded, waiting for Leatherhead to continue.

"The truth was, at the time, I was just so fed up with interview after interview with nothing to show for it." Leatherhead said with a frown. "I was angry, and unhappy with my current job. So at the time being a bouncer seemed like the best way to…"

"Make a living?" Donny asked.

Leatherhead nodded.

"Besides," Leatherhead grinned toothily. "It was very therapeutic."