Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT in any way or form. This story takes place in the Nick 2012 incarnation.

The girl woke to the sound of her mother screaming her name and immediately wished that she hadn't. Her shoulder hurt so much that tears immediately escaped from her tightly shut eyes as her face scrunched up in pain. "M… mo… m…" She tried to call for her parent but could barely breath through her racking sobs and soon began to hyperventilate.

"Is she ok?" a panicked voice came from close above her head and she startled so bad that her eyes flew open and she forgot to breath altogether. That weird green boy with freckles was looking right at her.

"She's going into shock!" A large cool hand gripped her chin and forced her to look away from blue eyes into brownish-red ones. "Breath. Just take one big breath for me." She tried, he was weird and green too but his voice was soothing. Gwyn felt her chest rise then stall, she tried again, still she couldn't force the air past her throat. She was scared now. "Close your eyes." For some reason she found that she could obey this command and the vision of strange boys gave way to pink flashes across her closed eyelids. "Good girl, now breath in slowly." This time she felt the air make it past her throat and it hurt. She quickly exhaled but found that she could once again inhale and keep the pattern going.

"You're doing great." She recognized freckle-boy's voice again, though this time he spoke in a whisper. "We'll get you outta here and someplace safe. K dudette." She wanted to say something but was still far too scared. Instead she settled on scrunching her eyes tighter and giving a couple quick nods.

"Mikey take her up and over. Head east for three blocks and there should be a manhole cover in the back alley. I'll be right behind you. If you get to the lair before me wrap her in a blanket and see if she will drink some water." Gwyn tried to listen to the instructions herself but found that between breathing and pushing away the pain she had little room for anything else.

"Got it." She hissed as her shoulder shifted against his hard chest with the first upward jump. He paused and yelled down. "Which direction was that again?"

"Behind ANGELO'S!"

"Dude, why didn't you say that in the first place." With that she felt him move again and each movement was a new level of pain. She tried her very best to not cry but she was this was so much more painful than a scraped knee. Daddy had always told her that it was important to stay calm and not move around cause that would just make a wound worse. She wondered if the green boys knew that rule, but then again she'd never been hurt by another person on purpose before only by accident, so maybe they knew what they were doing. Despite her best efforts she felt the trails of moisture trace down the sides of her nose, she started to blink in an attempt to make them stop.

"Might be a good idea to keep those peepers shut. By the way what's your name little dudette?" She was starting to get used to the voice of this green boy. He sounded kinda friendly and was being nice to her, even if his too hard chest was hurting her shoulder. So she decided to trust him and keep her eyes closed. "Gwynevere."

He laughed and she liked it. "That's a mouthful. Looks like we both have totally awesome long names. Mine's Michelangelo but everyone calls me Mikey."

"My mom ca…"

"No wait. I'm great at this. I'll call you… hmmm... 'Nev'!"

She couldn't help but giggle though it hurt her head to do so. "But that doesn't make sense. My nickname is Gwyn."

"That's cool but I bet everyone calls you that." She could almost feel him smiling at her as the jolt of another landing ran through her. "Besides this is one night that you are NEVer gonna forget. So you should have a nickname from an expert to mark the occasion."

She didn't really like the way 'Nev' sounded but it was kinda like a gift. She wouldn't want to hurt his feelings by not accepting it. "OK. But only if it's a secret." A smile was spreading across her lips before her face suddenly crumpled in pain and with a strangled high pitched breath her head lolled back and the world became black.

Mikey was glad that he had gotten her talking to him. He could tell that she was beyond frightened of them but hoped that she would be able to look past that soon. She needed to since her mom had just joined the 'mutant club'. Her giggle was adorable and made him wonder just how old she was. She sounded really young but her frame was solid if petite and she had a cherubic face that was painted with faint freckles but no make-up.

Ok so maybe 'Nev' wasn't his best work but at least it was unique. Mikey was pleased that she had accepted her 'secret nickname' but wondered who it was suppose to be a secret from. He pulled his attention away from her for a moment to focus on hoping down the fire escape. The last jump was just bit farther than he anticipated and had to tuck and roll to absorb the extra impact. That's when he heard her cry out and when he finished his landing on one knee it was plain to see that Nev had passed out.

"Not good. Not good." He looked up hoping to Donnie making his way to them but his brainy bro was no where to be found. It was too dangerous to go back, best just to continue onto the lair, Master Splinter would be there to help.

"Don't worry Nev you're gonna be ok. Like my bro is awesome with doctory type stuff and so is Sensei and they'll make you all better so no worries." As he kept up his one-sided conversation he made his way towards the manhole cover after making sure the coast was clear. He was momentarily distracted by a tantalizing aroma coming from a little further up the alley. "Mmmm… pizza. I hope you like pizza Nev cause we eat LOTS of it at the lair." He laid the girl on the ground so that he could pry up the heavy cover to the sewers. "I wonder what kind of pizza you like? I bet you're a pineapple kinda girl. Cause you're so sweet." Mikey laughed at his own joke as he finished heaving the lid to the side. "If you think that's good wait till you try jalapenos and jelly beans. That's some tasty eats." Mikey stood and rubbed his belly at the deliciousness, tongue lolling out and eyes closed. Quickly though he became aware that something was wrong. His plastron was sticky and when he examined his hand the wraps were stained a familiar shade of crimson. For a moment all he could do was look on dumbfounded before his gaze gradually shifted for the small prone form nearby.

"Extremely not good." He rolled her to her side and through the hole in her silky top was able to see the burned, bleeding mess that was her shoulder. He didn't think that it had been like that when they had started out but looking down and seeing a chunk of charred skin where it had caught and stuck to the edge of his plastron it was all he could do not to lose his lunch. After a couple deep breaths to compose himself, Mikey tried to think about Donnie would do it this situation. "First gotta find something to stop the bleeding with." He patted himself down as if something would have just magically appeared in the last couple of minutes. His wraps were dirty from a full night of sewer trudging and fighting. Likewise his mask was drenched in sweat and too small to cover the wound. Thinking to his favorite comics he knew that at times like this the hero would always do something dramatic like tear a strip from his cape or take the shirt right off his back. This made Mikey pause, he didn't have a shirt to use but she did and though the thought made him a bit uncomfortable it was the best option available at the moment. "I promise Nev, I'm not creepy or nothin' but I got borrow your top for a little bit." He slid the article of clothing over her head while supporting her body with his. He was insanely relieved to find that she had on a pink tank top underneath and he hadn't comprised her modestly after all, though in a back corner of his brain he was reevaluating her age again.

With deft motions he formed the middle of the shirt into a compress then used the long sleeves to wrap around her chest and neck to hold it all in place. It was a poor imitation of what his brothers could have done but it would hold up until they reached the lair. He scooped her up again into his arms, making sure that her bad shoulder was facing away from him. Just as he was about to jump down a misplaced foot happened to slip in the small pool of blood that Gwyn had left on the pavement. It would have been a comedic sight if not for the current circumstances as the turtle flailed around attempting to regain his balance without dropping his precious cargo, succeed he did though and huffed a relieved sigh.

With no further incidents he and Gwyn made it into the sewers and he ran as fast as he safely could, keenly aware that this was no time to play around. The sewers were quiet, filled with only the splash of his feet and their labored breaths, his with exertion and hers with unconscious pain. After what seemed to be an eternity a bright happy ringtone broke the silence and echoed off the sewer walls. Mikey stopped and took a knee to support the girl's body on his thigh so he could free an arm to answer the T-phone.

"Where are you Mikey!?" Leo's concerned demand blasted from the speakers.

"Dude where are you guys! Donnie was suppose to be right behind me! What gives?"

"Change of plans, we ended up taking the express home. How far from the lair are you? We're already here."

"I would say about 10 minutes away, just made the tracks. Hey Leo."

"Yeah Mikey, everything ok?"

"Tell Donnie… tell Donnie to be ready. The girl…" The younger turtle gulped with guilt but knew he had to relay the bad news. "... she's bleeding and hasn't woken up yet. I'm sorry I didn't mean for it to happen. I swear I didn't even know it was that bad and I didn't have anything else to use and I promise IdidmybestandthenIslippedintheblood…"

"She's bleeding and unconscious? Ok Mikey calm down, I know it wasn't your fault just get here as fast as you can." Leo even voice helped him settle down a little bit, until he heard the sounds of a scuffle in the background. "No wait! Raph! Stop Her!" Leo's voice sounded distant before blaring in his ear slit. "Get back here now but be careful. You have got one angry mutant mom headed your way."

A/N: Big thanks to kamiccolo's rose for taking the time to read and comment on chapter 1. I expect these first few chapters to be a bit of a bumpy road before I can get into the real meat of the story. I appreciate anyone willing to give this story a chance and travel down this path with me.