"No, Raph, like this." Leo corrected Raph, showing him the proper way to 'beat' the dummy. Raph scowled, purposely ignoring the demonstration.

"Why would I need to waste time and energy when I could just do this?" Raph argued, flicking his wrist in a bored manner and launching a sai straight into the dummy's forehead, barely skimming Leo's nose. Leo glared at him.

"You're being a child." He said to Raph.

Raph smirked. "But I'm right." Leo shook his head.

"No."

Raph stepped forward, shoving past Leo and yanking his sai from the dummy. "Prove it." He challenged, taunting Leo with the spinning of his sais in his fingers. They glared at each other. Leo did not move. Finally, Raph scoffed. "Told ya." He turned and began to walk away smugly, only to be stopped by the glint of a sword in his face. Without pause, Raph launched an attack to Leo's chest. It was dodged. Raph growled. He ran at Leo in a rage and they began sparring fiercely.

Mikey stopped what he was doing to go sit by Gracie, who sat against a wall, watching the two eldest brothers fight. He plopped beside her heavily.

"Do they do this often?" She asked, averting her eyes from the fight to look at Mikey. He nodded witn a shrug.

"Pretty much." Gracie looked back to the angry pair flying through the dojo.

"They won't hurt each other, will they?" She asked, looking at Mikey again with concerned gray-blue clouds in her eyes. He smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry. They're tough." He said. She smiled back shyly. They both returned to watching the battle. Donnie paused his training as well, moving to the wall to observe and avoid the fight.

"They're really good." Gracie said, watching their fast, strength-filled moves with wonder. Mikey nodded, slightly jealous. They continued watching until Leo pinned Raphael.

"Get off me." Raph growled. Leo didn't budge from atop Raph, smugly looking down at him and holding both swords on either side of Raph's face.

"Admit I as right." Leo gloated.

"No." Raph spat. "Now get off!" Raph pushed at Leo, who still didn't move. "Aargh!" He yelled, tossing his head forcefully to the side.

"Raph! Don't-" Leo began, but it was too late. The blade sliced into Raph's cheek, which immediately began bleeding. Leo jumped off of Raphael, taking his swords with him. Raph got up with a grunt.

"I'm going for a walk." He said flatly, once again shoving past Leo.

"Raph, I-" Leo started, but Raph interrupted.

"Shut up. I'm walkin'." He stomped out, clutching his bleeding cheek. Leo walked out after him, but stopped in the doorway to the dojo. Donnie got up from where he was and left the room too, figuring today's training was as good as over. He headed to his lab.

Gracie cast Mikey an anxious look. "It's okay." Mikey says. She smiles sheepishly, unsure.

"Hey, you know... they're not the only ones who are 'really good'." Mikey said, trying to distract her.

"Yeah?" She said, playing along.

"You better bet your little green butt!" He yelled, making Gracie blush, though she knew her fellow 'green butted' friend was only kidding. Mikey didn't notice, as he was already swinging his nunchucks around like a maniac. He was not kidding when he said he was good. Once he was finished impressing her, he took a dramatic bow. "Thank you! Thank you!" He said, blowing kisses to his imaginary audience. Gracie laughed, clapping.

"Wanna try?" He asked, holding out a nunchuck. Gracie gave him a surprised look.

"Me? Really?" She said, gesturing to herself. Mikey shrugged with a smile.

"Sure, why not?" He said. Gracie hesitated. "Come on!" He encouraged. She stood up slowly. He placed one of his nunchucks in her hand. She held it gingerly. "Here, uh, try this." He suggested, starting out with a simple figure eight. She copied him, flinching away timidly when it came close to her body. He smiled at her. "Now this." He said, swinging it over his shoulder and back, then catching it under his arm. She did as he did, fumbling at first with catching it properly. She got it after a few tries. "Okay, great!" He praised her. She smiled shyly. "Now around this way." He said, whacking it around his waist. She did it, her version of the move coming out much more sloppy than Mikey's. "Having a shell really helps so when I whack myself, it doesn't hurt." He said to her. She smiled at him, grateful for that fact, otherwise she would have hurt herself quite a bit already.

"You're doing good!" He praised. Gracie shrugged,shying away at his praise. "Now try putting them all together." He instructed, starting the trio of moves. She did as she was told, following suit.

"Ow!" She cried as her misdirected nunchuck struck her across the side of her face. She dropped her weapon in surprise. Mikey stopped what he was doing.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, trying to see behind the hand she held over her face. She nodded quickly, turning away so he couldn't see the involuntary tears that came.

"Let me see." Mikey said, tenderly reaching for her hand. Once he pulled it away, he could see a red mark blooming from her temple to her jaw. "Oh." He said. "I'm sorry." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

From the doorway, Leo bristled. The sudden feeling surprised him. He was irritated at Mikey for letting her hurt herself. He should have let her use the training nunchucks. He thought sourly. But, he realized, it was not Mikey's mistake that had angered him, but when Mikey had touched her. Not anger, but jealousy. Leo blinked iin surprise at his own realization. He quickly averted his eyes from the female turtle in his younger brother's arms, shaking his head roughly and scolding himself mentally, remembering what his sensei had told him. He retreated to his room quickly, trying to distance himself from Gracie.

"How bad does it hurt?" Mikey asked, stepping away from her.

"I'm fine." She told him. He grinned at her.

"You're pretty tough, too! Well, I guess we are done for now. You want to come play video games?" He asked, excitement lighting up his face like a puppy presented a bone. Gracie nodded slowly.

"Uh, sure." She said. Mikey's grin widened further.

"Yes!" He shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He sprinted out of the dojo, jumping into the air and landing on the couch. She giggled slightly, then looked over Mikey's head and saw the exit, reminding her of Raphael. She followed Mikey slowly.

"I'm, uh, going to go to the, um, bathroom first." She told him.

"Okay!" He called over his shoulder as he set up the game, not a single doubt in his mind of her flimsy fib. She felt guilty tricking him, but headed to the exit anyway. She looked back to make sure nobody saw her escape, then quickly slipped into the sewers.

Gracie looked around, no clue where she was or where the hotheaded brother escaped to. She turned to the left, tip-toeing down the tunnel. She followed it straight so she wouldn't get lost.

She came to her eleventh intersection, slowing and peering around the corner like she had done for the previous. She jumped, surprised to see Raphael crouched against a wall. He wasn't moving. She watched him silently. Finally, he stood up. She ducked her head behind the bend, afraid of being caught. He did not seem to move any more. She peeked at him again. He was standing, facing away from her. Suddenly, he took of running, Gracie did the same, following him from a distance. He kept taking sharp turns, veering off into completely random tunnels. Gracie tried to memorize them, worried about getting lost. She was grateful that she was a good runner, so she could at least stay with him and follow until he goes back. But even with her steady pace, her legs were tiring. Abruptly, he stopped. Gracie skidded to a halt, ducking beside a large pipe.

Raphael jumped up, disappearing. She gasped, running to where he had stood. Above her was an open sewer hole. Blinding sunlight streamed down onto her face. She shielded her eyes, holding up her hand. She squinted, trying to see outside, but to no avail. She tried to jump up, but came nowhere near it. She marveled at how easily he had gotten through. To her relief, she found a small ladder attached to the wall and climbed out.

The fresh air surprised her. She inhaled deeply, relishing in being out of the ground. City air is still better than the sewers. She searched around, looking for Raph, not seeing him. Then she saw a shadow atop the nearest roof. She groaned. A car went bye, and she jumped, running to the building next to her, flattening herself against it. Along the side of the building was a long fire escape. She flattened herself closer against the wall, hiding in the shadow. The thought of being caught made her tremble. She looked over. Along the side of the building was a long, zig-zagged fire escape. She walked over slowly, dragging herself along the building. Her heart was racing, every passing car scaring her.

Once she stood underneath the fire escape, she reached her hands up, trying to grab the bottom of the fire escape. She could touch it with the tips of her fingers. She jumped upward, grabbing it tightly. She tried to pull herself up, not succeeding very well. She put a foot against the building and pushed herself up, grunting with effort. She pushed herself onto the first platform, and stood up, proceeding to climb up the rest of the fire escape, staying low and flinching whenever she came to a window or a car went by on the street.

Finally, she made it to the top, hoisting herself onto the roof. She tried to catch her breath as she searched for Raphael. To her dismay, she could find him nowhere. The roof was barren, aside from a row of laundry, blowing in the wind. From the laundry she grabbed a washcloth, dabbing at her sweaty face.

From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw a figure moving on the next roof over. Her spirits sank. She walked to the side of the building she was on, peering over the edge. Her head swam at how high she was. She knew she could never make the gap between the buildings. She sighed, backing up and preparing to leap anyway.

"Why are you following me?"

Gracie jumped in fright, spinning around. Raphael was standing there, arms crossed, staring at her in an irritated way. The red cut on his right cheek glinted in the sun. Her face heated up. She was too embarrassed to speak. Raph waited. She gulped.

"I-uh, I wanted to-to make sure you were okay." She stammered, growing even more embarrassed by the second. His hard stare softened a little.

"I'm fine." He said. She shook her head.

"You're bleeding." She said.

"I'm fine." He repeated.

"Here. Let me..." She trailed off, taking a nervous step forward. He eyed her warily, unsure of what to do. She raised the cloth that was still clenched in her hand, stepping toward him again, reaching up to dab his cheek. He didn't move. She touched the cut gently, trying to control the nervous shaking of her hand. He flinched at the contact. "Does it hurt?" She asked.

"A little." He admitted.

"I'm sorry." She said, continuing to dab at the wound. The blood seemed to have calmed down.

Raph watched her face as she worked. He noticed how she chewed to corner of her bottom lip when she concentrated, and how she didn't seem to realize, but with her other hand she steadied herself against him by placing it on his chest, over his heart. His body reacted to this in a strange way, where she touched him tingling pleasantly, making him want to reach out for her, to be even closer to her. His mind kicked in, attempting to crush those feelings. He didn't want to feel this way about her. He took one look at her cloudy eyes, fixed on his own face. It was too much, He quickly took a step back, jerking away from her.

Gracie stumbled, catching herself before she fell forward. At first she gave him a look of confusion, then she realized how close they had been, how uncomfortable she must have made him, her eyes darting away from him to the ground, her face darkening the way it always did. Raphael couldn't stand to look at her anymore, his eyes moving to the ground as well.

"I'm sorry." She said for the second time, feeling as though she had brought the awkwardness upon them.

"It's okay." Raph said, feeling bad for making her think it was her fault, but being unable to explain to her the truth. There was a silence. "You're really fast." Raph said finally. Gracie looked up at him, grateful for the change of subject.

"I used to be the fastest in my track." She said, following along with the conversation. His eyes wandered back to hers.

"Then what?" He asked. Gracie looked back to her feet shyly, watching the way they moved as she wiggled her green toes.

"I quit." She said. Raph found himself moving towards her. She looked to the side shyly once again. With the sun on her bruised side of her face, Raphael finally noticed the large mark on the side of her face.

"What happened to you?" He asked, concern in his bright green eyes. Gracie's hand went to her face.

"Oh." She said, remembering it was there. "A nunchuck." She said. He looked at her mark, his face a mixture of horror and confusion.

"Mikey hit you?" He asked, not believing his little brother would do such a thing.

"No! No, I did it to myself." She corrected, looking at him sheepishly. He nodded, he looked to be reassured that Mikey had not hurt her. They were silent for a moment more.

"Why?" He asked, referring to their previous conversation. She looked back up at him.

"People were mean to me. Nobody liked me." She said. Raph frowned.

"I like you." His eyes darted to the side once he realized what he had said. He felt like slapping himself. He looked away, embarrassed. He expected her usual shy response, but, instead, she grinned, surprising them both.

"I- I like you, too." She said to him. Raph found himself smiling as well. Gracie had never seen him smile before. She was surprised. She was amazed at how strange friendship is. Talking with Raphael had given her this realization. For her, the loser girl, the outcast, to stumble upon these four. Four teenage mutant ninja turtles, of all the things. Already they had grown on her. She knew even now that these four would be part of her life forever. It seemed unreal, but here she was, a turtle herself, standing in front of the hot-head of the group, and smiling. This thought made her smile even wider.

Then she realized something else, gasping. "I think I have to go back now. They don't know that I left." Raph frowned.

"It's always nice to sneak out sometimes, they never notice." He said. She laughed lightly. "No, I- I told Mikey that I was going to bathroom." She laughed again, and Raph smirked.

"Classic." He said. She shrugged, her cheeks dark. "In that case, I guess you better wash your hands and get out." He said.

"Yep." She agreed, smiling.

"I bet I can beat you there." He said, looking at her mischievously.

"I have no doubt about that." Gracie said.

"Come on." He challenged. "Let's race."

She shrugged. "Fine." She agreed, obviously Raph wasn't going to give in.

"I'm going to be nice, so I'll start the race after you go down the fire escape. That way it's more fair." He teased. She made a face at him. He chuckled, turning suddenly and running to the fire escape. She darted after him. By the time she lowered herself onto the first platform, she looked over the edge to see Raphael on the ground already, looking up at her complacently. It was very clear who was winning this race. She pulled her head back, shaking it was disbelief. She continued down carefully.

"Took you long enough." He said as she finally stood beside him. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Show off." She said back. He smiled with a look of happy smugness.

"After you." He said, motioning to the hole. She was more than happy to return to the sewers. The city that was once her home now stood as a threat to her, the never ending cars making her anxious. She did not understand Raphael's ease at being up in the sunlight. Were people really this ignorant?

She stepped forward, crouching down and lowering herself onto the ladder. She climbed down and jumped onto the stone, thankful for the safety of the darkness. He jumped through after her, landing on his toes and making Gracie once again marvel at the skill possessed by her mutant friends. He lined herself up with her.

"Ready?" He asked her. She nodded. "Oh, and by the way," He added slyly, a devilish smile on his face. "The loser has to kiss Mikey's disgusting toes. GO!" He rocketed off.

"Hey!" She cried, stumbling forward after him. "No fair!" She yelled at him. She pushed with all her might, catching up to him quickly. When they were side by side, Raph cast her a flabbergasted look.

She was staying with him so far, the two pairs of feet pounding against the stone in unison, the sound echoing through the tunnels. Raph was stunned by her incredible pace. She was easily matching him, even with his head start. For a moment he actually feared having to kiss up to Mikey's foot. Then, to his relief, he realized he still had the advantage. He gave her one last smug look, then veered off to the side without warning. He knew the way.

He heard her surprised gasp from behind him and the sound of her fumbling. The image of Mikey's gross toes vanished from his mind.

Now that Raphael was back with trying to throw her off, Gracie was having trouble keeping up. Every time she thought she new where she was going, he would turn again. She soon was far behind him. Her pace had slowed, her legs tiring. He sped forward, not slowing even the slightest bit.

"Raph!" She called out to him, but it was too late. He was too far ahead, She couldn't see which way her had gone.

She stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees in order to catch her breath. "Raph!" she called again. She decided to wait. He would realize his mistake and come back for her. Trying to follow him would just get them both lost.

She straightened up, looking around. Her panting had subsided. She tried to listen to the sound of him coming back, and could not hear him. Her open ears did pick up something else, though. She realized that she could hear a strange slithering sound from behind her. She whipped around, and to her horror she met the lifeless eyes of a group of black clad men similar to the ones she ran into the night she was mutated, the only difference being these men were dressed like ninjas instead of the crisp suits of the first men. These men appeared much more menacing. She stared, fear consuming her.

They drew their weapons, and she started backing up, deja vu overwhelming her. She turned to run, only to find herself surrounded. She heard the eerie slithering sound again, looking up only to see another one of these creatures -now obviously not men- crawling along the ceiling. Its head snapped around so it looked at her with its chin resting between its shoulders. Four weapon wielding arms sprang out of its back.

She screamed.

Raphael skidded to a stop. "Gracie!" He yelled. He turned around and immediately started running back the way he had come.

I'm an idiot. Why did I go so far away? She doesn't know the way! Damn it, I'm so stupid!

He raced through the sewers even faster than before.

Mikey also heard the scream, followed by his brother's shout from where he was further off in the sewers, where he had been searching for Gracie after realizing with dread that she was not in the bathroom at all, and nowhere to be seen. He too sped off in the direction of the sound, worry coiling in his stomach.

Not Gracie. Please let me get there in time. Please let them be okay. Not Gracie.

Raphael got there first, finding a small group of foot bots. He didn't see Gracie. Quickly he threw five shuriken, striking them all in the face. They fell to the ground.

Where was Gracie?

A blow to the side distracted Raphael, as well as sending him into a wall. He got up from his dazed landing, jumping at the robot who had hit him, sais in his hands.

"Arrgh!" He roared, landing on the bot, repeatedly stabbing both sais into the machine's sparing body. He got up, looking around. He was alone. He heard combat from behind him and suddenly Mikey emerged, smashing a nunchuck into the side of a foot bot's face. The bot fell to the ground. Mikey and Raph exchanged a quick look of surprise.

"Mikey?"

"Raph?"

They heard a shriek from farther down in the tunnels.

"Gracie." They said in unison.

They exchanged a nod, and darted off together, ready for combat. This time, the group was bigger. There was about twenty robots scattered through the tunnel, all surrounding the one that held a thrashing Grace.

"I'll get the robots." Raph said.

"I'll get Gracie." Mikey jumped up, crawling among the cables for an aerial assault. Raphael went straight for the protective ring surrounding Gracie's captor, trying to draw them away from Gracie. He took out the first few with ease, but then he was jumped on from behind, and there was too many to handle.

"Mikey...!" Raph grunted.

"On it!" Mikey called, dropping a smoke bomb, covering all of them with darkness. The explosion alerted the others, causing them to dismount Raphael and scramble mindlessly around in the fog, attempting to recover their positions around the one that had wielded Gracie.

Once the smoke cleared, they could see the robot that had held Gracie, but Gracie herself was nowhere to be seen. Before the other robots had time to realize what had happened fully, the robot in the center of them started wobbling around like a puppet on a string. It began doing a ridiculous dance, sjaking its butt at its comrades. They stared at it blankly, unable to register what was happening.

"You like what you see?" Mikey's voice said. His head popped out from behind the robot. "Well come and get it! He shouted, and before the pother robots could react, the bot that Mikey held suddenly became airborne, swinging form Mikey's kusarigama chain. Mikey whirled it around, smashing through the circle of foot surrounding him. They all fell to the ground.

"Booyakasha." Mikey said, dropping the foot bot attached to his blade.

"Not bad." Raph said. He looked around. "Where's Gracie?"

"Up here." Came a weak call from above them. He looked up. Gracie was clinging to the cables above them with both her arms and legs. She wad holding on so tight that she shook. Her eyes were as big as saucers. "Please get me down." She said in a small voice. Raph and Mikey both burst out laughing. "Guys!" She wailed.

"Fine, fine." Mikey laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. He jumped up and retrieved her. He landed back on the ground with Gracie in his arms. He seemed reluctant to release her.

"Mikey, I can walk, you know." Gracie said from in his arms. He looked down at her.

"Oh, right, you couldn't last time." He set her down on her feet. She stood up shakily.

"You okay?" Mikey asked her. She nodded.

"Yeah, those robots just scared me a little, is all." She said.

"Sorry about them." Mikey said.

"Yeah, I've never seen them down here in the sewers before. I didn't expect them to jump out and attack you like they did when I went so far ahead. I didn't mean for that to happen. I-I'm, uh-" He seemed to be having trouble forcing out his broken apology. He shook his head, letting out a frustrated breath. "Sorry." He finally muttered in a voice so low that it could barely be heard. He felt annoyed at himself, not able to express how truly sorry he was and how stupid he felt for being so careless. He could have lost Gracie. So stupid.

Gracie smiled shyly. She saw the self-directed aggravation in Raph's features. She was about to speak, when Mikey interrupted.

"Hey Raphie, did you notice anything weird about those robots?" He asked, looked at Raphael, who sent him a glare.

"Don't call me Raphie." He said flatly.

"Still dude, I thought-"

"I didn't know you could think anything, Mikey." Raph said, not in the mood for conversation.

"Raphie! Listen! Didn't you notice how weak they were? They were hardly trying! And why were they in the sewers, anyway?" Mikey asked. Raph was about to yell at Mikey for using that dumb nickname again, when he stopped to think of what Mikey was saying. His brow drew together as he pondered.

"It's almost...like they weren't down here to fight..." He thought aloud. "Like they thought they were going to have an easy job." Mikey looked at his brother, also thinking hard.

"Like what kind of easy job, bro?" Mikey asked. Raph shook his head slowly.

"Something like, like finding something, or someone." He said. Suddenly, both him and Mikey looked at Gracie, who in turn looked between the two of them. They were all thinking the same thing.

Hey guys! I know it's been a long time and I'm sorry but there is just so much stuff I have to do right now. School has started and I have tons of homework from at least three classes everyday. It sucks... I'm only thirteen, you can't blame me for being sick of school! In addition to that high school is just so dramatic and I can get really stressed easily so some days I don't work on chapters at all. I wish I could update faster, but I'll just keep trying my hardest. This chapter is also about 1,000 words longer than most of the other ones, too, so It took a little longer. Anyway... I hope you like the story! Thanks for reading and being patient with me! Please review! See you next chapter, guys, and wish me luck!