Samantha Allan Park

by TheNerdyTomboyNewb96

Sam is a tomboy nerd whose life has been destroyed by the Foot. She has nothing but her older brother who's barely ever around. Somehow, fate leads her to discovering the turtles. Will they accept this stranger they just met, or push her away? Will this make her life better, worse? Involves canon material from movies, shows, and comics along with original content and characters.

17. Samantha Allan Park Ch17

Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's.

Chapter #17

*Sunday June 22nd*
*Theme:
Porter Robinson and Madeon-Shelter*

"Whoaaa!" the turtles said as they watched Optimus prove his strength to Grimlock. Sam knew that the movie theater they were at closed early on Sundays, so she showed the guys how she usually snuck in and now for the first time the four brothers were watching a Hollywood movie up close on the big screen, and they couldn't have asked for a more perfect first film: Transformers Age of Extinction. Out of her peripheral vision, Sam could see all the guys jaws drop when the Dinobots came charging in, literally crushing all the man-made Decepticons that crossed their path.

It was 10:00 when the movie ended and the entire mall was now closed, so Sam thought it would be a fun idea to go on a walk with the guys, who obviously had never been to the mall before.
Sam was currently with Leo in another antique store. He liked to look for antiques that represented Japanese culture, but him being the only 'mature' one, no one else wanted to look around the store (or any of the others he had chosen) so she joined him once again so that he wouldn't be alone. At the moment he was looking at a tea set with Japanese Cherry Blossoms on them, but after so long he couldn't stand Sam constantly staring at him.
"Why don't you just take a picture?" he said sarcastically.
"Sorry I know it's not funny, but you totally look like a grandpa who's trying to pick out a traditional gift for his wife" she said with a smirk.
"Is that why you keep following me around in these stores?" he asked as he placed the tea cups down and continued walking throughout the store.
"Well I was trying to be nice and not have you shop alone, but I see that I'm not wanted" she pouted.
Leo rolled his eyes. "Ahh, so you're not trying to be annoying on purpose."
"You enjoy my company, don't deny it!" she said as she pointed at him with a smile.
Leo shrugged, but they both knew that this was very true. He had a feeling that his younger brothers would either complain or joke around too much in a store like this, so it was nice to have Sam around. She was someone who knew when to be serious and when to crack a joke, someone you could actually talk to without them teasing you when you share your thoughts.
He looked over and saw her laughing while holding a wooden umbrella with a paper top.
"What am I missing that's so funny?" he asked as he picked one up and looked at the stripped design when it opened up.
"I was thinking of my older brother Brian. Everyone teased me about being Asian at heart since I've always been interested in Asian cultures. My other blood siblings were interested some, but never as much as I was. Before he even became my brother he would take me to places like this all the time, it kind of became this tradition between the two of us. I was thinking of this one time where he was holding umbrellas like this over his head and making the dorkiest faces" she said as she laughed. "Oh my god I'm literally laughing at things only I know about, I've become that person" she said with an embarrassed expression.
Leo smiled at her as he thought back to what Donnie had said the other night. It might have just been a coincidence, but she said that Brian 'would take me to places' rather than saying 'Brian takes me to places like this.' Now that he had been looking out for this, he noticed that she definitely talked like this a lot. He decided to test this out.
"Does Jay bring you to places like this?"
"Sometimes. He never used to though. I think he saw that it was a fun little tradition between me and Brian, so I don't think he wanted to interfere, but I don't see Brian as much now, so I think that's why every once in a while he'll bring me to places like this."
"Ahh, I see." She did it again. She said 'it was' and 'he wanted' as if this was all something of the past, rather than saying 'he sees that it's a fun tradition' and 'he doesn't want to interfere.' He wondered what all this meant, or if it meant anything at all. He wondered if it was something they all should be concerned about, but Sam seemed happy and content, so he decided that it was best to leave the subject alone until Sam brought this info to light on her own.

They walked around the store for another ten minutes and then headed out. They passed by a few stores and found Donatello in yet another electronics shop.
"What did you find this time dorkatello?" Sam teased.
He playfully glared at her. "I found donated phones. I'm looking at which ones are damaged really badly and which ones can be saved. I read online that the donated phones that can be saved are sent to U.S. troops overseas, so I don't want to take those, I'm not that selfish. However, I will take the ones that are smashed up and can be re-wired so that I can use them for various things."
"Look at you. Not only looking out for the state, but also for the country" she said as she saluted to him.
"That's actually a cool idea" Leo said as he looked at some of the phones throughout the bin.
"Find anything for Sensei?" Donnie asked as he looked up at his eldest brother.
"Nah, nothing that he doesn't already have."
"Gotcha. Well, I think I'm done with this store. I'm ready whenever you guys are."
The three then walked out of the store and found the remaining two brother's at a cologne shop on the other side of the mall.
They walked in and saw Mikey and Raph looking at various glass bottles.
"Pfft." Sam covered her mouth and tried not to laugh out loud. She thought it was hilarious seeing these two who usually acted so macho now testing all these colognes on the sample strips and discussing which scents they liked best. These two trying on cologne was the equivalent of two feminine sisters testing scents at Bath and Body works.
The two boys looked over and glared at her, that's when she turned towards Donnie.
"Donatello! Don't laugh at your brothers!" she said as she shoved his arm.
"You know I'm taller and stronger than you, right?" he said as he took a step so that he now towered over her.
"Is that a threat?" she said as she as pretended to be taken aback, though they both knew she was joking.
He nodded and said "yeah" with a sincere smile, joining in on her joke.
"Well, this is how I respond to threats!" she said as she leaped onto his back.
Leo just stared at the two of them as they backed out of the store as they goofed off.
"You'd never know that she was just looking through an antique store, or that she's older than us."
Mikey laughed and Raph smiled, both at seeing Sam continue to show her true colors, and also at their nerdy brother let loose and have fun.
Leo began looking at some of the bottles that lined the shelves. He had absolutely no idea what the scent of each liquid was since, well, no scent was stated on the front of the bottle. Curious, he picked up a bottle with light blue liquid inside, shrugged his shoulders, and sprayed a small amount in front of him. He took a sniff and then made a face of disgust.
"Oh god, this stinks as bad as when Mikey found that Axe body spray pack and tried on each one at the exact same moment" Leo said, waving his hand in front of his face.
Just then, Sam and Donnie had walked back in. Donnie began looking at bottles on the opposite wall and Sam had meant to walk past Leo to see what the other two had picked up, but she also stopped and made a face of disgust.
"What did you do?" she asked, facing him with wide eyes.
"Sprayed whatever this is" he said as he held up the bottle.
Raph inspected the bottle in his brother's hand. "You guys don't like this? This is brand new!"
"Well tell them to take it back" Sam said as she coughed.
"You're a girl, right? Aren't you supposed to like when guys wear stuff like this?" Raph asked.
"Sexist much?"
He paused and then turned his head. "Donnie?"
"Totally sexist dude" he said as he continued to look at bottles on the opposite wall.
"Oh, heh, my bad" he said with an apologetic smile.
"No problem" she chuckled with a smile. "Well I'm going anywhere that's not here" she said with a wide smile.
"I second that" Leo said as he followed behind.
"Tch, they don't get it" Mikey said as he nudged Raph, who nodded in agreement as they pulled on Donnie's shoulder so that he would walk with them as they all followed Sam.
They passed a few stores until Sam stopped, waiting for the guys reactions.
"Ohhhhh!"
"Whoaaaa!" each of them said as they all ran inside GameStop.
"You're welcome?" she said as she stared at the jaw dropped brothers.
They all quickly turned towards her, said "thanks Sam!" and then continued looking throughout the store.
Donnie was the closest, so she walked over and looked at the game he was looking at.
"Awwwww I can't wait until I get a copy of this" she said as she looked at the case for Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark with a huge smile.
"Only two more days and then I can start hacking systems to access this game" Donnie said, a huge smile also displayed on his face.
"I'm still pissed Bumblebee doesn't have a voice in the movies though. They should just leave the job to Johnny Bosch, for the games and the films. Like, he's incredible when it comes to voice acting, and I'm not just saying that because he voices characters from some of my most favorite anime."
"I wouldn't mind that, his voice actually had a nice fit. Plus that would be a huge opportunity for him which he totally deserves."
Sam then turned around and saw Leo looking at a demo screen in the front of the store which was currently advertising a trailer for Titanfall. Leo's eyes were glued to the screen as he watched a pilot battle his way through the Frontier and then begin commanding a Titan.
"Gee Leo, sucks that you can't take the game home, doesn't it?" Sam smirked.
"Right…I can't take the game…because that would be stealing…yeah" Leo said as he slowly started backing away, but then was pulled back towards the screen.
"Look what that Titan can do" he said in a calming voice as he smiled and started walking back towards the screen.
That's when Sam knew she had to interrupt his line of sight.
"Okay, why don't you go look over there?" she said as she fought to literally turn him around. "I'm gonna look over there now" he said calmly as he also fought himself to finally turn away from the screen.
He walked over to Raph and looked over his shoulder at the game in his hand.
"Daylight?" Leo asked.
"Yeah. It's a survival horror game where you have to find object's that explain the history behind the haunted hospital that you wake up in. I heard it got some negative reviews, but it sounds interesting."
"I didn't know you were interested in horror games" Leo said.
Raph shrugged. "I'm not interested in them, but this one sounded interesting. What do you have Mikey?"
"BAM! Look at this beaut!" he said as he held out a copy of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.
"Oooh!" Sam said as she ran over. "I remember seeing the trailers for this! I can't wait to get a copy."
"Let me know as soon as you do!"
"Well duh, I can't play multiplayer by myself" she said, receiving a playful shove from her friend. "Well, I'm done looking at games, time to go play" she said as she walked out of the store.
The guys watched her as she walked across the walkway to the other side of the mall, down some stairs, and then walk back over to the store that was below them. Mikey was the first to act as he walked over and jumped over the railing and from the second floor down to the first (for them this jump was nothing serious.) The remaining brothers decided that he must have enjoyed wherever it was that they went since he never came back, so they did the same thing and landed in front of the shop below the gaming store. Instantly they knew why Mikey hadn't come back to signal them to come down, he was already running around throughout the arcade in front of them. All four brothers looked around at all the different games inside the rather large space. It seemed small from the outside, but once inside, spectators could see that the room continued to travel further and further back with more and more games. In order to prevent a lot of loud noise, the five decided to only turn on whatever game it was that they wanted to play at that time.

Donnie ventured out to find some speed games. He first found a game called Pop the Locks where a dial spins around and you have to press a button when the dial stops on the lock, and if you press the button after it's moved past or before it hits the lock then you're out. Sam and Mikey first moved to a game called The Shocker where you have to hold onto two handles as the vibration becomes stronger and stronger, and you lose if you let go. These two played this game until they momentarily couldn't feel their hands, and then they convinced Donnie to play, and then they convinced all of them to play until everyone momentarily lost feeling in their hands. Sam and Mikey then freaked out when they saw Transformers and Walking Dead themed shooting games and both rushed over and immediately started playing, and while they played this, the other three brother's found some pinball machines to play. Once the shooters completed their missions, Leo, Raph, and Mikey moved on to play more of the sporty games where they took shots on goal, threw basketballs through hoops, bowled to knock down pins, or threw baseballs and footballs in their hole. Sam didn't care for games like these as much, so she stuck around with Donnie for a bit who went back to speed related games. The two played the electronic jump rope game, had to stack 3-D towers, (both by pressing buttons or by moving a square controller from side to side) had to use their fingers to maneuver through mazes, and had to land lights on the right spot to get wheels to spin. When the group came back together as a whole, they decided to play all the games that were based on apps. They pressed buttons to avoid green pipes when playing Flappy Bird, rolled a sphere controller when playing Temple Run, launched back their controllers to launch birds in the latest Angry Birds game, and swiped their hands across the screen when playing Fruit Ninja. They continued to split up and play various games, but the last two hours were spent with each other as a group of five. They found as many games as they could where they could all compete against each other in tournaments: air hockey, skeeball, racing games, back to sporty games, and even multiple rounds of DDR.

Most would see this as such a simple night of watching a movie at the theater, going shopping, and playing some games at the arcade, but for their own reasons, this was one of the best night of all five of their lives.

*Wednesday June 25th, Madison Square Garden's Arena, the Jumbo Tron*
*Turtles POV*

The final buzzard went off and the game was over. The four turtles were cheering for the Knicks who had just won another game that season.
"You know what a victory means?" Mikey asked.
"Gee, what could that mean?" Donnie asked sarcastically, knowing exactly what his younger brother was about to say.
"MORE PIZZA!" he shouted.
"Ugh, how can you eat anymore? We ordered so many to begin with, and you even had some earlier before we left" Leo said as he held his stomach. He was full and wouldn't be hungry again until sometime tomorrow afternoon, so how Mikey could still want food he would never understand.
"I told you, his stomach is a black hole" Raph teased. "That or he's an alien or something."
"Then Sam must be one to! Seriously, sometimes she can eat as much as I can!"
"Doubt it."
"As scary as it is to admit, it's true. I've seen it happen" Donnie said with a shudder.
"Guys" Leo said as he nodded his head over towards Sam.
The whole time they had been talking, Sam had been looking at something down below. Leo tried to follow what she was looking at without making it obvious, but he couldn't figure out what her attention was focused on. She hadn't moved, she hadn't even blinked, she just stared down at something without any movement, like it had shocked her so much that she was now paralyzed. Without saying anything, she turned and swung herself back up to the walkways above their spot in the Jumbo Tron and she took off.
"Sam, wait!" Mikey called.
"Do we chase her?" Raph asked, concern and fear in his tone. He had no idea where she was going and if whatever she was about to do would risk either hers or their lives.
"Don't worry I can track her" Donnie said as he pulled out a small handheld GPS system from one of the pockets on the straps running down his chest. His fingers went to work and within seconds he knew where Sam was. "I tracked her by her cell phone, but…this shows that she's still in the building…"
"Mikey? Any idea what's going on?" Leo asked as he faced his youngest brother.
Mikey shook his head with a grave and somber look on his face. "I wish I knew."
"She's on the move, and so are we" Donnie said as he started climbing back up to the walkways above them.
"Where we goin?" Raph asked as he trailed behind Donnie.
"She's heading back outside, if we get to the roof then we might be able to spot her."
The four turtles rushed back up and through the walkways and then back up to the roof where they were walking along the sides of the top of the building.
"Arghhh, there's people everywhere! How are we supposed to find her?" Raph asked in frustration.
"It says…she should be this way" Donnie said as he pointed towards the front of the building.
There were crowds of people all over the place, both because of the game letting out, and also because this was New York during the summer.
"FOUND HER!" Mikey shouted and pointed at a girl who had just run across to the other side of the street. They saw her run over to a group of six guys and then pull on the arm of a young Asian male within the group.
"Mikey-"
"I don't know, she's never really mentioned any guys outside from her soccer team. I mean, there were a few from dance and different clubs, but he doesn't match any of the faces from any of the pictures. There were five main Asian guys she told me about and he's not one of them."
"Is he the brother?" Donnie asked. "She said she had another Asian brother who was younger than Jay."
"That's true, she said that he was far away and that's why she could never see him" Mikey responded.
"Unless that's what she wants us to think. That or someone doesn't want her to know the truth herself and those were the lies she was fed" Leo stated.
"I don't like this, feels like she's still hiding things from us" Raph said in a bitter tone. He knew there were things she hadn't told them yet about her family, and she had her right to her privacy, but this sneaky act worried him. If that was her brother, couldn't she have just said that before she ran off?
They watched Sam hug the man, and the group of guys walked off in one direction while she walked off in the other direction. She walked off towards a street that was oddly silent and vacant compared to the hustle and bustle outside the stadium.
"Now where's she going?!" Raph yelled.
"Something's wrong, we need to get to the sewers and get over there" Mikey said.
Leo let his brother lead the way. Whenever Donnie or Raph knew more information about a criminal they were all chasing, or whatever the situation may be, he would let that brother take control and lead if it meant better chances of them completing their mission, but this was the first time Mikey had EVER taken the lead in a chase. This proved to Leo how serious this was and he followed Mikey in whatever directions he gave.

It took about twenty minutes for them to travel underground after tracking Sam's movements. Once they caught up to her location, Mikey didn't hesitate to climb up, toss of the manhole cover above him, and rush over to Sam.
"Sam!" he shouted as he ran over to where Sam was walking. She didn't respond.
He quickened his pace and as he was about to lightly grab her arm and talk to her, Raph had already caught up to him.
"HEY SAM. Remember us?!"
Now that there was a 6 ft. turtle in front of her, Sam stopped walking. Raph's expression softened as he stared at the girl in front of him. Her eyes looked so frail and glassy, and her hands were shaking like he had never seen before.
"…I came to the game with you guys…right…my bad" she said with the fakest smile. Usually only Mikey could tell when her smiles were sincere or fake, but her acting was so off point that all the brothers knew something was wrong.
"Did that guy do something?" Raph asked.
"No"
"…that's it?"
"…what?"
The boy's worry continued to grow. Even though she was standing right in front of them, it was like Sam couldn't hear a thing. Something was obviously on her mind, but getting her to explain what exactly that something was would be the hard part.
Right as Leo was about to ask if the guy she chased after was her brother, Sam cut him off.
"It's late, so I'm gonna head home, alone."
At this point she spoke without using her fake smile, and she went back to displaying her glassy eyed and twitchy expression. She had already started walking off before the guys could speak, and they weren't really sure what to do in this situation.

"So, do we ignore this as a girl thing? Or do we look into it and assume it's a Sam thing?" Raph asked.
"We call April. She's the only other female we know, and one of the three humans we know, plus she's a reporter and is trained to read people's expressions. Hopefully she can help us figure out what to do. We'll go back underground while we call her." Leo said.
Donnie and Raph started heading back towards the sewer hole, but Leo had to go over and wake Mikey up from his daze.
"Mikey? You alright?"
"No" he replied bluntly.
Leo put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Don't worry, we're going to figure this out, okay?"
Mikey paused for a moment. "Should I have gone after her? Should any of us have gone after her?" he said as he continued to face forward.
"I wish I knew. I'm just as new to girls and humans in general as you are bro. But if she needs someone to go after her, then you'll be the one" Leo said with a small smile.
This also lead to a small smile forming on Michelangelo's face as well, and the two turtles then walked back towards the sewer hole to hear what Donnie and Raph had been discussing with April.

*Sam POV*
*Themes:
Linkin Park-Nobody Can Save Me
Linkin Park-One More Light
Trading Yesterday-Shattered
Skilet-Would It Matter

She happened to catch a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, but now she lost him. The guys continued to cheer as the game continued on, but Sam and her thoughts were long gone. She saw him, she knew for a fact that she just saw Brian. It had to be him, the boy she saw looked exactly like him at the age of 17. THERE. She found him and continued to keep her eyes on him. "Bzzzzzzz," that was the final buzzard. No, it couldn't be the end of the game now, not yet, not when she had finally found her brother. He left four years ago and finally she had found him.
She watched him head to the exit on her right and without hesitation she darted out and up through the walkway they used to enter the Jumbo Tron. She sprinted to a point along the walkways that led to a ladder that lead to the top floor where the highest seats in the arena were. She climbed down the ladder and then ran through crowds of people to the right side of the building where she had seen the boy exiting the arena. She had seen him in the upper level seats, but now he was nowhere to be found, so she ran to the staircase and sprinted down the steps. She made her way to the lobby and walked as quickly as she could all over the place. Her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest because of everything that she was feeling and thinking. Emotions that she had finally pushed and shoved under the rug were now forcing their way back out and flying up and hitting her like a brick. Her hands were shaking like crazy and for the first time she heard how loud she was breathing. She felt like she was running around in circles and she didn't know what to do. After what felt like years of searching, she caught another glimpse of him and his five other friends.
Once again she was on the move as she chased after the boy. She thought of nothing but catching up to Brian and asking him questions, so many questions. Why did he leave her? Why did he do what he did? Why had it taken him four years to visit her? Her heart beats increased as her breathing grew louder and louder. She ran out of the building and saw him head for the cross walk.
"Brian!" she called out. A few heads turned since it was a common name, but not the head that she wanted to. "Brian! BRIAN!" She slowly got closer and closer to where he was walking, but he never turned towards her. She couldn't understand why he was ignoring her, but now was the time to find out.
She finally caught up to the boy and yanked on his arm, forcing him to turn around and look at her.
"Whoa! What the hell is your problem?" the boy said as he and his friends turned around.
"My problem? I've been calling you for the longest time! You didn't hear me calling your name?" she asked in an enraged tone.
"All I heard was some girl calling after some guy named Brian, so sorry if I couldn't hear you over that."
She paused and gave him a confused expression. "So you did hear me? Why were you ignoring me then? Explain yourself!"
"Explain what?" the boy asked, looking both nervous and confused.
"Why did you risk your life for me that night? And I've been waiting for a sign from you, from all of you! Why did it take you so long to contact me?!"
"Look crazy lady you need to back up! I don't know who Brian is but he's not me" he said as he put his hands up in defense and as his friends began to lightly laugh at the strange girl standing in front of them.
"What are you talking…about…?" And that's when she realized, it wasn't him. Everything made sense and reality slapped her in the face harder than the forced out emotions she had just experienced mere minutes to seconds ago had. She realized that this man had blue eyes instead of brown. She realized that this man seemed as tall as Jay, whereas Brian was about a foot or so shorter. She realized that this man had visible muscle, whereas Brian had natural muscle that could only be seen when he flexed. She realized that, when seen up close, this man had a light brown tint to his hair, and Brian had never made any changes to his natural black hair. She realized that their hairstyles were different, she realized she had never seen this group of friends, she realized his clothes stated he was rooting for the wrong team. Sam realized that this couldn't be Brian, because Brian was dead.

Her jaw slowly dropped and she felt so stupid and embarrassed.
"Oh my god…I'm…I'm so sorry. Um, can I explain myself before you all continue to think I'm crazy?" she asked.
"Uh sure, go for it."
"I have a few adopted siblings, one of them being an Asian male obviously named Brian, and um…he passed away about four years ago. So from afar, you really, really, look like him. Up close I can now see the differences, but from afar you looked like his twin. I just…I haven't seen him in so long" she said as a choked sob slipped out as she spoke. "I'm so sorry for chasing you like this-"
"Stop" the boy said. He walked up to her and gave her a sincere smile. "For one, I'm honored that I look like your brother, I'm sure he was a handsome man." This got Sam to give a small smile as she sensed that he was trying to lighten the mood and lessen the awkward tension from before. "And two, I'm so sorry that you lost him, and the next time someone comes running up to me the way you just did, I'll be a lot more considerate as to why they're doing it. Sorry for calling you crazy."
She shook her head. "You don't have to apologize, I'm sure I would have been weirded out if a stranger came running up to me like that as well. That's the first time that's ever happened actually."
"I wish I could answer all your questions. What did he do anyway, did he save you in a car accident or something?" the boy asked.
"Yeah, something like that." It wasn't exactly like that, but he did risk his life to save hers, they all did. Jay just got lucky and so did she, unlike the others.
"If it means anything," the boy continued, "the fact that you saw someone who looks so much like your brother might still be a sign from him. Maybe there's something he wanted to you think about when seeing me, well him, you know? Or maybe he's trying to test you somehow."
"Yeah, maybe so." Her small smile grew a bit more on her face. That actually sounded like Brian who was always testing her and finding ways to playfully trick her. "Thanks for this, I'll leave you guys be."
"Wait" he said as he reached his arms out. "I know I'm not your brother, but I can hug you like I'm him, unless that's weird."
She gave a small laugh and hugged the boy.
"Is there anything we can do to help you? Even a ride home or anything?" some of the other guys started asking with sincerity in their tones.
Sam pulled back from the hug. "No thanks, besides I need to go catch up with my oldest brother."
"Hope you find your brother's meaning" the boy said with a smile, and Sam and the group of boys parted ways.

As soon as she knew she was alone, her smile quickly faded back to her cold frown. She noticed that her hands were shaking again, and now that she was by herself, dark thoughts started racing through her mind. The memories she had been fighting for so long to forget were all coming back. She had to get home, she wanted no one other than Jay who knew and understood what she was feeling because he was there the night that everything happened. She couldn't tell anyone about the Foot attack that night. It was too hard to talk about and it was too personal, and she had to truly 110% trust someone with her life in order to tell the full truth about this. She also just wanted to be alone. The world had cast her out after what happened. When she needed people most, they all vanished. Her closest childhood friends separated themselves from her and left her all alone. She was alone, and that's how she had taught herself to deal with her problems. She would bottle things up within herself and she wouldn't talk to anyone, since no one wanted to hear about it anyway, and knowing that no one wanted to hear about it, this was why she could only tell someone that she trusted her life with, and that person was Jay. He was never around though, so that lead her back to keeping everything to herself, back to her being alone. Friends were gone, and since Jay was basically always working, her whole family was gone. Everyone was gone and she was alone. Always alone, and that's how it would always be.
"HEY SAM. Remember us?!"
Sam stopped once she realized that there was a 6ft. turtle yelling at her as he stood in her path. She wondered how they knew where she was when she remembered that she was with them at the game before everything happened.
"…I came to the game with you guys…right…my bad" she said as she fought her hardest to fake a smile without crying, but she could tell they all knew just how fake her expression was.
"Did that guy do something?" Raph asked.
"No." "Leave me alone" she thought.
"…that's it?"
"…what?" "I want to be alone. Just let me leave" she thought to herself. Ever since that night, she was always alone, especially when she was upset. When people ditched her because she was broken, she learned to handle anything that upset her on her own. She didn't want to be around anybody but her brother, and as much as she loved these guys, they weren't her actual brothers. They didn't know the things that Jay knew and she wasn't ready to tell them. She knew they would want to ask her questions about what just happened and she didn't want to answer those questions, so she bailed before anyone else could speak.

"It's late, so I'm gonna head home, alone" she said bluntly. She couldn't fight any longer and she felt the tears in her eyes, so she walked away and prayed that they would leave her alone. She rounded a corner and she didn't hear anything behind her, so she knew she was okay. She felt guilty for keeping secrets from them, especially from Mikey, but…she just wasn't ready. She loved that she wasn't trapped inside her room anymore and that she actually had somewhere to go with people that cared about her, but it was still so soon. She had dropped some hints about her past with her siblings, which was huge for her to do even that, like how she told Raph that the sais belonged to Chuck. Jesus talking about Chuck at all was a huge deal for her. And that was the thing, her four green friends, April, Splinter, without knowing it, they were all pulling her out of a deep well that she had fallen into and had been trapped in for years. Within each of them she had found pieces of a puzzle that she had lost for so long, but seeing Brian like that was the equivalent of knocking that puzzle to the floor and shattering it into a million little pieces. She felt herself falling back into that well that she had taken so long to climb out of.

She felt that no matter who came along, no matter what changes or gains came into her life, she would never be able to escape from the horrors of the past. She could see clones of Brian every day, but that didn't change the fact that he was gone. It didn't matter that she taught Leo and Raph to cook the way Brian taught her, it didn't matter that Leo liked antiques like Brian or that Donnie quizzed her the way Brian did, or that Mikey played videogames with her the same way Brian did, he was and always would be gone. It was the same for all of them. No matter what qualities her new friends had that reminded her of her family members, they were all gone. And as she thought of this, their final breaths played over and over again in her head. She saw all of them, remembered where they were and what they were doing before the events that lead to their deaths. She could hear their conversations and could see their smiling faces before they turned into teary eyed expressions that screamed in terror. She remembered everything, including how they died. The sequence of events stayed on replay. Over and over she mentally watched the horrors of that night.

Sam collapsed against the side of the wall and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. She couldn't do anything about it. No matter how happy she had become, one small moment had broken and destroyed her, and now she would have to start back over from scratch. She was scared, and alone. At this point she didn't care if a criminal came and attacked her in any way. She was lost in the darkness of her thoughts and nothing could pull her out, at least that's what she thought.

"Sam?" she heard a gentle voice ask.
She thought she was imagining things and sat still, until she felt someone hold her shaking hands.
"I've never seen your hands shake like this before" the voice said as it took her hands into his.
She slowly turned her glassy eyes towards the voice and saw none other than her best friend kneeling down next to her.
"I told you I wanted to be alone" she mumbled, choking out her words in her sobs. She hadn't even realized she was crying with tears streaming down her face because she had been so lost in her thoughts. In fact, she didn't even know where it was she had been walking. These thoughts halted once she realized Mikey was there, and she could now tell that her cheeks were soaked from her tears.
"I know, but I really wanted to go after you, though I wasn't sure if it was a girl reason or a Sam reason that you were acting the way you were. But regardless I didn't like that you were heading towards a lone street by yourself at this hour. Anyway, we called April and she said that when girls say they want to be left alone, then usually they want to be chased after by someone they care about. She also said that in general that someone should at least watch over you to make sure you were safe, so that's what I'm doing. I'm sorry if I'm making you more upset by being here…but I couldn't leave you alone."
Sam stared at him, just straight up stared at him for the longest time. She had a hard time processing that someone actually gave a shit. Not because she asked them to and not because they needed something, but because they truly and genuinely just gave a shit about her. She wanted to be alone because everyone had left her that way and she believed that that was how she handled these situations best, but…was that what she really wanted? Or had she forced that thought into her mind because everyone had left her by herself for so long? She thought that she would hate it if someone followed her and that she needed to handle this alone, but she was wrong about herself. She was happy, and for the first time ever, she had begun to cry happy tears along with the sad ones.
"Thank you" she said as tears streamed down her face.
Mikey gave her a light smile and gently pulled her over. He sat cross legged as Sam now sat in his lap, the back of her head against his chest as he lightly rested his chin on the top of her head. He wrapped his arms around his friend and hugged her, and she held onto the hands wrapped around her even tighter.
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it. It's your life and your business, so you talk whenever you're ready. If that's never, then so be it."
For the first time ever, Sam wanted to talk. She wanted to tell him everything, but she was also very scared. She had never talked about these things with anyone without being forced to do so. She decided that she would reveal some of the truth, and that gradually she would start revealing things to Mikey when the time was right. No one had ever cared until he came along. She felt like her presence was wanted when he was around and that he truly cared about what was wrong with her.
"I thought I saw my brother tonight, but it turned out to be someone else. From afar that guy really looked like my brother Brian."
"So you chased after him thinking he came home without telling you?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't him…I just miss him so much" she said through sobs.
"I understand. If Leo had disappeared for such a long period of time and then I caught him casually hanging around town, I know I'd lose my cool. I'd have so many questions to ask him, so many things I would just want to scream at him."
Sam smiled a bit and turned her head some towards him. "Can you take me to my house?"
"Of course" he replied with a smile.
"Can you spend the night?" she asked.
"Sorry, I don't sleep over on the first date" he teased.
"Asshole," she said as she rolled her eyes and chuckled, something she never thought she'd be able to do in this situation. But that was the power of Michelangelo. Whether she was hurt, hyper, confused, scared, angry, or even hungry, no matter what her attitude was and where her thoughts were sending her, he always brought her back down to earth. It was like he attached a bungee cord to her back and made sure she bounced back up after falling into her well of emotions. Whenever her puzzle pieces broke, he just glued them back together again. Even now at her lowest and weakest moment, he was there. She thought he wouldn't be, and yet here he was, proving her wrong. Now that she realized just how much she wanted and needed to have him by her side, and as she jumped onto his back so that he could carry her home, she mentally vowed that she would never let go of their friendship and that she would keep him as close as possible until she finally felt ready to tell him the complete and honest truth. Not only because of her feeling comfortable enough to do so, but because at that point she would feel safe enough to know he wouldn't leave her alone ever again, not even after hearing of the horrors she had experienced in the past.

*Monday June 30th, Donnie's Lab*
*Theme:
Skrux-Escapade*

Donnie couldn't believe all the equipment Sam had helped him get his hands on. She had asked Jay if he could help her get her hands on any and all old medical equipment that any of his friends could give away because it had broken or had malfunctioned, and her reasoning was that it was for her friends older brother who needed it for some projects because he wanted to become a future medical student himself (which in certain senses was true). Because of this, Donnie had received tons of different equipment that he could only dream of getting his hands on. He now had various medical monitors that could monitor a person's vital signs, lab equipment to analyze things like blood, genes, dissolved gases, etc. He had diagnostic medical equipment, therapeutic devices, the list of devices he had and their uses went on and on. That night Donnie had asked Sam if she wanted to help him set up the med lab now that he had enough equipment to actually get a work station set up, and of course she agreed to join him. As they set devices up around the room, the two talked about multiple different things that Donnie was never able to talk to his brothers about. The two discussed a variety of topics: physics, chemistry, biochemistry, mathematics, biology, psychology, astronomy, microbiology, statistics, sociology, neuroscience, economics, philosophy, history, the list went on and on. Donnie was able to discuss many of these topics amongst his brothers and April, but he had never talked about them quite as in depth as he was now. It had been made obvious numerous times that Sam wasn't as intelligent as Donnie, but she was definitely close and overall very open-minded. After hours had flown by, the topics switched away from math and sciences to social studies, and then to religion, and then to literature, and then to music, which then lead them to start talking about more media related topics like modern music, movies, games, etc. They went from talking about video games to then talking about their favorite You Tube gamers.
"See what I love most about Vanoss is that he's comical like the rest of the guys in the group, but he's also the most strategic. For example, whenever he plays Gmod Hide and Seek or Gmod Prop Hunt, he always finds the best hiding spots that people would never think of, but then he messes with their heads when he does things like 'operation bigfoot'" Sam stated as she worked on the wiring of an infusion pump.
"It's hilarious when he does that. Oh, I love when he literally hides in the walls. He takes advantage of every glitch he can find" Donnie said as he closed a drawer filled with carefully cleaned and maintained surgical instruments.
"After Vanoss, I'd have to say that Nogla and Delirious are my favorites. I love that they get picked on by their friends in literally every video, but they just roll with it. They can take a joke, and because of that their friends are able to tease the heck out of the two of them, and honestly that just makes the videos even funnier. Do you actually plan on using those tools?" she asked curiously as she glanced at a table with some tools used when performing serious surgeries.
"God I hope not! I've watched a ridiculous amount of videos on what they're used for and how to use them, and I've had some minor experience-"
"When did you have experience using surgical tools?" Sam cut in, her eyes wide.
"Ummm, you have to keep it between us, okay?"
"Got it! Your secret is safe with me!"
"For the past…I want to say the past 6 years, if I ever found some really beat up strays on the streets, I would do my best to save them. I mean, no one else was going to try and help them, so I thought my help was better than just leaving them to rot in the streets, and I actually helped save each animal that I found."
Sam titled her head to the side. "Why do I have to keep that a secret?"
"Because stray animals could have diseases or could be rabid, that and where I found them wasn't always exactly in the shadows. Those two things equal danger, and because of that I knew my brothers and Sensei would never have allowed me to do what I had been doing, so I've been hiding this from them for 6 years now. Yup."
Sam dramatically held her hand to her chest. "Why Donatello! You, you have a secret that you keep from your family? You're not the innocent nerd that everyone thinks you are?"
"Ha ha" he said dryly, "I'm still a person. Everyone has secrets, even the good kids" he said as he held his hands when quoting 'the good kids.'

Joking aside, he was happy to see Sam cracking jokes again. It had been 5 days since Sam's emotional episode after the basketball game and none of them were sure how to handle the situation. They all wanted to know what had happened, but they knew that coming straight out and asking her questions would get them nowhere. April had told them that letting her talk when she was ready and just acting like everything was normal was the best way to react to the situation, so that's what they did. For two days Sam stayed away from the lair and only left her home when she needed to. The only person she talked to outside of her home was Mikey, and that was only to respond to his occasional updates to make sure she was okay. On day three Sam had asked Mikey to come over to her apartment to hangout that night, and by the next morning she had tried visiting the lair. The boys followed April's advice and acted normally and successfully hid their worry. Because of this, Sam was quickly able to return to her regular routines and habits when hanging out with the guys, including now where she was making sarcastic comments and teasing Donnie.

As the two continued to work and set things up throughout the med wing, Donatello's attention was pulled away from the machine he was working on and was drawn to the small television he had set up in the room (in case anyone were ever so badly injured that they might have to spend a few nights in the room) as the screen displayed a commercial about the latest exhibits at the Natural History Museum. Sam noticed that Donnie had stopped working, and as she looked over at him to make sure that he was alright, she could see in his expression how badly he wanted to visit the museum.
"What's wrong E.T.? Troubles phoning home?" she moved on to fixing a smaller x-ray device.
"*sigh* I would love to go there" Donnie replied.
"Well you've imprinted, so go" she replied, still working on the device.
He turned towards her and gave her an odd look. "To the museum?"
"Your precious" she said as she faced him with wide eyes as she ran her fingers against each other. "I volunteer you as tribute." She then turned back towards the device.
"Pfft, not possible" he said as he pouted and flopped down in his swivel chair.
"What? You lost your invisibility cloak?"
"Heh, no. I just wish we there was a way where I could buy tickets even as a 6'8 turtle" he chuckled.
"I find your lack of faith disturbing" she said with a serious tone as she looked at him with a disappointed and dull expression.
"And I think you watch to many movies" he replied with a smile.
"That is extremely true, but not the point! If you want to go to the museum, then let's just go" she said as she started walking towards the exit.
"You know a way to sneak in?" he asked.
"Do you know me?" she asked sarcastically.
"Do you know breaking and entering is illegal?"
"Do you know how annoying you are?"
"That's my line."
"Well I beat you to it which means I win! So FIELD TRIP! C'mon Erudite! Let's escape this maze and find your cure!" she exclaimed as she practically skipped out of the lab.
"You have way too much time on your hands if you've watched every major movie series" Donnie announced with a laugh (which earned him a playfully shove) as he followed the girl. He liked that there was never a dull moment with his new friend and was interested in how their 'field trip' would play out tonight.

Everyone else was in their rooms at the time, so the two just walked out of the lair and up to the rooftops of the buildings above. Of course, since Donnie was one of the more mature of the group, he made sure that he had his shell cell with him in case there was an emergency and his brothers needed to contact him, though he'd be a liar if he said that checking his phone periodically was on his mind once he got to the museum. After they had completed all their needed hacking so that they could sneak into the building, Sam had exposed an entrance from a vent on the roof that lead to the attic storage of the building, and once they had cleared this part of the break in, they were free to explore all the current exhibits that the museum had to offer.

Donnie wasn't sure where to start. They had exhibits on dinosaurs, the latest studies on health and the human body, missions from Earth to other planets, looking through the eyes of Einstein, and so many more.
Donnie wasn't sure where to begin, but his choice was determined by the teen who was mentally a five year when she wanted to be.
"Dinosaurs. Let's go to see the dinosaurs. I want to see dinosaurs" Sam said over and over again until finally her friend agreed, and within seconds Sam was rushing over to see the exhibits about the dinosaurs with Donnie following behind her. They learned about how studies have shown that some current bird species may have come from dinosaurs that changed and evolved over tens of millions of years (and of course Sam had to take pictures in the giant modeled nests because Sam was Sam). The two then moved to the interactive exhibits that discussed the microbiome-where bacteria is living in and on us, how the bacteria's are obtained and how they can offer new perspectives on how to deal with health problems like allergies, asthma, and obesity. Afterwards, they moved on to the next exhibit about foods from around the world. The two learned about how various foods were grown, traded, prepared, etc. They read through some of the first made cook books throughout history and even got to prepare their own virtual meals at the interactive cooking table, and of course the two had fun coming up with the weirdest dishes they could think of.

The two moved on from exhibit to exhibit, looking at everything and participating in every interactive activity they could find. Since they were the only two there, they moved through each exhibit rather quickly, and after a few hours they were ready to leave the museum. Since the two had been talking about scientific research for the past few hours, they decided to talk more casually on their walk home, and while doing so, Donnie noticed Sam staring at his left shoulder.
"Why don't you take a picture?"
"…what?" Sam asked with a smile.
Donnie rolled his eyes. "What are you staring at anyway?"
"I'm trying to find your tattoo, and I'm failing at doing so."
His eyes widened a bit. "You know about that?"
"Yup!"
"Let me guess, Mikey?"
"Yup again!"
"Tch, you tell each other everything, don't you?"
"Well, yes and no. We talk about a lot of things, and I think it's safe to say that he knows more about me than anyone else, but we both have our boundaries. He told me there's certain stories about all four of you that will forever stay only between you four. He's made that very clear."
Donnie laughed. "Well it's good to know he's still the best at keeping secrets and people's private lives private." He then looked over and squinted his eyes at his friend when he heard her try to hide a small laugh. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing" she said as she quickly shook her head and smiled, "just, of course I'm curious as to what happened to you guys that you've all sworn to secrecy that you won't ever tell anyone about it…oh but that could also mean moments where your lives were in danger and that's why you're keeping it secret. Just kidding it's not funny anymore" she said as she made a serious face.
"Honestly it's a mix of both, but more so things you would find funny, so you're good."
"Oh? Are you going to be the one to spill the details?" she teased as she nudged him in the side.
"Heck no! Especially since they're not all about me. All three of my brother's would kill me if I gave away even the smallest amount of information."
"I guess tattoos aren't part of those secrets then, since they're all extremely visible on all of you, well except for you, but you get the point."
"Oh, I can show you mine, if you want."
"Yes. I need proof, especially since you don't seem like someone who would let anything pierce and possibly damage your body."
"Oh no I hated getting this thing with a burning passion, but I liked that this was a symbol that linked our family together, so I agreed to let Raph make a small print on my shoulder." As he talked, he took off his brown shoulder pad on his left shoulder, revealing a black inked tattoo of a turtle shell that looked to be about the size of his hand.
Sam chuckled. "Yup, yours is definitely the smallest print" she teased with a smile.
"Hey! At least I have one! I can take credit for sitting through the pain of getting one!"
"Did it hurt that bad?"
"…no, but it makes me look cooler if it seems that I sat through something painful. You know, like I was macho enough to deal with the pain."
Sam laughed. "Okay one, don't say 'macho' if you want to act cool. Two, I'm pretty sure you were mentally being tortured the entire time you were sitting there, so you still own that badass image from putting up with your own thoughts."
He nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, I'll take it. So, do you like tattoos?" he asked as he put his shoulder pad back on.
Sam quickly shook her head.
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah, I mean there's nothing wrong with them, and I don't have anything against people that like and have them, I just personally don't care for them. I feel like they can be dangerous if you go somewhere sketchy, and unless I have a specific meaning behind the tattoo I'm getting, I don't think it's worth the pain or the risks of getting one."
Donnie decided to take a risk when asking his next question. "Do you think you and your siblings would ever get matching tattoos? You know, like how my family has a symbol that unites us. Would you and your siblings ever do that?"
Sam paused, but Donnie could tell by her facial expressions that her pause was to think about what he had just asked rather than her spacing out from her emotions like she had nights before.
"Honestly, I can't see ALL my siblings being interested in something like that. We've had matching accessories though. We all had necklaces with an initial pendant attached to the chain. The pendant was black and the initials were in whatever our favorite color was, so my 'S.A.P' was green over black, and it looked awesome!" she exclaimed with a smile.
Donnie noticed it again, that she was talking about her siblings in the past tense. He so badly wanted to ask her why she had continued this habit, but he saw how happy she was as she talked about her siblings and he didn't want to rob her of her happiness, so instead he continued on with the conversation.

As the two walked back to the lair, they continued to talk about their families and what it was like to have so many siblings. They found it interesting how they had shared so many similar experiences since they were both the second to youngest out of all their siblings. They both experienced being treated as the baby of the group and everyone felt the need to look over them even though they were capable of taking care of themselves, and how even though people treated them like kids (at one time) they were still expected to act like adults at the same time because they had another sibling who was younger than them. They swapped stories back and forth until they got back to the lair, and when they returned to their familiar territory, they decided to keep working on the med lab since they both still had so much energy left. They worked for another couple hours until Sam was so tired that she started losing control of her balance. At that time, Donnie helped her walk back to his lab where he had his spare bed. He didn't have to worry about her being comfortable since she collapsed on the bed as soon as she saw it, and within seconds she was sound asleep. Donnie covered her with a blanket and left her to sleep.

As he walked back to his room, he reminisced about everything he had learned at the museum, but then suddenly his mind reminded him of the night that Sam had entered his lab when, at the time, he didn't want her taking one step in his lab aka his sacred space. He remembered how furious he was that she had snuck into the lab and how he acted towards her, and how upset she was because she thought that he hated her (and at that time, she was almost right in assuming that.) The memory dropped a lot of guilt on the turtle's shoulders. He felt horrible that he ever treated her that way, especially after days like today where she was the only person who could connect with him in ways that the rest of his family couldn't. There was one thing that cheered him up though, and that was how his attitude and actions towards the girl had changed over time. The night of his memory where he stated that he didn't hate her, those words were the first 'nice' things he had ever said to her, and that same night he vowed that he would at least attempt to treat her better, not only for her sake, but also in respect for Mikey since Sam and Mikey had obviously become very close friends even that early on. Donnie smiled as he thought of all the happier moments that not only he, but that all his brother's had shared with Sam. He was glad that she didn't give up on them and that she kept finding ways to get them to talk to her, like the night she had tricked Leo into getting upset and making her fight with Raph, and he was glad that he and his brother's had all eventually tried to get along with and try to get to know the girl as well. As time went on, she became more like a sister to the boys rather than just a friend, and Donnie was grateful to have her around as the newest addition to their family.

*Wednesday July 2nd*

It was around 1 a.m. when Mikey felt a presence enter his room. He had been sleeping on his right side and was facing the wall, so he couldn't see who it was that had entered his room and shut the door, but he had a good idea that he knew who it was: Sam. He continued to lie still though, just in case it wasn't her. He couldn't list how many times his brother's had snuck into his room to pull pranks on him at all hours of the day and night, but it was okay since he had done the same to all of them, but he was also staying still in case it happened to be a burglar from the Foot clan. Ever since the Foot had found their first home, the boys were always on edge when they heard noises at times when it was completely silent.

As he lie still and thought of who it might have been that entered his room, he felt the motion of someone crawl into bed with him. They didn't touch him or move around much, they just got into the bed and lie still underneath the covers. At this point he was pretty confident that it was just Sam who had fallen asleep on the couch earlier, so he paid no mind to this, not until he heard a light sob. It was silent after that, but a few minutes later he heard it again. It sounded like she was crying but fighting her hardest not to let it be known.

Mikey quickly turned on the small lamp next to his bed and turned over to see that it was Sam who had crawled into his bed. She was laying on her left side so that he was now facing her back.
"Sam…Sam, why are you crying?" he asked gently.
She didn't speak, but instead shook her head to show that she didn't want to talk.
Mikey knew that was total bull and knew that there was something she wanted him to know, or else she would have gone somewhere to hide and be alone rather than come straight to his room. Knowing this, he carefully pulled her towards him. He lay down and held her from behind, his arms wrapped protectively around her.
"Does it have anything to do with you thinking you saw your brother the other day?"
She paused and then slowly nodded her head. "I had a dream about him. It felt real, and then I woke up…" she couldn't speak since tears had begun to pour out from her eyes again.
Mikey held onto her a bit tighter. His heart hurt as he listened to his friend quietly cry for the longest time. She was always so happy and full of smiles whenever they were together, which made seeing her this way, so broken and emotionally torn down, so difficult and heartbreaking for him.
"I can't say I understand what you're going through, because I've always had my brothers by my side, but I can say that I know I'd be lost without them. Having the people that have always been a room away suddenly disappear for so long would emotionally and mentally kill me. I'm so, so sorry you've been alone for so long, but we won't let you feel that way ever again, I'll never let you feel that way ever again."
As soon as the words left his lips, Sam turned over and lay down facing him, her face now buried in his chest. A small smile appeared on Mikey's face as he continued to hold his friend close, one hand resting against her back and the other gently running through the girl's hair. He let his chin lightly rest on top of her head as he heard her sobs slowly fade out. He held her close until he knew for sure that she had drifted off to sleep, and once he knew that she was okay, he finally allowed himself to fall asleep as well.

He knew that he could never replace her brothers that were now living far away because he knew that no one would ever be able to replace his brothers if they ever moved far away. Still, he wanted to do everything he could to see Sam smile instead of frown, to see her laugh instead of cry, to see her fall asleep because she had had an exhausting day of fun activities instead of falling asleep from her tears. He vowed that he would stay by his best friend's side as much as he possibly could, not to replace her brother, but to help bring back the fun and joyful memories that she had of spending time with him, and to create new memories that would help tuck away the all the bad ones.