Rae still wasn't entirely sure this was real, or if it was just one big fever dream. She blinked slowly, processing the events of the past 24 hours. Her day started ordinarily enough; waking up early, before the sun, to get in her morning run, but that was where the normalcy ended. Winding up in the middle of a fight between a ninja cult and a huge turtle man - at which point she nearly lost her life in an explosion - had not been on her BINGO card for the year. She'd be nothing but a smear in some entryway had it not been for her white (more like green) knight. She very likely should have listened when he promptly advised her to hightail it out of there. Looking back, Rae still couldn't deduce why she though she might actually be of use in that fight. A stupid decision that had nearly gotten her killed... again. The fact that all of that wasn't even the wildest part of her day was frankly absurd... and now here she was, kneeling in front of a rat man. Cherry on the cake.

"Hello, child."

The rat man spoke as well. Of course.

"Hello," Rae replied.

He tilted his head, dark eyes assessing her from his neatly folded position upon the tatami mat. "You seem to be taking all of this in stride."

She shrugged a little. "Well... it's either that or I go check myself into a loonie bin." A brief pause, followed by a soft laugh. "Besides... this is New York. You're not the first big rat I've ever met, and I doubt you'll be the last."

The turtle wearing blue frowned in offence, but the look melted when he heard the rat man laugh.

Realizing she'd yet to introduce herself, she cleared her throat. "I'm Rae."

He tipped forward in a neat bow. "A pleasure to meet you. I am called Splinter."

Blushing at the unexpected formality, the young woman bent at the waist as well. "Uh... thank you all... for your hospitality."

When they right themselves again there was a long pause, Rae fidgeting in place as Splinter gazed calmly into her face. He saw the curiosity in her, and the hesitation. Smiling reassuringly, he prompted, "You have questions, no doubt. Please, ask."

Taking a deep breath, she began, "I hope this doesn't come across as rude, but how is any of this even possible?"

"A valid question, to be sure. We were not always this way. Our beginnings were as humble as any other animal upon this earth, though we never knew the same freedoms. We were born in a laboratory, our current state of being a result of exposure to an experimental mutagen. We were nearly killed in a fire... but were saved by a friend... and brought here. Here we have stayed, hidden, protecting this city as best we can against those who would seek to do wrong."

It sounded like pure fiction, if she were being truthful, and had she not been sitting five feet away from the literal proof of its authenticity, she would have thought it a lie.

Sensing this was a lot for their guest to take in, Splinter added, "If you require a more... detailed explanation of the scientific specifics, my son Donatello would be the best one to direct your attentions toward."

Surprised that he was able to note her incredulity (minimal as it was), Rae spluttered as she assured him, "Ah, no... that won't be necessary. I... highly doubt I'd be able to follow along with anything too complex. Science was never really my jam in school."

He said nothing, simply nodding and giving her time to take in this new information.

"So... you're mutants?"

"In the simplest of terms, yes."

"And you... fight bad guys?"

"Correct."

Her eyes narrowed briefly. "So you guys... are like heroes. Why haven't I seen you before? Or heard of you?"

The wizened rat folded his hands in his lap, head tipping down as he replied, "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

Expression blank, she glanced past Splinter to where the blue masked turtle – Leonardo – stood, blinking pointedly in askance.

Leo shifted from one foot to another. "Making waves wouldn't be in our best interest, it's why we operate under the radar. If we went public we'd be asking for trouble."

She supposed that made sense. "Well, your secret's safe with me. And if there's anything I can do to repay you all for your help, please just ask."

"Your vow of secrecy is payment enough," Splinter assured her. "Now, I feel it best you continue to rest before your return home."

She smiled, thanking him again and pulling herself up slowly, Donatello's hand on her elbow guiding her back to the living space. Now, with her wits somewhat about her, she took the time to assess this place they called a home. It was damp and cool, but not uncomfortable. The living spaces were distinctly divided from the areas she could only guess were their personal rooms, and in one such room she noticed a nearly motionless form.

"Is that...?"

Donatello followed her gaze up into Raphael's room, where his brother remained unmoving in his bed. "Yeah."

"Is he awake? I'd like to thank him, if I could," she expressed, gratefulness and guilt warring in her chest.

The tallest of the brother's nodded. "I doubt he'll be lucid enough to register anything, but we can certainly try. He'll pull through, but he did lose a fair amount of blood. He's going to need more time to regenerate it."

"You guys can just do that on your own? No... blood transfusions or anything?" she asked as they ascended a small flight of stairs, voice tinged with wonder.

"One of the benefits of being a mutant turtle, I suppose," he laughed a little.

Once they arrived in the alcove that Raph had claimed as his own, the pair manoeuvred carefully around his scattered belongings, past a bench press and well worn punching bag, alongside the platform where the giant male lay resting. His great chest rose and fell slowly, a handful of wires and sensors connected him to a mobile monitor, along with a singular tube that fed IV fluid into his forearm. The screen blipped a steady rhythm.

Rae caught Donatello sighing in what she assumed was worry from the corner of her eye, but said nothing.

Her guide stepped forward, clearing his throat. "Raph? Our guest is here to see you."

When there was no change in his position or vitals, the purple banded turtle gave her a shrug and stepped aside to give her a moment.

For a minute she just stared at him, unsure of what to say. She recalled the blood that had pooled at his feet when he'd saved her from the explosion, the pained expression on his face for a split second. "Listen... I would be dead right now if not for you. Thank you. I don't know how I'll ever repay you... but I'll think of something. Please just... get well soon, okay?"

He said nothing.

Glancing back over her shoulder at the tall, purple banded male, she found him leaning against a wall just outside the room, his back to her.

Shuffling closer, she took a moment to really look at her saviour. Now that there was no imminent threat of death, she could study him fully. He was big. Bigger than she remembered, which seemed impossible, but here, spread out as he was, she could truly gauge his massive size. His forearm, where a small syringe was taped neatly to his scaled green skin, was bigger than the bicep of any human man she'd ever met. Hell, it was probably the same circumference as her thigh. The pale green along the underside of his arm shifted into a much darker shade on the opposing side of the appendage, the scales there much larger and more prominent. Fascinated, she reached out and drew her finger along one such scale, blushing a moment later when she realized how impolite she was being.

There was a little beep that sounded out of sorts, and when Rae tilted her head to check out the monitor, she found sharp golden-green eyes boring into her. Startled, she stepped back, opening her mouth to apologize when the immense mutant cut her off.

"You make a habit of touchin' people without consent?"

Embarrassed at having been caught, she stammered, "I'm-I wasn't trying-"

"Yeah? Well next time try harder," he muttered.

By this point Donatello had rejoined them, his face contorting in concern as he made to intervene.

Embarrassment giving way to indignity, Rae took a step closer and snapped right back, "And how exactly did I get all the way here after that shit-show on the street?! I don't recall giving YOU consent either. This is practically kidnapping!"

It was reaching. She knew it was, but she just couldn't believe he was being so hostile out of nowhere, and his attitude was rubbing her all the wrong ways.

The red masked turtle laughed. "Kidnapping? More like SAVING your life. But sure. Next time I'll leave you to die on the pavement."

"Next time?! What make you think there's going to be a next time? I came here to thank you for helping me, but after all that you can shove it!"

At this point Donnie did interject, noting that Raph's heart rate had yet to level back out. If they kept this up he was going to hurt himself... if she didn't hurt him first.

"That's more than enough excitement for one day," he chuckled awkwardly, hoping to alleviate the mood. Turning to look at Rae, he inquired, "Can you make it back to the living room on your own? I'd like to check on a few things here."

Tearing her eyes away from the infuriating male as he sent another hard look her way, the brunette took a deep breath and replied with a terse, "No problem." Turning on her heel, she shuffled back toward the couch, smiling tightly at Michelangelo as she passed him on the stairs.

When she was far enough away he was certain she wouldn't hear, Donnie looked at Raphael in befuddled frustration. "Why would you do that?!"

The stubborn turtle didn't bother to answer, closing his eyes again and trying to level out his breathing.

Michelangelo's voice was practically dripping with innuendo as he cut in, "I know why. Someone was panicked because a hot girl was touching him, and-"

"Finish that sentence and you'll be shittin teeth, Mike."

The orange banded brother gave a laugh that was both nervous and mischievous as he bounded away, back toward the den where their lovely guest had found her place on the couch once more. Settling himself on the beanbag chair across from her, he told her, "Don't mind him, he's got horrible people skills."

"I couldn't tell," Rae deadpanned.

"He's not a bad guy," Mikey said after a short pause.

The sincerity in his voice made Rae look up from the space on the floor where she'd been burning a hole in the concrete. Her expression softened at the look he was wearing. He clearly cared about his brother a lot. She imagined seeing him like this wasn't easy for them. Uncrossing her arms, she leaned back into the couch and sighed. "I'm sure he is. He did save me, after all. Look... I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to make a bad situation worse."

Michelangelo grinned at her. "Nah, it's not your fault. Really. Don't take it like that. Protecting people is what we do, he just... doesn't have a ton of exposure to humans, and the little that we get is... usually not favourable. So he's a bit on guard with non-mutants."

She supposed that made sense. Still... guilt gnawed at her insides. She shouldn't have touched him like that. It was her fault, despite Mikey insisting otherwise. This whole thing was... a lot. She felt a bit sick all of a sudden, unsure if it was the recent confrontation or just the full gravity of everything she'd just gone through finally catching up. "I think I'll lay down a little more if that's okay?"

Leaping to his feet, the orange banded brother replied cheerily, "No worries, little lady! Do you need anything? An extra blanket? Water? White noise?"

Smiling at his enthusiasm, she told him, "You're a great host, Mikey, but I'm alright. Thank you."

Dipping into a showy bow, he laughed, "At your service. If you change your mind, just holler."

He leapt across the room toward his own dwelling, easily clearing the channel of water that split the room in half. Impressive. They all were, really. Sighing, she slowly tucked herself back onto the couch, trying to shift away from loose springs all while minding her head. Closing her eyes, she tried not to think about the intensity of Raphael's stare and the way it had cut straight through her.