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Description

    splinter and shifu escorted me to the loading docks the next morning wear the ships were sailing off in just a few minutes. I was wearing my black hoodie with the green skull on the front, a black tank top underneath it with black skinny jeans and black boots that had my scissors inside. Splinter looked me with worry but smiled. "now, do you remember what I told you?"
    "yes, sensei."
    "are you sure?"
    "of course."
    "just incase, get on board and wait until you are in New York to even step out of the cargo area. find a man hole cover and get inside. I gave you a map to find my burrow. wait for my sons there and make sure they don't step inside. there could be agents in there still. tell them everything once you are in a safe place not in the sewers and bring them on this same ship that will bring you all home. the ship leaves in 24 hours once you get to New York so you must be fast. we will be waiting at home."
    "Splinter, I understand." I put my hand on his shoulder. "its okay." I smiled.
    "your bag should have everything you need while there." Shifu pointed out.
    "right."
    "food, water, a blanket, first aid, mon-"
    "guys!" I interrupted them.
    "what?!?" they looked around.
    "i'm going to miss the ship!"
    "oh." they said.
    "well, go!" Shifu nudged me towards the boat.
    I was walking away when I heard Shifu saying "be carful."
    "don't talk to any strangers!" Splinter shouted to me.
    "stay safe!" Shifu shouted.
    "please......come home.....okay..." Splinter mumbled.
    I turned around still walking but now backwards waving. "I'll be fine, don't worry!" I smiled at them, brought my pointer finger and the middle on together to my head and gave a solute gesture, turned around, then ran to the ship.
    I snuck on the ship going to New York. I hid in the cargo. with me I had my backpack that had medication, a first aid kit, a blanket, food, and basic survival things. and as promised, splinter gave me a map to his home. there was a few times I was almost caught. the damn guard kept pointing his flashlight at me. after hiding for days in the dark the ship came to a stop. I looked out and quickly boarded off without being noticed.
    I looked around trying to find out where I was so I could know where to go next. I seen the lady of liberty so I looked for it on the map. after finding it I went to the streets to find the nearest man hole cover closest to their home. I was walking down the streets when I noticed something. New York is nothing compared to pictures online. the sandy did a number on new york. I will give it credit that it does look better then it did months ago but you can tell these people have been through a lot. I walked past a homeless woman who had children. she must have lost her home with the flood. I dropped a 5 dollar bill when I pasted her.
    I found the man hole cover in an ally and tried to lift it. that is, I tried. it was pretty much stuck. I picked up a piece of wood in the ally and tried to work it like a crow bar. I got the cover up and went inside. the smell was awful! I took out the map and a light. I followed its instructions until I got to a big metal door. I knocked on it. that was stupid because the place was meant to be dangerous. nothing happened. I then tried to slam in to the door. nothing happened. I tried pulling it open but nothing happened. I gave up and decided to wait for the turtles outside the door. I sat there in front of the door meditating.
    hours later i was too tired. i could not stay up any longer. i took out the blanket and wrapped up in it. i hoped that i would wake up when i heard something. but when i did wake up nothing happened. no one was around and the sun was up. i had to guess it was the next day. i put everything away and began meditating again.
    hours later the sun went down. i was beginning to worry about them. i hope they didn't get lost. splinter would kill me if i didn't come back with his sons. after waiting just awhile longer i heard something. i jumped up and grabbed a pipe and held on. i swung myself on top of it and waited. i heard some voices not too far from me that were coming closer. i have not thought of what to say to the turtles. i was trying to think of something to sat to them. but i didn't have enough time.
    "hey, leo, why don't we just pick up a pizza first and surprise splinta later?" i heard some gruff voice say with a brooklyn accent. I started to twitch.
    "because we are already almost home. whats the point of going back for a pizza then coming home? that would make splinter and probably everyone else wait longer." another voice said. this one didn't sound gruff. it was more soothing if anything. i guessed it was leo.
    "i just want to get off my feet..." another voice said. this one sounded lighter.
    "if i live another minute without video games i am going to lose my shell!" this voice sound like it belonged to a kid. most likely Mikey.
    "calm down, shell for brains. we're almost there." this voice sounded gruff Brooklyn accent like last time.
    looking down i seen 4 giant talking, walking turtles. one with a purple mask with a bow, one with a blue mask with katanas, another with a red mask with sais, and another with an orange mask that had nun chucks.  they were walking to the door and trying to open it. i was smirking because they couldn't either. i got down quietly and tapped the one with the blue mask on the shoulder. he jumped alittle and looked at me. "uhhh guys?" he said to the others. they looked at him then at me.
    "h-hi." i said shyly.
    "yea... hi." said the one with the red mask.
    "are you 4 splinter's s-sons?" i asked. i don't even know why i did. there shouldn't be too many mutant turtles walking around in the big apple.
    "yeah! are you tiffany or shifu?" asked the purple masked ninja.
    "yes, i-i-i'm tiffany. i-"
    "good." said the red masked one. "you can help us open the door then."
    "we cant go inside." i said. I twitched.
    "what? why not?" asked the blue masked one who was staring at me like he noticed.
    "well, i cant say... a-a-at least not here. we have to leave the sewers for me to tell you." i slowly said.
    "why?" asked the blue one. I twitched again.
    "it is not safe. s-s-...splinter told me to get you guys out of the sewers before i tell...tell you.......some.... news...." i couldn't look him in the eyes when i said that. I twitched again.
    "news? what news?" the purple one asked me.
    "i c-cant say until we are out."
    "well, we're not going anywhere until you tell us, twitchy." the red one snapped.
    "but i cant say yet! Splinter told me not to!" I started to twitch again.
    "too bad then." the one in red said. he banged on the door and it was beginning to dent.
    "no! its not safe in here." i blocked the door with my body still twitching. "please just trust me. what ever is inside here is something you don't want to see!"
    "whats inside?" asked the orange one.
    "I..... don't know... what it is exactly... but its not good!" i said. after i did i realized how stupid that sounded.
    "so, you don't want us to go in but go with you, someone we just met and trust you because something is inside that you don't even know about?" asked the blue one.
    "well, when you say it like that-" I scoffed.
    "just move." the red one said. he pushed me out of the way and hit the door more. finally it fell down. everyone went inside. i went in last. the place was dark, covered in cobwebs and smelled like something died in there. leatherhead... there was black gunk everywhere. each pile was covered in flies and maggots. "what the shell happened in here, tiff?" he asked. I twitched again.
    "we cant be in her- ahhh!" i slipped on something and when my vision came into focus i was staring at a crocodile head with its eyes wide open like it was shocked. it was covered in maggots and flies. as shamefully as it sounds, i may have maybe screamed like a girl a little. "AHHHHHH!!!" okay so lot like a girl...
    "tiffany? are you okay?" the blue one shouted to me. the one with the red mask came over and picked me up and stepped a few steps back. everyone came running.
    "yes, i am fine. I-I...I was just surprised." i said. i was blushing but thankfully it was too dark to tell. but Raph could tell I twitched again because he looked at me weird.
    "what is it, donnie?" the blue one asked.
    the one in the purple inspected it for a second. "leatherhead..." i said in almost a whisper.
    "what?!?" the one in the orange yelled. he got on his knees in front of it. "nooo..." i heard him say. "how?" he looked at me. "how do you know its him?!?" his voice cracked and i seen tears in his eyes.
    "i will tell you when we are safe." that is all i could say. i looked at the ground then back at the one in red. "you can put me down now."
    "oh! uhhh...sorry..." he said putting me down.
    "we have to look for splinter!" the one in blue shouted. the turtles walked around yelling for him until we heard shrike. we ran to the sound. it was the orange one. he was standing in front of a pair on legs still attached to the bottom of the torso covered in the same kind of flies and maggots. it smelled the worst of all the little piles. he was frozen in that spot, shaking.
    "it was Leatherhead!!!" the in the orange masked screamed. I twitched again.
    after a moment of silence I broke it."im so sorry, uhhhhh.......sir????" i tried to be sympathetic but i didn't even know his name.
    "right, you don't know our names do you?" the one in purple said.
    "i do. b-but i don't know which one is which."
    the blue one stepped forward and bowed. "i am Leonardo."
    the purple one stepped forward and bowed. "i am Donatello."
    the red one step forward with his arms crossed. "im Raphael and my brother over here," he motioned to the orange one "is Michelangelo."
    i bowed in respect. "it is an honor to meet you all. but please, let me lead you somewhere safe. I-I-I don't know why its unsafe but splinter told me to get you guys-s... out of here."
    "where is Splinter?" asked Donnie.
    "at my house."
    "and where is that?"
    "not here..." I giggled nervously.
    "funny." raph stated. "like we needed another Mikey."
    "what about april and casey?" leo asked.
    i didn't answer. i just looked at him hoping maybe he could figure out what i was trying to say without me having to say it. but he didn't. "i will tell you later." we walked around more and the one in the blue tapped my shoulder.
    "do you mind putting this in your bag for us?" he asked. he handed me a sheet of paper.
    "sure, but what is it?" he unfolded it and showed me. it had three words on it."sewer...sweet...sewer?" I put it in my backpack and stuck around the blue one. "this place is amazing."
    "it sure was. it looks better when the lights are on." he turned on the lights and the whole place powered up. it looked amazing. it felt like a home. there was a bridge in the middle of the room and a training room near by. you could see into the rooms. I could tell whos was whos. I walked around alone for a while. I stepped into Splinter's room and looked around. this orb began to glow in the corner of his room. I picked it up out of instinct. a mans image formed in the ball. I put it in the bag to return to Splinter. I stepped out and looked around some more. "wow..." I was really impressed.
    "you like?" Mike asked.
    "im impressed."
    "yeah. I think It looks better clean though..." he said while looking around.
    "I can imagine." Mikey left my side and I was again alone. I walked around and was on the bridge with my hands on the rail, looking into the water under it. I stared at my reflection trying to come to terms with the events of what happened here.
    "did you find anything?" leo asked.
    "an orb im bring back to Splinter."
    "he left without it? odd. that's how he communicates with Hamato Yoshi."
    "that must have been the man I seen inside of it."
    "yeah... what are doing?"
    "just thinking."
    "about?"
    "this place. I cant explain exactly what happened here now but I can assure you its horrible. life changing for you all. im so sorry, Leo. I wish it never happened. I know I would have never met you all if not so but if history was gracious, then you would have had a better memory of coming home."
    "why wont you tell us anything? its clear that you know whats going on." he said after awhile.
    "I told you, Splinter told me not to say anything until we are in a safe spot on the surface. he also told me not to let you guys in here! if I cant honor that wish I will make sure that I keep my mouth shut until we are up there." I said while pointing to the ceiling to jester to the streets.
    "nothing is in here. you can tell us." the purple one told us.
    "no I cant."
    "damn it! tell us! what happened to Leathahead? where is splinta? where is april and casey?" Raph started shouting.
    "I told you, I CANT!"
    "you betta give us some answers now!"
    "not until we are out! I will tell you everything you want to know but not hear. Splinter told me not to let you guys in here and I disobeyed him. I will keep my promise of not revealing anything to you down here." Raph grunted and walked off. me and leo walked away. "why are we even down here?"
    "you said something might be here. well, were looking for it."
    "alright then."
    "how old are you anyway? you seem kind of young to be here alone."
    "im 19."
    "you are? you look... never mind... do your parents know where you are?"
    "I don't talk to them so no."
    "sorry."
    "don't worry about it. we just don't see eye to eye so we don't speak to eachother. its a good thing."
    "I wouldn't be able to do that."
    "sometimes I wonder how I can. I don't hate them. I just cant talk to them. they want me to be like my sister but I cant be. that's her, not me."
    "I see."
    next thing we knew raph threw a chair at the wall. alarms went off and red lights began to flash. "WHAT THE FUCK POSSESED YOU TO MAKE YOU DO THAT?!? NOW STOCKMAN AND BISHOP KNOW WE'RE HERE!!!" I shouted. the walls began shooting something at us. "we have to leave now!"
    "fall back!" leo shouted.
    we were running to the door when raph tripped over leatherhead's head. i stopped and helped him up but midway up i felt something sharp hit my side. i gritted my teeth and held in my shout. "Donnie!" i shouted. he looked back at me where i pointed to something i spotted on the wall. it was a camera above the door. it was watching us the whole time! Donnie used his bow to knock it down and he brought it with us. finally we were all out and running. "where are we going?" Donnie asked.
    "out of the sewers. Splinter told me it would be safe once we were out." I answered.
    "funny. Splinter said never go top side and now he wants us to." Mikey said.
    we got to the nearest man hole cover and escaped to the streets. it was still day so we had to make sure that we were not caught. we climbed up the side of a building and were jumping roof tops. i almost fell a few times from the pain but i ignored it the best i could. after awhile we jumped into a window that belonged to a abandoned building. leo blocked the window with a large piece of wood in the room. the room was filthy and empty. there was light but not much of it. "what the shell just happened?" raph asked me. "how do you know them?"
    "well," I looked around for a moment "I believe we are safe now. i will tell you. splinter told me to tell you this so you could see why you had to follow me back to my home."
    "tell us what? where is splinta?" Raph's voice got real deep and threatening while he held up one of his sais in front of his face indicating he would use them. I took a step back and Leo stood in front of him blocking him from me.
    "a year after you left, casey was in a accident. a bad one...... he didn't....he didn't s-survive and a-a-awhile later april committed suicide by mistake while pregnant with casey's child." i stopped for a minute to let it soak in.
    "you mean there gone?" leo asked. i nodded. i sat on the floor and held my side. no one noticed thankfully.
    "y-yes. i am so sorry. april was trying to get rid of *twitch* a head a-ach. she didn't mean to o-overdose on pain killers."
    "we should have been here." raph said. we were sitting in a circle with them all looking at me.
    "you didn't know." i told him. "th-there is more." everyone leaned in. "a year after, 2 men from the government named stockman and bishop found splinter and leatherhead i-i-in your home. leatherhead died trying to save splinter. after he got away, s-sp...splinter ran for his life. *twitch* he got to Michigan when he passed out. i found him and nursed him back to hel-health. i told him he could stay. after awhile he offered to teach me how to de- *twitch* defend myself. i accepted. he told me t-to tell you this in hopes th-that i could earn some of your trust and you would c-c-come back with me to your father." they were looking at me in shock.
    "so, you mean this is bishop's fault?" leo asked. i nodded. my side was really stinging now. "well, we will come back with you, tiffany. I think its safe to trust you. you really don't look like someone who could do any harm anyway." he put a hand on my shoulder. he must have noticed my wincing to his touch because he then asked "hey, are you okay?"
    "i'll be fine." i said. "mikey?" he looked at me. "are you okay? you haven't said much."
    "i guess..." his stomach growled. "i could go for a pizza though. we haven't had it in 3 whole years!"
    "what about you, Raph? you tripped back there."
    "peachy." Raph answered. "its just what he did..."
"and April..." Donnie mourned. "she had a baby."
"what they did...what he took from you guys." I whispered in disbelief. "they were innocent. worst of all, it'll only happen again and again."
"of course, we are nothing to them." Leo looked to me. "but we cant back down."
"I will not back down."
"she meant something to me..." Donnie was looking to the floor.
"they need to understand we have voices too! for now, we can wait for peace. look for justice we have all been denied."
there was a loud growling sound. we all looked to Mikey. "what? I'm hungry..."
"alright." i said. "i'll go get some pizza." i started to stand up. "what do you guys li- AHHH" i fell to the ground in pain. i held on to my side.
    "tiffany!" leo shouted. "what happened?"
    Donnie rolled me over and removed my hands. "hey, guys, shes bleeding!" he lefted my shirt to just below my breasts to look at my side. "one of the bullets got her. we need something to get it out."
    "i have my bag." i told him. "inside... tweezers and gloves... first aid kit."
    he took off my bag and looked through it. while doing so raph was next to me. I was shaking from fear of that bullet being the kind that explodes like the one that killed Leatherhead. I stopped when i could feel Raph's hand on my arm. we stared in each others eyes for a moment before i looked away. they just stared at me. after a minute he found them. "raph, you have to hold her still." i felt raph's other hand on my upper thigh. "tiffany?" Donnie asked. i looked at him. "this is going to hurt but try to stay still." Donnie instructed. i nodded. "okay. 3.....2....1." i felt a sharp pain in my side again. i balled my hands in fists and held in my screams. my body jerked only a little bit against my will as I squeezed my eyes shut. Raph gripped on harder. "okay i think i have it." the pain grew stronger and i couldn't hold everything in anymore. I let out a cry in agony. I felt a hand go through I hair and pushing it out of my face. I looked up and seen it was Leo. he looked worried.  i grunted when Donnie pulled it out. "its out. we have to stop the bleeding." Leo grabbed some of the strips of cloths in the bag and pushed down my wound.
    "why didn't you tell us you were hurt?" asked leo.
    "i didn't think it was that bad!" I answered.
    "you were bleeding!" Mikey shouted.
    "i didn't know!" i was wrapped up in gauze a few minutes later. leo stood up and went to the window. i tried to sit up but raph stopped me. "leo, where are you going?" I asked.
    "i was just going to get some pizza." leo smiled at me. "don't worry."
    "how, may i ask, are you going to do that?" I asked.
    "relax." raph said. "we used ta get it all the time."
    with that said leo was gone.

Description

    splinter and shifu escorted me to the loading docks the next morning wear the ships were sailing off in just a few minutes. I was wearing my black hoodie with the green skull on the front, a black tank top underneath it with black skinny jeans and black boots that had my scissors inside. Splinter looked me with worry but smiled. "now, do you remember what I told you?"
    "yes, sensei."
    "are you sure?"
    "of course."
    "just incase, get on board and wait until you are in New York to even step out of the cargo area. find a man hole cover and get inside. I gave you a map to find my burrow. wait for my sons there and make sure they don't step inside. there could be agents in there still. tell them everything once you are in a safe place not in the sewers and bring them on this same ship that will bring you all home. the ship leaves in 24 hours once you get to New York so you must be fast. we will be waiting at home."
    "Splinter, I understand." I put my hand on his shoulder. "its okay." I smiled.
    "your bag should have everything you need while there." Shifu pointed out.
    "right."
    "food, water, a blanket, first aid, mon-"
    "guys!" I interrupted them.
    "what?!?" they looked around.
    "i'm going to miss the ship!"
    "oh." they said.
    "well, go!" Shifu nudged me towards the boat.
    I was walking away when I heard Shifu saying "be carful."
    "don't talk to any strangers!" Splinter shouted to me.
    "stay safe!" Shifu shouted.
    "please......come home.....okay..." Splinter mumbled.
    I turned around still walking but now backwards waving. "I'll be fine, don't worry!" I smiled at them, brought my pointer finger and the middle on together to my head and gave a solute gesture, turned around, then ran to the ship.
    I snuck on the ship going to New York. I hid in the cargo. with me I had my backpack that had medication, a first aid kit, a blanket, food, and basic survival things. and as promised, splinter gave me a map to his home. there was a few times I was almost caught. the damn guard kept pointing his flashlight at me. after hiding for days in the dark the ship came to a stop. I looked out and quickly boarded off without being noticed.
    I looked around trying to find out where I was so I could know where to go next. I seen the lady of liberty so I looked for it on the map. after finding it I went to the streets to find the nearest man hole cover closest to their home. I was walking down the streets when I noticed something. New York is nothing compared to pictures online. the sandy did a number on new york. I will give it credit that it does look better then it did months ago but you can tell these people have been through a lot. I walked past a homeless woman who had children. she must have lost her home with the flood. I dropped a 5 dollar bill when I pasted her.
    I found the man hole cover in an ally and tried to lift it. that is, I tried. it was pretty much stuck. I picked up a piece of wood in the ally and tried to work it like a crow bar. I got the cover up and went inside. the smell was awful! I took out the map and a light. I followed its instructions until I got to a big metal door. I knocked on it. that was stupid because the place was meant to be dangerous. nothing happened. I then tried to slam in to the door. nothing happened. I tried pulling it open but nothing happened. I gave up and decided to wait for the turtles outside the door. I sat there in front of the door meditating.
    hours later i was too tired. i could not stay up any longer. i took out the blanket and wrapped up in it. i hoped that i would wake up when i heard something. but when i did wake up nothing happened. no one was around and the sun was up. i had to guess it was the next day. i put everything away and began meditating again.
    hours later the sun went down. i was beginning to worry about them. i hope they didn't get lost. splinter would kill me if i didn't come back with his sons. after waiting just awhile longer i heard something. i jumped up and grabbed a pipe and held on. i swung myself on top of it and waited. i heard some voices not too far from me that were coming closer. i have not thought of what to say to the turtles. i was trying to think of something to sat to them. but i didn't have enough time.
    "hey, leo, why don't we just pick up a pizza first and surprise splinta later?" i heard some gruff voice say with a brooklyn accent. I started to twitch.
    "because we are already almost home. whats the point of going back for a pizza then coming home? that would make splinter and probably everyone else wait longer." another voice said. this one didn't sound gruff. it was more soothing if anything. i guessed it was leo.
    "i just want to get off my feet..." another voice said. this one sounded lighter.
    "if i live another minute without video games i am going to lose my shell!" this voice sound like it belonged to a kid. most likely Mikey.
    "calm down, shell for brains. we're almost there." this voice sounded gruff Brooklyn accent like last time.
    looking down i seen 4 giant talking, walking turtles. one with a purple mask with a bow, one with a blue mask with katanas, another with a red mask with sais, and another with an orange mask that had nun chucks.  they were walking to the door and trying to open it. i was smirking because they couldn't either. i got down quietly and tapped the one with the blue mask on the shoulder. he jumped alittle and looked at me. "uhhh guys?" he said to the others. they looked at him then at me.
    "h-hi." i said shyly.
    "yea... hi." said the one with the red mask.
    "are you 4 splinter's s-sons?" i asked. i don't even know why i did. there shouldn't be too many mutant turtles walking around in the big apple.
    "yeah! are you tiffany or shifu?" asked the purple masked ninja.
    "yes, i-i-i'm tiffany. i-"
    "good." said the red masked one. "you can help us open the door then."
    "we cant go inside." i said. I twitched.
    "what? why not?" asked the blue masked one who was staring at me like he noticed.
    "well, i cant say... a-a-at least not here. we have to leave the sewers for me to tell you." i slowly said.
    "why?" asked the blue one. I twitched again.
    "it is not safe. s-s-...splinter told me to get you guys out of the sewers before i tell...tell you.......some.... news...." i couldn't look him in the eyes when i said that. I twitched again.
    "news? what news?" the purple one asked me.
    "i c-cant say until we are out."
    "well, we're not going anywhere until you tell us, twitchy." the red one snapped.
    "but i cant say yet! Splinter told me not to!" I started to twitch again.
    "too bad then." the one in red said. he banged on the door and it was beginning to dent.
    "no! its not safe in here." i blocked the door with my body still twitching. "please just trust me. what ever is inside here is something you don't want to see!"
    "whats inside?" asked the orange one.
    "I..... don't know... what it is exactly... but its not good!" i said. after i did i realized how stupid that sounded.
    "so, you don't want us to go in but go with you, someone we just met and trust you because something is inside that you don't even know about?" asked the blue one.
    "well, when you say it like that-" I scoffed.
    "just move." the red one said. he pushed me out of the way and hit the door more. finally it fell down. everyone went inside. i went in last. the place was dark, covered in cobwebs and smelled like something died in there. leatherhead... there was black gunk everywhere. each pile was covered in flies and maggots. "what the shell happened in here, tiff?" he asked. I twitched again.
    "we cant be in her- ahhh!" i slipped on something and when my vision came into focus i was staring at a crocodile head with its eyes wide open like it was shocked. it was covered in maggots and flies. as shamefully as it sounds, i may have maybe screamed like a girl a little. "AHHHHHH!!!" okay so lot like a girl...
    "tiffany? are you okay?" the blue one shouted to me. the one with the red mask came over and picked me up and stepped a few steps back. everyone came running.
    "yes, i am fine. I-I...I was just surprised." i said. i was blushing but thankfully it was too dark to tell. but Raph could tell I twitched again because he looked at me weird.
    "what is it, donnie?" the blue one asked.
    the one in the purple inspected it for a second. "leatherhead..." i said in almost a whisper.
    "what?!?" the one in the orange yelled. he got on his knees in front of it. "nooo..." i heard him say. "how?" he looked at me. "how do you know its him?!?" his voice cracked and i seen tears in his eyes.
    "i will tell you when we are safe." that is all i could say. i looked at the ground then back at the one in red. "you can put me down now."
    "oh! uhhh...sorry..." he said putting me down.
    "we have to look for splinter!" the one in blue shouted. the turtles walked around yelling for him until we heard shrike. we ran to the sound. it was the orange one. he was standing in front of a pair on legs still attached to the bottom of the torso covered in the same kind of flies and maggots. it smelled the worst of all the little piles. he was frozen in that spot, shaking.
    "it was Leatherhead!!!" the in the orange masked screamed. I twitched again.
    after a moment of silence I broke it."im so sorry, uhhhhh.......sir????" i tried to be sympathetic but i didn't even know his name.
    "right, you don't know our names do you?" the one in purple said.
    "i do. b-but i don't know which one is which."
    the blue one stepped forward and bowed. "i am Leonardo."
    the purple one stepped forward and bowed. "i am Donatello."
    the red one step forward with his arms crossed. "im Raphael and my brother over here," he motioned to the orange one "is Michelangelo."
    i bowed in respect. "it is an honor to meet you all. but please, let me lead you somewhere safe. I-I-I don't know why its unsafe but splinter told me to get you guys-s... out of here."
    "where is Splinter?" asked Donnie.
    "at my house."
    "and where is that?"
    "not here..." I giggled nervously.
    "funny." raph stated. "like we needed another Mikey."
    "what about april and casey?" leo asked.
    i didn't answer. i just looked at him hoping maybe he could figure out what i was trying to say without me having to say it. but he didn't. "i will tell you later." we walked around more and the one in the blue tapped my shoulder.
    "do you mind putting this in your bag for us?" he asked. he handed me a sheet of paper.
    "sure, but what is it?" he unfolded it and showed me. it had three words on it."sewer...sweet...sewer?" I put it in my backpack and stuck around the blue one. "this place is amazing."
    "it sure was. it looks better when the lights are on." he turned on the lights and the whole place powered up. it looked amazing. it felt like a home. there was a bridge in the middle of the room and a training room near by. you could see into the rooms. I could tell whos was whos. I walked around alone for a while. I stepped into Splinter's room and looked around. this orb began to glow in the corner of his room. I picked it up out of instinct. a mans image formed in the ball. I put it in the bag to return to Splinter. I stepped out and looked around some more. "wow..." I was really impressed.
    "you like?" Mike asked.
    "im impressed."
    "yeah. I think It looks better clean though..." he said while looking around.
    "I can imagine." Mikey left my side and I was again alone. I walked around and was on the bridge with my hands on the rail, looking into the water under it. I stared at my reflection trying to come to terms with the events of what happened here.
    "did you find anything?" leo asked.
    "an orb im bring back to Splinter."
    "he left without it? odd. that's how he communicates with Hamato Yoshi."
    "that must have been the man I seen inside of it."
    "yeah... what are doing?"
    "just thinking."
    "about?"
    "this place. I cant explain exactly what happened here now but I can assure you its horrible. life changing for you all. im so sorry, Leo. I wish it never happened. I know I would have never met you all if not so but if history was gracious, then you would have had a better memory of coming home."
    "why wont you tell us anything? its clear that you know whats going on." he said after awhile.
    "I told you, Splinter told me not to say anything until we are in a safe spot on the surface. he also told me not to let you guys in here! if I cant honor that wish I will make sure that I keep my mouth shut until we are up there." I said while pointing to the ceiling to jester to the streets.
    "nothing is in here. you can tell us." the purple one told us.
    "no I cant."
    "damn it! tell us! what happened to Leathahead? where is splinta? where is april and casey?" Raph started shouting.
    "I told you, I CANT!"
    "you betta give us some answers now!"
    "not until we are out! I will tell you everything you want to know but not hear. Splinter told me not to let you guys in here and I disobeyed him. I will keep my promise of not revealing anything to you down here." Raph grunted and walked off. me and leo walked away. "why are we even down here?"
    "you said something might be here. well, were looking for it."
    "alright then."
    "how old are you anyway? you seem kind of young to be here alone."
    "im 19."
    "you are? you look... never mind... do your parents know where you are?"
    "I don't talk to them so no."
    "sorry."
    "don't worry about it. we just don't see eye to eye so we don't speak to eachother. its a good thing."
    "I wouldn't be able to do that."
    "sometimes I wonder how I can. I don't hate them. I just cant talk to them. they want me to be like my sister but I cant be. that's her, not me."
    "I see."
    next thing we knew raph threw a chair at the wall. alarms went off and red lights began to flash. "WHAT THE FUCK POSSESED YOU TO MAKE YOU DO THAT?!? NOW STOCKMAN AND BISHOP KNOW WE'RE HERE!!!" I shouted. the walls began shooting something at us. "we have to leave now!"
    "fall back!" leo shouted.
    we were running to the door when raph tripped over leatherhead's head. i stopped and helped him up but midway up i felt something sharp hit my side. i gritted my teeth and held in my shout. "Donnie!" i shouted. he looked back at me where i pointed to something i spotted on the wall. it was a camera above the door. it was watching us the whole time! Donnie used his bow to knock it down and he brought it with us. finally we were all out and running. "where are we going?" Donnie asked.
    "out of the sewers. Splinter told me it would be safe once we were out." I answered.
    "funny. Splinter said never go top side and now he wants us to." Mikey said.
    we got to the nearest man hole cover and escaped to the streets. it was still day so we had to make sure that we were not caught. we climbed up the side of a building and were jumping roof tops. i almost fell a few times from the pain but i ignored it the best i could. after awhile we jumped into a window that belonged to a abandoned building. leo blocked the window with a large piece of wood in the room. the room was filthy and empty. there was light but not much of it. "what the shell just happened?" raph asked me. "how do you know them?"
    "well," I looked around for a moment "I believe we are safe now. i will tell you. splinter told me to tell you this so you could see why you had to follow me back to my home."
    "tell us what? where is splinta?" Raph's voice got real deep and threatening while he held up one of his sais in front of his face indicating he would use them. I took a step back and Leo stood in front of him blocking him from me.
    "a year after you left, casey was in a accident. a bad one...... he didn't....he didn't s-survive and a-a-awhile later april committed suicide by mistake while pregnant with casey's child." i stopped for a minute to let it soak in.
    "you mean there gone?" leo asked. i nodded. i sat on the floor and held my side. no one noticed thankfully.
    "y-yes. i am so sorry. april was trying to get rid of *twitch* a head a-ach. she didn't mean to o-overdose on pain killers."
    "we should have been here." raph said. we were sitting in a circle with them all looking at me.
    "you didn't know." i told him. "th-there is more." everyone leaned in. "a year after, 2 men from the government named stockman and bishop found splinter and leatherhead i-i-in your home. leatherhead died trying to save splinter. after he got away, s-sp...splinter ran for his life. *twitch* he got to Michigan when he passed out. i found him and nursed him back to hel-health. i told him he could stay. after awhile he offered to teach me how to de- *twitch* defend myself. i accepted. he told me t-to tell you this in hopes th-that i could earn some of your trust and you would c-c-come back with me to your father." they were looking at me in shock.
    "so, you mean this is bishop's fault?" leo asked. i nodded. my side was really stinging now. "well, we will come back with you, tiffany. I think its safe to trust you. you really don't look like someone who could do any harm anyway." he put a hand on my shoulder. he must have noticed my wincing to his touch because he then asked "hey, are you okay?"
    "i'll be fine." i said. "mikey?" he looked at me. "are you okay? you haven't said much."
    "i guess..." his stomach growled. "i could go for a pizza though. we haven't had it in 3 whole years!"
    "what about you, Raph? you tripped back there."
    "peachy." Raph answered. "its just what he did..."
"and April..." Donnie mourned. "she had a baby."
"what they did...what he took from you guys." I whispered in disbelief. "they were innocent. worst of all, it'll only happen again and again."
"of course, we are nothing to them." Leo looked to me. "but we cant back down."
"I will not back down."
"she meant something to me..." Donnie was looking to the floor.
"they need to understand we have voices too! for now, we can wait for peace. look for justice we have all been denied."
there was a loud growling sound. we all looked to Mikey. "what? I'm hungry..."
"alright." i said. "i'll go get some pizza." i started to stand up. "what do you guys li- AHHH" i fell to the ground in pain. i held on to my side.
    "tiffany!" leo shouted. "what happened?"
    Donnie rolled me over and removed my hands. "hey, guys, shes bleeding!" he lefted my shirt to just below my breasts to look at my side. "one of the bullets got her. we need something to get it out."
    "i have my bag." i told him. "inside... tweezers and gloves... first aid kit."
    he took off my bag and looked through it. while doing so raph was next to me. I was shaking from fear of that bullet being the kind that explodes like the one that killed Leatherhead. I stopped when i could feel Raph's hand on my arm. we stared in each others eyes for a moment before i looked away. they just stared at me. after a minute he found them. "raph, you have to hold her still." i felt raph's other hand on my upper thigh. "tiffany?" Donnie asked. i looked at him. "this is going to hurt but try to stay still." Donnie instructed. i nodded. "okay. 3.....2....1." i felt a sharp pain in my side again. i balled my hands in fists and held in my screams. my body jerked only a little bit against my will as I squeezed my eyes shut. Raph gripped on harder. "okay i think i have it." the pain grew stronger and i couldn't hold everything in anymore. I let out a cry in agony. I felt a hand go through I hair and pushing it out of my face. I looked up and seen it was Leo. he looked worried.  i grunted when Donnie pulled it out. "its out. we have to stop the bleeding." Leo grabbed some of the strips of cloths in the bag and pushed down my wound.
    "why didn't you tell us you were hurt?" asked leo.
    "i didn't think it was that bad!" I answered.
    "you were bleeding!" Mikey shouted.
    "i didn't know!" i was wrapped up in gauze a few minutes later. leo stood up and went to the window. i tried to sit up but raph stopped me. "leo, where are you going?" I asked.
    "i was just going to get some pizza." leo smiled at me. "don't worry."
    "how, may i ask, are you going to do that?" I asked.
    "relax." raph said. "we used ta get it all the time."
    with that said leo was gone.