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Leo scowled at the cowards as they fled from the alley before turning to the girl lying next to him. Sheathing his katanas, he instinctively checked her pulse. When she tried to speak, he whispered calmly to her that he would help her. Giving her the quick once-over, he carefully scooped her up in his arms and took to the rooftops, where the shadows shielded him from the blue and red lights bellowing loudly below.

Leo flinched as the girl's thin arms encircled his neck in a gentle squeeze. Her icy hands clung to him, like a frightened child. Though she looked almost as old as he was, if not so.

"Thank you," she whispered with a desperate gasp.

He slowed to a jog so as not to jostle her.

"Don't worry, you're going to be okay," he said softly.

Was she not afraid of him? Or was she just delirious from the trauma? Who wouldn't be after being attacked? This of course wasn't the first time that he had rescued someone from muggers, but it seemed different this time. He found it strange to hold someone so small, fragile, and seemly unfazed by his bizarre appearance. She weighed next to nothing and he was almost afraid that she would break if he held her too tightly.

"I'll take care of you, but I need you to stay awake, alright?"

She nodded to him as he came to a complete halt. Out of sight, he gently set her on the ground. Now that he could see her clearly, Leo felt his heart ache at the mere sight of her. She was thin, he could see almost every bone in herHer hair looked oily and matted like she hadn't washed it in weeks and her clothes were nothing but shreds of worn cloth tied together. However, he was more worried about the blood that soaked through her shirt.

The wound was still bleeding.

As if as in an answer to his thoughts, she whispered, "How bad is it?"

"This is going to sting a little. Just bear with me."

He hoped that she wouldn't later hate him for this. He torn off a large piece of her pant leg and pressed it against her wound to stop the bleeding. She winced and groaned quietly as the cloth pressed against her wound, but she didn't cry out. Her hand clamped around his in a tight squeeze. He switched hands, his left holding the cloth in place and his right holding hers. Her eyes were closed, and Leo was almost amazed as he saw a smile appear on her face.

Then her face contorted in pain and he realized he was pressing her wound a little too hard!

"Sorry! Sorry!" he whispered urgently, "I'll be more gentle."

She's in really bad shape. How can she possibly stay warm with nothing but these rags to wear?

Despite the small size of the wound, she was still bleeding out and fast! He decided that the best thing to do was get her to the hospital. Reaching into his belt, he pulled out his T-Phone and started to dial 911.

Suddenly the girl's eyes snapped open! She let go of his hand and tried to snatch his phone from him. Her lips muttered words that he couldn't hear.

"Hey! What's wrong?" he asked, leaning closer to hear her.

Her breathing increased and her eyes were wild with panic! "Please don't," she begged pleadingly, "Don't call the police...or the hospital!"

Leo held her hand between both of his. "Please calm down miss." He could see she was terrified, but he couldn't tell if it was because of him or something else.

"You're bleeding out miss. I need to get you somewhere safe."

She shook her head. "No! Nowhere is safe! They will know it is me and... and hurt my brother and sister!"

Leo, shocked, leaned closer to her so his voice was barely a whisper. "Who? Who will hurt them?"

"I-I just can't go there! They...WILL find me."

Leo was even more worried now. She was simply beside herself and borderline hysterical! "You're seriously injured. I have to take you somewhere,"he explained.

He didn't understand, and he was still considering his options when she did something very unexpected.

She took his hand in both of hers, and pressed it to her heart."Please promise me...you won't. Take me...take me anywhere! Anywhere where they won't find me! Just promise that you won't take me to the hospital or tell the police. Please...you have to promise me! Promise!" With each "promise", her hands squeezed his tighter and tighter.

Leo's own heart jumped, and his face softened with concern as he finally understood. He placed his hand over hers, squeezing it gently and placed a small peck on her knuckles. "Alright, I promise. I'll take you to my place. I have someone there who can fix you up. No will know that you are there. Is that okay?"

Her breathing slowed and she calmed down immediately. She sighed shakily and a large genuine smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Thank you, thank you,"she murmured, and he swore he saw a large tear fall down her face.

Her head lolled to the side. Her eyes rolled backwards as she went limp as a rag doll in his arms.

I glared at the red clad turtle, a smirk creeping onto my face at his words!

"Stupid orphan?" I laughed, dripping sarcasm like a running faucet. "Yes….I guess I am. Both my parents are dead.."

"Tess..." Leo whispered.

"...So that DOES make me an orphan."

My blood was simmering to a boil, my hands shook uncontrollably as I felt rage flaring in my gut.

Before I could react, Raphael was stomping his way across the pit floor in my direction like an angry bull!

"Raph!" All four of them yelled in unison, the uttering of his name falling on deaf ears.

Leo, previously helping treat Donnie next to the couch away from me, was across the floor. His hand planted firmly against Raphael's plastron, forbidding him to move further.

"That's enough Raphael!" Leo retorted, both of them staring daggers at each other, "You are taking this WAY too far! Now back OFF!"

Turning on my feet and wincing the entire way, I pushed through the turnstiles and ran. As loud shouts erupted behind me, I tore away into tunnel. Away from them. Away from Leo.

Maybe I was being selfish, but that anger was all I could feel. I wanted so badly to simply shriek! Yet nothing came out.

Without looking back at the shocked faces that trailed after me, I started to feel the returning pain in my back as it seared with greater intensity.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME RAPHAEL," I screamed in my head, "And of course, how could you!? You take every privilege you have in your possession for granted. You have a roof over your head, all the food you can ever eat. You have freedom, no fear that you or your siblings, your family may die the next day. You don't have cry yourself to sleep with the awful memory of your parents being SHOT AND KILLED, RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! It's horrific and I can never not see it again. You have a parent! A father who can love you! You have everything, and that's more than neither me or my siblings can ever have again!"

I ran, and felt as if I couldn't stop. Anger was coursing through me like a bullet. I had forgotten my lashings or the stinging pang in my gut from hardly eating anything for the last few days. It's what I get when I forked over almost my whole share to Kat and Joven. It didn't matter. I was no stranger to pain.

I just kept running. Running and thinking. Trying to sort through all that had just happened, everything that happened since we were taken away from our home and now learning that our captors are more than just drooling drunk slavedrivers.

Only now did I realize, I had no idea where I was going.

Where am I running away to? Why am I running away? I must have looked so pathetic after that scene that I just made. I withheld the truth and deceived him. If there is anything I should be doing, I should be groveling at his feet begging for his forgiveness.

I found myself wishing that Leo would be right behind me. So that I could ask him to forgive me. Everything about how we've lived for the past month, Cher and Allen, the hard labor. I wanted to spill everything!

I should have told Leo about my siblings and asked him for his help the moment he arrived at my roof. All this drama could have been avoided! Raph can think however he wants of me, but Leo has saved me and my family from starving to death. I trust him. It shouldn't have taken this long for me to come to terms with that. Leo is my friend! The first REAL friend outside the slums I've had since my parents died.

"Leo...I can't tell you how sorry I am for all this nonsense. I'm so so sorry."

The lashings on my back start to sting again. I must have reopened the wounds. Even the way I was running away from my actions was stupid. Now I'll be dealing with sticky warm blood running down my back. I'll be lucky if they don't get infected.

"Your brother Raphael, is right Leo. I really am a stupid orphan. I was stupid not to trust you, to tell you the truth about me. It was stupid how I just let my siblings endure torment after torment because I was too frightened to chance finding some sort of refuge on the streets. It was stupid..."

I can feel the tenuous new skin that was trying to heal tearing as I run. It feels like a knife cutting through them. Finally, I can't stand it anymore. My legs are almost completely out of energy and before I can slow down, the toe of my shoe catches on something. I cover my face with my arms and I roll onto the concrete. I manage to pull myself up to the wall so that I can sit up against it, trying to keep my tender back from pressing right up against it. I try to rub away the pain of the scrapes on my arms.

I am not sure how long I just lay down in I am too tired to run anymore. I might as well just wait here and get my strength back. If I try to find my way back, I'll just get lost again.

Sorry Kat, sorry Joven. I'm not going to be home in time for dinner tonight.

"Pst! Hey!" A voice whispers.

I move out of the light on the side of the tunnel. It's so dark, I can hardly see anything.

"Wait! Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to help."

I bite my lip. I can't see who it is, but the voice is soft and definitely belongs to a male. But it's not Leo's. I don't think I can outrun him. He's probably a lot faster than me, but I have to try. Stupidly, I answer him."I don't know who you are, but I don't trust you."

"Don't be afraid. I want to help you."

My hands press against the wall to lift myself up, hissing at the stinging on my back. "Real convincing, whoever you are. And it just so happens that you knew where I would be? All alone? In an abandoned subway tunnel?"

"You're a sharp one...TF99," his voice now devious and dripping with malice.

A figure emerges into the light. A man, with a face I know all too well, steps towards me. He's covered from head to toe in black leather. His left hand is gloved, but in his bare right hand holds a gun. Glock 40 cal. I can feel the color draining from my face when I see his right arm more clearly...bearing the mark of a wicked purple snake-like dragon.

No doubt about it. And to think that at one point that I doubted him, believed him not to be like the others. I'm so angry, I throw him a glance and a humorless laugh. "Flattery, just what I would expect from a Purple Dragon."

"What did you expect you little rat? That I came here to give you an award for your little escape attempt? I was ordered to shadow you and report back. But I think even a man as testy as my boss would forgive me for breaking orders if I was to bring you back, unscathed of course. You, however, can very well expect more than just lashings in your future."

I need to get out of here. If I can't, my brother and sister and all the other children will never escape that underground prison.

"Yeah, sure. If you can catch me."

I tear off past him. The wind of a swinging fist just grazes my neck!

I run as fast as I can.

I can't stop to take a breath or it will be the end of me, the end of Katherine and Joven, and pretty much the end of the lives of all the children enslaved by the Purple Dragons! Leo won't know where to find them without me! I need to get to him. But first, I need to get this maniac off my tail.

The tunnel seems to have no end! I can hear his large footsteps getting closer.

Why hasn't he shot me with his gun yet? He could have done it already. He did say that his boss wanted me alive, so he's probably been ordered not to hurt me. But that doesn't mean he won't try.

A door! As if in an answer to my prayers, I round the corner into the next corridor to see a closed door and hoping that it wouldn't be locked.

I snatch the handle, a little taken aback about how heavy it is when I yank on it. Suddenly, a blast of freezing cold air hits skin. It almost too dark to see, but I'd rather take my chances on hiding than outrunning that guy. I rush inside and out of the dim light coming from the open door. Something wet, cold, and stiff touches my back.

Smells like...meat? I'm in a meat locker.

I see a shadow from the doorway and duck out of sight.

"Did you seriously think you could waltz in here and expect me to come along quietly with you? I may as well have signed my death warrant."

The acoustics are really strange in here, with the cooling units running it is a little difficult to determine exactly where he is. I can faintly hear his footsteps, but several feet away.

"The more you run Tess, the more you can expect an excruciating punishment."

This guy is nuts! If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that line. I'd be a millionaire.

I wait for several moments and don't hear anything. I tiptoe away behind another slab of meat, the sound of his feet carrying away close to where I was hiding seconds ago. His monotone voice calls to me again. "It's no use hiding Tess. If you would have come along peacefully, the boss would go easier on you. You've only made it harder for yourself."

"Screw you!" Crud! Now he knows where I am!

My legs feel numb, and but the sound of that boy's footsteps pursuing me presses me further.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, and I want you to give your boss this message! I am coming to save them, everyone he's tortured! All of them, you hear me?"

My hands are out in front of me. I can barely hear his footsteps anymore. Has he stopped? It's completely quiet. He could come up right behind me and I wouldn't know it.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't realize that I completely played him. If I could throw him off, pretend to hide behind the meats, he'd think he had the upper hand. I can slip out behind him. He gave up a defensible position to pursue me instead of keeping me cornered.

My heart skipped a beat when my hand finally found the cold surface of the wall. The handle! I'll lose him in the streets if I can make it out of here.

As the door flug open, a soft whisper breathed against my neck.

"Gotch ya, you little devil."