Sorry, I haven't updated in a while. I've been super busy and haven't had time to proofread this chapter. Anyway, again, ignore my excuses and enjoy reading!

~Jade~

After a nice shower, my wet hair was in a bun and I was on my way to work. I was passing by an alley when I heard two male voices. It sounded like a heated argument. I slowed my pace and listened in.

"You paid half. Now, give me the rest of the money, you dick. It's time you stopped playing hide and seek" the first male voice said

"Hiding? You're the one that's hiding. I got the money" he said "But you're not gettin' it until you give me my other half" the second male voice replied. It took me by surprise when I realized it was Eli's voice.

I looked inside the alley to see Eli with a nasty cut on his head. The other guy shoved Eli against the wall and punched his stomach. I followed my gut instinct and ran to intervene. I pulled on the other guy's shoulder. "Hey, stop it!" I demanded, pulling him away. Eli put a hand to his forehead and shook his head. "Are you okay?" I asked. I held his arm to steady him as he stood up straight and glared at the other guy.

"The gloves are off" Eli retorted, as he stepped towards the other guy. I put my arm across his chest to stop him.

"Fine by me" he said, before looking at me "You're lucky your girlfriend's here to save your ass" he added

Eli shoved my arm away and grabbed the other guy by his throat. "Eli!" I shouted, but he didn't listen to me.

The other guy was slowly turning red as Eli choked him harder. "If you even think about coming near her…" Eli started "You're going in a body bag"

I pulled Eli away by his shoulder. It wasn't easy, he was stronger than I was and taller. "Eli, that's enough. Let him go, you're gonna kill him" I said, tugging on his shoulder.

He looked at me for a brief moment, but finally released the guy's neck. Eli stood in front of me. The guy massaged his neck and pointed a finger in Eli's face. "This isn't over yet, Jameson. You better watch your back" he said

I stood in front of Eli and glared up at the guy. "And you better watch yours" I said threateningly

He didn't blink, instead he turned to walk out the other end of the alley. Eli leaned against the wall and pressed his hand to his forehead. "Where did that come from?" he asked "I never thought you could do intimidating" he added

I turned and put my hands on my hips "When you're a ninja, you kinda have to be. Now it just comes to me naturally" I explained "Now my turn to ask the questions, what the hell was that all about? Who was that guy?" I asked

"A hothead with a gambling addiction" he explained "Nothing serious"

"Oh yeah, he nearly beat you to a pulp and threatened you, nothing serious at all" I said sarcastically "What's going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?" I asked

"It's none of your business. I can handle it myself" he said

I watched as a trail of blood went down the side of his face. "You're bleeding" I pointed out unnecessarily

He swiped his hand against the side of his face. "It's just a scratch" he said dismissively. He stepped forward and stumbled. I grabbed his arm before he can hit his head against the dumpster.

"C'mon, I'll help you" I said, putting his arm around my neck. I hope we had a first aid kit somewhere in the shop. It was just around the block. Ryan was cleaning the windows from outside his shop. At first he looked confused, but then he saw the cut on Eli's head. "He got in fight. Please tell me you have a first aid kit around here"

He opened the door for us as I helped Eli get inside and sat him in a chair. Ryan walked behind the counter to find the first aid kit. He groaned as he put his arms on the table and rested his head on his hands. "Aw, my head…" he groaned. I hit his arm hard, causing him to sit up. "Ow! You hit really hard, you know that?" he stated

Ryan came back with the first aid kit and put it on the table. "I can take it from here" I assured him

He nodded before looking at Eli. "You alright?" he asked

"Hey, I'm safe in her hands" he replied, looking at me.

Ryan raised an eyebrow. "I meant your head"

"He knew that" I said, as I took out clean gauze and dabbed some rubbing alcohol on it. Ryan nodded to me and walked in the back. I barely got the gauze to touch his forehead when he grabbed my wrist and held it at arm's length. "Hold still" I told him, pulling his hand away. I ran the gauze over his cut, causing him to flinch. "You're such a baby"

"Hey, I've been through worse pain. It's been a while though" he said

"Well, since we're on the topic of pain…" I started

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy seeing me getting my butt kicked" he muttered

"Unfortunately, I didn't" I replied, pulling away the gauze and sat with my arms crossed. "Though I would like to know why you did what you did and you know, I don't mean the fight"

I stood up and walked back in the kitchen to find an ice pack in the freezer. When I came out again, Eli was looking at his reflection in a spoon. I handed him the ice pack and sat back down across from him. He gave me a small smile as he pressed the ice pack to his forehead. I shrugged. "Why'd you leave?" I asked indifferently

He sighed. "I don't know, Jade…" he started

I turned my head and shook it. I was looking for a different answer.

"I mean, ever since what happened with…" he looked behind him o make sure no one was eavesdropping before looking back at me. "Ever since what happened with our son, I just thought there wasn't any reason for staying" he explained.

This was how we always talked. Instead of saying 'since the fire' or 'since our son died' we say 'since what happened'. It was too painful for us to talk about, especially me. I had been with JJ longer than Eli had. I shrugged. "So you just got up and left" I stated

"I hate what I did, okay?" he said "I shouldn't have left you to mourn him by yourself. I was thinking about what I had to do. The only reason we were hiding on that island was to protect our son and get away from that Shredder guy you told me about. I thought after what happened we didn't have to hide anymore"

"You thought you didn't have to hide anymore" I corrected

Eli frowned "What?" he asked, confused.

I shrugged. "Shredder could care less about you. He thought I was dead, so I had to stay in hiding" I said calmly "At first I thought maybe you needed some space and to be alone for a while. It hadn't been a week since our son was murdered and you just ran off. Look, I don't care that you did, I just wanted to know why" I finished, standing up. Eli stood up too and blocked my way.

"If I could do it over, you know I would. I wish I stayed and helped you. I know that fire still haunts you"

I pointed my finger at his face. "Don't mention that fire" I said icily, fury in my eyes. My anger was starting to get the best of me. I exhaled slowly through my mouth, trying to relax. It didn't help so much. I had to meditate more often. Finally I managed to calm down, somewhat. "Besides, you're too late. You can't help anymore, I healed myself" I explained coolly, slowly lowering my hand. I walked past him to get my apron.

"You think I wasn't mourning him too?" he asked "He was our son."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Eli. I forgive you for disappearing into thin air, but getting back with you is probably not a good idea for me" I said truthfully.

"Why? Because your dad and your master don't approve of me?" he said it in a way as if he was accusing me of something.

"This isn't about them" I said sharply. When I came to that island with my son, my master didn't approve of Eli anymore than Kelsey's father did. Though, my master was at least able to tolerate him since he was JJ's father.

Eli stepped toward me, closing whatever space we had between us. "Then what?" he asked impatiently

I stared up at him as he stared back. I wasn't intimidated by him. I never was, never will be. "How do I know you won't do it again?"

He blinked and stepped back in amazement at what I said. "You don't trust me" he stated

I sighed. "I never said that" I told him

"You didn't have to" he said, walking towards the door.

"Eli, you're head…"

"I don't need your help" He stopped and looked back at me "Next time you see me getting jumped, don't bother coming to my rescue" he said before walking out.

"I'm not planning on it" I retorted angrily. I flipped the Close sign to 'Open' on the front window. I walked towards the kitchen and prepared fresh coffee and other whatnot for the day. This day couldn't end soon enough.

O-0-o

I dropped my bag in the corner. I was early and the lair was quiet. My red tank top and yoga pants were clean and smelled like linen. I hadn't had much time to do laundry, so I quickly grabbed whatever clothes I found lying around along with my ninja suit and threw them in the washing machine. I was too angry to care about whether or not I was wearing the same clothes I had worn the day before. I pulled on my fingerless gloves and headed over to Raph's punching bag. Whether he minded or not, I didn't care. Right now I felt really violent. I wanted to punch something. I ran towards the punching bag. The locket was hitting against my chest. I used all the strength in my legs and jumped up as I kicked an exceptional side kick. I punched the bag with everything I had. I did a double punch combo with a spinning roundhouse kick. I did multiple combos and made up some of my own. My fourth knuckle began to turn red. I didn't care and I continued to punch. I don't know how many minutes went by when I started huffing like a dog with my hands on my knees.

"Turn yer wrist more"

I turned my head to see Raph standing behind me. "What?" I panted; sweat just began forming on my head.

He walked over to me. "Turn yer wrist more. Gives ya a more full punch" he said as he demonstrated a punch on the bag.

He moved to the side to let me try. "I don't tell you how to fight, you don't tell me how to punch" I said sharply. Raph didn't say any good comeback. He just chuckled as I continued to beat the bag to a pulp like he tried to do the day before.

"Someone's obviously not in a good mood"

I stopped for a minute when I felt my gut jerk. I turned around to grabbed Raph's wrist and thrust it downward before his sai hit me between the eyes.

He pulled his hand away and jumped several feet back. He crossed his weapons in front of his face. "Wanna talk 'bout it?"

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my katana out of my bag and lunged towards him. Our weapons collided. Right now, my sword had more control over his. "No offense Raph, but you're the last person I'd talk to about my problems"

"Ouch" he said, kicking my feet out from under me.

"Take it as a compliment" I suggested "I'm not a huge talk-about-it kind of girl anyway. Just trying to blow off some steam" I ran and did a spinning kick, knocking both sais out of his hands.

"How 'bout hand to hand combat instead" Raph suggested

I threw my sword aside and held up both of my hands. "Now you're talking my language"

He threw a punch at my head, I blocked it with my forearm and twisted his arm behind his back. I pushed my knee against his shell and pinned him on the ground. He turned to his side and pushed me away. Raph and I continued to spar. I eventually was able to pin his arm behind his back, but he flipped me over and pinned my shoulders to the ground. He stepped back as I stood up again. I tied my hair up. My anger had finally cooled off. "You're not bad for a turtle" I said, as I took out a water bottle from my bag.

"You ain't too bad yerself for a girl" he said, rotating his arm backwards. I might've twisted a little too hard. He walked towards the kitchen and I followed.

"What can I say? I love a good fight" I replied, leaning against the table.

"Ya like fightin'?" he asked, though he said it more like a statement. He meant it more like a statement.

I shrugged as I pulled my water bottle away from my lips. "I guess, yeah. Fighting comes naturally to me. It's all instinct" I replied, tapping my temple. "By the way, thanks for letting me blow off some steam"

"Hey jus' call Raph ta help ya blow off some steam" he said, half-jokingly "Especially when yer thinkin' 'bout yer ex"

I sighed. "Is it that obvious?" I asked

He chuckled. "Oh yeah" he said, not helping me feel any better "I'm jus' disappointed you were smashin' my punchin' bag and not his face"

"What's that suppose to mean?" I asked

Raph shrugged his shoulders again and walked next to me. "I don't know Jade. There's jus' somethin' 'bout that guy tellin' me he's bad news"

"Well he's definitely stubborn" I muttered. "Sometimes I really get the urge to just throw a vase at his head"

He glanced at me and grinned. "That bad, huh?" he said amusingly

"He just really got on my nerves this morning" I said shortly.

I heard shuffling in the dojo. I began to walk out the kitchen when Raph grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

"I'm not kiddin', Jade" he said seriously "There's somethin' wrong with yer baby daddy" he told me

I frowned. "You met him once" I pointed out. He let go of my shoulder and we walked out the kitchen. Don was sitting at his lab table with a pencil behind his ear. I walked over to him and saw he was studying the book he took from Shredder, the one with the passage about me dying in a fire. "What're you doing, Don?" I asked.

"Studying the symbols" he replied "These symbols tell something different than this passage"

"It's just a bunch of dumb symbols, Don. It's not like they mean anything" I said, sipping my water

"Maybe they do. Kelsey's been helping me crack them. I think we might be close" he said

I spat out my water and glared at him. "Kelsey? My sister Kelsey?"

"Yeah…" he said, confused by my outburst. I saw him blink behind his mask as he came to a realization. "Oh no, don't worry she has no idea that your name's even in here, I swear. Not a clue" he said

"Not making me feel any better" I muttered "Do you have any idea what'll happen if she realizes it's about me?!"

"Hey, hey, calm down. Trust me, as far as Kelsey knows, this is just some random book I found when we moved in here" he assured "This is what we figured out so far…" he continued, pointing at the symbols.

"Don, I swear if those symbols have as much as my written in there somewhere, I will burn that book" I said warningly. I knelt down next to his desk as he pointed out the first line of symbols for me. The first image was of two stick figures and one of them had a Foot symbol behind it. The second symbol was one much smaller stick figure.

"This one…" Don started, tapping at the image of two stick figures "…is you and Eli. I'm guessing the one with the Foot symbol behind it is you"

"Since I worked for the Shredder" I finished, looking over the first line. "Then that would mean this is my son?" I guessed, pointing at the second image. Don nodded his head.

"Guys!" Leo called "Patrol, let's go" he said, running towards the chamber door.

O-0-o

"Hey Leo, don't you think going on patrol is kinda pointless now? Shredhead's gone" Mikey reasoned

"I know, but we still have Purple Dragons and robbers running around" Leo pointed out

We jumping from roof to roof and like many of our other recent patrols we found nothing. In a way it was strange. Almost like everyone went into hiding since Shredder was out of the picture. I was getting the feeling like the Foot ninjas were planning something like a surprise attack to avenge their master. It was probably a long shot or maybe it was just my paranoia talking. I was beginning to get a bad feeling about how quiet it was. For some reason, something in my gut was telling me to turn around. We continued to run and Leo threw in a few exercises for us to do. I didn't participate. Something was bothering me. I decided to go with my gut feeling and ran back. The turtles gave me a brief confused look as to why I began running back. I stopped on one building and looked across the street. There was an apartment on the fourth floor that had shattered glass all over the fire escape. I jumped down in the street before climbing up the ladder of that building. Once I reached the fourth floor, I stood cautiously on the fire escape. One hand was on the hilt of my sword. I felt a swoosh and I knew the turtles were crouched on the rail behind me.

"Uh, Jade…?" Mikey started

"Shh!" I said sharply as I walked through the broken sliding door. It was pitch black and I caught the strong stench of blood. The glass crunched underneath my boot. Don stepped inside first and slowly felt his hands against the wall, trying to find a switch. "Watch where you step" I told them quietly

There was a small click and the lights came on. I heard someone groan. The turtles widened their eyes. I looked down to see someone lying on the floor with their arm covered in blood.

"Eli?!" I shouted, throwing down my sword and kneeling down next to him. "Oh my god, what happened?!"

He tried to sit up, but I reached over and put a firm hand on his uninjured shoulder to keep him down. Don came down next to me and examined his injured shoulder, which was obviously stabbed. The blood soaked Eli's light blue shirt.

"What'd you need, Don?" Leo asked seriously

"Okay, gauze, towels, rubbing alcohol and hot water" he listed

Raph, Mikey, and Leo ran in different directions to find the supplies Don required. I supported Eli's head with both my hands so he looked at me. "Eli? Eli, look at me. Who did this to you?" I asked frantically. He was pale. "Donny?"

"He lost a lot of blood, he might be unconscious. Try talking to him, don't let him fall asleep"

I patted the side of Eli's face. "C'mon Eli, don't do this. Wake up!" I half shouted, giving him a rough pat on his cheek. He flinched and then he groaned. His eyes looked around the room for a moment before he found my face. Raph, Leo, and Mikey came back with everything Don asked for.

"Jade?" Eli managed to say. "What're you doing here?"

"I saw the mess from across the street" I said shortly, before my eyes fell back on his stab wound "What happened?" I asked again

He groaned. "S-Some guy broke in through the window and stabbed me"

I lifted his head and grabbed a cushion from the couch before placing it behind his head. I squeezed his hand assuringly.

"Where'd he go?" Leo asked him

"I don't know I blacked out after that" Eli explained, trying to move.

"He's gonna be fine. We have to clean his wound" Donny explained, pouring alcohol on a towel and pressing it to his shoulder.

I squeezed his hand. I tugged off the already ripped sleeve from Eli's arm. What surprised me was that his entire arm was bandaged except for his shoulder where he was stabbed. I watched as Don wrapped his shoulder in more bandages. He had to put on a few layers because they kept bleeding through. Eli was panting in relief by the time he was done. In the process, I had my hands covered in blood because of the small puddle around him. He was still pale. "How do you feel?" I asked.

"Peachy" he replied in a slight murmur.

I checked his pulse. It was normal for the most part, but then again I wasn't a doctor. I looked up at Leo, I knew right now probably not the best time to ask him questions. He gave me an understanding look and nodded. "We have to find who did this" I said, standing up. Eli grabbed my wrist with his other hand.

"Jade…don't go" he managed to groaned.

I widened my eyes in shock. I felt my cheeks grow warm. Luckily, my mask concealed it, but I didn't know why I was blushing. Though, I knew we couldn't leave Eli since he was this injured. I glanced at the four of them. "You guys gonna be okay?" I asked, concerned

"Yeah," Leo said "We'll come back and let you know if we find anything" he added

I nodded and watched as the four of them jumped down the fire escape. I grabbed Eli's good arm and wrapped it around my neck. I carefully stood him up and sat him down on the couch. I made him some coffee and cleaned all the broken glass. Once I was done, I sat down in front of him. "Any idea who did this to you?" I asked

Eli swallowed the hot drink. "I know what you're thinking. It wasn't that guy I fought in the alley"

"Are you sure?" I asked seriously "Who else would do this to you?"

He shrugged his shoulder. "I don't know. I think they were after me though, because they didn't steal anything"

"You're not making me feel any better" I muttered

He put down his cup of coffee and pulled the comforter up to his elbow. I figured this stabbing was the last thing he wanted to think about, so I decided to change the subject. By the time 11:30 rolled around the turtles still hadn't returned and Eli had dozed off. I was getting a little drowsy myself. I turned off the lights and sat down on the opposite couch. I was about to close my eyes when I saw Raph crouched on the rail outside. I quietly stood up and walked outside to him. "Did you find anything?" I asked

He shook his head. "Nothin'. C'mon, let's go" he said

"Raph, I'm gonna stay here for the night" I told him

He glared at me. "Are you insane?" he demanded "What if this guy comes back?"

I put my hands on my hips. "That's why I'm staying, what if this guy comes back to finish the job?"

"He'll survive the night" Raph said shortly

I glared at him. "Did you not see his stab wound?" I demanded

"Jade, I don't trust him. An' I don't like the thought of ya stayin' here with him any bettah. C'mon" he said seriously

"Someone has to stay here, Raphael" I said crossing my arms

Raph groaned and hit his forehead. "Yer not makin' this any easier" he replied

"I'm a ninja, remember? I can take care of myself" I said. Raph didn't seem convinced. "Look, if you're worried about me then—"

"Don't flatter yerself. I ain't worried" he interrupted "I jus' don't trust that guy any more than I like 'im"

"Then trust me" I said. I sat on the rail next to him. "That's how we became friends in the first place right? Look, I don't know why you think Eli might be some sort of threat, but I don't think he'd hurt me"

"Jus' cuz yer the mother of his kid?" he pointed out

I shrugged. "Maybe" I said "I know it's a naïve thought, but I don't think he will. Besides, it's not like I'm moving in with him. I'm only staying with him until he can move around again"

Raph glanced inside Eli's apartment and grumbled something before looking back at me. "I'm takin' yer word for it" he replied before climbing up the fire escape ladder.

I sighed and headed back inside. That turtle…

End of Chapter 30.

What do you guys think? Please review!