Chapter 3: A Matter of Trust

They didn't take her…because she's one of them…Raphael's voice boomed fiercely as he came storming out of Erin's bedroom and threw something at Rae's feet, his chest heaving and tense as though he was ready to fight. She glanced down to see pictures spilling out of a folder of her parents with black X's drawn over their faces, and a picture of her with the words "Target Acquired." She stared down, feeling Leo's arms tighten protectively. "You've been living with a Foot member this whole time. It's not safe here. It's never been safe here." Raphael's deep voice shook her as she continued to stare at the lies she had been living with for the last six months.

"Rae?" she heard the gentle voice above her, the chest against her cheek vibrating from the sound.

"Leo…" she mimicked, staring at nothing.

"We need to get you to safety. They didn't find you this time, but they will if we don't leave here now." His voice grew firm and resolute, and he took her hand. "Rae! Did you hear me? We need to go."

"My house…my things…" she spoke, trying to be realistic in her own mind. "What about Pongo?"

"Your life is more important than any of that," Donnie reasoned. Raphael shifted from one foot to another anxiously. "And as for Pongo, we can take him with us." Mikey smiled brightly at that as he continued to stroke the Border Collie's head. Pongo was leaning into his hand and panting.

"Look, Rae…we get it…when your home is destroyed, it's hard…" Raphael spoke gruffly, though not rudely. "We've been there."

"We can give you five minutes to gather up the things you need to and then we need to take you out of here," Leo continued.

"Where are you going to take me?" she asked, her voice almost nonexistent.

"Our home. You will be safe there with us and our father," he answered. She finally looked up into Leo's face, and he stared right back down at her.

"The sewer?" she guessed. "You still live there?" When he nodded, she bit her trembling lip to keep it still. It took her a moment, but she finally nodded back. Leo released her from his hold, but just when she felt her body growing cold again, he slipped his fingers through hers. She grasped his hand with hers and looked up at him.

"It's okay. I'll be right by your side," he encouraged. She led him through the apartment, hesitating at her bedroom door. When she felt his squeeze her hand ever so slightly, it gave her enough courage to step back into the disaster zone and glance around. Leo watched her carefully to make sure she wouldn't get upset again, and when she moved again, he followed close behind.

"There goes my security deposit refund," he heard her mutter under her breath. He stared at her then, tilting his head in confusion as she grabbed a bag and began to pack up whatever clothes and necessities she could fit in it. Leo let her go so that she could use both of her hands to go through her belongings.

"Security deposit?" he asked her blankly. Rae turned to smile at him momentarily, her hair falling across her face as she looked at him. He felt his heart skip a beat. She looked so beautiful standing in front of him.

"It's money you put down right when you buy an apartment to ensure that you won't trash the place. And if you do, that's the money that pays for the repairs. Sometimes, you can get the money refunded as long as you keep the place in amazing shape…" She drifted off, gesturing around her. "I'm not getting a penny of that $500 back…" She became silent, moving around the room to collect things she felt were important, and his heart clenched at the sight of her picking up a photograph of her with her parents. He took a step towards her but stopped, letting her be for a bit. She stared at it and then looked up at Leo.

"I don't understand…" she finally spoke up. "I don't understand why they are after my family…we haven't done anything…" Leo gazed at her with grave empathy.

"That's what we have to find out. Why was your family so important to the Foot? The faster we get back to the lair, the faster we can answer those questions." He nodded his head towards the door and reached for her hand. She allowed him to take hold of her fingers again and grabbed her bag with her free hand, closing it and slinging it onto her back before walking back out into the living room with him. The other three jumped up from where they sat or leaned against walls, on alert once more. Pongo jumped up, his tail wagging and his ears perked up to face his owner.

"Ready?" Raphael asked her, bouncing from one foot to the other and rotating his shoulders. She grabbed the folder from the ground and shoved it into her bag, wanting to look at it further. Mikey pushed open the windows to her fire escape and moved outside, immediately jumping over the side. Rae began to run towards him, her eyes wide.

"It's okay. We land on our fee…" Leo began to stop her when they heard a loud crash on tin and a loud "Crap!" below. He walked onto the fire escape and peered down to see Mikey laying on top of a pile of smashed trash cans. The leader started to laugh, waving Raphael over. Pretty soon, everyone was laughing as they stared down at the clumsy youngest brother.

"Okay, most of the time we land on our feet," Leo corrected himself, still chuckling. Raegan took the stairs, Pongo running on her heels, as the rest of the brothers jumped and leapt nimbly over the side to land next to their brother. Donnie pulled Mikey to his feet and clapped him on the shoulder, shaking his head with another laugh.

Leo helped Rae down from the last two steps, as they were rusty and probably would've collapsed underneath her weight. She felt his hands on her hips as he lifted her off the stair and then lowered her down to the ground in front of him. Her skin warmed to his touch through the shirt, and she swallowed hard. He had set her down, yet his hands lingered there against her for a long minute. He stared at her face, which was turning pink, and he smiled at how soft and feminine she looked and felt.

"Thank you," she stated, sounding out of breath.

"Of course," he responded, his fingers gripping her a little tighter until they heard a moan of pain and broke apart. Rae let out a breath she was holding and walked over to Mikey, putting a hand worriedly on his head.

"Are you okay?" she wanted to know, checking him for any injuries. In response, Mikey gave a friendly laugh and picked her up, spinning her around. She gasped in surprise before her face lightened up.

"I am awesome, my little Rae of sunshine!" he cooed, and she laughed good-naturedly at him. "Get it?"

"Got it," she giggled, her eyes sparkling at him as he set him down.

"I'm always okay! Especially when I'm around gorgeous ladies such as yourself," he continued to flirt shamelessly.

"The jury's still out on that," Raphael watched Mikey with annoyance. He stole a glimpse at Leo, who was staring at the smiling Rae with affection in his eyes. "Hey, Romeo! We've got to keep moving before someone sees us!" Leo snapped back to reality and nodded at him. Mikey picked up the dog and held him close, laughing when the dog licked his face.

"He likes me!" Rae smiled at the youngest brother.

"He loves attention," she replied.

"Let's go!" Leo moved ahead in a flash, and everyone followed. Rae admired his leadership skills as he maneuvered his team with Rae through back streets and through the darkness and shadows where no one could see them. They couldn't move as quickly as usual, though, because of her being with them.

"Okay, opening to the sewer coming up right around this corner! This line will take us straight home!" Donnie reported, glancing at the mini computer on his arm. Leo gave a brusque nod to show that he heard him and fell back until he was running beside the blonde young woman.

"How are you doing?" he asked her, worried that they were going too fast for her.

"I haven't run like this in a long time. I feel great right now," she admitted truthfully with an excited smile. He smiled back at her, his blue eyes gleaming. She had to force herself to stop staring at them and focused back on running. When they all arrived at the sewer, Raph used his strength to pop off the manhole cover, and the turtles began falling in. Raphael would be last, as he had to pull it back into place. Rae felt his strong arms take her and place her down into the hole, waiting until she had a good grip on the ladder before releasing her. She nodded a thanks as she started to descend down into the sewer.

Once again, she felt the heat of Leo's fingers scrape her skin as her shirt rode up against her hip while he lowered her down to him. She couldn't speak, so once again she nodded a thanks, which he returned with an audible sigh. He let her go slowly as they heard the manhole close and Leo pulled her out of the way just in time for Raphael to jump down to their level. They glared at him just a bit, and he shrugged innocently. Everyone headed in the direction Donnie pointed out, who was following his directions as he stared at his wrist. Everyone kept quiet except for the occasional chuckle from Mikey as he played with the dog in his arms.

"Five more minutes of walking this way," Donnie reported.

"Donnie, we know how to get home from here," Leo told him with a raise of his brow.

"Right…I know that," Donnie replied, pushing his glasses up on his nose and looking up ahead of them, mumbling techie stuff to himself. Leo glanced at Rae out of the corner of his eye and saw sadness flicker across her pleasant features.

"What's on your mind?" he prodded.

"What isn't on my mind?" she retorted with a sigh, rubbing the back of her neck. "This is so much to take in all at once…" Leo nodded in understanding.

"I'm sorry that this is happening," he empathized.

"I could've been taken or killed by the same people who killed my mom and kidnapped my father, I was saved both times by mutant turtles, one of them who has these breathtaking blue eyes…" He stopped dead to look square at her, his blue eyes shocked and pleased at the same time. "Forget I said that…"

"Not gonna happen," he teased her, placing a finger against her blushing cheek and stroking it once before dropping his hand. He loved the feel of her delicate skin against his own rough and calloused skin.

"Anyway…" she changed the subject fast, "Now these hero turtles from my past are taking me and my dog to their sewer home, and my room mate was planning on killing me or giving me up, and I am actually not going crazy after all…do you realize how insane this sounds?" Leo stopped her this time, taking her shoulders and looking at her with a stern frown.

"Don't ever think that you're losing your mind. With all of the hell you've been through, don't let anyone tell you that you're not sane, okay?" He let her go when she nodded, and they walked again.

"And now I'm getting ready to meet your father…" she began to speak again.

"Who's a giant mutant rat!" Mikey chimed in, and she stared at him with a gaping mouth and wide, disbelieving eyes. She paused, not taking a step further.

"Uhm…I'm sorry…" she whispered. "Talking turtle in the orange mask say what?" Leo shot Mikey a deadly glare and then looked over at Raphael, who smacked Mikey upside the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Dude…she's already dealing with enough…you HAD to drop that bombshell on her?" Raph grumbled angrily.

"You didn't have to hit me…" Mikey pouted, rubbing his aching head.

"Yeah…you're right…I could pummel you into the ground…" the bigger brother threatened, and Mikey put one of his hands up in surrender.

"Look, Rae…" Leo tried to search for the right thing to say as to not freak her out. "Our dad is different than us…but also sort of like us…and it's a long story…I just need you to trust me…can you do that? Can you trust me now?" She looked into his worried and uncertain face, and this time, she was the one to take one of his hands in both of hers.

"Leo…I never stopped trusting you," she answered softly. "Lead the way." His gaze became tender and content as he covered her hands and pushed open the door to their home.

"Welcome to our home," he smiled.