Chapter 2: Lock Your Doors

A/N: So here's the next chapter. Again, I'm not sure if I'll end this by Halloween, but I'll do my best to try. Really wish I didn't have sinus problems right now, but that's the way it is. Still, I'm going to do my best to get this chapter out because I feel like I need to try regardless of the pain. Thanks to those who have read and reviewed thus far. Your encouragement has been greatly appreciated and I hope you like where I'm going to take this story.

Disclaimer: TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon. I own only the plot and any other characters you don't recognize.

Teresa Alvarez thought she'd met the man of her dreams when she met James Anderson at a restaurant. He'd seemed like such a gentleman as he helped her gather her things when someone bumped into her. He even asked if he could take her out one day, and she had given him permission because she liked who he was. After their first date, Teresa really was on cloud nine and felt that this man was the one for her, despite her mother's prophecy that he was no good.

"Why do you think that?" Teresa asked her.

"I just don't have a good feeling about him," her mother replied. "He's up to no good. If you stay with him, you'll get hurt."

"That's ridiculous, Mom, he would never hurt me," Teresa protested. "He's a gentleman."

But it turned out her mom was right, though Teresa had no idea how right.

It started out innocently enough with just one slap. Teresa thought it was an accident when he got mad because she'd accidentally burned the chili she was making him for supper. He'd even looked shocked when it happened.

"Oh, sweetie, I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt you like that. It'll never happen again."

Teresa decided to believe him because she didn't want to think that James was that kind of monster and so she forgave him and all was right again.

But as time went on, he kept getting worse and worse with the beatings and the horrible names he called her. Teresa thought about leaving many times, but each time she thought of it, her heart wouldn't let her do it. She just didn't want to believe that James had turned out this way, and she didn't want to prove her mother was right all along. And so she stayed and endured more beatings and verbal abuse, never realizing that her foolish pride would one day result in the end of her own life.

22222

Leo woke up with a cry. He'd just had a nightmare about the woman's death, and it scared him to his core. Why had he allowed Raph to take him to the woods? Why couldn't they have just walked around the farmhouse and even the barn? If they had stayed there, none of this would have happened. Trying to keep calm, Leo took a few deep breaths just as Splinter had taught him to do.

"Leo, are you okay?" Raph asked as he entered the room they shared.

"No," he answered. "I had a bad dream about what happened. We never should have gone out there."

"We didn't know we were gonna come upon an abuse victim," Raph protested. "It just happened that way. Look, Casey and April want you to come downstairs so we can talk about this. April thinks the cops might come here and question them, so they want details on what happened."

"I don't think I can do that, Raph," Leo whimpered. He hated sounding like a scared child, but he couldn't help it.

Raph put a hand on his shoulder. "I know this is hard for you, but they need to know so they can tell the cops," he said gently. "If they withhold information, it could be suspicious, and they don't want the cops coming in here to investigate. You have to try and tell them what you saw."

Leo knew Raph was right. They couldn't jeopardize their existence over this and if the cops saw them, they would more than likely think of them was responsible for the woman's murder. "Okay, I'll try," he answered.

"Great," Raph said. He helped Leo up, and the two made their way downstairs where the others were seated in the living room. Raph settled Leo in one of the chairs and sat next to him on the arm of the chair.

"Leo, we need to know what you witnessed out in the woods," April began. "If we don't find out, the cops may become suspicious if we're hiding something."

"Where do you want me to start?" Leo asked her.

"Start after Raph left you," April told him.

"After Raph left me, a man came," Leo began. "I think he was the one who hurt the woman. He was going to kill her. She begged him not to, but he wasn't going to listen. I yelled at him to leave her alone, and he asked me what I was going to do. I told him I was going to fight him if that's what it took."

"Dude, are you serious?" Mikey gasped.

"You should have just left," Don said. "You were in no condition to fight him."

"I didn't want to leave her alone. The man accepted my challenge and we fought, but I lost." Tears filled his eyes as recalled his defeat. "Then the man went for the woman. I tried to get to her, but I couldn't. He began stabbing her all over and then slashed her throat. Then….then he came for me and was going to kill me, but you guys showed up. Then he fled. I'm so sorry, guys. I was too weak to help her. I let an innocent woman die!" Then he broke down, sobbing.

Don and Mikey hurried over and began comforting their brother. Raph put a hand on his shoulder as they all whispered words of comfort to their leader.

"I'm so sorry you had to witness that, Leo," April said softly. "But you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, that guy was crazy," Casey added. "But at least we have details we can tell the cops."

"So what's going to be the cover story?" Raph asked.

"We'll say that Casey went into the woods to get more firewood," April explained. "He saw the woman and wanted to help her, but the man came out too. Then he challenged Casey to a fight for the wman's life and Casey accepted the challenge. They fought and Casey lost. Then the man killed the woman and went for Casey, but I called for Casey because I had been worried about why he was taking so long to come back. Then the man fled after he heard my voice."

"Sounds like a good cover story," Don commented. "Good work, April."

"Do you think the cops will believe you?" Mikey asked.

"That's what we're hoping," April answered. "If we can be pretty convincing, I think we can pull it off. But fi they come here, you guys have to hide."

"We can go in the barn," Mikey suggested.

"I've got a better idea," April said. "We have a cellar where Dad and I would go if we had bad storms. You can hide down there. The door blends in with the floor so no one would know it was there unless they looked, and it's covered by a rug. You'll be safe down there."

"Sounds like a plan," Raph agreed.

The rest of the day was spent watching TV. Leo tried his best to get engrossed in the show, but he just couldn't do it. The cops didn't come that day, and everyone was relieved by that. The Turtles even went out to do some training, and Leo went to observe them, wishing he could take part in it, too. But he was too weak and couldn't even save a woman. How pathetic he was! Splinter would be so ashamed of him!

Raph noticed his brother's stricken look. "You okay, Leo?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine," Leo answered. "Keep training."

"We're done, dude," Mikey declared. "I kicked some butt today."

"Yeah, you got lucky, Mikey," Raph retorted.

"Aw, you're only sayin' that because you're a sore loser," Mikey teased.

"I am not!" Raph protested. "You cheated!"

"Guys, that's enough," Don said. "I think we should go inside for a little while."

"I want to stay out here for a bit," Leo said. "I'll catch up."

"You want me to stay with you?" Raph asked him.

Leo shook his head. "No, I'll be fine, Raph."

Raph nodded and headed inside with the others. Once they were gone, Leo got to his feet and set his cane up against a tree. Then he pulled out his swords and tried to do some katas. He had to get back into shape if he was going to be a good leader. He was doing fine until a spasm of pain hit him, causing him to fall on his knees. He gasped and tried to catch his breath. When he looked up, Splinter was standing in front of him. Was this real? How could Splinter be here when he was thrown in a drain?

"Sensei?" Leo asked tentatively.

"You have disappointed me, Leonardo," Splinter replied. "I appointed you as leader because I felt you were the perfect fit to protect your brothers, but you could not even protect a young woman from harm. You let her die, and you could not even fight Shredder and his army. You are a disgrace, my son. Perhaps I was wrong in choosing you to be leader."

"Sensei, that's not true!" Leo protested. "I couldn't help it! I tried my best!"

"And yet it was not good enough," Splinter countered. "You should not just do your best. A leader is always perfect in everything that they do, but you are not. I am so disappointed in you, my son. So disappointed."

"I'm sorry, Sensei," Leo apologized. "I'll do better. I promise."

Splinter kept shaking his head in disgust. Then Shredder and his army appeared, leering at Leo. Shredder grabbed Splinter and threw him down the drain just as the others had said he did.

"No!" Leo cried.

Shredder laughed. "You are weak and pathetic, Turtle," he said. "You are not the warrior I once thought you were. You are too young and too overconfident. You cannot beat me."

"Go away!" Leo snapped. "You don't belong here!"

"You will never escape me, Turtle," Shredder countered. "You can never escape your failure." He advanced on Leo and then ordered his men to attack.

Leo tried to block them, but he couldn't do it. Blows rained down on him from all sides, and he was too helpless to stop it. He could hear his brothers calling for him, but he was too weak to answer them. He fought to stay awake, but the darkness overtook him, and the last thing he saw was Shredder poised to slice him in half just as he had before.

22222

Leo could feel something cool on his forehead as he opened his eyes. Where was he? He looked around and saw he was back at the farmhouse in the room he and Raph shared. Raph was right beside him, sponging his forehead.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," Raph teased. "How are you feelin'?"

"What's going on?" Leo asked instead of answering Raph's question. "What happened to Shredder and the Foot? Did you chase them off?"

"What are you talkin' about, Leo?" Raph asked. "No one else was out there but you."

"Are you sure? I know I saw them! They were there! They were hurting me again, Raph."

"All I saw was you outside fightin'," Raph said. "I just thought you were practicin' but when I got out there, it looked like you were seeing things that weren't there. I tried to call for you, but you didn't hear me. You just kept going until you passed out."

"No, I saw them!" Leo insisted. "They were there! First I saw Sensei though. He said he was disappointed in me because I couldn't save the woman or fight Shredder's army. Then Shredder and his army were there. They threw Splinter down the drain and then attacked me. I couldn't fight them!"

"Leo, they weren't there," Raph said gently. "You just thought you saw them because you're beating yourself up over what you saw. You're safe now. No one's gonna hurt you, not while I'm here."

Leo appreciated his brother's kind words, but he didn't deserve them. He was useless and weak, and he'd never amount to anything. Before he could say anything, Mikey came upstairs.

"Hey, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the cops are coming to the house," he reported. "We gotta get into the cellar right away."

"Got it," Raph said. He helped Leo out of bed and they followed Mikey down to where the cellar was. They helped Leo down and settled him against the wall with Raph on one side and Mikey on the other.

"You feelin' okay, bro?" Mikey asked him.

Leo shook his head. "No," he whispered. "I'm not okay."

Despite their location, the Turtles could still hear the conversation that was taking place in the living room. They heard the cops come in and question April and Casey about what they'd seen in the woods. April recounted the story just as she'd told it to the Turtles, and the cop who was questioning them seemed like he believed her for the most part.

"Young man, why didn't you call an ambulance or the police on your phone?" one of the cops asked Casey.

"Our phones don't work out here, sir," Casey replied. "It's gotta be because of the signals and stuff. There wasn't anything I could do, and I didn't wanna leave the woman alone."

"Okay fair enough," the cop. "You two have been very helpful. If you see anything else that seems suspicious or anyone in the woods who shouldn't be, you should contact us as soon as you can. We'll be doing a search of the woods for any clues we may have missed, so we advise that you stay out of there until we've finished our search."

"How long will that take?" April asked him.

"At least two days," he answered. "After that we'll go looking elsewhere. But thank you for your time and your information. We really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Officer," April replied.

"Just lock your doors when you're in here, too," the officer warned them. "We don't need any crazy people turning up here. If you need any protection, just let us know and we'll grant it." He waved to them and then left with his partner. Once they were gone, the two teens told the Turtles it was okay to come out.

"Man, I thought they'd never leave!" complained Mikey. "My butt was getting sore."

"Maybe we should look into havin' protection, Red," suggested Casey. "That way we wouldn't have to worry about anyone botherin' us."

"If we do that, then the Turtles will have to hide, Casey," April reminded him. "We can't ask them to do that."

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that," Casey said sheepishly.

"Besides, we've got all the protection we need," Mikey piped up. "We're ninjas, remember?"

"So what happened to you, Leo?" Casey asked him. "You were actin' pretty weird out there."

Raph shot his friend a glare. "I'll tell you later," he said. "Leo doesn't wanna talk about it right now."

"How do you feel, Leo?' Donnie inquired. "You need anything for the pain?"

"Yeah, that would be good," Leo answered. "I just wish I didn't hurt all over."

"It's gonna take time for you to heal, bro," Raph said. "Sensei always told us that our bodies and spirits both have to take time to heal or else it'll just be harder for us to get back on our feet."

"Well Sensei's not here right now, and if he was, he'd just say that I was a failure anyway!" Leo snapped.

"No he wouldn't," Mikey protested. "He'd give you props for tryin' to take on the whole army by yourself. Not many ninjas can brag that they did that."

"Yes, he would," Leo countered. "He said as much to me outside, guys. He's disappointed in me."

"Leo, he wasn't there," Don insisted. "You just thought he was. Your emotions have been all over the place, so it caused your brain to see things that weren't there. And you shouldn't blame yourself for getting attacked by Shredder's army either. If anything, that was my fault. I should have listened to you when you said to have a base outside of the city."

"No, I should have listened to you, Don," Leo countered. "I never should have left you guys. I should have let you use the Turtle Mech."

"We did use it," Don told him. "It worked for a bit, but it ended up getting fried in the end, so it wasn't that useful after all."

"Oh, I'm sorry it turned out that, way, Donnie," Leo said softly. "I never should have fought with you over any of it. It was wrong of me."

"Don't worry about it, Leo," Don said gently. "I forgive you for all of it. We just need to get you back on your feet, and you'll feel better."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I do," Raph said. "You can't just sit around and mope. After the cops are done searchin' the woods, we're gonna train again and get you back to where you need to be. And before that happens, we can train in the barn."

"But we can't go outside," Mikey reminded them.

"April told me about a secret passage that connects the house to the barn," Don told them. "We can use that to get in and out, and no one will be the wiser."

"Sounds good to me," Raph said. "What do you say, Leo?"

"I guess we can try it," Leo replied.

"That's the spirit!" Mikey cheered. "Now, let's go eat. I'm hungry for some pizza."

Raph rolled his eyes. "You're always hungry for pizza," he grumbled.

"No, sometimes I'm hungry for chocolate, spaghetti, lasagna, and lots of other stuff, too," Mikey contradicted. "I don't just eat pizza you know."

"Then let's go eat," Leo said. He didn't want to talk about any of this anymore and figured eating would be a good distraction from everything. Raph helped him up and they headed to the kitchen where Mikey took out some frozen pizzas and heated them up. While they waited, the talk turned to other topics since they didn't want to bring up the murder investigation. They ate lunch and made plans for how long they'd have to stay there. Leo really wanted to get better soon so they could go back to the city, and it hurt that it was taking so long for him to heal.

After they ate, they headed to the barn for some practice. Leo observed again and tried to give them pointers when they messed up. Normally Raph would have challenged this, but he didn't say a word and just followed his brother's lead. Then Don led Leo in some basic physical therapy exercises so he wouldn't feel left out. Leo did as Don asked to the best of his ability, but it was still hard at times. When he'd had enough, they stopped and let him rest before heading back to the house. Casey and Raph brought in more firewood to heat the house, and they played some card games to amuse themselves. Leo was getting tired, so they headed back upstairs so they could rest. Leo settled into bed, hoping that he'd get a good night's sleep after everything that had happened to him.

Sleep claimed him almost immediately, but he was woken up by a slamming noise. He bolted up in bed, his heart racing.

"Raph, did you hear that?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did," Raph answered. "What do you think it is?"

"I don't know."

The two Turtles got out of bed and made their way to the stairs. Mikey and Donnie came out too, wondering what was going on.

"Leo and I heard a noise," Raph explained.

"I hear it, too," Mikey whispered. "Do you think it's a ghost?"

"There are no such things as ghosts, Mikey," Don chastised.

"Casey, did you make sure to lock the door?" April asked him.

"Yeah, Red, I'm almost positive I did," answered Casey.

"Well, go down and check," ordered April.

Casey saluted and did as he was told. The Turtles waited at the top of the stairs and listened, bracing themselves for what Casey might find.

"It's all good, guys," Casey assured them. "It was just the screen door blowin' it the wind. I locked it so it won't happen again."

The Turtles breathed sighs of relief and went back to bed. Leo went to the window and peered out. He thought he saw a figure in the woods and squinted, but he couldn't see anything. Was someone out there, or was it just his imagination? Shaking his head, he did his best to calm down before sleep claimed him again.

22222

James Anderson sat in his house as the cops interrogated him. He'd managed to get back there before anyone noticed him missing. He already had a good alibi for them as they asked him where he was at the time of the murder.

"Teresa and I had a fight," he answered. "I was upset over something stupid, and I'd been drinking. I did hit her a few times but that was because she swung at me first and I was defending myself. I told her to get out, and she did. Then I went back to our room and passed out. When I woke up, I thought nothing of her being gone and figured she'd just gone to her mother's. She has a tendency to do that when we get in a fight, so I figured that's where she was. I had no idea she was out in some woods."

"Are you sure you weren't with her at the time of her death?" one of the cops asked.

"No, I wasn't," he answered. "I already told you that. Don't you people listen? I'm sorry she's gone and that someone did that to her. I hope that you catch the guy and he rots in jail before I get ahold of him."

"We'll do our best, sir," the officer said. "If you see anything suspicious, please let us know."

James promised he would and waited until the cops were gone. He hoped they'd leave him alone now. He thought about mentioning what he had seen in the woods, but that would be a hole in his story, and he didn't want that. He wanted to deal with that freak on his own. He gathered some things and headed back to the woods, making sure not to go where his wife's body was. As he neared the edge of the clearing, he spotted the farmhouse he'd seen before. As he gazed at it, he saw a figure in the window, and it looked like the freak he'd tangled with. He thought about going up and scaring him, but he knew that wasn't a good idea yet. He had to bide his time, and once he had a clear shot, he'd make sure the freak died so no one would link him to the murder. He stared at the window for a minute more before retreating back to his camp. He knew he'd have to leave these woods because the cops would be searching here, so he gathered his things and left, deciding to find a nice motel where he could stay for a few days until the cops were done. As he settled down on his bed, his mind ran in all sorts of directions from his wife's murder to ways he would kill that freak. Nothing would stop him this time. If he had to kill the ones who were protecting him, he'd do that, too. As long as no one could trace Teresa's murder back to him, he would be fine. With that last thought in his head, he sat back and watched some TV before going to sleep and preparing for another day.

A/N: So that's the end of this chapter. I want to remind you that I don't know if I'll have this done by Halloween. I'm pretty much typing this up as I go and thinking it up as I go along, but I'll do what I can. In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and what I've written. Feel free to leave a review and have a shelltastic day.