Disclaimer: Turtles don't belong to me, and also the song doesn't belong to me either. This story is based on the song "Concrete Angel" by Martina McBride.

Warning: Major angst for everyone.

This takes place when the turtles are 12.

'Dreams can give wings, but if enough is enough, then they can be the gateway to eternity' --My own quote (you'll understand later.)

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Leo sat on a bench swinging his legs. Sighing, he looked up at the starry sky. Once again, he found himself to be in one of New York's parks. It was dark now, so he didn't have to worry about being seen by humans.

Suddenly, he heard faint sobbing. Jolting out of his thoughts, the twelve- year-old turtle went to investigate.

On a bench a bit further away, sat a lone figure. Leo hesitated for a second, but the girl's heart-wrenching sobbing was enough to make up Leo's mind.

"Umm...are you okay?" Leo hesitantly asked the figure, making sure to stay in the shadows.

The figure quickly turned around and looked towards where Leo was standing. And to Leo's surprise, the figure was a girl. A small girl, around his age, Leo guessed.

She had long, brown hair and dark, brown eyes. She had a small, but pretty little face, however, right now it was tear-streaked. She wore a dark blue night gown with a pair of torn jeans underneath.

"Who...who's there??" She whispered, her eyes darting franticly back and forth searching for whoever had spoken.

"My name's Leo. What's yours?"

The girl hesitated for a second before answering shyly, "Rebecca."

"What are you doing out here Rebecca?" Leo said without thinking.

At Rebecca's downcast look, he quickly added, "Sorry. I guess it's not my business. It's just that..."

"It's okay, really." Rebecca said, smiling a little. "Why don't you come sit beside me? I'd like to see you."

Leo winced. "Trust me, you don't."

Rebecca looked confused. "Why?"

"Umm...well..."

"Why don't you give me a shot?"

"I don't wanna scare you...."

"Trust me, I've seen weirder things in my lifetime."

Leo hesitated. "Well...okay..." Taking a deep breath, he slowly stepped out into the light.

Hearing a gasp from Rebecca, he quickly retreated into the shadows and made to run, but someone grabbed his wrist.

Looking back, he saw Rebecca's smiling face. "It's okay." She whispered.

And Leo allowed her to lead him back to the bench where she had been sitting.

"Umm...so I guess you don't meet a lot of humans do you?" Rebecca asked in a poor attempt to start a conversation.

Leo gave a dry chuckle. "With me looking like this, I tend to avoid humans as much as I can. You're the first one who's ever seen me."

Rebecca laughed. "Really?"

"Yeah. And I kinda expected it to go a bit differently."

"Oh, like me running off, screaming like a maniac?"

"Maybe not exactly like that, but yeah."

"So, what are you doing out here?"

The question caught Leo off guard. "What??"

"Sorry. I guess it's not any of my business."

"Nah. It's okay. You just caught me off guard. Say, if I tell you, will you tell me what you're doing out here?"

Rebecca smiled. "Sure!" Leo grinned. "I'll go first. Umm...I kinda got into a fight with my brothers—"

"There are more like you??"

"Yeah, three more, who are younger than me, plus a giant rat who is kind of like a father to us."

"Wow!"

"Anyways, we got into a fight because, well, I don't know but I guess I just feel a bit used sometimes."

Seeing the confused look on Rebecca's face, Leo explained.

"I mean, I guess I just feel like I have too many things to do and too little time to do it. And it doesn't help that the others aren't helping me." Leo thought for a second before laughing. "Now that I think about it, it seems kind of like a stupid reason to fight over."

Rebecca put a hand onto his shoulder. Smiling reassuringly, she whispered, "I don't think so."

"Huh?"

"Everyone needs to have a little time to themselves. Seems like your brothers are abusing their own times and dumping what needs to be done onto you."

Leo cocked his head. "Well, I wouldn't call it abusing, but that is what they basically do. Anyway, I had enough and ran here where I met you!"

Rebecca laughed at the last part. "So I guess it's my turn. Basically, I get abused by my parents..."

Leo interrupted, wide-eyed. "Abused! Abused! Who'd be mean enough to abuse a sweet girl like you?"

Rebecca blushed. "Well, they do and I sneaked out for a little time alone."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's okay."

"No it's not! It's never okay to be abused!"

Rebecca smiled wearily. "Don't worry, my aunt and uncle are coming in three days and have promised to take me away."

Leo smiled. "That's great!" Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't so dark out anymore.

"Oh, oh. It's dawn. Sensei, um...the rat I told you about? Well, he's sort of a mentor as well. Anyway, he doesn't know I sneaked out. I'm not supposed to be outside! I've got to go!"

Rebecca looked sad. "Yeah. You'd better go."

Leo looked at her. "Don't worry, I'll come back tomorrow!"

Rebecca brightened. "Same time, same place?"

"Deal."

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Well. That sucked as a prologue. But you have to start a story somehow, right?

Don't worry, I'M GONNA CONTINUE WORKING ON MY OTHER PROJECTS. Just that this idea has been buggin' me for months and I should know by experience that you should NEVER ignore a muse.

Read and Review please!