The light drifting through the bared windows was what woke the forest green turtle that morning. His amber eyes were puffy and red from the tears he had dared to let fall from the night before. He sniffed, rubbing a quick arm across the dried tears that stained his cheek. Weakness was something the gangs had taught him at a young age would not be tolerated. Weakness meant death. And if Raphael had any hope of returning home… granted there was even a home for him to return too… he couldn't be weak. He had to be strong.

Could he though? After everything? He was a pet in the eyes of… Raph didn't even want to imagine how many people had seen him growing up. He was a freak. A reject. Something that never should have been.

The rattling of the chain broke the young turtle's thoughts as his eyes snapped to the door. The blanket instinctively tightened around him, his trembling fingers bringing it close to his chin. He couldn't help it. He knew there was nothing coming to get him here. He knew he was safe in the ownership of his new master.

Sometimes though, memories were stronger than reality.

He could hear him, as just a turtle tot, screaming… crying… begging for the torture to stop. His only blessed relief was in the darkness of the night when his tormentors decided to go home. But every morning, to the rattle of the chains at the door, he knew his torture was only going to begin once again.

Sometimes they did it when he couldn't quiet his screams. Sometimes they did it when they wanted information about his family, which he would never tell them. But most of the time they did it just because they could. They would torture a child just to hear him scream.

And they called him a monster.

A freak.

Raphael learned who the real monsters were when he was young. And it wasn't him.

"Good morning!" A cheerful voice chirped, soft footsteps not far behind as the young worker for the morning began her chores. She was in charge of watering and feeding and giving them all a once over, scanning them for injuries or sickness.

It was the same every morning. She would have a soft greeting for all the creatures there, followed by the drip of the hose and rustle of bags and the grumble of hungry animals. It wasn't long before her steps ended in front of her bars. It was the intern today. She couldn't have been older than thirty with wild blonde highlighted hair that was usually thrown up in a ponytail, bright blue eyes, and a slim figure.

She smiled as she reached into her pocket, producing the foil wrapped package that she carefully set atop his morning portion of fruits.

"Good morning Bruch!" She chirped happily, a large beam to her face. "I brought you a special treat today, don't tell anyone." She winked before moving away, a skip to her step. The barn soon echoed with her happy hums as she began to sing to herself. Raph couldn't tell what tune it was but it sounded familiar.

It was often a special treat the intern did for Raph, when she knew she was working alone. She had discovered several years ago the turtle had a sweet tooth for chocolate chip cookies after she caught him pickpocketing the treat from her lunch bag. She'd never forget the look of surprise in his eyes when she caught him red handed, his small green arm stretched as far as it could through the metal bars, his large fingers halfway into her lunch bag. It was than the tradition started between the two of them, and while it was only once a month, it was still a special treat.

Raph smiled to himself as he helped himself the foil, resisting the urge to tear the package and stuff the small cookie into his mouth. He took his time though, his large fingers trembling as he peeled back the shiny foil, revealing the oven baked to perfection pile of goodness.

"Thank you…" Raph whispered quietly, as not to be heard as he took a bite, his eyes closing in bliss. The way the chocolate oozed through his mouth, melting… if Raph had to die right than at least he'd die happy.

The collar moved in time to his chews and Raph couldn't help the large grin the passed over his face. He remembered a time… when they stumbled across some cookies in the dumpster… him and Mikey, after having snuck out of the lair when they were little.

Frowning Raph found himself at a sudden loss of appetite, staring at the cookie with obvious distain. His stomach rolled with nausea as Raph carefully folded up the package and stuck it under his blanket for another time. He could still see his little brother's blue eyes, bright with mischief. He could still see the way his orbs lit up when they both first tried the rare treat. It was secret they never shared with anyone else.

He dared to let the tears reach the corner of his eyes, but no further.

Never any further.

{-{-{-{-{-{-{-{

"Cassie I heard you loud and clear the first time!" April laughed, pushing a lock of red hair out of her green orbs as she shoved her way through the busy New York street, her phone planted firmly to her ear. "The Mexican restraunt at the corner of 3rd and Main."

"It's been forever!" The young sweet voice sang on the other end of the line and April couldn't help but smile. It had been years since she had seen her college roommate, and with her just moving to the big apple several months ago it was the perfect time to catch up.

"It has." She agreed, grunting quietly as a rather tall bald man with a tie shoved passed her, almost tripping her in the process.

"We have so much to catch up on!" April could almost see the smile on her friend's face. "I want to hear all about the new guy you have, where you work, what you do… OMG it's been too long!"

April couldn't help but giggle. "Cassie calm down! One question at a time! I'm sure we'll be here for a few hours so make sure and save me a seat! Lunch hour is crazy around here!"

Cassie laughed. "How you have managed to live here for so long is beyond me!"

Smiling, April couldn't help but think of her three green friends right now probably sleeping below the surface. "Friend's make it worth it."

"Is that you?!" Cassie squeaked.

April didn't have time to reply as two pale, thin around grabbed her from behind tightly, dragging her into the darkened door of the Mexican dinner. Spinning around, she couldn't help but grin at the bright blue eyes that flashed back.

"Cassie!"

"April!"

The two women squealed like school girls, grabbing each other in a tight embrace, ignoring the curious look from the other dinners. Holding the hug for a few more seconds April stood back, holding her friend at an arm length. She had to admit, time had done good on the once plump, pimple faced nerd that had once been her best friend and college roommate.

Cassie stood at a near 5"5, all extra weight gone and now leaving lean muscles and generous curves. Her tight black blouse hugged her just right, with a peak-a-boo of cleavage in the front. Her pale jeans were ripped at the knees and upper thighs, leaving little to the imagination. Red heels accented her red nail polish and bright ruby colored lips. Her once brunette hair was highlighted in what April could only guess what several different shades of blonde. Her bangs pushed to the sides, revealing she had ditched her glasses and gone with contacts. Bright blue eyes flashed with mischief and excitement and April couldn't help but smile.

"You look so good!" She exclaimed, reaching out to straighten a fly away hair, suddenly feeling very obviously undressed in her plain jeans, heels and large purple shirt that hung off her in waves.

Smiling, Cassie grabbed her friend and drug her to the booth she'd had saved, taking the left bench while April took the right. Two glasses of water sat ready for the friends, as well as a large plate of cheese fries.

"So tell me everything!" The excited blonde demanded, grabbing a fry, cheese dripping onto the table, as she popped it into her mouth with a smack.

"What's there to tell?" Giggling April shook her head. "Casey Jones and me are engaged… we have our own place. The shop is-"

"What happened to that one boy you were talking too?" Cassie asked, wiggling her eye brows at the confused red head.

"What friend?"

"Oh what was his name…?!" Snapping her fingers in frustration, her blue eyes narrowed in thought. "OH! Donny! What ever happened to him?!"

April smiled as she thought of her green friend. "Oh Donny… he's fine. We're friends. Close friends actually. Him and his brothers are like family to me."

"Brothers huh?" Cassie grinned impishly. "Are they hot too?" She squealed in laughter as a paper towel wad was tossed at her face. "It was just a question!"

"They're all taken men." April said with a laugh, hoping to draw attention away from the fact that her friend was single and clearly wanted a man in her life. Not that she could blame her, she just didn't think that her shelled friends were exactly what she had in mind. "I tried to hook you up with George…"

"No Casey tried to hook me up with a gorilla." Casey replied simply. "I've never in my life seen such an ill-mannered slob in my life!"

April couldn't help but think of Mikey's room with a smile. "Oh I'm sure that I could find worse."

Cassie snorted. "I doubt that."

Changing topics, April stared at her friend hard. "So what are you doing now?"

"Oh!" Cassie smiled, reaching into her purse for her phone, fumbling around in the cluttered handbag for a second. "I actually work an older gentleman… he collects exotic and rare animals. He has so many interesting critters! He has this tiger that's literally half white and half orange! His name is Zuma and he's sooo pretty!" She clicked her phone, switching to a picture of a beautiful large feline napping in a large enclosure. "I'm actually not supposed to take any pictures of the animals, for safety reasons, but I know you won't tell anyone." She giggled. "Oh and he has the bald eagle that's blind with two blue eyes! A genetic incident in a lab, I'm sure."

April just smiled, watching the phone as her friend quickly flipped through them with her thumb, her finger a blur. April barely had time to study one picture before it was flipped to a new one. There was so many different animals! What she had to admire was how nice the place looked, clean and kept. The animals all looked well fed and happy. "I'm glad you're happy with your new job Cassie I really am."

Her gaze was drawn from her friend's face back to her phone. One picture flashed by, totally dark besides a light glint of some eyes in the back. Cassie simply passed the picture without a seconds thought.

"Wait!" April ordered, her face going pale. "Go back!"

Looking at her friend confused, Cassie flipped back to the nearly black picture. "This one? Why"

April couldn't help the tremble that overtook her body as a pair of eyes stared back at her. Nothing else was visable but the eyes. "I uh… I gotta go! Um… family… uh… emergency!"

Without waiting for a reply, April fled from the restraunt, the image of bright amber eyes bored into the back of her mind.