Crash and Burn

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Chapter two: Cold

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Kali sat on her fire escape looking out over the city. Her unopened sketchbook sat in her lap, pencil stuck in her hair. She wasn't really in the mood to draw. Her partners were be mad at her if she didn't get her part in on time, but she didn't really care about that.

It was one month since she had first met Raphael. When she had first heard the rumors, she had hope, maybe they were like her, but no, as soon as she had touched Raphael she knew he wasn't like her. Still they had a lot in common and became good friends. He even trusted her enough to take her to his home, which was only visited by a few trusted individuals.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace she had bought at a flea market today. Two necklaces, actually, that hooked together to form a single pendent.

She felt something pinch her butt and jumped. Raphael grinned up at her from between the bars.

"You scared me!"

Raph chuckled as he climbed up to her balcony. "Sorry," he smiled. "What's that?"

Kali looked down at the pendent in her hands. "Just something I picked up today." She pulled the necklaces apart and before Raph could say a word, looped one of them around his neck.

Raph picked it up and looked at it. It was one half of a yin-yang pattern, red, with a sterling silver setting. He glanced at Kali and saw her pulling a black pendent over her head. "What's this for?"

Kali shrugged. "I saw them today and thought they looked nice. Don't you like it?"

"I don't usually wear jewelry." He looked at the hurt expression on Kali's face. "But I like it. It hooks up to yours?"

"Yeah." Kali crawled over next to him and placed their pendants together. "See?"

"Cool." Raph shivered. "Speaking of which, it's getting chilly, can we go inside?"

Kali smirked. "Aw, don't tell me you're cold."

Raph glared at her. How she could be out here in that skimpy top? She must have hot blood or something because he'd never seen her in anything except short sleeved shirts and tank tops with her jeans, another staple in her wardrobe.

Before he could shoot off a smart-ass remark, Kali climbed through the window. Raph climbed in after her and shut the window behind him.

"Brrrr. It's getting bad out there."

"They say it's supposed to snow this weekend."

Raphael sighed. "My brothers may like the downtime that comes with cold weather, but I don't."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You want some hot chocolate or something?"

Raphael sat back on Kali's couch and smiled over at her. "With those little marshmallows?"

"Sure thing."

Raphael shrugged out of his jacket as Kali pulled the mugs and cocoa mix out of the cabinets. He would prefer her apartment be a little warmer, but it was better than outside. She handed him his mug and he took a long drink, feeling his body absorb the warmth.

He didn't even notice Kali sitting next to him until her arm accidentally brushed against his. He stared at her in shock.

"What?"

Raphael blinked and ran his hand over her arm. "How the hell can you still be warm after sitting out in the cold?"

Kali laughed. "It's called being warm-blooded."

Raph narrowed his eyes. "Well, I know that! But still, you should be freezing."

Kali shrugged. "I've always been like that."

"Weird."

"Uh huh."

Raph sat there for a few seconds. "Um, Kali, would you mind if I..."

"If you what?"

Raphael decided to take the incentive and wrapped her arm around his shoulder, leaning against hers. "Hmmm... cozy."

Kali burst out laughing. "Are you really cold-blooded?"

Raph grunted, pulling the warmth from her body. "Not really. I mean, we still feel sluggish in the cold, but not like regular turtles would. There were times when we were kids that we used to huddle around hot water pipes."

Kali giggled and Raph looked up at her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Kali bit back a smile. "Just imaging you all as kids."

"Hmph."

"Aw, I bet you were cute."

"Well, I was, anyway."

***

Leo blocked Raphael's way out of the lair. "You are not going out."

Raphael growled. "Outta my way, Leo."

Leo crossed his arms. "Raph, listen to us for once."

"Yeah," Don continued. "It's snowing, Raph, you know what that does to us."

"He's got Kali to keep him warm," Mike piped up. "Right, Raph?"

Raphael glared at his brother, made angrier by the fact that his brother was partially right.

"Raph, I don't want you seeing her again."

Raphael turned slowly towards Leo, who had the most serious look on his face. "Excuse me?"

"I don't trust her. There's something weird about her."

"You don't even know her!"

"And you do?" Leo shot back. "You've known her for a month, Raph, and you've brought her down here once."

"Gee, I wonder why? My entire family has something against her! She's my friend, damnit, and I'm going to go see her!"

"I'm got a bad feeling about tonight, Raph." Leo's eyes softened. "Please, stay home."

Raph just shoved Leo aside and made his way down the tunnel, putting on his hat and coat.

Mike frowned. "Honestly, Leo, what do you have against her? She seems really nice."

Leo sighed and flopped down on the couch. "I've got a weird feeling about her. Like, like there's something different about her."

Mike and Don exchanged glances. Mike raised an eyebrow. He's not falling for her too, is he?

Don shook his head. Not after one meeting. It's something else. Their way of communicating without words came from eighteen years of living together. Non-verbal signals were an essential part of fighting as a team, and it was at a point where they could almost read each other's minds, or at least predict what the other was thinking.

"I don't want Raph to get hurt."

Don frowned. "How so?"

Leo rubbed his eyes. "None of us have ever been in a relationship before. What if she breaks his heart? What if she's working to capture us? What if-"

"What if she's genuinely interested in Raph." Leo looked up at Don. "Are you going to deny him that?"

Leo bent forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "He's just so reckless, I know he's gonna screw something up."

"This is a lesson Raphael must learn on his own." They all turned towards Master Splinter.

Leo frowned. "What about you, sensei, what do you think about this? What do you sense from Kali?"

Splinter looked at the expectant looks on his sons' faces. "I do not know what I sense. What I have briefly seen was confused, chaotic. And there was a darkness that I could not begin to comprehend."

"See, I told you, she's hiding something."

"Just lay off it Leo!" Leo blinked. Mike had never yelled at him like that before. "Why can't you let Raphael have one scrap of happiness, huh?"

"It could put us all in danger, Mike..."

"I don't know about you, but I can't live my entire life like this, hiding from everything!" Mike threw his arms up into the air before he turned and stormed out of the lair, leaving everyone in shock.

Leo was left with his jaw hanging open. After a minute, he snapped out of it and ran after Mike.

***

Raphael was nearly frozen solid by the time he made it to Kali's. He wasn't looking forward to the climb up her fire escape, so he went inside. He didn't run into anyone on his way up to her apartment, he never did. It made him wonder if anyone else even lived in the building.

He was about to knock when he heard music coming from inside. He listened at the door, hand resting on the knob. To his surprise, the knob turned beneath his hand and he pushed it open. Why did she never lock her door? Wasn't she scared someone would break in?

He stood there in the doorway for a minute watching Kali sing along to One Week by the Barenaked Ladies.

He smiled as he watched her hips sway in perfect timing to the music, her arms above her head. Her singing performance wouldn't win a Grammy, but at least she was on key.

His smile widened as she finally turned and saw him. She let out a squeak and tumbled backwards over a footstool. Raphael clapped and laughed as he shut the door behind him.

Kali blushed a deep red as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

Raph continued to chuckle as he helped her up. "I'm a ninja, sneaking is what I do. Nice moves, by the way."

Kali crossed her arms. "You're getting snow all over my floor."

Raph looked down at the puddles of melting snow forming around his feet. "Sorry."

Kali wanted to stay mad at him, but then a thought struck her. "You walked here in the snow?"

"Yeah, I was bored and-"

"You must be freezing!" Kali pulled him over and sat him in front of the fireplace, which was simply a space heater sitting under a false mantle. Raphael welcomed the heat and moved his hands closer to the heater. It had been tough getting here in this weather, but it was worth it just to catch her dancing like that.

"Here, take off that coat, it's soaked."

Raphael did as he was told, then went back to warming himself up. Kali came back and sat next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Hey, you're wearing long sleeves."

She was indeed wearing a long sleeved sweater, black, with her jeans. "I'm not completely immune to the elements, you know."

"Ha, I was starting to think you were."

"Well, I know you're not." She snuggled closer. "What made you come all the way out here in this weather?"

Raph shrugged. "I wanted to see you."

"You could have at least waited until it had stopped snowing."

Raph shrugged again. He would have been here before the snow if Leo hadn't tried to stop him. And when he saw that it was snowing, he thought about turning back, but then he'd have to face Leo, and he really didn't want to do that.

"A girl could get the impression you liked her."

Raph looked up. "You know I like you. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yeah, Raph, we are." Kali sighed silently. It wasn't often that she met someone she felt she could trust, and she really liked Raphael, but he seemed to have zero interest in being anything but friends. Maybe he didn't think they could be, he still had a few prejudices about humans to work out. Maybe if she told him... no, that would only make things worst. He'd leave and never come back if he knew.

***

"Mikey?"

Leo ran after Mike until he came across an open manhole cover above his head. Mike knew better than to go up there, it was still snowing out, little flakes were floating down through the hole, but there was nowhere else he could have gone. Leo had to go up and find him, he had no coat on, but neither did Leo. He thought about going back and getting their coats, but knew he'd lose his brother's trail if he did.

Once he was up on the streets, it was easy to see where Mike had gone, despite his choice of directions. Mike's two-toed footprints could be seen in the snow.

After ten minutes of following Mike's trail, Leo spotted him just inside the shadows of an alleyway. "Mike!" Leo rushed forward and threw his arms around his brother. "Don't do that again!"

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Leo." Mike's teeth were chattering and he was shivering beneath Leo's touch.

Leo pulled back and looked at his brother's face, which was pale. "That's okay, let's just get you home."

Mike's skin was cold to the touch, he'd been out here for at least ten minutes without any protective clothing. Not good for anyone, especially them.

Halfway to the manhole, Mike slipped from Leo's grasp. "Mike!"

"I'm so tired, Leo."

"It's okay, we're gonna get you home and warmed up, okay?"

Mike shook his head pathetically. "I can't do it, Leo..."

"Listen to me, Mike, we're going to get up and go home. Now."

Mike set his jaw and tried to stand again with Leo's help. He hadn't taken three steps before he fell back into his brother's arms. "I'm sorry."

Leo grunted under Mike's weight. Too many pizzas, he was too heavy to carry, especially in this weather. Leo was starting to feel the chill too.

"Leo, there's something I gotta tell you."

"Tell me later, Mike, at home, over hot tea." Leo tossed his brother's arm over his shoulder and half carried, half dragged him along.

"No, I- I gotta tell you now." His words came slowly, as though he was half-asleep.

Leo stopped. They were being surrounded; he was familiar with the feeling. He could see the manhole he had come up from just twenty feet away, still open. There was another right behind them, but they'd never get it open in time. "Mike," Leo whispered. "We're gonna have to make a run for the sewer, okay?"

Mike raised his head. "I'm not gonna make that."

"You have to, Mike. Now, on the count of three. One..."

"Leo..."

"Two..."

"I can't..."

"Three!" Leo ran as fast as he could with Mike trying to keep up the pace. They were almost there when something struck Leo across the shins. He fell to his knees and Mike tumbled away. Black shadows descended upon them. Leonardo reached for his swords and pushed the Foot ninja away. But his fingers were starting to get numb, and his grip was bad. One good kick sent them flying away. He knew Mike didn't have his weapons, he didn't carry them around all the time like Leo and Raph did.

Leo put up a fight, but after several minutes, the cold got to him. His reflexes were slow, and as he turned to see Mike go down, he was struck on the back of the head.

***

"What's going on out there?"

"Hmm?" Kali lifted her head as Raphael moved from their place in front of the TV. "What is it?"

"Sounds like a fight." Raph looked out the closed window, but couldn't see anything. He pulled the window up and looked out, despite the cold. What he saw made him forget his discomfort. There was definitely a fight going on, his brothers and the Foot, and it looked very one sided.

He jumped out the window without a second thought and practically flew down the fire escape. He heard Kali calling after him, but he paid it no mind. He only hoped she'd be smart enough to stay out of it.

Kali watched as Raphael jumped into the middle of the fight, catching his brother's attackers by surprise. He fought like a demon, slashing and kicking, leaving bodies in his wake, and Kali couldn't hide the excitement she felt watching it.

The excitement turned to dread as Raph started slowing down. After awhile he was barely holding them back. By that time, Kali was out of her apartment and down on the ground.

A large cloud of smoke appeared but that didn't stop Kali. She ran in and took down a few Foot before it cleared, leaving the alley empty of all except the fallen. She looked around in a panic, but couldn't find a trace of the Turtles.

No, they couldn't be gone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, catching Raphael's unique scent on the wind. She knew where they were heading, but not even she could take them all alone, but she had to do something.

***

Chapter Three

Crash and Burn index