Raph's Mate (TMNT)

Aftermath

Riding in the Turtle-mobile was a new experience for Abby, it was like a car mixed with a van with the jostling of a pickup, we're going to need to work on the suspension Abby thought as they hit yet another bump. Regardless she was proud of herself and Donnie for building this from the ground up together, well technically Abby only helped a little bit considering how much Donnie got done before she arrived at their home. She smiled as she looked between the brothers and listened to their conversations, the tension leaving their bodies as the unwound from the earlier events with Shredder and Eric Sacks as they joked with each other.

Abby's body tried to relax but with every bump jostling her shoulder and pulling at the stitches, she remained tense. The throbbing in her shoulder was almost unbearable, though she tried to hide her wincing but the way Raph began looking at her from the corner of his eye told her she was no longer doing a good job at keeping her pain off her face. The sudden contact of his large hand on her waist, lifting her onto his lap was the clear indicator that he saw her suffering. "It's okay to ask for help." Raph's voice grumbled in her ear as his head lowered slightly to her shoulder. "You're the only one of us that got injured today. You don't have to hide it." His voice was a little louder since he sat a little straighter. Abby heard the protective edge in his voice and she snuggled into his plastron as his arms tightened around her waist.

"He's right." Donnie voiced from the driver's seat and Abby met his gaze in the rearview before turning to Leo, who turned in his seat to look into the back at Abby.

"We take care of our own, Abby." His tone making it clear that he believed she was a part of their family. "You don't have to take care of it on your own." Leo agreed with his brothers before Donnie slowed the vehicle down under a bridge, coming to a stop behind a black car and two people. "Hey April." He said after rolling the window down and peering out to the people. Abby focused and realized that it was Vern with her.

Mikey reached for the door, ever obsessed with the older reporter and Abby hopped out. Tuning out the conversation between the brothers and April, Abby made her way over to Vern after noticing his arm was up in a sling. "He got you to eh?" She asked, motioning to the sling.

"Oh this, it's nothing." He answered with a shrug, wincing at the movement. "April told me he got you to?" His sentence sounded more like a question and she answered by moving her jacket away from her shoulder. He nodded as she pulled her jacket back in to position and motioned to the car behind him, "I got a new car, yeah they told me not to put a scratch on it. Like lightning strikes the same place twice right?" He laughed with fake arrogance and that was when Abby took her leave. She just didn't have the capacity for Vern, she just wanted to make sure he was okay.

"I swear I'll be able to sleep for a week after this." Abby said as she reached the open side door, temporarily forgetting about her injury as she leaned against the vehicle, wincing and standing up straight as her stitches pulled under her jacket.

"Hey Abby." April greeted as she reached the side. Abby just nodded at the woman before climbing back into her spot and checking the stitching quickly, tuning into the conversation between the Turtles and April.

"Thanks for keeping our secret." Raph said, referring to the snippet of the news we managed to catch on the way here. "Figured you got a lot to gain from telling people about us. But you had our backs." His tone trusting.

"That's what family is for, Raph." April replied with a smile, causing the Turtle to let out a small chuckle as he leaned back in his seat and put his arm around Abby's shoulders. "And thank you, Abby." The older brunette turned her attention to the younger, "You were right. Vern and I couldn't have done that without you." She said, before Mikey regained her attention. 

Abby couldn't help the small scoff that left her, and hoped for the Turtles' sake that the older woman didn't catch it, or the slight eyeroll that accompanied the noise. Abby did however contain the words that she wanted to say to the reporter as they wouldn't have been polite. Raph squeezed her hip in response and glanced down at the top of her head, feeling her ease against his side and settle down. He knew Abby was upset at the adults, but he didn't want to push.

The moment was over quickly as Mikey had pressed the wrong button while trying to show off to April and everyone only had a few seconds to register what was pointing right at Vern's new company vehicle before the rocket locked on to the car and proceeded to blow it up. "Well shit." Abby muttered as they all watched the car go up in flames. The explosion and following alarms was loud and within minutes sirens were heard, causing goodbye's to be said and Donnie to drive away from the scene, with Mikey hanging out the back trying to sing to April. Raph trying to pull the youngest turtle back into the vehicle while restraining the urge to pummel his brother.

After the laughter died down from Abby, Donnie and Leo, and Mikey was securely back in the Turtle-mobile, Leo turned to the girl trying to keep out of the way of the other two brothers. "She heard your scoff." Leo's voice was soft as he looked at her. "We all did. Why don't you like her? What did she do?" Leo's curiosity peaked as he tried to figure out the attitude the girl had towards the woman. Donnie, however, seemed to already figure it out as he glanced at her through the rearview once again.

Abby started to get a little uncomfortable as she tried to figure out how to answer the turtle in blue. Raph's arm tightened on her waist as he pulled her onto his lap and tried to ease her tension. "It's not that I don't like her." Abby started slowly with a sigh. "I had a bullet lodged in my shoulder. A bullet Leo. And I got rammed off the roof of a skyscraper, hundreds of feet off the ground. To protect her." Abby stopped herself from ranting and her body began to tremble. "If it weren't for you guys jumping after me..." After saying it, Abby came to realize just what she did and her trembling turned into shaking. "Her thanks just isn't enough for what I risked today." Abby's voice grew quiet, just above a whisper.

Everyone fell silent, except for Raph murmuring quietly in Abby's ear, and the other three shared a look. It sunk in for them as well what Abby put on the line today, not only to protect April, but to save their family. In that moment, Donnie and Leo decided to keep April away from Abby for a while so she could recover and heal from the trauma. Abby was right though, if it weren't for April she wouldn't have stared Death blatantly in the face today. The two brothers looked back at Abby, seeing the way her eyes unfocused and her shaking continue to get worse as Raph held her tight and kept talking to her. Donnie was sure that Raph's words were the only thing keeping his friend from a full blown panic attack. Leo was sure that Abby is the only person to break his brother's brutish exterior while watching him soften to focus on her.

Leo and Donnie finally understood Master Splinter when he talked about finding mates and the natural course of companionship.