The Red Shadow (TMNT)

Back to Business

•BEEP BEEP BEEP•

"Great," Addy thought to herself. "Back to the real world." She dismissed her alarm and sat up.

Her mind immediately went back to last night and her heart skipped a beat. "That monster was the most humane of anyone I had ever met." She whispered. "I've never been shown such unprovoked kindness from anyone; except for Becca of course."

She had no room left in her heart after being culturally abandoned by her parents and her boyfriend of 18 months who had promised to never leave her. She only had love for her sister, and certainly wasn't about to give love another shot. No man (or monster) could ever change that. She was set in her ways, and the most stubborn being on the planet; or so she thought.

Addy absentmindedly got ready for work. She had her routine down to an art. She was such a focused and pattern oriented person that she could afford to let her mind drift while she went through the motions. "That turtle...I need to see him again." "I just do." After grabbing her phone and purse she left for work on the bus.

(Raph's POV)

It was a long night of night watching for Raph. Three robberies stopped and accounted for was a pretty good run, and even better that no one saw him except for the bad guys.

"Man, either you guys are getting stupider; or I'm getting better!" He laughed in their faces and turned to run away before anyone else saw him.

Deep down he knew why he was on a roll. That girl; she inspired and pushed him to continue his work; if there was nothing else he was fighting for; no city or family to defend; the one touch they shared could support his morale a lifetime; that's just how powerful he knew her love was. He just had to pull it out of her; for the happiness of both of them.

He had been watching her for about 4 months now and felt the urge to protect her. He watched her every night when she got off the bus at the edge of the city. He noticed how stubborn she was. She would do something or react a certain way and he would think, "Wow, she's my kind of woman!" "Fierce, smart, sexy; what more could a guy want?" "I can't believe she let me touch her." "I wanted to dive right into her lips. "And her eyes, oh man, I can't even begin to tell you how mesmerizing they were."

But he couldn't move too fast no matter how right it felt. He could see that she understood loyalty and that she expected the same standard of loyalty in return and couldn't risk losing her trust.

Raph was now sitting in his favorite spot; the best view of the city he was devoted to protecting; just south of Times Square.

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His brother Leo had made him so furious one night so he went to the rooftops. That's how he met her. It wasn't hard to find her. She stood out like a Dahlia among a pile of thorns. He was immediately captivated by her face and couldn't look away no matter what he did.

Raph had also had his heart broken a time or two; so it was difficult for him to even imagine loving someone outside of his family. His family was his life. He was their protector and loyal to their well-being no matter how hard he had to fight for them. It didn't matter how angry he got at them (especially Leo) he was always going to be there for his family.