the lazarus job - tmnt (2)

four

CHAPTER 4 

HOTSHOTS LOVE FIRE

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IT WAS A STRANGE SILENCE AS THE TURTLES waited for Nadia to walk out of the dojo. None of them were thinking too much about it since they knew Splinter wouldn't do anything to her, but Mikey was just anxious because he didn't want to lose his new friend. 

It was twenty minutes later after Splinter and Nadia went into the dojo that the room opened. Nadia, with a thoughtful look on her face, was staring at the floor as she exit the room. Her gaze looked up to the group sitting in the TV pit before turning behind her to Splinter who looked down at her, his face pulled back into a deciphering stare. 

He was trying to figure her out even after he gave her the 'don't harm my family' speech. 

Nadia turned around away from Splinter; a slight limp with every step. Florence, who was sitting on the chair at the island, could easily tell that Nadia was in pain just by watching her limp. She wanted to help her, but Florence knew that jumping up at a time like this was not okay. 

"Florence," hummed Splinter from across the room. "Can you show Nadia her temporary room?" 

Nadia snapped her head up, her brown hair hitting her across the face as she dart her eyes between Splinter and the turtles. 

"N-No," she protested quickly, "If you all aren't coming with me, I'll go back on my own but I need to leave as soon as possible. I-" 

"Travel, no matter what kind, cannot be done injured," scolded Splinter as he motioned for Florence to go to Nadia with a wave of his hand. Florence stood, offering Nadia a gentle, tight-lipped smile as she started to walk towards a room that Nadia could only describe as 'paper'.

Literally, the walls were made of paper. 

Nadia looked up, pursed lips of thought on her face before she just sighed and nodded her head. "Alright." 

Mikey, who was silent during most of the conversation, let out a loud 'whoop' while Leo seemed to grit his teeth even harder than before. His distrust for the girl was high, even higher than before thanks to how she glared at him as she walked with Florence into her temporary room. 

Leo looked over to the hallway as Raph walked out; a smirk on his face as he cleaned his hands with a towel. Leo could tell by the shininess of his skin that he had taken a shower; most likely to wash off the remaining blood from Nadia's stitches. 

"Cheer up fearless," chuckled the red-clad turtle with a smirk on his face, "Klutz is just a guest. She'll book it as soon as she gets better." 

Leo rolled his sapphire eyes and turned, his eyes drifting to the basket of fruits on the counter next to the sink. He walked over, his steps short and quick as he took an apple, washed it, and bit into it. The sweet taste flooded his taste-buds and soothed his burning tongue, calming Leo down to the point where he began to consider apologizing to Nadia for snapping at her. 

Instead, he kept quiet and just silently chewed on his apple until Raph walked up to him and got one of his own apples. The turtle held onto the red apple after washing it and as he made his way to the dojo, he turned around with a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. 

"Scared that she'll steal your thunder, fearless?" 

And Leo could only pause, his teeth freezing mid-bite as he watched Raphael disappear into the dojo. A scowl appeared on his lips before he resumed eating.