Raphael peeked into the room that Donatello and Leonardo shared. It was way neater and actually not as messy as his and Michaelangelo's was. Don was apparently sleeping or just resting with his eyes shut. The only sign that told Raph that he was alive was that his chest moved in slow deep breaths.

"Donnie? Are you awake?" he said and settled on the floor next to his brothers bed. Donnie slowly opened an eye and looked down at him. Then a wide grin spread across his face.

"Yeah...Atleast I think so. Wish I had some painkillers Think Splinters has got any aspirin?" he mumbled. Raph hurried out and came back with a handful of pills and a tin cup with water. Don took two pills and emptied the can.

"Geezz you look like shit!" said Raph and shook his head. Don glared up at him and nodded.

"Tell me about it They beat the crap out of me. I'm telling you, they get meaner for each year. And bigger " Raphael settled again and looked at him. Even if he sometimes called Donnie a computer freak, bookworm, dork and sissy it was still Raph's brother and he just didn't like this. The fact was that he ought to have been the one who'd taken the blow instead. Not Donnie.

"Hey... Don? I'm sorry about Wednesday night I mean..."

"I survived, bro And DeMiro as well " mumbled Don and settled back against the big pillows that Mike had dragged into the room. Donatello closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was sore, with his right arm in a bundle. Splinter didn't think anything was actually broken, but it could hold cracks that could split up and become a break. Donatello smiled tired and thought of Mike, the ever-caring joker. The past years he'd actually acquired quite a collection of medical books and old newspapers in the subject. He was a devoted, but whimsy, student of Sensei Splinters teachings. And after hearing about killerbacterias and various other ugly germs that hid in old junk, he had cleaned out just about all but the most precious belongings. The one who actually liked the new tidier order was Leo.

"Yeah...you survived. This time. Did DeMiro do this to you?" said Raph and stood on his knees watching Don's face with an intense look. Don opened a brown eye and looked at him.

"Don't bother. He's not worth it, man. Let the cops take care of it, OK?"

"Sure...If they can " muttered Raphael and rose to his feet. He silently walked out, tightening his grasp around one of the Sai he wore in his belt. But he didn't see Donatello's face. A worried face. He knew that if someone threatened or did something to the ones Raphael loved and cared for, they'd most likely get their butts kicked from Earth to Mars. When Leo looked in on him a couple of minutes later, Don told him about the short conversation. And Leo just groaned.

"He's gonna go there "

"Yeah. And he better not do it alone... I can't go Leo?"

But the blue masked turtle just nodded. He placed his hands on Don's shoulders as a quick reassuring that everything was OK, before he went out to find the others. Someone had to stop Raphael from doing something stupid. DeMiro was on the rise again after a two year absence from this part of New York, and they couldn't do too much or they'd most likely be discovered. He found Mike with his nose deep in the medical history of mid 1800's. But he was easily convinced to join up. Venus, who'd been soaking in a bath while trying to get her sore calves to work again, had reluctantly left the tub. She had a weakness; long hot baths, with lots of strawberry smelling bubblebath foam. Now she had to leave it. But since this was of uttermost importance, she donned her gear and was ready to go. As they were about to start climbing out, Mike stopped.

"Wait a sec, OK?" he called out and then ran for the old payphone they had. He quickly dialled the number to Casey and April's place. And when the ex. hockeyplayer Casey Jones heard about Raph's sudden disappearance he was off the line in notime. Leaving a surprised April and Shadow infront of the TV.  

A late springstorm had cleared the air just earlier that night. But a few cold gushes of wind still found their way down between the houses in Brooklyn. And they made the long darkbrown coat around a single walker flap in the wind. The person had a big hat and walked on with a clear motif in his head. Under the brim, redmasked eyes looked out at the world and strong jaws gritted teeth.

"DeMiro... You don't hurt my bro and get away with it "  

"What direction?" said Casey as they rolled over Brooklyn Bridge in the late evening. "Right after the bridge. Just keep going and I'll tell you when to turn off the road." Said Leonardo and then returned to the other two in the back of the old van. Casey had bought it years ago and had done marvels with it. Donatello had helped as well in exchange for driving lessons.

"Are you guys really up to this?" Venus asked as she pulled up her legs under her chin and looked at them.

Leonardo sat down next to her and nodded. Mike toyed with his nunchukas and grinned.

"Apparently we are "

Venus nodded. She was longing for her bath  

"Whatta messy place..." said Casey as he pulled down the old beaten up Hockeymask. He grabbed a baseballbat and swung it to test its weight. "Yep. But they like it here DeMiro practically own these three blocks. Noone dares interfere with what he does." Said Leo and made sure the harness for his swords were firmly in place before he waved to the other two to follow. They entered an alley and kept to the dark shadowy parts as they made their way forward. Leo listened all the time, trying to figure out where Raphael was. He was close...very close But still far away As always his anger blocked the path they shared. This unique bond that had saved their lives so many times. He glanced at Mike, who was carefully making his way thru the garbage in the alley. Casey was right behind him, with the gleaming metal bat in his hands. Leo looked to his left and saw Venus moving forward like a silent shadow. Now and then he could only make out her eyes gleaming in the darkness. They were so much alike. Devoted to their arts and the learning. They understood eachother in an totally different way then the others.  

Leonardo looked forward into the block and saw movement. Mike and Casey did as well. Venus saw it seconds later. It was a shadow on the roof ahead. They could all see a well known shadow moving away from them. Leo silently pointed at a ladder. Mike climbed it and peeked over the edge. He saw nothing out of the ordinary up there and the others could safely climb after him. Once up, they gathered and made sure all was present. Leo unsheathed a sword as they moved forth. Three houses away DeMiro had his office, as he had called it. And three storeys's down the factory that they had been fighting in the other day. Donatello came to his mind, and Leo made a grin of pain as he saw the scene again. A thick-headed gorilla of a man giving Donatello's Bo a crack and sent it flying all over the place. And even if Don was both fast and strong, he hadn't had a chance against the man alone. The struggle had been followed by a thump of a body against the concrete wall and Don's still body. Always little Don. Someone must dislike the masterbrain in the gang and chosen to right out make life miserable for him, Leo thought. Now Donatello was restricted to the small room he shared with Leo. But that was far from what he wanted to do. There was a new Computer waiting to be unwrapped, some cool new processors and stuff that Leo didn't even dared to touch in fear of breaking it. All those memories flashed by his mind for a second as they headed towards the other roof.  

"Off with it " mumbled Raphael as he tore off the old coat and the hat. He looked down thru the dirty roof window and saw the office of DeMiro. This rising gangboss was so self assure that he didn't post any guards on the roof. Well, atleast folks they could call guards, he thought and glanced over at the man lying near the emergency exit just to the right of Raph. That fella would be out cold for hours.

"Come to papa " Raph grinned as he took one Sai in each hand. He looked down at the latch that held the roofwindow shut. He was just about to open it when a hand dropped on his shoulder.

"No solo tonight, bro ."

"Leo? What the hell are you doing here!? Mike and Venus? Casey?!"

Mike held his nunchakats in a steady grip. Venus had donned a katana this evening. Casey held his trusty baseball bat in a steady grip in his left hand, while he peeked over the edge. His thick brown hair ruffled in the chilly springwind and he shook his head.

"Wow... they are wellstocked. Guns all over the place." he said, voice slightly muffled by the beat up hockeymask of his.

"Guns..." mumbled Mike. He disliked it wholeheartedly. He had been inches from being killed the earlier summer. Some streetmuggers had decided to jump a pair of girls. Casey and Mike had been over to the movies and had the right timing to whack the three men's heads. Even if one of them had fired atleast a click or two at them. Mike had been wounded in the shoulder, but not badly, and all he had now was a mean scar from it. But since then, the smell of gunoil made his nerves rattle in a very unsettling way.

"Ugly... I tell you. Ugly..." Casey mumbled and took a firmer grip on his trusty old bat. "How are we gonna get to them?"

Leo was about to ask the others for points of view, but then he realised that Raph was gone. And all that moved on the roof except for them, was the open safety door.

"Ohkeeyy..." mumbled Leo and made a grim face and drew a second sword. They moved down the stairs inside the attic and followed the trail of Raphael.  

Raphael silently walked down the hallway. He crouched at a T-junction and peeked around the corner. He saw two guards, and they seemed way too relaxed to be really paying attention to their work. Sloppy training he thought. Raph changed the grip of his Sais. Then when the men turned away for a moment he ran for it. They never knew what hit them, all they all saw was steel and a pair of burning dark eyes before they fell lifeless to the floor. Raph stopped and listened. Noone had heard it.

"DeMiro Prepare to pay..." he mumbled.

Not far behind, Leo and the others reached the same T-junction and saw Raphael sneak around another corner. The only light in the hallway was a handful of bare little lightbulbs. And Leo could clearly make out the silhouettes of two still bodies. He hadn't really needed to do that

"Raph!" hissed Leo and tried to get his brother attention. But Raph was gone now and they moved after him.

Mike waited until the others had passed before he changed direction and looked in the other direction. He thought he'd heard a sound there. Something whining He stopped by a thick door and listened. Nothing. But just as he was about to turn away and follow the others, he heard it again. Mike felt at the doorknob. It was locked, and someone was obviously in the room beyond. Then he tried to push the door open, but it didn't. This called for another strategy. Mike had a small pouch in the belt and pulled out a couple of black wires. With a few simple twists in the doorlock, he pried it open and the door swung open on silent hinges. It was dark in the room, and the only light he saw was from a single bedlamp fastened on the wall over a narrow bunk by the wall. The window was open and the chilly wind made the room freezing. But in the light he could see the shape of a human on the bed. And the gleam of eyes.

"Who's there?!" it hissed and tried to move. Mike moved closer, careful not to enter the light.

"A friend...Just a friend. Why are you here?"

No answer at first. He could hear the rapid breathing slow down.

"Help me...please?"

He could see the face of the person now. It was a girl, about his age, tied to hands and feet. She had a piece of cloth around her neck, and it had obviously been used to have her gagged.

"Sure...Can you tell me what you are doin' here first "

"They took me. Just ripped me off the street. Was going to work... Didn't even see them. Please, don't let them do it again!"

Mike saw that her clothes hung loose and in disorder. Her thick hair hung in a mess of black curls and she tried all the time to get free from handcuffs that bound her to the bedposts.

"Damn. What have they done to you?" he said and came out into the light. She gasped and stared at him.

"Who are you?" she whispered and swallowed hard. Mike stopped. She was scared before, and seeing him there didn't make it any better. He crouched down and tucked the weapons away.

"I am a friend. But I need to know... Do you trust me?"

She stared at him, swallowed hard.

"Cuz' the options aren't exactly in your favour, right?"

The statement was followed by a nod from her and she looked at the handcuffs again. Mike took a firm grasp on them and it didn't take much to get them to split up. They sure didn't calculate on someone tearing them to pieces. He did the same thing with the cuffs that held her feets together. She could barley stand, and her legs gave away. As she leaned on him for support, Mike could see dark circles on her arms. Holes here and there told him they'd been pumping her full of whatever they did downstairs. Except for that, he didn't even dare to imagine what else they'd used her for. All he knew was that she had to be taken out of there and to safety.  

Raph stood behind a door and listened. He could hear DeMiro's voice. A little whining; sounded like a pig almost. He grinned and looked at the Sai in his left hand. Other voices joined in, they were arguing. A really good one as well. Somewhere he heard a gun click. A shot rang out and then a wet thump from a body falling to the floor followed. More arguments followed this, in Spanish as well as French.

"Shut it!" shouted another voice. An stressed DeMiro. Raph tightened his grasp. Soon...Soon  

Leonardo held up an open hand. They all stopped and looked around.

"Where's Mike?" Then they saw him. He stood in the T-junction behind them.

"I have to get her out." He said with a low voice. The girl stared blankly in front of her now. She was in really bad shape. And he had to catch her when she suddenly slumped down and lost conciousness

"Do what you can! We have to get Raph out of this "

Mike nodded and disappeared down the same way they'd come in thru. He had no idea where to take her. To April's place? And scare little Shadow? No. He had to bring her down to the lair. Where he had all the stuff he needed to get her good enough to be hauled over to an ER somewhere. He didn't want to just dump her in someone else's lap to care for. No, he wanted to do this for her. Michaelangelo carried the now unconscious girl's body in his arms and hurried towards the nearest sewerdrain. The best way now was underground. He sudddenly thought; I don't even know her name.  

Leo looked around a corner for a brief second. He pulled back.

"Ok. Raph. Behind a door. I heard atleast seven other voices. I smelled... blood.

"Blood?" said Venus and looked worried.

"Not Raph's. Someone else's. It must be that gun that went off. Think they executed someone."

"Common procedures, or what?" mumbled Casey. "I wanna dunk some skull " Leo glanced at him and sighed. He and Raph spent way too much time out in the dark. A sudden call and loud crashed announced that Raph had made his move. The other three ran after and rushed the door.  

The room was a mess. Raph had more or less butchered two guys; one was grasping for the throat, trying to not drown in his own blood. The square room held a huge window and the second one had been thrown thru it. Now the guns were up and loaded with ammunition. Leo saw it and aimed. His katana separated the closest man's arm from his body. The wounded man fell to the floor howling. Venus was just as swift. Even if she didn't have the katana up, she found good use for its handle and cracked a nose. Casey was batting away on a particulary ugly guy. And the bat didn't exactly make him any better looking. As Leo whirled a roundkick at an attacker, he saw that someone opened the door to the back of the house. Someone who wore a white suit. DeMiro.

"DeMiro!" roared Raph and gave the man he had infront a good punch and ran for the door.

"No Raph!" Leo called out. Too late. Raph was in a rage now and they didn't have much choice then to finish the punks here, and then pursue the other two.

Mike carefully held the human closer to his chest as he climbed the ladder down into the lair. "Master Splinter!" he called out as he reached the end. Splinter came out from the kitchen with a cup of tea in his hairy hands. His big eyes grew even larger as he saw what Michaelangelo was carrying.

"Please... Help her!" he said and carefully placed the girl on the floor. She was barley breathing. It seemed her powers had just slipped away from her after he had undone the cuffs that had held her prisoner.

"Where did you find this girl?" said Splinter and felt at the girls neck for a pulse. It was weak and she breathed fast and shallow.

"I think they DeMiro's gang, has used her as a guineapig."

Splinter looked up at him. "DeMiro? Is he the one behind this as well?"

Mike nodded and he could see Splinter shake his shaggy head. They should have let the police deal with DeMiro, but now the rest of the gang was up there, except Don and Mike, to try and take him down.

"This girl needs to be taken to an ER. Not to us. Down here we cannot handle a person who has been overdosed with drugs."

"But..."

"No But, Michaelangelo. Take your coat and hat. Take her to the ER and leave her there. We can not take care of her here. Even if you wished to Now, hurry."

Mike's brows settled in a worried pose as he tucked a few stands of her black hair behind her ears.

"I " he moaned "Alright. I will..."

"I am not being unfair to her Michaelangelo. She is not in shape to be healed here. Give her a better chance. You have very good intentions, my son.Go now."

Don watched his brother pull on a big trenchcoat and the old battered baseball cap he liked. He wished he'd been out here. He didn't like to be stuck in bed.  

Raph grabbed the rail just in time to avoid the bullet sizzling thru the air right above his head. DeMiro stood by a fire exit and held the big gun pointed at him

"I warn you! Any closer..."

"I will come closer, DeMiro Very close..."

DeMiro aimed again and the gun clicked.

"Man, ain't this something... Fired all bullets didn't ya?" said Raph with a grin and he made sure DeMiro saw the sharp Sai gleam in the light from the EXIT sign.

"You'll never get me. I own this town, freak! This is mine!"

If there's one thing you should NOT tell Raphael; the fact that he is different. DeMiro made a very bad move this time.

"I am no freak! You are! I don't pump ten year old brats full of your darn drugs and crack!" growled Raph and lunged for the man. DeMiro grabbed the handlebar of the door and it fell open, and they tumbled out into the factory. DeMiro got a good punch on Raph and sent the turtle flying down the stairs. The teeth clattered in Raph mouth as he tumbled down the concrete stair to the factory floor. He looked around. It was empty. All the tables and the people they'd seen in here the earlier week were gone. Noone was there. Something was wrong.

"I told you to stay the hell away from me!" howled DeMiro as he stood at the top of the long stair. The room, longer then broader, didn't have any windows. The light came from a handful of lightbulbs in the ceiling. The outer perimeters of the room were dark. Something was very wrong Raphael got to his feet, undamaged by the stair thanks to the hard shell. Suddenly he became aware of the growling. Low, muffled sounds somewhere to his right. A similar sound followed to his right.

"DeMiro!? What is this place!?"

"Heheh...You'll be nothing but lumps when the cops arrive. They're busting this joint in an hour. I am out of here!" shouted the oliveskinned man and ran for the exit. Raph ran towards the stair, but something ran down it and blocked his path. It was a dog. A very big, very ugly and without a doubt very mad dog. With foam around the mouth. Raph stumbled backwards. A word flashed thru his mind. Rabies!? More growls and now a bark. More dogs!?  

Leo threw his whole weight at the door. No use. The door was locked.

"Dammit! Open!"

Now they heard the barks as well. Dark barks. And many as well. Venus tugged at the door and tried to open it as well.

"All three?" said Casey. He's thrown the bag with the sticks back across his back and now secured it. Leo nodded. The three of them backed, then charged the door with their shoulders first. The door fell off its hinges with a clattering. They stumbled out on a catwalk high above a floor. Below, in the faint light, they saw Raphael trying to avoid the dogs that surrounded him. Big, hairy dogs.

"Raph! We're coming!" called Venus and ran down the stair.

"NO! Stop! They have "

But then Venus fell, with a huge dog sinking its teeth down into her leg. She stared back at it, paralysed by the red glare of the dog.

"Venus!" howled Leo and pulled up the swords. "Doggies...you may not know what you are doin', but whatever it is, it's over and out!"

Venus stared at the dog; it was literally chewing her up. She brought up the katana she had and with a swish it neatly decapitated the dog. She tore off the redeyed beast's head and tried to get up. The leg hurt, it hurt very much. She saw Leo arrive, swords slashing out at a couple of dogs that jumped at them.

"Get up to Casey!" he hissed and pushed her towards the stairs.

"No! I want to help Raph!" she complained and tried to get past him. Leo growled at her, almost as fierce as the dogs. She limped up the stair and to Casey. He held a big bowieknife and looked around all the time in case any of the dogs would come up the stairs.

Raph threw the 100-pound dog into the nearest wall and turned to face the next. He had bite marks all over and whenever he tried to fend off a dog, another one took its place. Leo did a good job, cutting thru the pack like a knife thru butter. They ended up shell to shell, fending off the ugly.

"Feeling queasy?" asked Leo as he diced a dog and locked eyes with another.

"Quite so. What are these creatures?!" he whispered.

"Even seen Cujo?"

Raph nodded and delivered a blow to a big black and white husekylike beast. It fell to the floor.

"How many?"

"Five left. Big uns as well. Think we have the leader there " said Raph and nodded at a blueblack German Shepherd. It grinned at them exposing long yellow fangs, and Raph grinned back just as evil even if he didn't sport any fangs.

"They've got rabies, you know." said Leo and made a swish with his blade as a dog came to close. It circled around them, as if it was sent forth to test them. Trying to find their weaker spots.

"I guessed that. We haven't got any vaccine against it." Leo nodded. He was unhurt so far, but Raph and Venus would be really bad within a few hours he guessed. Or a day or two.

"Ahh... Let's rock!" shouted Raphael. He had nothing to loose now. With a grin worthy a dragon he ran for the leader and found himself face to face with 120 pound of snarling dog. But a Sai was faster and the dog went down. Leo ran for it as well, delivering both wounds and bonebreakes with his swords and feet. He got out of it without a scratch.

Casey opened the doors as they ran towards the roof again. DeMiro was gone and they'd find him later. Now they had to get back down, and somehow get their hands on the vaccine. Leo had heard of humans surviving rabies, but what about a mutated turtle? He gritted his teeth as he climbed down before them and they were safely in the sewers. Casey had to take the car back, but he'd meet up with them as soon as he could.  

If the day had been chaos earlier, Splinter didn't really know what to believe when he saw both Raphael and Venus limp thru the Lair. Venus had bled a lot from a deep gash in the leg, and Raphael had bitemarks all over his left arm. The left thigh had some deep cuts from dogteeths as well.

"Master? We have trouble." Said Leo as he hurried in.

"What happened to them?" asked the rat as he with a wave of his hand ordered Leo to get some water, and something he could use to clean the wounds.

"Rabies " growled Raphael as he looked at his arm. "Really bad case as well "

Venus just sat still, staring at her leg. It pounded and hurt like something was alive inside it. The throbbing just grew harder and harder and she bit down hard not to complain. She wanted to prove strong in front of her brothers.

"We need vaccine or something." Said Leo as he watched over them. They heard the rattling of the entrance. Mike came climbing down and saw them.

"Hey! What happened?" he called out and hurried over. He moaned when he saw Venus sore leg, and the look on his face when he spotted Raph's torn arm and leg was even worse.

"What have you guys and gal been up to?!" he complained and dove into the study where he kept some of the medical equipment he'd scrounged up the past years. He left a trail with the coat, hat and thick sweater as he disappeared. Raph growled at the itching and the urge to scratch was annoying.

"Have you guys any idea of where we can find rabies shots at this time?"

Mike's question was right on the spot. They hadn't got a clue.

"Candace can help." Raphael mumbled.

"Who?" asked Leo.

"You haven't met her. But she'd help. I know it "

Casey suddenly stared right at Raph. "Don't tell me she's named Hamilton as well "

"Uh...yeah, why do you ask?" said Raph as he grinned badly. Mike was cleaning the wounds as well as he could. Raph kept moving all the time, as if he was haunted by something.

"Stay still, will ya..." complained Mike and grabbed Raph's arm and he wiped away some of the stale blood. Raph looked down at him. That pain was getting worse by the minute.

"Me and April...We kindof know her. April does at least. They had lunch the other day That's one rich lady, Raph."

"Yes. That's why I think she can help us."

Itchy Itchy... Isn't this enough soon, Mike?

Casey took a deep breath. "Ok. I'll ask her if she knows anyone she can pursuade to help us."

"Good. But hurry." Said Mike as he carefully placed a bandage around Raph's arm.  

Candace stepped out of the elevator and was about to pull up her keys when she spotted Casey. He stood alongside another figure, dressed in a long trenchcoat and hat. A big guy it seemed. Wide shoulders and an overall bulky figure.

"Mr Jones? What are you doing here?"

"We need your help, Ms Hamilton," said the bulky person. As she walked closer, she looked it straight in the eyes.

"Geez! Who are you?" she said as she looked Leo straight in the eyes.

"Leonardo.Raphael is my brother. He's been hurt. And our sister as well."

"Hurt? Raphael's hurt?" she whispered and looked very pale suddenly. Candace seemed to get a million thoughts in her mind, but she unlocked the door and threw the three bags on the counter in the kitchen. She then hurried back into the main room where Casey and Leonardo waited. Juanita came as well, curious about what was going on. Leo, who'd been on the verge of taking off his hat, kept it on.

"Miss Hamilton? Are we having guests for dinner?"

"No... I need to help them. It might take a while, Juanita. I placed some bags in the kitchen. Unpack them please. I won't be home for a while, so lock when you leave."

She hurried back to them "I'll just change. And I'll be with you in a minute"  

As they waited for her, the two of them looked around in the room. Juanita glanced suspiciously at them, but left the room. Leo whistled low as he examined a painting.

"Geezz. Casey? Check this out. This is a real Rembrandt!" he said.

"Yep. I know. I spotted it when we came in." Said Casey. He was looking at some small, exquisite Faberge eggs in a cabinet. They were worth millions. And he could see the small wire that was connected to the alarm, somewhere in the apartment. Candace came back, braiding her hair as she rushed by them into the hallway. She finished it and grabbed the phone.

"What do you need?" she said, ready to dial any number.

"Rabies vaccine " said Leo with a grim tone. His brown eyes glinted underneath the hat and Candace suddenly felt her heart froze.

"Rabies vaccine? Do you know how hard it can be to get that?"

"Yes. That's why we had to turn to you " said Casey. Candace felt very confused over the fact that he knew the turtles as well.

"Yeah...Um...I could call Harry Thornbird. Yes, he works at a lab. I recall him working with some animal tests a few weeks back. About...infections and such...yeah...wait..."

She dialled a number and waited. What Leo heard the coming minutes were amazing. It appeared this Harry Thornbird was an professor in virology and had recently been awarded with several scholarships and awards. As they waited Candace explain where to meet them, and to bring the vaccine.

"Can we risk another stranger?" asked Casey. Lao just glanced at him.

"Do you want Raphael and Venus to live? I do. And I am in charge. So yes, I will risk it."

The elevator hummed as they went down into the underground garage. Candace asked Leo to remove the hat. He did so, letting her see his face. There was a difference to them. Raph's face was more angular, with square jaws, Leo's was firm, but he had a slight softness that blended in with the masculine in a very enchanting way. If he'd been a human, he'd most likely been one of those ponytail fellas in a suit, Candace thought. Perfectly blending in with the crowds, only to be found having a wild side to his personality. She replaced his hat herself.

"Nice to meet you Leonardo Raph has told me a lot about his siblings."

Leo smiled and nodded. Even if Raph were a bit much to handle from time to time, he'd never hurt his family.

"And he's not said much about you, but your perfume can be scented long way. Noone else has it "

Candace smiled as well, trying to turn her blushing face away.

"We're are here."

As they entered the garage, she stopped by a dark blue BMW and unlocked it.

"We're picking him up at the university. He'll be Ok, Leo. Harry is very good at what he do "

Leo nodded, but a sad glimpse could be seen as he got into the backseat and waited for them to start the car.  

Harry Thornbird was a welltrined handsome man in his mid fifties, with hair that had gone snowwhite much too early. He stood in the late afternoon and waited outside his home. He recognised the BMW as it pulled up. "Get in Doc. Did you bring me the stuff I asked for on the phone?" said Candace as she pulled out from the corner again.

"Yes, but why on earth do you need rabies vaccine? And just that?"

"Doc, look to your left. That's Leonardo. His brother and sister are very ill, they need your help." Harry did the classic impression of someone loosing his jaw.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." Said Leo and shook the stunned doctor's hand.

"What are you?" stuttered Harry and stared down at Leo's hand and then up at his face.

"Just your every day turtle turned big "