Safe Haven [Tag: April]

"daww, well in regards to all old ladies... I am sorry you had been so I'll repaid for your act of bravery and valor." April sighs sad for Raphael again to have carried these scars inflicted. She could image the words used. And she knew how much they had to have hurt, kind hearted Mikey, stoick Leo and sweet Donnie... Even 'hard shelled' marshmallow interior Raph.

She felt his chin and tucked herself further under it, here was safe, for both of them against the fear and fright and to him the added pain.

She could give a triumphant little grin here when he curiously asked curiously about 'Ee'. It was a nickname she had given the girl over the times she had stayed and the times their families spent together. And maybe she was hoping to stir his curiosity. "What she like now? Hmm... Well Ee... Is still the small girl as she was then, only now sixteen, and no one parent is alive, her workaholic dad - Hank is lovely though, he is just not there a lot, but they and Ida are a close knit family. And even after losing her mother five years ago Ee is still warm, and kind... the girl that would go looking for trolls and water sprites and the Bigfoot on the camping trips we used to do when my dad was here and her mother alive. These days I know she works a few hours in the cafe in the evenings." she chuckles a little. "Recently she gave a money grant she earned through school to a homeless lady that used to hang here. Don't know where that lady went from there but have not seen her since. Yeah girl is still the girl whom talked to me all the way back to bed at six years old that the monster might be nice... And hungry. Still never see her with friends. Still a loner."

So it seemed that even after all these years and growing and being expected to bend to what was socially acceptable, this 'Ee' remained the same. A dreamer, it sounded like. Someone who thought outside the box, a loner. Someone kind and accepting. But.. would all of that change the moment she finally crossed 'the monster'? It was one thing to paint something on the canvas of your mind, quite another to experience it in real life...


...like humans. Back when Raph thought maybe, just maybe they could accept him and his brothers. Before he ever met one of those 'monsters' face to face. Of course, the circumstances would be completely different considering that Raph wasn't out to eat human babies. Still, what good could come of knowing her? Another taste of a world that could never be his. To potentially fall and not have feelings returned? Another person who's life would be constantly in danger simply from knowing them. Yeah. More cons than pros. Still, it didn't stop him from wondering about her. She sounded interesting.


"Ee.. what kinda name is Ee.." He wondered, wrinkling his snout. Of course it was his not so obvious way of asking the girl's name without showing too much interest....

April could not hear his thoughts and tucked under his chin had no way of seeing and thus interpreting as acutely as she always managed to what passed through his mind over his face.

And she had not inclination to lift her head to find out so comfy - smiling as at least she'd teased him enough a little with hints of the young person to ask for her name... in a way that was not really asking.

"oh... sorry it's a nickname I gave her long ago during our first day together at a park playing on the swings and slides." She admits actually genuinely sheepish. "Her real name is Erica." She chuckles a little. "You know a week after the very first time sitting her, and I was picking her up from the cafe and asked her playfully if she'd found the monster under the bed. She told me yes, said it was a gator and that he was a sweet guy that could not talk too well." April shifts a bit more making a happy content sigh sound, always enjoying these moments of being able to recall bits of her past for her curious green brothers and Splinter. And maybe this time sparking more and more interest in her brother right now - if nothing else just to distract his more depressing thoughts as they both slowly gave into the tiredness that hovered around the entire comfy right now. "I thought it was an imaginary friend... but unlike normal imaginary friends he was not invisible, she just said she only saw him in the morning and afternoon and for weeks had no name.. then was suddenly Jaws - I thought maybe someone was trying to pick her up and told her grandmother and father... nothing came of it... but always still wonder if this 'Jaws' was a real someone." She puzzles as she had done years ago. "I do know just four years ago I had to take her to the emergency room with a broken arm and what I thought where dog tooth marks." April frowned. "I thought the worst when she turned up here in the dark soaked to her skin, cold, shivering and half in shock I could never get much more than 'Jaw's didn't mean it... he never meant to hurt me' when I demanded she tell me what happened." Which made her question again if Jaws was indeed real? what twelve year old had an imaginary friend after all?

And the chatter was allowing her thoughts on the military cyber suite man to bounce about her memories as she dug through them to temp Raph with glimpses of some one much like herself and Angel in some ways... and yet very different too... She felt she would recall the familiarity of that voice soon, it would come to her.

Raphael listened on, his interest growing, completely curious about this girl. Still, he knew his limitations and that she seemed to have it hard enough without having her life thrown off balance and put into danger because of mutants. It was their responsibilities to minimize the amount of people their lives affected.


Then something she said caught his full attention, bringing him back from the daydreaming and longing to be accepted by someone else. Alligator. He continued to listen, thinking that it was indeed something the child had made up, because alligators were commonly used tools in children's fantasies. But then she mentioned Erica hinting at him being a mutant...



"Leatherhead?!" He said, more to himself than to April. Of course she didn't know the beast, that assumption made obvious by her uncertainty...


"Ape, there is a mutant Alligator... so maybe she ain't crazy. Maybe that's her Jaws. I just met him a few hours ago, when I went to talk to Love.." And just the Cat's name left a bitter taste in his mouth. His eyes suddenly went wide, realizing that Erica's life could be in danger...



"April...Love is stayin' with Leatherhead. If this is Erica's friend, you gotta warn her. Love's promised not to eat people, but after tonight...I've lost any confidence that she's capable of being a decent ..'person'..."

There was no interruptions in her chatter and she could not yet hear snoring so April figured Raphael was listening, dawwww maybe this plotting of hers was going to be easier than she thought. Mmmm She was just wriggling a bit her ear resting against his plastron and letting the comfortable atmosphere settle about them.

"Bless you." She responded when Raph said 'Leatherhead' thinking it was a involuntary word. But the rest of his sentences pushed that thought away.

She blinks the tiredness away a few times and looks up at Raph. "Are you telling me that the gator being that then six year old was telling me about is... real?" She asks - of course not doubting it, but to say she was shocked would be an understatement. "Leatherhead? that is his name?" Of course she had no idea that the gator was indeed very real and very large!

She shifts so she could look at Raph and gives him a nod, noting the bitterness in his voice, but that was to be expected. "Well I could give her a message to see me in the morning. The girl will be in bed at the moment. Or try calling her... might try the call first." She says to Raph and shifts out from under his arm to stand... tiredly making her way to her jacket... it was wet still but the pocket inside where her phone was was still dry and her phone.

She makes her way back to Raph flicking through her contacts and was just sliding back under that big protective arm once more as she found the picture of Erica and clicked on the little green phone tab to call pressing the loudspeaker option and listening to the phone dial - blinking tiredly at the image of the girl on screen. The dial tone rings out and the voice message plays.

Erica wrote:

"This is Erica Martins, please leave a message."

And the Beep April had not really thought of what she was going to say. "Urgh um, Erica it's April, call me back unless you get my message first." She hangs up and clicks the message option making the girls image vanish as she quickly types out. 'Erica I must catch up with you first thing this morning, write me as soon as you are up. It's urgent. April.'

That done she looks at Raph again, "Don't worry big guy I will get the message to her before she goes any where in a few hours.... huh I wonder what happened when she came to me with a broken arm? What did he not mean?" She ponders very very tired now and watching her lil green brother. For most the part he did not seem to be as down as before and it made her a little happier. Whatever measure of comfort or distraction she could give she would.

Raphael hoped that April could warn her friend in time. After last night, he held no trust in Love. She seemed to only be out for herself and that was proven by the fact that she had taken advantage of him. She would kill again, he knew it. It would suck if it was someone April held close.


He gave an unseen, amused look when she 'blessed' him, obviously thinking The mutant alligator's name sounded closer to an involuntary bodily function than an actual name. And then she caught on...



[color=red]"Yeah, that's what I'm tellin' you. I mean, there's a chance there's more than one... but since we've never ran across them before, doubtful. He fell silent once again while April tried to decide the best course of action, finally choosing to leave a voice message, and a text. Squinting at the image on the screen before it disappeared, a wave of recognition washed over him. Was that... Peep-show-girl?! Nah, it couldn't be! What were the chances??


Giving her a reassuring squeeze, Raph frowned at the following question. "Prolly went into beast mode and accidentally hurt her, Ape." He reminded her sadly. "Us mutants are dangerous." And he wondered if his brothers were put under the 'right' circumstances, if their 'beast mode' would override their ability to be rational? Or, was he the only Hamato cursed with this? He gave another reassuring squeeze, as if soothing them both, trying desperately to fight the fatigue and overwhelming tiredness he was feeling.


"If Leatherhead is her Gator, and I have a strong feelin' he is, I'm sure he'll protect her from Love." Still it would make him --both of them-- feel better to make her aware of the potential danger...

Cuddling back into her lilBig brothers side and nodding letting her phone rest in her hand loosely encase Erica rose early and called back or messaged April even left it on the girls image - maybe on purpose. Maybe. Or more of a subconscious way to silently will the girl to wake and find her attempts to reach her soon.

Whatever it was She was also aware of the way Raph squeezed her, so carefully and warmly and it made her eyes close twice in contentment just about ready to surrender. His answer and the sad sort of tone made her make a low 'Ohhh' sound. "Yeah ... six years though before that I wonder what would have triggered the tha-" She stopped even her sleep fogged head put it together and she suddenly was even more glad her then twenty year old self had not wasted time grilling the then twelve year old and just took her to care. "Never mind I think I know what would have changed to set it off... and if thats the case... how truly frightening an incident that must of been. For the both of them." She could not dismiss an unknown mutants feelings on the matter. Even if she did not know him at all herself. "Their strong to have remained friends. I think I now understand why she has no human friends, less chance of him being discovered." She adds in a whispers wriggling a bit and reaching over him to find and pull with difficulty the latch that would straighten the couch out flat as she let curiosity plague her slowly surrendering to sleep brain - and maybe also a way to try easing his worries as much as her own regarding Love, especially if he was certain no matter what the gator would protect his friend. "Tell me a little of the gator... well what you can... its great to know my young friend is also a mutant friend..." And it would make what she had in mind easier... as long as there was nothing other than friendship between the girl and the gator.

And Raphael noticed that April left the image up, though, he tried not to make it too obvious that he actually glanced at it once or twice. She was cute, for sure. And he was certain it was Peep-show girl. Hearing April ask about the Gator brought him back to his senses.


"He's... intimidatin'.." Raph answered honestly, feeling the lull of sleep tugging at him. I t had been a long night, and was approaching the time that sane, or 'normal would start to wake to begin their day. "Bigger than me.. but seems okay. There was tension.. figure it was a territorial thing. But, we didn't fight.. so there's that. He seemed okay I guess."

April had let her eyes drift closed lifting the phone to rest so she would hear and or feel it if it buzzed and Ee answered her. The contact photos flicked to the next one of that contact. "Bigger than you? your kidding? how b bb iiiiiiiiiiiig? I know there was a story article of a fifteen foot alligator pulled from a river in Alabama, it weighed just over a thousand pounds... is that the size of this Leatherhead?" She yawns a yawn that just about split her from ear to ear she felt leaving a puff of her warm breath over the plastron section she nestled upon like her he was seconds from sleep and not minding if he did not answer. Her hand continued to move and lightly tugged the throws from the back of the couch to pull over them both. There would be no use for two her mammal body heat once all trapped under it would keep them both warm no doubt. She leaves it to him though to push the couch out into flatness now that she had pulled the release latch for him to do so.

It was all her way of trying to ensure his mind had good things in it for sleep, not too layered with thoughts of his brothers, of Love and of the incident. Hopefully of... well more pleasant thoughts and or imaginings or day dreamings.

She smiles. "It probably was a territorial thing, large male gators are very territorial over their space... glad there was no fight. I image he'd have been intimidating..."

Churring softly, a sure sign of contentment, Raph pushed the couch flat when April pulled the lever to make it possible, and pulled the throw over them. Normally he would -not- be getting this up close with someone, but this was April. His big sis. His comforter.


"Yeah.. prolly about the size or bigger than the Bama gator.." He informed, yawning tiredly. Carefully shifting his body to be closer to her, nuzzling softly. "And... I'm glad there wasn't a fight, either. Those teeth..." And he shuttered slightly, once again recalling those damn documentaries that Donnie was so intrigued with. "I mean.. I coulda took him..." Okay, so even he had his doubts, but needed to stay confident in at least one aspect.. "But I'm sure we'd both be hurtin'. At least he seems sensible..."

"Holy banana's thats a big gator..." April murmurs and wriggles so he had the greater space, being bigger, her hand rubbing his head. "I am happy he was ok to you lilbig brother... very glad... I know you would have kicked his tail though." She murmurs chuckling, at those churrs and the nuzzling her eyes closed and this time not reopening.

She too shivers when he did imagining a gator jaw full of teeth! "I saw those teeth marks on Erica... I thought than it had to have been a giant dog..." April yawned. "man ... given gator growth... he must have been at least thirteen feet at the time of the attack... wonder how she got away... I'ma ask her -" And she mutters almost entirely asleep now. "she's lucky to be alive -"

And the girls image on her phone was the last thing she really saw as her mind plays the mystery mans voice in her mind one last time... funneh how it sound a lot like her young friends father.

A small, absent grin tugged across Raph's features as his eyes finally slid closed, hearing April's confidence in him. If the Gator had been aggressive or territorial, the big guy would have given Raphael a run for his money, that's for sure. Fortunately he had remained civil. He too wondered how Erica had escaped those massive jaws, but maybe Leatherhead had snapped back to his senses before doing something worse than leaving her with scars.


Churring quietly, content and warm, Raph nuzzled her softly, again briefly envying Casey for having this on a regular basis; to know that he wasn't alone. Even though it made him slightly jealous, he was happy for his best bud. Casey was a lot like him, and Raph knew that April was good for him. At least one of the hot-heads wouldn't be condemned to a life of loneliness.



Moments later, he too drifted off into a peaceful, content slumber.