Pain.

All I could feel.

All I could think about.

A pit of fire raged in my right side, flames singing my skin and crawling through my body, sending sparks of burning hot agony pulsing through me. It was so intense that I couldn't even fight it. I had no choice but to submit to it.

I had flickering moments of consciousness, only when the pain would spike from constant throbbing to absolute torture. The only thing I'd be able to compare it to is waking from a nightmare and finding yourself in the midst of a full-blown apocalypse.

When I finally came to, the scent of sterilized medical equipment mingled oddly with a pungent sewer smell. I wrinkled my nose, balling up the scratchy fabric of a blanket in my hands.

A searing pain shot through my abdomen, and I subconsciously clutched my stomach, seeing stars when the action brought on another bout of agony. My fingers brushed against a thick layer of gauze, wrapped around my waist tightly, the edge of my shirt pulled up just enough that I could see the pink stain beginning to seep into the bandages. I groaned, trying to sit up.

"Don't!"

I jolted, hissing as another bolt of pain ran through me. Slowly, I turned my head, eyes widening a bit when I saw a mutant turtle. Definitely not the one I'd encountered earlier, this terrapin was scrawnier in build, tall, with a stripe of purple fabric surrounding russet eyes.

"You'll ruin the stitches," He continued, slowly inching closer to me.

And then a familiar feminine voice echoes from somewhere in the room, "How is she?"

The purple clad turtle shrugged, extending a hand toward my bandages.

"Don't touch me," I protested, trying to wriggle away from him, only earning another wave of pain.

"I'm not gonna hurt you..."

"I said, don't touch me!" I pushed his hand back, managing to sit up as my vision became spotted for a moment.

"Sadie, stop!"

I froze at the voice, my jaw dropping when I saw the girl in the doorway who had spoken.

"You tend to her," The turtle gave in, running a hand down his face in exasperation, "She seems to actually listen to you."

"A-Annabeth?" I choked out, staring incredulously at my friend.

"Hey Sadie," She gave me a grin, pushing her glasses into place on her nose and walking up to me.

"B-but how?" I asked, "You...you know them?"

Anna nodded, kneeling to lay a hand on my soiled wrappings. "You're lucky Mikey got you here in time. Otherwise you might have bled out."

"M-Mikey?" I blinked in confusion, wincing slightly when she began to undo the bandages.

Anna flinched, her fingers moving slower across the gauze. "Sorry. Mikey's the one who saved you."

I looked away as she unwrapped the gauze, trying to process the new information. Mikey was apparently the mutant that had tried to rescue me. And Anna knew these turtles somehow...

I glanced over at my friend, taking in her new appearance for the first time. Her usual modest jeans and loose long sleeve shirt had been traded for grey yoga pants and a black razorback tank, showing off the beginnings of actual muscle. Her hair, usually covering her eyes, was thrown into a messy high bun, and her hands were donned with fingerless gloves. She was barefoot, and I caught a small glance at a tiny tattoo peeking out from the waistband of her shirt.

"What happened to you?" I asked before I could filter my thoughts. 

Anna looked up with a laugh, playing with the frayed edge of one of her gloves. "I guess you could call this my alter ego," She smiled, grabbing some new bandages and beginning to carefully recover my wound.

I fought through the discomfort and inquired further, "And who's he?" I jutted my chin toward the turtle now poking around on a keyboard.

Anna followed my gaze, and a tiny grin flitted across her face for a moment. "Oh. That's Donnie," She mumbled before becoming completely enthralled with the gauze in her hand.

I quirked a brow, glancing over at the dorky terrapin, sticking his tongue out slightly as he concentrated. I had to stifle a little laugh when I discovered Anna copying the exact same action as she finished up.

"That should do it," She assured me as she rose to her full height, playfully patting my shoulder, "You'll be better in no time."

I nodded gratefully to Anna, shooting a wary smile Donnie's way, before questioning, "So where's this Mikey dude?"

"Probably playing video games or sleeping," The turtle replied, "That's all he ever seems to do these days."

I decided not to ponder the odd comment, though the turtle in orange had seemed much more outgoing than a lethargic gamer-type.

"Can I talk to him?"

Anna and Donnie glanced sideways at eachother, before the turtle nodded and turned on his heel to hurry out of the room. I stared pointedly at Annabeth, who shifted uncomfortably under my gaze.

"What?" She complained, her eyes not meeting mine.

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" I cried incredulously, "I thought best friends told eachother everything!"

"This isn't the sort of thing I was able to talk about, even to you," She explained, sitting at the foot of the cot I laid on, "Believe me, I wanted to tell you. But their existence has to stay a secret - the fate of the entire city could depend on it."

I was becoming a little irritated with her vague explanations. "So if they're supposed to be a secret, how'd you find out about them?"

Anna turned her head to stare out the door of the lab. "Donnie," She murmured, a ghost of a smile touching her lips, "He...he saved me, one night while I was out roaming the city. A bunch of gang members tried to abduct me."

I froze, the blood leaving my face. "The...Purple Dragons?"

"Nah," She waved away my comment, too busy with her nostalgic thoughts to worry about my obviously suspicious behavior, "Some new group. They call themselves the Sting."

My heart skipped a beat, as I ran my hand through my hair. What were the odds that the Sting gang would try to mug my best friend? I couldn't believe...

I stopped my panicked thoughts before the fear could escalate. The Sting had no clue that Anna was my friend - to them, she was probably another victim. I had to calm down. If I didn't, everyone would find out why I was so freaked out about the whole incident.

I couldn't afford to let that happen.

I couldn't afford anyone finding out my secret.

And I was lucky enough to regain composure just as Donnie walked back in, accompanied by the turtle in the orange.

"Hello," I mumbled hesitantly, as Mikey's eyes locked with mine.