Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Please don't mistake me or try to make me

the shadow of anybody else

I ain't the him or her you think I am

I'm just trying hard to be myself

Oh, society's goal is to be part of the whole

That may sound good to you, not to me

Let me be, let me be

To think like I want to

Let me be, let me be

That's all I ask of you

I am what I am and that's all I ever can be

-"Let me be", The Turtles (1965)

Prolog

New York was never silent, but tonight the only things apparent was that of passerby's on the street and ongoing car alarms roaring in the distance. The night beamed a gleaming green hue throughout the underground of the city. The ruckus from the tunnels echoed deep below the mudded bricks and would leave the surface slightly vibrating from the grating motions of the sewer's chaos. Most people wouldn't notice it at all, paying no attention to the ravaging battle that took place underneath their feet. And if they did, they would surely regret it.

...

Donnie didn't know how long he had been running, the only sound being the splash of water from his steps and the heavy breathing escaping his gap tooth like a tiny whizzle. He didn't know how long it took him. Sure, he was able to drive the mousers away from Mikey, but what about the others? Were they safe? Did they take the pill? Did it work? How were they gonna find each other now? All these questions and all Donnie could do was keep pondering them, heart beating heavily in his chest as he reached the nearest roof, trying to focus.

"Guys? GUYS?! Any…one?" He called, hoping to god that they would answer their T-phones, but no one seemed to respond. Trying to figure out what to do, his head suddenly and without warning began to hurt, aching like it was slowly detaching itself from his shoulders. And as if that wasn't enough, his limbs became numb and it was like he lost all sense of balance, shell tightening horribly, like it was slowly crushing him, and the blurry vision threatened to leave him in complete darkness. No… no it c-an't be… how? Did I miscalculate the serum? Is this supposed to happen? Is it a side effect? It hurts… What have I done? Oh, god, what have I done...? He tried to stand, his legs failing him as the burning sensation in his skull only grew and grew, until he couldn't contain his scream. It was like a million different waves crashed over him at once, frying every nerve in his body and rendering him unable to think properly. He tried to call out for help, for his brothers, for Sensei, anyone, the thought of his own pain only making him fear theirs even more.

But in the end, as he lay there bruised and burning inside, all that came out was a pained scream filling the night. By himself, all alone, no way of knowing if the plan worked. If his family was safe, instead letting the ache in his bones crumple together, along with the blood in his veins boiling up inside, lights flashing and his conciousness fading.

Safe to say, New York didn't stay silent for long.

Chapter Text

3 months later

There was a loud crash emanating from the back alley of a small street on fifth, loud enough to wake up the neighbors, but not loud enough to be anyone's cause for concern. They'd usually just ignore the ruckus, and proceed to go back to their own business, wanting no part in whatever trouble took place outside their homes. Not a lot of people went there you see, and especially not during the day where it lay mostly barren, like a ghost town. Given the Purple dragon's retreat into their usual criminal ways these last few years, the underbelly of New York was, as a result, twisted into a silent turf war, heavily hunted down by cops around the clock. However, most would hear their sirens after dark, the rattling sounds of guns going off in the distance and the everlasting failure to stop the chaos before the sun went up. But even so, not everyone waited around for the criminals to cause mischief, and especially not as of late. More and more disturbances were reported around the neighborhood, most taking place during the day. But instead of the scumbags and muggers laying in wait for their next prey to harass, or the nearest rich guy to pick a bad time for a walk, on this day it was a sneezy little slugger by name of Jimmy Billy. You could hear his panicked scream echoing through the ally, when he realized he had reached a dead end. And though his pursuer was right behind him, you had to give it to the poor guy: at least he'd managed to get away with only a bruise. His pals on the other hand, would presumably have to limb around for the next few months, if they were not too exhausted to get away like he had luckily managed. Or maybe lucky wasn't the right word in this case.

Another crash bombarded the small passage, and Jimmy saw that it was from a tumbling trashcan being tossed in his direction, most likely not to harm but intimidate the already done for errand boy. And he was intimidated all right, no matter how smug he wanted to be he was no idiot. The fact of the matter even further stressed as a tight pling soared by his ear, and he could only just recognize it to be a throw star, when all of a sudden the boy in front of him came charging at him with two sharp ends in each hand. "Hey, now, fella! I-I don't want no trouble!"

Jimmy tried to put his hands up in surrender, but just as the boy stopped in his tracks , he did something really stupid instead. Or tried to. Actually, what he wanted to happen was for him to sling his pocketknife into the attacker's throat and scram right after, but what did happen wasn't at all in Jimmy's favor. Not two seconds away from the holster, was his hand knocked away in a hit so impactful that he was sure his hand was broken, but before he could react to the pain, the boy suddenly but decidedly grabbed Jimmy by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the wall so hard it was almost inhuman. "Okay, now, we can do this the easy way, or the fun way" He smiled. It wasn't difficult to see this guy was nuts, taking pleasure from seeing the weakling before him shrivel up in fear. He aimed his needle like blade towards his throat, holding him firmly as the errand boy began to shiver. "Look, pal I have no clue what ye talking about. I've never even-

"Now, now, you really wanna do it like this? Come on! The whole, I have no idea what ya talking about, after all the trouble ya little friends went through to shut ya up? Make this easier for yourself, pal. No one has to get hurt" the boy explained, before remembering the broken hand he just a few seconds ago pummeled into fractured bones. "Or well, any more hurt. So, do yourself a favor and just spit it already. Where… are they?"

Jimmy didn't know what to say. He really didn't. Poor guy… Normally, people would let it slide, given he weren't exactly known for being the subtle type. Unfortunately, that wouldn't save him this time. He could see it all over the guy's face. It was a few times in his dealings with the Purple Dragons he had seen that look on a guy. The rage in those green pupils was unmistakable. He was done for. "Okay, I see you wanna do this the fun way, huh? And here I thought I was having a bad day…"

Jimmy let out a hopeful whimper, "So, hehe…truce?"

Quickly followed by his body being thrown seventy miles an hour through the nearest window of an antique shop. The sound of the glass breaking still clinking slightly as Jimmy collapsed like a ragdoll from his injuries, the burglar alarm blaring inside. The boy sent Jimmy one last glance, before he let out a sigh, polishing his weapons and making his grand escape before the cops could arrive. "another day, another disappointment…" he mumbled, the reflection of his red bandanna in the sai meeting his already weary gaze.

Donnie woke to the sound of the subway making his small but tolerable living quarters shake like all hell was loose, knocking over several notebooks and loose pencils. He turned on the small light bulb and started rubbing his eyes tiresome and not at all ready to face the day, before checking the clock. The time was 7:00 am, and he was already regretting the all-nighter from last night, making his pathetic attempt at getting dressed all the more difficult when he could barely bother to open his eyes.

Three months since that day, and Donnie hadn't gotten anymore used to human clothing than he was to living on the surface. Of course, he'd seen countless of shows in which this very mundane task was simple, though he'd never had that need himself with a shell to protect him instead. Luckily, on most days all he really had to master was the ability to wear a janitor jumpsuit and resist the ever-present urge to wear his mask. It was getting sad how much dust it had already gathered, remaining on the shelf like a piece of forgotten equipment. But alas, his new body had many new challenges, and as master Splinter would say: "the truth of the ninja comes not from the body, but from the mind", and right now that was all Donnie really had to get him through this change. He gathered his keys, grabbed his bo (now reduced to a mop and a bucket) and headed out into the hallway.

The first few months had been the most difficult of course, waking up with an entirely reconstructed DNA to match the already painful realization that your family is gone was… not easy. Even if Donnie would pride himself on his ability to keep a cool head and focusing his energy on figuring out the technicalities of this new body of his, he still had the nagging urge to go back home. Back to the lair, back to where it all went wrong. And it wasn't as if he hadn't. Time he didn't spend meditating or testing his fighting abilities with new limbs and muscles was instead spend on searching for his brothers. He checked every subway, every tunnel, every shaft and every last roof top he figured they would most likely appear, but to no avail. The only thing left were scraps from mousers and sliced up foot bots too destroyed to provide him with any valuable data of what might've happened. But tracing DNA samples and T-phones was a little difficult when you had no idea how your brothers even looked like, or if they were still… No. Donnie slapped himself for even thinking that, but quickly regretted doing so as Dave from the chemical division understandably made an effort to find another way to the elevator. Donnie sighed. This was ridiculous! They'd faced the Shredder himself, deadly serpent venom, a psychotic ninja master and an army of mutants, world ending threats in fact and he was actually convinced this was how the Hamato clan would perish? Of course not! A simple ambush, are you kidding?! He knew they'd faced much worse foes in the past and this was not something they couldn't survive, why would it be?! I mean for shell's sake, this was his brothers he reminded himself. They knew how to defend themselves, of course they did. But… it was that exact fact that seemed to baffle Donnie even more beyond compare.

Because if all of this remained true, where had they gone after all this time if it wasn't? A genius like him, and yet the task of finding his family seemed the most challenging yet…

"Donnitell! Morning 'son!"

"It's Donatello actually, and morning Mr. Gilgamesh" Donnie went to the faculty office to grab his daily coffee and breakfast. He didn't know how long it had been for him to just accept the fact that his boss would most likely never get his name right, but Donnie still couldn't refrain from correcting him even if it seemed fruitless. After all, if it wasn't for him, he wouldn't have gotten a bed to sleep in. "I'm going to need you down in Ollie's division, another leaked piped as far as I can understand. Shouldn't take too long, so you should be getting' ya break before eleven."

"Right away, sir"

Despite its very unagreeable location, the Observation of Local Sciences was actually Donnie's lucky break. Sure, the scientists weren't exactly friendly, but they did however provide him with a free for all in terms of equipment, at least, when they didn't notice a vial or two missing every other lunchbreak. Oh, how he missed his old lab. Big open space, privacy, nice unshaking surfaces... And as tempting as it was for him to go back, even he wasn't stupid enough to let his homesickness cloud his judgement, Donnie new that wasn't in the cards. It would be much easier to just walk up to the foot's headquarters with a giant sign that said: free turtle on the menu. Donnie nearly knocked over his mug as his thoughts snapped him back to reality.

"Hey, Don, you doing okay boy? You look a little tired there. School, giving you a hard time?"

"Something like that…" he yearned, smearing marmalade on a slice of toast before readying his washing cart. As far as Mr. Gilgamesh was concerned, Donnie was living with a father who was never home and studying as a freshman in college while looking for a simple job that paid well, even if he had no use for the money. If only the truth was that simple, Donnie thought. But after that little lie, it wasn't long before he was given a place to sleep as well as a simple schedule. The only hard part was getting used to working in the day from now on and blending in with the normal people of NYC for once. He still couldn't stop getting this knot in his chest every time someone send him a look. Just any look for that matter. As if any moment they would start screaming or pointing fingers at him.

He made his way down to the laboratory on second, greeting the scientists who pointed him in the direction of the broken pipe. Donnie sighed heavily when he saw it. I've created battle mech, functioning vehicles from scrap, telepathic smoke bombs, artificial intelligence robots, all from alien technology YEARS ahead of the average sciences of basic human understanding, capable of battling forces beyond this world and … I'm fixing pipes…PIPES. The irony never ceased to amaze him. None of the scientists or other staff members even bothered to call him by name other than "gap tooth kid" or "the gangly one" or "boy" when they had no idea the things he'd done. He was a ninja, a scientist not a simple handyman to get pushed around. And though he knew master Splinter would bash him over the head if he was there for saying so, Donnie still couldn't help but feel like it was a little bit unfair.

Alas, it didn't take him more than approximately two minutes before he finished the simple task full grown adults apparently struggled for days to solve. When he was done with that, he had to go to the basement to clean the floors, sort the different divisions thesis papers in chronological order and dust the ventilation shafts. It wasn't until 3 pm he had time to spare, leaving his cart in basement of the building. He quickly scouted the laboratory for people, relieved to see only Gary from the filing division in the corner. This was always an excellent opportunity for Donnie to retrain his stealth skills, and this time was no different even if his body was not the one he'd grown most accustomed to. He faded into the shadows like a ghost, grabbing the most essential and easily unnoticeable components he could use, before making his way to the janitor's office.

He waited patiently, his legs crossed over the bed as he adjusted the small device in his lab, tongue sticking out in concentration. The little device beeped, and poked and sizzled, Donnie keeping his patience while he waited for the communicator to actually work. It took weeks before the foot made their move, and Donnie would be damned before he let them get away with it, alone or not. As a result, most of his 'school' work had turned into the longest lasting solo mission he'd ever found himself on. Night after night, tracking signals and mapping out the foot's location, but he still had no idea what they were trying to accomplish. When Leo's ingenious plan worked, the foot had quieted down longer than Donnie was comfortable with. In truth, it was only more worrisome given the lengths they had been willing to go, just to eliminate the turtles as a threat. No, they were up to something all right, and whatever it was it had something to do with the purple ooze… but even after countless of tests and analysis he still hadn't the slightest clue. And while the communicator he had managed to snatch from the lair's wreckage was certainly a big help, it was still only giving him inaudible words like, preparing or the ever-frequent search for first. All of which made no sense as far as Donnie could tell. "Come on… come on! Stupid thing! Why won't you just work?!" He nearly bit his tongue, the frustration of the usual bzzzz filling the room as another wire short circuited. Donnie would have been about ready to throw away the damned thing once and for all, if it wasn't for the words that followed, and a chill ran down his spine.

Search… orange one… located… capture… all cost…

Donnie wasn't sure he heard correctly, trying to one-up the frequency over and over again like it would somehow reveal the meaning to him but more concretely so that he could be absolutely sure. "I can't believe this…It, it can't be… " But even if he was wrong, fact remained Donnie had no time to waste. For the first time in three months, he finally had a good reason for an all-nighter, even if he was wrong which a part of him desperately wished he was but at the same time hoped would prove his hunch right just because it would give him a chance. But honestly, the thought didn't even occur, because all that truly mattered was that short phrase, orange located and all of a sudden it was like the young ninja reobtained his fighting spirit all over again.

The first thing Donnie did was reinstalling the shell-raiser's old tracker and plugging it into the communication device, tracking the coordinates before the sun went down and his shift ended.

"I really hope Mr. Gilgamesh doesn't fire me for this"

The first blow struck like a hammer, piercing the boy's lip into a bloody mess before he had a chance to get back up on his feet. Most of the students around him rallied the older students, while other's remained preoccupied with homework, ignoring the boy's failing attempt to stand his ground like it was none of their concern.

"Well, come on Landry! Show us what ya got, freak!" one of the boys yelled, before promptly kicking the younger boy in the gut. He let out a painful groan, clenching his stomach tightly as he desperately tried to make an escape. He was however only able to get three steps, before the third bully grabbed him by the backpack, kneeing him in the side until he gasped for air. He would've cried out for help if it wasn't for his sore throat, and the fact that this had been going on for most of his school years now, none of the teachers doing anything about it. It had become so apparent to him, that unless he stood his ground, the blows would keep coming and no one but himself would be able to stop it. That is until he was suddenly spared another kick to the neck, as the new kid suddenly jumped into the fray, arms spread wide as if that was enough to shield him.

"Ah, the maniac has returned" the bullies bellowed mockingly, as Mikey slowly tightened his, now ragged, orange mask over his eyes, though it was hard keeping his messy hair from tangling the knot in his curls.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size, punks!?"

"What are you doing, Mikey? Just go. I'll be fine" Landry yelled, knowing the ever so enthralled troublemaker would most likely just ignore his pleas as usual.

"a true ninja master never backs down from a fight…" the freckled boy bellowed, ready to charge the three bullies at least a good head taller than him. Thicker too… compared to them, in size alone Mikey looked like a pair of chopsticks. But underneath the wimpy exterior lived a manic pizza loving warrior ready to kick some ass to defend Simon Landry, the only student willing to put up with his crazy as of yet. And though he couldn't bring his nun-chucks to school anymore, that didn't stop him from readying his fists and forging his 'super not kidding around serious face' as he put it, though really it was just an overcompensating frown at this point. Being human didn't exactly make it easier to look intimidating, and especially not when you looked like a fourteen-year-old let loose in a candy shop twenty-four-seven. "Come and get me if you dare" he challenged, deepening his voice dramatically for effect.

And dare they did. Starting with the biggest one out of all of them, he went for the usual approach, the solid punch to the cheek. Mikey was already out of the way, in time for him to play a little with his aggressors before landing any real blows. He tiptoed around them like he was dancing, pretending that it was his older brother's training in the dojo and not three human bullies out to get his lunch money with nothing better to do. "This kid's insane!" the bully squealed, before being forced into the concrete by a solid sewonake. And while the thought did sadden him a bit, it also motivated him to try out the flying back-kick Raph had previously tried to teach them a while ago. At the time, Mikey was the first one to master it, as expected landing the first boy flat on his stomach by the time he was done. The others were quickly starting to sweat. They'd never in their wildest dreams imagined that the pizza obsessed, mask wearing, Italian pretending to be Japanese exchange student, would pose any real threat to them. A lesson they'd, after today, would sorely regret for the remainder of the school year. Even without his weapons, Mikey was already using his environment to its full potential, forcing the bullies into fences, or sandboxes, using the swings' momentum to kick them sky high, before Katy McLee from second unintentionally handed him a good pair of skipping ropes. Mikey felt his energy rise through him like electricity, wrapping the boys like Christmas presents, until all they could manage was to back away in fear. "And stay back!" he yelled, letting out an enthralled howl of victory, before congratulating himself on taking them out. That's before he noticed all the kids in the school yard starring him down from all angles in utter silence. Some impressed, others too shocked to reattach their jaws properly. Mikey wondered if this happened to be some sort of weird way of commending his sick ninja skills, as the rightfully should be doing, but decided to laugh it off as he backed away slowly toward his friend.

"Mr. Robertson"

He didn't get to help him back on his feet however, before he accidentally backed into principal Williams disappointed frown instead, Simon right behind him rubbing his injured arm with a genuine worry on his face. Or more the: now you're in trouble look he seemed to have mastered effortlessly in his short-lived relationship with Mikey.

"H-hello Mr. Williams… fancy meeting you here, huh? Hehe… Is that a new tie?"

Needless to say, Mikey spend the rest of the day waiting in the hall of detention, his head resting against his curled-up knees like it could hide his shame. He'd of course been forced to take off his mask, though rather insistently urged the principal not to actually take it from him this time, to which he'd somehow managed to let slide.

This wasn't his first time being yelled at in a very short amount of time, however he still couldn't shake the pit in his stomach that occurred from causing trouble once more. It wasn't like with Master Splinter, where he'd have his brothers to balance out the amount of a scolding whenever they did something wrong or tried to sneak out without permission. He tried not to think too much about it, reminding himself that whatever happened to him in the present was only temporary, as Leo had put it. He knew his brothers would find him, at least sooner or later. They'd had to, right? They always did in the end. Though he'd grown slightly impatient these last few months, fact remained that if he didn't think about it too much, he'd probably not notice how much time had passed anyway. Or how weary he'd grown from trying to keep a positive outlook every single day he walked past the sewers with no word from anyone of his family. And though he didn't understand all of the technical talk about the purple ooze, or remember all of the enemy foot clan stuff, if none of them had appeared for months, everything was probably fine, right? Nothing to worry about! Nothing at all… Mikey sank into his chair. When the office door finally opened again, he almost bolted to the ground anxious to be out of the building. What followed was a now patched up Simon with his backpack swung over his left shoulder and his hands digging deep into his pockets. "Your mom should be here soon" he said, checking the hallway for people, before going over and giving the young ninja a quick hug. "Do you ever stop looking for trouble?"

"Are you kidding? Trouble's my middle name, yo! At least… I think it's my middle name. Eh, I'll just change it to something cool like dragon warrior or mad Mikey if I feel like it"

Simon let out a soft laugh, readjusting his glasses before heading down the hallway. "By all means, mighty dragon warrior. Just… don't do that again. Not that I don't appreciate it, but I think we'd be better off not drawing too much attention to ourselves, don't you think? DIdn't you say that's how a ninja do?"

"I know, I know. It's just hard to keep all these awesome ninja skills in check, you know? I gotta use 'em every once in a while, or else my sensei would probably kick my butt for slacking off"

"You mean your dad?"

Mikey gulped before he realized what he said, his heart skipping a beat in his newly un-shelled chest. "Oh, yeah… My dad"

"Next time, let's maybe meet somewhere a little more private, eh? The skatepark should be free of assholes, I think. Is tomorrow good?" Simon echoed, reminding Mikey how much he enjoyed the fact that even after his third detention this week, his friend still found ways of keeping his spirits up, despite the fact he was caught up in the commotion. It wasn't exactly something he was very used to, and especially not as a human teenager. "Fine by me, bud"

"Nice" Simon smiled, his dark hair falling over his face. "Stay out of trouble, Mikey!"

Will try, Mikey mumbled as Simon disappeared behind the doors. He didn't get to sit down for long however, before the silhouette of a lady appeared walking toward him from the other end. "Hi, Misses Robertson…"

The lady was big, round. Her face warm and welcoming, though her eyes would right now give the indication that she was ready to kill if need be. Her hair had a sandy brown color that was tied neatly into a back bun that hang loosely over her shoulders. When she saw Mikey her tense expression somewhat calmed, without letting go of the slightly disappointed hint that tipped on her brow. "And here I thought we were finally past this. What happened, Michelangelo? And I mean, really happened. No kidding around. Got it?"

Mikey sighed. Arguing with Donnie about messing around in the lab was one thing, arguing with Misses Robertson was another entirely. And he'd have to learn the hard way that lying to her never ended well. He remembered from the first time he'd snuck out at night to go looking for his brother's, he'd instead find himself quickly caught dead in his tracks before he even managed to take the first leg out the window. Outsmarting even his unpredictable ways, she rendered Mikey pretty content on staying on her good side, which mostly consisted of being a good influence. Especially for the problem child who three months ago had wandered the streets naked and completely out of his mind. Truth be told, he had no idea where he would've gone if it weren't for her. Sure, it had been awkward as heck, and trying to explain to her and her husband about the circumstances of his new mutation was proven to be even more difficult as the weeks went by. Their son Tyler had made it a very important part of his day to ridicule him about it, but mostly Mikey felt like their family had learned to look past he oddities. He didn't know what he would've expected from them, but just figured that telling the truth was worth a try. After all, even if they thought he was strange, for obvious reasons, that hadn't stopped them from giving him an extra room. But more than anyone of the three, it was Misses Robertson who actively had tried to reach out to him. Got him into all that school stuff April had always complained to him and his brothers about and trying to help Mikey settle into this strange new lifestyle of his. Even if change had never really been such a big challenge for him. If anything, this was where Mikey shined the most. However, what was a challenge this time had been the thought that without his brother's, Mikey had absolutely no idea of what was going to happen. Expecting his brothers to find him before the week was over he mostly tried to have the most fun as a human, before inevitably being forced to turn back into a mutant turtle. But as of then, that didn't happen, and it continued to not happen for months on end, until the thought occurred that maybe… just maybe, he wouldn't have to go back to his old life after all.

"You're not mad, are you?"

Misses Robertson sighed as they walked across the parking lot towards the car.
"I don't know what I am, but mad is certainly a part of it. I thought we talked about this! You are better than this, Michelangelo. And I know, I know that it is a parent's job to support their children's interests, I do, but dang it Mikey there's got to be a line between enjoying a hobby and beating people up like a wild animal! No more excuses. Either you go back and apologize to those kids on Monday, or no more pizza-Fridays. And before you ask; yes, I could, and I will go there if I have to"

"But I didn't even have my nun chucks! Believe me Misses R, if I wanted to really hurt them, I could've probably-

Mikey stopped talking when her gaze struck him like they were made of fire. He cleared his throat hesitantly, "I mean… I'm very sorry for causing trouble and I won't do it again?"

She sighed, unlocking the car and opening the passenger door in a swift motion. "Get in. It's already late and I have a double shift tomorrow. You should rest too"

With nothing else to say, he obeyed. Fastening his seatbelt before letting his eyes dart over the school as rain started pouring over the window in heavy drops. The car rides, however short there were, always managed to stay one of the highlights of Mikey's day. Seeing the city clearly, no walls to block them, and the people they drove by without an immediate urge too go into stealth mode. Not that this was any different from their nightly patrols, however for the first time in his life, there were no enemies to fight. No deathly mutants to look out for, or any krangdroids laying in wait. Just the soaking traffic, and the many lights from the stoplights that would illuminate the windshield like magic. And Mikey enjoyed every minute of it, despite the rising tension of his guardian's disapproving finger tapping on the steering wheel.

"Look, I get it, okay? You've been through a lot. I can't even imagine. The things that you must've seen, it's not something anyone your age should have to go through. You're a brilliant kid, Mikey, but I just wish you'd try a little harder every once in a while…"

Mikey couldn't help but feel like someone had just punched him in the stomach. Which they consequentially had tried to but failed miserably. When was the last time he was praised unironically by messing up? He remembered sensei's words in his head, glaring out the window towards the rooftops where he imagined him and his brother's running excitedly over towards their next heroic adventure. "We choose what holds us back and what moves us forward."

Misses R couldn't help but smile a little. "There you go again proving me right. With that kind of wisdom, would you mind doing my job for me? You know, you're a lot smarter than you give yourself credit for"

Mikey sighed heavily, wishing he knew what to say, but had to alas admit not being able to come up with anything worthwhile. It was ironic how if the ever talkative Mikey wasn't so caught up in his own thoughts, he might've noticed the figure following closely from a distance across the street.

Officer Hopkins hadn't uttered a word since he arrived at the scene. Puzzled, was most likely an understatement to his current disposition, as he was likely more taken aback, than anything else. Having starred at the obscurity of the witness report in his hands for nearly an hour, before driving out to get a better look for himself and some kind of grasp on the situation. So far, he was nowhere near a starting point. While he generally thought well of the philosophy that 'seeing was believing' that still didn't leave him with anymore clarity of the events that had led him to the back ally near Greenwich, than when his supervisor told him about it. Five police officers scavenging for clues, as the residents gave eyewitness reports under comfort blankets in the dim street lights. None of them able to give a good explanation so far.

The first thing he noticed, was of course the four Purple Dragon goons tied up with a chain into a nice little bow, while hanging upside down from the fire escape. Second, where the two sets of clothes placed in a neat pile on the ground, placed in the correct order of item, almost as if someone had vanished in it. It wouldn't have been anymore strange, if it wasn't for the splatter of blood that covered both piles in a thick pool, but the lack of bodies made it lose all sense entirely.

Truly, Hopkins where out of his depth here. Even he'd have to admit it. Normally he'd taken on these cases with ease, thrilled by the thought of less paperwork and more action, but this time he needed a second to really process. He wandered over to the sets of clothes on the ground, searching the pockets of any personal items, but with no luck. That's also when he realized the heels of one the victims stacked in the other end of the ally, thinking that whoever owned them might've kicked them off in the ruckus.

"Officer Hopkins, I see your brain works the same as mine" Officer Layton's voice echoed calmly. An older gentlemen with the complexion of an even older geezer. His smile might've left someone wondering, but his grey hairs spoke plenty to how much the job had taken out of him these last twenty years. Lord knows Hopkins was well aware by now. The policeman came from behind, holding up two cellphones in a neat plastic bag. "Woman's name was Nancy Buffet, man's Jimmy Buffet. They were married, hadn't been seen for days until witnesses spotted them being transported in a white vehicle nearby. As expected, they called the police and left it to the authorities. That's when the screaming started"

"Tied up and tortured in an ally. How romantic… I do hope you've send a lookout for a couple of naked lovebirds running around, sir. Wouldn't wanna harm the children, now would we?" Hopkins added, hoping the humor would distract from his very obvious confusion.

"I sure hope not. That is to say, if our buddies over here are telling the truth" Layton glanced over at the suspects, right now being helped out of the chains and into handcuffs by remaining police officers.
"And?"

"Well, according to them, they haven't killed nobody. The kidnapping on the other hand, hasn't been confirmed or denied yet. Seems the only ones not suffering from a concussion can give a clear answer, but even they're having trouble keeping up"

It took Hopkins a good minute before he picked up on the many bruises and shattered teeth that covered the gang members in bloody masses. Surely not in-gang fighting, that's not how the purple dragons operated, even with their low IQ. Was it the couple's doing? But no, that didn't make any sense. How could two hostages overman four people, let alone tie them up like a piñata and then vanish…? No there had to be someone else. Another gang maybe? Someone who retaliated, possibly stole the hostages? But if that's the case… what for? Why these two of all people? Why would they shed their clothes? Hopkins wondered around in circles, his brain working off of two cups of coffee and a generous nightshift from yesterday. The more he analyzed the spots, the less indication he could find of any ripples. There clothes weren't forced off it was only bloody. If they truly did this themselves, where had they gone if they were even alive? No one, not even the purple dragon's where stupid enough to remove two bodies just to leave their clothes behind as evidence. This truly didn't make any sense…

"Miaw" Hopkins felt a purr from down below and were left to discover a cat pressing up against his leg. "I don't suppose you can give me anything useful?" he pondered jokingly, when all of a sudden, the cat wandered back toward the fire escape, revealing something shiny hidden beneath the stars. When Hopkins moved closer, he nearly swore to himself that he was hallucinating. But very clearly, imbedded in the wall in the perfect angle, where a throw star. Another piece of the puzzle, very clearly aimed for the purple dragon's heads. He forced it free, holding it into the light where he very clearly saw fingerprints edged on the surface.

"Find anything?"

"You know for once, I actually just might. This seem familiar to you?" Hopkins asked, handing Layton the star, which he very clearly recognized. They both did. As a matter of fact, one of these showed up on the news just a few years back in an alley just like this. Though the story behind it was very quickly abandoned after several wild theorists online started to spread into conspiracies. Hopkins on the other hand, remembered the case all too well, insignificant as it was. His old partner was a testament to that, wherever he found himself these days. The very same case that made him spend most of his days in his office, instead of in the field where he gained most of his success.

"That can't be right. I feel like I've seen that before, but… why here?"

"Beats me. Either way, this might give us a clue as to whoever messed these guy's up. Allow me to take it to analysis. Then, after we bring those goons in for questioning, have them be brought to the nearest hospital. Lord knows they'll need one" Hopkins concluded, placing the star in a bag whilst fishing up the car keys from his coat.
"Sure you can handle it? Last I hear, you've already got your hands full back at HQ. What was it again? The missing person's case?"

Hopkins let out a scoff as he opened the car door, Layton following him to the other side resting his arms on the roof. The reminder itself was enough to send him reeling for a nap. "The missing parent's case. And don't worry about me, Layton. Unlike someone I know, I can handle a little multitasking on the sideline. We can't all hunt criminal wannabe's as a fulltime job"

"Keep talking, Hopkins. Streets are changing. It's getting harder and harder for old geezers like us to keep up, even you've gotta admit"

Closing the door, Hopkins was reminded of a certain someone saying something similar a little while ago now. Difference was that he probably never let that stop him from chasing stories no matter how bizarre. Hell, he'd probably love getting his hands on this case, were he still on a payroll.

"Not all geezers"

Chapter Text

The sun was nearly down as Raph made his way back, slightly bruised but ultimately unscathed. He hugged his worn-out jacket tightly to the body, as he untied his raggedy mask and let it fall over his neck like a scarf. Getting used to not having a shell was still a task, making his every encounter with street thugs even more exhausting than morning practice. As if every move he made was weighed down by underused muscles. He would've lied if he said it didn't tip him off every time he pulled a punch, but what could he do? He couldn't force his body to agree with his mind, though he'd certainly tried. Being human for three months didn't make it any easier either. No, time didn't get him any closer to finishing his mission,and even if it did, that still wouldn't make him a better fighter. Certainly not the one he used to be. He'd warned his brother's that this was a bad idea and yet none of them bothered to listen. Now he was stuck in the skin of someone who hadn't trained his entire life as a warrior and the cold hard sensation of concrete every night he went to sleep.

Chapter Text

This wasn't the first time he'd had this particular nightmare, though each time felt more surreal than the last. He'd seen images flicker vividly around him on repeat, like they were telegraphed to him through a blurry screen. He'd hear voices, echoing through a long tunnel until they were warped further and further into unclarity. And every time he did, he'd try to follow it. Reach toward the chaos in the darkness surrounding his field of vision, seeking the answers his subconscious was trying to give him, whatever they may be. But every time he went closer, it was like he hit a brick wall. Unable to move or even make a sound.

Chapter Text

Mikey was always adopting new habits, it really didn't take a whole lot for him to start fiddling. He'd adopted the jumping up and down wildly habit when nervous, the unspeakable burping habit after every meal, the touch every single thing in Donnie's lab upon entering uninvited habit- though these days the latter wasn't as much of a problem to Mikey's chagrin, and now, the glancing everywhere in every direction at once habit, except to his left where April O'Neil was now walking alongside him.

Chapter Text

The time was 02:13 am when Hopkins finally heard news from Layton.

Chapter Text

There came a time, very rarely of course (and keep in mind, Raph never really thought about this as a basic principle if he didn't have to) but sometimes, there did come a time, where the question of why they were fighting, for some unexplainable reason shot to the surface in his brain like a lightning bolt. This was never really something that occurred during their missions, it was after all, just what they did mostly as a general way of living. It was all so simple in his mind: stopping the bad guys, doing the right thing, saving people and calling it a night.

Chapter Text

3 months earlier…

When he first came to, it was his heartbeat that gave it away. That pressured stillness over his chest he was so accustomed to, all of a sudden giving way to a small ache inside that he no longer felt his heart safely secured underneath. It was bouncing up and down, faster and faster, giving life to his unconscious body shivering and unusually cold. Blinking at first, the sun that reached his face hit him like a laser-beam, making the act of shielding his face unusually harder than he thought it would be. Feeling as though he'd taken a massive beating from the day before, rendering every nerve in his arm a knotted mess of bruises and fractured muscles. It shivered over the sun, once again reminding him that something very unusual was occurring inside him, a much softer pressure replacing his shielding chest-plate as he tried to sit up. He breathed heavily, trying to calm his exasperated nerves when he felt the soft fabric of a T-shirt over his shoulders. And not alone that, once he managed to straighten his back, (with surprising difficulty at that), he also came to notice a blanket draped over his shoulders, layers of what he was usually unfit to wear draped over him like a cocoon.

Squinting with his eyes, a wave of pain knocked on the thin layer of skin by the skull, Donnie grabbing the side of his head in a desperate attempt to calm it. But just as he did, what he felt instead, wasn't the long fabric of his mask, but a whirlwind of hair surrounding his bruised head…

Hair. Spurring in all directions.

"He's awake… He's awake! Call the medic!" someone yelled, but he didn't listen. Too preoccupied with running his hands through the black streaks falling over his face, and once he did, he realized that his hands too were unusually small. Slimmer, all too… eratic. Holding them over his regaining vision, for a second, he thought they'd either shrunk, or he was seeing double, but neither proved to be the case. He moved each finger one after the other, testing their response as his mind struggled to wrap itself around the fact that there was now ten of them instead of six. Don't panic… don't panic, this is- good. No, it's brilliant. It's… it's extraordinary! Donnie tried to sit up, but just as he did, a bright light shone into his face followed by doctors and nurses crowding gim and he realized he was sitting in an ambulance. "Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up? Sir? Sir, can you understand what I am saying?"

He could, but that wasn't important. Donnie was still starring at his non-green limbs. Still feeling the tightness around his chest loosen once he got to his feet, nearly tumbling over himself in the process. He tried to stand, laughing to himself but also scared out of his wits. He needed a mirror. No- he needed his bo. He needed to get out. Luckily the truck wasn't driving, he could tell from the sunlight streaming in through the back, making it considerably easier for him to regain his balance- before slipping chin-first onto the ground almost immediately.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to sit down"

"I'm fi-" Donnie tried to speak, but this quickly proved to be fruitless as his throat was too parched, the attempt itself throwing him into a coughing fit. Perhps from all the screamig or was this another side effect? he thought, reminding himself to document it as soon as he got the chance. He fumbled after his staff, searching frantically around the vehicle as medics struggled to contain him. Despite his new body and severely wounded, well- everything he somehow persevered. Pushing the doctors aside until he locked eyes with the wooden staff strapped to a higher shelf on the other end of the truck. While reaching for it, he also noticed how his height remained slightly taller than the average human, making him gleefully ponder how annoyed Raph would be once he rubs it in his face. Grabbing his shoulder, Donnie (nearly tripping in the endeavor by the way) shook off his blanket and tumbled out of the truck and out onto the busy New York City Square. They were apparently somewhere in central it seemed, around noon judging by the cluster of people around every corner and walking axiety inducingly close, exposing himself to the surface in a terrifying revelation.

He was out in the open.

His first instinct was to panic, frantically searching for somewhere to hide but there was no time. Trying to get used to the human clothing they'd draped him in and running with a whole new set of DNA to boot- he had to use the bo to maneuver himself through the crowd. Some people starred baffled at the teenager stumbling his way across the road towards the buildings, while others didn't pay him any mind. And after fifteen years of living by the rule never to be seen it understandably took the usually bright Donnie a moment to come to the epiphany that it was no longer necessary. The medics were still following him, and on any other day escaping them would've been an easy feat, but right now every single cell in his body was on a bender, and it didn't help that he had no idea where to go in the first place. He tried following his instincts, not wasting a second tracing himself to the corner of what appeared to be a barber shop of some kind. He went inside, not bearing the lady behind the register any mind as he crunched down underneath the window, where four medics ran past them on high alert until finally out of sight. Phew. He tried to stand, an employee approaching him slightly bothered, asking if he'd made an appointment. She eyed his clothes, the stick he carried, probably the fact that he'd been stuck trying to lift his knees from the ground in little over a minute, the woozing feeling of dizziness charging his view and keeping him from looking anything but buzzed.

And that's when he noticed the mirror on the other side, ignoring the increasingly frustrated employee and tumbling over to the chair occupied by a client with a half-cut mustache. "Hey, waddya think ya doing!?" he complained, as Donnie kept encaptivatingly starring, their voices fading away behind him. Because all that he could process in the entire shop was the gangly human boy in the mirror starring back at him.

He lifted a finger towards his cheek, the reflection complying at once, stunned by the motion as if he just invented magic by the sheer act of feeling his cheek. Still clinging to his bo, he saw a smile creep over the boy's face relishing at the notion, because this just proved it... It worked. I did it… I actually did it! And before he knew it that smile, (revealing his ever-present gap tooth) turned into a ridiculous laughter nearly making him faint, thinking it was a dream. Sure, the pain from the night before was still very much there, exemplified by his ribcage feeling broken in more than five different places just by trying to talk. But the reflection was all evidence he needed to know this was real. He wasn't dreaming. Donnie had just revolutionised mutagen, and there was no one around to see it. He felt his lips with his index finger, brushing it gently from a side to side inspecting himself, but it was all there: A full head of hair, a nose, a crooked mask hanging around his neck… He barely noticed the manager (a smaller lady barely reaching his shoulders) rushing him out of the shop, before he out of sheer joy jolted his hands into the air and cried out: "I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT! I TOLD THEM IT WOULD WORK! YES! Eat thy words Leo! I TOLD you! HAhahha- Oh, sorry hehe…" before shrinking at the realization that everyone was staring at him, resulting in Donnie quickly rushing out of the shop as fast as he could, red in the face but he didn't care.

He nearly abandoned his support, just the sheer fact that his experiment had worked alone, almost enough to give him back his strength. Using his knew human legs to carry him, feeling the wind in his hair blow all over his face like curtains, and feeling just like he thought it would after dreaming about it for so long. He made it two blocks, when his adrenaline started to run out, and though Donnie was beyond ecstatic at this point, like a shock he realized that he was celebrating alone. Suddenly he saw the images, echoes from last night resurface, the fragments of memories so crucial that he was wondering how in the heck he managed to block it out at all.

"Wait a minute…"

And just like that it was like all that joy turned to ice, Donnie pacing around the square like a lost kid thinking they'd be lost forever. He did the only rational thing he could think of, firstly calming his mind and retracing his steps back to the night before. While the memory itself was thankfully intact, the information wouldn't exactly aide him the pursuit of his brothers now, and he knew this. We should've done this when we still had time to plan it out, he angrily murmured, nearly dragging himself by force over to the nearest bench for a rest, trying to the best of his ability to visualize the incoming injury that would surely arride from him trying to climb the buildings. No longer a mutant… right. Probably not a good idea to be traversing the rooftops in broad daylight either. What would a human do? He pondered this for a while, his gaze drifting over to the nearest subway tempted to go down, if it wasn't for the fact that the underground was a no-go abiding by his own rule, despite his curiosity nearly getting the better of him. That's also when the worries began to pile struggling to think becase, Did they all make it out in time? Are they still down there? He knew Mikey would've surely made it to the surface despite his injuries. After all he'd seen to it himself, but as for the others… I have no idea.

At least, that was his thought process for a good ten minutes of sitting around wasting time, until his brain came to the same conclusion that any other newly-mutated teenager with a walking stick would reach: he needed to go back to the beginning. No way of finding them by sitting around here all day, that's for sure, he thought, for the first time in his life riding a train back to what he hoped he'd correctly calculated to take him downtown a good ten blocks from the original entrée cover. Seeing New York from above however, was slightly disorienting. He sat like a little kid in the seat, human hands on the glass and starred in wonderment at the city passing by, a mother and her kid subtly moving two seats away from him before he reached his destination too excited to notice. He nearly forgot to leave at all for this, the feeling of irrational emotions taking over his usually sharply focused mind. Perhaps another symptom? So much data he needed to collect- it was almost too much for Donnie to bear.

He realized that with no possible way of going back under, he'd have to stick to his original plan with or without the others. Of cause, I just HAD to pass out. This would be so much easier if those medics hadn't moved me too… I've lost too much time. He tried to take a breath, shivering this time, and as he made his way towards the right building, he realized that he had to pull the good ol' maintenance routine trying to remember how April had done it the first time she helped them on a mission. Donnie then had another realization.

Wait, this is my first interaction with another human- AS a human! Ha! One little step for man a GIANT step for mutantkind! Take that Neil Armstrong...!

Gleefully knocking on the door, he kept this thought in mind, as another one- this one less idiotically excited- reminded him of the fact that he was still wearing the (now raggedy) hospital attire- wait how am I supposed to convince him looking like... like this?! WHat was it April said? Confidence is the key...?- and just like that, he reverted back to his usual awkward self but it was too late, door swinging open before he could change his mind.

"What do you want?" the stranger asked, a slightly roundish fellow with a beer in his hand and an un-tugged shirt stained in the bottom. Donnie tried to smile, albeit not very convincingly and cleared his throat. "Sir, I am…"

what are you doing- this is a terrible idea- get away while you still can you idiot-

"…here… for… maintenance. Sorry for the interruption sir, but it's urgent. We just got word of a possible leak-

"A leak?"

Donnie gulped. Confidence is the key, confidence is the key-

"Nothing to worry about, mind you! But if you'll just excuse me, sir, and I can assure you I got this covered" Donnie was amazed at his own ability to not choke on his words, guessing that the new-found disguise possibly added to his boost of confidence as well. The man, however, didn't seem convinced, giving him the renowned elevator-look as he swayed upon his feet from side to side, slightly off kilter. "Where did you say you were from again?"

"Maintenance. I eh… I'm new" he smiled, shortly that is, before panic convinced him that despite his generous height of cause, it would be his gap of all things that surely would give way to suspicion, closing it immediately afterwards- however unnecessary. Even though the man seemed too busy not to fall over, Donnie noticed, he conducting that based on the stench alone he was too drunk to question it more than the average person would. "Sir…?" he asked, cautiously waving his hand over the man's face as a loud snoring nearly and without warning errupted, sending Donnie stumbling backwards. Took him a moment to realize it came from the man himself, eyes half-closed in the doorway. He tried poking the man's belly to double check, but received nothing but an even louder growl crawling out of his neck, drool spilling on the steps to Donnie's slight disgust. Sleeping standing up… impressive. He thought, using his years of training to successfully, maneuvering passed the drunk, and into the building. He hurried up the stairs, managed to get to the roof and outside as the dizziness from overexcertion, now of all times started to swell in his mind.

He knew where he had to go. Knew that on any other day climbing it would've been easy as pie, but given that every bone in his body was bouncing up and down like a trampoline that never ceased to recoil, he figured that the best way to reach it was by first going through the building, reach the roof and enevtiable jumping it. Easy, right? But now, looking down at his, granted admiring pair of semi-functioning limbs, Donnie was also smart enough to realize that jumping this, would not be as easy. He reminded himself that he didn't know this body like his own. It wasn't the same limbs, the same muscles he'd spend years upon years to build up endurance under intense pressure. He was weak and fragile now, with only a stick to show for it and only one shot to make it. But even so, this was his family at stake. He made them a promise when he gave them those canisters, and he intended to keep. So, despite the uncertainty giving way to fear overcloding his better judgement, he began counting to 3 in his mind, viewed the building ahead analysing the distance, jumped up and down for a couple of seconds and feeling his own weight, before eventually... he took the leap.

Hesitance caused him to yell out in a pubescent screech, for a moment making him think that he'd share the same fate as Leo after not paying attention to his surroundings and plummeting to (what he assumed without his shell to protect him) be a certain death. But then he actually caught on to the ledge, celebrating as usual, too soon, because just as he was about to swing the other leg over, his hands lost their grip causing him slip. He didn't scream this time however, somehow for a brief moment rediscovering some of his old reflexes to help break the fall, fittingly via his trusty bo. It balanced through one of the cracks in the wall, making him cling onto the sweet, sweet bricks like a monkey and eraching over the edge. Thank god for New York architecture.

Without further ado, Donnie finally found it. Praising his own intuition, he crawled up the latter he'd usually navigated with ease, this time ever so slowly, checking for any signs of movement in the area before approaching it.

The water tower.

In other words, a nightly escape to the surface gone very wrong, at a time when Donnie's curiosity about the human world nearly got him killed, but that was a long time ago and he rarely ever even talked about it. Cementing it as his first and last time disobeying their father's orders, leading to the discovery of their very first home as a result. Well, if you could even call it that- it was more of a hideout really. A really shabby one to boot. Though he hadn't realized it at the time of course, fragments of memories still remained in his mind. The purple lights, the creeping sound of machinery lurring nearby, and the cries of a parent desperate to protect his family... Of cause, he didn't exactly remember their time there, only the stories told by Splinter probably only to entertain and not to allure the young turtles. To this day, Donnie hadn't shared this with anyone, not his brothers, not even Casey or April. He didn't know why he felt that way, it didn't hold a lot of secrets to keep as of yet, but for some reason… it had sort of just become his own thing. His hideout away from the lab. His own updated to solution to the running away when it was too much to handle- problem that seemed to run in the family. Maybe even a reminder of where they came from, in the broad sense, fleeing from humans and Kraang drones alike, it also just so happened to be a genius place to store technological gear and resources where no one would bother looking for it. Donnie had already prepared in advance, turning on a small lightbulb he'd installed himself via a running battery and fiddling after his package stored away weeks before their enemies turned their home to dust. In there, he found a fresh set of clothes, heating sensors, two containers of freshly stored mutagen, a five-hundred meter radius scanner, and of course the most important part: the watch.

After he'd spend little over an hour fumbling after the sleeves with his human hands and turning it the wrong way, he found the calender- circling November 18th with a red marker, before activating it. Not an extraordinary thing by any accounts, but a viable one at that. He'd not so graciously managed to scrape it together from his spare parts down at the lab, clicking it onto his wrist that he now realized was way too small. Biting his lib, and fiddling with the bolts however, he managed to mobilize the magnetized part of the plate and tightening it with a screwdriver. It was still working when he tabbed on the glass.

"Okay, relax. Relax. You have time. All the time in the world in fact… I mean how hard can it be…? Just gotta- find the others…" he glared at the city view of skyscrabers, suddenly feeling a whole lot taller than they'd usually seem, the noises of cars and sirens and people in the distance not helping him come to terms with the overwhelming scale of ground that he'd now have to navigate all by himself, "... somewhere, out there. Stop the foot, stop the probably non-threatening symptoms before…" as he muttered this, his glare shifted to the broken picture he'd unceremoniously stagged on a set of books about bio-mechaniccs and whatnot, the image of his brothers gleaming back at him happily. Smiles on their faces, unaware about the danger he'd now put them in. The danger he was now obligated to fix one way or the other. But then again, oh god… What if my calculations off? What then?

Donnie gulped, a worried plea in his throat echoing those of last night after the explosions started, flashing in his mind as his thoughts compelled him to sink onto his knees- and he started the timer: counting down to the day he feared his theory would be proven true, like that spasm in his chest from earlier today, unrelentingly bouncing up and down in his ears, louder and louder.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock-

Tick tock tick tock tick tock-

The alarm clock was still ticking away over the bedside table. It had done so for little over an hour now without pause, filling the silence of the bedroom. It was still dark outside, as viewed from the little apartment window, and Leo had yet to actually bother going over and shutting it off. The noise was straining, unberable yes, but for some reason he'd hoped it would be enough to drown out his thoughts, so that he could finally get some sleep. A plan that safe to say wasn't exactly working out very well. Though if it was due to his own fears of what he might remember if he did get any sleep, or simply his unfair accusations of the alarm clock that frankly was only doing its job, he didn't want to think too much about.

Hopkins had checked in on him a few times over the phone, ever since last week, making every incoming call seem less and less like it was the detective showing genuine concern, and more a way to keep Leo under lock and key so that he wouldn't get into trouble with his superiors. Somehow the cop had managed to object to the idea that the NYCPD needed someone to keep and eye on him- at least from the inside, a whole lot of police folk still convinced that he was part of the DP's ploy- whatever that may be. And as a result there had now been set up a patrol car outside of the house, the same pair of officers stationed to make sure he didn't leave the house unattended. They'd been up and about more and more lately, citizens worried for their wellbeing in the poorer areas of the city, as the murderers kept snatching civilians, killing them through whatever twisted experiments involved burning someone's atoms to a crisp. He really couldn't blame them for being cautious.

Leo on the other hand, was just plain tired. Too tired to fall asleep, but not tired enough that he could simply just ignore the facts still keeping him awake at night. He was told explicitly to stay in his room until further investigation, a tracker placed somewhere in his phone just in case, security cams set up everywhere in the living room. And while normally Leo would highly object to the idea of being surveyed 24/7, he had to admit that he was partially grateful about the arrangement- at least to a certain degree. With his mind in a ruckus and his worldview slowly driveling into plain chaos, he'd come to the conclusion that the only one who could give him the answers he was looking for was Karai. The strange girl that snuck into his room on a school day, before vanishing without a trace. The same girl who told him to meditate, coincidentally by the time he also found himself caught in a gang fight. And she'd been right. It bothered him that she hadn't told him anymore beyond her advice and her vague accusations, granted most proved true. But while Leo couldn't quite explain it, something told him that she was one of the few people he could actually trust, and he wanted to return the favor.

He wasn't really sure what he thought was going to happen. That maybe if he just waited long enough she would somehow come back? That if he just told Hopkins the truth about her, he could provide intel on who she was on his own? It was obivous that Karai didn't like Hopkins very much, making Leo doubt his own allegiences. Whether or not he was supposed to seek the truth or leave it behind and just... move on. Because as it stood, Leo saw himself starting to dig himself deeper and deeper into a hole that he feared he wouldn't be able to get out of, and with no one to tell him what was the right thing to do… all that he could know for sure was this: Karai knew something, Leo didn't know what was real anymore- what was memories or illusions created by his mind to trick him. He remembered his vision... or was it a dream? Of the hooded figure claiming that he was a "leader" or whatever that means, that people needed him, that he was walking on thin eyes unable to turn back. His old geezer of a ward Hopkins was growing too close after Layton's disappearance, still somehow connected to the PD, and then there was the strangest one of all: The boys in the alley, claiming that he was their brother.

Brother. That was the word he'd used, the one with the red mask. It wasn't just a phrasing or a juvenile nickname- not going by the look on their faces when he'd introduced himself. He knew that look. It was the same look Karai had given him too after she heard his name. They knew me, Leo thought, utterly convinced. Somehow… but it still didn't make any sense! For all Leo knew, they could be lying to him, it was just the motive behind why that puzzled him. Also, not to mention the fact that until he revealed his name, they were complete and total strangers to each other. As if they truly had never seen each other before, so why would they react like they did? Why were they fighting? Not to mention HOW had they learned to fight life that. And while Leo hadn't joined much of society since his discharge, he was still fairly certain that it wasn't a normal reaction to seeing someone you'd known all your life return from the grave. So either they really did know him, or they had all collectively mistaken him for someone else, which needless to say wasn't the most likely outcome. Leo supposed the only good thing coming out of this, was the fact that he might've been right all along. Maybe the vigilantes really were on their side. And if that was true, then Leo wasn't in league with the PD after all. Surely not after they'd relentlessly tried to choke him to death just for trespassing. But that wasn't to say that his rescuers, whoever they were, wasn't criminals either.

He remembered one of the boys using a throw star to deflect two of the attackers, matching the one identical to the throw star Hopkins had showed him previously. And going by their appearance alone, it seemed very likely that they could have been of Hamato descent- that somehow Hopkins intel was wrong and he really did survive the fire. And so far the boys checked of on everything Leo could think of matching that of a ninja: Fighting like masters of martial-arts, their weaponry, using it to protect him, its just… and this had baffled Leo for a while now ever since their encounter- they were just kids. Just like him. In what world did kids take down a whole band of gangsters in an alley, without even using guns? They'd done this before, that much was clear. So, why… and how did any of them fit into all of this? Himself included? It was just… too crazy for him to comprehend any of the reoccurring events. To believe that after all this time showing no signs to ever even exist they'd suddenly without warning enter his life. Everything that's happened too absurd that he was wondering if maybe his mind was pulling tricks on him. If maybe he should've told Hopkins the truth instead of keeping information from him in the fear that maybe he was on the wrong side… that maybe his family was closer than he thought.

And as fate would have it, suddenly the sound of glass breaking could be heard from downstairs, sending Leo into immediate defensive mode. He silently stepped out of his bed; body growing stiff. Hopkins, as usual, was fast asleep catching up on severeal weeks worth of sleep deprication. He'd called himself to inform of every possible lock in the partment, instructing Leo to lock all doors and windows which he'd made sure was secured twice. He made his way over to the door, as quietly as he could opening it by the slim crack- his other hand folding around the holster of one of the katanas, though he couldn't see what it was at the time.

As the noises grew smaller, the sound of steps creaking somewhere in the living room made Leo nearly loose his own footing. He held his breath, moved two steps at a time in the dark, navigating the hallway into the kitchen and finally over to the dinner table, where a strangely familiar set of whispers reached his ears.

"Careful! Do you want to wake up the whole building!?"

"I'm still more quiet than you"
"Shhh!" another one hushed, as Leo made his way to the switch.

"We couldn't just have knocked on the damn door…"

"Wait, wait, wait, guys! I think there's someone here!"

"Wow! Good job Mikey! And here I thought we just came here to steal his furniture!"
"Oh, fortheloveof- be QUI-ET!"

'CLICK'

They all froze as the light came on and Leo was met with the busted glares of three boys, standing flustered behind his couch. He lowered his weapon, though still tightening his grip around the handle to the point of whitening his knuckles. He recognized the first two immediately as the vigilantes who fought off the PD three days ago. They were even wearing the same clothes as that night, granted a little more tidied up this time. But then there was also another kid there, seemingly younger than the first two, wearing an orange mask over his messy curly hair tightened into a shorter knot. He shared a lot of the same characteristics as the other two, though a tad less serious in his demeanor and a lot more exaggerative when it came to his vibrant colored attire. He starred at Leo in what he guessed to be wonderment, for some reason, his mouth making a silent 'O' if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. While all of them stood in bended knees and raised eyebrows, probably surprised by the sudden "intrusion" if you could call it that, the red one simply stood there, hands in his pockets as if he didn't care or pretended not to. Leo honestly couldn't tell if he'd somehow provoked him by simply being in the room, or if it was just his general attitude... being a jerk.

"Psst, guys. I think we've been spotted" the orange one whispered, to which the others replied (understandably) by shaking their heads and sighing heavily into the abyss.

Leo tried not to raise his voice too much, remembering the severely irritated cop sleeping with a gun under his pillow upstairs and not wishing to see what would happen if you woke him up before his shift, "How did you even get in? All the doors are locked. There's alarms set up!"

"Well actually, dismantling the automatic sensor set up in the one-way frequency was quite easy, given that you only really need to shut one of the powered windows down to be able to access-

"Raph broke the window"

They all (once again) starred at the small one, who did not possess a lot of situational awareness, Leo noticed.

"What? You did!"

"Look, we're not here to hurt you, we just want to talk"

"Honest" the tall one clarified, sounding just about as sincere as he could muster. Leo sighed, lowering the holster in his hands, though not exactly letting it go given his unexpected visitors were carrying weapons as well. However, intruders or not, he figured that the chances of them finding a better time to talk, now with the house in lockdown and all, would probably not come as easy.

"Fine. But I want to talk to you too" he said, the red one scoffing, almost immediately following- arms crossed and the gesture seemed so much like something straight out of a rom-com to the point that Leo struggled not to scoff as well.

"Fine by us"

"Good"

"Great"

"Perfect"

Though both of them initially had seemed capable in a fight side by side, it was clear now that the boy was still very angry at him for the thing- that is to say, the thing that he still didn't know what was. And something told Leo, that he wouldn't get a straight answer out of him simply by asking. But it irked him all the same, being blamed for something he didn't even remember. Not to mention by a person he didn't even remember… as if it was that patently obvious who was in the wrog here.

The silence that filled the room, least to say, was very awkward.

"Family reunions am I right? Hehehe…"

"Mikey" The tall one smacked orange over the shoulder.

Leo took a deep breath, ears on the door just in case. So far, the interrogations weren't exactly going smoothly so he decided, albeit begrudgingly to be the one to break the ice.

"Okay, what happened that night… I realize that I should probably thank you, for saving me. But you still haven't told me how-

"Wow, dudes! Just look at this place! It's HUGE!"
"Mikey, don't touch that!" Donnie yelled, exhaustingly going over to Mikey, practically dragging him away from the magnets on the kitchen fridge and looking anything but enthused. Leo was starting to see why 'Mikey' hadn't accompanied them on their last infamous trip to what he figured was a criminal background in the making.

"Sorry, sorry it's just wild- I mean just look at him! All humany and stuff. Just look at that T-shirt! Aweeesomeee. I almost wouldn't have believed it was you if it wasn't for the katanas. Wait, is human Leo more nerd than regular Leo…?" to emphasize his point the orange one tried to poke him in the cheek, his eyes glowing up in awe.

"Humany...? "

"You're right! I almost didn't notice they were still here- eh do you mind?" he asked, reaching for the katana that Leo just decided he was determined to keep as far away from them as possible.

"Ignore him-

"Shouldn't we tell him though? I mean isn't that what we came here for?"

"Tell me what?"

"Yeah, tell him what?" Mikey repeated somewhere in the background, but honestly at this point it seemed all the boys had given up on keeping track of him.

"We don't even know if it's really him" the red one, 'Raph', suddenly said, breaking the pause as if his voice alone was enough to command the others to listen. If Leo were to guess, he was probably the oldest out of the three, though his general attitude certainly exuded anything but maturity. Donnie was the first to express his disbelief at the statement, and with good reason. Last time they'd met, if anyone was persuaded that they'd found the guy they were looking for it was him, so why was he suddenly not convinced? What changed?

"I can't believe those words actually just came out of your mouth… Three days and you haven't shut up about the fact that he's been right in front of our noses this whole time. What- you think the foot brainwashed him to sound, fight and act likeLeo to fool us?"

"I'm just saying- wouldn't put it passed them. We have to be prepared for anything"

"Hey guys! Look at all this Space stuff!" Mikey called out, to Leos eminent horror. Oh god, he found the Space Heroes collection. "Hey don't touch that! Those are rare!"

"Ups, sorry, Leo!"

"Okay, it's him"

Now it was Leo's turn to drag Mikey away from the TV set, the motion of doing so feeling oddly like he'd done it before, but he chose not to think too much about it.

And it was at this point Leo just about lost his composure entirely, turning to all three of them as their gazes were glued onto his, "Okay, can someone please explain to me what you're doing in my home?! Who are you people?! How did you even find me?! I mean I can't be the only one who thinks this deserves some explanation right?"

"Wow… Human Leo is uptight. Maybe I should slap him-

"Don't" Raph said, holding out his arm towards the freckled one like a stop sign, before cracking his knuckles and deviously approaching himself, "If anyone's going to slap him, it should be me. Might bring him back to his senses-

"No one is slapping anyone" Donnie concluded, luckily sharing the same mutual need to get to the point as Leo.
"Leo, what do you remember?"

Leo looked at the boys one after the other one more time. For once it seemed they all were genuinely curious about that too, signs of concern even showing on Raph's gruntled face, granted he wouldn't dare admit it.

"About what, exactly?"

The boy stopped, as if he just realized how vague his question must've sounded to a stranger in his pajamas after his home had just been broken into by his supposed 'rescuers'. Tumbling over his words he tried to calrify. "Uh, well... us?"

"Yeah, come on dude it's us! The gang, you know. Mi amigos. The homies"
"And the award for being captain obvious goes to…" Raph sighed, as Donnie struggled to word it properly. Leo appreciated his efforts, nonetheless.

"Okay let me rephrase that; anything you remember prior to Oktober the 10th?"

"No. I mean I guess- I" He paused. While he didn't see how that date should mean anything in particular, a voice in his head also reminded him that if he kept silent, chances that they would open up to him in return would probably be very slim. Took trust to gain trust, he remembered Hopkins once mentioned, and if it didn't apply here, what did he have to lose? One word to the NYCPD and they'd be out of his world regardless. But, that wasn't what was going to happen. He rubbed his temples, prepared to regret everything on the spot, but proceeded trusting his heart more than his head because he was too desperate to argue, "Okay, fine. I'll tell you. All I remember is… a tunnel. I think its somewhere underground, but that's pretty much it. Next thing I know I wake up in the hospital. Been there since Hopkins found me-

"Wha- the cop? You live with one of those bastards?!"

"Huh, that certainly might explain why we haven't heard from you in three months…"

"You think?!" Raph exclaimed, Donnie gesturing with his hand under his chin.

"Matches up with the chain of events."

"But that still doesn't mean we can trust him. He's working for that cop, and need I remind you, those aren't exactly our friends"

Mikey jumped up from his seat, "But it's Leonardo! He's family! Of cause, we can trust him, right bro?" he turned to him, almost pleadingly, and Leo hated to admit it but… he couldn't help but feel sorry in some capacity. Or maybe that was just the effect of having the equivalent of a hyperactive burglar look at him like a kicked puppy.

"It's not that simple Mikey. Just look at him. He doesn't remember us"

"Unless he's just pretending not to remember"

Took everyone by surprise to say the least. It was like a bomb just went off, sending Raph's remark at Leo at him like a cannonball that deafened the living room for a good two minutes of processing. Is that why he was so angry?

"No way! Leo would never do that!"

"Raph, I think you're taking this a little too far…" Donnie added, panic on his brow as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, methodically trying to hold him back from doing anything he'd surely regret. Raph however, was having none of it.

"Am I now? Because last thing I know, you were the one who got us into this mess in the first place. And you." He pointed at Leo. "Who's to say this wasn't his grand plan? To take off once he finally got the chance"

"And what about you?! How do I know you're not responsible for my injury in the first place?!" The others gasped, Mikey both hands over his mouth in exaggeration. Leo knew he should probably tread carefully here, but honestly, Leo was too curious to know what he meant to be scared. He could already tell Raph was the type of person to let his emotions get the better of him in the blink of an eye, whereas Leo would much rather take a step back and look at the situation. And observing him now, it was almost like they were reading each other's thoughts. The stare alone enough to power a building's worth of electricity through the tension.

"What?! We would never!- Uhhhh…. Well, I guess… technically, maybe… we're a little bit responsible…?" Mikey muttered, to which Donnie desperately tried to salvage the situation,

"It's not like that!"
"Who's to say he isn't?!"

"Everyone but you, apparently!" they all yelled, a cluster of voices all calling over the other as their fighting reminded him of siblings arguing about the last cookie.

Then-

"Leo? That you?" a voice called down, Leo turning frantically to gaze at the stairs, eyes wide with panic. "Oh no... Quick! You have to hideeeeee... what?" As soon as he turned back towards the boys however, they were gone. Leaving Leo puzzled thinking if maybe he'd simply dreamed them there, sleep walking into the living room somehow. He looked under the couch, in the kitchen, through the broken window, but it was like they'd sunken into the floorboards.

Steps sounded, the floorboards creaking, and there came Hopkins hurrying down with a gun in his hand and bedhead nearly making it appear as if he was wearing an octopus in the dark. "Leo? What are you doing up? It's late. Go to bed..."

"Yeah, of cause. Sorry I just... " he looked around, simultaniously coming up with a good excuse while also being stuck on where the hell they'd went. "I thought I heard something"
"You okay? Because ya know, with this whole... surveilance thing, can't blame ya for being a little tense"

"I'm not tense"

Hopkins eyes travelled to the katana in Leo's hands.

"Right..." he muttered, rubbing his temples. "Look I gotta get up early tomorrow- I don't know for how long, higher ups don't seem to tell me anything these days. But just so you know, I still got your back on this."

"I know, I know... I trust you"

Leo nodded, solemnly. They sharred an off-kilter starring contest in the dark before the geezer relented, waltzing back up the stairs looking over his shoulder. "All right, just... get some sleep, kid"

The door closed, Leo turning his attention back towards the living room, where shockingly the three intruders proved to not be just a part of his imagination. Raph crawled out from having, apaprently hidden underneath the couch, Donnie balancing himself in the corner using his stick and the third one swinging down quietly from the chandeller in the roof, almost as if they were entirely muted. What the heck are these guys?

"Wow... that guy has some serious trigger issues" the orange one said, and just as they were about to break out into yet another argument, Leo managed to this time have enough sense to intterrupt them early-

"Answer me something" he broke in. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with a voice capable of commanding the others attention. Wished it was that easy with Hopkins too sometimes. He let out a sigh, the memory still fresh in his mind and he turned to look at Raph while he said it, "In the alley, what you said… is it true?"

"What? That you're a self-centered jackass? Definitely"
"No!" he sighed, unable to say the word aloud in fear of what the answer might be. Truthfully, he didn't know if he hoped it was the truth or wished to god, that it was anything but. Though something told him that they weren't lying to him about this one and he couldn't for the life of him understand why having nothing but a gut feeling to go on. "You know what I mean"

Raph didn't answer. Whether he choose not to or just simply… couldn't, was up to interpretation, but that didn't make the pit in Leo's stomach go away. He turned to the others, seemingly having the same problem until Donnie jumped in, trying hard to be the only one out of the four to keep a level head.

"We know it's a lot to take in. I mean, it's no wonder you don't recognize us even if you did have your memories back. But we really are family. Your true family. Trust us, we only want to help you"

For some reason those three words echoed in his brain, but it still wasn't enough to convince him entirely. Why couldn't anyone just give him a clear answer?

"All right. Fine. I've seen a lot of crazy things lately, so I'm sorry but I'm gonna need some proof here. Prove to me that you're telling the truth. Tell me what happened."

"Eh, that might be a little difficult hehe" Mikey scratched the back of his head, nervous laughter and shoes tapping anxiously against the floor clicking beneath him.

"It's kind of complicated…" Donnie said.
"Complicated how?"

Mikey held up his hand, as if he just realized he possessed the extraordinary ability to talk. And talk he did, to the other's horror nonetheless, but it was already too late once he kept going:

"You see we're actually mutated turtles from the sewers that are also trained in ninjitsu- no big deal just fyi we're pretty awesome dude- and now we're trying to stop this anti-ninja clan that's trying to kill us but we don't really know why yet? Which is weird cause we kind of were supposed to have stopped them already if it wasn't for the whole mutation-situation, ha that rhymes- so that's kinda why we needed to come here, since you're the leader and we don't really have a plan how to stop them yet also you're our brother so that's probably also important to mention. What else…? Oh! And we're freshwater turtles. Nearly forgot that part"

When he finally finished, the first sound to fill the apartment came in the shape of two brothers not knowing how to deal with their little brother when he didn't understand the simple meaning behind a lot to take in.

"MIKEY" they both yelled out, towering over their brother flames practically seething out of their ears.

"What did I do now?!"

"We're supposed to help him not scare him, dummy!" Donnie hissed to which Mikey shrank several inches into the ground and Leo… well, he didn't know what to think. "Great... You're crazy"

"You're the one who wanted the truth" Raph muttered, Donnie dashing him over the shoulder.
"Of cause he's not gonna believe us now!" he whispered, as Leo silently wondered if now would be a good time to call Mr. Hopkins about the situation, but he didn't do that, sticking to his promise. Instead, he simply said it as it is,
"He's right. I don't... So, if you're not going to make sense, then why don't you just go back to wherever you came from." He sighed, not letting his disappointment show. "I'll solve this myself…"

All of them looked as he ventured away, unsure whether or not they should stop him or let him go.
"Huh. And I thought you were the loner…" he could hear the tall one mutter, as Leo made his way up the stairs prepared to stay awake all night thinking of a good excuse to tell Hopkins as to why the window was broken down by the TV. Not to mention the fortune worth of security set up around the apartment, probably going to be blamed on him in some way or another for property damage. Serves them right I suppose...

"A wise man once said that, what you know is dangerous to your enemy, what you think you know is dangerous to you. Sound familiar?"

Leo stopped. It came from Raph- at the moment the only one who followed him to the bottom of the stairs, having proceeded to take the katana in his hands studying it somberly. Leo wasn't sure if Raph was going to intentionally break it out of spite, panicking for a second until the relic was instead tossed back to him safe and sound almost immediately.

"Is that supposed to mean anything?" he asked, to which a shadow manifested over the boy's eyes, turning his brief optimism straight back into anger and resentment. Maybe even a little bit of regret too, if he weren't mistaken.

"Forget it"

"Wait, Leo!" the tall one- Donnie ran over to him, a small walkie-talkie looking devicew with a botton on the front and a scanner on the small screen, in his hands that Leo hesitantly accepted. "If you change your mind, here's how you find us. Just consider it, okay? We're not giving up on you that easily"

"Yeah dude! Who's going to tell me to remember not to over butter the popcorn if you're not there?!" the third one yelled, nearly tumbling into the others.
"That's what you're worried about?"

"What?! I have a delicate tummy"

Leo couldn't help but smile, dissapointed yes and not feeling quite right, the pit in his stomach also subsequently having grown tenfold in the span of the last fifteen minutes. They all seemed so familiar to him, but it was all so vague he almost couldn't tell if he just wanted to believe it enough to convince himself, or if by some strange twist of fate, he'd found what he was looking for… and all he had to do was believe it. Go with them, help take down the PD outside of the law like the old geezer preffered to hand things. Without honor. But I'm not that stupid…

"I won't tell Hopkins that you were here. So, now we're even" Leo concluded silently, before exiting upstairs and closing the door behind him, but he could still hear their voices downstairs as clear as day.

"Man… this sucks!"

"Give it some time Mikey. He'll come around… eventually"

Leo slipped onto his bed, arms stretched out holding the katana firmly, as his reflection was mirrored back to him in the (probably) fake blade.

"As our fearless leader used to say, him being a dick is just 'temporary'"

"Raph,"
"Come on- we're wasting our time here. Let's go back to the bridge, figure out what to do next"

But then just for a moment, a brief moment of sleep-deprivation and illusions of vigilantes in Halloween costumes appearing in his home, he could've sworn he saw that blue raggedy mask over his eyes flash for just one strange second of doubt clouding his mind because it fit all too well.

And the resemblance more than uncanney.

He called out, not moving his lips, focusing his energy.

As of now, it had been a good hour and a half into his trance. Raph was careful not to move out of his spot, the only thing in his mind that kept him afloat being his own breathing. It was strange but- for the first time in months he felt almost… calm. Completely at peace in his mind. Granted, he'd silently tried to summon enough courage to reach out, he figured that forcing it wouldn't get him very far, and he tired of his old methods. He needed guidance… advice, with everything being a record year of catastrophes. He needed  him , but he knew that he couldn't make him come by himself. He just had to be patient. To just wait until the opportune moment, where he could finally get some answers. Finally see him again, no matter how bonkers the concept sounded. Needless to say, he had no idea what they were supposed to do now. With no leader to guide them, he felt the weight of being the oldest even more than he'd ever had to. It was always Leo who took that mantle. To be the 'responsible' one, calling the shots, taking on the task of navigating the waters when the others were too independent to do it. He wanted to do the right thing. To fix this entire mess as fast as he could, get his team back together, get his body back together, and most importantly, get their life back together. That was Raph's job now.
And he didn't have the faintest idea how to make that happen. Where would they even start? What chance did three kids lost on New York city have against an army?

He needed help. He needed Sensei. Or just- someone to give him advice, since it was obvious that their so called "fearless leader" wasn't up to the task, injury or not. Leo'd changed, they could feel it. He wasn't going to get them out of this without his memories, so with that in mind, Raph tried to let his thoughts empty. Let them come to him eventually, like a true ninja or whatever the heck it was father used to say. Instead of channeling his anger, Raph tried the opposite. He focused. Breathed in, breathed out… listened to the silence. And after being at complete zen for nearly an hour, finally, Raph felt like he was able to control his turmoil. Letting the dark take him and in its sweet embrace, and never coming back. Like for the first time in his life, he was finally, finally at complete peac-

"RAPH! HEY! Wake up! Pssssssst! Quickly there's a- a- a cockroach on ya! Yeah! Right there on your back, dude, better get up before its too late, right?! Raph? Raph! Come on, rise and shine"

A deep grizzly growl, probably efficient enough to send little kids screaming, escaped Raph's throat as he was zapped back to the tent. Someone as creative as him couldn't have found a way to knock?! Raph sighed. "What is it, Mikey?"

"Dude, were you… meditating?"

Raph went red, eager to change the subject, "I was- look I- shut up! What do you want? And if it's about the spreadsheets, I told you its them or its nothing. As soon as we get back to the lair, you can have your Mr. cuddles back, alright?"

"It's not that- well, actually… No, no, it's not that." Mikey seemed to do a double take, inviting himself inside the tent.

They'd spend the good portion of the last three days tracking down Leo's location, whilst struggling to figure out what their next move should be. Their enemies was sure moving, and so far they had no idea what they were even up to. What role did the purple mutagen play, and why had it become so crucial to their schemes that they'd even kill someone over it? While Donnie had gone back to the lab for parts, Mikey had been going on patrols for what had become a regular pattern each day between four and six, granted Raph had no idea where he actually went. Mikey kept changing the subject whenever he asked, and both had decided that it would probably be better not to push him on the subject if he didn't want to. Raph had seen the life he'd led on the surface. The life he'd left behind to go back to saving the city, and though he tried to hide it, Raph could see that something bothered him. And it had been for a while now.

"Then what is it?"

It was kind of scary how easily it had been to adjust to the reality that the human kid in front of him was his brother. Mikey fumbled with his hands, pulling on the tips, turning them over, folding them in and out in and out over and over again. Not exactly subtle for their brother, he noticed, every little mannersim matching everything about him to a T (no pun intended), everyhting except for his face.

"So, funny, I was just thinking, since Leo's not here at the moment, does that technically make you our leader now?"

"What? No."
"Okay, so you're not in charge?"

Raph struggled, as usual, to read him, "Why? You want me to be?"

A loud chuckle burst out from the tent, probably loud enough to wake up the entire community while turning Raph gradually more annoyed, "No! No, no, no, no, no! Of course not, you're awful at the leader stuff! Uh- no offence"

"Okay I'm about two seconds away from shoving this pen up your nose"

"Hehe, sorry" he muttered, pulling his hair around his fingers. "But... if you're not in charge, and I'm not in charge and Donnie's definitely not in charge, then that means that Leo will come back, right?"

So that's what this is about. He let out a sigh, already feeling guilty about what he said last night, though he wasn't exactly wrong for saying it (at least according to himself). If this whole ordeal had taught Raph anything, it was that they'd be getting no where without trust. Only problem was, that right now there wasn't exactly much of a team to proof that sentiment, and no leader to argue with anymore.

"Give him some space, will ya? He's been through a lot. We all have" he said, realizing that may not have been the most comforting way to get that across. He could see it on Mikey's frown clear as day, until finally-
"You didn't really mean that stuff about him just pretending to not remember us, right?" -there it was. The silence in the tent lingered, Mikey with the expectation that Raph would reassure him he was wrong, and Raph waiting for Mikey to accept the fact that he wasn't going to apologize for voicing his suspicions.

"Oh. You did" he then said, to which Raph's guiltiness fell pray to his little brother's overwhelming ability to do the "puppy dog googly eyes".

"I don't know what I think, Mikey… Everything's really messy right now. But hey, we got you back, didn't we?" he said, watching the smile creep back over his little brother's face.

"Yeah, guess I do kinda have that sweet magnetic awesomeness attraction still intact. Passed down from the great samurais of the buritto mountain for centuries... "

Raph sighed, "How could I forget" he muttered, very deadpanned and not to mention tired. He slowly starting to remember how it was living next to Mikey for over fifteen years. Juvinile randomness and all. Regardless, he patted him on the back, to which Mikey for once didn't flinch over the gesture, surprising both of them since this rarely used to be the case, making Raph contemplate if maybe an apology was in order. But alas, his stubborness won again, his overprotective big brother attitude chipping in as well. "Don't worry, little brother. We'll figure it out. With or without Leo"

"You really think so? I dunno, it just doesn't feel right…"

"Definitely! And hey, once we've saved the city, we're gonna kick those bug-phased freaks all the way to New jersey. After all, I still owe them an ass-kicking for what they did to you"

Mikey smiled, blinking, then confused, "I thought we were in New York…?"

"Never mind… do me a favor and try to get some sleep" Once again, the exasperated weight of trying not to bang his head against a pole, made Raph start reaching for his bag and folding his mask over his head. He looked at the time. Midnight. Well, guess it's go-time.

"What are you doing?"

"I have to go out for a bit. Shouldn't be long though, there's just someone I have to see about something" he said, remembering to pull his hood over his hair in case he'd receive any company in the meantime. But he was sure now, not wasting another minute sitting around doing nothing, and taking some action despite three months of stalling. Mikey and Donnie had their stuff to take care of, and this just happened to be something Raph had to do by himself.

"Uuuuuh…. isn't it a bit late for grocery shopping? I mean I know you're bumped over the whole no-kitchen no-breakfast thing, my 'eggs on boxes' are a work in process okay?!- but just saying. You really think that's a good idea? Wai-wai-wait can you get me a soda? It's on my human list of things to try, but Mrs. R don't want me to drink them. Said it would only heighten my mikey-ness to a dangerous level which, I guess means that the foot better watch out for the Mikey-"

"I won't go too far" Raph said, shoving the curtains aside and stepping out into the winter air as Micky watched in bewilderment, probably pondering if he should object or not, but realizing that him saying so probably wouldn't do anything.

"Use the tracker if I'm not back by noon, okay?"

"Be careful" he said, as Raph leaped down onto the frozen concrete.

He started running, silently thanking Ernie for letting them use the place as a temporary base until they'd get the lair back. Because as it stood, it was only getting colder sleeping in tents with no liable equipment to show for it, and time was running out. Donnie said that they only had less than a week before the AF would probably make their final move, and honestly, he trusted his calculations way more than he trusted his own intuition.

They were running out of time as it stood, and the thought of losing anyone else to their enemies was an idea Raph didn't respond very well to. But… still that wasn't the entire reason behind why he left, if Raph had to be honest. Sure, their friends would now be in danger, given their cover had officially been blown, but in all honestly, Raph needed someone to talk to more than anything else. He needed someone to see his side of things, reckless enough to take them at face value. And the only person who matched that description, he hadn't seen in months now, if he was even still in New York City. The skull wearing, hockey stick slinging vigilante himself: Casey Jones. Missing in action.

…

Raph started at the ice-skating ring, probably the most obvious place to start, and now that he was at full liberty to let his friend in on the details, he decided not to waste any time busting through the front door. It was the same time of day he'd usually be found practicing, that is to say night, but once he entered, he found that… there was no one there. And no one had been there, for as long as they'd gone missing apparently, according to the receptionist.

Not surprising, that is to say, Raph had already tried there several times already, but with nothing to show for it. As if their friend had simply sunken into the ground. And If Casey wasn't in the ice-skating ring, it probably wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume he was in some sort of trouble as they'd feared. Sticking to his usual quota of searching for it when it was least convenient, it still irked Raph that he'd been gone for so long without warning. Knew I should've kicked that masked freak's nose in when I had the chance, he grunted, the thought of the Oni-man to have taken him fueling the fire.

Next stop he went to Roosevelt, having a rather humorous reunion with the three bullies he smacked against the locker last week. He didn't have to take more than a few steps, before they were ready to tell him just about anything, too frightened of the small angry red guy to take anymore of their teeth. It worked a little too well perhaps, but while Casey was never the most popular kid, he was still partially hard to miss amongst the... well, normal humans on the school. And apparently, someone matching his description had been seen walking around the school every now and then, but he never attended his classes and rarely stayed longer than an hour or two, claiming that "school was overrated" before leaving abruptly. So, all in all, probably him.

"Where can I find him?"

"I- uh" the bullies halted, mouth trembling as one of them pointed their shaky fingerless gloved hand over towards a poster by the board.

You gotta be kidding me…

…

Now, Raph had found himself in a lot of strange places over the years, that much was very apparent: Dimension X, alien spaceships, underground Dexter Stickman traps, Queens… but where Raph never imagined finding himself standing in a thousand years, would be the front yard of a house party littered with drunk teenagers and pop music from decades old techno-hits. He just starred straight ahead, eyes agape with a mix of confusion and severe discomfort. This had to be the wrong place, right? There was no way this could be the place. Why in the hell would Casey wanna go here? Well, whatever the reason, Raph entered the jungle.

The smell of teenagers rubbing up and down each other to the tinnitus-inducing music beat that wouldn't shut up, was already enough to make him miss the sewers. He shoved passed the crowd, the flickering lights, the smell of alcohol and felt like he'd somehow entered one of Mikey's old rom-com flicks from when they were younger. He remembered Splinter showing them clips of movies like this to remind them how not to turn out in the future, whenever they'd inevitably reach that age. And honestly, while Raph hadn't understood exactly what his point was back then, walking through it now, he was starting to. He tried to focus his vision, but with so many people stumbling over each other and sticking their tongue down each other's throats, it was hard to fully grasp the scenery. He asked around, yelling Casey's name aloud in the vague hope that someone would give a damn, but could honestly not be sure if they even heard him in the cluster. After half an hour had passed, Raph was ready to leave the party entirely, thinking that the bullies had lied to him, or was too afraid to tell him that Casey hadn't been seen at all, making up a cockabull story about where someone matching his description would most likely show up. Perhaps going alone wasn't such a good idea, he thought, thinking if he'd just gone to Donnie, maybe they would've found him already. But he was already piled up in work as it stood, and this was only concerning his friend- who was not exactly the highest on the priority list at the moment, and Donnie would be inclined to agree, he figured. Raph made for the door, went up the stairs and into the bathroom where he successfully managed to splash some water on his face.

He looked into his own gaze, trying hard to remember what it was like before all of this happened. In his old body, that is, but it already started to feel like a million years ago. Because if it came down to it, and Donnie somehow couldn't make them a cure, was this the reality they'd have to settle on? Was this the life Raph had to get used to? To go to parties, go to school like normal people, not worrying about saving the city every night? Not having to live up to the expectations build upon years and years' worth of training? What kind of life would that even look like? Raph had no idea.

He let out a sigh, feeling the skin on his face with his index finger, and finding the uncanny likeness to Hamato Yoshi in his features hauntingly real… like the mutagen had somehow copy pasted him straight out of the picture in the dojo. He could see it in all of them, really, perhaps Leo more than anyone. As if they'd all (at least to some digree) become the living image of the person their father used to be, long dead before Splinter took them in due to circumstances, and how it had ruined his life. How would he react if he could see us now? Like this. 'Normal'… getting to do all the things he was robbed off in his life. All the things Raph struggled to accept as 'okay' or even just 'acceptable'. But how could he? How the hell could he even allow himself to think that way? To accept the fact that, somewhere bottled up inside, and suppressed by all forms of reasoning, there was still a tiny, microscoping not at all relavent part of him, that actually wanted to enjoy this. To admit that he felt a little twitch of relief every time someone looked at him without blinking, or worse, screaming, sticking out their phone to take a good picture. Going to the store for the first time, sitting in a bar ordering a drink, taking the public transportation, or just plain walking on the street like it was nobody's bussiness. Wouldn't it be wrong to enjoy the things their father never got the chance to do? The things that he'd told his family his entire life was okay that they weren't a part of? To love themselves for who they were. How could he be proud of himself, if they just abandoned their mission. Everything they'd done, just throwing in the towel… he just… couldn't. And it was that envy in turn, that compelled him to argue against these three months ever meaning anything, other than another world ending threat that needed to be stopped. And that was exactly what he was going to do. One way or the other…

He leaned back on the edge of the tub, curtains pulled over, when suddenly-

A mild groan could be heard from somewhere behind it and he stood up. In the tub, behind the curtain, Raph realized he wasn't alone in there, slowly (and very prepared for anything particularly murderous to jump out and get him), so he reached for his sai. But alas, once he pulled it back, he honestly didn't know if a killer robot could ever match the true horror of what he actually found stored there instead.

"You gotta be kidding me" he heard himself mutter, blinking a couple of times to justify what he was seeing.

The first thing to notice, was the cluster of empty beer cans hobbled into the tub in every corner where there was room. Second, was of course, maybe a bit more obvious, the passed out teenager in a crinkled black shirt and poorly folded tie lying half asleep over said cans. His chin bore the slight hint of a stub indicating some sense of maturity, though his messy black hair sprinkled all over his face begged to differ. He lay there blinking, only now realizing the guy starring down at him jaw agape and severely lacking the context as to what had led to him sleeping in there. But there was no doubt about it. He'd found him. Right in front of his nose this whole time, nonetheless.

The boy in the tub rubbed his eyes, only now figuring out that he wasn't alone in the bathroom, and so. he did the only natural thing that came to mind...

He held out a can…

"Want one…?"
Raph took a breath, cracked his knuckles and prepared to grab his friend by the sleeve of his shirt, "Okay, that's it. Come on buddy"
"Wo-wo-woa hey! I was just asking! Hey- let go of me- ouch" he only managed to get about three feet out of the tub, before he banged his head against the wall, his balance already staggering. Raph struggled, never actually having to take care of a drunk person before, unless you count that one time Mikey fell into a sugar-coma, as Donnie so elegantly had put it, and they all collectively had to hall him into the lab to subdue him. But he did manage to swing Casey's arm over his shoulder, to which he, somehow for a moment as going by the look in his eyes, seemed to almost recognize the person in front of him. At least, that's what Raph naively hoped, saving him the trouble of having to explain it himself without his little brother there- and especially in his friend's current condition. He turned his head curiously toward Raph, staggering for a moment. "What- y-you supposed to be some sort of punker or what?"

Raph kept moving, trying hard to fight the urge not to slap him awake.

"Yep… this is my life now"

They somehow made it outside- actually that was putting it mildly. Casey was bumbling and staggering to every wall they passed the entire way. But once they finally got outside, Raph was thankful to see the sun starting to come up over the city, lighting their path and Casey seemed too wasted to really argue with the guy dragging his ass outside against his will. Though that certainly didn't stop the ever-relentless Casey Jones from trying. "Let go of me freak! Wh-what are you doing dude?! Party's that way, have you lost your- WOAH-

His sentence was cut short however, as Raph (admittedly feeling very happy with himself) dropped his hold on the arm, to which he plummeted into the concrete. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

Raph chuckled, though upon further inspection he slowly started to also notice how unusally messy his friend looked. And Casey was very much a messy person- he almost never looked put together in any way shape or form, so much so that it was almost becoming his thing. But looking at him now, Raph couldn't help but notice just how tired he seemed… stains of what he guessed to be liquor of some kind over his pants, his stick-like figure seeming almost fatigued, like he hadn't eaten in a while. His face had gone paler, bags under his eyes and a surprising number of bruises around his face and arms. His hair was all over the place, unkept and slightly longer too than last time they'd seen him, giving Raph the feeling that something was slightly off about him. What the heck happened to you?

As Casey foolheartedly leaned against the wall in an attempt not to puke, Raph starred at his friend, lost for words. "I don't know what's sadder: that you're puking behind a convenience store, or the fact that you actually tried to tie that"

"Did I ask for your opinion red? You're the one sabotaging my nap thank you very much!"

"My pleasure" Raph said, leaning unconsciously more into his usual demeanor. Arms crossed, he waited patiently for his friend to finish, enjoying the rare moment Casey's guard was let down and instead left right open for anyone who wasn't a passerby to see. Once he turned around again, however, that's where the patterns he was so used to started to show, as if to reassure him that he was really there and not dead in a ditch somewhere. That his friend was okay. Alive. Casey lifted his chin, for a moment seemingly at his senses, before he stumbled back, learning against the wall behind him but keeping his sunken eyes fixed stubbornly on the guy watching him.

"Look if you're from one of those Canadian guys, you're wasting your time here. So, look I'm sorry if I broke your nose or rib, or spleen or just somethin' in the past- but you're not gonna get a rematch any time soon- It's your fault for not having insurance, buddy"

Raph didn't say anything, simply enjoying the display at hand. This seemed to irritate Casey for a moment, the gears turning in his head probably not very satisfied by the non-response so he continued,

"Oh, I see… you're a fan aren't you? I should've known. One of many struggles from living like Casey Jones- bounty hunter by day, killer vigilante by night" he then said, using up a little too much energy for his legs to handle.

"How original" Raph just said, wondering how in the world Casey hadn't gotten himself arrested yet by sheer bragging, or plainly just annoying a cop to death. But alas, he continued,
"or maybe you're a stickler? How old were you again? Like- fifteen?"

"Casey"

"Okay, okay, I get it. I'm a reasonable guy. So look, whatever they paid you, I'm not interested. Those days are behind me. So, as the cool kids say: I'm clean and been- or was it the other way around..?"

"Casey"

"No! I'm not going back to juvy! Not this time. I don't care how much you want to, I ain't fighting you- nuh-uh, not gonna happen so get over it. Not that I wouldn't be able to take you-

The last word still hung in the air after the abruption. Casey had to blink a couple of times to realize that he was now on the ground, starring up at the red-masked teenager clutching a sai in his fist, smiling smugly down at his defeat. Using it on his friend was probably the most fun Raph had had the entire week.

"Did I… get hit in the head or something?" he muttered, most likely seeing double.

"Huh. I guess the mask really does have some benefits" Raph held out his hand, to which left Casey a gigantic question mark. He probably wasn't very used to his attackers helping him back to his feet immediately, but as he did, something in his eyes lit up. Like he just had a very important realization, which to be fair, not even Raph would've seen coming.

"No way… " Casey whispered, as he began walking circles around Raph like he was on display at a museum. He leaned over a bit, starring eye to eye, following first the bandana around his face to the sai in his hand. But something told Raph that it wasn't a simple concussion that gave it away. Casey knew Raph better than anyone, so perhaps it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume that their mutal understanding of each other had something to do with it. "Hold up a second- you've gotta be playing with me here, there's no way that's really you right? I'm not actually seeing what I'm seeing right now- I'm just hallucinating"

Raph smiled, relief filling him because by some peculiar miracle his friend was actually capable of paying attention, "Nice to see you too, Casey"

His eyes dilated, mouth turning into an even bigger 'O' than Mikey's and for a solid second Raph was convinced that he was about to puke again. Luckily that wasn't the case.

"Raph…? But how… and what…" he started, blinking rapidly, shock and confusion, going on a rollercoaster of doubt, gradually turning into awe, turning into disbelief until finally:

"What the HECK happened to your HEAD?!"

Raph cursed the day he decided to dye his hair, but decided that maybe throwing around the guy soaked up in beer twice in one day, wasn't such a good idea. No, instead he told him everything. Well, everything important. He explained about Donnie's plan, Leo's decision, the relentless pursuit of the anti-foot clan that had inevitably led to them fleeing to the surface. And he made sure to emphasize his own opinion on the subject, underlining the fact that he did not agree to this suicide-mission, while Casey made fun of his- in his own words- (wannabe rockstar look). He explained about these last three months, how none of them were safe to contact him or April, his encounters with the PD in the pursuit of his family just a week ago, and most importantly the situation with Leo.

When he was finally done, Casey let out an understandable "Woah, that's... that's a lot", taking another sip from the coffee that someone definitelyhad not conveniently left on the counter in the shop for Raph to steal.

"So, that's why you didn't call me back that night"

Raph leaned forward, angry with himself by what happened, granted there wasn't much he could do about it now, "Trust me, we would've let you in on it, but there wasn't exactly a lot of time to make a house-call. They would've just come after you too"
"What, and you didn't think Casey Jones would be up to the task?! After everything we've been through bro?! Seriously?"
"Hey, not my idea to keep it a secret. And you weren't exactly easy to find either! Mind explaining when you decided to hang up your mask and hockey stick and become a- a… I dunno a college dropout?"

"Hey! High-school drop-out" Casey protested, hand on his heart as if to emphasize the correction, "And you're one to talk. You think this has been easy? I go up to the lair find it completely destroyed, no trace of you guys, you won't answer your phones and I'm left to think you guys died or something! First April, then you… I was by myself, Raph. Believe me, Casey Jones weren't exactly singing kumbaya on the beach" he explained, voice growing heavy for a moment before steadying himself, "So, what changed?"

Besides the not at all dangerous ooze turning us from trained warriors into walking teen disasters? Not much, he wanted to answer but managed to hold back from stating the obvious.

"They came after our masks first, Leo, then Mikey. Turns out, some freak in an Oni-mask held Mikey hostage underground. We think it's their leader, but, they wouldn't even have come after us in the first place, if someone hadn't told them that we're still alive. Meaning, whatever they're after we're a definite target now. "

"And you think I did it?"

Raph nearly snorted at the suggestion, "Heck no! I'm sorry Casey, but you don't exactly seem like the typical guy with enough brain capacity to double cross us"
"And you don't seem like the typical ninja to go around punching thugs in broad daylight" he argued back, in an attempt to dash him on the shoulder that failed so miserably it was almost laughable. But then he stopped, glaring back to the mask 'round his head, his eyes flailing like he just spotted a million dollar bill somewhere in the snow. "Wait a minute- You're the red bandit everyone's talking about?! You?! Man, I've ALWAYS wanted to one-up that guy! He totally stole my thunder- Are you kidding me!?"

Raph would normally be proud of this, his reputation proceeding him even though it wasn't exactly 'the way of the ninja' as father would say. It was kinda funny how the only time anyone paid him any attention from cleaning up the streets, was when he became a human with weakened abilities. While something like, I dunno, saving the world over and over went right over people's heads. He blinked, still not sure why exactly Casey had ended up here of all places instead of bashing skulls in like he'd usually spend his free-time. Didn't seem like him at all, and it begged the question:

"Why didn't you?"

Casey didn't answer, instead tossing the coffe cup into the nearest dumpster and springing back to his feet. He started waltzing around the corner with a rather smug look on his face that told Raph that whatever it was his friend had in mind, he would probably regret asking.

"Follow me" he said, and not understanding, but somewhat trusting, Raph complied, turning the corner towards the nearest subway station as his friend grabbed him by the collar of his coat.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Uh, to the station?"

Realization hit the tall vigilante, "Oh, right! I forgot- you can do that now. But never fear, because Casey Jones got the perfect ride… right here" he said, gesturing to a… oh no. Raph felt his heart sink. Casey was already enjoying this immensely seeing the color leave his face.

"What's the matter? Never rode a bike before?"

Not answering, the only sound that could be heard was the silent prayer and a gulp forming in Raph's throat, starring at whatever contraption it was Casey called a "ride".

"Transferred?!"

Hopkins couldn't believe what he was hearing, slamming both hands over the desk of his boss' office.

"We just think it might be better for you, to take a less, well, overwhelming faction of this particular case-

"We are days away from solving this and you want to give up my position?! I am the only one here who's even come close to getting a real suspect! Shouldn't we prioritize finding the real culprit, instead of blindly letting the purple dragons run circles around us?"
"We know the culprits, Mr. Hopkins, but it seems you're the one incapable of bringing them to justice!" his boss yelled firmly, hands folded over the table.

Hopkins wasn't very good at staying composed for too long, which surely was no secret to his employers. It wasn't a practice that he'd had the opportunity to exercise very often, and it showed. However, he still made the attempt, despite his best efforts, to get his point across without breaking another penholder or ruining another door after slamming it.

But even so, it was pretty clear that his boss had already made up his mind, matching the detective's level of stubbornness to a frustrating degree, "Sir, I understand that, but if we only focus on the criminals already behind bars, we won't be able to stop them before its too late! How many more people will have to die before we can solve this case?!"

"Mr. Hopkins"

"No! I'm onto something here, I know it. I can prove it, there's someone else behind the scenes and its all connected to the Hamato's, I know it is! Sir-"

"If you're referring to the girl who passed away, seventeen years ago, then you surely don't need me to explain to you why that's not a reliable lead"

Hopkins was darted back and forth in the room, going over the files as memorized but finding next to nothing of value other than the lead given to him when he was too wasted to think rationally, "Witnesses are still withholding information, and they're going to keep doing that until the real killer is caught"
"You're dismissed"
"But sir-

"Mr. Hopkins"

He'd been here before… not much had changed really since back then. Once his boss got the final word, all of a sudden Hopkins had to accept the reality that tomorrow he'd be without his desk. He'd have to go back to solving the cat cases, or lost belongings cases like he'd suffered through for the last five years and with absolutely nothing to show for it. Idiots, we're so close and they're already giving up on me. Who's the one letting their own personal bias getting in the way of the mission again? Hopkins refused to accept this, not until the killer was caught and Leo could go free again. Not until the murderers stopped once and for all.

And it was with this thought in mind, that he marched down towards his office, not to clean it out, but to gather whatever remaining evidence was left before anyone from staff got the chance to confiscate it.

"You're that cop… the one with the boy- the-the-the blue one"

He passed the holding cells, nearly having forgotten completely where he was going, when a voice reached him somewhere behind the bars. He recognized this man from a few nights ago, when the Purple Dragons got apprehended for the second time, leaving the police embarrassed to say the least that they hadn't managed to get there first. As a result, they'd decided to file most of the evidence away from the public, taking in only those who were still unconscious at scene. It just so happened that this guy was the first person to reach authorities, apparently on look-out duty and entirely i'nnocent' as he'd stated several times doing interrogations. Otherwise, nothing came out of this buffoon that provided them with anything but luring headaches, not even intel wanting to deal with him. But Hopkins was having a bad day already, so he figured, with a heavy urge to dismiss himself already, to humor him, pulling out a cigarette.

"Aa… Davey, right? I think I remember you too, your brother was… uh, what was it again… Tommy Hudson? Broken spine, fractures from collar to left shoulder? Something like that?"

He nodded impatiently; head stuck against the two bars as if he was struggling to squeeze it through the cracks. In the process also revealing his rather poor dental hygiene. "I can help you… I-I'll tell you who you're looking for"

Knowing this, Hopkins figured that on any other day he wouldn't have taken the guys' word to mean anything other than a desperate attempt to get out of prison. But today wasn't one of those days. He reached down into his breast pocket and folded out the picture received anonymously a few days ago and held it up to the thug's worn-down face.
"Tell me something, whoever did this to you, did they look something like this?"

Davie's glare flickered in all directions, as if he was afraid of getting it wrong, "Maybe, I-I I'm not sure…" he muttered, scratching his chin as Hopkins already started to lose his patience. So… she is important, he thought starring at the inmate currently pulling his hairs. Of cause, he's not allowed to say… just like the rest of his pals in holding they're too afraid to speak up about her. Meaning, they did know who she was, either too loyal to snitch or too afraid of what might happen to them outside of the police station if they were set loose.

Figuring he'd reached his limit, Hopkins refolded the picture and started walking, "Good day, Mr. Hudson"

"No wait-wait-wait-wait Wait! Wait a minute! I can help you! I CAN!"

Hopkins found himself three feet away from the door, trusting that whatever this goon was after, it was probably not out of the goodness of his heart. But still, he listened. Whether a waste of time or not, if the police force had taught him anything, it was that whatever information however improbable, always held some variation of truth.

"Tell me, why in the world would you wanna help me?"

Davey smiled shortly, still twitchy and severely unhinged, but fairly more relaxed to find the detective actually listening to what he had to say, "Same reason as you, detective. Justice. I heard what happened to dear Officer Layton. Tragic really. He didn't seem like a bad man. Quite fond of him I was"
"Tread lightly there, Davey. I'm not a patient guy and I've had a bad day, now what the hell are you talking about?" Hopkins demanded, approaching the cell. He was taller than the inmate, particularly wider too. Enough to burry the man's face in shadow as he made it very clear that he wasn't in the mood for jokes.

Davey gulped, a shivery finger held out in the air to underline his words. "You're looking for a kid. About this tall… funny hair, wears a red mask. You can't miss him. A-a-and I know it sounds nuts-

"You're telling me a kid did this to you?"
"I'm telling the truth, detective. Swear it on my brother's life. They cornered us, beat us up and left us to rot like the maniacs they are. They want that purple thingy majig they got trapped in that warehouse. The one they use"

Now we're getting somewhere. "Which one?"

"Hard to say, they're all over the city by now"

"And the kid? Why would he want that stuff?" Hopkins asked, to which Davey sealed his lips shut, distancing himself slightly from the bars as if he was afraid that the detective would hit him if he wasn't too careful.
"Fine…" he sighed, taking a step back. At least he seems to have a motive for telling the truth, lunatic or not. Hell, sounds more sensible than anything coming from the idiots in office.

And with that in mind, Hopkins made for the door, the information still fresh on his tongue though the only thing he couldn't make sense of, was the supposed attacker himself being a kid. And a few months ago he probably wouldn't have taken this to heart, weren't it for the living proof sundering about in his apartment right in that moment, that someone else might've fit that descripton too. And as he was walking away, he heard Davey again.

"He's called the Red Bandit. He's the one you want- their leader. Find him, you'll solve the case, detective. You got my word on that one" he called out, the last sentence nothing more than a diabolical snicker. Crazy son of a bitch and now of cause, we have vigilantes running around the city to boot. What is this world coming to?

"Solve it my ass" he muttered, ready to raise some hell.

Chapter Text

Donnie had been starring at the envelope for a solid thirty minutes now.

He stood in what used to be the old archive hall at the OLS, now turned into a chemical storage room. Mr. Gilgamesh had been unusually worried when Donnie returned, and thankfully instead of having replaced him on the spot or fired him, decided to give him a second chance to prove his worth. Same thing couldn't be said for the scientists however, not particularily happy with his absence, as shown by them shoving past him in the hallway now with an added glare of death to boot, but Donnie didn't pay them any mind. After successfully sneaking away from cleaning the second-floor bathroom as punishment, he managed to find his way into the labs again during most of lunchbreak, making sure no one was there.

While he most likely had to explain to his boss sooner or later that he'd have to quit his job, for particularly world ending reasons, he still needed to figure out how to get the right security drives to track down the foot. And the only way to do that, was through the craters upon craters of mutation lying around somewhere hidden in the city. Finding that would be crucial to finding their leader, he reasoned, since researching last seen Oni-masks on the internet wasn't exactly the most efficient way to get to the bottom of things. Right now, the main objective was to find a way to break the anti-foot's hold over the lair, granting them access to the various trackers Donnie had placed around the city, and in return homing in on the energy the mutagen gave off with the alien tech still remaining. But Donnie wasn't only just thinking about the logistical aspect of their mission at the moment. More important le he reminded himself that time was running out, and Donnie wondered what good finding their enemies would be, if none of them would be breathing to stop them by then. Should I just… tell them? Donnie bit his lip, the little alarm clock in the room seemingly growing louder and louder, reminding him that November 18th was only five days away. He had to make a decision and soon… but what if they won't understand? Donnie didn't know if he could bare that, all too used to strangers resenting him in subtle ways, but his family resenting him? He didn't want to even think about that.

Which led him to the envelope.

It just lied there, tattered, but unscathed. He was thankful Davies or whatever his name was hadn't decided to tarnish it too, but he still couldn't get himself to open it. As if that simple yes or no inside would provide him with the answer he so desperately needed. He remembered Gilgamesh inviting him into his office once, and Donnie had been understandably very confused when the elf-looking man gave him, decided to give him a heart to heart about growing up. Lowering the authorian walls between them in some way, because despite the fact that Donnie wasjust an ordinary kid seeking a pay-check to him, for a brief moment, there had been another adult telling him that he could do more. He could take charge, live his full potential. Become the person that he wanted to be, instead of wasting his time scrubbing floors all day. It was just about there in the conversation Donnie had been convinced that he was going to get fired, making sneaking in and out of the building with useful supplies a whole lot more difficult if that was the case. But then he held out the envelope, the one Donnie hadn't told anyone he'd even send in the first place, like it had always been there, but did it with that sorta look in someone's eyes where you just know that they're genuinely happy for you.

It's been two weeks since then, and still Donnie's hands were trembling with the thought of what was written inside. Because depending on the answer, for once Donnie had to do something he'd almost rarely thought he was even allowed to think about… what was best for him. What he wanted… what he should do, his responsibilities always chained to the same old life his father left them. And while it was a life that he was more than proud of living, more than a little grateful to have build with his family- because they shared a bond people their age rarely did, truth be told, so how could he give that up? It just… wasn't a choice. It didn't seem right. But even so, wasn't he still allowed to move on if the opportunity came…? Why should he feel guilty about wanting more? After everything he'd done… why should he be held responsible for every little thing that went wrong? Why should he be the one responsible for cleaning it up?

With this in mind, Donnie reached out for the envelope. He bit the corner of it off, gently pulling apart the glue and ripping it open in a perfect line that didn't ruin the contents. He held up the corner, slowly pulling it out, bting his lip, just as-

"Danly! There you are! What the heck are you doing here?! Actually- never mind I don't care. Get out before the guide gets here- anyone sees you doing anything but cleaning the floor, you'll have to answer to me, understand?"

Donnie sighed, letting the moment pass and folded the paper back in the envelope. "It's actually Donatello, Mr. Gilgamesh, and yes sir, right away I- Wait, guide? What guide?"

"The school guide from Roosevelt. Didn't you get the memo? They're getting a free tour to help sponsor our division. Come on, get out, they'll be here soon"

Memo? There was no memo- no one certainly bothered to tell me! What interest would Roosevelt have with a low budget science facility? Donnie quickly gathered his stuff, managing somehow to smuggle three cylinders of fluid into his suit. When he got out into the hallway, the sound of a professor already going into lecturing about the different employees was present just further ahead. When he rounded the corner, he could see them going into the tech-department where of cause, Dave stood proud behind his desk showing the progress of his, what was it again? The automated fluid-sweep? What it really was, was a robotic, battery powered arm that swiped the desk of its surface automatically. Donnie let out a sigh. He'd singlehandedly designed and programmed probably one of the world's most effective combat-ai in recent years and yet this was Dave's proudest achievement? Amateur. He continued down the corner, down towards his now only slightly trashed sleeping space, wondering in silence if he should call up Mikey on the transmitter to see if he'd spotted anything during his patrol when-

He then and there lost all his human ability to breathe.

In the hallway, just a few feet ahead of him, stood no other than April O'Neil, talking to a scientist in the doorway. April… his heart skipped a beat, every single fragment in the room freezing into one single frame. He felt his knuckles tighten around his staff, mouth agape and in his poor handled panic, he turned around too quick to pay attention to his surroundings- and slammed his forehead directly into the wall, making everyone who witnessed it turn their heads. "Ouch! Uh…" His face went red, Donnie didn't know what to do. She doesn't know its me, should I tell her? Its safe to tell her now, right?! What do I have to hide? There's already an army of ninjas after me, so what do I have to lose? What should I say? Should I complement her hair? One liner, something like what's up? No that's stupid- you're taller than her you idiot! She's turning around, oh god, she's beautiful, oh god, I gotta move- wheredoIgowheredoIgowheredoIgo… think! JUST DO SOMETHING!

He made for the corner, ran around it as fast as he could until he stood once again, alone with no one to stare. Smooth, he thought, feeling like he just made the biggest mistake of his life and tried to control his breathing. I can't go back now! She probably already thinks I'm a freak! Raph was right… I have to tell her… or…

And it was one of these moments, where genuinely Donnie knew exactly when he just got a really bad, awful not-good idea. One that he was going to give a go, because at this point what else could go horribly wrong? So, Donnie as a result, found himself, simply waiting. By himself, stick in hand, mild panic attack. He stood in the corner, cleaned the same spot on the floor for five minutes are so, waiting for her to come around so he could apologize- wait, no what do I have to apologize for? For leaving? But we were protecting her, right? She must be so mad at us… at me… what if she hates me? Resents us for disappearing like that? I would be. God this relly is an awful idea. I should leave- no- yes. Oh dear…

"Hey, are you okay?"

"GaARGH!" Donnie nearly jumped into the ceiling. She was there, looking like herself- well maybe despite her short cuthair, but ultimately… there she was. After weeks and weeks of being gone, suddenly it was like all of that time didn't mean anything. Donnie was suddenly very aware of everything at once. But at the same time, he was if not completely convinced that he had also just become twenty IQ dumber than normally. "Oh, I-the-g-just-well-hu-g-s-ssup…?"

She looked non-understanding. Donnie was already mentally slapping himself.

"Yeah, so… I was just wondering if you could point me towards the nearest bathroom?"

"B-b-bathroom? Oh… yeah, of cause. Up the stairs, second floor to your right. I-I uh, can take you there? I mean only if you want to, I won't bother you if you'd rather go alone but you might get lost and well, that wouldn't bode too well for me either" he managed to stutter out, looking everywhere except at her face. But if he were to look, he would probably be able to see her staggering back confused. "Thanks, uh… "she leaned in, trying to read Donnie's name tag before his instincts thankfully kicked in just in time, and he managed to hide it behind his hand, panicking because that's when he finally looked at her face. Her slightly offended face, telling him that she hated him without a doubt, and he had to force himself to try to come up with something. The time ticked, tension arose, Donnie's lips trembled, when-

"Danly! What did I tell you! Take your stuff with you after you're done! Place is filthy enough as it is!" Tom like a saving grace, sauntered by angry and disgruntled. He nearly tossed a bucket's worth of mud onto Donnie's suit, if the former warrior didn't manage to catch it just in time. April was still there. Probably amused by his ridicule. Oh god, why is she still there. You blew it. You idiot. Why are you still trying?! She waited, arms folded behind her back patiently for him to introduce himself.

"Danly. Yeah, that's me" he gulped, never in a million years expecting the countless mispronounciations of his name to come in handy.

"April" she said, holding out her hand. Her hand. He took it slowly, for the first time feeling his human hand in hers, and it was like… fireworks went off inside his head. Losing all the tension build up in his knees, because he was shaking April O'Neil's hand in his, normal ten fingered and everything, and she was smiling like this was the first time they'd met.

"Nice to meet you"

"L-Likewise" Donnie muttered, feeling the air finally return to his lungs. The tour was still going on behind them but, neither really paid them any attention. Not even noticing the pin on the "fluid-sweeper" catching fire in the middle of Dave's presentation or the screams that followed as he frantically ran around for the fire extinguisher. "So… what brings you to OLS?"

"Nostalgia, I think. I'm leaving the city soon, but someone told me I should maybe stick around for a bit, so I guess, here I am!" she muttered, her arms going vertical in the air, and making Donnie flinch for a moment, thinking she'd use her powers on him or something. Her smile faded, eyes travelling to the different floorboards. "This is where my parents met, you know"

"Really? Kirby?"

Donnie didn't think before the words left his tongue, nearly biting it following the slip up.

"You're familiar with my dad?" she just asked, eyes glowing up in her face and Donnie could see himself stare back through her crystal blue eyes.

"O-o-only to some extent, I mean I've read some of his work, in the past. Can't remember, all a blur"

She nodded, her smile faltering a bit, "My mom was an intern, and my dad was testing out his neuro translator- thingy, I don't really remember the name, when it went awry and caught fire. My dad ran out into the hallway when they bumped into each other, and she tried to get it off, you know? It was love at first sight, or, at least, that's what my dad says"

Donnie was surprised… April had never shared anything like that with the turtles. Least of all with him. She mostly kept to herself, focusing solely on the present and what really mattered, not letting her personal history get in the way of anything. Staying true to her objective and always shoving her own emotions aside when it was the hardest thing to do. It was always something Donnie had admired immensely about April, though he rarely had the courage to admit it and flat out tell her. But yet here she was, opening herself up to Danly… a stranger. So, why couldn't she do the same with Donnie?

"Huh. I guess this place is more romantic than I thought. Who would've guessed" he mumbled, thinking back to the mild fire hazerd going on in Dave's lab. It was scary how easy it was, imagining Kirby running around with a burning neuro-amplifier on his head. Though he guessed that was to be expected from a disaster lab like this one. Didn't exactly pick it based on the efficiency it provided, as much as the subtlety… perhaps a little bit too, because Donnie remembered Kirby mentioning it shortly before the invasion.

"This is going to sound really weird but, you sound a little bit like someone I know- or, knew. Its weird, like I said, I feel like I keep running into strangers who remind me of my friends these days" April said, and at this Donnie instantly turned around, red in the face. Maybe she does know… maybe she can tell. Is she just waiting for me to actully say it?

"Yeah, I get that a lot hehe"

They stopped, reaching the stairs and for a moment they both seemed to forget where they were even going but alas, she continued; "I don't really see them anymore, guess that's why I'm reminiscing. Sorry"

"Don't be! You got nothing to apologize for" he burst out, voice squeaking and possibly a little too louder than he meant it to be. He subconsciously started scratching the back of his head, eyes darting down at his dirty shoes as every single cell in his body tried to stop him from what he was about to ask next, "So, uh… have you… ever had a… boyfriend?"

April responded almost immediately, nervous chuckling and her brows producing a slight wrinkle in between as she tried to catch her breath, "No, no, I mean… yeah I guess there was one guy, but he's long gone. And he wasn't really my boyfriend, more of a… helper-guy. Yeah. We just, wasn't made for each other. And honestly, I think I'm better off too- me with him? What kind of future would that be?"

Glass…

that's, probably the best way to describe the feeling digging itself into Donnie's chest at the bottom of that staircase, clutching the mop as if he held on for dear life. Like the room just darkened for forty-five minutes, leaving Donnie confused aback, trying to find his footing. Helper-guy, she said… That word it just seemed to stay in his subconcious long after she said it. He couldn't quite make it go away… but instead of lingering, Donnie tried instead to move his thoughts aside in favor of that softer feeling he felt just seconds ago. Maybe… maybe she was talking about someone else, he tried reassuring himself with, but a part, the more raitonal part of him still knew that the problem was, chance of that being the case only came from wishful thinking.

"Where's this guy now, do you think?" he asked, voice like a wobbly unstable line, but he was curious all the same.

April shrugged. "No idea. Far away as possible, I'd imagen. I think I stopped going after people like that a long time ago. "

This hurt more than Donnie thought the human heart was capable of hurting.

"I'm sorry…"
"For what? I'm fine! Really, some people you just gotta let go. Best way to move on, wouldn't you agree?"

And then a thought circulated in his mind, one he couldn't believe he hadn't even considered before this moment, "…d-did you even look?"

"Huh?"

He blinked, as if trying to wake from a bad dream until he reminded himself that he wasn't supposed to know her. That he wasn't Donnie right now, he was just a janitor helping a student find her way in the lab. Nothing else. Nothing that happened before or after mattered right now. He couldn't let his fears get the better of him. Not in front of her.

"I mean… for the bathroom. I mean, there's lots around here. I'm surprised you hadn't found one… already" he said, by sheer miracle managing a smile.

"What can I say- big building"

"Ye-yeah…"

"Well, thanks for the help, Darnly. I'll make sure not to get lost on the way back, this place is a labyrinth"

And with that, she vanished behind the corner. Out of the room, probably out of his life.

As for Donnie, following the most likely ten minutes of not having moved an inch, he rushed back to the storage room with a speed probably near that of a lightning rod. Shoving the equipment aside, locking the door and clearing the table, Donnie knew what he had to do now. Sparring the clock one more look before he scraped up the remaining pieces of his heart, burrying them, before he did what he did best.

He got to work.

"Oh, I'm never doing that again"

Raph stood leaned against the wall, head beneath his shoulders and feeling the green return to his face.
"You know, for a fearless ninja warrior who's defeated the shredder himself, you're surprisingly fragile" Casey taunted, putting the bike away and waiting patiently for his friend to finish gagging. Maybe he hasn't changed, smug prick...

"Whatever. What did you want to show me?" Raph asked, looking around the area.

They found themselves on a street where the most notable thing was that the buildings were close to crumpling. Planks were up in front of several windows and the people walking by were usually not in a hurry and few in between, unlike in central. Raph couldn't remember having been here before, which was odd because it seemed exactly like the sort of neighborhood he could get by, not having to adjust to the crowd in the same way a more populated area demanded. Casey led them down by the road, through a couple of alleys until finally they found themselves by the more smaller parts of the area. One house in particular stood out, from all the others, in the way that it was probably the only one with a warning sign in front, daring intruders to "come get me if you try cowards" followed by a poorly doodled skull in the corner. Gee, wonder who wrote that.

As they neared the front door it dawned on Raph that he was about to see where Casey Jones lived. Now he understood why he'd never been here before. Actually, why haven't I been here before? With Casey coming in and out of their home all the freaking time, it was strange that none of them would've visited at least once. Of cause not in person, granted, but at least gaining some idea of where their friend held residence. But no. Casey had kept it as quiet as. well… everything else going on in his life. Not that he refused to talk about it, necessarily, more that no one ever really asked, and Casey wasn't the most considered person in the world. It had just become this mutual agreement between the two. That if it wasn't important, it didn't need to be brought on the table. Well, his own ego aside...

Casey knocked once, before he realized that the door wasn't locked and so he went inside anyway. Raph felt… odd. He was a guest now. He'd never been a guest. How did he know how to behave? Would he have to meet Casey's parents? Finally seeing where this nutjob came from? What gives?

"What, you scared of the interior or what?" Casey called, as Raph stood sceptic in the hallway. When he got inside, he realized that the inside was just as stand still as the outside. With dark wooden walls, and a low to the ground ceiling it was funny to see Casey having to crunch a little down to get through the opening. There wasn't a lot of decorating around, picture frames hanging crookedly of shapes and colors that the so-called artists called "expression", but Raph never understood what all the fuss was about, nor did he have any plans to. There was a dusty carpet on the floor, leading into a small kitchen mostly plagued by dishware that piled up in the sink. Lights were hung up in various places around the corners, as if someone desperately had tried to salvage the mess with something a little more friendly to the eye. Or maybe they just couldn't afford a proper lamp, given the only one Raph could find was the one hanging bulp-less in the ceiling over the nightstand, that he wondered if it was supposed to be their dinner table.

Not taking his shoes off, figuring this shouldn't take long, he followed Casey through the door, into the living room where-

"Stop"

Raph looked down, noticing the yellow line taped to the floor in front of him, separating the kitchen from the rest of the room. And right there, on the other side of it, stood a girl holding her hand up. She looked like she was about ten, only half the height of Casey, who already overstepped his boundaries apparently, going to the kitchen to rummage through the cabinets. Her hair was dark, matching that of his friend, pulled down over her shoulders in somewhat manageable order. Her eyes were blue, freckles on the side of her cheeks, and both hands covered in yellow washing gloves obviously too big for her, and an overgrown T-shirt and sweatpants. That's when Raph had a second realization of the day… Didn't Casey once mention something about a sister?

"You are now below the entering line. If you want to enter the safe zone, say the password and I might let you in or destroy you, stranger. It's not personal, just normal procedure" she said, matter of factly. Now all of a sudden Raph didn't feel like the alien anymore.

"Come on, Lizzie we're having guests over" Casey argued, coming out of the kitchen with a bag of chips under his arm.
"That goes for you too, Arnold"

Raph nearly snorted at this, "Arnold?"

"Shut your pie whole, Raph"

"Who's your friend?" she asked, face blank but perhaps a little bit intrigued all the same. Something told Raph that it was probably a rare occurrence for his friend to bring home visitors, at least going by how the girl starred blankly up at him. He clasped him on the shoulder, proudly placing himself in between the two hand on each, "Lizzie, meet Raph. Raph, Lizzie. My little sister" he said, to which Raph held out his hand. So far none of them had as much as smiled during this greeting, sharing the same strict glare meaning either tread lightly or I don't care you are or (the most likely one) both at once.

"I only shake hands with pacifists" she just said, shrugging before turning back to her dishes, and honestly Raph didn't know how to react. So far she seemed nothing like her brother and it made him think, were all kids like this?

"Where's dad?" Casey asked, eyeing an empty chair next to the TV.

"Out. I think he went for a smoke" Lizzie said, not turning around from the plate she was now viciously scrubbing with a soaked cloth. He noticed her left leg, dragging a bit as she walked, but choose not to ask.

"When?"

She paused, water still running in the tap. "Three hours ago…"

"Figures" Casey just said, and Raph could see the frown on his friend, shaking it off for a moment and gesturing for him to follow upstairs. "Be down in a second-

"Have you been drinking?"

Casey froze, seemingly forgetting the fact that he'd spilled beer all over his shirt, leaving it stained and very much not obvious to the blind eye. But you didn't need to see it, to smell it either, and all Raph could think at that moment was the fact that Casey just got busted by a ten year old.

"Whaaaaat? No! What would make you think that?"

Lizzie let out a gasp, turning around both hands on her side,

"Arnold Benrid Casey"

"Elizabeth Felicia Gerda"

Why am I here again…?

"You're a bad liar!" she yelled, as Casey dragged Raph through the door.

"I love you too!"
"You owe me a dollar!"

"I'll pay you back when you're legal!" he called out, closing the door behind them. He didn't say much, his expressions giving all the signs of not a word just with his eyes. Raph on the other hand, couldn't help but smile a bit, seeing this new side of him brought to life for the first time in the two years they'd known each other.

"Arnold Benrid?"

"Put a sock in it, Raph" he muttered, climbing over the bed and continuing on out the window. Raph spared the place a quick glance, though there wasn't much to spectacle. That is to say, not much he wouldn't have expected there to be in Casey Jones' bedroom. Posters of cheesy rock bands hanging badly placed on the walls, a broken plastic guitar in the corner, dark curtains, comic books stacked in the corner, and old cans lying everywhere that wasn't a table. The only thing missing, was an old hockey mask and hockey sticks, a pair of ice-skates and spray cans, but Raph figured Casey most likely hid them somewhere less conspicuous. After all, didn't seem like he'd went around telling his sister about his other activities without thinking twice, thinking if he did, she'd probably already know who he was. Or well, then again maybe not. Raph wouldn't put it passed his friend to tell stories about the group of mutants living underneath the sewers of New York City underground, but not the stranger disrespecting the "line".

They went outside, finding a small ladder wedged onto the side of the roof, and Casey reached out a hand for Raph to grab onto. When they made it onto the roof, the surprising thing was that the view reached even further beyond his backyard than most of the view down the docks could ever dream of. New York was almost even bigger from up there than when sprinting across the building tops, enemies at your heels.

"I can't believe I've never been here before"

Casey shrugged, offering him the bag, "Well, it's not much. I bet the sewers look pretty sweet to you right now, huh?"

"What are you kidding? And here I thought you lived in some scrapyeard, but this- this is great. " Raph muttered, really meaning it. This was not at all how he would've imagined his best friend's home to look like, and though it wasn't much, he still felt the change of pace from the lair. (Or maybe he was just thankful to no longer be on that monstrosity of a bike.)

"Not the word I'd use…" he muttered, a shadow over Casey's face.

"How old is she?" Raph tried to change the subject, aware of the fact that he probably had a lot of his mind too, getting used to his partner in crime now being a walking in-flesh person with extraordinary ease.
"Eleven. Easy to forget sometimes. She's smarter than both my dad and I put together" he said, and despite only having known of her existence for all but two minutes, Raph couldn't help but agree.
"Why did you bring me here?"

Casey took a deep breath, and there was that feeling in the air where you realized the jokes were over now, inviting Raph to listen up and pay attention. Pay attention to Casey Jones nonetheless.

"Three months ago, when I came looking for you, I wasn't alone. Those bug-faced freaks followed me when I got home that day, scared out of my mind. Dad was knocked out on the couch, but it was so dark I just assumed he was wasted and went into the living room, just minding my own business, you know? I go up to say goodnight to Lizzie, but she's not there. I hear something moving underneath her bed, I go to check, but when I do someone grabs me from behind and well, that's how it started…"

Raph felt his grib tighten around the ledge, gritting his teeth.

"Luckily, I was still in my hardcore battle gear, so I flick my mask over my face and start swinging...

I turn around, get about five seconds before this sharp burning pain comes from out of nowhere and hits me in the side. But I could handle it. Not at all nearly passed out or something…." he chuckled, hands twitchy. "Of cause, like the total badass I am, I manage to tackle the first guy to the ground and wouldn't you know it, it's a bug party because they're all wearing those freaky glowing bulbs with those freakishly big eye masks- whatever they are.

I thought I had them. You know for the guy who took down a giant tiger with an ice-blaster this should be no big deal right? Wrong. I only get one hit on this weird mask-wearing dude before they got me pinned. There I am, ugly bug-faced freaks in my home, my hockey stick as good as gone, and then I see Lizzie lying underneath the bed. She was wise enough to hold her breath tho, I don't think they even noticed she was there before the beating"

Raph's heart sank, "Beating?"

Casey, side, slowly pulling up his shirt, revealing what nearly made Raph dig his nails into his hand, a big purple wound, gauching into his skin. Lines were zigzagging around it, turning into red lines and a big cut scar badly sewn over the middle, not hiding the blue-ish purple-ish hue. Raph was unable to look away, until Casey aknowledging the grimness, finally pulled it down again and continued.

"I tried to call dad, but he's out cold. I don't think he even noticed anyone coming in- but it's a little hard taking his word for it these days. They start hitting on me, one after another. Broke my nose, my rib, nearly my leg too if it wasn't for Lizzie. They took off my mask, grabbed me by the hair, which would've probably been the most metal thing to ever happen to me, aside from surviving falling off a skyscraber… but that's when Lizzie came out of hiding. You notice her walking funny? "

A chill went down Raph's spine.

"Long story short, freak number one tells me to stay out of their 'business' or whatever or they'd come after us and finish the job..." he finished, regaining some of his usual aloof self, despite his story, and turning to look his friend in the eyes, now bagged and darker.

"It's not like I didn't try to look for you, Raph. I did. For weeks I did. I checked TCRI, I checked every corner of every tunnel in the underground, I even checked up with April, who wouldn't return my texts, but everyone was just… gone. So, I get that you've been through a lot. And I'm here for, whatever I can do to help you guys out, but as much as I'd love to give those suckers what's comin' to them, I'm not gonna risk my little sister getting hurt again. You understand that right?"

Raph didn't know what to say… for the first time in his life, Casey for the first time making him lost for words. All this time he'd spend feeling sorry for himself under a bridge while this was going on… he felt terrible. Worse than terrible, he should've done something. His father should've done something, how could a parent be that irresponsible? How could he not have known… hell this wasn't exactly something you'd keep behind closed doors. Casey even told him about his family during the invasion, though it was only now that he felt the same feeling he'd felt after nearly loosing Leo. And he'd done nothing to stop it. None of them had, leaving Casey alone by himself, how could they've been so naïve to think their enemies wouldn't still go after them? If anything, their little scheme had invited the bastards directly into Casey's home, courtecy of their little plan, proving oncem ore to have been a terrible idea.

There was a silence, one of those silences between friends where, you don't really need to say anything to understand. Raph patted him on the back, trying to figure out the words, avoiding anything but a sentimental I'm sorry to let his friend know that he meant it. Until finally he came up with the annual, "Well, what do you know, guess the legendary Casey Jones really do have a heart. Or should I say, Arnold Jones? "

Succesfully breaking the tension as his friend returned the favor, "Coming from the guy who can't even ride a bike"

"Who needs a bike when you got a battle cruiser, genius?" and as he said this, Raph remembered how much he missed the Shellraizer, wondering if the AF had napped that too from right under their noses. He certainly wouldn't put it passed them.

Suddenly, Lizzie's head snuck out from the open window, "Arnold! Dad's home!"

They both sighed, Raph hoisting himself to his feet and narrowly balancing himself to the other side of the roof, "Welp, looks like it's go time" he muttered, before promptly vanishing out of sight.

Mikey wasn't a very… inconspicuous person, to say the least. Whether it be running around in a trench coat, or take his nun chucks to school, there was no doubt that Mikey rarely thought things through when it came to it. He always just kinda, went for it. He went for it when he asked Mrs. Robertson if he could stay at her place in August. He 'went' for it when he figured out that it was possible to go to the zoo in broad day light, or when he was told that taking samples at the local shopping mall wasn't considered "stealing".

But then came the end of the school day.

He just got off the bus and started pacing down towards the empty park, as Mikey made his way jumping each hollow distance between the various buildings in his path. It was rainy these days, so Mikey just had to follow the hollow umbrella below in the crowd of several, trying not to lose track or maybe hoping that he eventually did. He'd been on patrol for the past few days, trying to keep track of any AF activity surrounding the area closest to the lair, but with not much to show for it.
Mikey was bored. He knew getting abducted by bad guys with Halloween masks on and electrified, probably wasn't most people's definition of "boredom", but he just couldn't help it. He missed school, he missed the bullies, the faulty water fountains, the getting shoved into lockers, even detention was a thrill to Mikey, and he relished every minute of it, because he'd spend it with Simon. He missed his fights with Miss Robertson, the silent conversations with Tyler, (totally not one-sided). Sure, he was ECSTATIC to be his old butt kicking ninja self again for sure, at least to some extent, well he was still human after all. So, why not enjoy it for as long as it lasted, he figured? Until they'd eventually fight the bad guys off and save the day like they always did, these moments being all he'd probably have left as human. And it… terrified him, to be honest. Being isolated again, being a mutant again, someone people had a harder time realizing how amazing he could really be. Because make no mistake, Mikey knew he was awesome, it was just the rest of the world that begged to differ. Sometimes his brother's as well, which, coincidentally became yet another reason he feared what they'd say if he screwed this one up. Sure, Mikey missed the regular life just as much as he missed the wacky, totally bonkers upside-down world that he'd passioned himself in living to the max, but… what if he was just not good at it anymore? And even worse… would it be too late to tell Simon the truth?

So, all in all, Mikey wasn't super at the top of his game today. He hadn't been for long and he wasn't exactly sure today would be the day his confidence could safe him either- contrary to all the other days where well… he didn't have any. Every noon that came by, he continually tried and failed to forget about that one particular street corner where his friend would always step off after school. He'd forget to not forget that he had to forget about him, and leave him out of his problems, but… this was the day, Mikey told himself… the day he gets to know the real me. The truth. He'd been avoiding it for so long, but if the others found out, he would never not hear the end of it. He didn't just feel like he owed Simon the truth after everything they'd been through, but he needed for him to realize, that once he chanced back, he'd still be the same Mikey he'd always been. How else to make him see that, if it didn't come from him first?

Mikey took a breath, playing to his spontaneousness as Simon went around the corner towards the park. He followed, tip-toing down to the concrete, where he felt every nerve in his body begin to tighten as if the purple mutagen in his veins simply refused to do this. Calm down, purp pals blood cell- something's whatever Donnie called you… Ninja senses don't fail me now. He won't be mad. He won't be mad… right? Mikey gulped, as Simon passed the central park and continued down the pathway that would lead him to one of the benches where he opened a small book he carried, though Mikey didn't know what it was about. He hid himself behind one of the decorative trees lined up on the pathway where people passed through on the regular, just a few feet away from possibly ruining everything. He wished he could ask Leo what to do. He'd probably know, giving Mikey that old fashioned leader spiel about how to talk to people. Or maybe he'd just go full-blown captain Ryan on him, leaving Mikey to do the usual, uh-huh, yeah, go on, while actually not listening in truth. He missed those two. The lair most of all. It was funny to him how him going back there, had indirectly led to him reuniting with his brothers again, while also pulling him away from Simon. But this was his mess to clean up, and he wasn't going to give up on them that easily.

He took one step, then two back, then two more forward, going through all the possible scenarios in his head, in the end causing him to go back to the tree, hands on his head coming up with any possible excuse not to go through with this. But he was right there! It was now or never! But what if… what if he won't understand? What if he'll never want to see me again? He probably won't believe me either, Leo didn't. If I can't even convince him, how am I supposed to get through to Simon? He'll never want to see me again when I'm myself again, that's for sure… maybe it was best to leave it for now. Wait, despite the pit in his stomach. Wait for when the danger was passed and then he could apologize properly, instead of first having to explain why Mikey had decided to basically pull a Donnie on him,every day since last week by following him around instead of simply just talking to him… What was I thinking? It's late too… I should probably get back before-

SQUEEK

"Argh! Not the face!" Mikey yelled out, almost immediately going into combat mode. Then he looked down and saw that, well, he'd stepped on a chew toy. Left by a black furred dog about twenty times smaller than himself. Ups, false alarm. He let out a sigh of relief, packing away his nunchucks, when he turned his head and saw Simon starring back at him eyes wide. He dropped his book, took off his glasses for a moment and let out a shivery breath culminating in

"M-Mikey?"

Mikey let out a growl, pointed his finger directly at the dog's snout, "This is all your fault Sparky" he whispered, vowing revenge one day, as the old lady offendedly pulled at the leash.

Well, guess it's too late now.

"Surprise! " he held out his hands and shook 'em too long to fill the awkward pause. Simon was still comprehending. "Just fyi, I was not stalking you! No! Just doing some-w-wood work, yeah, that's my new hobby now, checking on the trees, yeah nature! LOVE it. My pals, yeah, yeah, very normal. For the record might I say that's a mighty fine jacket you got there, hehehe…he… also, THANKS A LOT DOG! TRYING TO HAVE A MOMENT HERE THANK YOU VERY MUCH! JUST HAD TO RUIN IT, DIDN'T YOU!? Man… some people these days. Just doesn't know how to keep their stuff together. And I don't trust that lady either-woa-

Simon threw his arms around Mikey, hugging him tightly. Mikey in response, unable to move his arms, patted his friend on the back, the half-fake laughter in his throat slowly driveling out, "Hi, Simon…"

He let go, for a second making it seem like he was going in for another when, when instead, he grabbed the cover of his book and promptly smacked it over his head, Mikey not dodging the blow. "Where in the heck have you been?! Have you any idea how worried I've been!? You've been gone all week! What happened to you?!" he yelled, too many emotions running over his face for one person to count, but the most prominent at the moment being hot fueled anger. Though not the one Mikey had pictured in his head. This one was, admittedly deserved.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to leave like that. Wasn't a cool thing to do"

"You think?!" he yelled, pacing around blistering for a moment until he could manage a solid breath, collecting himself, "Jesus Mikey… you look… actually pretty well"

"Yeah, it's a choice"

Mikey figured that if he just pretended like nothing happened, maybe he could get back on Simon's good side. He should've figured that his friend wouldn't relent so easily.

"There's been police around your house, you know. They thought you- that you… died. I nearly damn believed them too! Been scarred out of their mind, calling everyone. My parents have been phoned, Mrs. Robertson's a mess and now you're just… okay?"

Mikey sighed, eyes darting to the ground as rain started pouring, "…no. Not really. I mean- a lot of good's happened for sure! And I wanna tell you bout it, trust me- it's just hard to explain"

"Try me. Mikey I nearly thought you were gone for good there for a moment"

"Please! It's me! Ninja fighting warrior, remember? There's nothing that can stop me, you know that, Si! Come on" he argued, but it only served to make him feel more fragile. Mikey saw the pain on Simon's face and once again felt that before-spoken pit growing to double the size, his eyes alone, almost enough to make him wish he'd never ran away in the first place.

"So, you weren't kidnapped? No one hurt you? You didn't get lost somewhere, something like that?"

"Well… not exactly like that but-

"Mikey!"

"What?! I said I'm fine, and I am. Anyway, it's over now, so I have to tell you something-

"We weren't the only ones looking for you either." Simon said, and for a moment Mikey feared the worst had happened, and yet, that wasn't what he was referring to. "Your brothers came by too."

Mikey couldn't believe what he was hearing. Well, he could it was rather more like he didn't know how that was even possible. "They… they did? You sure?"

He nodded slowly, clearly not having made the greatest impression, Mikey figured, and ready to demand some answers when he got back to the bridge. Why wouldn't they tell him they'd talked to Simon? What had they talked about? Did they talk about me? What did he say? Oh god, its juts like in my comic…

"Yeah, nearly pulled Nick Mosby's hair out too. They're too scared to talk about it, figures… They're still jackasses, but they don't pick on me anyone. I'm guessing that's thanks to them"

"Yeah, Raph's like that hehe… " Mikey chuckled, not having a hard time imagining his big brother throwing those jerks halfway across the schoolyard. Awesome. The thought lingered if only for a moment however, as attention was turned back to the fact that it had been a solid two minutes now and Mikey still hadn't explained himself.

"How long have you known about them?" Simon asked as Mikey felt the heaviness of trying to be honest with his friend gulp in his throat.

"It's complicated…"

"Complicated how?! I'm just worried about you. Ever since we went to see 'Wasteland Warriors' you've been acting like someone's after you or something. Is that why…?"

As you could imagine, it took Mikey a moment to figure what he'd meant, panicking once he realized, though in the grand scheme of things it wasn't very hard to figure why he'd think that. The brothers hadn't exactly been know to be very discreet about their lifestyle. Half the population of New York who'd even seen them probably thought they were lunatics by now.
"No! No, no, no it's not like that!"

"Then what is it? What, are you scared to go back to Mrs. Robertson or something…? Wait a minute- " Simon's eyes suddenly lit up in realization. "What are we standing around here for? Let's go to her! Right now, come on-

Simon grabbed Mikey's wrist and started dragging, but not surprisingly, he managed to free himself with relative ease. "I can't! You don't understand it's dangerous for me to be around you, okay?" he said, Simon not understanding.

The last thing Mikey wanted was to see the Robertson's- especially after what he'd said to Mrs. Robertson before he ran away… even if he could go back, who was to say they'd even take him? They weren't his family, not like his true one, who'd risked their neck tracking him down. What place did he have in their home now?

"Mikey, this is serious"
"I am being serious! Why doesn't anyone else take me seriously these days, I'm just trying to tell you the truth!"

Simon sighed, and Mikey realized he might've gotten a little carried away, instantly regretting raising his voice.
"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry, I've just… I was worried"

"Yeah, me too" he muttered, and genuinely meaning it. It's now or never, he thought clinging to the handle of his weapons as if they'd somehow shield him from whatever consequences would spur from what he was about to do next. "Simon, the truth is… "

"Yeah?"

Now or never.

"The thing about me and my brothers is…"

"What?" he asked, taking a step closer. Mikey's breathing accelerated.

Now… or never…

"We… "

Now… or… Mikey gulped. Simon was no longer mad at him, heck he'd even sparred him enough of his patience to stick around. The way he looked at him… he didn't want Simon to look at him any differently. And maybe… maybe he wouldn't have to."… we… we're nerds."

"Wait- What?"

Mikey nodded, assuring though at the same time it felt like he'd just send a bomb into the center of his mind and left it to go off without blinking. "Like… major nerds. Gets a little too intense sometime, so that's when I forget how to be honest with you. About real life stuff, normal people things and you know… And the truth is that soon, I won't be around anymore… I have to transfer with my brothers to another school, so I was too afraid that if I stayed, I might've not been able to tell you why I was leaving. And that's why I ran away, I guess because… I don't want to lose you, Si"

"Wait, you don't wanna lose you? Or did you mean-

-I just meant that I don't wanna lose you, as in-

"Me, ah yeah that's what I thought just wanted to…

"Clarify?" Simon laughed. He always finished Mikey's sentences when he'd forgotten the right words. At least that hadn't changed.

"Yeah" he muttered, and they both laughed. In the rain, just the two of them most likely about to get a major fever incoming from standing outside so long arguing. I'm such a dirtklod… But, while Mikey hated himself for holding back the truth, once again, failing to be honest and risking the safety of the people he cared about, Mikey was too happy to have his friend back that he didn't pay it any mind. He scratched the back of his hair, feeling it as 'nervous habit number twenty-five' made him pull apart the strands and null them over each other awkwardly.

"I'm sorry I lied to you"

"I'm sorry for hitting you over the head with Jane Austin."

"Eh, I'm used to it" he shrugged, as Simon lifted his umbrella over Mikey's head rain drumming over them. He smiled, that usual self-assured smile of his and gestured back towards the city. "So, you're gonna tell me what's going on, on the way or…?" he asked, to which Mikey excitedly felt the adrenaline kick back into his system. Or maybe that was just the snicker bar he'd stuffed in his jacket on the way there."Yeah, it's a funny story actually-

"If it's the one with the crocodile in the sewer, then I think I'll pass"
"It's an alligator, and no not that one. This one was way more awesomnastic" he said, emphasis on the awesome.
"Sure buddy, whatever you say." Simon chuckled.

Good to have you back, Mikey…"

"You want me to what?!"

The call came at 3 pm, an hour after the detective was supposed to come home, granted Leo had gotten all too used to being left alone these last couple of days to find it out of the ordinary. It was pouring outside, the rain drumming away at the sidewalk and Leo had made sure to keep all curtains rolled up, so that the officer in the black police car down by the sidewalk would have a good view.

This was the routine now, Leo starting to feel more and more like a damsel in distress, but fact remained that he didn't want to share a prison cell more than he wanted to get outside. So, when his phone rang, it wasn't so much that he was surprised that the cop would be late again or just, not bothering to leave his office at all for another week. Moreover, that this time Leo got a call in the first place, detailing why- making him slightly sceptic to pick up the phone at all. Eleven people had been killed so far or vanished in total, all over New York City, the police doing everything they could to cover it up. And as time went on, the more Leo couldn't help but wonder if any of it had anything to do with Karai as well. What if something had happened to her, and that's why she hadn't come back? Was she in danger? If so, what could Leo do? Other than sitting around twiddling his thumbs, anxiously waiting for news all day that never came. But then, the phone rang, Hopkins' voice sounding on the other end- And this is where it got tricky.

"I thought you'd be thrilled. You've practically mastered the art of defying my orders already. What? If I tell you to stay inside, would you do it then?"

Leo was starring at the set of katanas tossed onto the table, phone in hand and still not quite comprehending what the detective was asking of him.

"But I don't understand, you said they were fake! Isn't that why you didn't take them to the station? What made you change your mind?"
"Somethin' tells me you're not honestly that slow, Leo. The blades are real, alright- I know that now. Question is: where the heck did they come from and from who? That's where you come in"

Leo grabbed one end of the blades, unsheathing them from the holster and running his hands over the metal carefully, to the point whereas he did, it slowly started to make him wonder how- if Hopkins turned out to be right, he could've been so oblivious to them all this time. Housing a clue as essential as these for so long without bothering to even use them. It wasn't his style, like… at all. No, Hopkins had chosen to keep them to himself. He must've. Of cause if he, (like Leo had), initially just thought them to be nothing but toys, an excuse that the more he thought about it, started to sound like his mind had simply refused to acknowledge them to belong to him in the first place, then it didn't make sense why Hopkins would hide them. Not even Leo had believed them to be real at all, if it weren't for every nerve in his body telling him otherwise. If it weren't for that odd little sensation that struck him every time he held them in his hands, telling him that's exactly where they belonged… And then Leo had another thought, clinging to the comfort of speaking over the phone and not face to face where the detective's death-stare would most likely render him done for;

"Wait a minute… is that why you didn't bring them to the station? It is, isn't it? To be one step ahead in the investigation. They don't even know you have them, do they?"

"You've gotta be kidding me- People are being killed out there! This isn't about saving my job… anymore. Look- I was wrong to keep you in the dark, okay? But I'm really onto something here, and that's why in case I don't come back, I need you to fill in the blanks. And you can't do that from an apartment window. I- oh I'm definitely going to regret this- but… I need your help"

Leo couldn't believe that those words just came out of Hopkins' mouth, making him pull up into an unapologetic smirk.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I heard that? Can you say that again? You need my what?"

" Leo "

"Okay, okay…" he muttered, walking over to the window where he placed himself to stand just out of sight, getting a good look at the streets below. It was a miracle Hopkins hadn't noticed the broken window yet, or the disabled security cameras, though in comparison to the rest of the apartment, he supposed it made sense why that would be a miniscule thing around here.

"Where do I need to go?"

"There's a guy, somewhere down near Chinatown. Murakami, something? I already left you the address on the fridge-

Leo was already in the kitchen, picking out the yellow sticky-note sketched out over the calendar. He held it up into the light just to make sure it was the right one, but sure enough there it was. "24/7", Satoru Murakami-san.

"Got it."

"Okay, now you see that guy down in the black Ford? Names Bill- he used to work in my division, not very bright. They probably only gave him the job because he was too busy flirting with his boss when the others weren't looking. Should be easy enough to get passed him"

"You're actually ordering me to break out of here to go scope out some clues? Won't your superiors notice?" Leo asked, sneaking a peak down at the blonde officer, looking to be somewhere in his twenties. Of course, they'd put one of their rookies on babysitting duty…
"It's my job to worry about them, it's your job to do what I tell you."

Leo was still struggling to comprehend what the stoic detective was asking of him, and with good reason of course. Always off in his obvious way of avoiding Leo at all costs, hiding information even now, but there was something off. He wasn't sure what the detective wasn't telling him, since that was really just his usual way of being him, but this time it felt important. Why else would he ask Leo for help all of sudden? Especially when so much evidence pointed against Hopkins having been right all along about him. If anything, shouldn't he be more than happy to leave the young newbie down in the ford, right now in middle of scratching his elbow in his custody? Why risk his job all of a sudden? His badge? Everything he's worked for?

"Did something happen? Why can't you just go?"

"Well as much as I'd love to take you up on that offer myself, I've got my hands full already, and besides, you don't have anything better to do right? You wanted to help solve this case: here's your chance"

Leo paused, well aware that he probably wouldn't get much out of asking him, though that didn't exactly stop him from trying.

"There's something you're not telling me"

The detective's voice softened, as if caught in a momentary lapse of emotional detachment.

"It's like I told you, Leo. I got your back. And I'm planning to keep my word on that, but you gotta just- can't you just trust me on this one? I'm getting closer here- I can feel it. But you and I both know we need all the help we can get here"

Leo sighed, clutching the note in his hands, more than a little tempted to simply rip the thing in half and hang up the phone. Go back to convincing himself that whatever was going on out there, wasn't worth getting shot at because Hopkins was lagging in efficiency. Because that was an option too, he reminded himself. He could stay… could keep waiting for people to give him the answers instead of bringing anyone else in danger like last time, to get out of his own head for once and be responsible. Because Leo was not an idiot- well, some might argue, but that's not what's important. He knew that sooner or later the NYCPD would most likely come for him anyway to take him into custody, and by then it would probably be too late to do anything worthwhile. He recognized that every murder began the moment anyone mentioned the name Hamato Yoshi. And that there had to be a very good explanation as to why he was carrying samurai weapons on him, why he could do things that made no sense whatsoever, almost like he didn't even have to think about it. That the same features that always seemed so unrecognizable on Leo in the mirror, was somehow linked to those three kids and a legacy that all signs pointed towards him belonging to.

He was a part of this. Long before, he met the detective. Long before he'd even woken up in the hospital. And while he'd always wished that he was not unlike any other confused teenager, with friends and a family somewhere waiting for him, it was slowly starting to dawn on him that that reality was far from the truth. Well, maybe not too far…. He once again, was reminded of the PD fighting lunatics breaking into the apartment, and it made him start to think… reconsider…

"Okay. Fine. I'll go…"

"You know what to do-"

"Hopkins! " Leo began, for a second thinking he'd already hung up on him.

"What is it?"

I must be losing my mind here… Leo held up the katana one more time, feeling the weight of it in his hands while he looked over at the open file still on the table and making him wonder,

"Did… did Hamato Yoshi have any sons?" he asked, carefully reevaluating his sanity as he heard the words escape his mouth.

"Why the hell are you asking that all of a sudden?"
"Just a thought…" he muttered, tying his shoes and strapping the blades over his back. The detective seemed to have to think on it for a moment before replying back.
"Well, sorry to disappoint ya, but according to records, he only had a daughter."

Then, without warning, something in Leo's mind clicked.

"Karai"

Leo slapped his hand over his mouth so quickly that the reflex alone could potentially start a fire, as if that would somehow erase what he just said out loud. Luckily, it didn't seem like the answer the detective was looking for. Unfortunately, neither was it what Leo was hoping to hear…

"What? No. Her name was Hamato Miwa. "

Okay, so not the same person… but they look so much alike! And even the age matches the time of the fire. It had to be her… right?

"And there wasn't anyone else? No, I dunno, distant relatives? Cousins? Anyone else?"

"It's like the file I showed you already. None made it out alive in that fire. Well, at least that's what Saki told locals, so that's all we really have to go on"

Suddenly, it was like a needle just pierced through the side of Leo's brain. A flash of white filled his vision for a couple of seconds, in his head as real as the air he breathed, quickly followed by something moving behind him. Dark, lurking… dangerous. He turned around, the sound of blades slicing across his back almost making him scream without screaming as lightning nearly made him tumble over, a scenery of snow and enemies surrounding him, until all of a sudden…

he was back in the apartment. Completely unscathed. Like it was all in his head. Like a memory of some sort… and not a very pleasant one at that. Leo leaned over the dinner table, the phone somehow having ended up on the other side. Saki… Oroku Saki… why do I know that name?

"Leo? Leo, you good?"

Remembering Hopkins still on the call, Leo fumbled to quickly pick up the phone again, almost panting, but ultimately okay.

"Yeah, yeah sorry" he muttered, as Hopkins collected himself eager to get going.

"We'll talk about this when I get back, alright?"

"Got it."

"And eh… be careful"

Leo couldn't help but chuckle at this, given his track record this past week had been anything but careful. Hearing the geezer's genuine concern however, he held back from stating the obvious.

"As always"

Three months ago, Donnie found himself alone, waiting… the only roof over his head being an almost done-for water tower and blankets.

But he wasn't lonely pr. say… not really and if you really think about it- perhaps that's where it all went downhill.

One could say that this was because Donnie, at this point, already held the firm belief that he'd undoubtably find his family before the week was over, but Donnie had always been good at adapting, at least he'd certainly thought so. He prided himself on it in fact, managing his emotions and being able to let himself get lost in his research. He didn't let it phase him that it had been two nights since the transformation, three days of scouting the underground, the buildings, every single sewer cover he could find, waiting for anyone with a red, blue or orange mask to show. Waiting for any foot soldier scouting the area, coming in or out, any irregular activity, but though so far his brothers had been thrown to all the winds, Donnie refused to let this get him down. By combatting these fears, he'd instead dedicated himself to the mutation-situation project, as he'd christened it himself.

"Okay, let's see, first, limbs"

The process of getting used to the DNA reconstruction was… a long one. Donnie had originally begun by running up and down the stairs of an abandoned office building, normally an easy feat, if it wasn't for the fact that his muscles already became exhausted after three rounds. He used the bo to balance himself upright, mildly annoyed that his legs still weren't responding well. Hmmm… guess the mutagen must've neglected my metabolism as well. Years of ninjitsu training, out the window… Well, we'll see about that.

He continued like this for weeks on end, building up a routine that genuinely involved himself, a stick and street food he'd collected like a rat through the city. He felt like a new-born, restarting his training every day, forcing himself to build up momentum, so that his fighting abilities wouldn't get lost on him. He looked at the clock, ticking away as the constant reminder of what his goal was and he kept looking. Asking around local folks, trying (and learning the hard way) that simply borrowing a functional computer to further his research wasn't ideal for humans without money. Instead, he tried going to the local library, a place that needless to say, blew him away in all possible ways.

Donnie had dreamed about going to one ever since he was a kid, tired of re-reading the same books about astrophysics and quantum mechanics over and over again when he was smaller, and scavenging was a lot harder. He'd spend the entire day there, researching ways to safely rebuild muscles, to learn about all the different places in New York prone to irregular activity, he even found an old news report from Kurtsman about extraterrestrial life and so much more. All that knowledge, and here it was, handed to him on a platter.

And that was only a glimpse of it.

The following days, after his workout, he'd test the different moves he was still able to perform, only 2 out of 3 still somewhat effective. Though the practice dummy he'd build out of garbage and metal certainly wasn't the most useful way to test his flexibility, he'd admit. He looked at the clock again, days counting down and as Donnie walked through the streets of New York for the first time without fear for being exposed, he came by a flyer plastered on a board. "The Mind of a Generation" pamphlet, free off charge. It was a seminar, he discovered, talking about the young minds hiding beyond the 'weight' of societies expectations or whatever it was. Telling him that people like him were needed. That he could make a difference, somewhere beyond New York. Somewhere he could live up to his full potential, not hauled down by the unfair hand of cards the universe had given him. Hating the fact that if things were different, that might've been him up there already.

He didn't know why he went, truly, thinking that after two weeks had passed of still not being able to figure out where his brothers were, but the doubt started to grow and… Donnie was losing faith.

This whole escapade only began because Donnie wanted his family to have a second chance in life, somewhere outside of the sewers. He was curious, selfish even, and when it came to it, desperate. I'm going to fix this, he told himself, every single day after noting down his condition for every snippet of data he could collect. He'd decided to be patient in the pursuit of his family, and the more time went on, the more it seemed the foot clan had finally died down. No irregular activity as far as he was concerned. Like they'd gone completely silent. As if another force had brought them to justice in the Hamato's absence, and would that really be so far-fetched?

The young scientist shuddered. "Don't even think about it. You're being selfish… so just let it go, okay? They need you" Donnie thought, fiddling with the vials of mutagen safely collected from the siege. The only viable substance he could use. More than enough to make a cure. The cure he'd avoided making for a while now, but successfully managed to brew together after little more than four days of stealing lab equipment and mixing the formular he'd already practiced several times- only real question was whether or not it was going to work. He made four containers, at the moment twiddling the third one in his fingers, seconds away from 'dropping' it.

I could do more… Donnie thought, imagining what would happen after they'd finished the mission. Raph would no doubt take the cure immediately, Leo too supporting family more than anything else. Then Mikey would follow, doing almost anything their older brothers would do. But what about Donnie? What would he choose? Thinking about it now, he… honestly had no idea. He liked being human. No- he relished being human. He relished being able to go outside. He relished not having to hide all the time, he relished not having to risk his life anymore, to go to libraries and seminars. To go to the park and sit in the sun, to get asked from the professors why in the hell they hadn't received a student as talented as him.

He wasn't lonely- Donnie was flourishing. He deserved this, didn't he? After everything he'd accomplished, maybe he could safe the world in a different way. In his way. Maybe April would finally notice him, maybe after everything they'd been through, deathly thread one after the other it was finally time to be the person, he always wanted to be… the person who-

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock-

-he deserved to be. He just… didn't know how. He'd taught himself to live in the space between his thoughts and only ever think about what was best for the team- best for him. His future, now that he could have one.

But then, on a night when Donnie after two weeks, had made his way back to base with absolutely nothing to show for it. No one by his brother's names- no AF's to be wary of, no April at home practicing her powers, and certainly no Casey Jones causing mayhem in the streets. Even the Purple Dragons seemed to have gone on a semi-vacation, leaving no innocent civilians to be saved. New York was quiet. Calm. And Donnie was stirring inside, hungry for food that he was too tired to steal. But then, somewhere in the distance, his eyes caught the silhouette of a boy, stepping out of the movie theater.

Just a little on ahead, the opposite of the street yelling in the distance so loud that his voice rang for several blocks afterwards:

"COME AND GET SOME! BOOYAKASH-ARGH"

Donnie recognized that voice immediately, his heart beating faster and faster, once it hit him why that was. He ran to the other side, head shooting from side to side, until he noticed more voices echoing in the alley behind the movie theater. After having re-trained his body, climbing the fire escape was easy. Only a tad bit weaker than his old mutant self. He swung himself up on the edge, steadying his grip and dipping down to see the commotion.

Guess I spoke too soon.

There were four guys, perhaps not much older than twenty something, cornering a kid much younger. His hair was curly, messy and standing almost every way, his round face covered in freckles and colored little patches. He stood back against the wall, shielding his eyes with something Donnie couldn't quite tell what was at first. But then the men, having completely obliterated the kid's popcorn bag mind you, started attacking. The kid immediately jumped to the side out of the way and flipped over so smoothly that it was almost like watching a dancer on stage. The kid let out various sounds in the process, swinging around the goons smiling, even when he got hit, using the chains around his weapons to parkour on overhangs, childishly calling out from above as he threw them in the dirt.

"If my brothers were here you'd be toast right now sucka!"

That's when Donnie realized… he didn't need to look twice, it was him. Orange mask and all, in hand he'd found him. Right down there, in the alley below fighting gangsters, screaming booyakashaa and what not, even down to the way he was fighting.

Donnie recognized all of it. But even so… he didn't move. Well, he did at first, but not entirely.

Heart beating even louder in his chest, hands clinging to the edge of the building, trembling, every single cell shook, once the young boy realized that he wasn't going to reveal himself. Not even when the guys got the upper hand, punching Mikey square in the face, nearly knocking him out in the process, and Donnie winced nearly yelling out after him, if he didn't manage to put a hand to his mouth drowning his wail. He wanted to help, but logic argued against this, making it so that he still couldn't move… no, he choose not to. All this time of searching, all this time of panicking at the thought of what the mutagen might've done to his family…

But if he went down there, Donnie knew, that he wouldn't be able to get a second chance. This was what he wanted, right? After years and years of dreaming about it, he'd finally got it. He earned this. And he knew perfectly well, that if he went down there, right now and exposed himself, then he might as well kiss that life goodbye. He knew that despite everything inside him screaming that he was making a mistake, that there was still a chance… a tiny-microscopic, albeit slim chance, that maybe they'd be better off in the long run...

Donnie had already made it this far on his own, after all. He'd made the cure, he'd found the equipment, he'd made it so that the AF could no longer come after them. Who's to say he couldn't be the one to take them down as well? With his genius, his process… who's to say he couldn't do it? And once he did, he could save his family too. Let them make the choice- and let Donnie stand by his. I could leave, he thought. I could… go as far away as I can and not come back, and I'd never have to go back. I could build a life. What Sensei always wanted for us…

I can fix this. I can-

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock, tick tock...

…

"I did it"

Donnie whispered, removing his googles and starring intently at the little vial filled with serum. "I actually… maybe did it… haha! YES!" He'd spend the entire day leaned over the table, making sure the door was locked as he got to work. He went to the medicine cabinet, fiddled after every single piece until finally he came across a syringe, that he carefully poured the purplish liquid into. He held it up in a gloved hand, stained with different chemicals and took a shaky breath. The alarm was still ticking so loudly that Donnie had to get up from his chair, toss the clock out the window, before he could continue the procedure. He was breathless, heart beating loudly, and second-guessing himself in a moment of hesitation. Don't worry, D. You got this.

He grabbed the pen and started scribbling down next to the formular, determined to go through with it. For everyone's sake.

"Vial 1, data collected so far: none. Test subject," he wrote, slowly leading the needle-point to his vein, closing his eyes as the act of simply looking at it, was enough for Donnie to nearly puke on the spot.

"… Me." he whispered, biting his lip, counting to three...

... and injecting the serum.

NYCPD or not, Hopkins wasn't going to let that stop him from getting to the bottom of things. He starred at the file rereading it to make sure he'd found the right place, patiently aware that this might be just another trap. And it was for this reason, that he'd decided to bring a recorder just in case, laying down everything important in case he wouldn't get out of this unscathed. Exiting his car, Hopkins moved quietly and effectively to the other side of the road, where he starred up at a gigantic church-like building, abandoned by time and the city itself. It was crammed in between two other buildings, now collecting dust, and he could tell as soon as he entered, hand by the holster in his belt. The door wasn't locked, slinging aside and he looked behind his shoulder, checking for any civilians but the street was completely empty.
When he got inside, everything was dark. He grabbed his gun and held it tight to his body, feeling the walls around him, guide him further inside. But as he did, the stillness that ebbed from the structure seemed familiar to him. Something he'd encountered in the field a little too often, and it dawned on him that it was too quiet. Almost superficially so. He proceeded, hitting the play on his recorder and cursing Layton for having robbed off on him too.

Layton if you can hear me, curse you in hell if I die because of this…

And then- the smell of chlorine reached his nose. Like he was standing inside a religious swimming bassinet of some sort, sound of water too, leading him inside a door. This one, heavier to pull. He had to use his entire body to slam it open, jamming his shoulder in the process but ignoring the pain through his stubbornness.

That's when the lights flashed on, suddenly, anticipatingly, so bright that the detective had to shield his eyes from being blinded for a moment, before a voice could be heard calling in the other end of the room.

"Pretty bold for an old geezer like you to come here alone. Didn't take you guys for the gambling type"

Hopkins blinked impatiently, until his vision became normal again, and there she was. Sitting on a throne in a stone like structure in the other end, armored from the neck down in metal like plates. He folded up the picture in comparison and smiled, knowing he'd come to the right place after all. Knowing that he was right, when he said that the Hamato's hadn't perished yet. And right up there was all the proof he needed.

"Okay, sweetie, we can do this the easy way, or the fun way. You're coming with me"

"What makes you think I'll do that?" she asked, voice not unlike that of a teenager. So many damn kids these days, what has the world come to? Hopkins stepped forward, glass shards clinking under his heel, and he realized it came from one of the broken glass panels- ripped to crisps by a force not even Hopkins had seen before. Karai sat patiently and observed, as the geezer approached her, left hand still on the trigger.

"Karai I take it… Or should I say, Miwa Hamato?"

At this her smile dropped, Hopkins excited to discover he'd struck a chord in his suspect.
"You have no right to say that name"

"Scuse me then" he chuckled, casually reaching into the inner pocket of his jacket, and pulling out one set of handcuffs he'd saved for this very moment. "Miss I'm here on behalf of the NYCPD. Hamato Karai, you are hereby under arrest for the suspected murder of Marvin Layton. You have the right to remain silent, though something tells me, you're not in the mood"

Amused, Karai, ascended from the throne, hand under her chin elegantly like she was actually considering the 'offer'.
"I don't know. I'll have to check my schedule" she said, and with that, pulled out what looked to be a blade, slowly from her belt. So there really are ninja's running around New York… I don't get paid enough for this.

The cop held up his hands in surrender, though his eyes were still playfully arrogant, "Okay, okay, you got me. I'm here on behalf of a friend"

"Funny, so am I. But since your friend isn't here, I suppose you came here for nothing. So, I'll give you one final warning. Go."
"Oh I don't think so"

"No? Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you"

Hopkins barely managed to blink, before the girl was at the bottom of the stairs, blade still in hand, but this time actually holding it like she was planning on using it. The detective didn't move, "I'll take my chances"

-or it didn't seem that way at first. His hand was so quick in the holster, that even Karai seemed appropriately shocked. Shocked, and angry now. She yelled out, charging her blade, and managing to instead of cutting the old man's throat, to use the momentum to toss him into the wall with óne kick.

Hopkins felt the pain in his ribs only worsen as the adrenaline made him eager to continue. He pulled himself on his feet, air clawing back into his bruised lung. "I see your training's no joke"

"An expert on the subject I take it?" she put her shoe on his shoulder, turning him around forcefully. "Now, tell me where Leo is!"

"The kid?" Hopkins paused, not sure if he heard correctly but a hundred procent certain that this girl was a gold mine for information. He grabbed onto her blade, in her confusion managing to kick her off and get back on his feet, albeit not very elegantly, gun at the ready.

He started laughing again, circling Karai as she, like the warrior she was, regulated her movements, eyes confidently sharp. Hopkins though, slouched over, hands in his pockets where he without letting her see, checked the holster one more time. Three bullets, just in case, "It's funny. I used to love ninjas when I was a kid. While the others were into, sci-fi-books, starships and all that crap, I used to go round the backyard punching a tree by myself every Sunday with a stick. Nearly broke my wrist thrice a day"

She didn't follow, getting ready to charge him again, "Cry me a river"

"But you see it taught me something too" he continued, dodging her blade.

"That you seriously need a new hobby?"

She charged again, this time however, not noticing the smoke bomb planted right beneath her feet. It imploded the room in a cloud of smoke, leading Karai into a heavy coughing fit as Hopkins used the surprise to his advantage.

"Persistence gives results"

He grabbed his gun, pointing it at her head and pinning her down to the floor, where he managed to kick the blade out of her hand and slide it away. She quickly stopped struggling, though Hopkins couldn't figure out why, a twitch of fear in her eyes feeding into his enjoyment of finally having caught his main suspect. And yet, she still kept calm, controlling her voice, though letting her anger at this shine through to him all the same. "What is it exactly you hope to get out of this if you don't mind me asking? Kidnapping Leo? Brainwashing him?! What do you want? "

Thinking of Layton, the detective decided to take his time, however tempted he was to pull that trigger, staying true to his inner morals. " What do I want? now let me see... Same thing most folks 'round here do. Warm bed, food on the table, maybe even a nice vacation every now and then. But since I can't have that, I'll take the next best thing"

"Lemme guess, revenge on the wrong person?"

You little- he pressed the gun deeper to her temple. "You have a lot of nerve, you know that. Being in league with those… killers, and you're acting like it's all some big joke to you. He had a family you know. Friends, people who cared."

She was silent for a moment, confused. He could tell by the way her eyes flared in every direction at once before landing on a single spot somewhere in the room- almost like she just had a revelation. An excellent actress. Another one of the Hamato clan's little tricks? Charming.

"Who told you about me… well?! Who was it?" she yelled, the irony of the situation making the cop hold back a snicker as he cuffed her hands together.

"What's the matter? Thought your little clan-pals were tight? Well, I guess we have that in common. Such a shame when your colleges turn their back on you, huh?"
"It's not like that! Listen to me, you're making a mistake here. I'm not with them. And you're after the wrong guy-

"I don't want to hear another word out of you, understand?" he bit, this time right next to her ear. She complied, and Hopkins figured that meant she did know what was best for her in this situation. Calling in her own defeat. He reached for the recorder in his pocket, turned it over and started signaling a transmitter back to the station.

"Call in RB31D, I have a suspect in custody ready for questioning, so tell Mr. Kowlinski that we-

The transmitter was knocked out of his hand before the cop had any time to blink. He heard the faint sound of the cuffs falling to the floor, clanking against the marble stone and in the blink of an eye- it came at him. Hopkins let out a scream, cursing, yelling, nearly biting his damn tongue over, while trying to comprehend the stings that shot at him from every direction. He opened his eyes, the first thing coming to mind being his gun, and he managed to fire two shots, hearing Karai yell out in pain, and he finally found her-

No… he found the creature resembling the girl he just two seconds ago was in the middle of arresting. Now something… he did not understand. "What the hell… what the hell is this?!" His voice was broken, as the darkened silhouette of a snake approached him in the dark, turning into two, the venomous green eyes coming closer. Hopkins backed away, feeling his entire body go numb as whatever the thing in front of him, clutched the side of their shoulder heavily. It was- but no- he didn't understand… I-I it was her, but it wasn't her, it was… some sort of… monster.

"Wha-what the hell are you…?" Hopkins stammered, as darkness closed in, the cuts all around his chest and neck bleeding through his clothes, turning into a mild fire that made him dizzy. He tried to reach for his gun, panicky searching with his eyes in the dark, eyelids growing heavy and the pain being too much… The last thing he heard before collapsing, was the silent pray to whoever was listening that he'd somehow "forgive her when this was over."

Panic, the last thing he saw was the snake-like monster turning back into the girl, reaching out for him, telling him, that she was sorry...

then it was like,

something,

without Hopkins being able to fight it,

pulled him down,

and everything...

went

black ...

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

4 months earlier…

Chapter Text

Hopkins remembered the first time he entered his office, that case, the one that cost him everything. His friends turning their back on him one after the other, blaming him, telling him that he'd do everyone a favor by turning in his badge. And he'd almost believed them too, the scorn as he walked down the hallways hitting him a little too close to the heart. He wasn't the detective he'd wanted to be. Too caught up in those around him to see the big picture, the truth starring him right in the face like it had always been there. Maybe they were right, he'd thought. Maybe Kurtzman had a point. All of that hard work and ambition driveling up into a nightmare that he couldn't stop in time, making things worse in the name of loyalty. Who did he think he was? They all knew it. They all knew the coldhearted Hopkins only thought of himself and no one else. He'd become the biproduct of everything he was trying to do, sacrificing a reputation for the sake of proving himself.

Now resulting in a city on the brink of burning to the ground, a cut on the side of his head and a kid handcuffed to a table all because he wasn't careful enough.

And yet, the moment his higher ups realized that he'd caught none other than Casey Jones, the unstable, violence craving vigilante himself, they'd applauded him. An entire office standing tall as he walked past them, applauding his efforts with the respect and acknowledgement he'd been neglected for so many years. And of cause, the only person who wasn't there sharing in this victory, was the only one who understood the toll of the case better than anyone in the whole building. The only person who in his twenty years long stay at the office, he'd somehow called his friend. But alas, times were changing. And it was about time for Hopkins to start moving forward, instead of wallowing in what he knew for a fact couldn't be changed. After all, he had a kid to find and a witness to interrogate.

"Hopkins! Just the man I was looking for- Hey tell me, how is it that an old bastard like you stray from protocol, get thrown off a case and yet still manages to get promoted before I do?"

Tom leaned against the counter, file in hand. As the door closed behind them, the darkness of the room leaving the same clutter of books and files around the office as back in the apartment, in shadows. Hopkins let out a sigh, his mind straining as the just a decade or so older than him officer, tried to hide his jealousy under a furrowed brow and a redundant smile that was starting to get on his nerves.

"Must be my rigorous charm. how's the kid?" he said, cutting to the chase as his colleague was one bite away from ruining the custom made pen he'd now unceremoniously stuffed into his mouth like a chewing toy.

"Contained. For now… Still can't believe you actually caught the guy. I mean- just the recon department alone's up in arms. Been on his ass for two years thinking he's some sort of, deadly menace or whatnot, just to find out that all that, after all this time wastin' money and resources it's just-

"A kid"

"Hard to believe, huh? But hey, fingerprints checks out. We've got an entire team of detectives on their ass, thanks to your efforts. It's admirable, really. I didn't think you had it in you. And Jenkins definitely could use the retirement- I owe ya one"

Hopkins scoffed, not believing any of it for once second. Admirable- please. A few minutes ago, Tom was ready to take his place in the office at the drop of a hat, and now after having been knocked a hole through the side of his skull and handcuffing a teenager to a pole, he was suddenly getting praise. There weren't even close to solving this. The only reliable witness getting away along with the last remainder of evidence- as a result, rendering Kurtzman's tip all for nothing. They had no idea where to find it now, even if the rest of the department was willing to get their head out of the sand for once.

"Guess we're all surprised. 'Cept…" Hopkins paused for a moment, hands darting over the bandage around his head. The coordination of the attack. Or well… perhaps lack thereof.

"What?"

'Cept he wasn't wearing his mask when we arrested him… he thought, pondering too heavily to notice Tom starring. "Nothing, nothing. Just… happy to see one less criminal terrorizing the streets. He talk yet?"

"Not unless you count talking as the three tables he's already broken every time we restrain him- not to mention Clay and Sid's noses are in the wrong side of their face now cause of it. Smug little bastard. Here's the file" he said, leaving what Hopkins viewed as one paper short of a cinder brick in his hands. Just flipping through the pages was already exhausting and Tom quickly caught on to the detective's disbelief. "You think that's long? You should've seen the one for property damage"

And all that from one rage filled teenager. It was still hard to believe it was really him, that is, if the kid's severe love for branding and cheesy hockey quips mid-fight wasn't so obvious. You didn't need a therapist to know he loved the attention. And now he'd gotten it, chained to a table, but still. For all his incoordination and seemingly unrelenting love for chaos, the kid wasn't stupid. He knew not to get caught- or at least, how to get lucky- it was one of the reasons it had taken them this long to finally catch up with him, even if the circumstances of his arrest were… unusual, to say the least. And sure, the department had put a relative amount of his involvement in cases on the back burner for a while, mainly given he did pick up some of the slack, whenever cops forgot that he was breaking the law to do it. But that didn't mean he wasn't a priority. Now maybe more than ever…

So, it begged the question, why did he let himself get caught? What did he have to gain? Why was he with the red bandit of all people, and why was he at the pier right when the PD's started burning tents?! Why the hell was the cheesiest vigilante in all of New York city all of a sudden a suspect to an ongoing murder case?

"Wait a minute… is that a misprint? That can't be right" Hopkins looked at the name tag, trying not to laugh. Tom however, didn't hold back. A reoccurring habit of his through investigations unfortunately here to stay. "Sheesh. I'm starting to see what's got him so messed up…"

"Not the only thing messed up. Security found burn marks on his torso. Refused to talk about 'em though. Guessing we struck a nerve" he muttered, shaking his head. Then, his radio started blaring up. "You know I think it's kids like tha- wa—wait what? No, just send her out of there. I don't care how long it'll take! This is not a negotiation. I-

"Trouble?" Hopkins peaked up, not denying the tiny smile it brought him seeing Tom's forehead vein growing slightly bigger.

"That's putting it mildly. Some crazy lady's been stalking the reception all morning. Third time this week- what? No! How can you- Are you serious right now? Well, call security! Yes now! Before we-

But before they knew it, the door was kicked upon, nearly flying off the handle as a woman stood in the entry. She looked maybe about fifty, round, welcoming features, but overwritten by the dark lines under her eyes and a messy set of hair that stood unkept in what- according to Hopkin's intuition, told him was maybe a week or so. Basically, she was a mess. And neither officer knew how to react when she entered, keeping in mind the fact that for whatever reason, she'd managed to somehow beat security to them.

"Ma'am, you can't be in here" Tom began, but she didn't listen.
"No! No I'm not leaving- I'- I'm not leaving until you tell me exactly where my son is!"

"Call security- Tom muttered, reaching for his radio. Hopkins on the other hand, wasn't able to get a word out, not before she grabbed him by the shoulders and starred into his eyes, reddish around the iris and honestly, kind of terrifying, even for him.

"I have been waiting for weeks now, and you've given me nothing! You haven't told me anything and you know something?! I'm starting to think you haven't even bothered looking! What the hell kind of police officers are you if you can't even find a kid?! My son! "

"That's enough, get her out of there-

"They told me you brought a boy in. Please, I need to know, let me see him at least! I'll leave, just please, I need to see him"

Tom tried to pull her away, but she wasn't relenting, the panic in her voice too grave to reel back. You'd see that kind of look on someone a lot when you were in the field. However, for Hopkins, it had been so long now that he barely remembered it. Not until now when he remembered all too well the desperation that came, whenever you'd have to explain to a parent that, there was nothing they could do to save their loved ones...

"Please… Just let me see him. At least give me that"

"Out of the question, this is a private investigation-

"Shut up!"

"Tom, shut up"

Both Hopkins and the woman looked at each other, following their simultaneous outburst, though Tom certainly deserved part of it. She starred up at him, lips uttering the words please out in the air and it felt like a knife to the stomach. Maybe… maybe there's no harm in just looking, he figured, guilt gnawing at him because he knew that Casey Jones wasn't her kid. He couldn't be- at least not according to the file, but still. Anything was better than being kept in the dark. All it did, as he'd slowly come to realize over the corresponding weeks, was getting yourself into even more trouble than what was good for you. "Just… let her at least see for herself. " he said, the woman letting out a sigh, almost shaking in relief. Tom shook his head, a gesture screaming I'm gonna regret this, but alas, they were already making their way to the interrogation room. Walking, down the hallway, past the copy machine, second floor, up the elevator, past the concrete and running full speed towards the commotion despite his injuries.

"Where is he?" Hopkins called heart in his throat, marching toward the fire as sod clouded the air in black over the daylit sky.

"Sir, we have to ask you to leave, this is not a-

"WHERE IS THE KID?!" he just yelled, flying past medical supervisors as the ambulances hollered in the red and blue siren lights. The entire street was evacuated long before last night, the explosion having reached New York city skyline for miles away. People starring in shock and horror as firemen struggled to put out the fire, digging away the concrete. He was already gone. He was too late… this was on him, and he was too late.

"Hopkins?" called Tom, hand on the detective's shoulders as he snapped back to his senses. He unlocked the door, regaining consciousness shortly as they approached the window to the other side. And right there behind it, sat a tall gangly teenager dressed in black, cuffed to a table and with that mess of a hair of his hanging tangled all over his sodded cheeks. The woman leaned close, shaking her head as the kid unknown to her presence continued to stare blankly.

"N-no. but that's not… oh god, that's not… " she stuttered, tears welling up in her eyes. Then, as reality dawned on her, once again she turned to Hopkins, nearly making him fall backwards. "Please, I'm begging you, his name is Michael, Michael Robertson, please...! "

"I'm sorry ma'am. We're doing everything we can but we're just not-"

"That's not good enough!" she shouted, quickly taking notice of her rise in tone- composing herself. And though it was very evident that the tears weren't going to stop now, she still somehow maintained her sternness, voice growing small. "He's out there, I know he is, probably freezing to death and you expect me to just wait around doing nothing? " she whispered, as Hopkins saw his own reflection blinked back to him in her gaze. And then a thought came to him, one that unfortunately before the guards entered the room under Tom's command, Hopkins hadn't realized might very well be the truth. Maybe I was wrong… if she really is-

"Ma'am if you don't come with us, we have the right to retain you" Tom said, as the guards grabbed the woman by her elbow. She shook them off in one swift motion, determination guiding her as she reached into her jacket and pulled out a small picture- putting it onto Hopkin's chest.

"Here. Just, find him. Please" she said, before allowing the guards the escort her out of the room, leaving only Hopkins and Tom left. He looked at the picture, for a moment of clarity not really sure if he was disappointed or relieved. He'd never seen the kid before in his life, and even if he had, there were more important things he had to see to. But even so, he still kept it in his pocket, folding it neatly two times before turning his attention back to the matters at hand.

Tom clapped his hands together, equally relieved, but more so to finally have one problem less to solve, Hopkins figured.

"Now, about that promotion"

…

"Ayy! Grandpa! Just the man I wanted to see, hey how's Bill by the way? Heard about the divorce. Poor guy, tell him to hang in there. It'll get better… or- not. Also say hi to Martha and Frank from me, I wanna thank them for last time. Man, who would've thought he'd look that good in an eyepatch, huh?"

Hopkins entered the room, file in hand, sleeves rolled up. It didn't take more than the lock clicking undone before the kid was already spouting off. But even though his demeanor was anything but nervous, his leg tapping perpetually under the table right now told a different story.

"You done?"

"And another thing, how's your head by the way? " he continued, to which the cop responded by sitting down in front of him, a slight chuckle escaping him. The kid leaned back I the chair, hands underneath his head and with a smirk on his face that just reminded Hopkins why he never had kids.

"Why'd you do it?" he then asked, after a moment or two of asserting the situation. But already now, he'd come to the not so wavering conclusion that the cracks in the vigilante's mask, had to be at least the size of his ego. Or the size of the bruises covering most of his arms, a minor scar probably from a scissor something on his chin.

"Do what?" he asked, absentmindedly deciding now would be a good time to play with his hair, blowing it up and down his nose.

Hopkins had to remind himself not to lose his temper, even when dealing with a brat like this, thinking back to their fight instead as a means to get back on topic.
"You protected him. The red bandit, coincidentally one of my suspects and all in the name of getting caught and arrested, despite the fact that Casey Jones hasn't made an appearance since God damn Halloween. Why? What's your game here?"

Suddenly, Casey burst out of his seat, eyes glaring up like a rocket launcher,

"The red bandit? Really?! That's what you came up with? Are you kidding me?! You make him sound like a pirate, 'off plundering scallywags yoho'. I bet he'd love that! "he laughed, completely disregarding the fact that he was in holding, charged as a murder suspect, and not to mention five feet across the guy tempted to reach for his gun. "So, what name did they give you? Wrinkle? Mr. nosy? Something like that?"

Hopkins was already reaching his limits. And in what would've probably otherwise led to him throwing his chair or slamming his hands on the table, he figured that this time he'd better just stick to the script.

"Fine. You don't wanna talk, then let's start from the beginning, shall we?" he began, smiling as he reached for the file while Casey struggled to maintain his, though he certainly didn't give up the charade easily. In fact, just reading his name aloud was enough to make him flinch.
"Born Arnold Benrid Casey Jones-

"Th-that's a misprint-

"Dropped out of Roosevelt about two years ago, only to appear again a few months ago at a party. You joined the Hockey team at age nine, got into a rather nasty incident involving a puck to the face, same one I betcha is what got you those nasty teeth"
"Hey! My gap is cool and you know it" the kid argued, nearly falling off his chair in a momentary loss of balance. His brow furrowed slightly, it was clear the kid did not enjoy the analysis.

"And here I wondered what the mask was all about… and yet, you didn't wear it tonight. Not even any skates, hockey sticks, your whole gimmick. And here I thought you just loved dressing up, but now you're just a skinny brat from downtown, who got cocky and where did that get you again?"

Casey shrugged, still smiling ever so confidently. "Didn't realize you were such a fan"

"And yet you didn't hide your face. Knowing we were after you, appearing at the scene not fifteen minutes before PD's started setting it a blaze. With the red bandit in tow, no alibi to show for it and five cops whose faces you've rendered into Picasso paintings"

"Want me to make that six?"

"Sure, threaten the guy who's not chained to the table and holding the gun. Real clever" Hopkins muttered, tired of beating around the bush. He put down the folder for a moment, struggling a bit to figure out the right approach. Because as it stood, it was very evident that the kid simply wasn't just going to tell him the truth. No, he was hiding something- or maybe, protecting something was more accurate. But what?

"Did he threaten you? Something like that- is that why you helped him? His faithful little helper doing him a solid" he asserted, though the idea only seemed to amuse him. He let out a sigh. "Your parents must be so proud"
"I don't have any parents" he quickly stated- and this caught Hopkin's attention, playing with the chain around his cuffs to the point of annoyance. The sound alone was grating on the ears.

"Is that so? Funny because, says right here you do have one as a matter of fact. Huh, that's weird. Another misprint?" he began, getting up from the chair folder in hand like a poet about to do an open seminar. And though Casey did everything in his power to pretend like he wasn't listening, it was made pretty clear just from the smile leaving his face, that Hopkins was in the ballpark. He kept reading, "Born to John Arnold, and Clara Jones… Your mother died when you were little, leaving you and your sister Elizabeth Jones-

"Don't" he muttered, Hopkins continuing to circle him. And there goes the cracks…
"-to the custody of your father. And yet, in all my years working here, watching our team track you down time and time again, never once have we heard any word from either. I'm guessing that ain't the coincidence either"
"Dad's busy, so what?" he stated, shrugging slightly.

"So, he doesn't know" Hopkins concluded, reeling slightly at the information, because this gave him an idea. One he wasn't too proud of getting, but at the same time not one he could afford to waste either.

"How would you know? Maybe he does. Maybe he doesn't. It doesn't matter. It's got nothing to do with him"

"Those burn marks on you… was that him too?" he asked, eyeing the side of the kid's shirt, tugged away underneath a worn-out fabric. He laughed slightly, but it was more of a hollow snicker really than anything. As if to only reassure himself that he had a hold on the situation. He didn't. And Hopkins knew he had to do what he had to do.

"Hey, no shame in it kid, we can't all have the perfect parents. I know my pap sure as hell wasn't a walk in the park. But here I was just thinking… is it possible he's actually been neglecting you?"

Then, in the spam of two seconds he rose from the chair, the only thing holding him back the cuffs from most likely tackling the detective to the ground, but when that wasn't an option, he instead sank back down into it, eyes still gazing in spite.

"Shut your mouth"
"Because, for a parent to not even show for his own son's arrest… I can't help but feel that, maybe its not so much that he thinks you're a massive disappointment- maybe it's simply just that he… doesn't care"
Casey didn't say a word, instead keeping his head low, probably thinking of all the ways he could toss the now bolted to the floor table at Hopkin's head in one solid kick.

"Did I strike a nerve? So sorry. It's not personal kid, I just gotta know if we understand each other. " he continued, rereading the same page over and over again, having trouble deciding where to dig. Until finally, he stumbled upon the image of a girl with the same messy hair as his. "Your sister how old was she again? Twelve?"

At this, Casey immediately perked up, rage being an understatement to his expression, "You leave Lizzie out of this"
"You know being the suspect of an ongoing murder case ain't exactly going to help your sister anymore out than it is you getting out of those cuffs right now to punch me"

There was a pause between the two. It was staggering. Could've probably gone on for eternity, weren't it for the continuous clock ticking away at the wall, pulling Hopkins back to reality. And then he figured, maybe now was as good a time as any to let the cat out of the bag.

"Everybody take five. I need a moment alone"

Tom's voice was heard over the speakers, "Are you sure? But- that's not the normal procedu-

"I'm sure, just give us a moment" he insisted, waiting for a moment until he heard the door shut on the other side of the glass. Casey looked slightly sceptic, maybe even a little afraid, like he wasn't quite sure what this cop was going to do once they were both alone. And luckily, he wouldn't have to.

Hopkins fumbled after the other picture currently residing in his pocket, tossing it on the table and waiting patiently as the kids face lit up with disbelief.

"Tell me, those look familiar to you?" he asked, though already knowing the answer as soon as the kid saw the canisters of mutagen presented in front of him.

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick-

Donnie closed his hands around the needle, leading it to the vein of his arm slowly and steadily. He took a deep breath, tried to ignore the incessant sound of the clock ticking away on the wall, before finally inserting the tip of it into the already bruised wedge on his human-forearm, teeth gritted. When that was done, he leaned back in his chair- deep breaths trying to calm his heartbeat and reminding himself of happier times to the best of his ability, though all that seemed to lead to these days was just more guilt gnawing away at him. Then, he grabbed the small recording pen by his own design, tried to ignore the slight itchiness that was occurring in his neck and spoke into it,

"Vlog date, sixteenth of november. Testing anti-elimination serum, delegated number eleven and counting, test subject once again, with minimal symptoms waging from dizziness, shortness of breath or in extreme cases, fainting… but no signs of stability. Serious urge to come up with a better name for it, as to not be remembered as a, and I quote 'doofus' if I die from this, as well as contained (for now) anxiety for, well, pretty much everything about this. In conclusion: What am I even doing…"

He let out a sigh, scanning the monitor on the screen. Almost fully charged, it said. It would only be a matter of minutes now before the trackers would be up and running again, but of cause, that also happened to be around the same time their "leader" had decided to go topside on them to brood, leaving Donnie, once again, alone in his lab.

"Note to self, when someone tosses around the phrase leader, make sure to actually have one on standby…" he muttered, disgruntled, checking his arm. Nothing so far, he noticed, already going through how to prepare for the new one in his head. But so far, even Donnie realized that the only way to reliably test if it was working at all, was to wait for the 18th and hope to god, that it didn't kill him. But of cause, that wasn't exactly an option for them and even if it was, they only had three days left to figure it out in- and that was assuming they'd even forgive him…

"What are you doing?"

Donnie nearly had a heart attack, almost knocking over every tube and serum on the table. Leo leaned against the doorway, arms crossed and not particularly relaxed.

"Wh-what? Me? Nothing. Nothing just… research" Donnie stuttered, quickly pulling his sleeve down, though Leo didn't seem to notice. His eyes wandered over to the container, big water filling the green tube, now with their newest victim inside floating almost lifelessly inside it. This made Donnie gulp slightly, recognizing the look on his face as the same expression he'd made after Timothy was… well, taken care of. "Look, about Layton, I'm sorry. I should've- we should've warned you it's not- it's not what we thought it was. We thought it was just another foot soldier playing guinea pig, o-or maybe another mutant run rampant, but if we'd known it was a person, we wouldn't have… I guess, been so rough on him is the right word"

Leo shook his head, "You couldn't have known. Heck, I didn't know, it's just… a lot to take in"

"Welcome to our world." Donnie chuckled, halfheartedly to try and ease the tension, "Or- your world, I guess. Once you get your memories back of cause"

"Is Raph still topside?"

"Yup. Don't worry, he's quit the team like forty times already. He'll be back before lunch"

Leo crossed his arms, worry on his face. It was always obvious when he had something on his mind actually, imitating the classic Captain Ryan stance he'd adopted ever since they were kids as a dead give-away. Guess some things never change.

"You know I was thinking… all this stuff about us being… what was it, turtles?-

"Fresh water turtles, to be specific, but go on…"

"and the stuff with the clan, and well… this. All this stuff about how we're going to fix this, that it'll be easy because, well, you've done it before-

"We have"

"What if we can't stop it on our own?" he finally said, sinking down on the chair. Donnie wasn't quite sure he understood, and rightfully so, Leo was rarely the one to voice his concerns regarding a mission. At least, that's the way it's been ever since Sensei's room emptied out. There wasn't room for doubt anymore, according to Leo, it was annoying actually how defiant he'd get the rare times the others would call him out on it. Eventually, it just became something that they didn't talk about anymore, but it was still there to an extent. Denying meditating alone, going out on patrol by himself, or just plain not knowing the right approach to a situation. It was weird to think how simultaneously bigger and smaller the world had become, all at once collapsing in on itself maybe without them even realizing it.

"Of cause, we'll stop it. We always have" Donnie tried, though realizing very quickly that when it came to being 'the reassuring one' he wasn't exactly an A grade student.
"But what if we don't?"

"Well, then I guess we'll…" Donnie pulled of his plastic gloves one after the other. "I don't know actually" Huh… he thought. That's a first.

Leo sighed, sliding down the wall like a ragdoll, arms rested on his knees, "You know, a few days ago I was so sure that somewhere in the city I'd find some, I don't know, remnants of a family out there waiting for me. And then I'd find them, and I would go back to some school, or a job maybe, or just, whatever qualifies as normal I guess, and that would be it."

Now it was Donnie's turn to sigh, sliding down on the other side, across him, the only light in the room emanating from the tube's glow and the half-shattered lightbulb from his desk- courtesy of a mouser coming at him with a laser canon strapped to its back.

"I know the feeling" he muttered; the image of the life Leo just described striking him as remarkably similar to his own. Except, as they were both slowly starting to realize, reality had other plans.

"Then you guys come along, and now it's like, I don't know at all how I'm supposed to feel… what I'm supposed to do, it's just… it sounds so insane, no offense-

"None taken"

"-even if I've seen it first-hand. But at the same time… it also feels like, its where I'm supposed to be. Do you know what I'm saying?"

"More than you know" Donnie sighed, and actually meaning it for once. Difference was that while Donnie had been running around the city trying to get his life together, his new one, though it wasn't his- and maybe it was never going to be his, if he'd even deserved it at all. But thanks to the purple mutagen and a lucky bump on the head that, despite his better his better judgement rendered Donnie a tad bit jealous, had caused Leo to believe it was his life. Or at least, the one that he belonged to, strangely enough making their older brother's new venture out into the world of real people oddly fitting. And to think he's the one who objected to the idea in the first place. But it also made him wonder, if Leo didn't know the truth… would he go back to the way things were? Or would he stay away?

"I wish Sensei was here… he'd know what to tell you"

"So, he really is your- our father, then?" he asked, Donnie nodding as a response. "What happened to him?"

He didn't know what to say, dreading the question more than he realized, but there was just something about hearing it from him that made it feel like taboo almost. They never really talked about it, now that he thought about it. It wasn't a thing it was just, how it was really. They'd shelfed the topic long ago, to a point where it almost felt like he was still there with them. Just out on an errand, coming back home at any moment now, except that they all knew that wasn't the case. Mikey still had nightmares about it, Raph still holding onto the last remnants of the jade staff, now broken and fractured into pieces hidden away in a tiny box in the dojo. Even Leo still acted like him sometimes, of cause without realizing it. He'd walk like him, talk like him, sometimes maybe even fight like him… It was rare times in the turtle's lives their brother had ever acted on his own, and the times that he did, ironically enough always seemed to get him into trouble. Case in point.

And then there was Donnie. You know, they say that it takes the body approximately five seconds to reach the ground from a ten-story skyscraper. But to Donnie, it had felt a lot closer to fifty. He still saw it vividly in his mind, the sight of him falling, thoughts racing back and forth on high alert, thinking of every possible way to disprove what they were seeing. Not knowing if he wished that he would just hit the ground already, or just stay in the air for just a little longer, so that maybe there'd still be time… could still somehow feel his legs run towards the building as if that would somehow be enough to safe him. Muscle memory, as he'd explained before, now pulling at him slightly, though he couldn't determine if the pain was from the experiment or his mind paving way to his nightmares.

"We don't really talk about it. You especially. Trying to approach you about it, it's like poking a bear with a really sharp stick."

Leo nodded, smiling slightly, probably the memory of Raph storming out the tunnel as soon as they'd mentioned him, fresh in his mind. Though something told Donnie it was something else, reminding himself to bring it up again after the whole purple mutagen- world domination situation was dealt with.

"I see what you mean. And here I thought he was just some old Japanese legend or something. Turns out he's the guy who raised me too and I barely even remember it. What kind of son does that?"

"Don't sweat it. You'll get those memories back in no time! Just- have a little faith."

"I don't know anymore. Everything's just so confusing…" he muttered, legs curling up under him. For a second, it seemed as if the roles were almost reversed, Donnie not used to the idea of him being the experienced one, though he felt as if he was starting to see another side of things. Or, maybe that was just the serum in his arm making him hallucinate again, he honestly couldn't tell. And yet, seeing it now… he felt a little bit closer to his brother than he'd been for a long time. As if maybe a part of him, this part of him, was real too.

"But Leo, no one says you have to stay with us. You can do your own thing. I mean yeah, you're our leader and all, you're the oldest, and honestly seeing you now, it almost feels like you're a different person, but… things have changed. The others don't see it but, that's the truth."

"Is that why you did it? With, the magical goo stuff, or whatever you called it. To do your own thing"
"What? No! I mean…. sounds pretty selfish when you say it like that " he muttered, remembering their argument in this very room. He looked at Leo for a moment, trying to picture how things might've turned out if they'd agreed from the get-go. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten that head injury… they wouldn't have split. He wouldn't be so honest with him. It's not him… he reminded himself. Not really. And until we get him back, what's the point in pretending like nothing's wrong? "Maybe I just thought that… never mind. We're wasting time, when we should be focusing on finding the canisters." He swallowed his words, getting back on his feet and back to work. To find the ooze, the clan, whatever messed up plans they had in store and then-

"You know, Donnie, it's not your job to fix everything by yourself, right?"

Donnie paused, screwdriver in hand and googles clasped over his forehead, before he bend down to loosen Metalhead 3.0's primary circuit. It was like his hardware, the words just had to settle for a bit before they could be probably recalibrated. Maybe that was just the effect of finally getting some recognition, and though as soon as you did, of cause it had to come from the one person you couldn't even tell meant it or not.

"Do you think he'll come after you? The cop, I mean" Donnie asked, not at all changing the subject.
"I doubt it. After losing the blades, I pretty much lost the only thing keeping me around. He won't be looking for me"

"Wait- you lost the blades?"

Donnie almost couldn't believe what he was saying. Or- maybe it was more accurate to say he couldn't believe how it was said. "Yeah… sorry 'bout that"

But Leo just shrugged, seemingly none caring. He prioritizes his Space Heroes limited collection, but he's just fine when the family's most precious heirlooms are burned? It truly is the end as we know it…

He couldn't express his bafflement however, before their momentary 'bonding moment' as Donnie believed people called it these days, was then unceremoniously interrupted by a loud bang on the glass, forming in the tube. Not to mention the monitor on the vital screen suddenly going haywire.

"What was that?" Leo asked, as another loud thump shook the room and the soon to be filled with plasma laboratory recognized it to come from the creature- Layton, more accurately. Shrieking, not unlike how he did when they captured him, except the tube was designed to contain any high frequency light emanating from its mutated skin. It didn't make sense why it was suddenly screaming in pain. Slamming its spike like hands repeatedly on the glass like it was having a seizure or something, small driblets of black leaking from the veins. And then, Donnie remembered something, just as every light and sound in the room seemed to grow louder in his ears.

"What time is it?" he muttered, looking hastily at the clock ticking away.

"Uhh… four thirty. Why?"
"And when did you say Layton went missing?"

Leo shook his head, not understanding, "Last week…. Why? What are you getting at?"

Of cause… Donnie knew exactly what was going on. Angry that he hadn't realized sooner but it was a little too hard to concentrate at the moment, when the clock on the other side ticked louder and seemingly louder in his ears. Actually, now that he thought about it, wasn't the room getting smaller?

"Donnie are you okay? Talk to me here, what's happening?!" Leo was getting nervous, panic rising in his voice as Donnie almost chuckled at the sight of the creature breaking apart in front of them little by little. Like an unspoken promise, dragging him further into reality until finally-

Tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock tick tock-

"Okay, this is just getting boring"

Mikey was getting restless, bouncing up and down the theater roof unafraid of the concrete below. How long had it been? An hour? The movie was most likely in the second act by now, though Mikey didn't care much for it anyway. He was getting tired of romcom endings, and this one was no exception- except of cause, this time his friend hadn't bothered to show. And if that wasn't enough, the heavy snow that right now melted in his hair was anything but cozy.

"OKAY! I'm HERE! HallOOOO!? Simon? I came! And I brought snacks! Salt stickers and everything! Come ooooOOOON!" he yelled, swaying over the edge, popcorn and salt stickers in hand. Nothing. Not even the pigeons that cooed next to him seemed to pay him any mind. He sighed, biting into another piece though the fnowlavor seemed to escape him slightly. Or maybe that was just a product of his mood.

"Maybe I should've bought the sweet ones…"

"Hey, kid! What the hell do you think you're doing?! GET DOWN FROM THERE!" one of the staff yelled, and it was at this point that Mikey figured now might be a good time to leave.

"Sorry!" he yelled, absentmindedly sliding down the railing, backflipping nonchalantly on the frozen concrete in front of her and dumping the remaining bag of popcorn into the lady's hands as she stood flabbergasted aback. "Keep the bag"

He decided to take the bus. Busses always brought him into a better mood. Well almost always, there was that one time in particular where he nearly got hit by one, that he wasn't very happy to recall, accidentally stumbling out into traffic when they were younger and looking for adventure. But sitting in one, to Mikey at least, felt like a rollercoaster. Excited to meet the people aboard, as well as watching the city drive by like a movie playing in his mind. Nope, nothing boring about busses. Maybe he's just busy, Mikey thought, waiting anxiously to the point he felt almost bordering on manically by the bus stop, snow flowing down around him. Yeah, that's it. He's probably just… stuck in a book again or something! Totally! He wouldn't just ditch me, that's not like him at all, Mikey reassured himself, as the sound of something crunchy from right next to him made him jump. And as he turned his head, the feeling was only amplified by the small figure now eating one of Simon's would-be salt stickers right next to him.

"ARGH! Tyler! You scared me, little man" he burst, nearly jumping into the nearest telephone pole just out of sheer surprise. Tyler didn't say anything, as usual just standing there observing, slowly and not at all menacingly bringing the salt sticker up to his mouth before taking a bite. Still starring, still not saying a word. "Uhh… big man? Medium? What are you doing here, dude?" Mikey tried, not really sure if he should be terrified or impressed. Sneaking up on him like that, he had the potential to be something of a ninja if he'd like. But before Mikey could point out this extremely flattering fact, that totally wasn't an attempt to slay the awkwardness, Tyler grabbed Mikey by the sleeve and started dragging him in the other direction. "Oh, ok, I guess we can do that too"

So, they started walking, no bus, in the pouring snow, probably at risk of getting a severe cold if they weren't headed inside soon. And just as they passed the laundry mat, it looked as though that's exactly what they were doing. Entering, what to Mikey looked like a library of sorts, the quivering silence of the building making him slightly uncomfortable.

"What are we doing here exactly?" he asked again, this time doing a not so convincing deepening of his throat to not reveal his slight panic. Tyler, once again, didn't say anything. Just kept walking, resolute, almost reminding him of a miniature Leo out on patrol for the first time in his life. "Alright, I get it. Keeping' cool, keeping the vibe going, I see what you're doing. Except, you know if that's what you're going for, maybe drop the shady going secret places without telling someone, you know? Truth I hear, way cooler. Like… cold ice cream- 'cept maybe the screaming part, scratch that, never mind, no one likes ice cream in November…"

They went up the stairs, exiting the library as well as opening a door out to the cold winter air. He, despite never having actually hung out on this roof, did strangely enough seem to recognize some the surrounding buildings. Yeah, yeah there was the big scaly building, that kinda reminded him of a dragon neck. There was the swirly, looking building, the building that looked like a giant crystal, and at last the dreary looking, tall enough to probably reach the heavens-building on the right. The one with the squared shaped entry way, those funny spinning doors Mikey always thought as an unnecessary but a very welcome obstacle cause, claiming it helped him sharpen his ninja senses. The building also had windows on the side, lots of them actually, all at least a cinderblock apart and starring what Mikey found the most unsettling, patients. All wearing white, all just by themselves, looking like animals in cages almost wondering around and god forbid if any of them ever made eye contact. Mikey'd only been in that building once in his life, and he still remembered the experience as anything but pleasant, lucky that Mrs. Robertson was there to get him out.

"Again, uhhhh, mind telling me what we're doing here dude?" he asked, as Tyler led them over to the very edge, revealing what Mikey only now noticed to be a tent set up just a few feet away and out of danger. As they sat down, Tyler fumbled inside, landing them both at the tents very front, tossing a pillow in Mikey's direction and casually fumbling after his bag pack. Then, he brought out a pair of binoculars, handed them to Mikey and pointed into one of the windows on the third floor. Curious, but at the same time feeling slightly unhinged, he brought them to his eyes.

And there she was. None other than Mrs. Robertson, sitting in a chair, right across a woman in a white lab coat, not unlike the ones Donnie always wore. Except, there was something off about her. Mrs. Robertson that is. Her hair was all messy, not even pulled back but instead springled to all sides which, under other circumstances Mikey would probably call a stylistic choice, more than anything, if it wasn't also for her messy makeup to boot. Her unfolded shirt, her quivering lip. She was shaking, even the binoculars couldn't hide that, the way she was sitting hunched forward, shivering as the lady behind the desk nodded patiently at whatever they were talking about.

"Oh…" Mikey muttered, looking at Tyler who had this almost shadowlike exterior. He didn't say a word, but he didn't have to. Now he understood why he'd brought him here, making Mikey's heart sink even deeper in his chest, the guilt clawing its way up his throat, and he felt like the snow just turned into rain.

He let out a sigh, closing his eyes, "Look, I'm sorry. I know, I've been intrusive. When your mom found me, I was just so excited that I didn't realize I might've been too much. I know Mr. Robertson certainly felt that way. My brothers, you… I-I understand if you feel like I've taken your parents attention away from you- Donnie calls it overassertive… overassertive- what was it again? Argh, I can't remember, okay, scratch that! Speaking from the heart here, look, Tyler I am sorry. I'm sorry I came into your family's life like that-

"I know you're a mutant"

"I got my own family. You got yours, I get that and from now on, you don't have to worry! I still appreciate you sharing your room, your comics, your video games. But past is past, and now, you can hang tight knowing that I will be out of here before you even know I was go-wait what did you just say?"

Mikey was absolutely flabbergasted. Not just the fact that Tyler just said something, but the words themselves. So casually spoken Mikey had to take a moment to process. Did he just hear that right…? Was it just his imagination again? He couldn't get either question out, and didn't have to as Tyler already started reaching for his backpack. And out from it, he pulled a notebook. His notebook. Mikey couldn't count how many times he'd slipped a page out from one of those through the door whenever Mikey tried to stir up conversation. Tyler only flipped the page once, knowing exactly where to find what he was looking for, before handing it to Mikey who was once again as intrigued as he was scared.

In it he saw four figures, amazingly drawn in Mikey's opinion, though it certainly left room for interpretation, all of which green, wearing masks, blue, orange, red and purple. Each had their own weapon too, Mikey recognizing each of them like he now had learned to recognize the nose on his own human face. It was them. And not just them, this was them fighting that pigeon monster last year. He remembered it now… yeah, that was it. Professionally drawn too and everything. Now that was a night he hadn't forgotten easily, cherishing the moment Raph thought that giving the creature breadcrumbs would give them an advantage, instead backfiring horribly. He still denied talking about it to this day without going red in the face. But then Mikey noticed another person on the frame, slightly curled from the paper being crumpled, and he realized it was because the figure was Tyler. Messy hair and everything, hiding behind the wall peaking up like a chameleon.

"That was you?"

Tyler nodded, scribbling something down in his other notebook.

"B-but if you knew, why didn't you tell anyone?! Why didn't you tell me?! Oh wait, I think I know…" Mikey didn't know what to say. For once, at a loss for words. He was there… all along and not only that, he'd known. All this time, how could he keep this a secret? Better yet, how could he sleep next to that and not say a peep?! He sighed, all of a sudden, feeling his arms go slightly limp, trying to recall that fight again. But he didn't remember seeing any kid, certainly not Tyler, as easily unnoticeable as he could tend to be, but now it irked him because, if he knew Mikey's secret all this time, why did he bother tolerating him the way he did?

"But… I thought you hated me. I mean why else would you never say anything around me? I'm too annoying for you to just ignore my annoyingness!" he argued, to which Tyler handed him another page. This one depicting human Mikey wearing his mask, hands on his hips starring out, and right there next to him a silhouette (this one significantly more scribbly drawn and less detailed he noticed) that he could only guess was supposed to be Tyler, wearing a black one, imitating his stance. At least he's better at illustrations than self-portraits, he thought, managing to not voice them out loud. "Oh… hehe, guess I misinterpreted"

Tyler nodded again, pulling the binoculars back over his eyes.

"So… why did you bring me here?"

Tyler didn't lower the spying tool as he pointed him to one of the lasts pages in the book. When Mikey turned it, his heart sank. Because he knew immediately who it was- the woman hurdled down on the floor, scribbled in black lines. She was bend over, eyes running in a blue crayon falling down her cheeks, as thunder was sketched out over her from above.

"You know, if you wasn't such a good drawer I might actually be sad" he muttered, swallowing the pit in his chest through a forced laughter that only seemed to enforce the pain. Tyler was still silent, just starring at Mikey with those big sleep deprived eyes of his, waiting for anything. Last time he'd even spoken to her- he didn't even think about what might've happened while he was gone. Because as far as Mrs. Robertson was concerned, he was still her responsibility, right? And how did Mikey repay her? By running away like a coward… Maybe Simon was right. Maybe I should've went to her, i-if I knew things were this bad… He took a deep breath, Donnie's words still echoing in his ear clear as day,

If someone cares about you… really cares about you, then it doesn't matter what you look like. And maybe he was right too… after all if Tyler didn't seem to care, who's to say Simon would? But Mrs. Robertson?

"She really still wants me back? Even after what I said? When I ran away… again. I do that quite a bit actually. I guess we have that in common, huh? The mad lad runaway ninjas- no that's a bad name, bad name, come on Mikey you can do better than that!"

Tyler smiled, but only shortly. It was one of those smiles that felt more on display, not because the person who gave them was actually happy. And this was only proven once he picked up the pen again and scribbled two simple words on the bottom: Come home.

"Look, I want to go back. I do, but even if I could, my brothers need me now. And something bad is coming. You should probably know that if you ever see a black pajamas dude with ninja weapons, you're in big trouble. And Raph says we've got a whole army of those after us. So that's why I need you to be there for your parents when I can't, okay?" Mikey was just about to get up from the tent, when Tyler stopped him halfway. He'd already produced another note, as if it was already ready to go, except this one wasn't slid through a door- but was instead held out, reading the words:

'Tell them' in big green letters.

Mikey scoffed, anything but convinced, "You've seen what I really look like, come on dude, who would ever accept that into their home?!"

After all, even if it was that simple, which it very much definitely not-so is, then the guarantee of Mr. Robertson being okay with that was already a definite no-go, and that was assuming they'd even believe him if he did. Only way to know for sure, was to prove it really. And no way that was ever going to happen. Tyler shrugged, giving him that curvy juvenile smile that just exuded with the 'someone doesn't think so' and they both knew who, making Mikey's cheeks burn red.

"Th- Besides the point. You don't get it" he sighed, dumping back on the now ice frozen cushions as the snowflakes seemed to grow bigger and bigger as they fell from the sky. They looked down at the psychiatric ward again, Mrs. Robertson's car pulling out of the driveway and Tyler seemed more… calm, than before. Strangely enough. Didn't think that was possible, really… Mikey thought, holding out a closed fist.

"You know, you're a pretty chill dude. I can respect that" he said, Tyler bumping it hesitantly to which both boys seemed to recognize the winter weather catching up with the rest of their bodies. "You know if you keep going out here in the middle of the night, you're gonna catch a cold. Oh, I sound just like Donnie… Come on."

Tyler paused for second, before following him down the building, careful not to slip on the ice. When they made it down, the forelights of the Robertson's car shimmered on the other side, though Mrs. Robertson hadn't seen them yet from the other side. Mikey made sure to stay in the shadows, something he was quite good at of cause, though it pained him not to be able to approach the car as he'd always done after school. Tyler was just about to go, when he suddenly stopped, looking back at his used to be roommate for a moment, lips moving slightly as if he was about to say something.

"Don't worry I'll think about it, okay?" Mikey reassured him, not sure if he believed it. For all he knew, this was the last time he'd still be him, at least for all Tyler knew… making him wonder if changing back really was the right thing for him to do. To give up the family he'd build, for the one he already had.

"See you around… maybe… hopefully"

"So? "

He looked at the picture on the table, first stunned, then panicked until finally he settled on what he could only guess was supposed to convey the 'not caring' face that only a teenager could manifest. Though the smirk on his face as he absentmindedly shrugged, certainly seemed to work to his detriment, making Hopkin's forehead-vein close to popping.

"Wow is that lava lamps? A little old school, I'll admit, but hey, whatever floats your boat, pops. We all have weird tastes"

Hopkins sighed, leaning on the table. "You know, if you weren't such a pain in the ass, you might've been a successful actor"

"What? I seriously don't know what you're talking about! Guy comes in, accuses me of murder and slams some lightsabers on the table, and you think that'll make me-

The sound of a click brimmed underneath the table, and Casey recognized it to be the geezer loading his gun, playing with the trigger in a way that made it hard for him not to freeze.

"-… talk. I'm not afraid of you… "

"Yes, yes, that is the face of a guy who must be innocent. Give it a rest a kid, I've had my fair share of scumbags in here, I know a guilty face when I see one. And you, Casey Jones? You're the god damn clown king in that department" he said, getting all up in his face as the vigilante struggled between the incredible urge to punch him in the face, and actually finding a way to get out of there in one piece. The longer he wasted time letting his emotions get the better of him, the more his friends might be in danger, and he couldn't be there to help them. So instead, he decided to compromise. He'd already proven to know more than his colleagues behind the glass- or at least think he does, meaning whatever it was keeping him from letting them in on their little conversation, might as well be Casey's ticket out of there… Well, that was the idea, anyway. Without his hockey stick or a crowbar to do the talking, he was pretty much defenseless.

"Okay fine. Just- put that away and I'll tell you what I know" he said, wishing the barrel of his gun far away from him, though he tried hard not to show it. Hopkins, however, responded by flicking the thing around his wrist, making the young vigilante jump a solid meter into the air. "Or… not. Look, you've got the wrong guy here, okay? I'm not a part of this"

"Suddenly not so loyal?"

Casey bit his lip wondering how in the heck he could explain this without sounding like even more of a psychopath than he already did. When thinking didn't do him much, he simply decided to follow his instincts, and at this point what did he have to lose? And before he knew it, "You're after the foot! The foot clan? Ringing any bell?" he simply went for it. Or- burst, is maybe more accurate. Hopkins already rolling his eyes, rubbing his temples.

"Jesus christ…"

"Hey, I'm telling the truth here! It's those guys you want! Not me. Not even Raph and believe me- I know how tempting it can be but punching him in the face isn't going to solve your problems"

This made the detective pause, weighing the information in his head like you'd weigh the options of the breakfast menu in a sea food restaurant.
"Raph, you say. That a nickname, or did your parents just really hate you?"

"Wha- no I didn't mean… crap. " Casey grunted, realizing too late what he'd let slip. Well, good thing mutant turtles are usually not in the government registration of names… Not so good though, Raph sucks at being inconspicuous.

"What were you doing at the docks?" Hopkins asked, once again, with the sternness in his tone that now that he thought about it, reminded Casey a lot of himself the first few weeks of the turtles disappearance. The bloodshot eyes, the stained clothes, the wrinkles.

"How do you know we didn't just happen to walk by?"

"Look kid, enough games- just tell me the truth... I don't wanna throw you under the bus unless I have to, okay? Honestly, I could care less about what happens to you here, but if we don't help each other out, then none of us are gonna get out of this room happy"

Casey scoffed, unable to fathom the nerve of this guy. It was even worse that his, "Oh, that's rich. Really rich, paps, look don't think for a second, I haven't seen your type around either. Going around thinking you own the world just because you got a fancy uniform, well let me tell your something. Where were you guys, when freaking aliens attacked New York city?! When those bug-eyed freaks broke into my home!? Where were you when that happened, huh?!"

"Oh great, another conspiracy nut! I don't have time for this-

"Listen to me- yes, I might not be the picture book of innocence here, but I'm not lying. You're after those canisters? Well, what a coincidence because so are we. But it's not what you think- I can promise you that. I'm trying to help you, so we can both get what we want, isn't that the reason you even bothered going after those things? Sure, it might look a little sketchy, but fact is, we're innocent here!"

He realized he was yelling now, but he didn't even care anymore. This bastard wasn't going to help them. He was just another adult thinking they know better, when the real heroes are out there doing the real work for the people who needs it. What did he know about justice? Just hearing this jerk open his mouth was plenty to make Casey want to put another hole into his skull.

After a while he finally looked up from the picture, a grin over his stub, slowly sneering itself over his face, "Now there's a fun idea. Casey Jones, pleads innocent- when you were not only present at the scene, but protecting the Red Bandit to boot. And isn't it funny that those two things happened to be around the same time the Purple Dragons decided to remobilize dangerous chemicals? Why are you protecting them?!" he asked, chest rising faster and faster along with his knuckles whitening over the armrest. Trying to calm himself for a bit he said, in a lower register, "Look, I've seen what this can do- and I'm not about to let New York turn into some sort of freak fest because of a brat with an overcompensating ego"

Casey though, was having none of it. "You think this isn't a freak fest already? Now there's the fun idea. You have no clue what you're up against. We do. That's what I'm trying to freaking say! We're on the same side here! This is our home too, so why won't you just let us help you stop these bastards while we still can?!"

"You don't get to lecture me!" the detective yelled, slamming both fists on the table, except this time, Casey didn't move an inch out of his seat. He just kept his eyes fixed on the equally stubborn Hopkins now frustratingly pacing around the room.

Then, he closed his eyes, as if the mere memory was enough to making him anxious, if only for just one short moment of vulnerability. "There was an explosion in Chinatown last night. I'm told that's where you and your criminal buddies are usually sighted, your hunting ground or whatever you like to call it. One casualty, two injured, and now a kid's gone missing. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that?"

And then it occurred to him. "Wait- are you talking about Leo…?" quickly followed by Casey immediately wanting to mentally kick himself for not being able to shut his big mouth.

"So, you do know him" Hopkins breathed, bending down to meet the boys eye level and close enough that Casey could see his own pale reflection shot back in the cops depleted eyes. "Where is he?"

"Why do you care? Lots of Leo's in this city you know, might be someone els-"

he choked, or more accurately the detective choked him, hands around his shirt pulling him into a stance as the air was slowly driveling out of him. Hopkins' voice was like a hiss when he spoke-

"I know you took him. It makes sense, doesn't it? You know what this stuff can do, you know how the Purple Dragons operate, and not to mention, you have protected the guy responsible for causing mass panic in several districts. We found you, same night as the attack and the explosion… you know where he is- you haven't denied it. Meaning if you don't tell me exactly where you and your little red-haired buddy is, I'm going to personally make sure you and your sister are in check until I get answers. And believe me, I promise you won't see her or your backwards family ever again if that happens. Are we clear?"

Casey heard every word loud and clear. But fact was, he'd encountered more cops probably in a lifetime to let himself get bested by just one, even if it meant being choked to death by a crooked grandpa in an overstuffed suit. And especially not when it came to someone threatening his family. His sister. No, no, Casey Jones wasn't going to let it slide that easily,

"I won't… let you… " almost spitting the words out when all of a sudden-

"Mr. Hopkins"

-the door slammed open. Hopkins didn't turn around, not even letting go of Casey's shirt as a big broad-shouldered man and Tom entered the room.

"Kinda busy here" he just said, the taller man presenting a paper that neither had time to read before he slammed it topside onto the table.
"Not anymore"

Hopkins then finally let go of his suspect, bewildered, "What the hell are you- "

"We're putting your interrogation on hold. Special orders" the man said, as Tom silently crept behind him in the corner. "I tried to stop him." He muttered, not looking particularly upset by this in the slightest. Hopkins though- let's just say he wasn't exactly happy by the fact that once again, his higher ups was for whatever reason compromising his case. He marched over to the man, probably preparing an entire spitfire in his head.

"I hope you know you're interfering with-

"You'll have your time with him, detective." The man interrupted him. Short and swiftly, before pointing him towards the door. "Now, get out"

The detective was… stunned. Casey was stunned, seeing Hopkins begrudgingly turn away. But before he did, he grabbed the keys to Casey's chain and bend down to ear level as he unlocked it- Casey meanwhile keeping his eyes on the gun in his belt.

"If you won't, I'll find someone who'll talk. You know I will" he whispered, on his way to leaving the room as every fiber and muscle in the vigilante turned into a maelstrom of rage, getting ready to rip his head off if possible, weren't it for the handcuffs keeping him in his place. He wasn't going to touch her. He wouldn't- he can't! She's innocent. She's got nothing to do with this-

"Calm down, boy" the man said, as two guards struggled to restrain him.

"Get your hands off of me freaks!"

But Casey didn't care, too fueled by the fact that now his friends was in even more trouble than before, now with this jackass on their tail. It was a miracle really, that the foot hadn't gotten away with him already. With everything he knew so far, he was surely going to mess things up for both of them. And he sure as shell wasn't going to leave them alone. Not after the stunt both he and Raph had pulled at the docks. His suspicions on Leo, or whatever the heck he'd done to brainwash him.

The guards led him down the station, threatening to use their taser on him a multitude of times though he managed to stay calm. Or- as calm as he could be. He'd already bitten and kicked a good portion of the staff who brought him in, and he was slowly realizing that it didn't amount to anything. He was outnumbered, outgunned, and once again… completely out of his mind. They walked past the different corridors, the holding cells, all of which filled with Purple Dragon members, and almost all of them goons he recognized. None of them, luckily, seemed to recognize him, and it made him wonder, in all these years of living in fear of these punkers, how many was put in here by Raph? Probably more than Casey had, which, turned out to be a fact that bothered him tremendously.

Finally, they tossed him into an almost office-like room, this one with its very own holding cell. As the guards finished uncuffing him (after unceremoniously having had to toss him inside against his will), and locking the cell door, Casey was ready to kick the damn bars down if he had to. Yelling or screaming or just breaking anything until he'd maybe be able to annoy them into letting him free. Good job, Casey, really nice going there getting yourself locked up. He didn't even know if the others were okay. From the sounds of it, wherever that mutant came from, it was more than either Donnie or Mikey could handle, a fact that not only sounded like serious bad news in itself, but made the vigilante even grumpier knowing he wouldn't be able to join in the fight. If this is what being "on the path to righteousness" is like, remind me to never take morality lessons from a rat in a dress ever again…

"They weren't kidding when they said you had spunk"

Casey looked up, not noticing the man who stuck up to Hopkins, still there in the room with him. He had his arms folded behind his back, the black suit making him look like an off-putting version of a kraang-droid, the sunglasses to boot but minus the bad vocabulary. His face was round, bald, younger than Hopkins but older around the eyes, where if Casey were to guess, he'd probably used the glasses to cover up his growing wrinkles.

"Who are you supposed to be?" he asked, wary because it was at this point he had that feeling in his gut that was very much not a good sign.

"A friend. Or… I could be. To your family. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that's not an option anymore" he said, voice different than he'd spoken in the interrogation room, Casey noticed. It had accent, the same form of phrasing he'd heard a long time ago now but was clear as day not one he'd hear out of the average New Yorker. And not from a cop who'd feel the need to hide it from his collegues just moments ago.

"Who are you?" Casey asked, gasping as for a moment of unease already making him tense, suddenly was turned into an unyielding, writhing pain stemming from the stranger having decided to mercilessly claw his nails into the flesh on his stomach. And suddenly, it was like that night all over again, lights flickering for a moment as he fell on his knees fighting to contain his scream. He saw them all again, bend over him, their freaky bug eyes surrounding him, taking the rods and letting them burn away his skin, the sensation making everything tense up inside like cement. Like his blood was boiling, jittering and quivering because no matter what he tried, he couldn't make it stop. Couldn't get back up, couldn't fight back, he was powerless. But now, when he opened his eyes looking up at the stranger, he realized that he was still in the cage, anger and panic fueled inside him all at once.

"We were hoping you might help us, but it seems you've made up your mind since then. A shame. You showed so much promise. Well, we might still be able to get it out another way… ln time." He said, finally letting go and Casey was finally allowed to breathe. Every chug of air bouncing up and down in his throat as he struggled to calm his nerves, that felt more like a swarm of bugs inside his brain that buzzed and bit and just made everything go into overdrive. He tried to get back up, struggling to get the words out as he clung to the bars- the stranger exiting calmly.

"Who are you?! Hey, I'm not done with you punk! What does that mean?!"

He opened the door, turned around, and in one snake-like smile he nodded his head.

"Enjoy your stay, Casey Jones"

And locked the door behind him.

Casey immediately hammered on the bars. Yelling for help, for someone out the hall, someone who must've seen him, someone who might listen or just do anything. This was bad. This was really, really, really bad… Casey tried kicking the wall, searching his bed for any tools, anything sharp to maybe saw the bars down or pick the lock, but of cause there was nothing. So, with his head in his hands, his wounds re-opened and his self-esteem, basically grinded into dust at this point, Casey was at a loss for what to do. But then, his eyes caught sight of the phone lying on the counter. His phone, dumped along with the rest of his stuff, including the steel pipe and pocket change collecting dust. It was just out of reach. But it was there. Still charge in it.

He could still warn them. But oh wait. He almost forgot… the turtles didn't have any phones. Let alone a cell number- that didn't work on Donnie's communicators. The genius couldn't have somehow worked that into the mechanism, huh. Leaving only one person left for him to contact. One he wasn't very big on asking for help at all, (and actually would have very much preferred not to ask at all), but since he was kind of out of options here, it was pretty apparent that he wasn't gonna have much of a choice in the matter. He had to do something.

So, with that being said, Casey picked himself off the floor, grabbed the linens of his bed and ripped them apart piece by piece.

Raph made his way down the street, feeling the bruises on his now bloodstained knuckles begin to burn a little bit. He didn't know how long it'd been, not really caring if anyone went to follow him, but as faith would have it, he was all by himself. So, after what had approximately been a good half an hour of practicing katas on trashcans and telephone poles, screaming his bloody heart out until his lungs dried out, he figured he might as well try his luck. Once again, going the only place he really knew to go. Quickly pulling his sleeves over his hands before he knocked twice, already having that feeling you had, when you knew you were about to do something you'd regret sit in his gut.

Then, after a couple of seconds, the door eventually opened. And there she was. Lizzie Jones, still wearing the yellow kitchen gloves, as well as a small clipping over her nose. She took a moment to analyze him, once again giving him the so-called elevator look, before very unimpressive she continued to stare at him blankly. The more he looked at her, the more Raph figured she was starting to assimilate a robot, though somehow scarier than the ones he'd fought on a daily basis. At least they didn't have eyeballs.

Tired, out of patience and honestly a little bit pissed, Raph opened his mouth to get to the point when,

"You're standing on it"

He didn't understand. Lizzie sighing as she nodded toward the ground, arms crossed. "The line. I'm not letting you in unless you take a step back"

He looked down, only now noticing the big, yellow taped line separating him from the entrance. Same one matching the one in the kitchen, and it also made Raph wonder if it had always been there, or it happened to be new. Casey notifying her that they were no longer in the safe zone or something, which his sister seemed to take very seriously. Regardless, he did as she said, taking note of his stance before returning to the reason why he was there.

"Look, I just wanna know if Casey's here. Or, if you've heard from him at all in the last twenty-four hours? That would be great"

"What's the password?" she asked, face blank. Raph kept his hands in his pockets, surrendering the urge to punch a hole in the wall as hard as that seemed to be these days. "Listen, it's been a long day, and I'm really not in the mood for any-… is it, Arnold?"

A smile crept over her face. "Enter" she said, stepping aside- Raph initially hoping to make this short, but alas followed her into the living room, once again trying hard to ignore the voice in his head telling him to turn back.
"You still cleaning those?" he asked, noticing the shine of the plates still piled up in the sink, as well as the soapy water raining down over the windows, smell still heavy in the room.

"I appreciate cleanliness" she just said, grabbing the sponge from her bucket and continued scrubbing away like her life depended on it. "And no, I haven't seen him."

Raph let out a sigh, not surprised exactly, just… this was not the news he'd wanted to leave with. "Great. Great! Just fantastic…"

"Is he in trouble?"

Raph scoffed, fiddling with the fold of his sleeves as he in his mind debated whether or not to simply tell her flat out. Because even if she didn't know about her brother's extra calicular activities, she at least deserved to know that he was okay. Or- as okay as the apprehended vigilante wannabe Casey Jones could be. "You could say that. The police took 'im"

"Again? Was it Paul?" she asked, turning her head away from the window for just a moment, though not exactly sounding concerned.

"What? No. He got flanked by some douchebag yesterday- haven't seen him since, so I figured, maybe he'd somehow escaped or something, I don't know…. I'm sorry."

"He'll be back" she said, so matter of factly that Raph honestly couldn't deduce whether or not she knew something he didn't, or simply choose to believe that he was fine, when he was clearly not. As it stood, Lizzie seemed oddly timid, slightly assertive but somewhat hopeful all at the same time, even as she stood there reaching for the top shelves.

"I wouldn't be so sure" Raph muttered, eyeing the different pictures on the wall, most of which were filled to the brim with Casey and his sister, grandparents maybe, strangers that going by their features if Raph was to guess, might be other relatives. Some with their dad too, looking almost alive in some of them. But none of their mother.

"Arnold always comes back. It's a violation against our safety rules"

"Safety rules?"

Raph did a double take, confused.

Lizzie kept scrubbing as she explained this, "Number one; never leave the house without a mask. Casey didn't bring his. He never does anymore. Not unless its serious" she explained, refilling the bucket with fresh water. Then her gaze travelled slightly absentmindedly towards Raph's hands- Raph realizing now, that they were out of his pockets, holding on of the frames. "What happened to your hands?"

"N-nothing. I'm-… I'm a boxer" he lied, rubbing the bruised areas now slowly turning purplish and blue. Lizzie then, suddenly and without much explanation, marched over to him, leaning in close as she analyzed the bruises, one hand under her cheek. She looked like a regular Sherlock Holmes wannabe. If sherlock Holmes wore kitchen gloves and oversized clothing that barely fit.

"Did you win?" she asked, curious. To which Raph lit up in a smile, pondering how his life as a boxer might've been and how incredibly good at it he probably would've been, had it not been for circumstances, "Every time"

Then, Lizzie shook her head, turning back to the living room where she began to shake dirt off the pillows, "Liar, liar pants on fire"

"Oh, you're calling me a liar? Me? I am shocked"

"You're gonna catch bacteria. That's also a violation" she mentioned, fiddling in one of the drawers for what turned out to be a roll of bandages, which she tossed him effortlessly from across the room, Raph embarrassingly having to pick it up from the floor. Stupid human instincts… He blamed the body. "You could've just given them to me"

"I refrain from touching strangers"
"Just not letting them in?"

"If they look stupid" she shot back, grabbing a broom from the nearest closet by the stairs. As she started to sweep the floors, Raph began to roll the bandages around his fingers, carefully one by one just like he'd used to. Difference was, now he had four more fingers to make up of.

"Violation's huh…? You have a lot of those around" he muttered, wondering if they'd come before or after the foot clan had paid her and Casey a visit.

"Seventy-one at the moment" she said, again, matter of factly. Like a robot, not caring to even turn around as she spoke. It was obvious the attack must've affected her, not just physically. The way she acted, so consumed in her task, Raph couldn't help but relate it to the way Leo had behaved shortly after his injury. Training upon training upon training non-stop day after day, like it would somehow erase what had happened. Suddenly make it okay enough that, the things they'd accomplish now would somehow make the pain have purpose. Maybe that's why she refused to shake his hand. Just another brute coming into her home, messing up her brother. Raph couldn't blame her if she held resentment for him, though she didn't know the full story.

"I'm sorry, about your brother. But hey, we'll do everything we can to get him out okay? I'm not gonna let those eggheads have their way"

"You talk like my grandpa" she then said, face so empty Raph had, once again, a hard time deducing if she was being sarcastic or not. She mostly just, starred blankly, eyes blank, mouth blank, everything just… completely straightforward.

"One tough grandma then" he said, completing the finishing touches on the bandages, and giving them one last pull to make sure they were tightened properly. Then, he noticed Lizzie's leg again, as she stumbled trying to reach for cloths on the upper cabinet, dragging a big. Like her foot was somehow asleep throughout the most of it, sometimes looking weirdly out of place when she walked. "Did the doctors tell ya, how long before…?"

Lizzie followed his gaze, swallowing her emotions as she turned her back to the living room.

"No. They don't have to" she nearly whispered out, leaning against the counter heavily. She was not going to walk again. She wasn't going to get better. And it was because of them, he realized, heart heavy, feeling anger rising as he imagined how differently things might've turned out if he'd taken the foot clan out when they had the chance. If instead of being indifferent to Leo's warnings, he'd payed attention for once. He'd recognized the danger before it was out of their control. If he'd just cared when it mattered… Now he cared, and there was nothing he could do.

"I'm sorry"

"Why? 's not your fault" she said, brow lifted noncomprehending.

"You're wrong." Now it was his turn to swallow his emotions. Gulping, apologetically, though he didn't get to continue, before the sound of something moving outside made him stop dead in his tracks.

Lizzie let out a sigh of relief, "Arnold-

But Raph was quick. He signaled for her to be quiet, before slowly and unmoving reaching for his sai's. "Wait. " he whispered, as the sound became louder outside the door. Lizzie looked scared, keeping it in though her chest was bouncing up and down nervously, clinging to the broom like it would protect her from harm. The sound became a loud thud, hitting the handle once, then twice, then knocking again as an almost growling sound came, turning into a jingly one. Like metal clanking together, though the hammering of the wood against the flesh was still on-going, making Raph slowly thread his way over the room. Silent, precise, he held the blades in his hands, focused and more than ready to strike at anything that as much as tried to get through that door. Knowing for a fact that it was not Casey hang over off of another bender. So, he let out a sigh, readied to lunch forward when suddenly-

-the door unlocked. And there stood a tall, bearded, gangly man with a beer in his hand and a pale complexion rivaling that of a corpse. The man swayed to the side for a bit, stumbling inside and seemingly not having noticed the two blades aimed at his throat as he entered, though Raph was quick to put them away as soon as the stranger appeared.

"Ah, you got a friend, Lizzie. 'Bout time" he then said, finally noticing Raph as he clapped him bouncily on the shoulder for one moment, and completely ignoring his existence the next.

"Hi dad…" Lizzie, whispered, head down and a lot more stiff in posture than before. Raph breathed heavily, relived he didn't just accidentally make Mr. Jones into a skewered barbeque. Still think I'm being paranoid? Shut up, Leo…

"Sorry, I thought you were… someone… else. I- I should go" he mumbled, struggling to get the smell of beer out of his face. This however, seemed to bother the man a lot.

"Fine! Man comes home to his own house, already you wanna leave, is that how it is? Well don't let me get in the way, boy. Door's right there." He said, pointing a very off balanced arm towards the snowy outside, as Raph struggled to comprehend the person in front of him. A father. And actual real-life parent. He almost couldn't believe it. No wonder Casey turned out as he did, ccompared to this guy, Casey was a freaking miracle child!

Mr. Jones then sundered drunkenly over to the couch, encountering Lizzie on the way who had placed herself far off in the corner, scrubbing away at the glass like it was somehow gonna make her disappear entirely. "What are you looking at? You'll get wrinkles if you keep cleaning that damn glass. No one likes that. Start smiling a bit, why don'tcha?"

She didn't say anything, kept her head down, glancing back at Raph whose bruised fists were just about ready to reopen the wounds if that's what it took.

"I should probably mention, sir, Casey's been arrested"

Mr. Jones didn't bat an eye, "Has he now? Huh. Must be a new record. See Lizzie? I told ya the cops would get him eventually"

"You're not gonna do something?"

The man scoffed, raising his beer bottle into the air as he sunk down into the couch, turning on some sports channel or other, make Raph wonder if this was Mr. Jones hammered, how the shell would a sober Mr. Jones look like?

"Rule of the streets, boy. You get yourself into something, you can get yourself out of it." He continued drinking, turning up the volume as Raph composed himself miraculously enough not to grab the nearest vase and throw it at his skull full speed. But then he locked eyes with Lizzie, nodding her head towards the door and mouthing the words Just go as she scrubbed away. Then, Raph turned around, throw star in hand-

"Oh, nearly forgot-"

and flung it a solid one hundred and eighty degrees from his wrist and through the front screen of the TV, glass breaking as the football players inside, turned into black and white dots of nothing.

"What the hell!?" exclaimed Mr. Jones as Lizzie silently cackled to herself.

"Ups... Butterfingers."

…

He made his way downtown, snow setting on the pavements and not to mention, in his hair little by little, step after step arguing with himself whether or not he should apologize. So, what if Splinter had reached out to wonder boy and not him? He didn't know. How could he? Not remembering anything he'd probably just as soon thought he was crazy than he did thinking his long dead father had returned from the grave. He didn't even try. Maybe that's the worst part. He didn't have to. He never had to, the prodigy, it just happened. All the while Raph had been sitting out night after night, begging for his advice. For a voice, a sign just anything to let him know that he wasn't alone. That there was still hope, that maybe, thing's would somehow work themselves out. Granted, they did. In their own, weird way, but then Leo… of cause he'd made the connection. Just like always. That special bond or whatever the shell he'd called it. Why should Raph apologize? He had nothing to apologize for. Nothing. He was just, being Leo. Always the righteous one, right? Always knows what's best, always knows all the answers, what to do… always the better son, even when dead. It didn't make sense. It wasn't fair. And he supposed that's what it all really came down to. Fairness. Because as he'd just as soon learned from his time as a human, life was very much about anything but that.

Then, pulling him out of his thoughts…

Something moved behind him. Raph paused, hearing footsteps- no, slouching. Someone creeping up behind him, mumbling something inaudible and he once again turned to face whoever it was just hellbend on interrupting his brooding time.

"Okay, Mikey if this is another one of your pranks, I swear I'm gonna-

But there was no one there. At least, not on the ground, Raph's eyes led upward to the figure almost hovering above him, growling and grinning, teeth sharp as needles begging to dig themselves into flesh as the deadpanned eyes shone like a stoplight from above.

"Oh no"

"Donnie… Donnie! Donnie! Snap out of it!"

As Leo shook, Donnie back and forth his little brother slowly but surely started to have an epiphany. He'd been starring at the tube for two minutes now. The room, slowly getting into focus as the memory of darkness swirling around him started to evaporate. The sounds almost drowning for a moment in a fogginess and dizzy state he couldn't figure out, slowly dissolving and he realized that he was still standing. He didn't pass out. How is that possible? No, no I definitely fell, I remember that much. Argh, everything feels… lucid. Like he just woke up from the longest dream in the world, unable to remember it. Looking down at his hands and fingers, blinking a couple of times out of shock because for a solid moment he could've sworn they were dissolving. Like acid from his skin to his bones, until he blinked only to realize that- he was still in the room. No time had passed it seemed, the ticking was gone, the serum no longer burning his veins... He looked at Layton still hammering away and shrieking behind the glass, creating more and more fractures, which on any other day would've severely panicked the young scientist- except he was still struggling to figure out what just happened. Grabbing his arms, slightly thinner than usual, feeling his pulse, weakened but active, checking for vitals as-

"Donnie, wake up!"

Leo made him come back to reality.

"Wha- what?"

Leo was panting, sweat on his brow and eyes frantically dilated as he looked to his little brother for advice. The mutant still writhed around like crazy, scratching and biting doing basically everything in its power to somehow make… whatever was happening inside to stop.

"What do we do?! He's gonna break out any minute!"

Donnie looked at the time again, remembering. Udnerstanding, all of a sudden light up in his face. But- no it was too soon. It wasn't supposed to happen yet. Not even a week had passed, how was this even possible so early on? I don't understand. Donnie put his hand on the tube, as if that would somehow calm the poor man down, voice dim as he with a shadow over his face managed to mutter it out,
"No… no, he's… he's dying."

"What?!"

And then Donnie had another thought. A horrible, horrible selfish one, but what choice did they have here? It was Layton's life… or theirs. He looked to Leo, ready to bet his older brother had the answers on what to do, until he realized of cause. It's not really him, remember? It's up to me.

And with that, Donnie made a decision, grabbing his jacket from the hangar and rushing outside of the lab. "Stay, here I gotta see something-

Leo couldn't understand a single word being said, his heartbeat pounding at the least one hundred miles and hour in his chest.
"You don't seriously expect me to just hang back! I'm coming with you!" he protested, though Donnie stopped him in his tracks.

"Yes, you are. You're still wanted, remember? Just- I'll be right back! I know how to save him! I can fix this!"

…

Donnie didn't care that he was seeing double, he didn't care that his legs weren't as strong as they usually were, he didn't care. He didn't have the time. Instead he just kept on running, as fast as he could out of breath, with a pain that fried his lungs to raisins but he ignored it and pushed forward. Took the train, ran the blocks, jumped the roofs and crossed the right building until finally, finally he made it to the water tower. Out of breath, probably completely red in the face and with a winter jacket gulped up in sweat, he fell to his knees, digging through each bag, each book or box he could find, digging and digging and digging as time seemed to drag.

"Come, on, come on, come on, come on!" he started to become desperate, nearly pushing over a frame of Sensei and his brothers in favor of finding what he was looking for but, the more he looked, the more it dawned on him…

They were gone.

The cure. Each canister he'd stored, each fail safe he'd created just gone, vanished in the blink of an eye and he hadn't even bothered to check. Donnie started to feel his chest rise and fall, something icky and hard in his throat making his eyes water slightly as his voice broke, when he realized the truth once and for all. "No… no, no, no, no, no, please… please no… " he whimpered, head in his hands as he crouched forward, struggling to breathe. It was easy. This was easy, he could figure something out, he could figure something out, he could figure something out-

The beeper on the communicator rang. Donnie grabbed it, slowly, defeatedly moving it towards his ear, Leo's shivering voice vibrating through.

"Donnie… He's not moving"

Of cause, he was… because that's what happens. That's what was always going to happen, though Donnie had developed a bad habit of convincing himself that he was capable of doing the impossible. But no one was able to fool time. And at the core, that was essentially all he'd bet on at this point. Time. Now quickly running out and he felt hopeless. Absolutely alone and afraid and guilty, something inside him just breaking, once he realized that without the cure, he'd doomed his brothers. And it was all his fault. All his doing.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I-

Leo quickly collected himself, though he didn't exactly know what the problem was. "Donnie, breathe. You tried. That's what mattered. You tried-

"No! No, you don't understand… it's gone. They're all gone, they took it. How I could I be so STUPID!?"

"What are you talking about?"

Donnie sighed, pulse weakening, and he felt his energy leave along with him until eventually he didn't even have the strength to cry. What good would that do anyway? He could cry all his water out, but it would not make a difference, other than wasting even more time than they'd already done…

"I'm sorry Leo… But I need you to remember. If you don't… we'll all die too" he said, looking at the small hole in his arm where the needle used to be. Only two options left… either, find a way to stabilize the purple mutagen in two days, or…

Find the only person who can make Leo remember.

The creature was not unlike Layton, if not significantly smaller in figure and a lot more… well, fur. Like hardened spikes all over its body, moving like a mix of an animal and a zombie, though twice as quick on its feet. Arms stretched out in monstrous proportions, spiked with the black liquid falling at the tips, skin like an otherworldly shooting star. Except instead of fulfilling your wish of finally get proper food that wasn't eaten out of a can, it tried to kill you, one claw after the other biting and scratching and howling.

"Guys! We got a bit of a problem here- WOAH!"

Raph spun to the side, people on the street screaming in terror as the creature used its almost wolflike spikes to navigate the buildings, staying above ground as it lunched out after him aggressively. Guess staying inconspicuous is out of the question… He grabbed his sai, ducked quickly to his knees, sliding in the snow before the mutant could get a chop off his head, and he used the momentum to try and cling onto its back. It was successful at first, Raph hanging onto it for a solid five seconds before being swung mercilessly into the nearest wall, back first. As he fell to his knees, the sound of something snapping somewhere in his bones made him pause for a moment- which also turned out to be a very bad idea. Because as soon as he did, the mutant grabbed him by the neck, and once again forced him against the wall as Raph struggled for breath, using his sai as a last-minute resort to stab it in the spiked arm. It almost didn't budge. Great. And as the monster snarled at him, the nearing wolf-like face of it drew closer, eyes watery for some strange reason Raph for the life of him couldn't figure out why was, as it finally set off to bite his head into pieces.

Before it could, however, something else hit the creature in the face- or more accurately the eyes. When Raph came to his senses, struggling to regain balance, he heard a familiar cry nearby, echoing in the already chaos inducing street.

"HANDS OFF MY BRO! " Mikey yelled, mask over his eyes as he predominantly kneed the mutant directly in the face.

"Mikey! " Raph exclaimed, too relieved to no longer be fighting the beast alone to care about secrecy. Mikey slit through the snow, charging at the creature with both nun chucks in hand, yelling out like a wild man as he was about to wrestle a lion. Difference was, a lion wasn't also covered in a poisoned fur of murder spikes, and a chemical glowing skin to boot. He made it about five feet, before he had to duck, tripping over his shoelaces unceremoniously as the mutant now seemed to target both boys at once. Raph, grabbed his sai, swung as fast as he could in front of the mutant, kicking it away from his brother and ushered them both into somewhere- anywhere the creature would not follow. Mikey, however, was too busy trying to stop the stars dancing around his head to notice it charging at his heel, and Raph panicky searched for anything they could use. Then he looked to the duffle bag, swung over Mikey's shoulder, desperately hollering;

"Mikey! The glitter!"

Mikey shook his head panicky, flipping the bag on his head to emphasize its emptiness.

"I'm all out dude!"
Raph could feel the heat return to his face, "You brought glitter to throw it ONCE?!"
"SEE? This is why we should always wear glitter! You never listen to my ideas!"

"Now?! You wanna do this now?!" Raph yelled, shoving both of them out of the way of the subsequent spike aimed for both of them, each miss presumably only making the creature more and more angry. Honestly, Raph couldn't help but relate. However, after their third, fourth and eventually ninth time of failure in defeating it, both figured that now would probably be a good time to actually come up with a plan. One that did not involve running around in circles, kicking its face in repeatedly and avoiding its poisonous spikes as it shrieked into the night like a toddler.

"Okay, it doesn't like light, right? We just gotta blind it out!" Mikey suggested, too proud of himself to realize the absurdity of the idea.
"WE'RE IN NEW YORK! How is it not already blinded out?!"
"Well, you got any better ideas?!"

And then, Raph had a thought, eyes darting towards the nearest skyscraper surrounding them.

"Funny you should ask" Raph whispered, for the first time thinking like a strategist, as he anxiously watched the creature being just ten feet away from turning his brother into a midnight snack. "Mikey! That building! We can draw it away from the people!" he yelled, flipping over a car and in front of the nearest crowd of people. He jagged the phone out of two teenage girls' hands, both of which luckily had flashlights on their camera, before tossing it to Mikey. Then, he managed to dodge the creature's blade, sliding under yet another car for cover, before retrieving an umbrella and a long coat from an elderly couple. "Mind if I borrow this?" he asked, not really caring, as ultimately the mutant was too busy shrieking in agony to care.

"Uh, Raph, I don't think it's rain season!" Mikey yelled, severely confused as Raph tossed him the umbrella, himself slinging the overcoat over his head like a flying carpet and tried to catch the creature's attention. "Hey ugly! THIS WAY! " he waved him over, for a moment thinking his moment of idiocy would be for nothing, when alas- the mutant seemed to understand. It took one glance with its almost melted eyes towards the shadows cast by both and started at once to charge at both almost desperately. Away from the lights, away from the lamps and the sounds and the car lights, and basically away from everything that contributed to the monster's inherent torment. Despite how much Raph fought against his better judgement. He stopped in front of the fuse box, flinging out his sai and once again dodging a lethal attack to his chest from the mutant, making Mikey look pale with worry. "Raph?!"

"Keep going, I'm coming!" Raph assured him, managing to stab it once near the shoulder blade, and as soon as he saw an open turning around- and stabbing the fuse box repeatedly with his blade. He really only needed the first sign of a spark igniting, for him to jog as fast as humanly possible towards the building, now flickering for a moment wildly in waves. Each floor's light slowly but surely losing power. It was working. The creature followed them as fast as it could, out of the light, towards the darkness, screaming, clawing at them, nearly pulling at their heels until the were close to the top. But before they reached it, Mikey suddenly let out a yelp, stumbling a bit as the creature seemed to have caught his ankle. He of cause retaliated, grabbing his nun chunks and flicking them once, causing the sharp end to retract.

"I told you, HANDS. OFF. THE MIKEY!" he yelled, slicing it once as he used the other tip to try to climb further, but the snow was getting in their eyes. It was at this point, Raph decided now might be a very good time to pull out the phones, aiming the flashlight at the beast, though it only lasted for a moment. Not soon after he'd opened the screen, did it turn to black after lack of charge. "Are you kidding me?!"

Then, a wail was heard, the monster now being the one in pain, and Raph lowered his gaze to find that it was coming from Mikey's phone this time, brightly shining into the creature's eyes as the momentum made it slip more and more. He held out his hand, trying by all he had left to reach him, too distract with actually fighting the thing to notice.

Then, a crack, and a loud cut was heard slicing into flesh, Raph with his heart stuck in his throat as he saw Mikey loose grip.

"Argh-"

"MIKEY! HANG ON!" he bellowed, probably loud enough for the entirety of New York to hear it, Mikey still holding onto the trusty chain of his nun chuck, and the blade that had at this moment in time, buried itself into the side of the building. Mikey tried to shake the creature off, but it held resolute, more water escaping its used to be eyes, and suddenly, Mikey noticed something in his gaze. Something that, despite his astonishing and never before seen intense focus and concentration on holding on, made him look into the mutant's face, seeing it for the first time as something… or, someone, he'd met before.
Then, a voice. Slow, gravelly, inhuman, but still, painfully apparent of that of a little kid, fighting its way through the jagged teeth buried throat.

"M…cki… Mi…cKy…."

Mikey's heart stopped, everything happening, stopped, and all of a sudden, he felt like the entire world just stopped moving, because he knew exactly who this was now. And he couldn't focus on anything else.

"... Simon."

But before he got another word out, the sound of the chain breaking his nun chucks in two filled the silence, as they both fell to the ground, plummeting towards the snow.

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Chapter Text