Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The subway tunnels echoed with dripping water. The sun began to set outside, the hustle and bustle of the streets above not even hesitating to slow down. Meanwhile, in an abandoned ghost line of the subway, four snoring turtles could be heard. Splinter hit his wooden staff against a metal pipe, hard enough to wake his four sons in an instant.

Splinter would usually wake them up earlier. However, today was a special day, a day that came only once a year, so he let them sleep in a bit. The shuffling from the bedrooms made him smile. It had been a long fifteen years for him, but not unhappy ones. He took a deep breath, knowing this would be the last quiet moment of the night. His large chinchilla ears twitched at the sound of padding feet racing down the stairs into the central atrium of their home. A blur of swamp green and orange freckles rushed past him to the kitchen.

"Morning, Papa!” his youngest son chirped at him.

“Good morning, Michelangelo,” Splinter chuckled.

A few seconds after his youngest rushed into the kitchen a second, but still very upbeat, turtle emerged from the bedrooms, his blue mask already tied in place and a bokken strapped to his dark brown shell.

“Good morning, Otou-san.” His eldest bowed slightly before following the younger orange clad turtle into the kitchen. Splinter nodded to him.

“Good morning, Leonardo.”

After a minute a third turtle strolled past him. His red bandana was pushed up on his forehead and he was wrapping dark brown bands around his fists.
“Mornin’ Pops.” He said casually.

“Good morning, Raphael.” He smiled softly as his second oldest made his way into the kitchen.

Finally, a fourth turtle emerged from the bedrooms. His tall swamp green frame hunched over as he walked towards the kitchen. His purple mask hung loosely around his neck.

“Good morning, Donatello.” The second youngest simply nodded and waved instead of returning the greeting. Which wasn’t unusual for him.

With all of his sons awake, Splinter took a deep breath and followed his sons to the kitchen for breakfast.

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The kitchen bustled with energy, Michelangelo happily hummed by the stove while Donatello drowsily filled the kettle with water. Leo sat calmly at the table in the center of the room. Raphael stood in front of the toaster reaching to grab the loaf of bread.

“You don’t need to do that, Raph.” Mikey blocked Raph’s hand from the loaf. “I’m making french toast!”

“Why ya makin’ french toast?” The dot markings over his eyes highlighted the confused look on his face.

“Come on, you know what today is,” Mikey started whisking a bowl filled with eggs, milk, and cinnamon.

“And that day would be?” Raph questioned

“Mutation Day!” Mikey exclaimed, whisking the egg bowl faster.

“It’s Mutation Day?” Raph blinked slowly.

“It’s Mutation Day.” Donnie repeated flatly, as the electric kettle beeped.

“Did you seriously forget that was today?” Leo said snidely from the table, watching all of this go down.

Master Splinter had joined his eldest at the table, waiting for Donnie to finish making the morning tea. Raph huffed and sat down at the table.

“I’m a busy turtle, I don’t have time to remember every single date” He crossed his arms, “Beside, that’s Donnie’s job.” Raph said as he glanced up at Donnie, who had just made his way over to the table with two mugs in his hands.

He sat down and slid the second mug over to Splinter. Instead of responding to Raph’s comment, Donnie just sipped his tea slowly without making eye contact.

“Not talking much this morning, Don?” Leo asked nicely. Donnie shook his head, tapped his watch, and then mimed fixing something with a screwdriver.

“Ah, up late working again, got it.” Leo then looked over to his youngest brother.

“You need any help with breakfast, Mikey?”

“Nah, I got it.” He flipped a sizzling piece of toast. “You could make sure we have enough clean plates though.”

“On it.” He got up from the table to check the cabinets.

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After a little bit, breakfast was ready, french toast stacked high on five plates. A large bowl of sliced strawberries sat at the center of the table next to a can of whipped cream. The four turtle brothers and their chinchilla father all sat around the table, very excited to eat their commemorative breakfast.

“My sons, before we eat, I would like to say something.” Splinter announced, standing up from his chair.

The boys looked to their father, Mikey quickly stopped covering his french toast entirely in whipped cream.

“It was 15 years ago today that our lives changed to be what we know now.” Splinter pulled out a piece of metal from his pocket and rubbed it with his fingers.

“It was not how I imagined my life would turn out.” He looked at his turtle sons. “But it gave me the four of you, and for that I am forever grateful.” He put his hand on Leo's shoulder,

“Happy Mutation Day, My sons!” Splinter concluded.  The boys smiled up at him, hesitant to immediately start eating.

“Thank you, Otou-san.” Leo responded.

“Can we eat now?” Mikey begged, glancing at his melting whipped cream.

“Yes, I believe I’ve made you wait long enough.” Splinter chuckled as he sat back down, sliding the piece of metal back into the folds of his kimono. The boys all cheered and started scarfing down their french toast and fruit.

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When everyone had finished breakfast and the table was cleaned, Splinter led his sons into the dojo on the left side of the atrium. The four turtles lined up in their usual spots, standing with their feet together, ready to begin whatever lesson their sensei had planned.

Splinter set his wooden staff against the wall. He pulled his shoulders back, stretching to his full height. He turned to his sons, large dark eyes reflecting the yellow light from the candles that had been lit earlier in the evening.

“My sons, I have trained you all to be strong and skilled ninjas.” Splinter paced in front of them. “To be masters of stealth and agility, but tonight there is something you have yet to learn and it is the most difficult.” He tilted his head down a bit and put his hand to his chest. “That is, for me.”

“What is it, Sensei?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, why’s it tough for you?” Mikey tilted his head to the side.

“The thing you will all learn tonight is independence.” Despite his calm tone, Splinter’s ears twitched. The turtles turned and looked at each other

“But, Sensei.” Donnie spoke up for the first time that night. “You’ve always taught us to work as a team. A functioning unit.” The other three murmured in agreement. Splinter sighed.

“You misunderstand, tonight you are all going to do something independent from me.” He put his hands behind his back. “I recognize that the best way to test your skills, as much as it frightens me, is to let you go do something on your own.” The boys gasped.

“Pop- I mean Sensei, are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Raph asked.

“Yes, my sons, tonight you are all going above ground.”

Chapter Text

  Leo followed his brothers as they raced up to their bedrooms to grab everything they needed for the night out. Splitting off to the room he shared with Donnie, Leo watched his taller brother put various things into a leather messenger bag. First-aid, wallet, tape, a drink, cleaner for his goggles, all stuffed into what was basically an oversized purse.

“Got your phone on you? Leo asked as he slid his own phone into a pocket on his belt.

“If you mean my Cellapace, then yes.” Donnie held it up before also putting it into his bag.

“I still can’t believe you called it that,” Leo smirked

“I made rudimentary smartphones shaped like our shells, I had to call it that.” Donnie tugged his goggles on to his forehead, “Only thing that made sense.”

“Of course." Leo rolled his eyes affectionately.

In the bedroom next door, Mikey and Raph were also getting ready. Mikey grabbed tons of stuff to shove into his backpack, not really sure what he would need up there. He grabbed snacks, his phone, a sketch book, pencils, fidget toys, and a hat. All crammed into his tan canvas backpack, which was covered in pins he had made himself.

Raph tied a faded red bandana around his neck. He always wore it when he went out in case any smells started to bother him. He adjusted his elbow braces and took a swig out of a water bottle before heading out of the room.

“Come on over-packer, we gotta go,” Raph called, stopping to lean on the door frame, flipping a sai between his fingers.

“Yeah, yeah I’m coming.” Mikey swung his backpack over his shell and followed Raph out of the room.

The two pairs of turtles met back in the atrium to say goodbye to their father before going up. They stood in a straight line in front of Splinter and gave him a respectful bow.

As excited as Leo was, he was also scared out of his mind. He wasn’t sure what to expect and wasn’t fully confident he could handle it. His father and brothers couldn’t know this, he has to be a leader and big brother, so he kept his cool, saying goodbye to his father and leading his brothers out to the regular subway tunnels

“Good luck, my sons.” Splinter called after them.

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The four turtles walked single file down the subway tunnel. The sound of trains rumbling around them, made the lights flicker. They stopped at a maintenance ladder that led to the surface. They made a semi circle around the ladder. Leo took a small breath and put up his hand to get his brother’s attention.

“Alright guys, is everyone ready?” Leo scanned his brothers, making sure they had everything.

“Yup, got my backpack.” Mikey beamed.

“I am fully equipped” Donnie adjusted the strap on his bag.

“Okay, you good, Raph?” Leo put a hand on his hip.

“I’m fine, let’s just go already, it’s not like we’re going to Mordor.” Raph started climbing up the ladder.

He had tied his red handkerchief around his neck, but other than that he didn’t have anything on him except his sais and no patience. The more prepared Donnie and Mikey shrugged and followed Raph up the ladder. Leo sighed and decided it was better to leave it and just follow his brothers up.

The manhole cover scraped across the pavement. Four shadows slipped out one by one. They stood in an alleyway between two four story buildings. The sun had set, but the streetlights and buildings made a lot of bright spots where you could see everything. Garbage in bags and cardboard boxes lined the bottom of the brick buildings. Graffiti tags covered the entire first floor of the back building. Different colored curtains were all drawn in the windows. Looking straight up you could see the grey blue night sky that went on forever. It was so different from the concrete they were used to over their heads.

Leo looked out into the street, watching the cars drive past. The loud honking and people yelling made him flinch. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard it before, but he was used to hearing it through a grate or wall of concrete. The fear of being seen started to creep into his mind. He looked up at the fire escape on the side of a building. He chirped and gestured towards the roof. The other three chirped back and nodded their heads. They quickly climbed their way to the roof tops.

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re finally up here!” Mikey shouted, glancing all around.

“Shh, ninjas are supposed to be quiet, remember,” Leo held a finger up to his mouth.

“Dude, it’s New York city, no one's going to care about one teenager shouting.” Donnie pointed out, staring at the horizon.

“Yeah, quit worrying, we’re gonna be fine.” Raph chided as he leaned on an air conditioning unit.

Leo balled his fists and sighed again.

“I’m not worrying, I’m just making sure we’re doing what Sensei said.” Leo did his best to keep an even tone. “We’re supposed to be testing our ninja skills.”

“Okay then, what are we gonna do, Splinter Jr?” Raph stood up straight and crossed his arms.

Leo thought about it for a minute. He did a scan of the rooftops and his eyes settled on a building in the distance. He taped his chin and hummed.

“Okay, got it, ninja race!” Leo announced.

“Ninja race.” Donnie repeated with understanding.

“Yay! ninja race!” Mikey beamed and bounced on his toes. Raph smirked and moved to Leo’s side.

“Alright guys.” Leo held up his right arm at a ninety degree angle and balled his fist. “We’re going to race up to that tall building with the billboard” He pointed with his other hand and the other three looked at where he was pointing.

“Using stealth and agility we’ll see who can get there the fastest.” He continued to keep his right hand up. “Everyone line up and wait for my signal.” He backed up to the middle of the roof and waited for the other three to fall in line. The boys all crouched down with varying levels of excitement.

“Surī, tsū, wan, Gō!” He flicked his hand forward and they all took off. Bounding between buildings like they were made for it. The cold night air rushed over them. They passed by stores and apartments in a flash to get to the billboard ahead of them.

Raph pushed to the front first, clearly trying to win. Donnie ran quickly and efficiently, but kept glancing at things that caught his eye. Leo stayed comfortably in the back, keeping in a straight line. Mikey, on the other hand, was all over the place. He started doing cartwheels when Raph glanced over his shell at him and clicked his tongue.

“What are you doing?” Raph slowed down a bit to get closer.

“Having a good time!” Mikey vaulted over an AC unit.

“We’re supposed to be racing,” He huffed.

“I am, It’s just so pretty out here, I don’t wanna pass by it so fast.” He held his arms out to feel the cool night air.

“Yeah, Raph let him have his fun.” Donnie shouted from his left. “Ooh look, a radio shack!” He almost stopped running, but shook his head and kept moving.

“Well, it’s not like you could beat me anyway, slowpokes.” Raph started running faster again.

“Oh you shouldn’t have said that,.” Leo remarked from the back of the group. He knew where this was going.

“Hey! who you calling slow!” Mikey shouted and laughed as he took off at full speed. He pushed past Raph in a matter of seconds.

“Hey!” Raph shouted in surprise.

“See you later!” Mikey giggled as he flew past Raph. His mask tails whisked in the wind as he sprinted at full force, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, not slowing down once.

Before they knew it Mikey was at the billboard. The other three jumped to the last rooftop; Raph, Donnie, and then Leo. Mikey turned around and put his hands in the air ceremoniously.

“I give you, Michelangelo! Fastest turtle alive!” He then tucked his arms down and did a little victory dance. He spun and then did a backflip for dramatic effect.

“I win.” Mikey grinned

“Yeah sure, whatever.” Raph huffed, “I still got second place.” He crossed his arms.

“You would have gotten third if Leo had actually tried.” Donnie remarked, glancing at his eldest brother.

“What? No, I just didn’t do my stretches earlier.” Leo stuttered.

“Come on Leo, you were on my tail the whole time and didn’t try to push past me once.” Donnie put his hands on his hips. “Be honest, you were just keeping an eye on all of us.”

“Aww, Leo!” Mikey ran over to hug him. “You’re so sweet.”

“Fine, yes, I was.” Leo accepted Mikey’s hug. “You don’t have to point it out.”

“Pretty sure we do, Mamanardo.” Raph teased.

They all stood there for a moment. Letting the sounds of the city wash over them. They had run so far. This was technically the farthest from home they had ever been. Leo’s nerves had calmed down a bit, but he was still keeping his head on a swivel. Looking around in every direction, making sure no one spotted them. Suddenly Mikey’s eyes went wide and he put a hand on his shoulder. Making Leo almost jump.

“Leo, I have to tell you something.” Mikey looked dead serious. “It’s very important, it’s going to change everything.”

“What is it?” Leo asked, disconcertment crept into his voice.

“I’m hungry.” Mikey tapped his stomach. The group collectively groaned at this. This wasn’t the first time Mikey had been so dramatic about food.

“You ate so much french toast, how are you hungry?” Leo asked, pushing Mikey’s hand off his shoulder.

“It wasn’t that much.” He protested, “Plus, we just did all that running.”

“We’ve been out here for like twenty minutes.” Raph complained, he flipped one of his sais between his fingers.

“Twenty-four, actually.” Donnie tapped his watch.

“Whatever.” Raph rolled his eyes.

Leo tapped his plastron for a minute, debating on if it would be safe to get food up here. He didn’t want to get spotted, but he also knew if Mikey didn’t eat he wouldn't focus for the rest of the night. With a sigh he made a decision. He looked over at Donnie.

“Alright Don, where can we get food around here without anybody actually seeing us?” He asked.

“Oh, um, let me see.” Donnie unzipped his bag and pulled out his Cellapace. “I can check my GPS.” He pulled down his goggles to see the screen.

He quickly tapped his Cellapace with his thumbs, several blip sounds came from the screen.

“Alright, if we go that way,” He pointed left, “There’s Chinatown, we could get something off a cart maybe.” He scrolled the screen again. “Or we could go that way.” He pointed in the opposite direction, “There’s a pizza place that delivers, we could try that, or…”

“Pizza!” Mikey exclaimed, putting his hands in the air, “I want pizza.”

Leo smiled at his little brother, pizza was something they rarely got to have. Master Splinter would occasionally bring it home after surface runs as a treat, it was Mikey's favorite.

“Of course you do.” He looked over at his red masked brother, “You okay with that, Raph?”

“Sure, why not?” He stretched his shoulders. “I could eat.”

“Alright then.” He looked over to Donnie who was still staring at his Cellapace, “Donnie, lead the way.”

Donnie’s eyes went wide for a second.

“Oh, um okay.” He looked at the skyline and his Cellapace back and forth for a second. Then he put his goggles back on his forehead, before starting to walk forward.

“Follow me, gentleman.” He then lept to the next rooftop. Mikey and Raph jumped after him.

Leo followed his brothers closely. He kept thinking about how exactly they were going to get the pizza without any human interaction. He didn't want to let his brothers down, but this seemed really risky. They had never done anything like this before. It was always their father who got food from the surface. Leo wasn’t sure how Splinter got it, but he trusted his father. So he never questioned it.

Now they were way out here all by themselves; getting food from humans, without a full proof plan. What if they get caught? What if they couldn’t get away? What if…

Bonk

He ran into the back of Raph, stumbling backwards onto his own shell.

“Woah, hey.” Raph turned around, “Earth to Leo, what planet are you on?” He offered his hand.

“Sorry, just thinking.” He took Raph’s hand.

“Well, next time think without slamming into me,” Raph said sarcastically while pulling him up.

Leo chuckled nervously, he was glad Raph didn’t ask any questions. Despite being technically younger, Raph tended to worry when Leo spaced out like that, but he didn’t really feel like sharing how much he had been freaking out.

“Why’d we stop?” Leo asked.

“Because, we have arrived.” Donnie pointed down across the street. Leo leaned over the edge of the building. He saw the pizza place Don was pointing at.

Alright, now he really needed a plan.

Chapter Text

   Leo sat on a wooden crate behind a dumpster, he fiddled with his mask tails, nervous about this whole thing. Sure, this had been his idea, but now he wasn’t exactly confident about it.
He watched as Raph peaked around the dumpster, his handkerchief over his snout.

“Why am I doing this again?” He huffed. “Don ordered it and put his name on it.”

“Because, your voice is the lowest and the most like an adult,” he shrugged. “Plus Donnie would be too nervous and Mikey would probably reveal himself by accident.”

“Alright, that checks out,” He looked around the dumpster again, tapping on his leg. “But Don owes me! The smell back here is killin’ me.

“Yeah, it’s not great,” Leo chuckled.

“Okay, I see ‘em,” He adjusted the handkerchief on his snoot. “You sure this is gonna work?”

Leo wasn’t entirely sure. Donnie had placed an order for pizza on his Cellapace. When it asked for a delivery location, they had put, 128 1/2 Park St, hoping the delivery person understood they meant the alleyway between two buildings. It wasn’t fool proof, but it was the best he could come up with.

“I’m sure, it should be a piece of cake,” He lied. “You ready?”

“Yup, I got this,” he leaned against the dumpster. Because of his shorter stature only the top of his head could be seen over it from the other side.

The man’s footsteps started getting close. He stopped in front of the alleyway, looking at his phone and then at the buildings.

“Um, hello?” He shouted. “I got a pizza for a Mr. Don Murasaki?”

“Yeah, over here,” Raph shouted from the alleyway, laying the Brooklyn accent on thick. “You can just set it there.” He stuck his hand up and pointed at the top of the closed dumpster where they had taped some cash to it. Master splinter had given them some for emergencies. “You can keep the change.”

“Okay, whatever you say, man,” He set the pizza down and grabbed the cash. “Uh, have a nice night.” He turned around and muttered something about regretting working night shifts.

When they heard the rev of the motorcycle engine Leo breathed a sigh of relief. He stood up and looked at Raph.

"I can’t believe that actually worked,” Leo said, relieved as he hit his wrists together.

“Thought you said, it was gonna be a piece of cake,” Raph said snidely.

“And it clearly was,” Leo tried to reassure both his brother and himself. He flicked his mask tails over his shoulder and stood up.

“Good job,” He bumped his arm against Raph’s.

“Thanks,” Raph grinned and grabbed the pizza. “Now let’s head back before Mikey starts freaking out.”

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Donnie sat on the rooftop with his feet dangling over the edge, swinging them as he hummed and scrolled through his Cellapace. He liked being up high, a fear of heights seemed silly to him, just don’t fall. Leo and Raph had gone down the street to pick up the pizza. He and Mikey stayed up on the rooftops, ‘out of trouble’, as Leo had lovingly put it. Which was fine by him, waiting never bothered him, he could keep himself occupied no problem. Mikey, on the other hand, was struggling a little bit. He didn’t like it when they weren’t all together.

“How long have they been gone?” Mikey was laying on his shell, fidgeting with the pins on his backpack that was set beside him, “Do you think they have the pizza yet?” He sat up. “What if they never come back?”

“Twelve minutes, no, and don’t worry they’re coming back,” Donnie said flatly.

“Why is it taking so long though!” Mikey flapped his hands anxiously.

“There are a lot of variables,” Donnie turned towards Mikey and put one leg up on the roof. “Between delivery time, traffic, the likelihood of the driver actually figuring out-” Mikey stared at him with his big sad blue eyes and Donnie stopped himself.

“Or they’re just on their way back.” He tried to sound positive. Mikey smiled and went back to fidgeting with his bag.

After another ten minutes Donnie heard his brothers climbing the fire escape. Raph got up first, he was grinning with a pizza box on his shoulder. Leo followed him up and waved at them.

“You’re back!” Mikey shouted, getting up and running towards his big brothers. He hugged Leo and then snatched the pizza away from Raph. Giggling with the box in hand, he set it down next to Donnie and opened it, taking a deep sniff. It did smell really good.

“Hey, what am I, chopped liver?” Raph asked incredulously, crossing his arms.

“Oh, sorry, Raphie!” Mikey ran over to Raph and gave him a kiss on the cheek with a very theatrical, Mwah!

“Feel the love now?” He gave him a devious grin. Raph just blinked slowly and stared at him.

“Sure,” He wiped his cheek with his hand. “Now hand over that pizza, two of those slices are mine.”

Donnie slid off his gloves and took a slice before Mikey took the whole box over to Raph. The slice was warm in his hand. It was just cheese, but Donnie liked it that way most of the time.

Soon, he and all his brothers were just casually munching on pizza, the cool night air brushed against their scaly skin and blew their mask tails back. Donnie finished his slice of pizza, not really feeling like a second one. He looked at his brothers who were all still eating and decided to go back to scrolling on his Cellapace. Needing the comfort of something familiar after so much new overwhelming stuff.

When his brothers had finished their food, Leo stood up and did a scan of them and then the rooftops. He was hitting his wrists together, which meant he was nervous about whatever he was thinking. Leo then put his hands on his hips, shifting to leader mode.

“Alright guys, let’s head back towards home,” He announced.

“Aw, are we going home already?” Mikey pouted.

“No, I just want to be a little closer to home while we do some training.”

“What for?” Raph asked.

“Just in case something goes wrong and we need to get home quickly,” Leo said.

Donnie knew there was no point in arguing, it didn’t really matter where they trained and Leo clearly had already made up his mind. So he stood up and stretched his legs.

“Alright then,” He slid his Cellapace into his Satchel of many things and put his gloves back on, “Lead the way, Leo.” He gestured in the direction back home.

Leo gave him a nod and then looked at their more argumentative brother.

“Ugh, fine why not,” Raph halfheartedly complained.

“Turtles movin’ out!” Mikey exclaimed as he threw the empty pizza box into an open dumpster in the alley below. Before following his brothers towards home.

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Raph cracked his knuckles and faced Donnie. He planned on beating his nerd of a brother, but he still wanted to give him a chance to think he was gonna win. Leo had suggested they practice hand to hand combat, Raph knew this was just because it was quieter than weapons training and Leo was a big nervous nellie. That despite being in the loudest city in the country, somebody would come investigate some metal clanging on a roof. That didn’t really matter to him though, beating his brothers was fun with or without his sais.
He stepped closer to his twin brother and went into a defensive stance, putting his hands up. He flashed him a wicked smile.

“You ready to win this time, Don?” He mocked.

“Yeah, sure,” Sarcasm dripped from his voice. “Like we both don’t know how this is going to end.”

“You never know.”

“Uh huh.”

Raph lunged at Donnie and swung his right fist at his head. Donnie blocked it with his arm and went to hit him in the shoulder, but Donnie wasn’t quick enough. The strike went straight past the red masked turtle, leaving Donnie wide open. Raph latched onto his brother’s arm with both hands and stepped sideways. He flipped Donnie all the way over onto his shell, The taller turtle hit the roof shell first with a thud, a small wheeze escaped his mouth.

The purple clad turtle didn’t move and just laid there with his face all scrunched. Raph knew he wasn’t actually hurt, their shells were tough and Donnie was no wimp when it came to pain. He stood over him and put his hands on his hips.

“You gonna give up? Just like that?” Raph held out a hand to help his brother up. Donnie unscrunched his face and stared up at him.

“Yes, I see no point in getting beat up any further,” He took Raph’s hand and pulled himself up. “I know with our current skill set you are going to win in hand to hand combat.” Donnie brushed himself off.

“That’s the point of the exercise, Donnie,” Leo walked over from the edge of the roof. “To get better at it.” He crossed his arms over his plastron.

“I don’t see how getting beat up by Raph helps with that, but okay,” Donnnie rubbed his arm where Raph had grabbed it.

Raph felt a little bad, he knew Donnnie didn’t love to fight without his bo staff. To Raph, hitting things with hands and arms felt great, the adrenaline and feeling of being in the moment, but with his sensory issues, Donnie didn’t do so well with it. Leo sighed after a moment.

“Fair enough, you can swap with Mikey next time,” He tilted his head the youngest.

“Aw, that means I get beat up by Raph,” Mikey complained and shoved something into his bag.

“Or you could get better,” Raph retorted.

“Okay we get, you’re strong, go sit down,” Leo pointed with his thumb to the edge of the roof and rolled his eyes. “Alright, Mikey, you’re with me!”

Raph and Donnie traded places with Mikey, who hopped to his feet and marched over to Leo. He seemed antsy to move after having to watch his brothers spar and argue.

“Alright, bring it on, Leon!” Mikey shuffled his feet and put his hands up.

“Consider it brought,” Leo smirked and stood in a rigid fighting stance, keeping his eyes on Mikey, whose movements were much more relaxed and bouncy.

Leo went in first, striking at Mikey’s shoulder. Mikey twisted out of the way, spun around and thwaped Leo on the back of his shell. Leo turned towards him and went for it again, but Mikey kept dodging and moving around instead of going for a counter attack. Raph snorted and noticed how Leo was starting to lose patience. He could have watched this forever.

“Come on, Mikey,” Leo said, slightly upset now. “You have to fight back.”

“Nah, bro!” Mikey did an aerial to get away from Leo, chuckling as he did. “I’m gonna win this way, just gotta tire you out.”

“You can’t possibly have that much more energy than me,” Leo retorted, but his movements were slower than before. “I can run longer than you, you know.”

“Yeah, but I just drank an energy drink while you guys were arguing,” He giggled, still staying just out of Leo’s reach. “So, I’ve got caffeine running through my veins.”

Mikey jumped back and flicked his wrists like he was Spider man. Raph looked into his little brother’s backpack and saw the mostly empty can and held it up over his head to show Leo.

“Michelangelo!” Leo shouted, barely even chasing after him now. “You know that’s gonna make you crash in like an hour!”

“Fifty three minutes based on my last experiment,” Don shouted at them. Raph gave him a look of confusion.

“You did what?” Leo glanced at Donnie, “Why would you-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Mikey grinned, “ I don’t need fifty three minutes to do this!”

Mikey got down and sweep kicked his brother’s ankles. Leo yelped and landed on his shell for the second time that night. Mikey grinned wildly and put his hands in the air.

“Mikey for the win!” He ran over and snatched the can from Raph’s hand, drinking the last bit of energy drink. Raph got up and walked over to his older brother, Donnie followed him.

“You’ve gotta stop getting knocked on your shell, fearless leader,” Raph teased, “It’s not great for your image.” He offered a hand to Leo, who took it after a heavy sigh.

“Nah, I wouldn't want you guys thinking I’m perfect or something,” He stood up and brushed himself off, before giving Donnnie a stare.

“Now, what do you mean last experiment?” He folded his arms with disappointment.

“Relax, he was gonna drink them anyway,” Donnnie looked at his phone again, and opened an app. “I just wanted to see what caffeine did to our increased metabolism and mutated blood.” He held up his phone for them to look at. “I even made color coded charts,” He gave them his ‘very proud of himself’ smile.

“Pfft, nerd,” Raph mumbled.

“That’s nice Donnie,” Leo offered. “But how did you figure this out?”

“I did a whole bunch of gymnastics, like this!” Mikey set his backpack down and proceeded to do a back handspring, right into a TV antenna.

It bent and groaned as his shell pushed it over, nearly snapping it in half. Mikey jolted straight up, turning slowly to see the damage he did. An oops squeaked from the freckled turtle’s mouth. Raph slapped a hand over his own mouth. Raph stood there in disbelief for a moment. He looked at his other brothers, they were both frozen in shock, Donnie’s jaw was dropped. A chuckle burst from Raph before he could stop himself.

“Omigosh! Mikey!” Leo shouted, finally reacting to the situation, and ran over to his little brother. Who was clearly fine, but that didn’t stop Leo from worrying.

The sound of a window squeaking open and the clang of the fire escape made them all jump. A voice grumbled and someone started coming up the stairs.

“Hahire!” Leo hissed. He pulled Mikey by the wrist and they took off to the next rooftop.

They didn’t stop running until they were at the building next to the manhole cover that led home. They all hopped down the fire escape into the alleyway and breathed a sigh of relief.

“That was too close,” Leo tapped on his plastron.

“I can’t believe a human almost saw us,” Mikey flapped his hands.

“I can’t believe you broke a TV antenna,” Donnie pointed out.

“Well, you forgot this and I believe that,” Raph shoved Mikey’s backpack into his little brother’s hands.

“Oh, thanks, Raph,” Mikey slipped his backpack back on.

They stood there for a moment, all of them a little spooked from the experience. A human had almost seen them. What would have happened if they had? Would they have screamed? They had broken their TV antenna so they would have been mad in any case, but being mutants certainly wouldn't have helped the situation.

“Guys, let’s go home,” Leo rubbed his arms.

“Home,” Donnie repeated.

Chapter Text

  Raph lifted the manhole cover and they all hopped back down into the subway tunnels. Being underground, Leo breathed a sigh of relief. They were all in a place they knew was safe. They had only been out for a couple hours, but Leo’s head felt like it was going to explode.

Leo led the group as they slowly walked back to the lair. Mikey jumped on Raph’s shell for a ‘turtlesback’ ride about half way home. Raph huffed in annoyance, but he didn't push him off.

“Still can’t believe we just did that,” Mikey flopped his arms over Raph’s shoulders, leaning forward.

“Me neither,” Raph tightened his grip on his baby brother to keep him from falling off.

“Do you think we should tell Dad?” Mikey asked.

Leo blinked hard and stopped in his tracks. His brothers almost ran into his shell. What were they going to tell Splinter? They had never lied to their father before, well maybe a few small ones here and there, but never something like this. Leo turned to his siblings, he took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

“No, Chichi doesn’t need to know about this,” Leo spoke firmly.

“What?” Mikey protested. “But a human almost saw us!”

“Yeah, almost,” Leo emphasized. “They didn’t actually see us, so we don’t have to tell him.”

“Mikey did damage someone else’s property,” Donnie pointed out.

“Sure, but they have no way of knowing we did that, it’s New York city, how could they prove that it was a mutant turtle who broke their antenna?” Leo spoke quickly and started drumming on his own plastron.

“Are you trying to convince us or yourself?” Donnie asked.

Leo kept tapping on his plastron and staring at the ground, his first mission and he had already screwed it up. He couldn’t tell Otou-san, he wasn’t sure what Splinter would do, but it wouldn't be good.

“Leo’s right,” Raph admitted. His brothers all stared at him, mouths half open.

“Quit gawkin’ he’s got a point, if Pops finds out we can kiss going out again goodbye.” He turned his head to Mikey on his back. “So, zip it chatterbox,” He huffed.

“Fine, keep secrets from, Dad,” Mikey rolled his eyes. “But don’t blame me when it backfires.”

“Or me,” Donnie chimed in.

They walked the rest of the way home without talking. In the echoing tunnels, the soft sound of electric buzzing and distant trains kept their light footsteps entirely silent. They turned into the ghost line they called home.

When they walked into the living room, Leo knew something was coming. It was eerily quiet, even for a ninja master. No sounds of Master Splinter laughing at his favorite sit-coms or cooking shows. The candles in the dojo were unlit. Most strangely no lights were on in the kitchen.

“Papa?” Mikey called, sliding off of Raph’s shell.

Leo peeked into the kitchen carefully. His brothers just walked straight in, not even checking to see if it was safe. Suddenly the lights suddenly came on, sending them all into defensive stances, Mikey and Donnie yelped.

“Surprise!” Splinter beamed from the other side of the table.

They all relaxed when they saw their father. Taking in his surroundings, Leo noticed the whole kitchen was decorated. Colorful balloons hung from the walls and paper origami was all over the table and counters. Most surprising of all was the cake in front of Splinter.
It was a big round cake with a white icing base. It was divided into four sections by colorful frosting in their signature colors, each quarter had a different kind of sprinkles. Fifteen green candles decorated the top, showing how long they had been mutated and a family. They usually got a treat on mutation day, but this was next level.

They all stared at the cake and decorations. It wasn’t like they didn’t celebrate mutation day every year, but this was the first time their father had surprised them and decorated like this. Leo looked Splinter in the face.

His warm and proud expression made Leo smile. His father had clearly worked hard on all of this and based on his ruffled fur, had raced around a bit too. Mikey quickly ran up to their father and hugged him. Splinter chuckled at his youngest and reached out his hand to his other sons. Leo took the invitation and quickly walked over to his father, Raph and Donnie followed soon after. The group hug only lasted a few seconds, but it made Leo very grateful for his family.

“Happy Mutation day, my sons,” Splinter released his sons and looked at each of them with pride.

“Thank you, Otou-san,” Leo beamed.

Mikey raised his hand slowly with big hopeful eyes.

“Can we eat the cake now?” He bounced on his toes.

Splinter gave a soft chuckle and stroked his beard. “I suppose, or we could open presents first.”

The three older turtles gasped, “Presents!” They said in unison.

Mikey crossed his arms and let out a small puff of air from his snoot. Every year he tried to do dessert before presents and every year he got out voted.
Splinter went around the table and grabbed four boxes wrapped in brown paper and color coded ribbons. Mikey got a little excited when he saw the box with the orange ribbon was the biggest.
Their father then set each box on the table, each in front of a chair, gesturing for them all to sit down. The boys quickly got in their chairs and tore open their gifts.
Mikey was the first to get his open, he gasped in delight.

“Ohmigosh!” He held his present above his head, “Roller skates!” He set them down on the floor and immediately started putting them on.

“Thanks, Papa!” He giggled with excitement as he laced up the skates.

Raph got his open next, tearing off the paper in big chunks, he unwrapped a brand new cookbook. It was a hard cover with fancy writing. Colorful fruits and vegetables decorated the front. Raph held it carefully like it was made of glass. He glanced up at their father.

“Thanks, Dad,” He started carefully flipping through the pages, “I can’t wait to try a bunch of these. They look good.”

“You are welcome, I thought you might like a cookbook that wasn’t falling apart and mostly in Japanese,” Splinter smiled.

Raph smiled back and kept flipping through the book.

Donnie got his open in one piece after slicing the tape with his nails. He pulled open a hinged box to find an analog watch. It was black and purple with silver detailing, the numbers and watch hands glowed with an indigo hue. Donnie’s eyes lit up and he began fiddling with the buttons on the side to see what they did. Leo nudged his younger brother.

“Thank you,” Donnie said without looking up.

Splinter chuckled at his son. This wasn’t the first time Donnie had gotten focused on something and had forgotten formalities.

“You are welcome, Donatello,” He said as he sat down in his own chair across from his sons.

Leo was the last to open his gift, he usually waited till his brothers were finished. He enjoyed watching the looks on their faces when they got excited. He carefully unwrapped his own gift, folding up the wrapping paper before opening the cloth bag that was inside.

Inside were three Kunai, dark charcoal grey throwing knives that reflected blue when he turned them in the light. They were beautiful and dangerous, whoever made them was clearly skilled. He set them carefully on the table in front of him. He looked up at his father and bowed his head.

“Thank you, Oto-san,” Leo stared at his gift, “I will treat them with great respect.”

“I know you will, Leonardo,” Splinter folded his hands and stood from his chair. “I’m glad you all seem to enjoy the gifts.”

“Yeah! Totally!” Mikey exclaimed.

He was rolling around the kitchen in his new skates, using the counter to keep himself steady. He had been asking for a pair for months now, but this was his first time skating, so he was pretty wobbly.

“These are so sick!” He carefully rolled across the kitchen floor, slowly getting the hang of it.

The skates were pretty cool, they were dark brown leather with soft orange laces and wheels, the sides had yellow and orange zig zags. They were sort of retro, but very Mikey.

Mikey pushed off of the counter and rolled right up to the table next to Splinter.

“Can we eat the cake now, please?” Mikey looked up at his father, his big blue eyes pleading.

Raph snorted affectionately without looking up from his new cookbook. Leo smirked, leave it to Mikey to always get back to food as quickly as possible. Donnie adjusted his new watch onto his wrist and then folded his hands on the table.

“Cake,” he repeated, agreeing with Mikey.

“Alright,” Splinter chuckled, “Raphael, help me get the plates and silverware.”

“You got it, Pops,” Raph set down his cookbook and went to help their father.

Soon they were all digging into the cake, it was light and fluffy, its vanilla frosting just the right amount of sweet. Leo was never quite sure where their father got the food or supplies they always had, much less an amazing cake like this, but to him it didn’t really matter. They were content and he trusted his father. So he just accepted it without much worry.

“So how was it, getting out of the subway tunnels?” Splinter asked between bites of cake.

“It was fun!” Mikey said through a mouthful of cake.

“Did you stay out of sight?” He raised a bushy eyebrow.

Leo’s heart skipped a beat. This was it, the first time he would really have to lie to his father. He wasn’t sure he could do it.

“Of course we did, Pops!” Raph said before Leo could worry about it any more.

He was suddenly very grateful for his hot headed brother. Leo and Donnie nodded yes to back up what Raph said. For a brief moment Splinter looked at them skeptically.

“That is good,” He lowered his brow and took a bite of cake.

Leo finally relaxed his shoulders, and began eating his slice of cake again.

“Then if you are up to it, perhaps you would like to go up again in a few days?” Splinter asked.

“Yes!” Mikey rolled his feet under the table, he hadn’t taken off his skates yet.

They all nodded in agreement. Eager to go up again.

“Alright then. You may return to the surface in a couple of days,” Splinter getured up with his fork.

They all cheered in excitement. Leo felt pretty guilty about keeping a secret from Splinter, but Raph made a good point. If they had told him about breaking that tv antenna they may not be allowed out for a long time. As much as it was scary going up to the surface, it was also really fun and his brothers loved it.

So, putting his feelings aside, he would say nothing so they could go up top again. Plus, that was probably the worst thing that could happen to them up there anyway.

                                                                                      ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

   A large oak door creaked open. In a charcoal suit and burgundy tie a man sat behind a desk with papers scattered all over it. The room was lit by a single lamp, his computer screen glowed with a pale light, casting shadows over his sharp features. The high ceiling made everything the man did echo, making even entering the room intimidating. He was staring daggers at a document, deeply engrossed in it.

“You called for me, Mr. Oroku?” A short lady in a brown skirt and blue blouse walked carefully into the room holding a clipboard and pencil.

“Yes,” He said coldly, looking up from his papers. “I need you to completely clear my schedule for next month,” he set the document down and laid his arms on his desk.

“All of next month?” she glanced down at her clipboard, her heavy glasses slid down her nose, “But sir, you have several meetings and that interview with the press-”

“I don’t care!” He pounded his fist on the desk and she flinched. “Clear it, Miss Langenstein or you can clear out your desk,” his face was steely and uncaring.

Irma Langenstien did not want to argue, her boss was a frightening man, plus she didn’t want to lose her job. So she took a deep breath and calmed her shaky hands.

“Yes, sir,” she said as evenly as possible, “Is there anything else?”

“Contact Agent Bishop for me,” he turned around in his office chair to look through a window, “I need to speak with him.”

“Yes, sir,” she walked out of her boss's office, shutting the door behind her.

Irma quickly paced back to her desk and sat down. She took off her glasses and put her head in her hands, wishing she could just go home already.

Chapter Text

The blare of car horns and people shouting outside made the redheaded girl go up the stairs faster. She wished she could just shut it all out, but life wasn’t so simple. She could feel the drumming in her head when she reached the third floor.

April slammed the door when she entered her apartment. She didn't mean to, but today had not been a good day. The evening editing meeting had been scheduled later than usual and for two hours every suggestion April had was rejected.

"Whoa, April, you're gonna get us a noise complaint with that kind of entrance." Casey said, leaning around the corner.

Her best friend since middle school and roommate was making himself a snack in the kitchen. She was having a mental crisis and he was eating Reese's puffs!

"Sorry, Case, I'm just freaking out a bit," she set her bag and water bottle on the kitchen table.

"About, what?" he sat down at the table with his bowl of cereal.

"That I'm not doing enough, that I can't make it in journalism, that I'm gonna fail!" she slumped into the chair across from Casey.

"Well, that is a lot more than I expected. What brought this up?" he pushed his dark bangs out of his eyes.

"I don't know, I just wanted to get the leading headline, but they gave it to Vernon again and I got stuck with another social media story," she pressed her cheek into her hand.

"But you're great at those, and lots of people read them." Casey shoved another bite of cereal in his mouth.

April sighed, "Yeah, I guess, but I want to do something new." she stared at the table. "I don’t want to get stuck doing the same thing over and over. I'm afraid I'm gonna end up like my mom."

"What?" Casey stopped eating for a moment.

"Well, you know, she had so many goals and ambitions, then bam she married my dad and she never moved out of Connecticut, working as a nurse in a small town hospital for twenty years," April sighed. "I just wanna be someone, Case."

"Well, you are someone, you're April O'Neil, top columnist at The Initial review, my best friend, and record holder of the most cookies eaten in one sitting!"

"We never really fact checked that last one,” she smirked.

"The point is, you've already done so much more than your mom and you're only 25, we're not even "real" adults yet," he shoved another bite of cereal in his mouth, as though that proved his point.

April took another deep breath. "You're right, Casey," she glanced up at him. "Thanks."

"No problem," he picked up his bowl of cereal,

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a logo to highlight," he pointed his spoon ahead of him as he walked to his computer back in his bedroom.

Alone in the kitchen, April put her head in her hands. She knew Casey was probably right, she shouldn’t worry about doing everything, she had time. Her life wasn’t a race and she should enjoy it. She flapped her hands and then ran them through her hair, before getting up to relax in her room.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The laptop screen lit up April's face, she had been writing non-stop for over an hour. After chilling in her room for a while, the itch to write had hit her like a hurricane. Typing out her new assignment like her life depended on it, which it sort of did. Her fingers finally paused and she stretched her hands into the air, realizing she had been hunched over for far too long.

"Okay, base draft done," she mumbled to herself. "Now to edit," April knew she didn’t have to edit it, that was the editor's job, but she liked to be as close to done as she could get it when she sent it in.

She glanced at her clock. The numbers read 10:05. Later than she thought, but she didn’t have work until the afternoon tomorrow, so it wasn’t an issue.

Thinking for a moment, she decided if she was going to work any later, coffee was a necessity or this article would be a grammatical nightmare. She stood up slowly from her computer and stretched again. Slipping on some shoes and a coat over her yellow plaid hoodie, she headed out of her room.

"Casey, I'm going over to the bodega," she shouted from the front door. "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, call the cops," she closed the door behind her and locked it.

What she didn't know was that Casey was fast asleep in his office chair and heard nothing of what she said.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

April carefully crossed the intersection to get to the bodega across the street. Pulling open the door she was met with flickering fluorescent lights that made her head hurt. The smell of cheap food and cigarettes filled the building. She grabbed a glass bottle of iced coffee and a bag of cookies as quickly as possible. She greeted Mr.Cruz, who ran the store, then paid for her goodies and walked to the door. As she was leaving, four tall guys in dark cloths and wild hair walked in, she shuffled out of the way and quickly got out. She was out on the sidewalk about to pop open her drink when she heard shouting coming from inside the store.

Suddenly, the window behind her shattered. Her ears rang from the sound of a gun shot as she backed up and ducked down. Her heart was racing, she almost got shot, the bodega was being robbed.

With her hands shaking, she went to grab her phone from her coat pocket, but it was empty, she had left it in her bedroom. Unsure of what to do she stayed hidden behind the corner of the building. Panic rose in her chest.

"Okay, no phone, but if I go across the street they'll definitely see me and might grab me," she gripped her snacks. "Or worse," she shook with fear as she stayed hunched down on the ground.

After what felt like forever, the four guys walked out of the store with duffle bags, filled with cash and stolen snacks. She held her breath.

"See, boys?" the guy in the front bragged. "I told you this would be easy money."

"Never doubted you, Snake," the shortest guy said.

They strolled down the street in the opposite direction of where April was hiding. She stuffed her snacks in her pockets and peaked around the corner to see where they were going. They had started walking left towards a gap between the buildings, clearly confident they would get away with the robbery.

Without warning, something grabbed the robbers from the dark alleyway. The guys screamed for just a second before total silence. April stood up straight.

"What," the whisper escaped her mouth.

She carefully walked towards the alleyway, logic taking a backseat to her curiosity. She suddenly heard new voices coming from the alleyway. They sounded younger and more nervous.

"I can't believe we just did that," a guy’s voice said.

"It was your idea, fearless leader," a second voice retorted.

“You talked me into it!” the first voice snapped back.

This seemed like the first time these guys had done this. The inner journalist in her really wanted to know who these guys were and why they decided to help. The sane part of her wanted to know who was crazy enough to do something like this. She stayed put and kept listening.

"What do we do with these guys, Leo?" A third voice asked.

"Hold on, I'm thinking,” said the first voice, ‘Leo’ she guessed. “If you can’t tell I’m making this up as I go.”

"We could tie them up and leave them for the police, like Batman!" A fourth voice suggested. She heard a thwap.

"We're not superheroes, shell fer brains,” the second voice grumbled, with more of a Brooklyn accent this time.

Shell for brains? What was up with these guys?

"No, Mikey's right. We can't take them anywhere without getting spotted, so we'll just tie them up and leave them here," The first voice commanded. "Donnie?"

"What, you just assume I have rope on me at all times?” The third voice, Donnie, said flatly.

There was a long pause of silence.

“Alright, fine, but I hate wasting my perfectly good rope on these delinquents.”

“Ooh! And I know the perfect note to leave for the police!” The fourth voice piped up again.

This was too much, why couldn’t they be seen? Why did one of these dudes have rope on him constantly? She suddenly heard the sound of bodies shuffling and paper crumpling. April was way too curious, but that’s what got her to the top of the news business. Also in trouble usually, but she wasn't going to focus on that aspect.

Unable to stand it any longer, she peaked around the corner. A gasp escaped her lips before she could stop herself. She expected teens, but turtles?

Chapter Text

The dark sky and glowing windows whisked by as the four turtles hopped from rooftop to rooftop. The buildings were smaller and more shoved together here, making it easier to jump between them. Mikey vaulted over an air vent with one hand. He rushed up to his tallest brother’s side.

“I can’t believe we’ve been going out for almost two weeks and we never went left,” he sarcastically complained.

“What? I liked going the same way every time,” Donnie protested, keeping his eyes on the ground in front of him, hopping to a lower rooftop.

“I guess that’s fair,” The orange masked turtle zigzagged around the roof, weaving in front of Donnie and Raph.

Mikey loved the feeling of running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop. It felt way better than running through subway tunnels. However, running the same way every night had gotten a little too predictable. Which was why Mikey had asked to go in the opposite direction tonight. A new route with new stuff to look at. This side of town was filled with little shops with small apartment complexes on top of them. It was more cozy than the high rises they had been running over before.

At the edge of a roof, Leo suddenly stopped and put his right hand up. Mikey screeched to a halt with his big brothers right behind him. The three of them looked at Leo.

“We stoppin’ here?” Raph asked

“Yeah, I thought we wouldn’t spend as much time on the warmup run and just have a look around.” Leo said as he adjusted his knee pads and socks.

“Sounds good to me,” Mikey beamed, walking over to another edge of the roof.

The street they had stopped at wasn’t quite as nice as the one from last week. It was dingier with more garbage lying around. A convenience store on the other side of the alleyway lit up the whole intersection with its neon signs. Only a few people were walking down the street below them, he noticed one person’s hair was bright orange. Mikey loved people with colorful hair, he sometimes wondered what it would be like to have hair.

As crumby as this place looked, it was still cool to see somewhere new. Mikey loved watching people walk along the sidewalks and go in and out of buildings. All the different clothes they wore and how they talked to each other. He kinda wished he could go down there himself, but he knew there was no point in asking. It was too dangerous.

Across the alleyway Mikey spotted a cat on the roof of the bodega. Without hesitation, Mikey hopped over to the other roof all ninja-like. He didn’t want to spook them. The cat had long hair with black and orange patches and a white chest. It was small, maybe not even a year old, but had a tear in its right ear that was just healing up.

Mikey crouched down a few feet from it and held out his hand. He made a few chirp sounds and the cat’s big yellow eyes lit up. With a confident if not a little wobbly stride, the cat walked over and rubbed its head on Mikey’s hand.

“Ohmigosh,” Mikey whispered, careful not to scare the cat away. The little cat mewed and purred as it walked around him, “I’m a disney princess,” he whispered.

The cat seemed to have no fear of him, and just sniffed around, looking for food.

“Mikey? What are you doing?” Leo called from behind him.

“Makin a friend,” he called back sing songy.

His brothers all came up behind him and looked down at the cat. Who at this point had flopped over and was nibbling at its own paws. Seemingly unbothered by the four mutant turtles.

“Confident little furball aren’t they,” Raph crossed his arms.

“She definitely seems used to people,” Donnie crouched beside Mikey and offered his hand for the cat to sniff. The cat stopped biting her paw, sniffed his hand, and rolled over for a belly scratch.

“Oh, he,” Donnie noted. “That’s crazy rare.”

“Why is that rare?” Mikey asked.

“He’s a calico, only one in like three thousand are male,” Donnie kept petting the cat, a smile creeping across his face.

“Woah,” Mikey also went to pet the cat’s belly.

The cat’s fur was scraggly and wiry, like he needed a good brush. Mikey was glad he had a lot of fur though. It was cold on the rooftops, he didn’t want his new friend to get chilly.

“Plus it also means he’s sterile.”

“Huh?” Mikey tilted his head.

“Can’t be a dad,” Donnie offered.

“Ohhh,” Mikey gasped. “Sorry to hear that Klunk.”

He purred like that didn’t bother him at all.

“Klunk?” Raph asked.

“He looks like a Klunk,” Mikey smiled.

Klunk flopped around, he seemed to like the name.

Mikey was about to ask if they could keep Klunk, when a loud bang rang out right below them. The bodega’s left window shattered. The turtles all crouched down and Klunk ran into a box for safety. Someone had fired a gun inside the building!

“I think the store is being robbed,” Donnie said flatly.

“Shh,” Leo put his finger to his mouth.

“We gotta do something!” Mikey whispered.

“This has nothing to do with us,” Leo was tapping at his plastron.

“Someone might be dead, Leo.” Raph huffed. “And the cops aren't gonna get here in time to catch them.”

An alarm started blaring as four guys in black walked out of the bodega.

“Come on, Leo,” Mikey gripped his big brother’s shoulder. “We gotta help.”

Leo scrunched his snout and sighed. He stood up straight and tugged on his gloves.

“Okay, but we gotta move fast,” Leo ran over to the roof ladder.

They followed Leo to the edge and slid down the ladder into the alleyway. It was small and dark, no lights or windows to shine light on them. Mikey closed his third eyelid so his eyes would adjust quicker, it was a perk of being a turtle.

Leo tapped each of their shoulders and mimed grabbed a person. He then signed the word for sleep. Mikey knew what that meant and he cracked his knuckles.
When all four guys walked in front of the alleyway Mikey jumped up, grabbed the guy on the end by the shoulders and hit a pressure point Master Splinter had taught them. The guy gave a small yelp and passed out. Mikey looked over and his brothers had all done the same thing. He carefully set the guy on the ground, giving his head a little pat.

“I can’t believe we just did that,” Leo said, he set the unconscious guy on the ground.

“It was your idea, fearless leader,” Raph said snidely as he just dropped his guy.

“You talked me into it!” Leo snapped back and flapped his hands.

Mikey could tell his big brother was stressed out, they had never done something like this. Splinter had told them to stay away from humans and keep away from danger. They had just broken both rules at once. Mikey was proud of himself though, they had stopped bad guys from getting away, what was wrong with that?

“What do we do with these guys, Leo?” Donnie asked, gesturing to the four unconscious guys on the ground.

“Hold on, I’m thinking,” Leo said, hitting his wrists together. “If you can’t tell I’m making this up as I go,” He admitted.

Well, that’s comforting, Mikey looked down at the guys on the ground and then up at the ladder to the roof, it had some over hanging medal bars. It seemed perfect to him.

“We could tie them up and leave them for the police, like Batman!” He offered

Raph hit him in the back of the head with a thwap. It didn’t really hurt, but it was annoying.

“We’re not superheroes, shell for brains.” Raph mocked and shook his head.

Leo looked up at Mikey and put his hands on his hips, a look of confidence returning to his face.

"No, Mikey's right. We can't take them anywhere without getting spotted, so we'll just tie them up and leave them here," Leo ordered, he turned to his taller brother. "Donnie?"

“What?” He fained an offended look. “You just assume I have rope on me at all times,”

They all silently stared at their brother, this was the same turtle who prided himself on always being prepared and owned a ‘satchel of many things’. So yeah, they assumed that.

“Alright fine,” He rolled his eyes. “But I hate using my perfectly good rope on these delinquents.” He huffed.”

“Ooh! And I know the perfect note to leave for the police!” Mikey said excitedly.

While his brothers carefully dragged the four bad guys to one spot to tie them up, Mikey took off his backpack. He set it on the ground and began fishing around for a notebook and pen. After a moment he found it, his favorite small teal one, conveniently with a red pen clipped to its metal spiral. He flipped it open to a random page and began writing a vague note.

Suddenly, Mikey heard a faint gasp to his left. His brothers must have heard it too, because they were all on their feet, facing where the sound had come from. Mikey looked in the same direction.

At the mouth of the alleyway, a woman was peeking out from behind the corner of a building. She wore a large olive green coat that seemed too big for her. She had round silver framed glasses that matched her rounded features, but what was most striking was her bright orange hair. It was shoulder length and almost seemed to glow in the dark. It was the person he had seen on the street!

The lady didn’t say anything, she just stared at them, her hands were shaking, but she didn’t run away in terror, which seemed like a good sign. As much as Mikey wanted to talk to humans, he knew that the way he and his brothers looked was very different and maybe even scary.

So Mikey smiled and held up hands, trying to show he wasn’t a threat. Raph, on the other hand, went with a different approach.

“You with them, carrot-top?” he stepped forward and stood as tall as his short frame would allow. He flashed her a wicked grin and spun his sai

“No, I-” She began to stutter.

“Dude, chill out I don’t think she’s a bad guy,” Mikey ran in front of his hot headed brother. “Hi, I’m Michelangelo, I like your hair,” he grinned at her.

“Um, thank you?” She said slowly.

After another moment of silence, she spoke up again.

“I’m April O’Neil.”