Chapter Text
I walked in NYC, missing my friend April, recently she'd gone missing and just as I gotten back home too. I was still on my training trip in the Himalayan Mountains when I heard her dad had gone missing. I felt bad for her as we've been friends for quite a while and had met her dad several times. It's obvious they had a good relationship. Poor April, she was devastated. I remember reading the letter she sent about what happened. There were water marks on it, as if someone had been crying while writing it.
Why did bad things happen to good people? I sighed and put up my hood to cover my hair; I had just dried it and didn't want it to get frizzy because of the humidity and rain. I began thinking about my trip, it was fun, but a lot of hard work and my "condition" didn't help at all during those tough days. I went around to different countries studying different forms of martial arts with my father and competing in tournaments. I was really good at Muay Thai, a form of kick boxing using the elbows and knees frequently. I enjoyed learning other types but, Muay Thai is definitely my favorite. I had studied karate, taekwondo, kickboxing, regular boxing, and many other martial arts. Along with that I had to run several miles a day and sprint for at least 500m of it. So yea, I felt pretty safe wandering New York City by myself. If I couldn't fight them I could outrun them.
I let my mind wander as I roamed the streets. I started school soon but didn't want to, I was 16 but I already had all the education I needed, my father hired a tutor to travel with us and he did NOT go easy on me, despite the long and tiring hours I spent training. That cold-hearted bastard, I hope he burned in hell. He graded harshly and with had no mercy for my poor spelling at the age of 10. I spelled one word wrong and BAM! Automatic 10 points off. Now if you asked me to I could spell to you almost any word, AND tell you what origin it was. It's a pretty useless talent if you ask me. I also could tell you every chemical in the human body, as well as do a college math problem in my head fairly quickly. More useless talents. World History and Language were the only courses I liked. Language was interesting because you could speak to other people and the amount of people you could converse with rose as you learned more and more. Normally I'd learn the language of the place we were in for how long we were there. But first the bastard made me learn Latin, one of the hardest languages to learn. But I have to admit, it does help learn tons of other languages considering it is the root of all languages. History was fun as I learned about great people who helped lead revolutions, stop wars, and started different ideas. I have to admit, I liked learning about Buddhism, but the whole "no fighting" thing was definitely not going to work for me.
My Dad was the one who first got me into martial arts. He used to have a dojo in the city but it sunk under when my mom passed away. We were homeless for a little while then my dad had the opportunity to fight in a martial arts competition and won. He kept winning and we finally had enough to get an apartment. By then I was ten.
I was finally returned to reality when I spotted some familiar ginger hair. I began to follow her, realizing it was April. What was she doing roaming freely? I thought she was missing! She looked behind herself frequently, didn't she recognize me? Soon I saw her pull out her phone and call someone. Her whole body language screamed nervous and scared, very un-April like. Soon she began to jog, or maybe that was her sprint, I wasn't too sure but I followed after her, keeping a steady pace. I ran in front of her to grab her. The single most unholy noise came from her mouth so I covered her mouth and ran, I would save her from her kidnappers but my lord she needed to stay quiet.
I was about to stop and tell her it's just me but something small and sharp flew past my face and stopping me from going any farther. I saw it was a ninja star. "What the hell...." I murmured. I noticed April was struggling, I knew I needed to reveal myself soon, but now her attackers had caught up! I started to run again but 4 people were in my way. I stopped and let April down; I couldn't fight with her in my arms. For some reason she ran to one of the figures. Okay. They definitely weren't kidnappers, "What do you want with April!" one of them yelled to me. As they walked into the light, I could see them better. I realized that it was some weirdo in a turtle costume, wearing a blue bandanna. The costume wasn't bad either. It would've had me except turtles don't become humanoid. The blue bandanna asked me again, "Why are you following our friend! Are you teamed up with Shredder?!" I just stared at him, who was Shredder? I opened my mouth to explain the situation when another one of them whizzed by me and stood behind me. Bad move.
By instinct I body flipped him and then twisted his arm painfully behind his back. I heard the orange bandana cry out in pain, "Mikey!" The one in purple yelled. April watched him run towards me with his staff. He leapt into the air and was going to bring his staff down on my head, but I ran forward and somersaulted under him as he jumped. I saw the confused look on his face right before I got up and grabbed him by the neck and bashed his face into the cement several times. His mistake was not getting up right away and staying crouched for a second too long. I felt a hand grab my shoulder and rip me away.
Whipping around I took a boxing stance and began punching the guy in the face, gaining ground and finally I kicked him away. The blue bandana went flying, surprised. The red one was the only one left, but I could see the others beginning to stir. The red one got out two sai blades and ran at me yelling like a maniac. He swiped and stabbed as I dodged, he was a little stronger than the rest of them so I actually had to try not to get knifed. I saw something orange run past me and felt something cold wrap around my ankle. My eyes widened as I felt a sharp tug and fell, my hood falling to reveal my face. How was that still up anyway? I heard April gasp and yell something to her guard dogs, hopefully for them to lay off ‘cause I was starting to get pis-. My thought were interrupted as I felt a sharp stab in my stomach and then across my leg. All I remember is April screaming at red bandanna and everything going black as I rapidly lost blood.
~~~~APRIL' P.O.V. ~~~~
I screamed for them to stop when I realized who it was fighting the turtles. Raphael must not have heard me since he stabbed her. "RAPH! What part of don't hurt her don't you get!"
"The ‘don't hurt her part’." I groaned, how could he be so incompetent!
Michelangelo went over to her unconscious body and said, "Woah, dude is a dudette..." I ignored him.
Donnie got up and walked over holding his head. She had really done a number on him when she bashed his head into the pavement. I was worried he might even have a concussion! "April you know this psycho?" I shot him a glare and he cringed.
"She's a good friend." I mumbled and looked back at her unconscious body.
"Yea, such a good friend you called us begging for help, since she was stalking you." Raph didn’t look amused, standing with his arms crossed and glaring down at her.
"I couldn't see her face...." I told them meekly,
"What do we do with her now?" Mikey asked.
"We need to take her to the lair. I know Master Splinter won't be happy, but we have no other option, I don't know where she lives and she's bleeding badly...." I looked at her body and panic spread through me like ice. She was bleeding out fast! "We need to go. Now!"
"April's right, and Raph since you did the stabbing, you get to carry her back." Leo said.
Raph groaned, "Fine," he said, grumbling and picked up her body. We ran back to the lair.
~~~~ NORMAL P.O.V. ~~~~
I woke up to an unfamiliar room. I was on a sofa of some sort and the room smelled slightly of sewage, not too strongly or I might have gagged. Looking around I saw a T.V. across from me and, what I assumed, was the exit to this place. I tried to sit up and felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. I decided getting up wasn't a good idea. I laid back down and let the events of last night play through my mind. Oh yea... I was stabbed by the red weirdo in a turtle costume. The thought that my attacker could be here worried me so I ignored the pain as I got up and I headed for the exit. Suddenly the light turned on behind me and red was there. He looked at me and took a step towards me, getting close enough that I could punch him, so I did. He held his cheek where I punched him. "JESUS CHRIST, " he yelled, " WASN'T HURTING ME YESTERDAY ENOUGH FOR YOU!" I kicked him in the side which made me wince and he growled. All of a sudden 4 other people were in the room, one of them April, actually she's the only face I recognized.
I immediately ran to her and hugged her. "April! Where am I!"
"Well-"
"Who are these weirdos!"
"Hey!" They yelled in unison.
She looked down at my stomach which must've been bleeding as she sat me on the couch and got out a first aid kit.
"I can do that myself you know," I told her.
"Just shut up and let me explain." I raised an eyebrow and lifted my shirt so she could replace the bandages already there. "Well, the one with the red mask is Raphael," crazy stabby guy, " the one with blue is Leonardo, the one with the purple mask is Donatello," At the mention of his name he turned slightly red. Aw yea, he definitely had the hots for April. When I fought him earlier she ran to him and he had a similar expression. She continued, "and the one with the orange mask is Michelangelo." I realized they all were named after famous artists, which was kind of cool. She finished my bandages and stood up, "Any other questions?"
"Uh, yea. Where am I? Why are you guys wearing costumes? And who's this Shredder person?"
The orange one, Michelangelo, answered my first question, "You're in the T.L." The T.L.? “
“The Turtle Lair dude! Our super awesome secret hideout full of gadgets and gizmo, super-duper awesome fights, and of course the best skate park!”
Donatello shook his head, "He means our lair, and this is our home. And these aren't costumes. We're actually turtles."
I nodded, "Sure, sure, and I'm a mutant monkey." I rolled my eyes, "I'm not dumb. Turtles don't get this big."
"They're not joking," I looked at her quizzically.
"We're mutants," Stabby pants told me.
"Oh...." Well this just got weird fast.
"Just, 'Oh'? No screaming or freaking out?" Leo asked. Oh yea, I totally was, but only on the inside.
"Nah, I've seen some freaky stuff in my lifetime, so this is pretty low for me on the freak out scale." I lied to them, trying to keep calm.
"Oh." He said. Was he disappointed? As the awkward silence continued I remember the blue one- I mean Leonardo, asked if I was with Shredder. Who is that? Better to ask now rather than later.
"So who's Shredder?" I listened as they explained who he is and what he's done. By the end I didn't have a very good impression of him. "He doesn't seem like a very good guy. Neither do his cronies and these weird brain aliens.”
"They’re not," they all said at once. After yet another moment of silence, Donatello spoke.
"So, uh, why did you kidnap April?"
"Yea, I was wondering that too..." said Michelangelo.
I smiled sheepishly, "Well, you see, April had been considered missing for a few weeks now so when I saw her I thought she was escaping from her kidnappers. I thought I could help her escape faster if I "helped" her. Turns out she was just hiding from that Shredder guy and the alien things..."
"I thought you were a stalker.... and a guy..." April said. Fucking. Christ.
"Gee, thanks O'Neil, I love looking like a dude, ya know?" I smiled as I said this annoyance spreading through me.
"Actually, I was surprised you were a dudette and not a dude," said Michelangelo.
Leonardo nodded, "You fight well, so I guess we immediately thought you were a guy." The others nodded in agreement. I felt myself growing angrier. April realized I was getting annoyed. It wasn't my fault the sweatshirt’s baggy. And besides girls can fight too! Just because guys are usually the ones into martial arts doesn't mean we don't fight well! I was about to say something about that when April interjected. She must've known I was getting angry.
"B-but once I saw your beautiful face I knew it was you," she said in an attempt to redeem herself.
I rolled my eyes at that and mumbled, "Yea. Better start sucking up to me." At that she left to god knows where and left me alone with these weird turtles.
I sighed and Leo asked, "So, you know who we are now, but who are you?" Oh, I never realized they didn't know my name. I assumed April told them.... guess not.
"My names (y/n), (y/n) Timber. My friends call me Cas though." I told them tucking a loose piece of my hair behind my ear.
“Why do they call you that?”
April spoke up, “Well when we were little she would creep around and scare people, like a ghost. But she’d always feel bad and try and make it up to the other kids so we started calling her Casper the friendly ghost, which was then shortened to Cas.” I nodded to confirm.
"So where'd you learn to fight?" Donnie asked.
"Hey, why'd you twist my arm like that earlier. It really hurt..." Michelangelo said.
"And you bashed my face in the pavement..."
"And sent me into a wall."
"Let's not forget you just punched me in the face and kicked me in the side,"
I stared at them, then pointed to Michelangelo. "You crept up behind me and it was an automatic reaction, after that... well, I was kind of defending myself then. And stabby-"
"It’s Raph!"
I nodded, "Right, I didn't know you and all I knew was that you stabbed me, so I attacked you." I said all of this then smiled apologetically. "I'm very sorry if I hurt any of you." They looked at me surprised, what did they expect me to say, sucks to suck? Jeez, I'm not heartless, I do feel bad about beating up the people who helped me. They could've just left me on the street, I doubt April would let them but still. I thought I should thank them too so I did. "And thanks for not leaving me to bleed out and die on the street."
They nodded and mumbled things which I assume was they accepted my apology and Michelangelo sat on the floor in front of me, "So where'd you learn to fight?" He asked. Oh yea I never answered that question earlier.
"Well, I've been traveling with my dad around the world learning different martial arts."
"I noticed you use your knees and elbows a lot." Leonardo said, I nodded.
"It's called Muay Thai, or Thai Kickboxing, it specializes in using the knees and elbows, two of the hardest parts of a body, to strike blows on your opponent."
"And what was that when you punched me in the face and kicked me away?"
I smirked, "Boxing. What do you guys use?"
"Ninjitsu," he answered.
"I had a feeling that's what it was, I recognized it from while I was in Japan for a few months."
"Woah, you went to Japan!" Michelangelo asked amazed.
"Well, yea. And other places too."
"Where else?" Donatello questioned sitting next to Michelangelo.
I thought for a second then answered, "All over Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America." I watched their eyes widen in surprise.
"Wait, so you've been all over the world?" Leonardo asked sitting next to his brothers.
"Well.... I haven't been to Hawaii, or Alaska, or some parts of Canada."
"Don't forget Iceland." April said sitting next to me. I hadn't noticed her come back, but I appreciated her handing me a mug full of what smelled like hot chocolate.
"Oh yea, I haven't been there yet either."
"Yea but you've still been everywhere else!" Michelangelo said excitedly. I laughed, this... turtle mutant was easily impressed it seemed.
"Yea I guess I have." I took a sip of my hot cocoa. Soon I was bombarded with questions from the three of them. Stabby pants wasn't anywhere around. After a while, I finally asked them a question, "Why are you guys so curious about other places?"
"Well..." Leo started.
"We've only been around New York City, nowhere else." Donnie explained.
"Yea, Splinter was all, you may not go up there, you are too young and inexperienced. But one day he finally let us go topside," Mikey continued. I wondered who this Splinter guy was. Maybe their dad? He must be a huge turtle...
"Oh, that makes sense. Have you ever been to the statue of liberty?"
Donnie shook his head, "No, we only go topside during the night, it’s too risky if we go during the day. And it’s too far away."
I looked at them like they were crazy. "You live in New York City, people are dressed in weird costumes all the time. The most people will think is that you're a group of weirdos."
"But who'd actually think we're just in costumes?" Leo asked.
"Well, when I first saw you guys I thought you were a group of geeks dressed up as some group from a video game or something." Something moved, catching my eye. It was Raphael, he must've just gotten back from wherever he was hiding out.
"The only geek here is Donnie," He said as he walked closer to us.
"HEY!" He shouted as the others laughed.
April shook her head. "It’s okay Donnie. I don't think you’re a geek." She told him. I noticed the light pink blush on his cheeks as she told him this. Yea, he liked her, it was totally obvious. He couldn’t seem to act normal around her. April noticed my hot cocoa was gone. "I'll go get you more." I smiled and said thanks as she got up and left. I was curious about Donnie and April's relationship so I asked a very simple question.
"So Donnie, you like April." Okay, so it was more like a statement. I watched as four heads whipped in my direction. One of them was very red with embarrassment.
"N-no I don't!" I raised an eyebrow and he sighed. "Just.... just don't tell her okay?"
"I KNEW IT!" I jumped up and immediately regretted the decision, pain shooting through my stomach and I had to sit back down.
"Idiot..." I heard Raph murmur.
I looked at Donnie and smiled, "I promise I won't tell her."
He sighed from relief, "Was it that obvious."
"Yes," I and three other voices said at once.
Soon April was back with my hot cocoa and I grinned. I didn't mention to Donnie I was pretty sure she liked him back. In one of her letters she wrote to me about a boy around the same age as her. Apparently he had a gap in his teeth that she thought was, "too cute." All of that description matched Donnie, except the gap being cute part... the rest was true though. We were all laughing and talking when I heard a voice speak from behind us.
“My sons, what is the meaning of this? You’ve brought another stranger into our home?”
“AH! SPLINTER!” Mikey shrieked and stood. His brothers and April quickly followed suit.
“S-sensei! We can explain-“Leo started but he was cut off. I was scared so I just sat there perfectly still.
“Are you going to introduce me so I can learn about our new friend?” The brothers calmed down a little.
“So, um, is that their dad?” I whispered to April. She nodded. I took a deep breath tried to straighten my clothes before I met this giant turtle for the first time. After all, first impressions matter. I finally turned around and boy oh boy, that was definitely not a turtle. The tall rat-man smiled at my shocked expression.
“Expecting something else?” I could only nod. He chuckled, “Welcome to my home. I have seen your fights on the over the past few years, it is an honor to meet you.” I blushed from embarrassment and bowed.
“No please! The honor is all mine. Anyone who trained these guys deserves my respect.”
“Wait, Sensei. How have you been watching her fight?” Leo had asked, but I could tell it was a question on all their minds.
“Leonardo, you have watched her fights with me, you and your brothers.” Wait what? They had watched my tournaments? Mikey let out a loud gasp.
“OH MY GOD! YOU’RE-YOU’RE”
“The Timber Wolf.” Donnie finished his brother’s sentence. He seemed in awe of my nickname. I looked at each of the brothers. Leo stood there with his mouth open, Mikey jumped up and down excitedly, Donnie looked surprised, and Raph? Well he seemed to be rather pale.
“Yea. That’s me.” I smiled meekly, so what if I had won the past 2 international no holds barred martial arts world championships, and over 20 various junior tournaments. No big deal right? I was flattered they watched my events.”
“I didn’t know you guys watched those too!” April yelled. She always watched my events; even if she was swamped with homework she always made an effort and called me during the commercial break. She helped me get through so many losses earlier on in my career. That’s why I traveled so much. My dad was my manager and originally fought in the adult competitions at the same time I had my junior ones, but now he was running his own business. He makes martial arts videos for YouTube. He took his work wherever the nearest tournament was and had me learn the martial arts on the off season. I had been doing this since my mom died and I wasn’t tired of it yet. I always loved fighting in tournaments, the rush of adrenaline as you sock someone in the jaw was great. The only reason we had come back home was for the tournament nearby and so I could hunt down April. A junior competition for boxing was taking place in a month too.
“Raph, how did you not recognize her! You watch her fights more than the rest of us!” Mikey’s screeching brought me back to earth. He watched my tournaments, huh? How cute. I let out a yawn and sipped on my cocoa as I listened to the brothers freaking out and asking me questions.
I finished drinking my cocoa I began to get sleepy. I'm guessing April noticed, got the brothers to leave and told me to go to sleep. "Yes mother," I murmured sarcastically and laid back down on the couch, my head on a pillow. April pulled up the blanket I'd kicked down in my previous sleep and shooed the guys away. I was soon fast asleep.