I imagine things are getting a little confusing (or enthralling), but so we're clear, I write my TMNT boys in the 2k16 verse, based around my OC, Emma Dewitter. This is the 7th story in this series, which I'm dubbing the M/E Chronicles (Mikey/Emma). And trust me, there's even more to come. But for now...

November, 2015

Thanksgiving was a week away and still no snow. It was making Casey antsy. This was prime hockey time and the flurries and snow drifts brought him a solace of sorts. And he'd really been counting on it this year. So naturally, the gray clouds were holding out on their white magic.

Casey's anxiousness soon became anger… where was a weatherman to beat up when you need one? He texted Raph in his last hour of work at the garage, begging for there to be a patrol tonight. The guys, like law enforcement, made themselves busy as the holidays drew near, but their load had been pretty light. The Shredder was in Japan until the first of February, leaving them only with Purple Dragons and petty thieves to straighten out. Leo had them all making sure that the Purple Dragons didn't try to get an upper hand on the city in Shredder's absence.

Something told Casey though that the leader of the Purple Dragons wasn't that dumb. Hun had been back on top for a while; most of his dealings were with the mobs nowadays. If anything, he might try to team up with them to overthrow the Foot… that's what Casey would do.

And you wonder why April gives you those looks sometimes. Casey shook his head, scooting himself under the rear axel of the blue four-door he needed to get done before closing. Five minutes of work went by before his cell phone pinged. PDs been giving a neighborhood the shakedown. Sending them a message 2nite. U in?

It wasn't even a question.

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"Coming your way, Mike!" Casey swung his hockey stick at the nunchuck that Mikey had been separated from. Sure, it wasn't a puck, but it got there and Mikey was able to gain the upper hand against the two Purple Dragon punks who were trying to corner him. Casey clotheslined one of the neighboring Dragons, a smirk on his face… boy, he wished there was a way to watch these suckers suffer in slow-motion. Like the replay button on the sports screen.

"Alright." Leo swung his sword back up into its sheath. "That's all of 'em. Donnie, you called the police."

"Done and done."

"Then let's jet." Leo commanded and the troupe headed for the high road out of the alley.

"Yo, Case!" Mikey yelled out as Raph hoisted Casey up the first length of the fire escape. "Your cell!"

"So grab it already." Casey called back. He braced for the chilly wind that was always whipping through the tops of the city. He and Raph immediately took to racing; they'd started out with just one block, but had since graduated to five. It'd probably just keep going up until they were too old to challenge each other. Casey would admit that he was a few races behind, but he had a good feeling about tonight. Bag secure to his back, he pumped his arms and legs across the roof. "On your six, Leo!"

"Don't you dare help-" Raph warned.

The warning came too late as Leo dropped to a knee and let Casey leap off of his shell and soar out through the suspended air between the two buildings. They were in the middle of a maze of apartment complexes so they were all at the same height… this made it easy, Casey spotting the finish line in no time. To polish off his run, he skidded to the edge on his knees; a perfect goalie slide in the hockey rink.

"Goongala!" Casey finally cried out to the black night sky, tinted orange with city lights. He looked back at Raph catching up on the last three feet. "In your face, Raphael. You're ugly green one, that is."

"You ever heard the phrase, 'if you win say nothing; if you lose say less'." Leo joined them, though he didn't hide his smile. He and Donnie slapped high-fives with Casey, earning them all glares from Raph. "Lucky break. You broke the rules anyway, getting help from Leo."

"We never set any rules-"

"Sure we did!" Raph insisted.

"I never touched my bat or hockey stick."

"Guys," Donnie intermediated like always, stepping in between them. "Can we at least argue this over a pie? There's a Donatos just down-"

"Hey," Mikey suddenly interrupted. "Casey."

"Yeah?" Casey welcomed the distraction from Raph, the sore loser.

"Who's Angel?"

Casey blinked, realizing Mikey was staring at his phone. He grabbed it. "What? Mikey, what're you-"

"Who's Angel?" Mikey repeated, voice a little harder. "And why's she calling you 'sugar'?"

Casey saw the text then and felt his face blanch. "Um… oh."

Raph, Leo, and Donnie were looking over his shoulders in the next nanosecond, before he had a chance to hide the screen.

"Evening sugar, got what you need." Leo read the text from four minutes ago.

"Casey sugar, you gonna answer me or not?" Donnie recited the one that'd popped up two minutes later. "I can't wait forever."

Oh boy. Casey's brain gridlocked, unable to think or comprehend a next move.

Raph took the phone to read the text that'd just come in. "Sugar, come on over already. You know where to find me."

Casey drew a breath, letting the cold air shock him back into action. He faced the turtles, noting their furrowed brows. "Ok, so I realize how that sounds…"

"Sounds?" Mikey echoed with a nod to the phone. "Casey, they're texts, not voicemails."

Raph shoved him back with a hand to the head. "There's an explanation for this Case, right? Cuse, if there's not…"

Oh, they didn't need to paint him a picture. He remembered the little 'talking to' they'd given him that first night at the farmhouse. Course, they knew him better then that… but then, they'd met April before him. And she was like the sister they'd never otherwise have…

"First off, April knows Angel." Casey took back his cell. "I've mentioned her too. The kid I'm trying to keep out of the Purple Dragons."

"Oh, yeah," Raph nodded, only to frown deeper. "Wait, isn't she, like, twelve?"

"She's sixteen." Casey rolled his eyes, looking back over the texts. "And what's more, these aren't from her. They're… ugh, from her grandma."

All four of their green jaws dropped.

"Whoa," Mikey whispered in horror. "You're rendezvousing with a 90-year-old."

"NO!" Casey put his face in his hand. This was a mess; if he clutched his phone any tighter he was going to break it. Should he just tell them? "Well, yeah, kind of-"

"How do you know that word, Mikey?" Leo glanced over him.

"Oh, it's what Emma and I used to do."

Oh, maybe not. Casey peeked up in hope. Any mention of Emma always got the guys to shut up for a while. In the weeks after that fiery kid had left for North Carolina, Casey asked April regularly if she'd called and talked to her. The answer had been no, until Casey had stopped asking altogether.

"Can we focus here, please." Donnie pointed at Casey. "Why is Angel's grandma- or anybody's grandma- sending you love texts?"

Ok, that was it! Casey drew out the first thing he could grab from his bag. "There're NOT love texts! For your information, she calls everybody sugar! And for more information, she's helping me pick out A RING!"

"A ring?" Raph repeated. "What for?"

Stupid turtle!

"A RING TO ASK APRIL TO MARRY ME WITH!"

Casey's announcement went out like a shockwave, sonic-booming into all directions of the night. All the turtles' jaws went entirely slack, eyes going wide beneath their bandanas. Casey sighed out his frustration, lowering his- cricket bat? He didn't remember adding that in tonight. It was too heavy when he went roof-side.

"I was gonna tell you guys," Casey spoke through his teeth, frustration warming into embarrassment. "Kinda ask for your blessing; April's dad's gone so… but I wanted to get a ring first. And with my mom retired in Georgia, Angel's grandma was… well, she was the only one available-"

"Dude…" Mikey finally spoke and this brought the others out of their daze. Then Raph shot forward, pounding Casey's shoulder practically off. "No freakin' way, man! Are you serious, you bonehead!?"

Casey forced his shoulder not to wither in pain. "About as serious as your vote of confidence, pal."

"Well," Donnie leaned an elbow on Leo's shoulder, so they both could better grin at him. "It's about time! You gave her that plastic trinket 198 days ago."

"Hey, it wasn't a-"

"You had us worried." Leo nodded, smirking now. "Any longer of a wait and we were going to have to apply some pressure on you."

"Yeah," Raph's fist rammed his shoulder again. "What were you waiting for, Case?"

"And where're you planning on asking her?" Mikey crowded a few feet closer, his breath coming quickly, more excited. "I've always imagined taking her out to this cool pizza joint-"

Raph, Don, and Leo shoved him back, eyeing Casey expectantly.

"You need to do it someplace outside." Donnie was the first to insist. "April's favorite time of day is late afternoon, right as the sun starts to set."

"Don't go for this big build-up evening." Leo added. "She likes people to get to the point. Plus, you're a terrible secret keeper, so she'll see right through it anyway."

Gee, thanks. Casey cocked his brow at Leo.

"But if he takes the effort to shower and trim his hair and stuff, then she'll know something's up." Raph looked Casey up and down in his sweats and jean jacket with ripped elbows. Casey backed up. "Who said anything about trimming my hair!?"

"I'll do it!" Donnie's hand shot up. "His uneven ends have bugged me for so long-"

"Wait a minute…" Casey looked from one brother to another, convinced they'd all lost it. Where was a Foot Clan attack when you needed one?

"You should hide the ring," Mikey poked in between Raph and Leo. "Like, in her drink or something. That's how all the suave people do it."

"Seriously," Leo looked Mikey over. "How do you know all these words?"

"You can't put it in her drink, Mikey." Raph said, thwacking him on the forehead. "What if she swallows it?"

"And how's Casey supposed to get on one knee without the ring in his hand?" Donnie reminded them. "The custom demands it, since it's first demonstration in…"

I need to get out of here. Casey turned on his heel, darting for the fire escape. He texted Angel's grandma to let her know that he was on his way.

"Hold it!" a chorus stopped him, Donnie and Mikey blocking his escape with their super ninja speed. Leaving Leo and Raph to hoard in on both of his sides. Casey looked at all four of them. "Whhhaat!?"

"You were going to ask for our blessing." Donnie reminded him.

"And what exactly makes you think you're worthy of our April?" Mikey added in.

"Ok, really?" Casey glared at him.

"Hey," Mikey shrugged. "You know what they say; the pants don't come off until the honeymoon."

There was stone silence as they all attention gawked at him.

"Who would say that?!" Raph cried. "Who, in their righteous mind, would ever say that?"

"I was starting to have respect for you, Mikey." Donnie shook his head.

"Guys," Casey clenched his fist to keep from reaching for his bat. "I'm going to go see a lady about a ring. Are you gonna let me use it?"

They all shared looks for a minute… two minutes… ok, now they were just torturing him!

"Of course we will!" Mikey threw himself onto Casey in one of his famous bear hugs. "Congratulations, dude! But, I gotta ask…" He pulled back. "Am I gonna get to kiss the bride? Cuse I've been having this reoccurring dream…"

Casey broke his way out with a straight shot to Mikey's nose. He leapt over the edge, got his bearings and all but ran down the fire escape.

"Bro, you so deserved that." Casey caught Raph saying