A/N: Alright, it time for the long awaited arc and sequel to Finding Tim. To those of you just tuning in, you might wanna check that one out first. And I would also like to take this time to thank BubblyShell22 for religiously reviewing my work, and I encourage you all to post reviews also, makes me feel warm inside. I accept criticism too. Anyways, enough of my talk. I now introduce the first chapter of Fixing Tim.
Chapter 1: The New Girl
Laura Whitten was pretty good with maps. She could navigate the complicated network of bus routes and train schedules, maneuver through complicated hospital floor plans, find her way around Disney Land during the Christmas season, but trying to distinguish one sewer tunnel from the next in the maze underneath New York City was past her capabilities.
She studied the mess of lines drawn out on her map, there were so many side tunnels and turn offs, not to mention a lack of landmarks other than an increasingly horrid smell. She had become hopelessly lost.
How those guys do it is beyond me, Laura thought, pulling out her cell phone. She dialed for help, so much for surprising them.
O
April O'Neil felt a nervous tug in her gut. It had been awhile since April had gotten mad and at her friends, blaming them for what had happened to her father. It had been wrong of her, she knew that now. A good talk with a boy she was tutoring helped her see that some things were just beyond our control. And despite all the things she said, Donatello had still been there for her when she needed him. He was a good friend, possibly more than that?
This was going to be her first time going back to the lair since then, and despite everything, she was nervous.
"Get it together, O'Neil," she told herself. She took a deep breath, dragged aside the man hole cover and climbed into the dark, dank, New York sewers that had become so familiar to her over the past year. She walked the route so many times before. The familiar sound of running water, dripping faucets and leaking pipes sounded filled her ears . . . along with a sound that didn't quite belong there.
Footsteps . . . and not hers.
Instantly alert, April moved forward quietly as she'd been trained to do by Master Splinter. She peered around the corner where the sound was coming from. Nothing. It was coming from farther in.
Narrowing her eyes in suspicion, she followed the sound until she came upon the source. Farther down one of the tunnels stood an older girl. She wore green cargo pants, a baggy sweater, and a brown baseball cap with a backpack swung over her shoulders.
The girl was studying a piece of paper, occasionally glancing up at her surroundings as she made her way through the tunnels.
As she started moving, eyes still glued to the paper, April noticed something sticking out of the girls back pocket. All she could make out is that it was long and narrow. A weapon? April couldn't be sure, but she stayed on her guard.
This girl could be a potential enemy. Could she could be a new member of the Foot Clan? No, she was making too much noise to be a ninja, and she wasn't Kraangy enough to be a robot . . . Either way, April had to know what she was up to, but it was too risky to confront this girl on her own, so she settled with recon.
The girl stopped at a fork in the tunnels and consulted the paper again, which April figured to be some sort of map. With a frustrated sigh, the paper crumpled as she clenched hand and pulled out a cell phone. Fingering one of her twin braids, the girl tapped the screen and held it up to her face.
"Hey, Grape," the girl said as someone picked up on the other end of the line. April couldn't hear what the other person was saying from her vantage point. "Actually, I'm trying to find you now, but I have idea where I am."
The girl paused as the other person responded.
Grape? April thought, What kind of name is that? A nick name? Code name?
"Yea—no. Your map is about as useless as Taq polymerase with no magnesium chloride . . . No, I can navigate just fine, but these tunnels don't make any sense! Give me a titration any day . . . Alright, but hurry up, these samples won't stay cold forever. I can feel the ice melting on my back." The girl shifted the backpack on her shoulders.
What kind of samples would you bring into a sewer? April thought. This doesn't make any sense. It was obvious from the technical terms that this girl was some sort of scientist. But she was kind of young, so maybe a student?
The girl slid the phone back into her pants pocket. She slipped off her backpack and leaned against the wall, placing the bag at her feet. Then she started bobbing her head and tapping her foot to a song she sung in her head as she waited for whoever was on the other end of the conversation to show up.
Five minutes passed and no one showed up. April was staring to get bored, but remembered Master Splinter's teachings: Patience is a discipline that all ninjas must master. So April sucked it up and waited.
The girl suddenly stopped her tapping and stood still for a moment, her face scrunched up in thought. She made a few gestures with her hands, as if drawing in the air, she wiped away what she drew and started drawing something else. She scratched her head, thinking. Then her eyes went wide as a particular thought struck her.
"That could totally work!" She said excitedly.
She dropped to the ground, crossing her legs and ripped her backpack open. She dug out a pen and notebook and proceeded to madly start writing out whatever epiphany had struck her. Apprehension and excitement covered her face as her pen flew over the page.
April watched the girl with interest, wondering what was could excite someone like that. She almost didn't notice that she wasn't the only one watching the girl either. On the opposite side of the tunnel, April spotted something that made her blood run cold.
No! Not now, you'll be seen! April sent her thoughts out as she saw Donatello round the corner. Although she had psychic powers, April's silent warning didn't reach the mutant turtle. He was holding his T-Phone out in front of him, following its directions as he tracked something. He looked up as he realized he was close and spotted the older girl sitting cross legged in the middle of the sewers. He stopped in his tracks and April felt relief flood her system.
The girl was too busy writing in her book to notice the turtle's arrival. All Donnie had to do was sneak away like the ninja he was, silent as the night.
But to her dismay, a wicked smile spread across Donnie's sweet face as he realized that the girl was too wrapped up in her idea to have noticed his presence.
What are you doing!? April yelled in her head as Donnie crept quietly toward the unsuspecting girl. Apparently, he didn't care about being seen. He clamped his hands on the girl's shoulders, and three things happened at once.
First, the girl jumped. Her butt actually left the ground, and her notebook fell from her grasp. She gasped, but didn't scream.
Second, she grabbed at the long object that protruded from her back pocket. What was it? Was it a weapon?
And third, she twisted her body, spun around and slapped her assailant in the face with her weapon. Donnie stumbled back.
"Fuck, Grape!" The girl yelled as her heart pounded in her chest, "Gaaaah!" She slapped him again over the head for good measure. Donnie retreated, clutching at his cheek where a red, rectangular slap mark was forming. He tried for a small smile and a weak laugh before the girl raised her weapon again threateningly. "You know I simple, 'Nice to see ya again", or 'Hey, it's been awhile' would work just fine!"
April saw that the girl's weapon wasn't much of a weapon at all. Clutched tightly in the girl's hand was a regular wooden ruler, lined with red plastic.
Donnie backed off, raising his hands in surrender, "Okay okay. Geez, Raph wasn't kidding when he said a ruler is a deadly weapon in your hands."
"Red's felt my wrath before," the girl grumbled, still agitated, and slipped the ruler back into her back pocket.
Donnie knows her? April thought. Confusion coursed through her mind, as well as another feeling . . . what was it? She knows Raph, too . . . ? April tried to connect the pieces. Who was this girl? What happened while she was away? Did the turtles find another girl because she was too stubborn to come back? Did they replace her? If, they did, why did Donnie come back for her when she called?
Snap out of it! April told herself, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it of poisonous thoughts. There's got to be a reasonable explanation as to who this girl is.
The manner in which she thought the word 'girl' startled April. She thought it with such venom. She shook off the thought and continued to watch the exchange between her best friend and this stranger.
"So, you got them?" Donnie asked, eyeing the girl backpack.
"Noooo," the girl responded sarcastically picking up her discarded note book and swinging her backpack over her shoulder again, "I just figured I'd get myself lost in a dark, creepy tunnel just so my prince charming can come rescue me. Of course I got them, baka. Isn't that what I said?"
Prince Charming? That feeling from before erupted through April again . . .
"Oh yeah, well who's the baka who couldn't even find her way through a little sewer?" Donnie responded, poking the girl's arm, taunting her.
He's flirting!
"You call this," the girl gestured wildly with her arms, "little? This tunnel system is as complex as the metabolic pathway!"
"Oh please, it's can't be any worse than DNA sequencing."
"Bioinformatics is not hard. These tunnels are hard."
They walked off, debating the level of complexity the tunnel system actually attained, with Donnie leading the way, easily navigating the tunnels and moving through forks and crossroads.
April stood with her back against the wall and listened as the sound of their voices drifted farther and farther away.
Why am I hiding like this? April realized. I should be back at the lair, making up with the guys . . . But. . . Whoisshe?DoesDonnielikeher?Wheredidshecomefrom?Whendidthishappen?
Stop, stop, STOP! April pushed the onslaught of questions out of her head. What was she doing? She clamped her hands down on her head and tried to clear her mind.
After a few minutes of deep breathing, she made up her mind. She would just pretend she never saw anything. She can't tell Donnie that she had been spying on him and his new girlfr—
No! She's not, she can't be—I'm his friend . . . Right? But I haven't been much of a friend lately . . . it's only because of Casey that I forgave them . . . What does Donnie think of Casey? I'm sure he feels the same way I do . . . It seems like we both found someone new.
April didn't like where her train of thought was leading. Did she like Donnie like that? Could something like that work out? But, what about Casey? Did she have feelings for him, or was he just something to replace what she left behind when she left the turtles?
"Why is being a girl so hard!?" April said aloud.
A/N: There you go. Some tension rises as April discovers a new girl in the mix. Don't forget to leave a review and stuff. More is to come.