Author's Notes: My muse is back and has convinced me to write this sequel! For anyone who hasn't yet, please read my one-shot "Goodbye, April" before starting this or this fic might not make sense! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the one-shot by the way, it really encourages me to write more :D
This fic will be multi-chaptered and like the one-shot it's from April's POV. It follows three years after the one-shot, is still set in the New Toon universe, but disregards anything that's happened after the episode Good Genes (so no Ninja Tribunal, Fast Forward, etc).
Anything written in italics is a flashback! There are quite a few of them within the chapters, which cover important events after the Turtles disappeared.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any related characters.
Because You Left by sai ninja
Chapter 1: Hello, April
The ice cold water hit her face like a brick wall. She screamed, lashing her head from side to side, but quickly remembered that resistance was futile. An iron grip held her head down, digging into her skull and straining her neck.
She had best save her breath.
Closing her eyes in pain, she felt the ice cubes graze her ears, causing her to shiver incontrollably. Her cheeks began to burn from the intense cold and yet she clung on. Her breath had almost run out, but she remained perfectly still, counting the seconds in her head. The iron grip wouldn't release her for at least another minute.
And they hadn't even bothered questioning her this time.
Suddenly, the need for oxygen became vital. Panic swept through her mind and instinctively, she breathed in, causing ice cold water to shoot up her nose. She thrashed back violently in response, feeling her throat tighten as she began to suffocate. Her arm hopelessly tried to break her from the guards standing above her, but it was useless.
She was going to die.
Something inside her was broken and April knew it.
Whatever had happened three years ago with Bishop and then with the Turtles – it had affected her within and she could feel it.
Something was wrong. Something she couldn't fix, or maybe wouldn't. Three years ago, a part of her soul had died and she had let darkness fill in the void.
April pushed open the front door ahead with her foot, a couple of heavy boxes balancing in her arms.
She laid them down quickly on her new kitchen counter and paused to finally take a good look at the new place around her. A bare two-bedroom flat at the top of a red brick resident building located in the heart of Manhattan.
Staring at the messy piles of boxes and furniture stacked in the living room, she suddenly wished she hadn't come back.
"New York City?"
"Yes, April, New York City – the Big Apple. Your hometown. Why does this surprise you so much? I thought you'd be happy at the news!"
April glanced back at her boss in shock.
New York City? But she'd only got settled in D.C. It had only been two years since she'd moved here after all. Two years since she'd begun working for Crayford Auction House and now they wanted to send her back to New York?
"But I don't understand, if I'm your best asset here, why are you sending me to New York?" she retorted, bunching her pencil skirt in her fists.
"Because let's not kid ourselves, April," Mr. Thompson spoke up again, sitting on the edge of his desk as he looked down at her. "In six months time, the D.C. branch will be shut down. Even with all our hard work, we just aren't making enough money and rather than losing its top employees here, the main office prefers to relocate you and the others to New York - provided you're willing of course."
April was surprised to hear such brutal honesty from her boss, but she also couldn't deny the difficulties their auction house had been facing recently.
"But New York City... I don't know Mr. Thompson," April told him, avoiding his curious gaze. "I left everything behind there, I sold my old apartment when I left, I barely -"
"The company will arrange permanent accomodation for you if you decide to go," he informed her instantly with a wry smile. "One of the perks of working for the main office."
"Can I at least have a few days to think about it?" she asked, realising she couldn't make such an important decision on the spot.
"You have two days, April," he told her solemnly, heading back to his desk chair. "Then I'll either need a positive answer from you or I'm afraid I'll have to let you go."
And so, after careful consideration and a long conversation with her sister Robin, who yelled at her to not be an idiot and to take the offer, April had decided to move back to New York City; her previous home.
It had been two years since she'd sold her apartment and store and decided to leave. Two years since she'd angrily slammed the door to her shop 2nd Time Around and sworn to herself never to come back.
It contained too many memories – too many happy memories, which April would have preferred to forget.
Collecting the last remaining suitcase from the corridor outside, April closed her apartment door again with a sigh and plumped herself on the nearby couch.
She was finally back.
She never thought she would ever be in that situation and she didn't know how she felt about it yet, but for the first time that day, it finally hit her that she was back in New York City.
Looking through the nearby window, she realised with shock that she had a balcony. It was quite prettily decorated, but her green eyes narrowed in anger instead as she noticed the metal fire escape running along next to it.
April wondered briefly whether the company had deliberately given her a flat with a metal fire escape in order to torture her, but she quickly dismissed the thought.
They didn't know about the Turtles – they didn't know how they used to sneak into her old apartment using the metal staircase of the fire escape. How could they? No one knew of her past with mysterious mutant turtles - no one except Casey of course, and her sister, Robin.
In a sudden outburst of anger, April stood up again and pulled the curtains shut after making sure the window was shut tight. She then turned her back to it and headed to the kitchen next, intent on making herself a cup of tea to soothe her nerves. She refused to let the thought of the Turtles get her riled up. She wouldn't let them cause her to be angry again. She had already wasted too many months of her life consumed with anger and it hadn't helped or changed anything.
The Turtles were gone and they weren't coming back. They'd made that clear enough to her when they'd vanished overnight three years ago, despite all her efforts to find them. They had abandoned her and Casey and hadn't bothered to contact them in three goddamn years.
Her friends – her family. They had left her. Donny hadn't lied to her at the hospital that fateful night, they really had abandoned the Lair following her rescue.
Thinking about friends, April picked up her mobile from the counter and flicked it open, searching for Casey's number. She hadn't warned him yet about her arrival, but she was eager to see him. She dialed the number and waited, but was disappointed to find out his phone was switched off. Closing her cell, April returned to her tea instead, wondering what she should do next.
Work didn't start for another couple of days and she didn't particularly feel like starting to unpack the dozen of boxes surrounding her yet.
Picking up her bag again and clutching her keys, she decided to head out to Casey's. She might as well drop by to let her know she was back and catch up with him at the same time. She hadn't heard from him properly in over three weeks. Stopping by the bathroom mirror, she checked her appearance quickly and scowled slightly at the sight of her long raven black hair. She'd almost forgot that she had dyed it almost black before arriving to the city.
For some reason she couldn't explain yet, she hadn't wanted people knowing she was back in town and so had taken several measures before the move to hide that fact. She still had enemies in the city after all what with the Foot and the Purple Dragons still loose in the streets - not to mention Agent Bishop.
Along with dying her hair, she had also let it grown for the past two years so that it was a considerably different length than when she had left. She had also taken steps so that all her mail had been temporarily redirected to her sister, Robin, who lived in Brooklyn. This way, she hoped, no one could track her down to her new flat and kidnap her again like Bishop had done three years ago.
April had down everything in her power to protect herself, so that the only three people who knew about her return to New York and were her new boss, her sister and Casey.
"April! Damn it, is that really you?"
April's smile grew larger at the sight of her old friend standing in the doorway, his eyes wide open.
"What the hell d'ya do to yer hair?" he asked before pulling her into a tight hug. "It's so good to see you, Ape."
She hugged him back, secretly inhaling the smell of his cologne that she had missed so much over the past couple of years.
"It's good to see you too, Casey," she told him, before he suddenly ushered her inside. "I just got back today and thought I'd drop by to see you. I called, but you didn't answer so -"
"Yeah, I was prob'ly out with Libby," he told her, mentioning his current new girlfriend as he quickly went to the fridge. "She took me to this store downtown to get some new furniture. She's still out shoppin' right now, crazy girl! How's the flat?"
"Really nice," she told him honestly, sitting down on one of the counter stools. "And a hell lot bigger than my previous flats, that's for sure. The move was pretty tiring though, I haven't even started unpacking yet -"
"God, I hate moving!" Casey agreed, retrieving two beers. "I remember when Libby brought all her stuff here. I told ya she's moved in, right?"
April nodded, gladly accepting the bottled beer. "Yeah, I remember you saying last time we spoke."
"I was totally cool with it n' all," he continued, sitting down opposite her at the kitchen counter. "But now I guess I kinda miss my privacy again."
"Ah, Casey Jones and his need for privacy," April teased, a playful smile on her lips. "Sounds more like fear of commitment if you ask me."
She laughed slightly and he grinned, downing the rest of his beer quickly. "S'not so bad anymore actually," he told her, throwing the bottle away in the bin. "S'nice to have someone around all the time, ya know? But it's also hard now for me t'sneak out at night... you know... as the vigilante."
"I'm guessing you haven't told Libby yet then?"
He shook his head and April suddenly found herself noticing the way his dark hair fell into his eyes. Sometimes, it was still hard being around Casey and not remember all the small details about him that she used to love so much.
"Nah, she wouldn't understand," he told her honestly, grabbing another beer from the fridge. "She's a non-violent kinda girl and just wouldn't get the thrill of kickin' some stupid punk's butt!"
As he spoke, he leapt from his chair, pummeling the air with his fists and causing April to laugh some more.
"How are the night patrols going anyway?" she asked him, finishing off her beer. "You still butting heads with the Purple Dragons?"
"Not anymore," he told her, his voice serious again. "Since Hun disappeared, the gang's pretty much fallen apart. The gang wars are still thrivin' like I told ya, 'though you'd think they'd have come to some sorta agreement after two years!"
"The Foot's still off the radar then?" April asked, remembering their previous phone conversations about the rise of street crime.
"Yep," Casey answered, scratching the back of his head. "I don't even remember the last time I ran into those goons. Whatever Karai's been upto, she sure ain't been keepin' tabs on the street gangs. I think the Foot's mostly operatin' by the harbours now, but s'too far for me t'patrol out there."
They fell silent as April thought about what he'd just said. The city was apparently at war again and if it was anything like last time, it probably wasn't very pretty. The city's crime rate had probably drastically increased, but it was only a guess as she hadn't really kept up with the news recently. She had, however, kept an eye on Karai over the years, looking out in the papers for any mention of her visits to New York or her deals with the mayor. However, it seemed that the Foot leader preferred to spend more time in Japan nowadays, which probably explained why her clan was no longer in command. But then if the Foot couldn't keep the street gangs under control, then who would?
Putting her beer down again, she took a deep, controlling breath. "And what about the Turtles?"
Her eyes watched him sharply as she spoke. She had always suspected Casey of secretly still being in contact with them, especially Raph.
"Nada," he said gruffly, throwing yet another beer bottle down the trash can. "Nothing, zilch. I'm telling ya April, if they're still in town, then they're stayin' underground as far as I can tell. I've continued patrollin' the rooftops for the past three years now and I've never seen even as much as a shadow."
"Or since they know exactly where you patrol Case, they've avoided any run-ins with you," she pointed out, avoiding also stating the obvious that the Turtles were trained ninja and could remain undetected if they wanted to be.
"You still gonna try find 'em?" he asked her softly, his voice suddenly betraying a hint of sadness.
She bit her lip, unable to meet his eye after he spoke and an awkward silence fell between them. It was obvious they both still painfully remembered her previous desperate searches for them down in the sewers and around town. But now, more than two years later, did she still want to find the Turtles? She'd intentionally avoided thinking about it since she'd returned, but now she felt a mixture of thoughts contending in her head. Her anger raging inside forbid her to even think of wasting her time again going after mutant turtles, who didn't want to be found, and yet, a small part of her still hoped that she'd try.
"I don't really know, Case," she finally admitted, not without an edge to her voice. "I don't think there's much hope of finding them after all this time."
His face looked surprised by her response, but he quickly nodded in return.
"Well if ya ever do decide to go looking, lemme know, April. I sure miss having 'em around, no matter what trouble they got me into."
She remained silent, the sad tone in his voice causing her instead to suddenly take his hand in hers. He squeezed it gently in return and she suddenly realised how much she had truly missed him over the years. Even if Casey still behaved like a complete Neanderthal sometimes, he would always have a special place in her heart.
His hand abruptly broke away from hers, breaking her thoughts. Never one to like awkward silences, Casey gave a small cough and turned away towards the fridge again.
"So, you been keepin' up wit'll that ninja stuff?" he questioned again, throwing her another beer.
"Ninjutsu."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," he retorted with a smile. "So, you gonna be my new sparring partner or what?"
She cocked her head to the side considering his proposition for a moment and a smile tugged at her lips.
"Anytime, Casey Jones, anytime."
That night, April lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to find sleep. Memories from the night at the hospital kept haunting her and finally kicking her sheets away, she got out of her bed and headed to the kitchen. Stumbling around in the darkness, she tried not to stab her toes on any boxes until she finally found the fridge.
Opening it, she poured herself a glass of ice water and sipped on it in silence, slowly heading towards the large bay window with the balcony. She pulled the curtains aside and admired the view. She had to admit, her window had one of the best views of New York she'd ever had. Her new office certainly hadn't been cheap when buying the flat for her. Pulling the window open, she snuck out on the balcony and stared out at Central Park and the heart of downtown New York. Even in the early hours of the morning, the tall skyscrapers were all still lit creating a breath-taking view. The sight, however, made her heart clench with nostalgia. She had missed the vibrant, never-sleeping city so much and yet now, without the Turtles, New York just didn't seem to same to her anymore.
"Donny," she whispered softly watching the city lights. "Where are you, Donny?"
She grasped the cold glass tighter in her hand as her eyes stared closely at the dark rooftops standing ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of a shadow jumping between them.
There was nothing to be seen and yet she continued to look on for hours, listening out to the distant sirens and odd traffic, hoping to drown out the haunting voice inside her head.
"I'm so sorry April, but it's for the best."
Well, what did you think?
I won't reveal anything about the Turtles yet, but you'll learn more about them soon, I promise.
Thanks for reading and please review!