We're back to our old scheme of things! Old friends are back, but so are old enemies... and those can create a whole new set of problems for our strong band of brothers!

Slight recap: Emma's back, and after being captured by the Kraang, has a few extraordinary abilities. Casey and April are engaged (you know it!), and the Purple Dragons are onto Casey being the hockey-mask vigilante... though we're not quite sure what Hun intends to do about it. But Shredder still wants to eliminate the turtles. The big question though, does Karai want to?

So many questions, when will they all be answered? Not all in this story, I can promise you that! But keep reading anyway.

}{}{June, 2016}{}{

"I don't like this." Leo kept his posture easy against the beam, though his chest was growing tighter with each second. "It's been too long."

"It's under control." Donnie assured him from where he knelt, scribbling in his notepad.

"Like last time." Raph sniped. He gestured with the arm that held a cast up to his elbow. It had happened during 'last time'.

"This' different." Mikey insisted , even though he'd been the pacing for the past seven minutes. The brothers were more or less circling the channel of water that flushed into the lair from the Atlantic. It needed to be salt water, Donnie insisted. His eyes didn't leave the soft glow ebbing from beneath the rocking surface.

The timer dinged. Leo rewound it. "That's eight minutes and counting."

"Incredible." Donnie adjusted his glasses.

The glow moved, like it had heard his praise. It slinked around Splinter's meditation circle, closer to where Mikey stood.

"Awesome." Mikey grinned under his breath.

"Disturbing." Raph said.

"Blow heart." Mikey eyed him. The glow moved closer still; and the proximity seemed just cause for him to panic. "Though, dude… I think something's wrong."

"How would you know?" Raph craned his neck at the circle's edge.

"Well, she obviously put herself in a position for me to save her." Mikey tensed, ready to jump.

"Mikey!" Donnie warned, hand on his bo. "If you contaminate one more experiment…"

He was cut off as a body surged through the surface of the water. Spraying all of them but Leo, Emma Dewitter soared a full five feet in the air and back flipped a landing on the meditation circle.

"My good pillows!" Master Splinter cried out, a hand going over his eyes. Like lightening, Emma danced out of the circle to keep from further dripping water all over the cushions. She landed beside Donnie, placing her hands on the hips of her swimsuit. "Well?"

"Eight minutes, fourteen seconds," Donnie said, even though it was Leo who had been holding the timer. "Quick-"

He held up his modified breathalyzer and Emma put her mouth around it. It was an automatic movement by now, being her fifth one this week. Rather then measuring sobriety though, it tested for the levels of carbon monoxide in her lungs. Leo came up to read gizmo over Donnie's shoulder. Donnie lifted his glasses. "Zero toxic reading."

"Check her neck again." Raph suggested, also stepping in closer.

"Still here." Emma snapped at him, but lifted her wet hair anyway. Leo eyed the diluted veins through the skin that had continued to thin since last month. He could make out some of the muscles, even. Donnie, displaying a Raph-like lack of sensitivity, poked at them gingerly. "Is it durable?"

"It's noticeable." Emma groaned. "I can't hope to wear a ponytail in public ever again. But this is how I'm syphoning oxygen in from the water, no doubt."

Like gills." Leo observed.

"Only less grotesque." Emma let her hair fall down over her neck. Leo didn't miss her self-conscious look; and neither did Mikey, as he was at her side in an instant. "You want me to kiss it and make it better, Gorgeous?"

"Pass, Handsome." Emma stopped his face from leaning in with her palm. Mikey's shoulders drooped, but he handed her a towel as Leo moved to help Master Splinter with his damp pillows. Donnie typed away at his mini keyboard for another minute. "Ok, tonight, let's go into the Hudson! I want to try-"

Emma groaned, bringing her head up out of the towel. "Donnie, c'mon. You've been testing me out for three weeks now! I'm beginning to feel like a dolphin training for SeaWorld."

"I'm only trying to determine the extent of your capabilities." Donnie reasoned, one eyes still on his screen. "You asked me to."

"Yeah," Emma sighed, with a look at Mikey. "Why'd I do that again?"

Donnie walked past all of them, heading for his lab. "If I had even a fraction more sophisticated equipment, I could get a closer look at your DNA. See where the mutagen has linked into your cellular structure…"

"Who needs the reason, Don," Mikey nudged at Emma, coaxing a grin from her. "Dudette's got powers now."

"It matters a lot, my son." Said Master Splinter from across the circle. "Should the Shredder and the Kraang attempt more testing on humans, we'll need as much knowledge to our advantage as possible."

Raph snorted. "So why not just give ourselves the advantage? Throw back some of that mutagen and-"

"No!" Everyone hushed his thought, to which Raph huffed.

"We're animals, Raph." Donnie rubbed a hand over his head. "There's no telling HOW that stuff could affect us a second time."

"How could it be any different then affecting her?" Raph pointed bluntly at Emma.

"Still here." Emma stated, louder this time.

"That's just the point." Donnie exclaimed, lifting up his glasses. "Without knowing the how or the why, it'd be scientifically irresponsible."

"Watch it Donnie," Mikey punched at Raph's shoulder. "Big words anger him."

Raph spun and caught Mikey's forefinger in a hold that bent him down to a knee. "Guess who I'm gonna take my anger out on."

"Raph…" Mikey squirmed under the hold. "Ok, Raphie…"

"I really don't think you're grasping the depth of my anaylsis-" Donnie attempted to step in between them; only to be pushed aside by Raph.

"Guys!" Leo tried to move in, but he was too late into the yelling. He sighed; no point. Emma had already slipped out through the garage.

}{}{}{}{}{

April O'Neil thanked Vern for the ride home, secretly vowing to get back into riding her bike. This past month had been brutal, one new New York City development after another. Vern and his van had just been a necessity, not a choice. Course, the elevator being broken made up for her loss of cycling. April removed her shoes for the three flights of stairs, dragging her keys out to unlock her and Emma's apartment.

She was met with the scent of melted cheese. April followed the scent into the kitchen, where Emma sat on the floor, a steaming Donatos in her lap. April squinted at the toppings. "Bell peppers and artichoke hearts… that's Donnie's favorite. Why are you eating it?"

"For the spite of him not having it!" Emma held a greasy piece above her head in triumph before driving it into her mouth. April watched, tapping her fingers on her hip. "You sent him a pic, didn't you."

"Mou bmph." Emma smiled through crust and cheese.

"You're mean." April playfully kicked her leg out of the way to get to her sweet tea in the fridge. Emma stayed snuggled with her box. "Honestly, April, I'm about to strangle that science turtle. I've been down there for a week and he'd poking and prodding me 24/7. My hours at the clinic are my only hours of sanity anymore!"

April dropped down beside her, uncorking the tea. "You asked him to, remember?"

"Yes." Emma rolled her head back against the fridge. "Only I thought he'd be… sensitive about it. "He's like Raph with a beaker."

April choked on her tea. "I warned you. Donnie gets a new project, nothing else matters but the results."

"It's not that I'm not grateful for what he's doing." Emma clarified with another swallow. "He's answered a few questions. He's positive that the metamorphosis on my neck has stopped- something about the reaction of the cells having died out. But I can't know about the other parts of my body, what they might do in the future. He doesn't have the means to know that and-"

April looked at her as she stopped talking- and chewing. Her face had stilled; gone somewhere. It had done that several times since she had come back. It was the one thing she wouldn't talk about… maybe tonight would be different.

"What?" April asked, her tea in mid-air in suspense. Her voice brought Emma back and she couldn't grab another piece of pizza fast enough. "Nothing."

"Nothing my foot." April put the tea down. "Seriously Emma, where-"

Emma offered her a piece. "Better to eat this then your foot. I'm… tired, April."

Tired. One of the many things that she suddenly was.

"You know," April took the pizza from her, despite her hate of artichoke hearts. "We're happy to have you back, Emma. And I've got a lot of ground to cover in the being there for you department…"

"April," Emma pushed the pizza slice up toward her mouth. "It was nothing."

April believed that like she believed artichoke hearts were a valid pizza topping.