When the turtles meet Kennedy Honors

Mild romance/action/friendship/gore

Some Kennedy x Mikey, Leo x Karai, Donnie x April, Casey x Raph

It began as a mission to take back their city, it ended as a new beginning to a fantastic adventure of determination, passion, love and sacrifice. Leonardo was fiddling with a pair of glasses he'd found a few steps back when he heard Mikey's voice.

"Hey dudes, check it out!"

Leo tucked the glasses in his belt pouch before turning to address the issue. They had stopped to walk the rest of the way for a stealthier approach while Casey and April took the van. The duo was to be stationed near Shredder's dojo and to spy on anything that was going on.

"For the last time, Mikey, we don't care about a rock that looks like ice-cream kitty!" complained Donatello. Mikey shook his head rapidly.

"No, no! This time I mean it! I… I think it's alive!"

"The rock, is alive?" Raphael retorted.

"It's not a rock! I… I don't know what it is but… just, just, come here!" Mikey tugged Donnie towards the thing he'd seen and Raphael groaned and followed.

"Hey, where's everyone going? Did you forget we have a city to take back?" asked Leo when no one answered him. Raph shrugged and motioned for Leo to follow him.

"Mikey has decided this is a good time to make friends with a rock."

"It's not a rock!" Mikey's voice echoed. Raphael and Leo stopped behind Donnie, who looked as intrigued in Mikey's discovery as a cat with a ball of string. A shadowy lump was what had Donnie so hypnotised; it was the size of Raphael.

"That is a big ass rock," Raph scoffed.

"Raph, it's not… she's not a rock," Donnie breathed. Leo pushed past Raph.

"She?!" he exclaimed, but his excitement faded when he saw the figure. Definitely alive, and definitely a girl, but not the one they were looking for. "What's she doing all the way out here?" Donnie only shook his head and continued staring at the girl.

"My guess would be fleeing the city like everyone else," Raph spat.

"Whoever she is, I don't think she was running away, I think she was being chased," whispered Donatello. Leo lifted a brow, but Mikey asked his question for him:

"How can you tell?"

"Just look at her!" Donnie exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. "She's armed like she was about to go to a war!" now that Donnie mentioned it, Leo and the others could see weapons and several sachets wrapped around the girls waist and torso. A black cloak was worn to hide it. The girl also wore a black mask, covering the entire top of her head and face. Then Leo noticed something around the girl's neck. A necklace… a necklace he'd seen before. Of course, it wasn't the same necklace, but it had the symbol.

"Hey guys, check out her necklace!" his brothers saw it too.

"Dude, it looks just like Splinter's!"

"Not exactly, Mikey: see how hers has a lot more cracks and scratches on it?"

"Must belong to her," Raph said, now appearing mildly interested in the girl.

"Well yeah, but where would she get a Hamato necklace… why does she even-?" Leo's question would have to wait; for the girl began to stir.

"Uhg… mm…"

"Hey guys, she's waking up!" Mikey announced, and leaned in close to the girls face. "Helloooo?" he said. Donnie yanked him backwards.

"Dude, do you want her to punch you out with those?!" whispered Donnie shrilly, pointing at the metal claws the girl wore around her palms. "She probably needs some space-"

"What I need is medical coverage…" croaked the girl. The turtles jumped. The girl sat up and rubbed her throat. "… Ow, and some water…" she looked to her right, squinted, then looked back at the turtles, squinted again, and finally looked down.

"I'll get some for you!" cheered Mikey, and before anyone could stop him, he strolled towards a nearby stream.

"Uh, ma 'me?" Donnie began. The girl was searching for something as he spoke, but stopped to squint at him. "You may want to-"

"Ma 'me is my grandmother," the girl interrupted. "Call me Kennedy or Kenn. I'm 16 for crying out loud…" Donnie watched Kennedy as she glanced across the forest floor again, rather stunned that she hadn't started screaming yet. Although, it was possible that she just came from New York, perhaps mutants didn't scare her anymore? "Incidentally…" she swept a glance across the floor once more before continuing. "Have you boys seen my glasses anywhere?"

"Glasses?!" all four cried in unison. Mikey had returned with the water moments ago. Kennedy lifted a brow.

"Yes glasses. I'm severely far-sighted. I can't see jack without them…" Leo felt his belt pocket absentmindedly.

"That would explain why you haven't run away screaming yet…" grumbled Raph, who had receded into the background, leaning casually against a tree. Kennedy snorted.

"Dude, I know boys are scary, but that's a bit much." Leo chuckled and knelt in front of Kennedy. She squinted at him. He pulled out the glasses.

"Are these what you mean, ma-… Kennedy?"

"What part of, 'I can't see jack without them' didn't you understand?" It took Leo a minute to understand what she meant.

"Oh! Right, sorry." Leo handed her the glasses. Kennedy took them and nodded.

"Thanks."

"Sure."

Kennedy fiddled with them a bit, held them away from her face and squinted at them, then slipped them onto her face. She closed her eyes and smiled. Leo assumed that meant they were hers. Then she looked up at him. Well, here we go again. Leo mentally prepared his ears for screams. There were none. Kennedy looked behind him at Donnie, Mikey, and then Raph. She shook her head.

"I must be in the Twilight Zone," she murmured. It was a stare-down between Kennedy and the turtles. Leo swallowed.

"'Fraid not," he said. And then, to the shock of everyone, Kennedy shrugged and took the cup Mikey was handing her.

"You know, if my best-friend wasn't a giant snake, I'd be freaking out right now," she said through gulps. Leo, Donnie and Raph shared looks of shock. Mikey sat cross-legged in front of Kennedy and grinned.

"Wow, that's the best first impression we ever made!" Kennedy smiled and took the last swig of water before standing and walking towards Leo, who was still looking at Donnie and Raph.

"So," she said to get Leo's attention. "To save time, I'm going to assume you're…" she studied his face. "… Leonardo, right? Do you prefer Leonardo or Leo?" Leo's jaw dropped. His throat was dry. Donnie stepped next to him.

"You know Splinter," he stated. Kennedy nodded.

"And his daughter," Leo whispered. Kennedy leaned her weight on her left side and put a hand on her hip.

"What, the necklace and: my best friend's a snake thing didn't give it away?" she taunted, while fiddling with her necklace. Leo ignored her.

"Where are they?!" he demanded, more harsh than he'd intended. Kennedy took a step back.

"Easy does it dude, they're back at my place in the city. I was going to get some more supplies when the Kraang found me and chased me out of the city… uh oh…" Kennedy looked around before asking, "What day is it today?" The boys gave each other looks.

"August 17th," Donnie replied.

"Oh, what do you know, my birthday was two days ago," said Kennedy. "Guess I'm 17 then…" she put her hand on her chin. "I think it's been… oh God, I should probably call Nutmeg and let her know I'm not dead," she said and fumbled through her cloak.

"Nutmeg?" Leo said with a lifted brow while Donnie and Raph just gave each other looks. Kennedy nodded.

"You probably know her as either Karai or Miwa. I thought she told me her name was Nutmeg when I first ran into her. She was mumbling something fierce…" Kennedy pulled out her phone.

"But still, Nutmeg?" Raph teased.

"Hey, it's better than what she thought I said my name was," Kennedy said with a wink. Leo couldn't help but ask:

"Um… K-Karai's okay though, right? I mean, I know Splinter was…"

"Shred-handled?" Kennedy supplied. Leo nodded.

"But, she's okay right?"

"Eh, define 'okay'," Kennedy said as she checked her phone. Leo nearly fainted, but held onto consciousness enough to say:

"L-like, no broken bones or anything? Still remembers that we're her… that Splinter's her real father?"

"Oh yeah, can't get her to stop saying it," Kennedy said and rolled her eyes.

"So she's okay?" Leo persisted, oblivious to the silent taunts from his brothers. Kennedy smiled.

"Yep!" her phone began to ring, a tune Leo recognised. It was a Skillet song, what was it called…? Kennedy tapped the screen a few times, and then her expression fell. "Nope," she said.

"What?" asked Mikey.

"Nutmeg doesn't call me; she texts. I have no missed texts over the four days I've been gone and now she's calling me…" Kennedy tapped the screen on her phone while murmuring "Please still be alive, please still be alive…" Leo felt his insides twist. His lungs suddenly refused to take in oxygen, his head swam in dizziness. He felt hands grab his arms.

"Leo! Are you okay?" the voice was hazy, demented, like a short-circuiting robot. He heard other voices make noise at him, barely recognisable for his worry flooded ears.

"Hey! Bro, keep it together! She's not dead yet… ghosts can't call people." Leo recognised the snarky voice but was unable to ride it back to full consciousness.

"Leo!"

"Uhg…" his head was bathed in pain. "Ow…" he opened his eyes. The forest slipped into view, as did the worried faces of his brothers. He saw Kennedy a few feet away with her hand against her ear.

"What's up, kid?" she said. Leo heard her scream even though she was miles away in the city.

"It's the foot clan! Shredder found us! GET OVER HERE!" Kennedy had the phone held away from her ear with a look of mild discomfort on her face.

"On my way," she said when Karai stopped yelling. Before Leo knew what he was doing, he was on his feet and snatching Kennedy's phone from her hand. He heard her mumble "Yes, you can use that, thanks for asking," before he spoke.

"Karai! It's Leonardo! Are you okay?!" he knew how stupid he must look and sound, but he was a giant mutant turtle, looking stupid wasn't exactly new for him. Leo almost sobbed when she replied, though her voice was nails on a chalk board.

"Leo? Urk! How do you know Kennedy?!" there was banging and screaming in the back ground.

"Never mind that, what's going on?! Are you okay?!" he asked her again. He heard her struggle to push something back.

"…Y-yes, for now…" was… was she…? No, ridiculous, Karai doesn't cry. He heard static on the other end before she spoke again. "He has us surrounded…" Leo felt his heart hammer against his plastron. "This is an old house… I don't know how long the door will-" there was a crash, and then Karai screamed.

"Karai?" the line was dead with static. We're sorry, your call cannot be completed at the time, please check the number or try your call again. "Karai! Karai can you hear me?! Karai!" no response. Leo felt the weight of failure drop on his shoulders again. He fell to his knees. "No…"

"Hey blue!" Leo turned his head to look at Kennedy and his brothers. Each held a skateboard under their arm. "You know how to ride?"