"Hey."

He almost dropped what he had so carefully been constructing. Her voice still startled him; it seemed like an echo of his past too good to be true. Leonardo clutched his gift a little tighter and hoped she hadn't noticed his expression falter. Quayla had begun to react with guilt each time he was reminded of his other life and now they both tiptoed around their time together like it was made of finely blown glass. No one blamed them really, but there were many days where he wished with all his might he could just forget what it was like to live without her, those memories had tainted everything. Each time she left the lair he struggled not to follow her, reassure himself that she had reached her destination unharmed. He reasoned with himself that to give in to those urges would mean he truly couldn't live in the moment and for the sake of his wife and his daughter he wouldn't accept that, difficult as it was.

He smoothed his face into what he hoped was a smile and rose from his seat at the kitchen table. "I-um, made you breakfast," he proffered. On the table sat a plate stacked with waffles and various berries, waffles weren't his strongest offering but he figured she'd appreciate the gesture and he could apologise to Donnie later about the state of the waffle iron (It hadn't taken kindly to being prised open with the butter knife).

Amusement spread across her face and she wove elegantly around the table to his side, draping her arm around him casually. "What's all this in aid of?"

He saw his moment and produced the carefully concealed gift he'd been working on with a twirl of his wrist. An intricate paper blossom was pinched between his fingers, each petal had been painstakingly folded to resemble a lotus flower and he'd managed to dye each tip with a flush of pink thanks to a little diluted ink from one of Splinter's red sumi sticks. He flashed a rare dazzling grin and answered, placing the gift in her hands, "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Oh Leo, it's so pretty!" She gasped, turning the origami over and over to admire it, "Thank you," she wrapped both her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. His heart beat quickened in response as she took a cautious glance behind him before planting a kiss on his waiting mouth. It was easy to get lost like that, just the two of them, and as usual it was over too soon. He let out a small murmur of frustration as she gently pushed him away and asked, "So, did you find your card?"

"You got me a card?" He sounded surprised, it wasn't that they didn't care enough to bother but Valentine's Day was normally just another day, especially as most of the ones they spent together had been thousands of miles away from the commercialism that went along with it. He wasn't entirely sure what had prompted him to feel the need to embrace it now, well ok, maybe he did. All the years he watched it unfold in the other timeline, knowing he'd missed the chance to participate and wondering if she would smile like she had today.

"You're not the only one with a surprise up their sleeve," Quayla replied and sat down, grabbing a waffle and biting into it. Her eyes flicked back to his with a mischievous twinkle in them.

"Oh," he bit back a smile and pulled up a chair beside her, he glanced at the clock on the wall opposite, "Hey, aren't you going to be late?"

"Mmm-nunuh," She answered around her waffle and swallowed, "Jade is up already by the way, she's watching cartoons."

He nodded, "Yeah she got up when I did, she wanted to help me make you breakfast but I caught her putting fruit loops in the waffle mix and convinced her I probably needed a recipe for that so she went off to write me one."

"Good save," Quayla grinned and downed half a glass of juice, "I'd better get going."

She rose from the table and he caught her hand, "Just a sec," he tugged her so she wound up perched on his knee. He retrieved the flower and pushed it gently through where she'd gathered her blonde curls in a ponytail, "There," he whispered, locking eyes with hers.

Quayla's finger traced down his nose, "You are making leaving very difficult," she cocked her head to one side and pecked him on the cheek, "But I still have to go." She stood and this time he let her, she paused at the door, "Go find your card."

"Yes ma'am," He did a mock salute and then became serious, "Have a good day and please be careful Cute." It was an odd nickname for her, it had started years ago when his wife was still going by her initials alone to conceal her identity, by the time Quayla Thomas revealed herself it was too late the label had stuck.

"I will," She answered sincerely and blew him a kiss.

He listened as she said goodbye to their daughter and then quiet fell upon their home, several forms of bribery had been exchanged for a morning's peace but the sound of Raphael's door slamming signified it would soon be over. He sighed, regarded the waffle iron with dismay and began attempting to clean it.

Quayla's shift at the diner began at nine a.m.; she hurried along the sidewalk a little faster as she really didn't want to be late. The diner's owner, Anne, had been more than lenient with her about her comings and goings so on days where no disaster loomed she gave it her all.

She'd been away for a month at the drop of a hat the last time due to Leo and Jade needing to recover from their run in with Bishop and Karai, then there was the wedding and that had brought about its own set of troubles and the blissful week she had actually planned off had morphed into an ugly four. Her first day back after that she had been filled with shame, she went to hand in her uniform and apologise to the people who had been so kind to her for letting them down, again.

When she had walked in Anne took one sidelong look over her glasses at the neatly folded uniform, stuck a bony hand on her hip and waved the other at Quayla dismissively, "Ya can put that on out back hon." When she didn't move the older woman barked, "Now Quayla, customers can't serve themselves, this ain't a buffet!" That was that, no questions asked. Quayla tried to apologise at the end of the shift but Anne was having none of it, she just patted her hand and winked saying, "S'okay honey, don't fret." That small action was all it took to reduce her to a bubbling mess, the stress of the last few weeks had finally surfaced and Quayla wasn't sure she could stop the tears.

Anne had worried of course and parked her in the back at the kitchen counter, after seeing to the last few customers she reappeared with tea and pie, her own answer to life's problems.

"I'm so sorry," Quayla sobbed, she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. She hadn't cried this much since her father died, it was an odd release. She took a juddering breath, "I can't believe I'm being like this."

"Is Jade okay?" Anne asked carefully. She always made a fuss of her whenever Quayla took her to work.

Quayla nodded emphatically, "Yes, she's fine," she sniffled and took another breath, "Leo and I got married."

Anne reeled back and smacked her hand on the countertop, "Well honey if he's makin ya this miserable leave him!"

"Oh god, um, no, it's not like that," Quayla replied wiping her eyes again, "Something awful happened to him and it's just been really tough to deal with. I don't know how to help him and he's trying so hard to be there for us."

The older woman had smiled knowingly, "Then you'll get through it," she sighed in exasperation, "Honestly, you youngsters, you do everything backwards then wonder why it ends up so damn hard. Well, let me tell you, marriage ain't easy hon, it's not that you two change, it's everyone else! That piece of paper makes people around you act crazy; you gotta find a way to ignore it."

Quayla had smiled at the truth of Anne's words, only problem was her employer had no idea how crazy people could get when the man you married also happened to be a mutant turtle. Now, a few months down the line from her return to work she still felt as though life could fall apart at a moment's notice. The nice part of working was that she could leave all those worries behind, at least for a few hours. There she wasn't a mom or a wife or a sister, she just waited her tables and indulged in idle chatter about the specials or how the weather was, it was almost like meditation. God, sometimes she really missed living with the Ancient One, meditation was a need back then, now it was at the back of a very long line.

She shoved the door open and was greeted by an already bustling restaurant, the smell of eggs and grits carried by the heat of the kitchen wafted past her. Immediately she donned her apron and slung her bag underneath the counter, reached in the apron pocket for a pencil and pinched a spare order pad from the stack. Anne waved a hasty greeting at her from the opposite end of the diner and Ray shot her a grin from the serving window while flipping a pancake. Quayla scanned the place but none of the other wait staff appeared to be in and it seemed all of New York had come out for a Valentine's Day breakfast; it was going to be a hectic shift.

Quayla wasn't sure she had ever experienced such a busy day and when a lull in customers finally came Ray beckoned her to the kitchen's hatch and leant his ample frame on it wearily.

"Say kiddo, ya couldn't do us a big favour and stay on a bit longer could ya? Only Taylor called in sick and lord knows where Chastity is," He sighed and mopped his brow.

"I'll tell you where she is," Anne answered, suddenly appearing beside Quayla, "Not living up to her name that's for sure. She spent her whole shift yesterday mooning over yet another new boyfriend, should have known we couldn't count on her for today."

Quayla shifted uncomfortably, she'd let them down too much herself to offer any form of agreement, "Of course I can stay, it's the least I can do," she replied, "But if it's okay I really need to let Leo know I'm going to be late, can I grab my phone?"

"Sure ya can," Ray answered, "We appreciate ya helping hon."

"No trouble," Quayla grinned with her shell cell already in her hand; she typed a quick text to Leo;

WORKING LATE, PLEASE DON'T WORRY. BE HOME ASAP. Q X X X

She pushed send and waited for the whoosh before shoving the device into her pocket.

A busy couple of hours later Quayla grabbed a moment to take out the trash and check her phone, no reply had come from Leonardo which was unusual, he was quite conscientious about replying. She frowned and threw the trash in the dumpster behind the diner then got her cell out again; she was halfway through dialling home when a familiar voice spoke quietly from the shade.

"Are you alright?" His voice was taught, probably in part because he'd had to venture out in daylight. Leonardo stepped out of the cover of the alley fully clothed in jeans and a deep blue hooded jumper with a black baseball hat pulled down low over his face.

Quayla almost dropped her shell cell as she took in the sight of him, she'd seen all of the turtles disguised before but it was always strange to see them out like it. She checked the door to the kitchen was closed and quickly made her way over to him.

"You didn't get my message, did you?" She sighed when he shook his head, "Urgh! I waited for the whoosh and everything." She took his hands in her own, "I said I'd stay and help, the others haven't turned up and it's been packed all day. I'm so sorry I made you worry."

Leonardo nodded and she heard him swallow which made her own throat constrict in response, she felt wretched and wondered how long he'd been out here waiting. He was still silent and avoiding her stare so she wrapped her arms around his neck, that made him look.

"Cute, what are you doing?" He whispered and tried to disentangle himself from her grasp, "This isn't that good a disguise, and someone could see us."

"I like the disguise. A lot," Quayla winked, she toyed with the strings of the hood and he tugged the hat down further to cover his bashful grin.

"Go back to work," he chuckled and kissed her briefly.

The kitchen door suddenly squealed in protest at being forced open and Anne's small but formidable figure stood in it. Quayla glanced beside her and fully expected to be standing alone but to her surprise Leonardo still stood there, although she could almost feel his muscles yearning to escape.

"You okay there hon?" Anne called over; she crossed her arms to infer she meant business.

Quayla looked at Leonardo for assurance and squeezed his hand, he gave a stiff nod.

"Uhmm, Anne, I don't think you've met my husband," She stepped forward slightly and felt Leo tense further, she couldn't quite fathom why he hadn't disappeared when he had the chance after worrying about being spotted.

"Don't reckon I have," Anne replied while giving him the once over, "Leo, isn't it?"

Leonardo took a deep breath before answering, "Yes ma'am. I just wanted to thank you for looking out for Quayla and Jade."

Anne batted away the gratitude as if it were a fly after her prize cheesecake. "No need for thanks, your wife works hard and little Jade, well she's a peach. Say, why don'tcha come in for somethin' to eat? I'm just about done with Quayla and it's the least I can do after she's been such a good help today."

Quayla opened her mouth to make a plausible excuse but Leonardo beat her to it.

"That's a very kind offer but perhaps another time? We should probably get going..."

The older woman shoved her glasses further up her sharp nose; years of dealing with the public had made her shrewd. "Of course, if you really wanted to thank me you wouldn't turn down the offer and there's a table in the back, away from the noise."

The couple exchanged a worried glance, now Anne had them in a bind. There was no way Leo would want to offend his wife's employer and refuse her southern hospitality, a rare thing in New York. He reluctantly agreed to the table in the back and they sat in an awkward silence. Anne soon bustled along with three slices of her best apple pie and coffees for them then pulled up a seat at their table.

"My feet are killin' me," she proclaimed and again eyeballed Leonardo who seemed to be sinking further into his chair. She leaned forward and addressed them both, "Look it's none of my business but I know what's going on here."

"You do?" Quayla asked with an edge of panic colouring her tone, Leonardo now looked officially ready to bolt for the door.

Anne pursed her lips. "Mmm-hmm, you aren't the only ones to come through my door running from something or someone. I don't know what ya did and frankly I don't much care, just don't be bringing in here, okay?"

Leonardo sat up straighter now and cleared his throat, "I assure you, you aren't at risk and we aren't on the run."

The woman nodded and relaxed a little in her seat, the sound of the bell on the diner door jingled and two customers walked in and sat at a window booth. Anne checked they were seated and nudged Quayla, "Say, could you take their order? I just need to get my second wind." Quayla nodded but shot Leonardo a look of dread as she passed him, this was going badly and the last thing she wanted was to leave him alone.

Anne's laser focus was now back on Leonardo, she waved her fork in the air as she spoke, "Y'know a friend of mine a ways back was rescued from some nasty lookin' gang members by some costumed vigilantes, said they were dressed as giant turtles, figure I'd kinda owe them one for seeing her right. Don't suppose ya heard about that?"

The comment hung in the air for a moment before a loud buzzing sound interrupted the silence. Leonardo dug into his pocket and retrieved his shell cell, he checked the ID, and it was Raphael.

"Please excuse me, I have to answer this," He said quietly and flipped open the cell. "Everything is fine, we'll be home soon. No, we're at the diner, I'll explain later. Bye." He turned to Anne and gave her a strained smile, "Sorry. Now I'm not sure Quayla or I had heard about your friend but if we had then I'm sure you could appreciate that her rescuers would want to remain out of the public eye."

Anne smiled warmly now, "I'm sure I could hon and I promise I wouldn't say a peep, y'know, if I knew anything, which I don't."

"Then we understand each other and I'm again in your debt," Leonardo answered humbly.

"You're not how I thought you'd be. I thought Quayla had shacked up with some wannabe gang member. I've seen nice girls like her fall for the wrong guy time after time but I know now that you're one of the good ones. You look after them Leo, and don't be taking risks by coming to see the likes of me," She hesitated then grasped his hand in her own, shock at the lack of two fingers registered briefly but quickly disappeared, "I'm glad you stayed though."

Leonardo smiled, "Me too."

Quayla reappeared at that moment; her expression was brimming with questions but after seeing how at ease Leonardo seemed to be the concern at least dissipated, "Everything okay?" She queried and hoped her voice wasn't showing the strain.

"Yep, no problem," Leonardo answered and turned to Anne, "So can I steal my wife away from you now?"

"Sure honey, use the back door though won't ya?"

They nodded, Quayla retrieved her things from behind the counter and waved goodbye to Ray who still stood at his station plodding through the last few orders, and then after a final goodbye to Anne they slipped away into the dusk.

"Well that was interesting," Leonardo stated over his shoulder as he gently reaffixed the manhole cover above him. Further down the service ladder he heard Quayla huff and gritted his teeth, he was probably going to pay for making her worry, he decided it was better to get his apology in now. "Look Cute, I'm sorry," he called as he made his way after her, "I just thought it was right to thank her."

"Are you insane?" Quayla shouted and stomped on ahead, "You could have ruined everything!" She threw her hands in the air, "Dammit Leo, it's the missing villager all over again, you just have to push the self-destruct button, don't you?"

He came to an abrupt halt, frowned at her remark and folded his arms. "You can't seriously think that's what I do?"

She turned around at that and walked briskly back towards him and pointed an accusing finger in his face and hissed, "I think you're afraid to be happy. I think you've spent so long being miserable that you can't enjoy things going right."

"Really?!" Leonardo raised his voice now, he reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders and she met his stare with contempt, "I'm not afraid of anything, I just wanted to do the right thing and not run away for once!"

Quayla shoved his arms off her and gritted her teeth, "But you didn't have to do anything, I had it covered," she snapped but then concern crept into her tone, "Leo, you're always so careful but that move back there was reckless, you put us all at risk."

"I didn't mean to," He sighed heavily when the realisation hit, "I'm not myself lately."

Now she put her arms around him. He was still suffering and she had no idea how to make it stop, nothing she could do or say could remove the memories, the only person capable of such a thing was perhaps the Ancient One but then what would be left of her Leo?

"Thanks Cute," He mumbled into her hair.

She clutched him a little tighter and said into his ear with a faint smile, "Don't thank me, I'm still mad at you," then she nuzzled his neck letting him know she had actually all but forgiven him.

"Um guys?" The faint voice of Donatello echoed down the pipe, "Is everything alright? Sensei said he uh, heard shouting..."

They parted for a moment, Leonardo's eyes begged her not to say anything, and she gave a slight nod.

"Everything is fine Don, we'll be there in a minute," Quayla called out in response and focused her attention back on Leonardo, she spoke in lower tones now she realised too late that they had an audience, "Leo, you need to stop shutting us out, we can't help you if you don't talk."

He laughed and it came out as a bitter choking sound, "I talked to everyone, it's you I can't talk to and yes, I'm afraid to in case I pull you down with me. I just want you to be happy, not burdened by what might have been."

Quayla thought for a moment and replied, "Keizoku wa chikara nari. I can handle it Leo, you don't have to protect me."

"Persevere and never fear huh?" He raised a brow at her.

She shrugged. "Something like that, just don't stop trying," she pointed at the lair entrance, "We should probably go home." The thought of Jade going to bed without seeing her parents was weighing heavily on her mind.

Leonardo agreed and they walked in together where they were immediately greeted by a pyjama clad Jade flinging herself at their middles, her small arms squeezed them both tightly. Leonardo mussed her hair affectionately. "Sorry we're late Jade."

"I wrote you three recipes," she beamed up at them expectantly.

Quayla grinned then cast a wary glance at the kitchen, it looked intact, "You didn't cook any of them though...right?"

Jade pouted a little, "No, Uncle Mikey was busy so Grandpa and me practiced writing them, wanna see?"

She didn't wait for an answer and dashed off to retrieve her handiwork. Splinter emerged from behind his shoji screen door with his brow furrowed, he hobbled over to them and closed his eyes leaving one clawed finger pointing skyward and the other hand clutching at his gnarled cane. That gesture still had the power to fill Leonardo with dread and he gulped hard.

The old rat spoke softly, "I do not wish to interfere in your private matters but I must insist you do not air your differences quite so loudly when your daughter might hear you."

Quayla's hand shot to cover her mouth, she removed it slowly. "She didn't, did she?"

Splinter shook his head, "You are fortunate her hearing is not as keen as mine. I trust you have resolved your disagreement?"

"Yes Sensei," they echoed in guilty unison with their heads bowed.

Their master rubbed at the tufts of fur on his chin and let out a long, whistling breath before dismissing them both.