TMNT 2K12 'verse. I'm really hopeful that this series turns out good. I've seen some promising signs so far, but you never know...

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even my feet.

The Ride Home

April's POV

The turtle with the blue mask and swords (ohmygod, real swords!!) touched her shoulder with his three-fingered hand, and she turned along with the other turtles to run before the alien robots could come after them. Her boots pounding the ground were the only sounds she could hear as they ran, their two-toed feet silent as they went.

Tonight had been nothing but chaos, and she could barely think! Her mind whirled with thoughts, each one demanding her attention. 'Dad! Is he alright? Is he still alive? How long will they keep him alive?! Oh god, I have to find him! But how?! How can I find him when I have no idea where they're taking him? Why did they want him? Who were those robots? Were those...brains inside those robots? Brains?! Were they the ones that wanted Dad? But why?!

And ohmygod, turtles! Giant, walking, talking, people turtles! No, that's not right, humanoid, that's it-that'snotimportant! Four of them! Four giant turtles with weapons and ninja skills! Ninjas! And what the hell is up with that?! Why do turtles even know ninja stuff? ...oh god, if anyone could hear my thoughts right now they'd think I was absolutely crazy!'

They reached the very tall brick wall, and before she could say anything, (mainly about how in the world they thought she was getting over that), the one with the purple mask had scooped her up into his arms and leapt up. He twisted and turned with easy grace, just like he had when he'd caught her from her deadly fall earlier. But now he rose up, bouncing off corners and angles to scale the wall without his hands to help. For one breathless moment, it felt like she was flying. Within seconds, they were over the wall, gracefully leaping down to the ground below.

The part of her brain that was taking careful notes of all of this pointed out that this turtle had to be incredibly strong to do any of that. And that he was being as careful with her as if she was made of spun sugar. Wow.

He, (Donatello, she forcefully reminded herself, and wasn't that Italian?), gently set her down. Her feet had barely touched the ground-a sudden explosion from the back of the base made them all jerk.

"I don't remember leaving anything in there that went boom," the orange-masked one said in confusion.

The red-masked one just smirked, "No, that would be me."

"Really, Raph? Really?" The blue-masked one said in exasperation.

"What? Did you want them to try and follow us? This way, they're too busy cleaning up their own mess to do anything else," he replied with a careless shrug.

"Still, better to get as far away from this place as we can," Donatelo said firmly. He glanced at her a bit nervously, reaching out for her hand, and she took it, running beside him further into the city. Donatello talked as they ran. "So, um, how are you doing? I mean, I know this has probably been one big shock after another, what with kidnapping and missing your dad and all- but, I mean, are you injured? Those things didn't hurt you, did they?"

"Huh? No, I'm fine. Just some bruises and scrapes, nothing major."

His eyes filled with concern. "Bruises? Scrapes?! Are you okay? Are you sure its alright? I'm not a doctor or anything, but I'm good with first aid and biochemistry, and-no, wait, that wouldn't really help, biochemistry, I mean, the first aid would actually be pretty useful right now-"

She couldn't help a chuckle at his babbling. "You're funny. But no, I'm okay, I'm sure. Nothing a hot soak and a few band-aids won't fix." The girl smiled at his concern. "Thanks."

He blushed, nearly missing a step. "Y-you're welcome."

"Hey lovebirds," Raph called from an alleyway. Donatello blushed brighter red, and April found herself with a faint pink flush on her face, to her surprise. "Things are getting a little too crowded down here, and we're supposed to stay out of sight," the red-masked turtle said.

"I agree, the apparent leader said. "Sensei said we shouldn't be seen by any humans, and we've done a lot of that already. We need to either go down or up.

"Up," Donatello said, leading her over to the alley. "We're not taking her down to the sewers when she's got scrapes, she'll get an infection. I say we head further up here." The turtles exchanges quick glances, nodded, and headed deeper into the alleyway. They reached the fire escape ladders and immediately started to climb. This time, she pulled herself up, climbing as quietly as she could up to the building's roof. They settled down to rest a minute by the side of the rooftop, stretching out and checking for any injuries.

It felt good to catch her breath and to try to stop shaking with all the adrenaline still in her system. She glanced around to get a better look at her rescuers. They were all around her height, they sounded young, like they were maybe a year or two older than her, and they acted like a bunch of brothers. Were they family? Or maybe a new species? It would certainly make sense to her. Their skin tones varied from rich green to a more olive color, and it looked almost leathery, like a real turtle's skin. Their shells were covered in dark greens and browns, and they even has some chips in the edges. The chest plates, (weren't those called plastrions?), were a light to dark tan color, and also had a few chips in their edges. Three fingers on each hand, two toes on each foot, and extremely agile and strong.

They were incredible. What had happened to them? Were they born this way? Or were they changed? The girl found a burning curiosity growing in her, and she couldn't wait to find out the answers.

"So what now?" The red-masked one asked

"We should probably figure out where we're going," the blue bandana'ed one said firmly. "There's no point just running around randomly."

"No kidding, the orange masked one said. And I'm getting hungry. "Think we can get some more of that pizza stuff?"

"Yeah, I'm starving," Raph said. "Busting heads works up an appetite."

A loud growl made all of them turn and look at Donatello. "Eheheh," he laughed in embarassment. "Yeah, hungry."

"I'm hungry too. Hmm," April patted down her pockets. "Well, they took my cell phone and my purse. But they didn't get everything!" She reached down and pulled out a small plastic bag hiding a folded wad of bills from the inside of her shoe. The turtles looked surprised as she counted out fifty dollars. She smirked a bit at their looks. "What? A girl should always carry emergency cash on her. So, what kind of pizza do you like?"

"What's the kind with the red circles on it?"

"Pepperoni?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Sure thing, um-you know, I don't know your name?"

The turtles exchanged slightly startled looks. "Oh, yeah, that's right. Um," The blue-eye one said with a bit of embarrassment, "sorry about that. I'm Michelangelo, the cool one," (he ignored the disbelieving snort from his brothers), "you can call me Mikey. The cranky one is Rapheal-"

"Just Raph, is fine," he said, giving her a considering look, measuring her up. "And Captain Corageous over there is Leo."

"Leonardo Hamato, miss," he said with a slight bow. She nodded in acknowledgment, surprised at his manners. Hamato? That sounds Asian, maybe Japanese? So all Italian first names, and-hey! All Renaisance painters! Cool, I'm a bit surprised I remembered all of them. Anyway, all Italian first names, with a Japanese last name? Hmm, their parents must be art lovers.

"And I'm Donatello! Well, I told you that already, and you know it already, so, um, yeah," he trailed off with a blush.

The girl smiled a bit nervously. "Hi. I'm April O'neal."

"Nice to meet ya!" Mikey said cheerfully. "So about that pizza?"

Really, how did the long walk home go in that first episode? Lol. This was my idea of how they broke the ice.