Michelangelo had spent two and a half years working as the lowly janitor of a grungy high school. He had worked late nights sweeping dust and scrubbing the floors, and worked early mornings washing away the puke of kids that had gotten sick during class. He couldn't say that he had enjoyed his job too much, his pay had been poor and his working hours were long and tiresome, but after those long two and a half years, he had finally been able to pay off the building he had bought, and had successfully earned a steady enough income to keep his apartment rented for a year. And now, as he zoomed down the city sidewalks on his new skateboard from the vendor, he couldn't help but grin.

He reached a long stretch of nothing but downhill riding, and he jumped up from his board, completed a flip, and hit the pavement with a solid thump. He laughed and cheered for himself as he glanced left and right at the blur that was his home city. Never in his life had he felt so truly alive.

He wore a scarf around his neck. Autumn was upon the city, and the few trees that stuck out from the concrete had already lost their leaves, naked in the cold breezes that tossed Mikey's balance to the side. He wobbled and fought the current of the air so he wouldn't crash into another taxi like he had last week. He wondered if he could find that taxi with the dent in the front. Then again, he knew, that many taxis had dents in the front, and most of them probably more than one.

He jumped over a crack in the sidewalk that he had learned to avoid on his route downtown, where all the major businesses of today were. Not very major, but major where he and his brothers lived. Now moved out of the slums, they were in a slightly nicer portion of the city, but not entirely without its own filth and grime. Mikey flipped his feet into the air and did a handstand as he gripped the sides of his board. He laughed and crossed the crosswalk like that, no doubt getting a few curious or bewildered glances.

"Later, dudes!" He called out, then flipped back onto his feet again.

Man, did it feel good to be a New Yorker.

Mikey swerved around the corner of the block, nearly hitting a fire hydrant. Every time he swung around that corner he nicked his thigh on it and stumbled into the street, but this time he had been an inch or so off from it. He smiled. His luck couldn't get any better, except for the fact that he was only two minutes away from the best job in the world. He could see the top of one of the glowing letters in his sign from here, and he pushed off harder and harder, wishing he could just get faster. Another turn around the street and his heartbeat jumped further.

"Almost there!" He cheered, pushing his foot on the pavement with increasing speed.

With a quick kick of the foot on the back of his board he braked just as he was about to run smack into the glass door of his own business. He yanked the key chain from his belt, jingling it just for the pleasure, and fit the key into the lock. With a dramatic swing he flung the door open, and it slammed into the inside wall.

"Little Ninja's is open!" He shouted, pumping his fist into the air.

Carefully he pushed into the building, turning the lights on and dancing across the black and white checkered tile. He beatboxed as he twirled himself around, saying hello to every table and chair he passed on his way to the back kitchen.

"Good morning pizza dough maker!" He laughed as he flipped the lights on in the kitchen. The dim lighting sufficed for now, but Donnie had promised him that he would replace the bulbs when he had the time.

"Good morning picture of Chuck Norris!" He smiled as he glanced across the kitchen toward his beloved portrait.

"And good morning oven!" He grinned at the junky black box that hung lopsided on the wall underneath Chuck Norris. He rushed over and tried to correct its position, but it fell right back into its crooked position. He shrugged. It was plugged in, that was good enough for him.

Rush hour wasn't for several more hours, but still Mikey opened up shop every day, early in the morning. He always played his antique jukebox-whom he thanked New York street vendors for-at full blast to keep his spirits running. And today was no exception as he slid out of the kitchen and across his shiny floors to the lit up jukebox. After successfully removing polka from the list, he had nothing but 80s and 90s rock and roll left. So he took advantage of it, and started playing a random 80s song he had only heard once before.

Singing along and playing his air guitar, he jumped on one of his numerous tables and jammed along with the song, screwing up every other lyric. Eventually he toppled off the table and skidded across the floor on his shell, turning around and around as he did. He laughed, brushed off his knees, stood up, then started sweeping away some of the dust he had neglected yesterday straight out the door.

He had purchased the building, which had already been designed and used as a pizza shop before, for a discounted price. He had saved up for so long, and being able to sign his name on the form had given him the most pride in the universe. Perfectly placed at only seven or so minutes from his apartment, he had probably gotten the best bargain in town, and he had been rubbing it in his brothers' faces for weeks.

They always asked him why he had no business though.

And to that Mikey always sheepishly told them that he had yet to come up with a menu beyond plain cheese or pepperoni. It turned out that running your own business was hard, and that neglecting to listen to them on that had landed him in a rough spot. He knew nothing about owning a pizza shop. It was his dream though, if people said to follow his dreams, why shouldn't he? He coughed with the dirt cloud that choked him and made his eyes water. He still needed to get Donnie's help around here, he had mentioned deep cleaning, and Mikey wasn't too sure what he had meant by that, but he felt that he needed it.

No doubt that was why his business had been so crummy.

"Hey, mutant scum!"

Mikey looked up and found that leaned in the doorway was some fat old man with a disgusting grin. Mikey glared and shook his head. He tried to ignore him, using the better judgment his brothers had told him about, but the man stood there, casting a deep shadow across his floor. He refused to leave.

"Do you really think people will eat from something as filthy as you?" He taunted, his fat belly jiggling around while he laughed.

Mikey frowned and approached the man, opening his mouth to say something, but the man shook his head and walked off down the street. Michelangelo felt anger stir around within him, but he held his tongue. He wasn't like Raph was, but he certainly did get angry with all these mutant racists. They were everywhere, stirring up fights and antagonizing others. The worst they did was throw a few punches though, and everyone knew that it probably wouldn't get beyond that. There were thick rules in place after all.

Mikey sighed and turned back to look at his empty parlor. He could imagine the bustling people, the happy families, how popular he would be. He could see it all in front of him if he wanted to, but it was all blocked by the negativity of the reality of the situation. He needed to spruce the place up, get it to look better. Then he could show them. He would show them all. With a skip in his step he locked up and rode down the street to go find another street vendor. Surely there was more he could do.

He was positive of it.

"Chin up, Drake!" Leo corrected, showing his student the right position.

The boy, about seven, studied his open palms, then curled them into fists. He kicked his leg in the air and got knocked to the ground in one sweep of the leg from the girl he had been sparring. She grinned, her missing two front teeth proudly on display, and she fluffed one of her pigtails in triumph. Leo smiled, clapping for Veronica, then kneeled down to help his other student up. Holding his head and groaning, Drake stared up at his Sensei with shame. But Leo only smiled and smoothed his messy hair back.

"You'll get 'em next time." He assured him, and with that, Drake smiled and wiped his nose with his sleeve. He plopped down next to the line of kids seated neatly in front of Leo, giving him a quick thumbs up.

"Alright." Leo let out a sigh. "How about we have James and..." He glanced around the room for his next 'victim'. His eye grazed over James, who was pointing at a vulnerable boy over at the end of the line with merely his eyes and a slight nod of his head. Leo smiled and called on the innocent face of young William, who stared at him in fear.

"Relax Will." Leo smiled and helped him up. "James won't hurt you."

Both boys, around the age of 12 or 13, stood up, and bowed their heads in front of each other. They took stances, James with his black hair and confidence shining on display, and William with his tussled light brown hair and fear draining him of any smile. They were waiting for the call from Leo, who took a few steps back and corrected a few mild stance problems with Will. But once it had all been fixed, he held his hand up gently, then sliced it down diagonally through the air, the signal to begin.

As the spar unfolded before him, he couldn't hold back his cheers and smiles. His students, advanced in techniques of the Hamato Clan's special ninjitsu forms, had excelled faster than he had expected, and the parents paid good money to let their kids learn it.

"Will, guard your chest!" He barked just moments before the boy took a blow from James's strong fist. He grunted and fell on his side, begging for mercy. Leo called for the spar to stop, and told James to sit down as he helped Will.

The 12-year-old bit his lip and stumbled to his feet again, but this time without the looming terror of having to spar against one of the best students in the class. Leo showed Will the motions and movements slowly, giving the rest of his class a review, but he had no time to finish up. He looked up at the clock and found that he was five minutes from closing up his class, and had to let them loose to change and gather their belongings.

"I'll be seeing you all Thursday!" He smiled and waved as the crowd spread across the room to pick up their things.

Leo loved his job. He couldn't help but enjoy what he did, he was expanding the clan that his father had lost, and he finally got the chance to play Sensei. He had always wanted that when he was younger, often playing the part when he was alone. He saw a lot of himself in these kids, but not just himself, each had a flash of one of his brothers within them. James had the brute force and over confidence that he saw in Raphael, and he always liked to flaunt it whenever he sparred one of the others. Leo wondered how he and Raph would get along if they ever met.

Leo brushed off one of his shoulders and opened the door for one of the parents who had come in to pick up their child. He kicked out the door stop and followed the woman back into his dojo, watching as Veronica, the redhead with the crazy style of fighting, ran over and practically knocked her mother off her feet in a hug. Leo laughed and waved as they left, and continued to stand and wait as each child disappeared with their parents.

His shoulders were tense. Stress from financial work was starting to get to him, though he knew that he could handle more than he gave himself credit for. Still, of all his years, Splinter had never warned him about how rigorous the real world could be. He had thought his life of fighting crime was hard, but no. No, this was much worse, he wanted to go back to carefree days of eating pizza and watching television with his brothers.

It was only a few minutes later that he realized that William was still sitting patiently on the floor of the dojo. He had his backpack in his lap, obviously anxious and ready to go home. Leo peered out the window. The street was empty, and leaves were knocked around crazily in the breeze. His bare feet making a soft pitter-pattering as he crossed the floor, approached Will, and bent on one knee.

"Do you know where your mom is?" He asked.

Will bit his lip and shook his head. "My sister might be coming instead." He mumbled under his breath. He was obviously embarrassed and exhausted. "My mom works late nights now."

Leo nodded. "If you want, you can come meditate with me while we wait."

It wasn't like William had any other options, so he joined his master and they sat across from one another. Leo crossed his legs, and Will copied. And with a smile, Leo took in a few deep breaths, then closed his eyes, leaving his student in silence as he observed and copied. Leo could hear nothing besides the creak of the building, and his breathing. And slowly but surely, his mind let go of what was currently running through him, and he found himself sitting in front of his life's timeline.

"Guys, guys!" Donnie excitedly cheered as he ran into the living room. He had his laptop in one hand, in his other, his T-Phone. He was grinning from ear to ear. "The results are in!"

"Did you read them yet?" Raph dropped everything, his face wild with curiosity, and ran towards his younger brother in a flash. Mikey joined him, and Leo bounded from the dojo with Splinter in tow.

"No, they're still loading." He said. "But with the people in there, there's got to be a majority voting, right?"

Mikey twirled around with his arms spread. He was laughing and dancing, practically tripping over his own feet in joy. This was exactly what they had all been waiting for, after what felt like decades of waiting and waiting, it all led up to this moment. This moment that would decide their freedom, or decide their eternity in hiding.

"Its up!" Donnie shouted.

He had almost dropped his laptop from everyone shoving him out of the way to get a better look. He growled and kicked at his brothers but they clawed up his arms in anticipation. Nobody could see the numbers or the words on the screen, and it was their own faults. Finally Donnie snatched his laptop away and held it up in the air to avoid prying hands.

"I'll read it, I'll read it!" He snapped.

They all settled down and tapped their feet as they waited for the results.

"Results on the inclusion of the "Mutants of America" Act in our government system have beaten what everyone expected." He read. "After an apparently moving word from Ms. April O'Neil and Mr. Casey Jones, the Congress has made its decision that-"

"Give me that!" Raph huffed and yanked the tech away. Donnie did make any move to get it back though, because he had already read the result, and was celebrating with a vibrant victory dance.

"80% of the congregation voted for us!" Raph cried in surprise. Leo snatched the laptop away to check with his own eyes. He smiled and pumped his fist in the air, and glanced over to find Mikey running around in circles around the lair, screaming at the top of his lungs in pure delight.

Splinter gently took the laptop from his eldest son, and read over the words with his own eyes. He smiled lightly. His eyes wandered up towards his sons, who had gathered in a circle and were dancing like they had no control over their bodies. At seventeen years old it was all he expected from them.

"High three!" Mikey shouted.

And they smacked their hands together.

Leonardo opened his eyes suddenly with a deep inhale of surprise. William gave him a concerned look from over by the door. He had his backpack slung around his shoulders, but he had dropped one of his textbooks on the floor, which had broken Leo's trance.

"I'm sorry Sensei, I didn't want to disturb you." He profusely apologized, but Leo waved it off once he saw that there was a car parked outside.

"Its alright William. I'll be seeing you Thursday, right?"

"Right." Will smiled and opened the door, rushing out into the cold. Leo mused it was his sister that was in the driver's seat, since he otherwise didn't recognize her. He gave a short wave, then locked the door.

As he strode back into his dojo, he held a solemn expression. Hanging on the wall was a picture of all of his brothers, arms slung around each other's shoulders, behind them stood Master Splinter, and in front of them stood Casey and April, laughing and making awkward ninja poses. He locked his hands behind his shell and smiled as he studied the two humans that had impacted his life so greatly.

Without them, he, nor his brothers, would have any work or any support at all.

"Thank you." He mumbled towards the photo, then wove his way around back to the bathroom.

He had a few phone calls that he ought to make.

Raphael stormed down the street with his gun firmly gripped in his hands. He led two other men behind him, and with the force of the Hulk, he slammed his shoulder into the door of the apartment building. In a puff of dirt and dust, the wood flimsily fell over, and the men who had been hiding inside shouted and held up their hands in defeat. All except for one, who held up his gun, and pointed it right at the mutant that had barged into his hideaway.

"Get back, or I'll shoot!" He stammered. His arms were shaking, and flashes of fear ran through his face. Raph laughed and took a step closer. The man moved his finger over the trigger, so Raph stopped moving. He glared and moved his finger over the trigger of his gun too.

"You don't want to shoot me." He growled.

The man was practically shaking in his undies, but still he defended the men behind him. They all wallowed in their own filthy money and marijuana, trying to drag it out the back door to make a getaway, but Raph's backup was pointing their weapons at them in a second. No way was anyone getting out of here without forfeiting everything. Raph would make sure of it, he was armed after all.

"I will shoot you!" The man snapped back. He fired his gun, but with terrible aim, and the bullet whizzed past Raph's head and instead hit the wall behind him.

"Shouldn't have done that." Raph's eyes narrowed and he charged at the man, knocking him on the ground with the force of a bear. Something snapped, and the guy screamed in pain, flailing his arms around until Raph had them pinned too. "Its been a pleasure." Raph hissed before he snapped the handcuffs around his criminal's wrists and threw him out the door.

Never had his anger been such a valuable thing in Raph's life. From birth this was what he was meant for, and he enjoyed his work more than anything. He doubted that any of his brothers could have the same kind of joy that he had, because none of them got to beat bad guys up anymore. Raph still got to smash people's heads in. It was a good life.

"Sir."

Raph's head snapped to one of the others he had taken with him. He was peeling a floorboard up, and revealing thousands of little sacks of a sparkling white powder. Raph's upper lip curled in disgust and he rolled his eyes with a gruff sigh and a few curses.

"Notify the drugs unit." He said, then made his way back into the daylight.

It smelled like fast food. His stomach growled, but he had decided to forget eating that morning, so it was his own fault. But he had been tracking this case all day, honestly, who could blame him? He brushed drywall off his shoulder and pulled out his phone to contact the boss. He was about to get a raise. And hopefully, a pretty hefty one.

While the dial tone rung, he watched as the group of three that he had busted were thrown into a car, all shouting and cursing and Raphael and his coworkers. He frowned, rolling his eyes again. New York crime disgusted him, he often times had to hold himself back from cracking each and every criminal's skull. His phone clicked and on came the gruff voice of the boss man himself.

"Raphael. What is it?" He grunted.

"I caught them." Raph grinned.

"So I hear!" Mr. Daniels cheered, his voice deep and booming through the receiver like a waterfall. Raph winced but kept on smiling. He was so getting a raise now. No doubt about it. "Not bad for a mutant." He teased.

Raph's smile drooped and he grit his teeth to try to keep himself from not shouting insults back. He knew that he was teasing. But it still made his blood boil.

"Look, I've gotta go, new case on this gang I'm following, I want you in on it." Mr. Daniels sighed. "You. Me. We'll talk over coffee, sound good?"

"Sounds great!" Raph sighed, then hung up.

He opened the door to his police van and dropped inside. With a squeal he sped off down the street, blocking out the curses of the druggies he had grouped together behind the cage. He licked his lips. His stomach was still growling, and right across the highway he could see a great view of the rest of the city. He strained his eyes as he studied the city below him. He could recognize water towers he had kicked in anger on late nights when he was younger. He saw a scorch mark running through the pavement from a laser.

This section of Manhattan was all too familiar, and he hadn't even realized just how close to home this chase had taken him. He turned his eyes back onto the road and kept his route uptown like he was supposed to. And just as he was about to turn onto an exit, he got a good view of Shredder's lair. His heartbeat raced just by looking at it and thinking of all the memories he had engraved into his soul. But the building was now nothing but a hunk of metal, rusted and abandoned.

Not too far beyond there he could see the former T.C.R.I building complex, the sign now replaced with glowing letters of a new company for food production and sales. Raph had been running from this part of the city for so long, that he hadn't even taken time to realize how much things could change in just a year or so. His eyes reluctantly turned back to the road, and he swerved crazily about trying to get himself in the right lane.

"Hey, what're you, some tourist?" One man shouted from the cage. "Keep your eyes on the road!"

"Nobody likes a backseat driver!" Raph growled and gripped the steering wheel harder, trying his best not to to pull over and shoot them all. "Why don't ya' just shut up, and play nice?" He replied and flicked his headlights on in the evening light. He could see the police station from here, only a few more minutes.

And then he could get his raise.

Donatello hardly slept anymore. He spent late nights giving himself tension headaches from being on a computer for so long, and early mornings chugging coffee and preparing lecture notes for the upcoming obstacle he had. School was starting up, which meant that he had to wind himself up too in preparation for the long road ahead. Although he had no idea what that was going to mean for him, or how much more coffee he was going to need to stock up on for the cupboard.

In two days he was going to be a professor on campus of a college. He was going to be teaching a classroom of humans, and he had no idea how they were going to take it. As far as he knew, he was the youngest in his field of teaching, and the only mutant professor to work on a campus. It was a brave new world, of which he was terrified of.

He had no clue what he was doing.

He was just going over a few sheets, correcting typos and fixing graphs, when his laptop started beeping, and he had to leave his mountain of papers to go check on it. It was a video chat notification from April, and happily he opened it. He had to adjust his webcam for a few minutes once she was on line though. He turned on a lamp in his living area and rubbed his eyes, but that didn't keep him from smiling once he saw how her face lit up seeing his.

"Donnie!" She smiled. "Wish I could hug you from over here!"

"Me too, April. Good to see you!" He stifled a yawn.

"Donnie, how much sleep have you been getting?"

"Hmm? Oh, a few hours each night, but as soon as I get into the normal habit-"

April sighed and shook her head, rubbing her temple with her index finger. She was obviously not pleased, but she found herself laughing. That was the Donnie she knew, always up late and insisting he needed a few more minutes. Through her screen, though the resolution wasn't great, she could tell that his eyelids were drooping, and that so desperately he needed sleep. She was almost tempted to end the chat, but she knew he wouldn't go to sleep anyways.

"How are you Donnie?" She asked.

"Evidently tired." He laughed. "But I'm good. The guys are great too, Mikey paid off the pizza place."

"Oh, that's great!" April clapped her hands together, her eyes twinkling. "I can't wait to go see it with Casey, did he decide on a name yet?"

"Little Ninja's." Donnie said.

"That's cute!" April placed her chin in her open palm.

Donnie could catch the glint of her wedding ring in the light of her hotel room. Almost instantly his teenage foolishness struck him like a load of bricks, and he blinked the pain of his youth away. He had been so stupid then. And with April married to Casey, he shouldn't even try to dabble in the art of remembering what he had been like when he was 15. When he was 15, foolish, and love-struck. By this point, April and Donnie had allowed themselves to grow as best friends. Donnie wasn't too sure if he appreciated Casey still, but he tolerated him to a point. If Casey made his best friend happy, then the least he could do was allow himself to be happy too.

Besides, he couldn't deny their attraction to each other.

Maybe Donnie would find someone else if fate was a kinder thing in the future.

"How's Raph?" April asked, rubbing her tense right shoulder.

"Ah, kicking butt. As usual, crime foiled by the mighty Raphael." He laughed.

"And Leo?"

"His dojo is actually doing really well. From what he tells me, business is booming." He said. "Unfortunately I haven't had time to meet up with them on Sundays like we used to." His smile faded into a frown, and he traced a circle in the table his laptop perched on.

"Come on, Donnie, you've gotta make time for them. You're still a team."

"Yeah, I know we are." Donnie smiled. "Just not the same team as before."

A few minutes later, April sadly sighed and told Donnie that she had to go. She was in Italy on a news reporting job, and they had a new case they had to follow. Donnie had let her go, but as soon as the call ended, he realized just how separated he had been from his brothers. He glanced at the stack of papers on his desk in the kitchen, then back at his laptop. In a few minutes he had himself freshened up, and he began to clean his apartment up enough so that it was presentable.

He called his brothers, who all were only floors beneath him for convenience, and they all joined him for a round or two of poker at three in the morning. None of them seemed to mind it, in fact, it was the most fun they had had together in ages. With Raph being a sore loser supplying beer, Mikey hanging upside-down the entire game, Leo being too cautious all the time while being a terrible bluffer, and Donnie being the systematic winner all the time, it was like everything had gone back to the way things were before. When they were four teenage brothers living in the sewer together.

Except...maybe without all the beer...