A/N: Title comes from the Pink song "Try", which I felt was apropos to the situation for April with the Turtles and Casey with her family issues. Casey's dad and sister come from the canon of the show. They were mentioned in passing and I ran with it. Linda is a character of my own creation.
Some of the dialogue and set-up comes from "Target: April O'Neil" (2x06) of the show because well I want to keep it close enough to the beginning before I go totally crazy with plot stuff.
As always this is unbeta'd because I do not have a beta. So I usually catch these things after I post and it's kind of annoying.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in any form.
Part Three: Just Because It Burns, Doesn't Mean You're Gonna Die
Casey Jones considered the scene in front of her.
It was sickeningly domestic. It was like every family sitcom she had grown up on. It was picturesque and perfect.
And somewhere that she felt like she didn't belong.
Linda, her Dad's long-term girlfriend, was cooking breakfast for them all. The air smelled heavily of fresh waffles with warmed maple syrup, fruit, and bacon.
Casey felt her stomach twist.
Maybe she should have crashed at April's last night. Her aunt was usually working this time in the morning. They would have had cold noodles over the sink and April would let Casey bitch the team's new right wing.
Ever since the whole incident with Goo Guy, she and April had bonded over it pretty quick. Chalk up another life lesson to good old J.K. Rowling, sometimes stuff happens and you can't walk away without friends because of it.
Casey is pretty sure that she has her first real actual girl friend, as in girl who is a friend, in her entire life.
She still hasn't introduced April to her family yet, but April seemed cool with hanging out or Casey crashing at her place for the night. April's aunt just looked relieved that April was having some company other than her own thoughts.
"Cassandra?"
Casey jolted back to herself. Her teeth instantly were on edge. She hated being called by her first name. She knew that Linda was probably just being nice, but Casey just got tired of correcting her.
Casey took a deep breath through her nose and squared her shoulders before walking into the kitchen/dining area of their place.
"Morning everyone."
Madeline, her younger sister, stopped texting one of her friend's to make an unintelligible grunt in her older sister's direction. She was a delicate boned, fair haired girl of about twelve or thirteen with a smattering of freckles to match Casey's own. Her long locks, about the same length of Casey's at that age, tumbled over her shoulders in loose, messy curls. She wore the same checked skirt and maroon cardigan for the Sisters of the Sacred Heart that Casey attended.
"Mornin' Case!" called her Dad cheerfully over the paper.
Arnold Casey Jones was a man of about six foot four with military cut and permanent stubble on his cheeks. Unlike his daughters' natural blonde, he had brown hair. Though they all shared the same brownish-hazel eyes. It was obvious that his frame was once filled with muscle, but time and the death of Casey's mother had seen to the loss of it. Losing his wife was the hardest thing that had happened to him. Arnold went from the burly boisterous man proud of his Welsh warrior ancestors to a strange creature that just spent all day in bed. Time, therapy, and Linda had helped heal some of the wounds. He was still a bit thinner then Casey would have liked to see, but Linda's cooking was fattening him up.
Casey took a seat at the table awkwardly; still horribly aware of how she was contrast to the scene.
"Good Morning, Cassandra," chirped Linda as she put a plate with a smiley face waffle down in front her. Casey tried very, very hard not to flinch.
She didn't know what Linda was waiting for, an invitation? Everyone called her Casey. Was it so hard for her to do it as well?
Linda Evans was a short, svelte woman of Chinese descent who worked as an architect who hired Casey's dad's demolition crew for a job. It wasn't love at first sight, but subsequent jobs together had brought the two closer. Linda looked pressed and perfect in her business attire as she easily walked around the kitchen in her towering heels. Her long dark hair carefully arranged in a sensible bun.
Casey stared at her waffle uncomprehendingly.
The waffle's blueberry eyes stared back at Casey in challenge.
Casey decided that she, who was made of pure awesome, was not going to be intimidated by a waffle. So she started demolishing it systematically.
"So what time did you get in last night, Case?"
Casey swallowed her mouthful of waffle, "About eleven? I was going to just crash at April's but I didn't have any stuff with me."
"Isn't that a little bit late to be out on a school night?" asked Linda, glancing over at Arnold. Casey tensed a bit at that.
It probably was a valid question. She still chafed at it though, not wanting this new person to dictate her own life.
Casey turned her attention back to the waffle. Except now it felt like she had no appetite for the half eaten breakfast item.
"I trust Casey. Her grades have been good. Besides April is her Trig tutor. They were probably studying," said Arnold simply.
"We were studying. April says I'm getting better at it."
It was true. April and Miss H both said that she was improving. She may never be a Trig master, but it seemed like her goal of getting a solid C in the class was well in her reach.
Apparently, it all was about fixing the foundations.
Her Dad looked pleased, which made Casey's heart warm a bit. She hated worrying her Dad. After last year, when she went off the rails, she put a lot of worry on his head.
Still, as she looked at the almost picturesque scene of Linda, Madeline, and her Dad. The warm feeling her chest didn't last long.
"Can I be excused? I need to head over to school. Mister Sanderson said that he wanted to talk to me about my latest design for shop class."
It was total bullshit. Sanderson was content on letting his best student do what she pleased, while he kept an eye on the dumbasses who may lose a finger.
"May I be excused," gently corrected Linda. Her dad gave the assent with a wave of his hand.
Casey stood, trying to not feel too bad at the relief flooding through her. She tugged Madeline's hair lightly, eliciting a glare and a gentle yelp from her, and kissed her Dad's cheek goodbye.
Casey was just about home free when Linda's voice stopped her.
"Before you leave Cassandra," she said with a smile. "I was thinking maybe you and I could spend some time together this weekend. Maybe do a little shopping together?"
Oh. Frak.
Right in front of the family too, Casey had to answer and maybe in the affirmative.
"Sure, Linda. Maybe. I need to check it over with Coach first. Make sure I don't have any like weekend practices and junk. Later!"
Casey grabbed her bag and booked it out of the building. Once she was down the street, she finally breathed a bit easier.
Then she started kicking herself for being so freaking…bad at all of this.
Thing was Casey liked Linda.
She did. She really did. She didn't like that the other woman called her by her first name. She didn't like that the other woman tried to parent her.
Casey didn't need a mother at this point in her life. She didn't. After her mom died, she had to parent herself and her sister. She had to make sure that her Dad wouldn't spend the day in bed, mourning for the love of his life.
And yeah her Dad was in therapy when he met Linda, but he got happier after meeting her as well. Linda was good for her Dad. Madeline loved the other woman as well. Linda was more into the habits of her sister: clothes, manicures, and all that stuff that Casey never really liked.
Plus, Linda had substance. She had started her architecture firm with her three best friends from college and now it was considered one of the best ones for "green" design in New York. Casey wholeheartedly loved the idea of Madeline spending time with a woman who did all that.
Her and Linda's relationship was just awkward from word one. Casey was old enough that she didn't need a maternal figure in her life. Linda was clearly trying what she did with Madeline on her, but it wasn't working.
Basically you had two stubborn women, used to taking care of others, and unsure of how to meet halfway. Casey just felt the awkwardness acutely between them.
She sighed and shook her head to banish the thoughts. Maybe after practice she can just do practice shots. It usually helped her get her mind in order, focus. This thing with Linda couldn't remain how it was for forever, but she didn't want to make the first move.
Coffee would help. She ducked inside her favorite corner coffee place and got a cup of French roast to go.
"Morning Casey!"
Casey jumped and spun around. April smirked at her with a raised brow.
"Jeez, Red! You almost gave me a heart attack."
"Sorry," said April, not sounding particularly sorry. "You weren't paying attention. And I couldn't resist the opportunity."
"You are kind of twisted, Red. I like that in a person," said Casey as she accepted her travel cup of coffee and went about fixing it.
April wrinkled her nose before ordering a hot chocolate to go.
"I don't know how you can drink that stuff."
"When you're older, Red. You'll understand the sophisticated palate of a grown-up."
"You're one year older than me, Casey!"
"Only in body, Red, only in body," said Casey before taking a nice long drink of her coffee.
April rolled her eyes and accepted her own drink.
"Come on, Jones."
"You're bossy today, Red. It's kind of hot."
April cheeks colored ever so slightly. She gave Casey a dirty look. Casey just grinned unrepentantly. She loved teasing April through flirting. The other girl was definitely into guys, which was cool, and she didn't seem to mind Casey just being a big flirt, which was just fun.
"You're just a glutton for pain and punishment."
"S'why I play hockey," agreed Casey as they fell into comfortable steps with each other.
They walked together in a companionable silence for a few more moments.
"You alright? You looked a bit sad earlier."
"Just my own internal stuff, Red," said Casey with a shrug. "Nothing for you to worry about. I'm just kind of messed up, you know?"
April quietly huffed out a laugh. She smiled a bit sadly, "Yeah. Yeah I hear that, Jones."
Their walk was quieter after that. Both were a bit somber but still taking strength in the other's company. It was nice in a way, the quiet between them. Strange had they had grown to be pretty good friends so quickly.
But, it was still a good strange for both of them.
April O'Neil never meant to be a loner.
She was an awkward daughter of an awkward father and had a dead mother. When she was little, she related to Belle more than she would care to think about. Not that anything was wrong with Belle…but yeah there was still a lot of relating going on there.
She wasn't sure if she could still compare her life to Beauty and the Beast. She probably could have at one point. Her Dad is captured, but she didn't trade herself for him. April didn't like thinking of mutants as beasts in general. It seemed demeaning to them.
She was just so angry with them, the Turtles. It was like everything that was wrong with her life was connected to them in someway now. She finally had one bit of normal, one bit of sanity with her father back. Now he was gone, flying the streets at night as a mutated man-bat.
April lashed out. Her words were whips. She couldn't hit Donatello. She couldn't fight him and win. She couldn't do anything except make him hurt like she was hurting. She never wanted to see any of them again. Ever.
"Some things are just out of our control."
It was such a load.
As she walked the streets, April couldn't feel that tell tale prickle on the back of her neck. She knew they were checking up on her. They had to be, but it was only rarely. Donatello must have taken the hint and left her to her own thoughts.
She sighed.
She never meant to become a loner.
But in school, she was awkward. She was more interested in books or science. She loved watching her father invent and experiment. Children, especially young children, are taught to fear the different things. They found her too strange, too odd for them to make sense of. So she was pushed aside for other pursuits.
She was friendly, but not enough to make friends.
Maybe that's why her first true and real friends were mutant turtles. They had their…what did Casey call it? They had their Harry Potter troll moment.
She felt angry and sad and angry at her sadness.
What made it worse, what made it so terrible to her that she missed those stupid, stubborn boys. She missed Leonardo's dorky charisma, Raphael's gruff affection, Donatello's witty kindness, and Michelangelo's goofy charm. She missed the training with Master Splinter as she learned to fight, to defend, to protect. She missed sitting with them in the lair, watching television curled up on the couch.
She missed them because they were hers. They were her family.
And she was angry that they had become so important to her, that her father, real and blood family, was gone because of them.
But they were there for her when she lost that connection last year. It hurt more because it wasn't the Kraang who got her dad; it was her friends.
April sighed, feeling so much older than she was. She looked up and saw the ice rink in front of her. Unintentionally, she had searched out her new friend.
She steadied herself and considered the door.
Her friendship with Casey was quick and easy. Fighting against Goo Guy was a bonding experience. Over the past few weeks, they had grown rather close for two intensely private people used to being alone.
They weren't spilled their darkest secrets or anything. But they had opened up about some things that were usually kept under wraps.
April worried her lower lip and made a decision.
She opened the door and walked inside.
The air temperature in the skating rink was it's usual low levels to keep the ice from melting. Yet Casey Jones felt extremely warm. Her muscles ached pleasantly under the weight of her equipment and she clutched her stick in her hands.
The sound of her skates on the ice was as familiar to her as a childhood lullaby. The steady rhythm of the puck near her stick was as calming as listening to running water.
She steadied herself and just let it rip.
SLAP!
The sound resonated through the air along with the sharp whistle of a puck moving fast to the net.
Casey smirked to herself. Before moving to the next one, she relished in the sound of her hockey stick making contact with the puck and sharp whistle as it sliced through the ice and air.
No matter what shitty thing was going on outside, everything always eventually made sense to her on the ice. It was just her, the puck, the net, and those in her way to the net.
She breathed in the cold air and kept her eyes shut.
Casey knew that she still had to give Linda an answer about the weekend. She did have practice this weekend and was still awkward about making that first step.
She knew what her mother would want her to do, but Casey couldn't bring herself to do it yet.
"Nice shot, Jones," said a familiar voice.
Casey looked over her shoulder and smiled. She was not surprise to see April O'Neil looking at her from the sidelines.
"Red! Hey," greeted Casey as she skated over. "Come to hang out with the infamous Casey Jones?"
"Always, Jones," said April with a smirk. "Unless you're only friends with me for my mad Trig skills."
Casey laughed.
"Never, Red, says skills like that un-ironically ever again. Hanging out with you watching my practice my shots then. Sound like fun?"
Did they have a session today? Casey was pretty sure that they didn't.
"Sure. Maybe grab some food if you haven't eaten yet. My treat?"
"Oh don't make promises like that, Red. After practices and extra training like this, I'll eat your allowance. You watch me."
"My allowance vacillates depending on how guilty my aunt feels about my Dad disappearing again."
Casey paused at that. She did not want to step on that potential minefield quite yet. So she changed the subject.
"So what's the deal, Red? You look kind of depressed," Casey said as April handed her a bottle of water.
"I just…ran into an old friend tonight," said April with a sigh. "I had four of them actually before we met. We don't talk anymore."
Casey felt a twinge of sympathy for the other girl at that. She leaned against her stick and finished off her water bottle in several long swallows, putting her glove back on.
"It happens," admitted Casey a bit sadly. "Back when I was at Eastman High, me and my bo…best friend, Nick, we were up against Troma Town during last year's playoffs. I was just about to make the game-winnin' shot. When Nick gets in too close behind me and well I hit hard with my shots. So I hit him pretty hard as well. He went down. We won the game. Nick ended up with a split lip and a minor concussion 'cause he hit his head on the way down."
Casey closed her eyes with a sigh. She was simplifying a very complicated relationship and its aftermath. The hit to a face was a catalyst to something much more dangerous.
"He was my best friend since freshman year; the first real friend that I had my whole life. He never spoke to me again after that."
She opened her eyes and looked at April. The other girl's eyes were soft and she touched Casey's glove gently.
"But it wasn't like you meant to hurt him, Casey."
Not at the time, she didn't. The real want to hurt him came a lot later though.
"No," Casey admitted after a moment. She wasn't ready to share that story just yet. "No I didn't mean it, Red. It just happened. Sometimes stuff is just out of our control, you know?"
A guilty look flashed across April's face. She looked down at her hands.
Casey took pity on the other girl.
"Gimme a sec to get out of this gear, freshen up a bit, reapply the lips, and then you and me can go grab a bite to eat, Red. Maybe some pizza?"
She was already on the way to the locker room when the shit hit the fan for April.
Oh today was just the worst.
Robotic ninjas were after here. Because, you know, REGULAR NINJAS WEREN'T ENOUGH!
April felt like this just was really, really, really unfair. She was keeping her distance, trying to remove herself from the equation. This weird stuff keeps following her.
Why did the Foot want her now? She wasn't even speaking to the guys!
She bent back to avoid to simultaneous strikes and made a risky move.
She jumped onto the ice and slid. It was only sheer willpower that was keeping her tessen in her hand.
A thrill of victory shot through April as she watched them slip and slide on the ice.
Now all she had to do was get away from…oh sewerbunnies.
And the robot Foot Soldiers were apparently adaptable to their environment/situation.
"SERIOUSLY?!" screeched April as she ready herself for an attack.
Right before one of the robot ninja Foot Soldier heads exploded in front of her. The body dropped to the ground, motionless. A shower of sparks, wires, and computer chips fell down around it like some sort of tech snow.
The other robot Foot Soldier and April stared at it's felled companion and then at the thing that took it down.
A hockey puck laid innocently a few inches away from the wreck.
If there's one thing Casey Jones knows, it's how to make an entrance.
Casey did hear a loud crashing sound on her way to the locker rooms. Paranoia left over from Goo Guy's attack told her to check it out.
Boy was her paranoia right.
April was being advanced on by two guys dressed it black.
So Casey did the only that made sense, she grabbed her stick and a couple of pucks. Then she quietly got onto the ice.
And then?
Well then she aimed at one of their heads and swung away with all of her strength. Because seriously? Screw those guys they were going to hurt her friend and she will bust skulls in to protect those important to her.
She wasn't expecting the creep's head to explode in a shower of sparks.
"Robots?" asked Casey dumbly.
"Robot ninjas," said April seriously. "Casey you need to get out of here."
"Red, I wasn't going to let you get taken by Goo Guy. And I'm sure as hell not going to let Robot Ninjas have you. Not unless some Vampire Pirates show up and have a duel to the death with them to settle the age old internet debate over which is cooler."
April looked like she was about to argue. But Casey was suddenly busy with the Robot Ninja coming after her.
"Alright then, big boy, it's you and me then."
Casey was off like a shot and the ninja was right behind her.
"Casey! You should really go!"
"And I'm telling you to go, Red!"
Casey turned to face her opponent; stopping so that spray of shaved ice temporarily blinded it. She then used that moment to tackle it to the ground.
The robot, however, was too strong and had her on her back faster then Casey would have cared to think about.
She was about to headbutt the damn thing, when it suddenly came down with a case of weird sickle weapon thing to the head.
It slumped over and April stood triumphant over it.
"Need a hand, Jones?"
"You," said Casey as she shoved the robot body off of her, "are hilarious, Red. You also have serious rink rage. I'm so proud."
April helped her to her feet.
"You should see my ping-pong game, Jones."
Casey laughed and looked at the two robot bodies.
"So anything you wanna tell me about, Red? Owe money to someone?"
"Um…"
What was sure to be a very interesting tale was cut off when several more of the robot ninjas showed up, ready to attack.
"Casey you should just go. I didn't mean to get you involved in this."
"Like hell I'm leaving now, April!" The use of her name instead of "Red" caught the other girl's attention. "We're going to beat these guys and make a run for it."
"Where?"
"I don't know. I have some acquaintances that could probably help get us out of the city or something if we do this right. But I'm not leavin' ya alone. Got it?"
April bit her lip before nodding, "Got it."
"Good," said Casey simply. She then smirked and adjusted the grip of her hockey stick, "Besides this is the only time in my life I may fight evil Robo-Ninjas. These guys are going down."
She got a skating start before jumping and throwing herself into the fray.
"GOONGALA!"
And then she punched an evil robot ninja in the face.
Her life has suddenly gotten both very weird and supremely awesome at the same time.
Of course, Casey admitted that her plan had holes in it. Mainly due to the fact that she jumped into a horde of ninja robots by herself armed with only a hockey stick.
Yeah, that was totally her fault.
She went low and tossed one of them off of her. Breaking free of the horde, she played the distraction game big time so April could do something.
Spinning suddenly, Casey kicked out her leg and maintained balance. Profoundly grateful for the four years of figure skating that her mother forced her to take in addition to her doing hockey. Landing from her spinning kick, Casey hit another one with her hockey stick, which did almost nothing.
They were all closing in on her.
And one just cut her stick in half.
Oh…this was bad.
At least being killed by robot ninjas were better then getting acidified by Goo Guy.
"HEY! OVER HERE! YOU WANT ME?! THEN YOU HAVE TO COME AND GET ME!"
"APRIL!"
April was already gone though making a run for the door. The ninja horde all moved to her as one.
It gave Casey enough breathing to skate off to grab the weird hand sickle thing from the ninja April had taken down and a replacement hockey stick.
She looked at the four who had stayed behind and smirked.
"Ooooh boys," sang Casey sweetly.
The ninja robots turned to look at her. She smiled as sweet as an angel.
"My name is Casey Jones. And for the next several minutes, you are all my bitches."
The robots exchanged a look before starting to advance on her.
One went down with a sickle thing to the face almost instantly.
Casey smirked before adjusting her grip on her hockey stick.
Then, she struck: fast and hard.
April O'Neil closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath.
Tonight? Tonight was just not her night.
Without thinking, she took out her T-phone and dialed a number.
"D…Don..Dauhg…" stammered the voice on the other line. If she wasn't about be kidnapped by Foot Soldiers, April would have cried until she laughed.
Maybe things were really just out of your control sometimes.
And maybe, she was just done being mad at the people she cared about.
"Donnie?! You know how things just get out of control sometimes? Yeah well stuff is really out of control right now! Please, please, please come and help!" she whispered furiously into the phone.
She ended the call and made a mad dash to the parking lot.
She could only hope that Casey was okay.
Casey was having the best night of her life.
And if the either therapist she had in her life had heard? It probably wouldn't be good news for Casey.
Right now, though? She was kind of enjoying making robot ninjas her bitch.
She slammed her skate down, glad that she had recently sharpened them. It decapitated the robot's head rather cleanly in her opinion. She turned and hit the head into one of the encroaching robot's head. They both exploded very slightly on impact, raining down sparks yet again.
She let out a laugh that sounded slightly psychotic to her own ears before slamming her skate down through the freshly decapitated robot's arm, which had become a mace thing.
Dismembered robot bodies littered the ice rink. Casey's current fight against the robots had been vicious as she had liberated weapons and attacked. Even if the robots adapted, Casey was just crazy enough that they didn't know her style.
It was a hell of thing.
She didn't have a style. She was a street fighter, a hockey player brawler, and okay she made it to blue belt in karate but that did not last long. Casey just fought brutally. She fought like her life depended on it.
Casey Jones fought to survive.
She gripped the mace and swung at her opponent, mid-level for the stomach area.
The disemboweled robot was clearly trying to protect its head, before Casey put a damper to the plan.
Picking up another hand held sickle, she brought in down on the head of the robot, slicing it in half.
She waited.
No whirring of machines.
No sounds of buzzsaws (and seriously? Ninja robots with buzzsaws?).
No movement that was heard except the sound of her own breathing.
She waited and waited and waited.
When, at least, fifteen minutes had pass. Casey stood and laughed.
It was a semi-hysterical laugh on someone who was hopped up on too much adrenaline. It was the sound of someone who had fought and fought hard to survive. She threw her head back and laughed like she had just heard the best joke in the world. It was wild and mad and broken from a girl who embodied those things.
She stood up and skated.
Maybe they were down, but she was going to bash in every head to make doubly certain that the robot ninjas STAYED down.
Casey picked up the mace, smirked to herself, and went to work.
Then, after that, she was going to get changed and go after Red.
April stood trying to catch her breath.
Karai was gone. All of the Foot Soldiers were dealt with thanks to Chrome Dome. Leo's hand was gentle around her waist, caring even. She felt like such a fool.
Of course they would always come for her. They would never truly leave her, even if she left them.
They were her friends, and they were better friends then she was.
All of them were looking at her with their own degrees of longing and happiness. They missed her.
And you know what?
She missed them too. She missed her brothers, her true brothers, more than she could say.
"Guys," she began, "there's something I should say to you."
Then, she remembered someone else she left behind.
"OHMYGOD! I FORGOT ABOUT CASEY!"
Then she was off, running to go check on her newest friend.
April ran into the ice rink just as Casey was smashing in the head of a decapitated Foot Bot with the dismembered mace arm of another Foot Bot.
"Casey!"
Casey turned and smiled, "Oh hey Red! I was just about to come looking for you!"
Her face was red from both lugging around her heavy gear in a combat situation and from actual combat. One of her legs was bleeding, though not heavily. She was probably bruised as well. There was a cut on her cheek.
Other than that, she was alive and perfectly cheerful.
"What are you doing?"
"Destroying the heads. You know, just in case, and then I was going to go look for you with Florence."
"Florence?" asked April tentatively.
Casey gestured to the mace in her hand, "Florence."
"You're kind of twisted, Jones," said April as she looked around at the decapitated and dismembered Foot Bots.
"Yep! Thanks for leading some of them off, Red. I'm glad you're okay."
"Bruised to high heaven, but yeah, I'm fine."
Casey smiled and smashed the last whole Foot Bot head remaining. She then skated over to April, who was trying to meet her halfway. Casey's arms on instinct reached out to grab her.
"Knew you could take care of yourself," Casey teased gently.
"Yeah kind of," said April awkwardly. "Um can we take a rain check on that pizza? I…I need to do something."
"Gonna go apologize to those friends of yours?" asked Casey as she climbed over the divider. Florence made the trip before Casey and was on the floor.
"Yeah. I owe them a big one," admitted April quietly.
Casey smiled and patted her arm gently, "Sometimes we need to swallow our own pride, pain, and hurt for the ones we love. Even when it sucks and even if you don't really know how."
April nodded quietly.
Casey bit her lip and then leaned down. April blinked in shock as Casey hugged her close.
She smelled like sweat, a bit of ozone from the explode bots, and the specific smell of sporting equipment. It was awkward and bulky, but genuine.
April hugged back, feeling tears pinprick at her eyes.
"You're a really good friend, Casey Jones."
"You're not so bad yourself, April O'Neil," said Casey with a smile on her red lips. To April eyes, they were a lighter shade then Karai's, a kinder shade of red.
"I need to go."
"No problem. I'm going to grab my shit, put on my shoes, find a payphone, call the police, and head home," said Casey simply. "You know so the owners of the rink can file insurance."
"I wonder what you put for act of robot ninja attacks," wondered April.
Casey laughed brightly at that, "Good luck with your friends, Red."
"Thanks, Jones," said April turning to leave. "I'll text you later?"
"Florence and I will be waiting," said Casey seriously as she picked up her prize.
April turned and made her way out to back where she left the guys. They needed to have a talk.
Casey and Linda needed to have a talk.
Let's just say that things become clear when you fight for your life while dismembering robot ninjas. Casey called 911 from a payphone that took forever to find, made up a story about seeing suspicious activity at the ice rink, and hung up before giving her information.
She climbed up the fire escape to her room and slipped in through the window.
Setting Florence down in her closet and just dropping her gear on the messy floor, Casey made her way out of her bedroom door.
Linda was at the kitchen table working on her computer. Casey had to wonder if she just secretly moved in and Dad hadn't gotten around to telling them yet.
She looked up as Casey entered, "Cassandra! Welcome home."
"Hey Linda," said Casey awkwardly. She bit her lip and spoke. "Look I…you don't need an invitation to call me Casey. Everyone calls me Casey. And if you and my Dad are gonna keep being you and my Dad, then seriously call me Casey."
Linda blinked in surprised, but then let out a blinding and warm smile.
"Alright, Casey."
Casey smiled back, "And I guess shopping this weekend wouldn't be too bad. I need to pick up some new lipstick and pads for hockey."
Linda nodded seriously with that big stupid grin on her face. "Sounds good to me."
Casey blushed and grabbed an apple.
"So yeah. Goodnight, Linda."
"Goodnight, Casey."
Casey smiled to herself as she went to back to her room.
Sometimes, in the end, you just needed to take the first step even if you were unused to doing it.
A/N: Is it weird that I have already made a playlist based on my version of Casey Jones? I feel like it's kind of weird.
Next up is Casey FINALLY meeting the Turtles.