Chapter 6: Movies In The Sewer

Sightings of the…mermaid, for lack of a better name to call it (also Mikey wouldn't shut up until they agreed it had to be a mermaid and nothing else), all but stopped soon after Raphael's first sighting. It was rarely seen since and even when it was all they ever saw of the thing was a bit of purple shimmering in the murky water before darting away or a tail splashing right before it dove deeper to depths in which they couldn't see. Even Raph was beginning to question if he'd even seen the human hand at all. It was impossible, but how could a regular fish grab his sai and bring it back up like that? Maybe it was just a big…smart…fish? It was certainly intelligent enough to avoid all of Donnie's security sensors…or just lucky. The creature stayed away from their security perimeter and mostly stuck to parts of the sewer that were the closest to the river.

As it got colder, the sightings lessened even further into non-existence. Donnie theorized that it might hibernate in fall and winter until the weather became warmer. After all, where else could this thing go? It was aquatic and wasn't like it was going to sprout legs and walk to stay where it could be warm. Mikey worried it could be trapped in the river and unable to migrate to warmer climates, but with the fish-like creature keeping its distance from not only the media but them as well; the theory couldn't be tested or researched.

"So we can't do anything? Like…maybe set up some kind of heater in one part of the sewers or whatever?" Mikey suggested once.

Donatello sighed, pushing up his glasses. He'd been spending too long at the computer again, researching the many theories on the existence of mermaids and any sign that maybe; just maybe, there was some kind of intelligent fish that could explain all of this. So far all he came up with were nothing but fairy tales and dead ends. All of it was superstition and folklore. "We could, but if this fish-"

"Mermaid."

Don sighed. "Mermaid…is as smart as we've been lead to believe, it may see it as a trap and avoid the heater altogether. If that happened it would likely find somewhere else and we may never find out what's really going on. I'm sorry Mikey, we just can't risk it." Defeated, the younger turtle left the lab once again. With all this searching for the finned creature he spent more and more of his time with Donnie in his lab.

October was just around the corner and already a few people were beginning to bundle up. Even Donatello and his brothers started wearing a few more layers with their gear and cranked up the heat in the lair.

Just after October started, Nixie got out on fall break. It gave her more time to spend with the boys, as well as extra hours at the café for the upcoming holidays. She tried spending as much of her free time as possible with her friends.

On a particularly chilly evening the girls were invited down for hot chocolate and movies, Splinter offering for them to stay the night. Nixie seemed a bit wary of staying the night in the sewers, but after much convincing from April and Mikey's combined efforts, and some stuttered encouragement from a blushing Donatello, she was in. The girls would be set up in the living room. Splinter trusted his boys and the two girls, but he refused to allow any of them to sleep in his son's rooms. He was still the father, last he checked. Mikey immediately wanted to put on something with horror, but his brothers teased him about having nightmares again if he did. When he looked to Nixie for help in the hopes that his newest human friend might like getting scared just as much as he did, she had already wrapped herself tight in her blanket and scooted as close to the nearest person as she possibly could. Much to Don's dismay, that ended up being Raphael.

She practically whimpered as she ducked under his enormous arm. "Nuh uh! Now way in hell! No scary movies or I am soooo out!" The little glare on her face was directed at a certain orange troublemaker.

Raph looked up and gave Don an apologetic glance as the tiny human pinned herself to his side, clinging to a bicep that was so much bigger than she was. The taller turtle sighed, giving his brother a silent okay. It was his own fault for being a coward, using the excuse of getting popcorn to leave for a moment rather than take the seat beside Nixie like he'd originally planned. While he did his best to hide his childish pouting, he was secretly grateful to his older brother for acknowledging his interest in the human female. Raph didn't need his permission to comfort her when she was scared. After all, she wasn't exactly his.

"What?! How can you not like scary movies? I thought you loved all the creepy stuff like monsters and bats and Halloween and junk!" Michelangelo whined, giving her big pouty puppy eyes.

On anything else she would fold in a second, but not this time. "I do Mikey, but I can't stand horror and gore…that stuff's different. I won't be able to sleep for weeks! You know I'm already afraid of the dark…" The girl whined, squirming ever closer to her red turtle protector, who carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulders and let her cling as much as she wanted. Next to him she looked like a small child.

"It's true." April added from behind her mug, downing a few more sips. None of this fazed her anymore. "She might love all that monster stuff but as soon as you make it scary or they start killing shit she starts crying. When we were kids she wouldn't watch the Casper movie, you know the one with that girl and her dad who move into that old house?"

"What?! Casper isn't even scary!" Mikey's eyes widened, swiveling his head back to the girl in question.

"Hey! I wasn't scared of Casper! His uncles were scary and that part where they all possess that girl's dad was terrifying when we were little okay?" Nixie squeaked, jabbing a finger at April. The yellow reporter just smiled behind her mug and shrugged, feigning innocence.

Raph chuckled, moving his free hand across to ruffle the teen's short hair. "At's okay lil sis, we'll protect yah from all the big bad ghosties," he teased. He only laughed more at her indignant huff and the inevitable kick to his leg.

"Shut up, we're the same age…jackass." Now he was just cackling.

Eventually, Mikey conceited, settling instead for some Halloween classics such as Hocus Pocus, Halloweentown High, and Nightmare Before Christmas. Of course, since it was mentioned, Casper was also added to the list, much to Nixie's pouting.

Each one of them finally settled into their spots. Splinter took the old Lazy Boy near the couch, which was occupied by April who got sandwiched between Raph and Leo. On the floor in a nest of blankets were Nixie and the other two. Each had bowls of popcorn, mugs of hot chocolate or cans of soda, and of course some pizza. Splinter had hot chocolate for once rather than his usual cup of tea. Nix couldn't help but giggle at the cocoa foam that got stuck to his whiskers.

During Casper, Raph made sure to poke fun at Nixie whenever the uncles were on screen. Especially during the possession scene.

"Hey! I'm not scared of it anymore but you gotta admit it's pretty freakin' nasty. I-I mean look at that! Ugh…I think I'm gonna be sick…" She set her mug to the side for a while, unable to consume much of anything for the moment. Instead she leaned on Donatello, who turned a little red when she nudged her way under his arm like she had earlier with Raphael on the couch. He swallowed a lump in his throat, shifting to move a little closer and make it more comfortable. It seemed to work as she settled in with a content little sigh before jumping up in shock with a loud gasp.

While shifting, they'd pulled a blanket and spilled one of Mikey's sodas all over her leg. Of course, he'd put it on the floor rather than up on the table right next to him. "Oh, I am so sorry, let me help-"

He didn't get much time to try helping. For a second Nixie tried using a spare blanket to wipe at her leg, but quickly seemed to come to the conclusion that it wasn't enough. Before he could stop her she was up and rushing for the bathroom. "…you…" His shoulders slumped. So much for that idea. Way to go, Donatello. Real smooth spilling soda all over her.

Splinter, regrettably, had already fallen asleep in the chair a few movies back and missed the commotion. Thus, he was unable to console his self-destructing son as well as stop Mikey from going to check up on their friend. April encouraged him to go while she helped the others clean up the spill. "You go check on her. She always freaks out and locks herself away for a while after this kind of thing." She got up to grab more paper towels and put the blanket in a wash.

. . .

Mikey walked up to the bathroom door, tapping on it before opening, not waiting for a response. "Nix? Hey are you okay in-…there?" Before him, looking like she'd toppled over the second she shut the door, now staring up with wide and frightened eyes, was Nixie. On the floor. With a large, purple-pink gradient fish tail in place of her legs.

His jaw dropped, eyes going wide as the pieces slowly clicked into place. This couldn't be happening, right? He had to tell his brothers! Before he could say anything or call for them she moved to stop him, only to flop over. The movement itself was enough to give him pause. "Mikey please, d-don't!" He stopped, excited grin fading. She looked terrified. He knew it wasn't fear of him, but seeing it on her face as she looked right at him reminded him of that night at the police station. Being called a monster and a freak. She didn't think they'd really do that to her, did she?

With a quick look behind him, he slipped into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, locking it this time. "Nix? That's uh…i-is this…real? Are you…?" Mikey stopped, wanting to hear the words come from her.

"Yes, Mikey. I'm…" she sighed, looking like this was the toughest thing she'd ever done. "I'm a mermaid…"

The terrapin squealed and bit his lip, smile returning. He knew it! Well, maybe not that it was Nixie but he knew there was a mermaid! Mikey dropped to the ground next to her. "How long have you been a mermaid? Where did your legs go? Does this happen all the time? What happened to your pants? Wha-"

"Whoa whoa, slow down! Chill. One thing at a time!"

He stopped, settling down beside her. He kind of wanted to touch it, see how the tail felt, but worried that might be an invasion of privacy. This was still his friend Nixie, not some new toy or thing he found. "…Is this why you're so afraid of water?"

Nixie sighed, rolling over so she could sit propped up on her arms. It didn't look very comfortable. "I've always been a mermaid, my legs uh…kinda merge to become my tail? I don't really know. I'm…actually not sure where my pants went, we've never figured that out. And only when I get wet so…yeah, this is why I'm afraid of water." She used one hand to make finger quotes around the word afraid. "My dad pretends to have an allergy to water."

"Wait, so your dad is a merman? What about your mom? Is she-"

"No, she's a human. And before you ask it's more common than you think actually. And yes, she does know. Kinda hard to miss when you go to give your baby a bath for the first time and she grows a tail. Well…it's also how they met but I'll get to that later." She waved her hand, looking to Mikey. "Mike, it…it's forbidden to tell others what I am. There are a few exceptions, but you're really not supposed to know about this. No one does, not even April!"

Michelangelo's face paled, smile dropping. "Not even April? You're…you're not gonna leave are you?! You can't go!"

"What? No! No no no, of course not! It's not that bad, really. I just…you need to promise me you won't tell anyone. Ever. Not even April."

"What about my dad?"

"Splinter? Oh uh, he's fine. He…kinda…already knows?"

"WHAT?! How long has he known?!" The turtle stared at her.

"Uh…apparently since I was a baby and he was still just a lab rat? I…don't really know how he knew? I think he mentioned something about smell so uh…yeah, that." The girl shrugged, moving and shifting her spot on the floor. "Look, I promise to explain everything later and answer whatever questions you have but first can you help me clean up? My tail feels all sticky and gross from that soda can you made me spill."

He popped up right away, grabbing a towel and a wet rag. "Right! Right, um…one more question?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes with a light smile. Classic Mikey. "Sure, one more question. What is it?"

"Can I touch it?"

What normally might have taken much longer on her own only took a matter of a few minutes with Mikey's help, getting Nixie to soon walk back into the room with a normal set of very human legs and wearing a spare pair of pants from her bag. Mikey followed not soon after, letting April know he added the soiled jeans to the load of laundry. The first thing she noticed was Donnie, sitting on the floor and avoiding her gaze.

"S-sorry, I…kinda got a little freaked out and needed to clean up. I'm sorry for running out like that. Are…you mad at me?" She gave him an awkward, apologetic smile.

The purple turtle snapped his head up at her apology. "What?" Why was she apologizing to him? He should be the one apologizing! He spilled soda on her! "N-no! I-it's not your fault, i-it was my fault I should have been more careful I-" He was stopped by a small hand pressing itself over his lips.

Nikita was looking at him with soft eyes and a warm smile. Don's heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. "Relax Don, it was just an accident. You didn't do it on purpose." She pulled her hand away and sat next to him again, returning to the spot where she'd been snuggled up before. "Now, tell me what I missed."

All of his worries melted away; all of his doubts and concerns vanishing for a little while. He just wrapped his arm around the girl, pulling her close as they finished their movies and he got her caught up. Off to the side, Mikey moved to place his new can of Orange Crush on the floor, but stopped and placed it on the coffee table instead. Behind him, a now awake Master Splinter raised a brow at his son's actions, looking to Nixie curiously.