The first thing I noticed was the smell; the assault on the senses. I say "assault" because I wasn't used to it. The lair was no spa, it never smelt nice. That's why I was so struck by the scent perfuming Darling's room. It was a potent mixture of vanilla and spices; it smelt like I was in a cake. This was directly followed by the second thing I noticed; the color pink. Everything in here was pink: the bedsheets, the desk chair, the rug, the pillows, the pictures on her walls. All pink. This was a very…. feminine room. And yet, it suited her exactly. This is what I would imagine Darling's room to look like before I had seen it.

"Come in, sit down," Darling pulled out the pink chair for me. "I hope you don't mind but I'm going to get changed." "Oh right!" I said, taking a seat. "Go ahead, I'll wait here." She smiled and went to her own private bathroom. When she immerged a couple of minutes later, she was wearing a male t-shirt and cotton black shorts. I watched her plop herself down onto her very pink bed and lift one leg up to her chest. Neither of us said anything right away, but Darling eventually drew in a deep breath. "Well…." "….. I guess I owe you a story," I said quietly. Her smile reappeared as she nodded.

I….. didn't know what to say in that moment. My nerves started to envelop me as I gulped repeatedly. Being here, in Darling's room- not to mention alone with her- with her staring at me… It was suddenly overwhelming. This was never something Master Splinter taught me about; how to treat and talk to a woman. This was like a mission- I had to play it naturally and by ear, which wasn't really natural at all….. I just had to keep cool and try not to surprise, intimidate, or frighten her. I could do this, my lips parted a tad as my breathing softened. I can do this…

"Um, you…. know those weird robotic type guys that work in your father's lab?" "Huh?" Darling blinked confused. "You mean Mr. Kran? How do you know about them? And how do you know that Daddy works in a lab?" That sounded creepier than I had intended; good going, Leo! "Don't freak out, this is gonna sound weird but it's true. Erm…. Those guys; we….. I mean I have been trying to find them for a while." "Why?" Her voice grew lighter like she was growing more timid; alarmed…. Oh boy, I inwardly cringed. This wasn't fun.

"Promise you won't freak out?" Darling blinked at me and looked to be thinking to herself. But eventually she gave the softest of nods. My breathing almost stilled, I was that nervous. What if she doesn't believe me? Only one way to find out…. and that's what I'm afraid of. "Those guys are actually robots," not a bad way to start, though I couldn't look her in the eye while I spoke. "They're controlled by….. pink, blobby aliens called the Kraang." Don't look at her; don't see her expression until you're done. "I don't know how but they look to be involved with the lab your dad works at, TCRI. It says online that the TCRI lab just got a recent research grant…. possibly to fund your father's work." Whatever you do, Leo; don't look at her- not yet. You're almost done! "These guys are bad news; they're dangerous. I don't know what they're doing in the lab, yet. But if they're involved with your dad, we need to figure out what they're up to like now before anything happens."

It was then that I took in a much-needed breath and found the courage to look up at Darling's face. To my shock, she just stared at me with the largest eyes. Her body didn't react right away; she didn't even move. She seemed almost… petrified. Her face was white but expressionless. I had no clue what to do or even say in that moment. But I decided not to say anything else until she did; I got that this was a lot to take in at once and she might need a few minutes. Eventually her eyes blinked- only once- as her head fell just the slightest. Her red lips shakily parted, though she wasn't breathing heavily. "Is…. is my father in danger?"

"No!" I immediately answered out of instinct, hopping to my feet. I probably shouldn't have said that; I couldn't know for sure, especially since he might be working with the Kraang. But the sound of Darling's voice just now….. She didn't look it, but she was downright terrified; I could tell just by her voice. I needed to do something; I needed to help her, make this better. After all, my goal was not to scare the poor girl out of her wits. "I'm keeping an eye on the scene; it doesn't look like anything bad has happened so far," I went into repair-mode, not that Darling looked relieved.

"But what do they want with my father? Daddy! Why Daddy? Why him?" She sounded like she was about to burst into tears. Do something, Leo! My head kept kicking itself. Do something, damn it! "I don't know, but they've been contacting scientists all over the city. They've been forcing them to study something called Mutagen; doing experiments to see how it works and how to make it do whatever it is that they want." "How do they know that Daddy can help them with that?!" "I still don't know if they are working with your father; they might not be. It's just a chance," I told a half-truth. Better than being bluntly honest right now.

A title wave of relief rolled over me as her whole body began to soften; she was starting to relax a little, thank goodness. Nothing else came from her lips giving me the opportunity to start asking questions. "Do you know anything about what your father's working on now?" I didn't want to seem too pushy, so I kept my voice kind and low. "Anything at all?" "Y-yes, he works with perfumes. He just made me one actually. But I don't know if he's working on anything else; I've never asked."

"You've been inside the TCRI lab before. Did you notice anything weird going on while there?" Darling considered for a minute, lifting her thin finger up to her lip. "I don't…. think so. I haven't seen much of the lab; I'm not allowed to go in very far past the lobby. But it looked like a normal lab to me." She nibbled her bottom lip nervously as her eyes wandered off into nowhere. "Do you think… Daddy could be working with the Kraang?" "He could be," I admitted, also gazing away. "But if he is, he's probably not doing so by choice." "What?!" "I-I mean that he doesn't know what they're really up to!" My hands shot up defensively.

But I knew what the Kraang were really like; they'd lie, cheat, manipulate, and even threaten to get what they want. The sooner we learn what they're up to and how they're related to Dr. Lovely, the better. And as far as I'm concerned, Darling's already confirmed that I need to inform the others and start planning our move onto the lab. But I didn't see any reason to get anyone else involved just yet, especially Darling. Before I could say anything however, she took in a deep breath, pressed her eyes shut and quickly opened them, then stood up abruptly. She flashed me a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Leonardo; I appreciate you telling me. I… literally had no idea and… I don't think Daddy does either. But it's ok, just leave it to me." W-what? I let out a bit of a weird, frazzled gasp. "L-leave what to you now?" "I can get you access into the lab; well I can be an informant anyways. I'll act as your eyes and ears, bringing you anything I can find, which might not be much but better than nothing. It…. may not work entirely, but between the two of us, I'm sure I can be of use to you." Oh…. oh boy. Nope! Was not expecting that. And I wasn't having any of it either. "No, no way!" My head shook severely. "It's way too dangerous for you to get involved!"

Darling blinked, slightly shocked by my unexpected outburst; loud but necessary. But her face got a look of determination I hadn't seen before. "This is my father we're talking about, Leonardo. If there's a chance that he's in danger, I have to do something. I'm already involved, whether either of us like it or not." "But Darling, it's dangerous to get involved with the Kraang than you might realize. It's…. a really complicated situation and…." "Leonardo," I found myself violently interrupted when a hand touched my arm. She gazed up into my eyes, which shot over to her startled, and grinned at me. "Please, he's my father. I want to…. I have to help him, if I can."

"D-Darling!" Oh my god, what was happening? How did things end up like this? I just wanted her to answer my questions; not volunteer herself to join the fight against the Kraang. But she spoke with such sincerity and love that I couldn't bring myself to be mad. I wasn't mad how this was going; I was scared. Really, really scared. "No, just no. I don't want you to get hurt," I had to put my foot down; this wasn't up for discussion. "I'll be safe." Guess she thought it was however. "There's no such thing as "safe" around the Kraang. If they ever found out you knew about them or us….." "Us?" Her eyebrow raised up. "Are there more of you?" "Well, yes; that's another long story," my head planted on my forehead in exasperation. How much more wrong could this have went?

Darling's P.O.V.-

"We'll make it work, Leonardo. I could leave my window open and you could come into my room after dark." I begged. "Darling!" He said half-yelling, half-sighing. "I'm trying to work with you, Leonardo; I really am," seeing that he wasn't going to bend easy, I decided just to be honest. "But I can't just stay here and do nothing. I have to do something, now that I know." "Darling, I'm really trying to make you understand….." The poor turtle just sounded plain old tired now. Seeing my chance for victory, I pulled the feminine card. I smiled softly, reaching over to gently lay my hand on his shell again. Oh boy, did he turn red in the face; not able to look me in the eye.

Sweetly, tenderly, I addressed the strong yet concerned reptile. "Leonardo, I know you're worried about me and I appreciate it." "Doesn't seem like you do," I detected a slight tone in his voice. "I do, but you have to trust me. You trusted me enough to come to me in person; please trust me a little more with this. We'll do it together." Together….. My hand lowered to take his huge hand in mine; our fingers instinctively wrapped around the other's. Leonardo's lips parted like he wanted to say something but hesitated. His eyes revealed that he was conflicted, clearly weighing his opinions. And I couldn't be sure, but he didn't seem to know how to react to this specific situation. Eventually however, a smile rolled over his green lips and he gave my hand a squeeze. "Fine," he said in the softest, kindest tone I'd heard from him. "If that's what you want, I'll do everything I can to make it work."