Sunlight bled through the curtains on Denim's bedroom window. She tried to shift but found a big green muscled arm draped around her. Michelangelo was breathing in a soft steady rhythm on the back of her neck. She smiled and twisted so she could look at him.

He was so… beautiful, his face youthful in his sleep, his freckles as endearing as his spirit. Her heart swelled, even then he was smiling. He could make things so easy, falling for him certainly had been. His breathing changed and he stirred.

"Morning, Blue Jeans," he murmured, kissing her neck and pulling her to him.

She nestled close to him, marveled at how hard his body was but how she still found it comfortable. Her eyes settled on his forearm where she'd bitten him. She'd clawed him a bit too, left little fingerprint bruises on his bicep and didn't remember holding on to him that tight.

"Morning, Mikey," she hummed as she ran her foot along his leg. "Do you work today?"

He gripped her hip and guided her beneath him in one fluid motion. Bright blue eyes peered into her.

"What's work?" he asked with a grin on his face.

She laughed. "What do you mean, what's work?"

His eye ridges rose. "I've taken up exploring."

She mimicked his expression. "Is that so?"

"Mhm," he moved forward as if he'd kiss her and she was ready to receive him but he turned his head at the last second.

"What is this?" she scoffed although she was still smiling.

He turned his head to look at her again then behaved as though he'd kiss her. This time she didn't move until his breath hit her lips. She lifted her chin and reached for him but he turned his head in the other direction.

"What are you doing?" she laughed, swatting his plastron.

He looked at her again, his eyes bright and playful, the smirk on his mouth taunting as he lowered his lips toward hers yet again. She pressed her lips together and mumbled, "I'm not even going to try."

He feigned a pout and she rolled her eyes. He nudged her chin with his head then lingered near her mouth but she didn't move, bit her lip to keep from trying.

"What do you mean, what am I doing?" he whined, "I don't know what you're talking about." The upturn of his mouth was sly and he was so close her lips ached. Then his hand travelled down to the inside of her thigh and he squeezed various little places making her squirm and giggle.

"Ack, Mikey!" she flailed beneath his attack, laughing as he tickled her, gasping between protests.

"What's wrong?" he teased amid gentle pinches and squeezes that had her writhing in hysterics beneath him.

"Stop, oh, my god, I can't even breathe," she gasped, laughing so hard her stomach hurt and her eyes watered.

He released her leg then rubbed the muscle as if to smooth out any irritation. Her laughter faded as she reached up between them and caressed his face, still smiling so wide her cheeks hurt. She hadn't felt so alive in years… as he set his gaze on her mouth, finally pressing his lips to hers, she thought maybe she'd never felt so alive ever. Not even with Kyle.

XOXOXOX

They lay entangled, Denim's head resting on the edge of his plastron, his thick bicep her pillow. She rubbed lazy circles over the keratin that protected him, and he let out a happy sigh.

"Can you feel that?" she asked, tracing the nicks and scuffs.

"Kind of, the way you'd feel if I did that to your fingernail but less," he shrugged. "It's nice though, don't stop."

She continued her little swirls and lines, marveling at the amazing creature he was both inside and out. She tipped her head up to look at his face, enjoyed the smile on his mouth. Unexpected heat burned her eyes and a lump rose to her throat. She swallowed them quickly but not in time that he didn't somehow sense the change.

He glanced down at her. "You got all stiff. What's wrong?"

The lump prevailed and tears brimmed. She pressed her lips together. Why was she crying? She hadn't felt so relaxed in years, not so satisfied, so happy maybe ever… and he picked her. Shared his first with her. Not like Kyle. With Mikey she wasn't second. She was first. A stray drop fell from blurry eyes. Oh god. I love him.

He frowned at sight of her tears. "Hey, you okay?"

Another escaped her and she swiped at her face, blinking them back. "Yes, yeah," she nodded, "I'm fine." Too soon. It's too soon. Maybe I'm just emotional. She smiled at him. "I'm just really happy."

Mikey wiped at her cheek. "Okay, well that's a weird way of showin' it."

He was so perceptive she half wondered if he didn't think she wasn't giving him the whole truth. But this truth could wait. A declaration like that changed things, escalated them, and they still had so many issues to resolve. Issues… Shit.

"Mikey, I just realized I never asked how court went for you and Raph." She'd been so selfish. Of course she had been beaten and reeling in the loss of her daughter but still.

His mouth set in a flat line. "I don't want to talk about that right now. It'll work out. My bros are going to help make it right." He gave her a reassuring squeeze but she still felt off.

"Mikey, what were your charges?" She pulled his arm closer around her but kept her chin up so could see his face.

"If I tell you, you gotta promise to let it go after." He rubbed his thumb over her belly then wiggled his fingers as if he were itching to tickle her. A little thrill rolled through her skin as he smiled at her. "I'm enjoyin' myself and your bein' all serious."

She squirmed a bit then he stopped and she settled back into her spot. "I promise." But I don't promise I'm not going to try to do something about it.

"They dropped the charges against Raph. He had my weapons and never pulled his or mine, so he just told them he was on his way to practice. But they hit me with one count of aggravated assault, one of attempted murder, one for assault with a deadly weapon, and one for disturbing the peace."

Denim bolted upright. "What? That's insane!"

Somehow Michelangelo managed to laugh it off and she half wanted to choke him, half cry for him. "It's all right, Blue Jeans. Donnie said it's cas' I'm a mutant and they're mad cas' they had to drop the assault on the police."

"That is not all right! Hell what weapon? I'm the one who had a gun. I hardly think kicking a guy is attempted murder, and we know the disturbing the peace is just bullshit." Her fury was mounting. "It was our peace that was disturbed!"

Mikey didn't move, just reached up and guided her back down. Once he'd settled her back where he wanted her he told her, "My foot."

She looked up at him, still huffy. "What?"

"My foot," he chuckled. "My foot was the deadly weapon."

Her mouth curled into a smile as she ran her toes along his calf searching for his giant foot. "It is kind of big," she bit her lip then they both laughed.

"Yep, it's deadly," he announced.

Something told her that it wasn't only Mikey's foot that was deadly, but then she was too, so they were still a match as far as she was concerned. She wiggled her way onto his plastron and pressed her lips against his cheek. She'd promised him she'd let it go and as far as he would know she would. "We should get out of bed, sometime today," she whispered into the crook of his neck.

He pressed his lips to her cheek then nuzzled her. "I don't wanna," he whined.

She laughed, rolling off to his side back into her spot. "Mikey, we have to return to the real world. I get to visit with Alli today." She rubbed his arm. "Do you want to go with me?"

He sat upright and looked at her. "Really?"

She nodded and he frowned.

"But Connie hates me."

Denim sat up and rubbed her face. "She didn't always hate mutants, Mikey. It's misplaced anger." She ran a hand through her hair and slipped from the bed. "It should be me that she's mad at. I mean it was me… that got him killed."

She crossed the room, pulled open a drawer on her dresser and felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. "It was an accident, Denim. It was bad timing and war, and you weren't the one on the other of that gun."

"No, you're right. I wouldn't have ever hurt Kyle, but it was my mistake that took him from her. And I can't imagine how I'd feel if anything happened to Allison. I don't think I'd want to live anymore. That kind of grief, it'd be worse than losing her father." She turned her head, rubbed her cheek along his arm and sighed. "Take Connie out of the equation for a second. If she wasn't going to be there, would you want to go?"

Mikey gripped her arms and spun her around to face him. "Heck yeah, Alli is all kinds of fun. While Connie was talking to the doctors, Alli and me talked about stuff, played games, and-" he rubbed the back of his head, looked a little uncertain, "I might've told her to poke this one boy in the eye, trip him and run."

Denim froze. She blinked, and shook her head. "You did what? What boy?"

Mikey shrugged. "She was talking about this boy on the playground, said he was mean to her. I just thought she'd need to know what to do so she could get away from him if he tried to hurt her."

Denim closed her eyes and exhaled. "Mikey, that's Will. He's three and thinks she's a villain. It's play. He's never actually hurt her."

"Sorry," he flashed her a sheepish smile, and looked at her with hopeful eyes, "on the flipside I taught her some great jokes."

Denim looked him over, turned and opened the dresser drawer, pulling out a thong. "Jokes, huh?"

"Yeah," he said dazedly.

She slipped into her underwear and reached for a bra. "Like what?"

His voice came out melancholy, "Why can't pirates finish the alphabet?"

She glanced at him as she hooked the clasp behind her back. "Why? And why do you sound so sad all of a sudden?"

Mikey sighed. "Because they got lost at C." He pouted. "And I am sad."

Denim's brow furrowed and she stepped close to him, looking in his eyes. "Why? What's wrong?"

"You're putting clothes on," he whined.

She swatted his arm and rolled her eyes. "You're a mess." She pulled out a pair of jeans and tugged them on. "Quit standing around, Mikey. Get dressed." She buttoned the fly on her pants and found him still standing there watching her. "Are you going with me?"

"Are you sure? I don't want to ruin your visit with Alli," he said, his gaze settling on her bra. "And I don't think I like clothes anymore."

She giggled. "We'll take them off again eventually." She crossed the room, pulled his pants off the floor and tossed them to him. "Look, I have to be honest with you. I want to take Alli out with us in public. But I haven't because I'm afraid of stuff, you know, like what happened… I'm scared of that happening while she's with us." She walked by him, reaching in her dresser for a shirt. "If we can't conquer Constance Sanders together, then I don't know how we're going to be prepared to handle whatever society throws at us."

XOXOXOX

Denim managed to get her Mom to agree to meet her at Alli's favorite playground. As Mikey and Denim approached Connie, he began to fidget. He'd been wiggly the entire walk to the park, chattering up a storm about anything and everything from the weather to what they'd have for dinner. But now as Constance looked up from the bench and saw him, his grip on Denim's hand almost hurt.

She gave him a little squeeze then let go and he began rubbing his palm on his jeans. Constance stiffened at sight of Michelangelo, her face shadowing over. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Mommy! Oh, yay! You brought, Mikey!" Allison squealed, her little arms pumping as she ran towards them.

"Alli, don't run, you might-" Denim called, waving her hands to stop Allison's rush to get to them, but she was too late and Alli took a tumble.

Denim was a calm mom, and if it wasn't a life threatening injury she always walked casually up to Alli, examined the wound then offered her comfort. But as she took her first steps in Allison's direction Michelangelo was already across the playground scooping her up and kissing her boo boos.

Soon Alli's tears turned to giggles. She and Mikey waved at her then headed for the swings. Denim eyed the empty spot on the bench beside Connie, and sat down.

"I can't believe you brought him. Why are you doing this, Denim? Look around, every parent here is afraid of him, afraid for their children." Connie pointed to three parents who were watching Mikey, shaking their heads and hustling their kids from the playground.

Denim sighed as she looked around. She noticed another couple smiling as they watched Mikey and Alli playing. Then another parent encouraged her child to go play with Allison, pointing to where Mikey was helping her cross the monkey bars. As the other child approached Mikey looked for the girl's parents. They nodded their approval. He smiled then helped the little girl.

"It's not everyone, Mom. I have to believe there's as much if not more of the open minded as there are the bigots. See the difference is the open minded, they have couth, tact, class. They know when to speak up, how to help, and they do it with grace. That's why you never hear about them. They're the real heroes, not looking for fame, just trying to make a difference."

Soon every kid left on the playground had gravitated to Mikey and Alli. As Mikey was helping one of the children a man approached and the two started talking. A few minutes later Denim could hear the human man laughing, and her heart soared.

Karai's words came to mind. It doesn't so much get easier, but there are these moments in between the bullshit… you can really and truly be happy.

Connie's voice was strained, "If it weren't for them you and Kyle would've never went to that damned war. It would've never happened. He'd still be here." In her periphery Denim saw Connie put the back of her hand against her mouth. "He'd get to see her grow up."

Denim smiled through blurry eyes as she watched Michelangelo toss her daughter up in the air and blow raspberries on her belly. Her little eyes were shut, her mouth open wide with little giggles piercing the air. Denim's heart ached for all she could not change, and it swelled with all the joy on her child's face because with it there was hope.

"It's not Mikey's fault. He didn't do this. He didn't ask for any of it. Mutants, many of them had this life thrust upon them, and others, others lost parts of their humanity becoming part animal. They deserve happiness too." Denim looked at her mother-in-law and frowned. "When we left for boot camp, what did you say to Kyle?"

Connie stared at Denim, then her nostrils flared and she looked away. "Things change."

Denim nodded. "Yes, I guess they do." She reached out a hand and placed it on the shoulder of the only woman she'd ever called Mom. "Constance, I love you. I'm sorry I failed Kyle. I'm sorry I failed you. But I'm not sorry for opening my heart, my home and my little family up to Michelangelo. He's pretty damn wonderful and if you'd just watch, just give him a chance… I don't see how you could possibly disagree with that."

Denim stood up and took a few steps before Connie's voice came out a tight, uncertain and pitiful sound.

"I told him I was proud of him for standing up for what he believed in."

Tears burned Denim's eyes.

"Then honor him and support those he died fighting for."

XOXOXOX

Michelangelo had enough energy to wear out a playground full of kids and that was no joke. Alli slowed down to the point that she was dragging her little feet and hanging on Mikey's arm. She held her arms open and he scooped her up. By the time he crossed the playground she was dozing off with her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Sanders. She's falling asleep," Mikey apologized as Connie stood up to take Alli.

The toddler whined, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. "I wanna go home with Mommy and Mikey," she protested.

"Shhh, there now," Constance helped Michelangelo extract Allison from around him.

"She's like a monkey and her grip is like Raph's," Mikey said, looking at Denim as he tried to unlatch Allison's leg. "I don't even know how she's doing it."

Denim snickered. "She's like a leech."

With Alli clinging to her Grandmother, Constance motioned to someone sitting on a bench across the playground. The stranger stood up, waved to her and left.

"He was supervising our visit today," Connie said then looked Michelangelo in the eye. "You seem like you genuinely care for Allison. But how can you guarantee her safety? Hm? What's to stop a crazy person from hurting all of you, just because of what you are?"

Michelangelo didn't flinch. His response was so seamless Denim thought he must've been rehearsing it in his mind for a while. "Honestly, nothing. But I'm a ninja, if that helps," he rubbed the back of his head, "and I'd give my life to keep them safe."

Denim cringed when he mentioned being a ninja, but Connie didn't move.

Mikey fidgeted, and the bow of his mouth was terrible, but he maintained her gaze. Then his voice came out low and the sadness in it hurt, "I'm sorry Mrs. Sanders but, my life, that's all I've got."

Connie's eye twitched. "Yes. I think maybe you would." She moved to turn away from him then paused, looked back with tears in her eyes. "But then from what Denim tells me that's what heroes do. And I expect that's the most any man can give. I would know." Then she looked at Denim. "I'll speak to the social worker about dropping my petition for custody. But Denim, nothing had better ever happen to her because of choices you make."