A/N: I'm not the only one thinking "we can't be on chapter fourteen already", right guys? I know it's a lot shorter than the last one, but to be fair, chapter thirteen nearly killed me

Cross between the '87 and 2k3 designs for Shredder here. Also, Wingman Shredder because why not. And a bit of Mikey-April bonding because that hasn't actually happened yet in this story. There was originally going to be a bit of Jealous Leo in here but I was tired and wanted to post this on time, sorry guys. I'm trying to make it a bit more light-hearted like the first couple of chapters for a bit

The potatoe one: I agree, Angel's getting far too caught up in this. Thanks for the permission to use your ideas! I was thinking someone should get him a Space Heroes box-set
Thor-Born: Yeah, I'm gonna try and NOT do a whole month in one chapter again. Yes, I thought I'd surprise everyone with Bebop and Rocksteady; those two are really fun. Thanks, I loved the thing with the mirror in the book I read and I kind of couldn't resist adding it… that'll either go into a one-shot or a flashback. Haha, yeah, the Turtles are in fact teenage girls… and that Turtle Titan costume will be returning, just for the record. I wish I could've put more action in here but I need to practice writing it. And Joy's costume was Morticia, from The Addams Family
Memmek10k: Thanks!
Tmntlover2013: Thanks so much!

Enough of my ramblings though, guys. On with the show!

Chapter Fourteen: Bonding… Apparently

Close to you
I wanna get close to you and
I need more time
~ Scope by Bowling for Soup

Staring up at Chris Plymouth's undercarriage and breathing a sigh of relief that there wasn't too much work left to do, Casey exclaimed, "I'm telling you man, it was insane!"

Raph shook his head. Being under the car, Casey couldn't see it; he just knew Raph was shaking his head.

"There's no such thing as mutants." Raph's voice was tight, like he was lying about something, but Casey couldn't tell what and chose to ignore it for now. He desperately wanted to get finished on this car and the extra help was severely needed, as well as appreciated. It would do him no good whatsoever to get in a fight with his assistant. That could happen later, during Numbskull Training.

"You weren't there," Casey insisted. He was trying to tell Raph what had happened during his run last night. Purple Dragons and mutants! Although he hadn't mentioned the Purple Dragons by name – just called them a street gang – and he hadn't mentioned what kinds of animals the mutants were… mostly because Raph kept insisting it was bull. "I still think you should go on a night run with me, man. Just one! We could track 'em down and –"

"I'm not a vigilante, Case. That's your thing."

Casey sighed inwardly. Personally, he thought Raph had the potential to make a great vigilante, but there was just no persuading the guy: he wasn't interested, so he was going to be stubborn; in a way, it was almost like talking to Angel. But there was something else in the way Raph got all closed-off around the subject that made Casey wonder if something else was going on with Raph; some big secret he wasn't telling. Sure, Casey wouldn't describe himself as particularly bright when it came to anything outside of mechanics, but he knew when something was up with people, and something was definitely up with Raph.

Why else would he get all uptight about this shit?

"Who put the stick up your ass?" Casey grumbled. Raph gave him a sharp kick to the leg which almost made him fall of the board he lay on to work on Chris's undercarriage. And it definitely hit a bruise he'd earned the previous night when one of the mutants threw a Purple Dragon at him. What was up with that, anyway? He'd gone for one of the Purple Dragons twice, and both times the same mutant had saved that one Dragon, but the mutants had been fighting the Purple Dragons. So why save one?

Raph's next comment – "One of those Purple Dragons is gonna cave your head in one day." – broke through his confused thoughts and he wheeled himself out from under the car. That was… interesting.

"I never said anything about any Purple Dragons," he pointed out, accepting the offer of Raph's hand and pulling himself to his feet. "I just said they were a gang."

"Well it was pretty obvious," Raph said smoothly. He was pulling a pokerface and Casey couldn't tell if he was lying or not. "It's always them in the news. They're out causing trouble every night."

"Whatever," Casey shrugged. "Undercarriage looks to be done. How's the rest?"

Raph wiped some oil on his jeans and said, "Nearly finished, I think. I dunno; Donnie knows more about cars than I do. I specialise in motorcycles."

Casey inspected Raph's work and gave a low whistle. "No, you're right, it's almost done. Man, I'm gonna miss working on this car when she's finished. Wanna go get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sounds good," Raph said. "So how much am I getting paid to listen to you whine about how much fun it is playing Batman?"

"You're fired," Casey joked.

"Dammit."

They laughed and headed to the nearest convenience store. "How about we sell the car before we figure out how to split the cash?" Casey suggested.

"Sounds good to me. How's Angel doing, by the way? You haven't complained about her running off all the time yet."

Casey winced. "Uh…"

Raph wasn't the only one Casey suspected to have some kind of big secret. Angel normally acted a bit off – she was Angel, after all, and a teenager now to boot – but she'd been acting more off than normal lately. At the start of October she'd locked herself in her room and refused to talk to him, and now she was doing it again. Casey's first thought should have been guy trouble – Angel had been hanging out with Raph's youngest brother, Mikey, a lot lately – but Angel wasn't the sort of girl to lock herself away and sulk over guys. Something was definitely going on with her, too, but he couldn't figure out what. Bullying, maybe? But she could stick up for herself, and she knew he'd stick up for her too if need be, so it couldn't be that. Things just weren't making sense.

Raph groaned as his phone rang and he answered it. "Yeah, Don? … You want to what? … No, that's a terrible idea…" he huffed. "Fine. I'll check. Goodbye." Then he rang off.

"The hell was that about?"

"Donnie's taking his driving test today. He wants to fix up something to drive around in when he passes."

"He's really that confident he's gonna pass?" Casey asked. Raph just shrugged.

"He's smart like that; he'll figure it out. It figures he wants a freaking van, too. Probably wants to put a load of gear and scientific stuff and weapons in it…"

He had said that last part under his breath and Casey didn't quite catch it. "What was that?"

Raph shook his head. "Never mind. I said I'd check the junkyard for something he could use. Food first, though."

It both startled and amazed Casey how, despite their differences and the fact that he ranted and raved and complained about them frequently, Raph and his brothers were incredibly close. It was weird and he got the vibe that those four brothers knew all each others' secrets and didn't care. He used to have that sort of sibling-slash-best-friend relationship with Angel, and honestly he kind of missed it. Maybe Raph would know what to do.

But for now, he was fairly satisfied just thinking about what he was going to grab for lunch.

Giving a sigh of frustration, Karai stepped into an elegant black spaghetti dress which just reached the tops of her knees and had silver accents. A pair of black stilettos lay on the ground at her feet and a jewellery box she hadn't even looked at since the start of summer vacation sat open on her dresser.

"I expect," Saki had told her earlier, when he informed her they would both be going to an important event for Saki Enterprises, "for you to be on your best behaviour."

"Hai," she had answered, and the (rather one-sided) conversation had ended there.

Dating a guy her father didn't like, much less approve of, and being told not to be an embarrassment at important public events? Oh yeah. Karai was loving this whole teenager thing.

It felt kind of weird, though, to prepare to go to public events for Saki Enterprises again. It was probably, she decided, because it had been a while and she honestly didn't think her old look and her new one would go well together.

She was wrong.

Gathering a pair of silver hooped earrings, Karai caught a glimpse of herself in her full-length mirror. The clothes and jewellery went well with her new hairstyle after all; she looked formal and teenager-y and cool, all at the same time. She smiled to herself and picked up a thin silver necklace. It was the last thing her true parents had given her.

Karai could not remember her parents very well, nor could she remember why they left her, but she remembered how. They had been dressed in rags, she thought, or tattered clothes. At least, their clothes were torn and dirty and they had dirt on their faces. Her mother had told her to stay where she was and that they would be back for her by nightfall, put the necklace over her and told her to take care of it; that it would protect her. Her parents did not come back, and a day or two later Saki had found her starving and weak and homeless, and had taken her in.

She wished she could remember her parents better.

Karai sighed and shook her head. No good to dwell on the past. Instead she grabbed up her phone, snapped a photo of herself and sent it to Leo. She packed a few belongings into her silvery-black clutch purse before turning to her sword and holding it against her dress to measure whether she could conceal it under the dress. This was a long-standing tradition for her: in her opinion, weapons were vital to a ninja, and so it was imperative that she had at least one weapon hidden either on her person, or very nearby, at all times.

Displeased to realise the dress was too short to conceal her sword, Karai threw her favourite weapon onto her bed and concealed a tanto or two in her clutch purse. She was about to pack her phone away, too, when she received a reply from Leo telling her in the cheesiest words possible now pretty she looked, and a second reply which made her laugh.

From Leo:
Sorry. Mikey's idea. Apparently I look pretty, too.

That was the caption that came with the recreation of the picture Karai had sent, done in his human form so the material didn't rip over his shell. Leo had turned a pair of shorts into a dress by using one leg as the main body and stretching the other over his shoulder like a sleeve. A set of mismatched keyrings, held on with a pair of elastic bands, stood in place of the earrings, and he had somehow pulled his hair into a similar style to hers.

Relationships, especially romantic ones, had never been high priority for Karai. Even when deciding to get involved with Leonardo, she hadn't been aiming for a boyfriend but friends to have fun with. Now she had both, and trading either was totally out of the question. She had even had a friendly conversation with April O'Neil at the Halloween party last night. She would just have to hope Saki would not force her to choose between the Foot clan and the Turtles. Yes, she was supposed to be loyal to the Shredder, but she did not want to think on how she would react if he ordered her to hurt Leonardo or his family.

She was extremely displeased to find that Saki had allowed Chaplin to join them, but apparently he was the young prodigy of Saki Enterprises. Saki was probably just showing off his two favourites. It was still a pity he had invited Chaplin. Thinking of her true parents had made Karai miss seeing Saki in Father Mode. They had never done particularly father-daughterly things before, but he had raised her as his daughter and held at least some fatherly affection for her.

Chaplin was at Karai's side from the moment they left the limo which took them to the event, and she was not amused. It wasn't that he was particularly bad-looking; it was just that she found him unexplainably irritating.

Just don't leave me alone with him, Karai thought, and I'll be fine.

No such luck.

Saki had removed his mask and helmet to reveal handsome Japanese features and neat, dark hair, cut short and slicked back. His cape and gauntlets had been traded for a dark suit and he looked the very image of an important businessman. He of course began mingling with politicians as soon as they got there, leaving Karai to follow him like the good daughter she was pretending to be and Chaplin to follow her like he thought they were on a date.

"Is this your boyfriend?" one politician asked Karai, who was trying to subtly keep Chaplin at a reasonable distance.

"No," she said, a little more harshly than she intended, "he is not."

"Chaplin here is among the newest employees at Saki Enterprises," Saki explained, allowing Chaplin to shake hands with the politician, "and a valuable asset to the company."

Yeah, right, Karai thought, trying not to let on that she was brooding. It had to be a conspiracy of some sort: Chaplin kept offering his arm to her and her rejections gradually became harsher and harsher, and usually Saki would have torn Chaplin a new one – or even had a few very strong words to say to him – for making Karai uncomfortable. Now, though… he seemed to be ignoring it.

So she reminded herself that neither of them had any idea about her relationship with Leonardo and gave Chaplin a glare which told him to back the hell off and, eventually, he gave up and shoved his hands into his pockets, sulking.

After a while, Karai decided she was fed up of all of it and needed some time alone, in which maybe she'd text Leo. She complained that her shoes were hurting her feet and went to find a table to sit at. Unfortunately, Chaplin followed her like a lovesick puppy and sat beside her, so she couldn't text anyone under the table.

"Now what?" she demanded five long, slow minutes later, fed up of Chaplin staring at her.

"Nothing," he said quickly. "I just think you look really nice."

"Thanks," she spat.

"Not that you don't look nice every day."

"You can stop now."

"Oh – okay." Chaplin shut up for a while and Karai tried thinking of the photo Leo had sent her. That cheered her up and calmed her down.

She sipped on a glass of water and sat trying to recall what movies she might have seen advertised that Leo might like to go see on their second date. He'd probably suggest a corny romance comedy, but she'd rather see something with some action in it. He probably would, too, but it was Leo, and Leo could be kind of a cornball. Hadn't she traded numbers with O'Neil yesterday as a just-in-case-of-emergency deal? O'Neil would probably have an idea she could use.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Chaplin piped up, causing Karai to groan inwardly, "whether you'd like to go for coffee with me some time."

Karai tensed and injected as much hostility as she could into her voice as she said: "No. Thank you."

"Are you sure?" Chaplin insisted. "It doesn't have to be coffee. We could –"

"No," Karai said harshly.

Oh God; it was a conspiracy! She should have expected this. Was this what they were planning? She knew Saki approved of Chaplin, but he was not trying to set her up with him. No. Freaking no. No way.

Chaplin sighed dejectedly. "Alright, well… I'll go get a drink or something."

He got up and left, and shortly after, Saki joined Karai at the table.

"You still seem distracted," he commented. "Is there a problem?"

Chaplin is a nuisance, Karai thought bitterly, and I can't believe you're enabling him.

"Huh," she said, as though she hadn't noticed. "You're right; I suppose I am a little distracted. I am having to carry half of my group in my drama elective because I have been put with the Unworkables, and the other –" she hesitated – "the other is Hamato Leonardo."

There was a pause. "You did not tell me this before," Saki commented slowly.

"It has been of little consequence," Karai half-lied. She couldn't say for certain what would have happened if she had not decided to be an actual teenager, but she severely doubted they would have ended up dating within the first month or two. Most likely she would have just wanted to get the whole thing over with.

"I see," Saki said, as though he did not entirely believe her but, at the same time, did.

"Our performances are due to be given on the last day before the Christmas holidays begin," Karai said. "We are allowed to invite our families to watch."

"I will do my best to make it," Saki told her. Karai nodded and decided the conversation was over. She went into the bathroom and sent a text to April O'Neil, asking what kind of movie she thought Leo might like to go see. Saki was acting like something big was going to happen, and she needed to take her mind off it.

April was finally released from Irma's Halloween sleepover, although there had been very little sleep involved and an awful lot of horror movies, Halloween games, and talking about boys. It was just past noon when she got back to her place. She showered, changed and decided to visit the guys. If she got too tired they probably wouldn't mind her dozing off on the couch… although apparently if anyone planned to sleep too soundly it was wise to hide all Mikey's pens first. From what she'd heard, all three of his brothers had woken up at some point with writing and moustaches drawn all over their faces.

She got to the guys' place around half-one, flopped onto the couch beside Mikey (who had a Stephen King movie on the TV as background noise) and said, "Shoot me, please."

"Didn't enjoy your sleepover?" Mikey teased.

"The movies weren't too bad," April shrugged, "but Irma nearly killed me for not figuring out whether or not me and Donnie are together yet." She almost mentioned that Irma had asked after Mikey, but decided he was already having enough girl trouble as it was.

"Well, if you want to try again, you'll have to wait a while," Mikey shrugged. "Donnie's out taking his driving test."

A small amount of panic set in and April slapped her forehead. "That's today? Geez, when did November happen?"

Mikey laughed. "That's okay, you can always keep me company. Raph's hanging out with Casey and Leo and Splinter are meditating."

April smiled. "Sure. Whatcha doing?"

Mikey was in his turtle form, but his hands were humanoid now. He had practised partial transformations the most, apart from Donnie. Mikey had perfected it when he was working on his Turtle Titan costume, because human hands were better for handling a needle but – his words – if you have turtle skin it hurts less when you accidentally stab yourself. To most people, just the concept of a giant, talking turtle was extremely weird. When that started to feel normal, the weird bit was when they had humanesque hands.

"I'm catching up on last night's classic horror reruns. Oh, and makin' an armband," Mikey answered. "You know how everyone else has their own symbol, like the Foot and the Purple Dragons?"

"Yeah?"

"Well I'm totally makin' one for us, too! Whatcha think?"

He held up what he was working on to her, revealing a white armband onto which he was sewing the green design of a turtle shell. April blinked, torn between feeling impressed, amused and just a little surprised. Amusement and feeling impressed were winning.

"I think it looks awesome," she said. Mikey beamed with pride.

"I think Donnie's glad he has his test today," he said, going back to his sewing. "All that decoding was really buggin' him. He doesn't know when to take a break sometimes."

"I know," April agreed. "Has he always been this way? Working himself half to death on projects?"

"Sometimes," Mikey shrugged. "I think he likes bein' kept busy. The guy's got a big brain and he probably gets bored with normal stuff. He used to be worse sometimes."

"Do I even want to ask?" April joked.

"Probably not," Mikey shrugged. "Hey, do you think if I told her who we are, Angel would want one of these?" He indicated the armband.

April could honestly say she had no idea: even just the suggestion of Mikey revealing his secret to Angel concerned her, because she didn't know how Angel would take it. "When did you decide to tell her?" she asked.

Mikey explained about the fight with the Purple Dragons and Casey Jones.

"I was wondering when you guys'd cross paths with that bonehead while you were on patrol," April groaned, rolling her eyes.

Mikey smirked and went on to explain how he had jumped in Casey's way twice. "Casey didn't recognise Angel," he said solemnly. "He tried to hurt her, Ape. And if I keep protectin' her from him, she's gonna find out eventually. I just think it'd be better if I told her, y'know?"

"I think that's a great idea," April smiled. She knew Mikey had moments where he came off as kinda stupid, but he was actually just a goofball, and it embarrassed her that she sometimes forgot he could be pretty insightful and observant sometimes. He probably deserved more credit than he got… but not all in a good way. Klunk came downstairs at this point and hopped onto her lap.

"So how'm I supposed to tell her?" Mikey asked.

"That's down to you," April shrugged, petting Klunk.

"Help me think of something?" Mikey begged, turning his biggest, bluest pleading eyes on her.

April sighed and caved. "Alright."

Donatello got in around three. He looked tired – Mikey said he hadn't slept well last night because he was stressing over decoding the files on that disk – and a little relieved.

"How'd it go, dude?" Mikey asked. He was working on another armband.

"Passed first time," Donnie said, shrugging like it was nothing.

April jumped up (Klunk wasn't particularly impressed at being turfed off her lap) and threw her arms around his neck.

"I knew you could do it!" she exclaimed – then she kissed him on the cheek. Donnie turned red and nearly fainted.