Enjoy the latest chapter guys! :)

Cassie sat on a bench in the courthouse with April, waiting for Casey and Mrs. Wilson to get out of the hearing that would permanently change her last name and make the adoption legal.

To say that she was nervous was the understatement of the century.

April held her hand and had her other arm wrapped around Cassie. Mrs. Wilson assured them that they had nothing to worry about, everything would be fine. But after all her years in the foster system, she had seen so many adoptions gone awry. The judge could rule against them, they could have filled the papers out wrong, anything could prevent it.

"It'll be okay honey," April assured her, stroking her hair to try and calm her. Cassie rubbed her sweaty palms on her skirt as a reply, making April chuckle.

The judge spoke to Cassie first, one on one. Then April and Casey went in, and they eventually sent April out to sit with Cassie. They had been waiting for about 30 minutes at this point, and it was getting nerve-wracking.

Suddenly, the door to the courtroom opened and out came Casey and Mrs. Wilson. Both looked slightly solemn as they approached. Cassie found her legs propelling her forward with April following behind.

"Well?" April asked. She grabbed Cassie's hand so that the young girl wouldn't feel alone if they got bad news. By the look on her husband's face, the news was not good.

Casey thrusted a piece of paper towards Cassie. When the girl looked down at it, it was a certificate of adoption, for a Miss Cassidee Teagan Jones.

She heard April squeal behind her as the redhead threw herself into her husband's arms. Cassie looked up from the certificate to see Casey smirking at her. "Gotcha didn't I?"

The black haired man grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. Cassie could already hear April crying, which made her waterworks start as well. She couldn't believe what was happening. She was speechless.

For the first time in her life, she was a part of a family.

"Congratulations Cassie," Mrs. Wilson started when the group broke from the hug. Cassie shook the woman's hand. "I'll check up on you periodically for a while, but you're done with the foster system now."

Cassie couldn't put into words how much those statements excited her. No more moving from home to home, no more temporary families, no more not being wanted.

"Thank you," Cassie rushed out. The short woman smiled at her, said her goodbyes to April and Casey, then walked away.

April rushed up to a security guard at the door of the courtroom and begged him to take a picture. After that, Casey took the certificate from Cassie and put it in the folder he was holding with all of her information on it. He threw his arms around her and April with a wide smile. "Let's go, Mrs. Jones and Miss Jones."

Cassie felt her face slightly flush at the new name, but she was grinning from ear to ear.

Liza sat on the couch in the lair and was reading a new book April got for her. It was released around the time she was abducted the first time, so she never had the chance to read it. April told her it was a romance novel, but she believed Liza would love it.

The Fault in Our Stars. Seems pretty thin for a novel that April says will kill me.

She was about halfway through the second chapter, when she heard someone approach. Looking up, she saw it was Regina, who looked worn out and in discomfort.

After lots of screaming and a long conversation with Cassie and Liza, Regina came to terms with the turtles. The girls informed her about the turtles and how they came to be and gave her a rundown about why they were there as well. She was still extremely cautious of all of them, not really speaking to them unless spoken to, but she wasn't a crying wreck now.

Her injuries weren't completely horrendous either. She had bruising and cuts of various shapes and sizes all over her body. The bruises that freaked Liza out the most were the hand shaped bruises on her biceps and hips. And of course there was the damage to her… lady parts. Liza didn't know the full details about it, she didn't want to, but she assumed that she was in bad shape. The only ones who knew about the details down there were Donny, Cassie, and Regina.

"How are you feeling?" Liza asked her as she took a seat on the couch. Regina shifted her seating position a bit too where she was comfortable. She pulled at some random strings on the sweatpants and sweatshirt she got from Cassie, not meeting Liza's eyes.

"Not well," She admitted. Her fingers moves some stray dark hairs from her face that were too short to go into the bun on the top of her head. "In pain, confused, violated. An array of emotions really."

Liza nodded. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."

Regina gave her a sad chuckle. "You never think it'll happen to you. I've been warned of this type of stuff my whole life, but…"

Liza dog-eared the corner of the book to hold her spot, then set it next to her. "I agree. My dad was a cop. He was always making sure I knew the dangers of the city. But knowing doesn't stop it from happening."

Regina started to pick at her fingernails now. Liza saw that she had a perfect pink manicure on her long fingers that didn't seem to suffer any damage after what happened. Her toes were colored the same pink too. "Yeah… It's just… of all the times I've walked home late from practice, I've never felt at risk. I took all the safest routes, I made sure to have my belongings close to me so they couldn't be stolen, I've been attending self-defense classes since I was able to walk, I even have a can of pepper spray in my purse. I just don't understand how I let this happen…"

Liza set a hand on her shoulder. She ignored how the girl flinched, her grasp was firm while still being comforting. "Sometimes things are just… out of our control."

Regina met her eyes, then nodded. Things went quiet between them then.

Liza cleared her throat. "I've been meaning to apologize. For what happened… when Cassie tried hurting herself. You didn't deserve me yelling and accusing you. I wanted to thank you for what you did, because if you hadn't seen it and called 911, she probably would have died."

Regina looked away with a slight smile. "Apology accepted. I'm glad she's okay. It's kind of like fate, huh? I saved Cassie, now you guys saved me."

Liza's mouth twitched up into small smile too. "Yeah, fate."

"I just wish Raphael would have found me before anything happened…" Her smile vanished, being replaced with sadness.

"Yeah." started Liza. "If you don't mind me asking, do you remember anything about how it happened?"

Regina resumed her fingernail picking. "I… I was walking home from dance rehearsal like normal, and the next thing I knew, my hands were restrained. They duct taped my mouth then…" Tears were flowing from her eyes now, and Liza sighed. She wouldn't be getting answers anytime soon with Regina in the emotional state she was.

Liza set her hand on Regina's knee. "It'll be okay. I promise. You'll get through it."

Regina sobbed into her hands. "How d-do you know? Have you ever been r-raped!?"

Liza sighed again, and stood. "I've been through my fair share of stuff. I'll get us some tea." She walked off towards the kitchen while Regina continued her cries. Liza's hands ran over her eyes and back into her hair as she rounded the corner. In the kitchen, Raph, Leo, and Master Splinter were having tea as well. Liza had learned in her time spent with the Hamato clan that they drank tea almost all the time. Except Donny, he always drank coffee.

They looked at her when she entered the kitchen. She went straight to the stove and started to heat some water. "Any word from Casey, April, or Cass?"

"Not yet," Leo replied. "Have you been talking to Regina?"

Liza just nodded while she got down two cups.

"How is the state of our new friend, Elizabeth?" Master Splinter inquired, then took a sip of tea. Liza let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding in, then shrugged at him.

"Her body hurts. Her mental state is fragile, as to be expected," Liza sighed. The kettle beeped at her and she took it off the burner and turned off the stove. She watched as the water turned brown as she poured it over the tea bags in the cups. "How are you Raph?"

He looked up at her instead of staring at his tea like he had for who know how long. His face looked awful for a second, like he was disgusted, but then he quickly switched it to look neutral. "I'm great, why?"

Liza shifted on her foot. "That can't be an easy thing to see…"

"I'm great, Liza, I'm fine," He snapped. Liza narrowed her eyes at him, but left the room with the two mugs of tea. Leo watched her with worry as she walked away, then focused his attention on his little brother.

"Raph, you know you can talk to us about this if it really bothers you, right?"

Raph snorted. "I know Leo, 'nd trust me, when I want to confront my feelin's, I'll run straight to ya, 'kay?"

"Raphael," Master Splinter spit, making both sons tense up. "This is nothing to joke about. You witnessed the most horrific and body invading type of crime happen to this young woman. It is okay if you do not handle this well."

Raph looked at the counter. "I'll be okay, sensei. Better than 'er, that's for sure."

"Well," Master Splinter started. "We still haven't talked about where you were going at such a time at night, but I will let it pass this time because of saving Miss Moretti's life. Do not do it again though."

"Hai, sensei."

Splinter then got up, and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the two brothers in silence.

Leo cleared his throat after a bit. "Were you going to see… you know who?"

Raph sighed. "Yeah, Leo. Yeah, I was."

"Is she mad at you for not showing?"

Glancing at his phone on the counter, he shook his head. "I don't think so. I told 'er what happened."

Leo nodded while finishing off his tea. Raph's phone let out a ding, grabbing the attention of both brothers. Raph grabbed it and started to read something off of the screen, and he couldn't help but smile slightly at the text he received.

"What?"

Raph chuckled, showing Leo the picture he just received. "Look's like Cass is officially a Jones now. They're on their way back here with cake to celebrate."

Leo smiled. "That's great. Good for Cassie."

Then, Liza walked back into the kitchen taking the two mugs to the sink. "She drinks tea fast," She commented under her breath.

"Did ya get the text?" Raph asked her. Based on Liza's confused look she was giving him, he slid the phone across the counter to her. Her dainty fingers grabbed the device and brought it up to her face. A large smile then formed across her face.

"That's awesome, I'm so happy for her," Liza laughed slightly. "I might have to let Regina stay in our room for a bit if she doesn't want to celebrate with us. I'll ask her." She walked off towards the living room, with a slight skip in her step now.

Her friend was now Cassie Jones, not Cassie King. While Liza was extremely happy for her, it just reminded her that she had to make the same decision, and she wasn't sure if it was something she wanted.

Donny smiled down at his phone at the picture he received.

Cassie was holding her adoption certificate with her new name on it proudly while Casey and April stood beside her, they all had huge smiles on their faces.

Cassidee Jones.

He liked the way it sounded. In his opinion, it had a better ring than King did.

"Hey, Don," Mikey announced as he walked in, his phone in his hand. "Did you see the picture?"

Donny nodded. "Yeah I did, it's great, isn't it?"

Mikey's smile was wide too. "It's awesome! Cass deserves it."

"Yeah, she does."

Mikey took a seat in one of the chairs next to Donny's desk, where he was sitting. Mikey looked down at his phone with a soft grin now. "Can I ask you something Don?"

Donny had set his phone down and started working on some plans for a new project he had, but he looked up for a minute to acknowledge Mikey. "Of course."

Mikey's eyes furrowed. "Do you think Cassie will move out of the lair now?"

Donny had thought about the possibilities. And he had talked to Cassie about it, but she never gave him a straight answer. So the purple clad turtle shrugged. "I don't know Mikey. More than likely, yes. I know she wants to attend school again. She's got big plans for her future and she can't fulfill them being stuck down here."

"I know," Mikey pouted. "I wish she'd stay though."

Donny looked back down at his notebook. "Me too Mikey."

Silence fell between them, so Donny scribbled a few notes down. He had the idea for the invention in a dream he had recently. He hadn't told anyone yet, because he didn't want to get hopes up, but he was pretty excited about it. He just need some more Utrom tech and –

"I'm gonna ask Cassie out on a date."

Donny pushed down and snapped his pencil at the outburst, then cursed under his breath.

"Where do girls like to go on dates?"

Donny's eyes crumpled. He had to be careful on how he approached the whole situation. Mikey couldn't figure out that his older brother wanted the young girl's affections too. It was something Donatello was just going to have to bury in the depths of his heart and on the outside be happy for his little brother.

"I have no idea Mikey. You might be better advised from Raph, honestly," Donny answered. He took his broken pencil and tossed it in the trashcan.

"Yeah, but Cass isn't like the girls Raph dates… if you even call it that," Mikey muttered and Donny couldn't help but laugh at the comment.

"No, she isn't."

"Besides, you know her better than the rest of us. Other than Liza. But Liza will blab if I ask her."

Grabbing another pencil, he chuckled. "I just know her so well because she always needs medical attention."

"Still," Mikey groaned. "Can you please just, discreetly, find out what her ideal date would be? I'd owe you for the rest of my life Don!"

Donny sighed, trying hard to suppress the hurt he was feeling inside. "Of course Mikey. I'll find out for you."

Mikey flashed a big grin, then jumped up to give his brother a hug. Donny braced himself as he was almost tackled out of his chair by his brother. "Thanks so much Don!"

Please don't make me do this Mikey.

"Of course. What are brothers for?"

Regina grabbed the phone Liza had left for her when she took her to her and Cassie's room. Her mouth went up into a small smile when she saw the phone was shaped like a turtle shell. Digging into her memory, she typed in the number of the one person who she could trust.

"Hello?"

"Quinn? It's me."

"Gina! What the hell? Where have you been?"

"I can explain, I – "

"Your dad's had the whole city out looking for your ass! I'm pretty sure he thinks you're dead! You've been missing for three days, Gina!"

"I know, I know…" Regina squeezed her eyes shut. "Something happened. Some… people saved me. I'm okay, but I'm ready to come home."

Quinn was silent for a moment. "Of course. Need me to pick you up somewhere?"

"Yeah," She read off the address Liza gave her of the nearest gas station on the surface. "Meet me there tomorrow at noon."

"I can get you now, Gina – "

"No, tomorrow is fine. I have to be checked out again in the morning, but then I'll be ready to go."

"What happened, Regina?"

She wiped away a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Quinn. Night." Regina hit the end button before her friend could object.

Yay Cassie! Woo! Party party party! :D

SO, I've upped the rating on this story to M guys, just because of the content of the next few plot lines. I don't plan on doing detailed sex scenes or anything like that, but the subject of rape and suicide and all that can be touchy, so I'm just covering my bases!

I am SUPER excited about the plot line I have running for Regina people. I've really developed her into this awesome character in my mind, so I'm ecstatic to get her developed more! She has a life that is completely opposite from all the characters that we've seen so far, and we'll find out more about it in the next chapter!

Thank you all for reading and reviewing! It makes my heart happy! I'm really putting my all into this story and I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I love writing it!

See you all next time!

CC