After their initial cool meeting, April and Darielle hit it off. April seemed to come to the realization that Darielle was for real. She was not ignorant to the improvement of the most rebellious turtle. Raph was quick to smile and laugh. Even at himself, which had never happened as long as April had known them. He stayed in more, finally giving Casey a good example to follow. The two would still head out to straighten some thugs, but it was more once a week than every night. And, once Darielle didn't see April as a threat, April noticed how kind hearted she really was. Little things she noticed like helping clear the table or never hearing Darielle speak ill of anyone. Looking back, April realized that Darielle didn't have much faith in herself. That all her doubts were not directed at Raph, but that Raph would change his mind about her. Being female, April understood the constant self doubt and worry that came with a relationship. She had similar feelings about Casey. These days, even a ring on the finger didn't mean you were safe in a relationship. Divorce was so common that a girl would always wonder if her man would stay with her.

"All set up?" April asked. Darielle nodded, smiling. They were in Darielle's room and Donnie had just hooked up her internet and Skype account.

"Up and running." Donnie confirmed triumphantly. "And…" Donnie did some clicks and searched and then pulled up a web page. "What do you think?" He asked, watching her face for a reaction. Darielle scooted her chair closer to the computer and read the screen:

Dialogue by Darielle Drake

~Giving voice to the voiceless and organization to oration

There were several links: Free Tips, Submit your Speech, Request a Consultation, About Darielle Drake and Satisfied Clients. Darielle's jaw slackened slightly in awe.

"I didn't put anything in Free Tips or about Darielle Drake yet. I figured you would want to give input, so those are still blank. But the Submit your Speech and Request a Consultation have a form for people to fill out. Then they get sent to your work email here." He clicked to another screen. "And the title of the email states the client name and whether it's a submission or consultation. Then, I got together with the Police Chief, by phone of course, and he gave a rave review. Then he suggested I call the Iowa department and well…each client had someone to recommend, so you have about 15 legitimate reviews. I was thinking of adding a 'comment's link', you know? So then if someone gives positive feedback, we can post that on the site, too. What do you think?" He asked again, nervous at her silence.

"This…it's…amazing!" Donnie smiled, relieved.

"I didn't mean to do it behind your back, I just kind of wanted to surprise you, so-"

"This is great!" She was clicking things, looking around. "How did you name it?"

"Well, actually, Raph named it. Then he penned the tag line, too. He said those are things you've said before." She nodded.

"Yeah. I mean, this is…wow."

"And…" April said, "I still have contacts on the news team at Channel Six, so we thought it would be a good idea to have Darielle Drake say goodbye to New York and announce the launch of her new website. Be S.M.A.R.T. is still really big and the city would probably like to know what your plans are, so we thought we'd cut them off at the pass, you know?" Darielle nodded.

"I think I can do that. Then it'll be over." Donnie nodded. Raph stepped in from the hallway.

"No more surface walks. You okay with that?"

"Yes. I've been ready for a while." He nodded.

"There's no going back."

"Back to what?" Darielle asked. "A life in a motel room? I'm ready." She turned to April.

"Do I have to call to schedule the interview or anything?"

"Are you good with this Friday?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Then it's all set." Darielle nodded.

"Donnie, what's the website?"

" ." He smirked. "The domain is protected by microprocessor hardware features coupled with a carefully chosen operating kernel. I also installed antivirus software and firewalled the computer to make it difficult to hack."

"Thanks! I like the web address…easy to remember."

"That was the point." He admitted. He stood from his crouched position by her computer and pulled a cord hanging from her ceiling. A black cloth swept down, hanging like a wall curtain. "This is your background. I figured black would go with anything you were wearing and wouldn't wash out the picture. When you want it up…" He walked to the other side of her room and pulled another cord like rolling up blinds. "Gone."

"Perfect." She said. "Thanks for all of this, Donnie." He shrugged.

"Welcome." He stood and motioned for April to leave Raph and Darielle alone. April jumped into action and walked out with him. Darielle had gone back to clicking her website. Her website. Raph walked up and leaned in beside her.

"This is so awesome." She said, channeling Mikey. Raph smiled.

"Yeah, Donnie's pretty proud of it. It was his idea. But he said if you needed anythin' tweaked, he would help with that." She nodded.

"I think it looks good, but I guess I'll see for sure when I start working again."

"So…what are your hours gonna look like?"

"Dunno. I think it depends on my client load. I don't think I'll do set hours..or I might. The great thing about a website is people won't know how busy I am or not, so I can set my own pace."

"Cool. So you'll be able to do, like, dinner with the family and things?" She turned to him.

"Of course." Tap tap. They both turned and saw Splinter standing in her doorway. They both stood.

"Master." Raph greeted.

"Splinter." Darielle added. "Please, come in." He tapped his way in and looked around, nodding his approval. He and Darielle had spoken about this very thing. He had impressed upon her the importance of hiding where she was located to prevent anyone from finding his sons. They had also spoken about other things the night after she had met April and Casey:

"Splinter, what else is on your mind?" She asked. He waved her away.

"It is nothing, my daughter. I hope you are successful in your endeavor."

"There is something else. What can I do?" He sighed.

"I am aging, young Darielle. I am 81 years old. I have seen war in my country. I have seen bombs falling on villages and I have been helpless to save the victims. I was young, fifteen, but I remember. And I fear being helpless again. I have done my best to teach my children to protect themselves and be wise because I know that one day I will not be here to guide them. I fear another war in my home."

"I would never-"

"I know, my child." He rested a hand on hers. "Yet I feel something moving towards us in the air." He sighed again. "But I cannot tell anything more. When and if it will strike. What will strike. But I feel a storm coming. I have spoken to my sons about it and they hear my words. They train again. They are vigilant in their watch."

"You can't protect them forever." She murmured. "Have faith that they will make you proud."

"Proud? I have always been proud of them. From the moment I saw them change and every moment since. I wonder how many moments more I have with them. I wonder…Looking back at my life with old eyes, I wonder…have I been a father to them, or merely a sensei? Did my desire to protect them, keep me too distant? I am sure everyone at my stage of life looks back and wonders if they truly did what they had intended. A father is always afraid to leave his children no matter how certain he is that they will be safe."

"I'm sure you have a lot of time-"

"I am not sure. But it pleases me to know that you are here for my son. That April and Casey are here. That my sons are not alone. Thank you for listening to an old soul. Your patience is inviting and rewarding. I see now why my son favors you so fiercely."

This conversation, though taken place weeks ago, was still fresh in Darielle's mind.

"Whaddya think, Master?" Raph wrapped his arms around Darielle and smiled at Splinter.

"How do you…?" Darielle peeled herself from Raph and walked over.

"This is a mouse." Splinter raised an eyebrow at her. "I swear. And it controls this little arrow on the screen, see?" Splinter sat down and began clicking things. "There you go! You're navigating around the website." Splinter was chuckling. He had clicked into a search pane and navigated away from her site and a query results page appeared.

"Oh, look! I have won a brand new iPad! What is an iPad?"

"No!" Raph and Darielle yelled at the same time. Darielle pulled the mouse away from Splinter before he could click it.

"iPads are bad?" Raph shook his head and Darielle was laughing.

"You never win anything on the web. Nothing is for free. It's a scam." Darielle explained.

"Then what about this? If I hit the moving monkey with a banana I win a free…"

"No." Darielle clicked off the screen. "Also a scam. Why don't we have some dinner?" Raph was looking topside, trying to be patient.

"Your website is very nice. I will have to tell Donatello." They all left her room and she closed her door behind her. As she stepped out into the main living area, a heady aroma hit her and she realized how hungry she actually was.

"Mikey's workin' overtime tonight." Raph commented. She left Splinter and Raph and went to check on Mikey in the kitchen.

"That smells awesome." Mikey looked over to her. He wasn't wearing the chef hat, but he had two knives in his hands and was getting ready to slice and dice some vegetables. He grinned and winked. She stepped in. "Can I help?"

"Yeah, you wanna wash the tomatoes?" It warmed her heart. She was no longer a guest, she was worthy of kitchen duty. She went to the sink and began washing the tomatoes. "So I hear your site is up and running, huh?"

"Yeah! Did you check it out? Donnie did a great job."

"I saw the demo version and it did look pretty sweet." As she cleaned the tomatoes, she set them back on the counter. Mikey finished the vegetables he had and now took one of her tomatoes. "Uh, you wanna put those in that bowl over there? That would be awesome." She did and saw salad mixings.

"You want me to add these, too?" He looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks. I was way behind."

"No problem." She could see his manner ease up, his time constraint opening up.

"They get pretty restless, you know?" She smiled.

"Yeah, I can imagine." She mixed the items into a bowl, making a salad. "So I was thinking of maybe watching a movie tonight. Instead of gaming. What do you think?"

"Depends on the movie." Mikey grinned.

"What do you want to watch?"

"I was thinking Gamera the Invincible."

"Um..okay. Sure. Let's watch that. Do you have it?"

"Shyeah I do! I have all the Gamera movies."

"Okay, then after dinner?"

"Awesome." After dinner, Darielle was schooled about Gamera. Gamera is a giant mutated turtle woken up by a bomb that pretty much goes around kicking butt and spitting fire at the bad guys. The guys were in heaven. April and Casey had stopped by and Casey jumped onto the couch and began munching popcorn with the guys.

April and Darielle didn't get it. The movie was laughable, but every time either one of them made a joke, they were met with hostile stares from the men. Finally, April and Darielle went into the kitchen for a little girl time. Darielle brewed some coffee and sat down at the kitchen table across from April.

"So…ya nervous?" April asked.

"What about?" Darielle sipped her coffee.

"The news announcement. Do you know what you're going to say?"

"Pretty much. I've been planning my story in my head. Just so I had it solid if anyone ever asked me, then I would give the same answer. Lying is not really a strong point with me."

"Not a bad thing." April commented.

"No, but in this situation it is. So I want to be convincing."

"You'll do fine. Writing speeches is what you do best. You'll be ready by Friday." They heard shouts and hoots coming from the next room and they both rolled their eyes.

"Gamera must have flamed somebody."

"Boys." April agreed. "You wanna play cards or something?"

"Sure." Darielle got up and found the pack of cards in one of the kitchen drawers. "Just not poker."

"Bad at bluffing?"

"Very. But pretty much anything else is good." They each taught each other different games. They were in the best 3 out of 5 Gin Rummy challenge when the guys flooded the kitchen.

"Didn't like the movie, ladies?" Casey quipped.

"What, that cinematic masterpiece? What gave it away?" April sniped.

"Seriously, next time I get to pick the movie. And you know what? It's going to be this really sentimental cheesy chick flick. Just wait." Darielle threatened. Mikey looked horrified. "Just wait." Darielle reiterated. She laid down her discard and April picked it up.

"Gin."

"Crap." Darielle said. "You win. So what's it going to be?"

"What's this?" Raph asked.

"Winner gets to choose the stakes. Within reason." April was smiling.

"What to choose, what to choose? I think…I think I'd like a mani-pedi."

"A whaty whaty?" Raph asked.

"A girl thing." Darielle explained. "Manicure, pedicure. Getting your fingernails and toenails done. Deal." She said turning to April. "Why don't we go Friday morning? Then I'll have good nails for my goodbye interview."

"You're on." They shook on it. Raph shook his head.

"Women."