The massive reptile raced down the tunnels in a quickened pace, trying to cradle the girl gently. He swerved down each corridor not wanting to waste any time. His leader would be fine alone he knew but it still settled awkwardly in his stomach about leaving him behind. Despite the terrapin's size, he was surprisingly swift and quiet on his feet. Perhaps would do even better without having to worry about the girl and him.
He took a small glance at the female he held, it wouldn't be long until she woke. The last thing she needed to see was him. Humans had never quite akin to beings different then themselves, especially thrown into an experience such as this. His mind wondered to what her reaction would be in the turtle's lair. Even her friend was not completely human now.
The distance between his destination shortened rapidly with the pace he held. It wasn't but a short three minutes before he welcomed himself through their door. An uneasy gloom had settled amoungst the place, it was clear to him now they'd thought themselves unsuccessful. "My friends," he croaked out. The two who'd inhabited the living area immediately shot up. Mikey seemed generally pleased to see him while Raph kept his cool demeanour.
"Leatherhead!" Mikey shouted, leaping off the couch but when the distance closed between them he stopped dead in his tracks. "Get Donnie!" He yelled back at Raph, who'd also caught a glimpse at what the gator had in his hands.
He booked down the hallway almost colliding into the side wall on his way to the lab. Busting through the door, Donnie jolted up from the sudden intrusion. "Come on!" He motioned for the purple turtle to follow.
Donnie just put his head back in his hands. "Not now, I'm busy," he grunted, tired of his brothers attempts at lightening what had occurred.
"No you're not!" Raph grabbed on to his wrist and yanked him out of his chair. "You have to see this!"
"Raph, I'm not in the mood!" Donnie shot back, he tried to escape from the stone grip on his lower arm but failed. "Stop! Can't you see no matter what you or Mikey do it's not gonna help anything!"
Raph let go then folded his arms. "Oh I suppose having you're girls friend back is one of those things?" He commented knowingly.
"Of course not-wait what?!" His eyes widened with hope as he shoved passed the red turtle.
When Raph returned to the scene he could see Donnie frozen in place with slight tears forming in his eyes.
"I can't believe this," he breathed out, taking Lacey out of Leatherhead's arms and setting her down carefully on the couch. He stared at her for a moment longer, just to make sure it was real. She stirred with a soft groan, her eyes flickered open slightly before shooting open in panic. "No, no it's okay," He tried as she fell backwards off the couch with a scream.
"I don't know what you want but I can't give it to you!" Her voice was shakey. "Just let me go and I won't tell anyone about you, I swear!"
"It's not like that," he started, backing away from her hoping the space between the two would help her be put more at ease. "Listen, Nell is in the other room, I'm going to get her, okay?" He took a lingering glance over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't gonna run for it but with the gator in the way he doubted she'd try.
He tracked down the hall to his room then cautiously opened the door. Nell was on the bed simply staring at the ceiling with a blank expression. Her eyes were red and puffy, cheeks stained with dried tears. "I've got amazing news!" He smiled as she turned to him. He took a step closer, putting his hand on her cheek. "Lacey's alive and here, just in the living room."
Without a single sound , she flew off the bed and out of the room in an instant. He came back out and she was on the floor before her friend hugging her waist and crying. "I'm so sorry!" She sobbed, gripping tighter as Lacey knelt beside her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders. "It's all my fault! I never meant for you to get wrapped up in all this!"
"Nell, honey," Lacey forced her away to stare at her intensely. "It's all right, I'm fine and so is Vinnie. It wasn't a fun ride but you can't blame yourself if everything turned out okay."
Her thoughts flashed back to Reeve, all the hate she'd felt towards him for doing what he did, but he knew. She should have trusted him, never once did he ever show he'd put them at risk. Even when it meant his own life. "It's not okay " she whispered, looking to the ground. "Reeve...he..He didn't make it out..."
Lacey stared back in horror. "..How?"
"Xever killed him..." she confessed. They fell into each other a tangled mess of sorrow and remorse. Life just wouldn't be the same without their fatherly figure around.
ooOooOoOOOoo
Hours passed between the two girls, just simply holding each other not speaking a single word. It'd had been as if their whole world fell away and only the two remained. "Remember that time he took us out hunting back home?" Lacey finally piped up. "Out there for hours just trying to track down a bunch of turkeys."
Nell gave a distant smile. "And he wouldn't let us use a rifle," she added.
"Yeah, all we had was a net and machetes. Real men don't need guns for flightless birds," she let out a soft laugh. "Kept us at it for a week till we both came back with our own and had to skin and pluck them ourselves. I remember you cried."
"Yeah but before that all I'd ever down was fillet a fish. The turkey just stared at me." She defended with a pout.
Lacey just gave a simple chuckle back at her as Nell crossed her arms stubbornly. "So, you gonna let me in on all this then?" She waved her finger around the air. "Like how you turned into a pokemon?"
Nell playfully glared at her then let out a small sigh. "From what I was told they've always been like this, it's all they've ever known. As for me, you can chalk that up to Xever."
"Your oh so wonderful ex fish," Lacey mocked. "So, you're dating a turtle then."
"Yeah, looks like it," she confirmed.
"And he treats you good, right?"
"Of course," she eyed the black haired girl in front of her suspiciously.
"And you're happy?" Nell nodded again. "Then I approve."
A/N: Well there we go, everything is sorta all right in the world. Thank you for the reviews, hopefully I can knock off this block I'm going through and start updating better and longer chapters, just bare with me.
