A Ninja's Dance

Chapter 36

Mikey was aware he needed to leave.

The clock above the sink in the kitchen told him he had about twenty minutes before the Pizza Delivery Guy would be stopping to knock on the door of an empty apartment downtown.

Usually this wouldn't be a problem. It only took him about five minutes to get there if he was being lazy and slow about it. So there was plenty of time for him to meander there, tape the money to the door unseen and then wait for the six delicious pizzas from Antonio's Pizza-Rama to be left outside the door.

But this was no usual night.

Partially because, technically, it was morning according to the clock above the sink. But more importantly because Jay-bird had been in the shower for the past twenty minutes.

Mikey had escorted her to the bathroom in a one armed hug, then hurried off to fetch her clean clothes from the selection she'd managed to salvage from her apartment. He'd also retrieved the fluffy white towel that they reserved for whenever April stayed over. By the time he got back the water was already running in one of the closed off stalls, so he left everything within grabbing distance and decided to make use of himself by ordering dinner…ah, breakfast.

It had seemed smart at the time. Antonio's Pizza-Rama was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and while they were usually very good on their delivery, Mikey was aware that around this time of the morning a certain portion of the population of New York who were…ah…heavier smokers…tended to get the munchies.

That delayed delivery times a little.

So it really had seemed like a good idea, forward planning and all that jazz.

But what Mikey hadn't planned for, was how long women spent in the shower.

He tapped his hands on the kitchen table and glanced at the clock again. He was down to fifteen minutes before arrival.

He didn't want to leave until he was sure their Jay-bird was all rugged up, comfy and safe, and even then he wasn't sure he was going to feel comfortable leaving her basically alone in the lair. Master Splinter was here, sure, but his father was sound asleep and didn't know about anything that had happened that night. Mikey didn't want to explain it all without his brothers, and he didn't want Jay to have to explain anything in her current condition.

The less they rehashed it all at the moment, the better.

So what was he going to do? Jay was still in the shower. She still had to get out of the shower, get dressed, then it was going to take him at least twenty minutes to convince himself that she was going to be ok to be left alone. He sure as hell wasn't going to leave while she was still standing there under the hot water.

That would be a dick move considering what she'd just gone through.

Mikey pulled his Shell Cell from his belt and stared at it for a beat.

He was considering calling one of his brothers. He knew what was happening with Monroe was important and he'd encouraged Don to go. He knew that what was happening with the dead guy in the alley and the Foot and the Purple Dragons was all important too and his bro's would probably be none-to-happy to be disturbed right now.

He also knew that this big, horrible, overreaching evil plot was going to come crashing down on them at some point and if they didn't get ahead of it and figure out how to stop it, a whole lot of people were probably going to die via black goop.

It was all important.

But dammit, so was Jay and Family and Sticking Together and Working it Out and Making Sure The Pizza Delivery Boy wasn't docked pay for undelivered pizza.

Mikey dialled Raph's number.

His thought process was thus: Don was probably busy being a genius and figuring out what was going on. Leo was most likely supervising and being the voice of reason and planning, which left Raph being angry and frustrated and everything everyone said.

That made Raph the least helpful and the most suitable target for interrupting.

The phone rang three times before Raph picked up.

"Jay ok?"

It was literally the first thing out of his mouth and it made Mikey smile. Big, tough Raphy-boy was such a softie. Like a toasted marshmallow. All charred and black and burnt on the outside with a gooey, smooshy, sweet centre.

Actually, that was a really good analogy that would just make Raph see red. Mikey stored that away from future teasing efforts.

"Yea. She's ok." Mikey told a white lie, figuring that now wasn't a good time to go into the ins and outs of the emotional binge Jay had been affected with. "What are you guys doing at the moment?"

There was a pause before Raph answered, and when he did there was suspicion dripping from every word.

"Drivin' home. Why? Whatid ya do?"

"Seriously?" Mikey huffed, sitting up in his chair to look offended. "I didn't do anything! I was just trying to find out where you were and what was happening!" He paused here and chewed his lip, slumping back down in his chair as he thought about why he had actually called. "And maybe ask a favour." He mumbled out, realising his indignation did not a favourable Raphael make. "Did you say you were coming home? What happened with Monroe?"

"He…well. Shit, hang on."

Mikey frowned as Raph went quiet on the other end before the noise level coming from the little speaker amped up with all the expected sounds that came with being inside a moving Battle Shell.

"Yer on speaker Mike. Now whatid ya want?"

Raph's voice sounded suitable further away for the speaker explanation and Mikey made a face. Great, now he got to talk to everyone.

"Um." He started with, frowning and trying to work out how he should phrase this so Don would understand and his brothers wouldn't ask all sorts of tough questions. "So, ah. Jay…woke up and she's ah…she's feeling hungry." He was putting em-pha-sis on the wrong syl-ab-le, which seemed to work wonders because a moment later Don's far-too-relieved voice chimed in.

"Oh thank shell for that." It came out in a rush, loud enough for Mikey to hear it crazily clearly from what he presumed to be the driver's seat of the Battle Shell.

There was a pause.

"Yeah. That's…great. Really great Mikey." It was Leo, sounding like his usual 'I know something is up and you're not telling me' self. Mikey decided to cut in before further questioning could occur. He had a time limit here. Ten minutes and counting.

"So, yeah. She's hungry and I ordered pizza but she's still in the shower, which I totally get because hot water is like, technically the next best thing to a hug, but the Pizza Delivery Boy is going to be at the vacant apartment on the corner of Brooks and Peters street in, like, seven minutes and I can't get there cause I don't want to leave Jay-bird here alone when she's just gone through some serious shit but at the same time, you know, pizza." Mikey said it in one breath and sucked in air when he was done.

Another pause.

"Ya want us ta pick up Pizza?" It was Raph again this time. Mikey thought he sounded amenable to the request. This was good.

"Yea." Mikey nodded, aware no one could see him.

A quiet discussion was held on the other end of the line, one that Mikey couldn't hear over the dull, staticy roar of the Battle Shell before Leo took back his role as leader and answered on everyone's behalf.

"Ok. We should make it in time." He said clearly. Mikey grinned.

"Thanks dudes." He said, tapping out a happy beat on the table with his fingertips. His mood stilled quickly though and he frowned as something more serious entered his head. "So, what happened with Monroe?"

There was an audible sigh on the other end of the line, though Mikey couldn't tell who it had come from. It was Leo who answered though, so there was every possibility that it had come from him.

"A lot happened. It's a bit much to explain over the phone, let's discuss it when we get back."

Mikey 'hmmed' in response, getting the heeby-jeebys from Leo's tone. So some serious not-good stuff went down then.

Great.

Awesome.

Stupendous.

"Alright then." Mikey said simply, nodding to his still not present brothers. "I'll see you all soon."

There was a chorus of 'ok's' and 'sure thing's' from his brothers before the line went dead and Mikey was back to sitting in a silent kitchen, staring at the ticking clock above the sink.

Five minutes till the Pizza Delivery Guy arrived.

Judith wasn't sure how long she had been standing under the water, but if her wrinkly fingers were any indication, it had been a while.

She supposed she should get out of the shower.

She supposed Mikey was waiting on her.

She supposed a lot of things, but none of them did anything to motivate her to move.

Judith sighed, resting her forehead against the smooth concrete wall of the shower stall and letting the hot water cascade down her back. She wished she could say she was tired, she wanted nothing more than to climb into bed, pull the blankets over her head and pretend this was just some horrible bad dream of a day that would disappear when she woke up.

But she wasn't tired. She was wide awake. Her head was clear and focused and completely disinterested in sleep.

What was disturbing though, really, was that her hyper attuned brain still couldn't part the fog around the memories of the night before. It was creating this strange dissonance between memory and reality and it was making her dizzy.

The roar of the water in her ears was making it worse, which proved to be motivation enough to move, because she shut it off. Then she just stood there, dripping in the shower stall, until the cold crept in and made her shiver.

Mikey had left her a towel and clothes just within reach of the stall, and she didn't like being cold, so she dried off and got dressed.

The towel was super fluffy, which made her feel better, and the clothes were hers.

Pulling on the socks and worn jeans, the long sleeve T shirt and seen-better-days jumper that she'd had since high school was like pulling on an old, comfortable skin. She took a deep breath and hugged herself, her fingers tracing the raised shield pattern on the right elbow.

Dia had borrowed this jumper when Judith had been in the hospital and torn a hole in the sleeve. She'd been panicked about it because the jumper was one of those 'old favourite' type of items that had more memories and history than it probably should have survived through. Lacking any sewing skills to repair the hole, Dia had mended it using an iron-on patch she found in her mother's old, unused sewing kit.

She didn't realise that the iron-on patch was a left over badge from her Mothers days in the Girl Guides. Apparently it meant that Judith was an official Guide Helper, and bizarrely on more than one occasion, it had made for unusual conversation with someone who recognised it and raised the question of which unit she had come from.

The memory flooded in with alarming clarity, and while they sent a pang of longing through her, it also seemed to wrap around her like a shield.

It made Judith smile. It was a slightly sad smile, but it was a smile.

Which was a good start.

She kept her fingers on the shield as she walked out of the bathroom, making for the kitchen where Mikey had said she would meet her when she was done being 'hugged by the hot water'.

She wondered absently if the remarkable clarity and focus she was experiencing right now was similar to how Don felt all the time. Was that why he was so intelligent? So easily drawn into such difficult principles? Was it because his had a headspace that was clear enough to see each and every little element of those problems? Or was she overthinking it? Maybe Don was just special. Yes, that seemed the more likely possibility.

She was getting side-tracked. Judith shook her head and sighed, rubbing her eyes as she came around the corner into the kitchen.

"Hey, Jay-bird, you ok?"

Judith looked up at the sound of Mikey's voice, finding him half standing from his chair at the table as though he was ready to come to her aid at a moment's notice. She smiled, wrapping her arms around herself and nodding.

"I think so." She said quietly, moving to take a seat across from him. "Just feeling…weird." She rubbed her eyes again before blinking a little blearily as the black spots she had caused cleared.

Mikey plonked back into his seat completely and hummed, frowning as he looked her over. Judith smiled again.

"I'm going to be ok." She said firmly, nodding to herself. "Or at least, I'm going to try to be ok. This has all been a massive shit fight and I'm having…trouble…knowing what I'm meant to do, or even how I'm meant to act or what to say or…" She paused and huffed out a frustrated sigh. "I'm feeling…overwhelmed I guess and, well sort of angry maybe? Not at anyone in particular, just in general. At the world."

Judith looked down at the table top, picking at the loose threads on her jumper cuff. She wasn't doing a great job at explaining herself, but then, she wasn't really doing a great job of understanding herself either. Which was a sad state of affairs.

Mikey looked contemplative for a moment before he got up from his seat and rounded the table to sit next to her. With a small smile he draped his good arm over her shoulder and gave her a one armed hug.

"I'm pretty sure everything you just said is meant to be my spiel." He commented, giving her a brief grin and a slight squeeze. "You're meant to come in, and I'm meant to say: 'It's all going to be ok Jay-Bird, seriously, it will just take a time for everything to sink in. You're just feeling a little overwhelmed right now is all, totally normal to be furious at the universe. It's all gonna be ok though, you'll see.'" His grin widened. "Then you're meant to say: 'Jee thanks Mikey, you're so smart and awesome. I can totally see why you get all the girls.'"

Judith laughed at the reedy, high pitched voice Mikey put on as he tried, and failed, to mimic her accent. She shook her head.

"Ok, I do not sound like that." She said, elbowing him in the side to get her point across. Mikey yelped dramatically.

"Hey! Watch the elbows Miss pointy! Wounded party here!" He shot her a practiced set of puppy dog eyes and Judith laughed again.

"Nope, not going to work." She said, shaking her head at him and attempting her best disapproving look. It was slightly less effective considering it was paired with a smile. "I have little brothers like you Michelangelo Hamato, I'm wise to your games."

Mikey made a face.

"So not fair." He groaned out, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

Judith was still smiling, Mikey turned to smile back at her and they smiled at each other for a good couple of seconds before Judith slumped a little in her chair and rested her elbow on the table, balancing her chin on her hand.

"So." She started, raising an eyebrow. "Jay-Bird, huh?"

Mikey blinked at her a couple of times before his cheeks darkened and his smile turned sheepish.

"Well, yeah." He said with a chuckle, rubbing his neck. "See, everyone latched on to your nickname faster than expected, and I'm never good at being all same-samey you know, point of difference is kind of my thing. So your name evolved to a better, cooler version."

Judith considered this then grinned.

"Kind of like a Pokémon." She quipped.

Mikey took some time to gape at her in what Judith guessed was surprise.

"I used to watch the cartoon every Saturday morning." She explained before he could ask. "When I was younger my brothers were obsessive gamers, but they never let me play because I was a 'girl'." She felt the need to put some serious exaggeration on that word, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I swiped one of their old Gameboys when they bought a new one and got completely addicted. I grew out of it when I got older but in my prime I got pretty close to catching all one hundred and fifty originals."

She was still damn proud about that, it had been a notable accomplishment in her young life despite her fascination for the game being for less than happy reasons.

It was hard to make friends at a new school, let alone when it was your third new school in two years, so Judith had stumbled into the stereotype military kids often suffered from and had just given up trying. The game had given her something to do during afternoons alone while everyone unpacked then inevitably packed again.

It wasn't until high school that she started realising real friends didn't disappear when you got onto a plane.

"I have to say Jay-bird. I'm impressed." Mikey was nodding sagely as he said it, eyes just slightly narrowed in her direction as though he was analysing her. "You have potential to be an epic gamer, we need to capitalise on past experience to reach a whole new platform…The PS4." He swept his hand out in front of both of them as if he was gesturing to some far off, beautiful scenery and Judith laughed.

"That's a wonderful offer Mikey, but I think I'll pass for now." She said, trying hard not to be effected by the fantastic pout Mikey threw at her. "I'm sorry! I really am, but I just don't find it that interesting."

Now he actually looked like she'd kicked a puppy.

"W-helll then." Mikey said dramatically, throwing his good arm in the air in mock offense. "If that's the way you feel about it. Fine." He huffed and made a show of rolling his eyes before throwing her a wicked grin and laughing at himself. "All good Jay-Bird, I'll just have to-"

He was cut off but the scraping, grating, whooshing sound of the elevator rising from its holds in the lair to whatever was above it. Judith turned to watch it disappear and shrunk down in her chair just a little bit.

She didn't know why, but that thing intimidated the crap out of her.

"They're home." Mikey cleared up any questions before she got to ask them and stood, his voice dipping to a stony, serious tone that caught her by surprise. Judith saw his expression falter just for a second to something that looked an awful lot like worry, but it passed so fast she almost missed it when he turned a joyful smile back to her. "That means food." He said happily, gesturing for her to follow him as the elevator made its way back down into the lair.

Judith stood, trailing behind him as the door to the alien tech fell forward and three very tired, very worried looking turtle brothers walked out. Raphael met her eye around a tower of pizza boxes and gave a weary smile that his other two brothers mimicked when they got close enough.

Judith noticed that all of them were sporting bruises and noticeable scrapes, ugly welts of deep green and flecks of red marring their skin and shells. Leo was even limping a little, his face twisting into a wince each time he shifted just a little too hastily.

Judith got a sudden flash of memory, a single little loop of video in her head of her dad walking through the door after his final deployment. Bruised, tired and cloaked in an overpowering blanket of worry and strain he had limped into their living room and forced himself to smile through it all for his kids.

He'd hugged them so tightly it had hurt.

Judith glanced at Mikey. Now they were all together, in front of her, she realised with horrible clarity that he looked the same way. The red staining the bandage on his shoulder had gotten progressively more red since she'd had left him to take a shower and there was a nasty bruise swelling up on his leg just above his knee.

Why hadn't she noticed?

Was she really that tunnel visioned? Had his light hearted attitude really distracted her that much?

She'd seen the look on his face when he realised his brothers were home. He was worried. He was just as tired, just as worn out, just as hurt as the others, but he'd put that aside to cheer her up.

Judith felt her eyes begin to water again and swore quietly.

There had really been a fight. They had really fought in it. They could have been killed.

She sucked in a breath.

Was this always what it was like? Was this what that crashing in the apartment and the rooftops as she and Raph ran away did to them? How many fights like this had they been in? How many times had they been hurt like this to protect someone? How many times had they come close to death battling the things that went bump in the night?

Judith felt a weird, tangled set of emotions wash over her as the questions slammed home and without letting herself overthink it she followed the tug in her chest straight to the three brothers.

Leo was the first in her path. She ignored the slightly confused look on his face, the dirty smudges on his cheeks and the smell of sweat and blood and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're ok." She muttered, pulling back and wiping her eyes. Leo looked at her for a brief moment before he reached out and grasped her elbow in a careful, almost formal grip. It was strange, Judith wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but she got the feeling that little move meant a lot more than it looked like it did.

Leo inclined his head to her, smiling just slightly before releasing her arm and stepping out of her way.

Her feet took her straight to Raph.

He'd put down the boxes and was regarding her with a slightly raised eyeridge, she ignored it and hugged him too, burying her face in his shoulder and letting out a shaking couple of breaths.

There was a pause before Raph relaxed with a sign.

"S'ok hun." He said quietly, so quietly that Judith was sure no one else heard him. He raised his arms to hug her back. "We're good. It's ok, yea?"

Judith nodded.

"Yeah." She mumbled, sniffing and blinking rapidly. "Yeah, it's ok." She looked up when he moved away, keeping a hold of her shoulders so he could look her in the eye and offer up a lopsided smile.

"It's gonna be fine." He told her, giving her shoulders a squeeze before turning her, quite deliberately, to Don.

Don was still standing at the edge of the elevator, watching everything with that same quiet, intense gaze that Judith had seen earlier that night when he had turned away from her to join his brothers in the middle of her destroyed apartment. She hadn't had time to think about it then, but as she walked the few paces to stand in front of him she realised it looked almost like guilt.

"Hi Don." She muttered, looking up at him. Don's eyes were darting around her face, as though he was scrutinising every tiny muscle movement.

"Hi Jay." He mumbled back, his hands fisted at his sides so tightly his knuckles were going a pale shade of green.

He had a cut just above his right eye, it had bled just enough to drip a slim line of red to his cheek. Judith reached up, fingers hovering over the torn skin before resting gently to the side of the gash.

Don winced. Just slightly, unnoticeable if she hadn't been so close, but Judith saw it.

"You're all hurt." She whispered, blinking through a fresh wave of stupid, stupid tears.

Don's expression changed, turning into something Judith didn't really recognise as he stared down at her.

"But you're ok." He said firmly, as though that was what was important, as if the fight didn't mean anything, the bruises didn't matter because she was fine.

Which was entirely selfless and stupid and…

Judith hugged him, holding onto him like a life line as she tried to figure out what to say, how to say it. How to tell him she was sorry and grateful and she didn't know how to be grateful enough for what he and his family had done for her, given her.

She wanted to tell him that the world sucked. That it was stupid and he and his brothers deserved more, but all that came out was a pathetic little 'thank you' before she snapped her mouth shut and had to close her eyes against the silly urge to cry.

It took her a moment to realise as she stood there in his arms that Don was holding onto her just as tightly as she was to him.

Authors Note: OOOkkkkkaaaaayyyyy. So, this chapter and the next one was meant to be one chapter. But it got too long because I kept writing and thinking – "Oh! Want to do this conversation." "Need to add this bit." "Wonder if I should…"

Then, when it got to be, like, double this chapter, I admitted defeat and just split it.

I hope you like it anyway, and I hope you like the next chapter too because it was meant to be this chapter and…yeaahhhhh…

I think I need to get some sleep…but, as always lovely people,

Read and Review, it makes me smile.