Vision Quest V:

After he dropped her off in front of the building, Lily went up to the main door and hid in the alcove until she heard his car drive away. After 'the incident' her mother had walked her back to the lot she'd stumbled across many times to make sure that if she'd ever returned she would know her way home.

Now she followed that familiar route, stepping off the pavement onto the hard packed dirt. So no one had ever done anything with this place. Wonder if that grate's still broken?

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she stepped into it, just as she had eight years ago. Well, she'd take that as a yes then. So now what?


Leo rolled along on his, skateboard. He usually walked or ran, but today he'd felt like he needed to get away fast. Lately he was taking off more on his own than Raph.

He was pretty sure he knew where Raph went when he wasn't thrashing criminals with Casey, but had never made any effort to confirm it. It felt like a violation of privacy. And he was beginning to better understand his volatile brother.

Ever since he'd failed to save Karai, twice, the first time when he'd let her run into the Shredder's trap and the second when he'd let her fall, he'd been slowly consumed by anger. But unlike Raph, his anger was directed inward at himself. He was trying to carry on as normal, so as not to worry his family any more than necessary, but it was taking its toll.

More and more frequently, he needed time to himself when he didn't need to pretend that he was ok and things were normal. And so he kept returning to what he considered his 'secret place' where he'd had that strange encounter as a child.

When he was almost there, a shrill cry pulled him up short. Stepping off the skateboard, he used his foot to flip it up to his hand and proceeded with silent caution. He was struck dumb by what he saw. It couldn't be, could it? Lily?

He could only gape at her while she buried her face in her hands. He staggered forward and in a very familiar turn of events, unintentionally kicked some of the garbage strewn about the drainage tunnel. Her head snapped up, turning her sightless eyes in his direction. It was definitely Lily. Older yes, but there was no mistaking those eyes. What was she doing here? Again.

"Hello? Who's there?" Would she remember him? They'd only met once, years ago.

"It's ok. I won't hurt you." She smiled, although it looked a little strained.

"Odd place for someone to be?" He couldn't help smiling back. It was the first time he'd really smiled in a while.

"I could ask you the same?" She didn't miss a beat.

"I'm a fool who fell into a hole in the ground. You?" The laugh that escaped him caught him off guard. How long had it been since he'd laughed?

"Not me. This just a surprisingly good place to skateboard."

"I'll take your word for it." Her smile faded and her face creased with worry.

"I don't suppose you've seen anyone else around here? I'm sort of looking for a friend." Looking for a friend? Could she mean him?

"Maybe. Who are you looking for?"

"His name is Ryan." Ryan? Disappointment hit him like a hammer blow to the chest. She didn't remember him.

"It's really important. He's in terrible danger and I need to speak to him." One of those visions probably. Well, even if she didn't know him anymore, he could still help as best he could.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know anyone by that name. I'll help you look if you want. I'm Leo by the way." She sighed in relief.

"Thank you. I'm Lily." Yes, he knew.

"So what can you tell me about Ryan? Do you know his last name or where he lives?" She gave his a strange look, before bursting into a fit of hysterical laughter.


Lily tried to shut herself up. She needed Leo's help and wasn't likely to get that if he thought she was crazy. Granted, she was crazy but that wasn't relevant to the situation.

"No. I'm afraid that all I know about him is his first name. I don't know anything else and now I'm trying to find him in a huge city full of millions of people." Oh no, the hysterics were coming back.

"Hey, hey. It's ok. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, you should probably take care of some of those scrapes. This isn't the cleanest place to get an open wound. Where are you staying? I can help you get home, so you can clean up a bit, while we figure out what to do."

Oh no. What was she going to tell him? Well, he'd been surprisingly considerate so far, maybe she should just own her mistake.

"Nowhere."

"What?"

"I hitched a ride here and now I'm penniless in New York City with no place to stay and no one has any idea where I am. I really didn't plan this out well." He was silent for a moment and she realized she probably blew it. She was on her own.

"If you could just get me to the nearest homeless shelter, I'll manage from there."

"Homeless shelter?"

"My options are a bit limited at the moment."

"Are you going to be ok? Not to offend, but you don't seem very street savvy." That was an understatement.

"I don't exactly have much choice. Whether or not I'm used to it, I am homeless now. This is the only chance I'll have and I can't go back until I've spoken to Ryan. I know this must sound crazy, but I swear it's important."


He looked down at her, trying to imagine, how she'd fare in a homeless shelter. She was young, naïve and blind. In the likely case that one of the shelter workers decided to take care of her, she'd absolutely be found out and sent back to wherever she came from and lose her chance to help her friend.

The responsible thing would be to send her home, but a memory of Karai falling stopped him. He knew what it was to live with failing to save someone you cared about. He had to help her. His mind was screaming at him that this was a bad idea, that'd he'd regret it. He would be in so much trouble.

"Why don't you stay with me and my family until you figure things out? We'll all help you." She hesitated and it suddenly occurred to him that if he were another type of person that would be a very dangerous offer for her to accept. And she was well aware of that, but her face became a mask of grim determination.

"Yes. Thank you."


Something clattered to the ground nearby and a pair of strong hands gripped her under her arms, lifting her to her feet. Leo. He led her to an unstable, elevated plank and helped her up. She wobbled on it for a moment, but he caught her as he stepped up behind her.

Clamping onto her waist, he pushed off and suddenly they were moving. Fast, too fast. She was sure that they would crash or fall on one the many turns, but he gracefully navigated without any trouble at all. She was completely dizzy and disoriented by the time they stopped.

"You ok?"

"Y-yeah. That was scary, but exhilarating. And scary."

"Woah! Leo brought home a girl!" A new voice drew her attention away from the most fun and terrifying ride of her life.

"Mikey don't freak out…"

"Freak out! This is awesome! I love knew friends."

"Stop!" Leo and someone else's voice cried out, followed by a series of thuds.

"Oww. What? She looked like she could use a hug." The calm new voice answered him.

"Be that as it may, we don't want to overwhelm her."

"Leo are you out of your shell!?" An angry new voice burst into the conversation.

"Raph, shhh."

"What were you thinking? Were you thinking? And you accuse me of being reckless!"

"Enough! What is going on here?"


Leo cringed as Sensei joined the conversation that was rapidly spiraling out of control.

"Master Splinter, I can explain."

"Good. Begin explaining."

"Well, first she sort of fell through a storm grate into a drainage ditch." His father sighed.

"Donatello. Please clean and bandage her injuries."

"Hai Sensei!"

"Leonardo, I will see you in the dojo." As Donnie led Lily to his lab with an exuberant Mikey following close behind, he made his way to the dojo after his father. They both knew Raph was crouched just outside. Well, he should probably hear this before flying off the handle to go yell at Lily. Splinter tapped his tail, patiently waiting.

"Her name is Lily and she needs our help."

"And she could not be helped without bringing her into our home?"

"Well, she doesn't know where we are really and she doesn't know that we are…different, so I thought…"

"Her blindness did not escape me, however this is not without risk."

"And she is alone, broke and homeless at the moment." That gave his father pause.

"A friend of hers is in trouble and she needs to find him and warn him."

"And this friend cannot help her?"

"She needs help finding him. She doesn't really have a lot to go on."

"And how does she know that this friend needs her help?" Leo took a deep breath, knowing that the next part would be hard to swallow.

"She sort of has visions about people, sometimes in the past, sometimes the present and sometimes the future." His father frowned.

"And you believe this?" He nodded.

"Why?"

"I've met her once before, when we were eight. It was in that same drainage ditch. She'd fallen through and I kept her company while she waited for her family to find her. She had a vision then and it was true." His father's eyes widened in surprise.

"And what was that vision of?"

"Raph finding Spike and hurting his shoulder." He felt some hope as his father was now giving the idea serious consideration.

"And you say that she doesn't know what we are?"

"No. I think she sees out of other people's eyes when it happens."

"Hmm. I see. We can hear her out."


Two people helped her to sit up on a cold metal table. Someone dabbed an abrasion on her palm with stinging alcohol while talking to her in a calm voice.

"I'm Don by the way."

"Is the other person here Donatello?" That's who'd been told to help her.

"Actually, no. My name's Donatello, but I generally go by Don."

"Or Donnie." The other voice added helpfully and Don sighed.

"And I'm Mikey!" She smiled weakly. This was a little overwhelming.

"Nice to meet you. So how are you related to Leo?"

"We're his brothers."

"We're bros!" They responded simultaneously.

"So why don't you look at anyone?"

"Mikey!" Donnie hissed.

"She's obviously blind! Uh, not that that's a bad thing, well I mean for you it probably is…but we're not saying…"

"Oh. I get it. So why doesn't she wear glasses like Murakami-san?" Don just sighed. She smiled at what hopefully was Mikey's direction. He seemed to move around a lot.

"I don't get out much." At that moment Don, who had finished cleaning and bandaging her palms and knees, lifted her arm to get better access to her scraped elbow. She felt her sleeve slide down her wrist and yanked her hand back, but knew it was too late when she heard him gasp.

"Cool bracelets." Maybe, like Mikey, Don wouldn't notice what they really were but she doubted it. After an awkward pause, he just cleaned and covered her elbow through the hole in her sweater and backed off.

"Uh, Mikey, why don't you keep Lily company? I need to talk to Master Splinter."

"How'd you know her name?"

"No reason." Lily buried her face in hands, trying not to cry. Mikey, she assumed, patted her reassuringly on the back. She could hear yelling not too far away and actively avoided deciphering the words.

"Don't be sad. Raph yells about everything and at everyone. It's not personal. You know, unless it is." Mikey was trying to be kind and she wished he'd stop. It was making it even more difficult not to cry. She needed to redirect her thoughts.

"Raph?"

"Yeah, he's our other bro. You know, the one yelling at Leo earlier. That happens a lot. You'll get used to it." She wasn't sure how to react to his assumption that she was going to stay. He didn't seem to understand that the wrist bands meant that she was about to be sent back and that this was probably the last time he'd ever see her.

The others were filing back into the room and she could actually feel the tension. Three voices started talking at once, until

"Yame! We will hear from Lily now." She sighed.

"I suppose everyone knows where I'm from now." There was a murmur of assent accompanied by "nope" from Mikey.

"I realize how that affects my credibility, but I could really use some help. Then I swear I'll go back…" She searched for the word. "…home without a fuss."

"Home?" Raph sounded a little incredulous.

"Well, it will be. I'm never going to be released after this stunt."


Leo wasn't sure what to think anymore. Lily was crazy. Were her visions just part of her madness? But how could she have been so right about Raph? He didn't know. His father patted her hand reassuringly before speaking to her.

"My son tells me that you have prophetic visions." Her jaw fell open in shock and confusion, but she nodded. That's right. She didn't remember telling him about the visions years ago. She wouldn't understand why he knew.

"Are they real?" She looked like she was going to cry again.

"I don't know. They shouldn't be. They can't be. And yet…"

"You are here."

"If there is even the smallest chance that it's true, I have to try." His father nodded. It was an honorable sentiment that Leo suspected was going to cost her dearly.

"Your vision was of some danger to your friend?"

"He's going to die, horribly."

"Have you had this vision more than once?"

"Well not this particular vision, but I've had two others that involved him."

"And what were they of?" One was when we first met years ago as children. It was of him worrying about his brother, before it became a vision about his brother." Leo's brow furrowed. That sounded like their first meeting.

"Then the other was a few weeks ago." She looked very sad.

"He was watching someone fall. Someone very important to him. Her name was Karai." Time felt like it stopped and his head swam while he tried to get a hold of the storm of emotion that her words unleashed. He was the friend that she was looking for! It was him! She remembered him, but she'd called him…oh. He suddenly remembered his hastily given alias. At this point, he realized that everyone but Lily was staring at him. Raph cleared his throat.

"So, Lily, what did you say this friend's name was again?"

"Ryan." They were all looking at him again, waiting for an explanation.

"I forgot that I didn't give her my real name when we first met." Donnie looked confused.

"Why?"

"I thought it was a good measure to keep our family a secret."

"But…"

"I was eight! It seemed like a good idea to an eight-year-old!" Raph smirked.

"So you name yourself after your Space Hero idol?"

"I said I was eight!"


Lily absorbed the words around her. Eight years old? Fake name? Space Heroes? Captain Ryan? Leo was Ryan. Ryan was Leo. How had she missed that? Because it had never occurred to her that he would lie. Why would he? What family secret was he protecting?

She'd just assumed that it was coincidence that he'd been a huge Captain Ryan fan who'd been named Ryan. Her cheeks burned as she felt like a fool. Leo's voice broke through her self-recrimination.

"I'm sorry Lily. I guess I'm the friend that you were looking for." That's right, he was here. She'd found him. Somehow, against all odds, she'd succeeded. She'd tell him, he'd be safe and it would all be worth it. Raph still sounded indignant.

"What does it matter!? She's crazy and Leo's not going to die! End of story!"

"But she knew about Karai…" Mikey whimpered.

"Lily, how accurate are your visions?" Don again. She was getting better at tracking who was who.

"The doctors say it's coincidental."

"How often?"

"I've never known one to be wrong, even on the smallest details, but there've been plenty I could never follow up, on, so I don't know."

"But you've never had a vision that you knew was wrong?" She shook her head.

"No. Never."

"It's mathematically unlikely that such accuracy is coincidence."

"What are you saying Donnie? That you think Leo's gonna die?" Raph sounded angry and a little desperate. Mikey sniffled.

"Well, maybe this will be the first time she's wrong D. I don't want Leo to die." Don sighed.

"Well of course he's not going to die. That's why she's here isn't it?" Lily nodded.

"I can't do anything about past or present visions, but future ones can be altered if I do act on them. They always happen if I leave them alone, but if I intervene, tell people…"

"…then you can prevent it. Change the future." Don finished for her. The one they called Master Splinter or Sensei was speaking again.

"We appreciate the risk you've taken coming here. Please tell us of the vision." She took a breath.

"It's…it's bad."

"I understand. We are prepared."

"Ok, I know some of it will be hard to believe. It doesn't seem like it can be real, but…" She closed her eyes and prepared to relive the nightmare she'd been suppressing.


Splinter felt ill as he heard Lily recite one of his worst nightmares. His sons were strained and sick looking as they listened, particularly Leonardo. And it was no wonder. Somehow, some way this needed to be stopped, prevented.

But it was very real. How else could she describe what was undoubtedly going to be the Kraang invasion? Or Leonardo's hidden ninja weapons and fighting style? Or the Shredder? There were too many details that she could not know.

But other than Leonardo fighting the Shredder alone during the Kraang invasion, whenever it occurred, they had nothing else to go on. No one spoke when she finished her recitation and Splinter locked down his panic.

"Is there any more? Any detail you might have forgotten?" She looked relieved to be taken seriously. A true visionary who'd been told that she was mad all her life.

"No. That's all I saw."

"Have you ever had follow up visions with more information?"

"No. They've always been isolated incidents."

"Could you try?" She seemed momentarily stunned, as if the thought had never occurred to her before.

"I don't know. The visions come upon me suddenly and without warning. I've only ever tried stopping them. Without any success." That meant that she'd never failed at trying to have a vision on purpose.

"Then you could try?" She nodded.

"But I don't really know how."

"There are some mental exercises I could teach you, to focus your mind. If you would be willing to stay and try to learn more information about this vision, we would appreciate it. I am not ungrateful for the warning you have already given, but…"

"It's not enough." For someone who had at first seemed very frail and helpless, her countenance held a great deal of determination.

"Yes. I want to do anything I can to prevent this." He nodded in relief. There was hope that his son could be spared.

"Rest for now. I will begin working with you tomorrow. Leonardo, please take her to the guest room and since she will be our guest for a while, it might be best if she is told about us now, rather than find out on he own later."

Leonardo grimly nodded and helped Lily off the table, leading her to the room that had once been April's and more recently…Miwa's.