Andrea frowned, sweat dripping down her face frustrated that she couldn't get her kata right. At least Nikki was struggling as much as she was. She kinda felt bad for Mira who had just started with them that morning. Poor girl was doing another round of push ups after losing her balance. Andrea finished, breathing heavy and bowed.

"Good. Again."

Andrea looked up at Leo distraught. She bit back a grumble and started back across the dojo. Master Splinter sat off to the side supervising but left most of the teaching to Leo. Being steady was never her strong suit. Naturally she liked to be fast and efficient. Nikki, albeit a bit slower that her, was preforming his katas with a greater degree of accuracy. At least she could do the flips with no problem.

Again, she bowed and waited for Leo to give the next instruction.

"Mikey, keep working with Mira."

Mikey gave a mock salute to his brother and showed Mira how to properly kick so she wouldn't keep losing her balance.

Leo then turned his attention to Nikki and Andrea. "Alright you two, we're going to start on some very light sparing."

Andrea was hoping that she'd at get to punch Nikki, but all they did were blocks. Most of which they already knew.

"Check it out, moms are sparing," Andrea snickered nodding her head to the opposite corner where the two women circled each other.

"Andera, pay attention," Leo chastised. "I know you know most of this, but Mira doesn't."

"She's not even training with us yet," she whined gesturing to Mira struggling to keep her balance.

Leo frowned and crossed his arms, "Your blocks are sloppy. Again."

Andrea bit her cheek to keep herself in check and focused on preforming the blocks as Leo called them. She lost sense of time after a while. All she knew was that her muscles ached. She nearly cried for joy with Leo told them training was over.

"Get some rest, you've done good today."

Andrea looked over at her moms who were watching them from the edge of the mat. Jess gave her a thumbs up. Andrea smiled ecstatic that she'd made her mom proud.

Lila moved through her ransacked home with deliberate speed. Anger festered just below the surface of her calm exterior. She handed one bag to Raphael who had accompanied her and went to finish packing the last bag.

Gun shots were never that uncommon. It was probably just a tail pipe anyway. She usually brushed them off without a second thought. They lived in New York city after all. Maybe it was because they were already on edge from the recent attack or maybe it was just one of those times that incited panic with no due cause. Whatever the reason, Lila was tackled to the floor by Raphael trying to protect her from the bullets being fired at them.

Lila looked up at Raph shocked at first till she realized what was happening. "Raphael," she said taking his face in her hand to get him to look at her and not the invisible attacker. "Raphael, it's not real."

The red clad turtle looked around swearing he'd felt bullets wiz past his head. "I-I don't undastan'."

"Are you alright?"

Raph looked down at the woman seeing her worry and feeling her hand softly caressing his face. "Yeah. Sorry," he said sitting up embarrassed by his actions.

Lila gently took him by the chin and forced him to look at her, "Don't be embarrassed. You and your brothers have been through a lot. I'm honestly surprised you and your brothers are as well as you are. Does it happen often?"

Raph avoided her eyes. "No. Just when I'm stressed, I think."

"How long has it been going on for?"

Raphael debated with himself. "I think it started a few years afta everythin' settled down."

Lila cocked her head in thought. "There was nothing to fight, so you thought there must be someone planning to attack?"

It shocked Raph had she managed to put it into words and deduce him so quickly. She was a detective for a reason, he supposed. "Yeah, I guess so. Masta Splinta did a lot of healin' meditation on us growin' up."

Lila set a hand on Raphael's, "It's nothing to be ashamed of. Trauma is valid. Jess has the same problem, too. She's learned to cope with it and move through the episodes."

"Not suprisin'. Watchin' yer mom get shot would screw any kid up."

Lila nodded full heatedly agreeing with that.

"I should thank you for letting us stay at the lair," she said after a while hoping to dispel some of the tension in the room.

Raphael shrugged adjusting the bag on his shoulder, "We've let lots of people stay with us. Plus, yer family."

"Still," Lila smiled, "thank you. Especially for your help today." She set the second duffel in his hand with a teasing grin and picked up the cooler with perishables from the fridge.

He tried to look annoyed, but he the couldn't fight his amused smirk.

I know this chapters a little short, but next chapter is really long so I wanted to post it separate. Thanks for reading!