Jess rubbed her temples feeling a migraine seeping its way in. It felt like she and Leo had been talking for hours about how to deal with the gang war. They had come up with a few ideas, but nothing solid.

"I can't do this anymore."

"We have to come up with a plan," Leo said just as tired as she was.

"I'm exhausted. I can't—"

Their conversation was cut off when Nikki entered the kitchen. His free of his sling. It'd only been a few days since the injury, but he was healing rapidly which had Donnie running more tests in his lab.

"Mira and Amber are here," he said leaning against the door frame.

Leo nodded, "Ok, we'll take a break."

Jess left the kitchen to find Amber. She found the blonde walking towards the garage. "Amber, wait."

She stopped and waited to Jess to catch up. "What's up?"

"Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I have work. I'm just dropping off Mira."

"Right. I wanted to see if you wanted to get drinks later. I need to unwind."

Amber thought for a moment wondering if that was safe but could tell Jess needed it. "Sure. I get off at 8. Text me where you want to meet."

"I owe you," Jess waved. She found Mira sitting on the couch alone flipping through channels on the TV. "Where's Andrea?"

Mira's gray eyes flickered up with a shrug. "Where do you think?"

Jess let out a huff and headed towards the dojo. Sure enough her daughter was in there. At least this time she was with Mikey. That made her relax a bit, but she was still worried. With Lila gone so much she was left to deal with the front of Andrea's stubbornness and outbursts.

Mikey gave her a slight nod and she left. For now, Andrea was contained.

Jess headed towards her room hoping to get a nap, but Leo stopped her on the stairs. She let out an audible groan knowing that her plans were demolished. "What now?" she whined.

"Chief Vincent wants to meet with us."

"Now? It's the middle of the day."

"No not now. Later tonight around 10. Go and get some sleep. I'll wake you."

Jess didn't want to risk him changing his mind and hurried to the room she and Lila shared. She climbed into her bunk hoping she could actually get rest. But before that could happen, she realized she'd have to cancel with Amber which made her the saddest.

Jess was startled awake by knocking. She hopped down wiping the drool from her mouth and opened the door.

"Is it time to go already?" she asked squinting at the light.

Leo smirked, "No. It's 7 but you'll be up all night. Mikey has dinner ready."

Jess yawned and followed him to the kitchen where everyone was seated and filling their plates. Jess pulled out a chair beside Nikki kissing his cheek as she sat down.

"How are you feeling?" she asked careful to avoid his arm.

"I'm ok. It's just sore now," he replied taking the plate filled for him with his good arm. "Donnie said I can take the sling off permanently next week."

"Really," Jess asked surprised. "Guess you do have some freaky healing abilities." She furrowed her brow trying to think of a time one of them had gotten hurt, but none really came to mind. The closest to a major injury they encountered raising the two was Andrea running into a corner and cutting her forehead. It'd never stood out to her. It took a few days to heal completely leaving only a small scar. Thinking back on it she'd passed it off as kids healing fast, but now it was clear there was more to it.

She realized that whoever created them made them to be strong. Her stomach twisted thinking about what would've happened if they weren't dropped off on their doorstep.

She shoved a fork full of potatoes into her mouth to silence her thoughts. But no amount of potatoes could stop her from noticing that Andrea had bags under her eyes and was pushing her food around.

No matter how many times she tried to get Andrea to talk to her the normally boisterous blonde was tight lipped and defiant. She wouldn't talk to Jess. Wouldn't talk to Leo or Lila either as far as she knew. The only one to come close to getting her to open up was Splinter but even that was slow going.

Nikki was spending most of his time with Levi. Andrea was avoiding him, and Nikki just didn't have the energy to fight her on it yet.

She decided to let her thoughts follow her. Washing the dishes felt therapeutic. Raph took the plates as she handed them to him to dry knowing she was deep in thought.

"What's eatin' ya?"

"Andrea," Jess huffed handing him a handful of forks.

Raphael took them considering his niece. "She'll come around."

"What if she doesn't?"

"If she's anything like Leo—and she is—it'll take a while. But she'll get back to 'er old self."

Jess handed him the last of silverware considering his words. "Leo did this?"

Raph let out a snort remembering their younger years. "Fearless was broken more than once. He acted a lot like Drea is." He gave Jess a reassuring nudge. "We'll figure it out."

Jess nodded but her brow was still furrowed. "Have you heard from Casey?"

"He's been busy with insurance and the cops. He said he was gonna stop by tomorrow night."

"I feel so bad."

"We shoulda seen somethin' like dis comin', Jess. 'Side dere shop has seen worse." It was meant to lighten the mood, but he could tell it backfired.

Jess reached up and shut the water off just as Leo came in telling her it was time to go.

Chief Vincent stood with her back turned to her company trying to gather her thoughts. But with the onslaught of shootings and press down her throat her brain was fried.

"Ok, I want to start off by saying I'm glad no one was hurt." Vincent's eyes scanned the two women focusing on Jess hoping that she took the mutant she was about to introduce well. She took a seat lacing her fingers. "Jess, it's good to see you again. I have to admit you seem pretty hard to kill."

Jess shrugged, "They don't want to kill me. They want to scare me."

The Chief frowned sitting back slightly. "What makes you say that?"

"Laker isn't just going to kill me. He has to do it with the gang present. Most of these shooting are just turf war. Attacking my apartment and my friend April, now that was a scare tactic. He wants me to come to him."

Vincent thought for a moment agreeing with that sentiment. "How well do you know Laker?"

"Not really well. He joined the Dragons around the same time Hun started bringing me in. We ran into each other over the years. He was always trying to get me to go back."

The Chief rubbed her chin in thought, "Do you have any other friends that could be targets?"

Jess was silent for a moment wondering how much she trusted the woman in front of her, "No, we mostly keep to ourselves." Lila nodded in agreement.

"Alright, well, there is someone I'd like to introduce you to," Vincent said standing to open the door.

Jess shared a knowing look with Lila trying to subdue a grin earning a smack from Lila. She heard the door open and stood to meet the new person ready to put her one drama credit to use. She stood in false shock as Leo entered the office room giving her a dubious look.

"You're friends with an alien?" she asked the Chief who returned to her chair amused by the interaction.

"Leonardo isn't and alien, Jessica, he is a mutant."

She looked over her shoulder at the Chief with bewilderment. "A mutant?"

"You're taking this rather well," the older woman mused.

"Alien have invaded New York. . .like three times."

"It was four, actually," Leo corrected.

Jess took her seat. "I see he's a smart ass, too—OW!" Jess glared at Lila rubbing her ribs earning a snicker from Vincent.

"I wanted you to meet Leonardo because he has offered protection." She raised a hand to stop Jess's rebuttal. "It wasn't a question, Jessica. You and Leonardo are going to help the NYPD stop this gang war. Whether you like it or not you need help with this, Jessica."

Jess crossed her arms annoyed that the woman across from her insisted on using her full name. "How are we supposed to do that?"

Chief Vincent pulled out a file with information collected by her informants. "This is a list of hot spots of activity, planned attacks, shipments, and other information. I want you and Leonardo to investigate these and, if at all possible, put a stop to them."

Jess narrowed her eyes looking at the list. "Sounds dangerous."

"It's the least you can do," Vincent countered.

"I never asked for this," Jess sneered sneered.

Chief Vincent smiled, "Oh honey, you don't get a choice." She leaned forward on her desk, "You don't get to choose right now. Innocent people are dying in your name. If I wanted you dead I would've already handed you over to Laker. But I have full faith that Leonardo will keep you safe and that you will help bring peace to this city. You can trust him."

Jess averted her eyes forcibly holding herself to her chair. "Fine," she muttered.

Thanks for reading! I give Jess a 6/10 on acting. What could Laker be up to?