April had just finished re-wrapping her arms when she heard the knock at the door. She peered through the peephole and saw two, blurry, orange and purple hoodies.
"Guys!"
"April!" Mikey hugged her. "How are you? How are your arms?"
"You won't have long to wait before the first synthetic alchemical armor enters beta! Ha-ha!" Donnie followed, eyes agleam with a touch of madness.
"Wha-?" She shook her head. "Okay. Arms are fine! Scabbing like a mother, but I re-wrapped them all by myself!" She shut the door and grinned. "What brings you by?"
"Oh, we were checking on your upstairs neighbor," Mikey waved off. "Were you the one who told him about coffee?"
"Hey, if you want to rehabilitate a grumpy scientist, coffee is the fastest path to success."
"I concur," Donnie said, rapidly typing some notes on his phone. Putting it away, he spied a family photo from the living room nightstand and picked it up. "Say, when do we get to meet your begetters?"
"Very funny, Donnie." She swiped the photo from his hands and set it back down.
"Hey, I have a reputation that I must live up to."
"Aren't they supposed to be coming back today?" Mikey asked, looking around.
"Oh, they are, but it's still pretty early. D'you guys wanna grab breakfast? We can head over to Run of the Mill and-"
A key jiggled in the door.
Everyone froze.
As if slowed by time dilation, the lock started to turn.
"I thought you said-"
"Hide!" April backpedaled them into her bedroom. Mayhem woke up with a startled yowl as they tumbled in. She slammed the door behind them and pressed her back up against it just as her parents entered.
"We made it back, April!" her mother sang. Robyn was clearly going to swoop in for another one of her hugs but was thankfully prevented by the overnight and take-out bags she needed to set down. "How are you? Do you want some breakfast bagels?"
"Oh, uh, fine! Yes."
Her father frowned. "What happened to your arms?"
April looked down at her bandages. Shoot! She didn't have her jacket on! "Oh, this?" she laughed. "Uh, Mikey tried to teach me how to skateboard over the weekend."
Behind her came a muffled "I did?" She kicked the door.
"I had a pretty epic wipe-out." She smiled nervously.
Augie adjusted his glasses. "Let me take a look at them."
"Aw, Dad, I just re-wrapped them!"
"Did you reapply any anti-septic or just wash them in soap and water? When's your next tetanus shot due?"
Robyn playfully swatted him. "Augie, she knows all this, leave her be!" She flashed April an encouraging look. I'm on your side.
…Which was weird and awkward and something April didn't have the time to deal with.
Something thumped from the bedroom.
"What was that?" Augie said.
"What was what?" April asked, sweating. She banged her fist on the door, then did it again as if to a musical beat. "You mean me just knocking… on my own door?"
"Augie, hon, if you're that serious about the bandages why don't you grab some antiseptic from the store?" Robyn chuckled. "Wasn't your medical bag running low on some?"
He narrowed his eyes, but whatever unspoken conversation passed between her parents went over April's head. She just hoped they would leave, just for a moment, see him to the lobby, Mom…
"Alright," he said suspiciously. "I'll be back in a few." He slowly headed out, pausing to look back at her once more. "You know you can call us anytime, right?"
April tried not to cringe. It was horribly true. Her dad, at least, always answered the phone. It led to too many conversations happening while he was on the toilet, which is why it was always safer to just text him. "I know," she said quickly. "But this is really no big deal."
"Augie, please."
He straightened his glasses in a I know I'm being played fashion, and then shut the door.
Robyn breathed a sigh of relief. She turned that same encouraging smile back to April. "Now, who are we sneaking out?"
"What? What makes you think there's anyone who needs to be snuck out? Of? Snucked out of?"
Her mom laughed. "Oh, April, when I was your age I let a guy stay overnight, too. My mom helped me sneak him out before ripping me a new one so you also get one freebie. Now, let's move before your father sees."
"WHAT? But there's nothing to see! No one's here!" She pressed back further, trying to melt into the door itself. "It's just Mayhem in there!"
"April…" There was the Mom Voice. All the cozy-cozy I'm-here-for-you stuff was just getting awkward. This was familiar. This was the take-no-shit mother she knew.
"Mom, can't I have a little privacy?"
Robyn walked up to her and crossed her arms. They stared each other down, daring the other to break first.
Her mother tossed up her hands. "Fine. I guess I'll conveniently need to go to the bathroom."
April sagged against the door as she turned away… and in that moment Robyn spun and yanked on the handle.
"No!"
Both ladies rushed inside and stopped. Mayhem sat on her bedspread, tail wagging casually. All the windows were closed and locked. Nothing else stirred. The yellow creature chirped at them.
"See?" April exhaled. "Like I said: just Mayhem."
Her mother narrowed her eyes. "Then what was with all the secrecy and thumps?"
"I uh…" she glanced at her pet. "Fed Mayhem some catnip, but wasn't sure how he'd react. He got pretty wound up right as you arrived… I didn't want him escaping and tearing up the furniture."
Mayhem looked unimpressed.
Her mom still seemed doubtful and took another step farther into the room. "Don't you trust me?" April blurted out.
That did the trick. Robyn froze for a moment, then finally forced a laugh. "Of course I do. I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm a little shook up from the last two days and just want to look out for you."
"I know you do," April said, relieved they were on more honest ground. "And I appreciate it."
Her mother smiled for real this time. She reached over and ruffled her hair. "Well, with that behind us, what else have I missed? You tried out skateboarding?"
"Yeah," April said quickly. They walked out of the room towards the bagels in the kitchen. "But let's not talk about that. We dissected a frog on Friday!"
"Ooh, that must have been fun!" Her mom opened the fridge and pulled out some cream cheese.
"Yeah." April reached around her for some juice. "Three kids got sick from the formaldehyde and Erin Jackson fainted. Sunita and I were fine, though, and Ms. Talley said we were the most indomitable team there!"
"What a compliment!" Robyn searched for some plates. "Did Lizard Boy gift one of the frogs to his girlfriend – what was her name?"
"Haley. And no, not that I paid attention to, anyway. I don't really hang out with them." April shuddered.
Robyn nodded as she started spreading the cream cheese on their bagels. "Understandable. Out of curiosity, do you know an Othello von Ryan at your school?"
April choked on a sip of juice. Surely, she hadn't heard that right. No one knew that name, at least, no one who wasn't involved in… that whole situation. Donnie, what did you do? She glanced back at her bedroom.
"Why do you ask?" she said casually.
Robyn paused, and something in her shoulders tensed, like she knew they were back in the secretive awkwardness they had just escaped. She shrugged, but her eyes still looked troubled. "Bossman and I were just talking; he said he knew someone who went there."
Their boss? How? Where did he get that name? Or was it a coincidence, was there someone actually named Othello in another grade?
Don't be ridiculous, April told herself. No one names their kid something that pretentious, only green-skinned theater nerds come up with a moniker like that.
She still hadn't answered the question, though. She felt torn in two, with alarm bells ringing from both sides. Where was this going, why didn't she like where this was going? What was the safest way to answer this?
"No. I don't know anyone with that name."
Her mom faltered in spreading the cream cheese. "Okay." She handed April her plate but couldn't quite meet her eyes. The fake smile was back and her nonchalant shrug was anything but. "It was a shot in the dark, no big deal."
April kept quiet.
High-Key am Mikey
Mayhem poofed us to the street! Catch up
some other time?
Big Sis
Yeah. And tell Donnie to text me later.
High-Key am Mikey
You got it!
"Okay," Mikey said, putting away his phone as the Turtle Tank rolled into the lair. "We're going to have to be vewy quiet. That means no firecrackers, train whistles, or foghorns!"
"We don't have any of those," Donnie pointed out.
"So, this should be a walk in the park." The back hatch of the tank opened and Mikey slipped out. He rolled around ninja-style behind a spare tire, then slithered across the floor to some shelves. Popping up and looking around suspiciously for any signs of gray fur, he zigged and zagged out of the garage and into the lair.
Donnie walked after him in a straight line.
"Why are you sneaking arou-, Michelangelo, was this a sneak visit?"
"Shh!" he hushed. "No! We just don't want to wake up-"
Click.
"Hello, boys."
"Dad!" Mikey greeted exuberantly. "We were just talking about you! How ya been?"
"Unchanged," Splinter dead-panned.
"Really? You're up earlier than per usual," Donnie slid in.
"I had to go to the bathroom. Imagine my surprise when I see a trail of Orange's laundry leading to an empty garage." He narrowed his eyes. "Where did you boys go?"
"Oh, we visited April!" Mikey laughed. Not a lie. They totally did. "Wanted to make sure she was doing well and all. She is, by the way!"
"I see." Splinter was still giving them the side-eye. "And you didn't happen to visit anyone else in that complex?"
Mikey chuckled again and hoped Dad couldn't see the sweat beading on his forehead. That was a pretty direct question. Could he get away with mentioning Mayhem or would that just make things worse? It wasn't like him to inquire about their whereabouts this intensely unless he already knew something was up. Mikey hoped that wasn't the case. "Oh, Dad, why do you ask?"
Splinter pointed. "You have your dinosaur costume tucked under your arm."
Oh. He totally did.
"Donnie supervised!"
"I did what?"
"You did visit Baron Draxum!" Splinter yelled. "After I explicitly told you not to! Do my words go in one ear and out the other?"
"Ow!"
"Ow, why me?"
"It wasn't for very long," Mikey protested, rubbing his head where Splinter had chopped him. "And I didn't go alone. Just made sure he was up and at 'em; provide a little company, make some coffee-"
"Coffee? You're making coffee for that, that-" Splinter furiously shook his finger at them as words failed to describe what he thought of the Yokai.
"If I may, the visit was mostly benign, and very enlightening, actually-"
"I don't care what it was! You went behind my back to aide an enemy! You are both grounded!"
"What?!" Mikey gasped. "For how long?"
"Until you learn your lesson: why we do not give second chances to evil madmen!" Splinter held out his hand. "And give me your cell phones. I do not want you contacting him another way!"
"Draxum doesn't even have a phone!" Mikey wailed, handing his over, regardless. Donnie's had to be plucked out of his numb fingers; the purple turtle seemed to be glitching out for a moment as he processed the sudden loss.
"No arguing! Now go to your rooms!"
"Ahh!"
The cry emerged from Raph's bedroom, bringing everyone up short. The boys glanced at their father, unsure what to do. Mikey wanted to run in and hug Raph, but he was also supposed to be going to his room, and he didn't know which move would make everyone happy.
Splinter was not unaffected, though. His head turned sharply at the sound and his features softened from infuriated rage to concern. He looked back at them and his tone eased.
"I will go check on Red. But don't think you are getting let off easy. I will decide your parole!"
"Fine…"
"Okay…"
Mikey trailed dejectedly after Donnie up the lair. With such a reception it was going to take longer to convince Dad that Draxum could be good than he expected. Donnie seemed to handle him okay, for today, which was a good sign. He really wanted to talk with Raph about the visit, but…
He stopped before entering his room, turning back to see Splinter still watching him. The rat pointed two fingers at his eyes, then back at Mikey. Then, with a stout nod, he moved and disappeared into Raph's room.
… but that could wait. Dad had to take care of a different conversation with his older brother.