Evangeline gave into the deep yawn that over came her as she pulled on a comfortable pair of pajamas. Before the turtles, honestly she wouldn't have bothered with clothes, but now, obviously walking around in the nude wouldn't be wise. Switching on some lights for a couple reptiles she kept in her room, the young woman opened the door to the main apartment.
"Morning, how are you-"
CRACK
Eva's entire body froze. Slowly her eyes fearfully looked down. Under her foot was a large piece of what appeared to be a shell scute, a massive one. Now that she had noticed, as Eva looked about, they were everywhere. It looked like someone had thrown a party and used them as confetti.
"Leo.." Evangeline said, approaching the couch where she had left the turtle the night prior, "Leo, did you shed last night?"
"Nnnn…." came a groaned reply from the couch as a young, very much human, man sat up.
Loud breaks screeched as Eva's brain came to a skidding halt. The person that currently occupied her sofa most definitely was not the mutant turtle she'd left there last night. This drowsy male had fair skin, and straight, dark brown hair that fell past his shoulders.
Instinct finally startled the young woman's frozen body into the action. In one fluid motion Eva's foot kicked the back of the couch, so the female could scoop the nine millimeter pistol that came sliding out.
The distinctive 'click' of a gun was enough to startle the young man to his senses. Starring down the barrel of the pistol sent his heart into a frenzy of panic. What was going on?
"Eva, its me!" he exclaimed, his hands held up, "What are you doing?"
"Leo?" Evangeline muttered in disbelief. She would have been suspicious, however, the blue eyes that gazed in a jumble of confusion up at her could only belong to one person.
"Of course. Why are you pointing a gun at me-" the male started to demand, that is until he noticed his hands, "What the hell?"
"Yea, that's what I thought..." Eva thought out loud, carefully placing the pistol on the side table.
"I-I'm human?" Leonardo questioned as his hands cupped the alien face and ran through the newly grown brown hair. Evangeline was in just as much awe, unable to look away. This was, in fact, Leonardo, but seeing the once mutant turtle so, well, human, it was awe striking. Unfortunately, curiosity killed the cat as her eyes traced further down.
"Very much" she commented, quickly averting her eyes, "I think we should call Donnie, and maybe April too. You're going to need some clothes"
Hastily, the young woman grabbed for her phone and wandered off for a few moments seeking a distraction. It took a few moments for Leonardo to realize why she had become so flustered. One look down was enough to make the former turtle turn beet red.
"April, and Don are on their way, in the meantime, might wanna cover up" Evangeline stated, tossing a blanket to him.
"Thanks.."
"How did this happen?" she asked, placing the gun back in its hiding spot.
"Donnie was working on something in his lab and it exploded on me" Leo replied, never taking his eyes off her, "Since when do you own a gun?"
"There's a lot you don't know about me Leo, but that's beside the point. Why didn't you stay home? Especially since you never know what Don could be working on"
"Considering what happened yesterday, I didn't want to leave you alone for too long" he replied, reaching out to gently grasp her wrist. Eva visibly relaxed a bit, allowing herself to take a seat beside him.
"I would have been fine. I'm pretty sure Donnie's going to have a cow when he sees you" she chuckled, gazing at him curiously. It was odd hearing Leonardo's voice come from a handsome young man rather than a giant mutant turtle. How long would she have to get use to this?
"More than likely. It'll definitely be a shock" Leo chuckled lightly. A knocking on the monitor perked their attention, leading Eva to go answer it. Patiently, the eldest waited, fidgeting with his cover, starring at the five fingers that now adorned his hands. Would this be temporary? Perhaps if it wasn't, this would be better.
"Leo?!" April's suddenly appearance almost startled the ninja from his deep thoughts.
"Hey April.."
"What on earth happened to you? You're...human" the older woman gasped in astonishment, setting the bag she was carrying down.
"Yeah, this'll teach me to poke around in Donnie's lab"
"It certainly will, but even I didn't see this outcome"
"Speak of the devil" Eva mumbled, watching Donatello, Mikey, and Raphael step into the room.
"W-Woah, Leo? What the hell happened to you bro?" Michelangelo practically shrieked.
"Yeah, you're lookin' a little...pink" Raph commented, crossing his arms with an amused smirk spreading on his lips.
"Complete genetic transformation. And fast acting at that" Donnie stated, picking up Leonardo's arm, examining each finger in detail.
"Full? Like, everything?" Mikey asked curiously. Leo instantly clutched his only defense.
"Admittedly, for once I agree with Mikey. Everything?" Raphael grinned, taking several steps forward.
"Alright you two! I'm trying to conduct an examination!" the purple masked turtle protesting in his feeble efforts to wave them off. Evangeline took this as a cue to step out of the room, descending down to the shop to busy herself.
"So? Everything?" April asked, leaning on the counter, grinning mischievously. Eva's cheeks brightened almost instantly. It wasn't as if she'd never seen a man naked before, yet something about seeing Leonardo so, exposed, made the young woman lose all sense of control over her body.
"Yes" Eva stated with a quick clear of her throat, continuing what she was doing.
"So you did see!" the red head teased.
"Kind of hard not to when he was stark naked" Eva stated, crossing her arms. Hopefully the crimson on her cheeks wasn't too visible.
"True, but you're so red! It's adorable!"
"Shut up"
April gave a light hearted laugh, finding it nice to see Evangeline flustered. Normally she was distant or kept her thoughts secret. It was nice to know that little by little, she was letting herself relax.
"I did bring some clothes thought I'm not sure how well they'll fit since Casey is a bit shorter"
"That's fine. We'll find him something later, depending on how long he'll be like this" Evangeline said as nearly a mutter.
"Hopefully it won't be long, considering they aren't necessarily in the clear yet"
"I agree" Evangeline mumbled, taking to the stairs again to check in on the boys and to make sure the room was in one piece.
"Any news for me Donnie-" the young woman began to ask, however found herself frozen in place within the doorway. Once again her cheeks flared at the sight of the nude male that now stood tall in the middle of her living room.
"Oh my" she heard April say behind her, "You were definitely right. Everything."
"E-Eva!" Leo gasped, snatching the once discarded blanket to cover himself again. Pulling herself together, the flustered female sucked in a breath before continuing her steps into the apartment. Keep it together.
"So, how is it looking"
"Everything is fine. There isn't evidence of the solution causing anything other than the obvious" Donatello stated, leaning back in the recliner he'd chosen to rest in.
"So then, how long is he going to stay like this?"
"That's the problem. I don't know. He didn't receive a large dose, but even I'm not aware of how long it will take for this to wear off or any lasting effects it may leave" the genius brother replied, taking in a deep, frustrated breath.
"Well, that's not very reassuring" April mumbled, leaving on the doorway.
"Then what now?" Mikey asked, skeptically while snacking on some chips.
"For now, if Eva doesn't mind, I'll stay here. I'll only slow you down right now. Go to the burn sight tonight and search for our weapons, just be careful" Leonardo stated, his normal, authoritative tone returning instantly. Eva watched the other three males nod in agreement, and gave into the smallest smile. She was glad to see this change hadn't shaken him much.
"I'm going to head out too. I need to make sure Casey hasn't burned down the shop" April said, patting the younger woman's shoulder, "Try not to have too much fun"
"Evangeline felt her cheeks heat again. Thankfully everyone else was too busy chattering to notice. This was going to be an interesting experience.
"Sir, are we sure this is a good idea? After the fire, 90% of our research data was wiped. Live experiments could have catastrophic failures" One of the female researcher questioned, adjusting the tablet in her palms.
The man seated in the computer chair spun in circles over and over again. Fingertips gently tapped away on the arms, his thinly rimmed glasses reflecting the bright lights above them.
"My dear, then we do as mankind has always done. Learn from our mistakes. Fortunately for us, this is New York City. There are hundreds of marvelous candidates just waiting to help us further our research. It will take time, but then again isn't that all we have?" he chuckled, almost to himself, "Tell the rest of floor six to continue testing. Floor three through five are already rebuilding their formulas to send into six. Of course floor two is focusing on why the compatibility is failing, so with all this our goal should be within reach"
"I'll be sure to relay the message. Is there anything else you would like me to include?" the researcher asked, tapping on the screen's keyboard.
"No, for now that will be all. I plan on doing some fieldwork soon enough. I want to investigate a few things portraying to our newest incident with the escaped subjects" the male replied. Gradually his chair came to a stop in front of the projected screen on his flat, mirrored desk.
"Are we sure they escaped? The security cameras were severely fragmented through the whole event" his colleague pointed out.
"I'm quite positive. I've done my fair share of scouring on any of the footage I could scrape together and let me tell you, it was certainly more than enough proof. Hopefully our new installments will be capable of assisting with this new venture" he replied, continuing his original action of spinning in his chair.
"New? Have you found something that may help with the DNA rejection?"
"Possibly, but only some further investigation will tell. If this succeeds, our failures will not be in vein" her boss concurred, looking out the large, clear window, the view of the city as immaculate as ever.
