Metal creaked under Jess's foot as she ran along the top of a shipping crate searching for a specific crate. She could see Raph running along side her a few crates away disappearing between two. She skidded to a stop waiting to see if he found what they were looking for.

"Keep moving," he said through the earpiece. "I 'eard somethin'."

Jess gave a sharp nod, more for her own courage than anything, and kept running. Around her she could see Leo and Mikey; catching glimpses between shadows, but they didn't communicate anything to her meaning the crate still hadn't been found.

She slowed to a stop hearing voices near by and crouched down listening intently. Male voice's but they were too far away for her to understand. "Anyone else hear voices?" she asked quietly pressing the button on the earpiece.

"No. Figure out where they are and try to signal us," Leo ordered in a similar hushed tone.

"On it," Jess said standing.

"Remember, stick to the shadows."

Jess let a breath out searching for a path with the most darkness. Closer to the edge of the pier, a barge continued to unload crates. Hearing the voices again Jess took off jumping the spaces between metal containers with easy followed nearby by Mikey who had spotted her. As the voices grew louder and she was about to make out words she slowed to a walk minding her footsteps so not to alert them.

Approaching the edge, she got to her knees and laid down recognizing Laker's voice just below her.

"That's the crate," Mikey said.

Jess's heart hammered at his sudden voice. Below her Laker and the other man argue.

"We already agreed on a price you piece of shit!"

"Doin' deals with the Dragons has. . .increased in risk. If you're no longer interested, Russo would be."

Laker let out a growl of frustration spamming his fist against the metal wall.

"You'll regret this."

"So, do we have a deal or not, Dragon?"

"Deal. I'll have my men pack it up."

"Pleasure doin' business with ya, Dragon."

The other man's footsteps faded away leaving Laker to curse to himself. Figuring there was nothing else to listen to Jess started planting the bombs. She crawled back along the top of the crate set an explosive every three feet and dropped to the ground holding her breath to see if Laker heard her but he continued to rant on the phone telling someone to get there quick. Jess planted the last bomb and ran a safe distance away and climbed on top of another crate.

"It's ready, Don," she said looking back at the crate.

"Fire works in three. . .two. . .one."

There was a moment when the shipping yard lit up in a bright white turning the night into day

And another moment when it was clear her safe distance away was no longer safe turning her calm anticipation into startling fear.

Jess raised her arms instinctively feeling the blast hit her and her feet leave the ground. It felt like she was in the air for ever. It took her brain a moment to comprehend that that was a bad thing. She turned over seeing a crate fast approaching and sucked in a breath to scream but couldn't get it out.

That air was knocked out of her by a force sending her right and away from any crates.

Jess quickly realized as arms wrapped around her and one hand cradled the base of her head that she needed to brace for impact. They hit the ground hard and rolled to a stop. Jess wheezed trying to get air back in her lungs. She sat up finally about to breathe and wiped the water from her eyes.

Leo cradled her face in his hands searching for any sign of head trauma and then ran his hands down her sides letting out a breath of relief when he felt no broken ribs. "Do you feel any pain?" he asked searching her head again to make sure he didn't miss anything in the dim moon light.

"You saved me," Jess breathed still trying to comprehend what happened.

Leo picked her up and started back towards the van trying to figure out why the blast was so big. It was just supposed to be guns and other weapons. Maybe there was gun powder or explosives. He shook his head leaving it for later and focusing on getting Jess back to the lair safely. "I'll always be there for you," he muttered back feeling Jess rest her head against his shoulder.


"Is she alright?" Mikey asked slamming the van doors shut earning a glare from Donnie.

"I'm fine, Mikey. Just. . .disoriented. I felt the blast, but it didn't feel strong enough to send me flying like that," Jess explained flowing Donnie's finger with her eyes.

"There must've been something else in the crate. The explosion was twice as big as it should've been," Donnie mussed flashing a light in Jess's eyes happy to see them dilate. "You were thrown back by the crate you stood on not the explosion alone. It acted like a springboard, crunching under the pressure of the two in front of it. You're lucky Leo was there."

Jess knew that was true but didn't look at the older brother.

Leo was busy speaking with Chief anyway. She couldn't make out much of the conversation but could tell from Leo's tone that he was upset.

"Relax," Raph said gently nudging her shoulder. "We're headed home."

Jess met his amber eyes for a second but looked away. "I guess you're right." She stood and took a seat by Donnie in the front of the van. Raph watched her go with confusion.


As they entered the lair Leo stopped Jess, taking her by the wrist and pulling her back into the garage. "What's wrong," he asked wishing she would look at him.

"I could've died, Leo," she said quietly still looking at the ground.

"I know. . .but you didn't. You're ok—"

"I don't want to die, Leo!" she snapped meeting his gaze with a familiar ferocity.

His grip wavered but he decided against letting her go just yet. "This should've never happ—"

"You don't get it," she said pulling at his grip. "These missions are dangerous. I don't have a shell. That fall would've killed me. You won't always be there, Leo."

Leo reeled back but didn't let his grip on her loosen. As much as he hated to admit it, she was right. There could be a time he wasn't there for her. "We'll figure something out, Jess."

Anger wasn't all too familiar to Jess. She hated the feeling of raw anger. How it boiled her blood and spilled over as tears. She as annoyed by the dragons. Frustrated by the circumstances of her life. She'd gotten over the anger a long time ago and accepted it. But this was new. At least she had control before.

"There's no 'we', Leo. I don't get to decided when my life is in fucking danger!" She yanked against Leo's grip, but he didn't give instead pulling her closer. "I don't want any part of this, but I don't get a fucking choice!" she seethed waiting for him to lecture her on her duty and honor. But he didn't. He just looked at her. Thinking. "But what do you care. . ."

Leo's brow furrowed further. "You don't know how much I care—"

"I've grown up with people telling me what I should do—what I have to do—all because of who my father is. I've lost count of how many times I've almost been killed because of that! I have Nikki and Andrea to think about. I can't keep doing this!"

"You're wrong," Leo said quietly.

"What?" Jess gasped pulling against his grip knowing it was useless.

"You're wrong. You do have a choice. If you really wanted too, you'd leave town. Nothing's stopping you. So, go!" He dropped her hand startling Jess further. "I know you've been thinking about it. So why are you still here?"

Jess flinched at the growl like tone holding her hand to her chest. It felt like a threat.

"In a way our pasts are similar. We never asked to have that mutagen spilled on us or for our master to be enemies with the Shredder. We didn't ask for aliens to have created that mutagen or for Shredder to be an alien himself. We didn't ask for any of it, Jess, but it happened, and we made the choice to do the right thing. Even when I wasn't sure we'd make it out alive." He stopped, hoping his words were making sense. "I know you didn't ask for this and don't want anything to do with it. But you're here because you want to be."

"So what? I'm a good person?" she sniffed crossing her arms.

"Unfortunately, I think that's the prognosis," he replied mildly.

"Great," Jess huffed turning to leave but was spun back around by Leo who took her wrist again.

"I mean it," he started, "we're going to make these missions safe."

"I would appreciate not almost getting exploded again."

"MOM—!" Andrea skidded to a stop seeing her mother and dad obviously have a moment. A few seconds of silence stretched between the three. "I—um—I need you for something important!" she took Jess's other wrist and pulled her out of the garage.

Jess stumbled behind her daughter trying to keep up. "Andrea, slow down!"

"Mama!" Andrea called ignoring Jess. "How was work?"

Lila looked between her daughter and an out of breath Jess. "It was. . .fine. Is there a reason you're dragging your mother?"

Something seemed to occur to the young blonde, and she took off back towards the garage dragging Leo out and towards the lab.


Leo steadied himself turning to scold Andrea, but his speedy daughter was already gone. He turned to his genius brother, but he was busy at the large screen they typically used for communication.

"Oh good, you're here. I'll have to have Andrea get you more often," Donnie said his eyes still locked on the screen focused on setting up to video link.

"Please don't," Leo huffed approaching his brother still not sure what was going on.

"Karai," Donatello said, "she wants to talk to you. I have the link set up. She should be calling soon."

Leo turned watching his brother leaving the room. "What does she want?" he called after Donnie.

"Didn't ask. She wants to talk to you," Donnie called back already through the door.

Leo waited for the call to connect sitting down in Donatello's computer chair. "Karai," he greeted when her face appeared on screen.

"Leonardo," she replied with a slight smile. "I have a favor to ask of you."

Leo sat forward ever on edge with Karai. Their feud had ended years ago. But Karai wasn't one to just pop by for no reason. "What do you need?"

"I need you to watch Ryu for a few weeks while I'm in Japan. I have some business to tend to that I can't risk him getting involved in."

"What about Chaplain?"

Karai quirked a brow at the brother annoyed that he thought she wouldn't consider that first. "He's deep in the Amazon collect samples for an upcoming project. Please, Leonardo." She paused thinking about her next words. "Years ago, we raided Stockman's lab when he was with Bishop. We confiscated files and data. If there is any information about your children, I'm sure it will be there, I will get you those files. If you watch Ryu for a few weeks while I'm in Japan."

Leo rubbed his jaw thinking. They already had a full house, but it wasn't really an offer he could refuse.

He let out a breath his mind made up. "Fine, he can stay. How soon will he be here?"

"Two days. I figured that would give you time to sort things out."

Leo nodded and ended the call.

Donatello poked his head in after they said goodbye. "Ryu's staying with us? For a couple weeks?"

Leo looked over at his brother. "Yes, we'll figure something out."

"I'm not worried about that."

"Then what's the problem?" Leo asked confused.

"Ryu's just. . .a little confrontational. Like his mother."

Leo sighed remembering well the last time Ryu visited them. "He's older now. I'm sure he's more mature."

Donnie shrugged hoping his brother was right.


"What has gotten into her?" Lila muttered watching the fiasco.

"She's your daughter, you tell me," Jess countered with a grin earning an eye roll from Lila

"I heard about what happened," Lila said in a more somber tone.

"I'm ok."

"I know, but I still wanted to talk to you about it. I was with Chief Vincent monitoring the situation from the police headquarters. When we heard back from Donnie that the explosion was twice as big as it should've been, we tried to figure out where we went wrong."

"Ok, so did you?"

"I found a report that hadn't been filed. Laker had added his own explosives to the order. We're still not sure why the report wasn't filed or who was responsible."

Jess considered the new information for a moment. "The Dragons have cops bought, Lila. If I were you, I'd make sure Chief Vincent was more vigilant on where information's is coming from."

Lila nodded and pulled Jess into a tight hug. "I'm just glad you're ok," she muttered in Jess's dark brown hair. "We're going to make sure this never happens again.

Jess tentatively returned the embrace wishing that everyone would stop making promises they couldn't keep.

"There's another thing that's bothering me," she said pulling away. "Laker was right there by the crate. The blast was huge. . .Laker. . .he—"

"We'll figure this out, Jess. I have to head to the crime scene anyway. I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Lila searched Jess's face desperately trying to figure out what Jess was thinking. Her buzzing phone stopped her from pressing the issue. Chief needed her at the scene. She cursed under her breath and turned to leave. Chief was confident that the Dragons would pull back soon to regroup. Lila was praying she was right. Weeks now of constant crime scenes, planning, paperwork, interrogating, and still they hadn't made much ground.

A part of her hoped Laker was dead.

"Mama!"

Andrea's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Yes?"

"Are you leaving again?"

Lila looked away feeling guilty. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had time to spend with Andrea and Nikki.

Andrea grabbed her mother's hand before saying, "It's ok.

"No, it's not. I should be here with you and Nikki. This is getting out of hand."

"It is a war. I don't think they're orderly."

Lila couldn't help but laugh at that. She reached out brushing Andrea's green cheek with her thumb. "What do you know of war, Andrea?"

It wasn't meant to be a serious question or even one that needed an answer, but Andrea's blue eyes turned serious taking on a darkness Lila wasn't used to seeing. "It's what we were made for. War. Fighting. Weapons."

Lila retracted her hand startled by the coldness in that answer. It took her a moment to regain her composure. "Andrea," Lila said taking her daughter by the shoulders, "I have to go, but it doesn't matter what someone created you for. You can be anything you want to be." Lila let out a sigh knowing that Andrea wasn't listening to her. "I have to go," she repeated.


"Where are ya goin'?" Raph asked stopping Lila in the garage.

"To the explosion, Raph, and then probably the office. I have a job to do."

Raph mood soured worse than it already was. "When was the last time ya slept?"

"Does it matter?" she asked walking around him.

"Ya look like yer 'bout to fall over," he said following after her.

She stopped and turned to face him. "We all have a job to play in this Raph. Mine is coordinating with the NYPD. I'm fine I promise."

He grabbed her hand as she turned to leave. "Fine. But I'm driven ya. Yer too tired."

As much as Lila wanted to argue with him, she didn't have the energy and reluctantly followed. She sat in the passenger seat of the van dozing off and trying to stay away. It felt like a blink and she was jolted awake by Raph putting the van in park. She looked around disoriented by the flashing red and blue lights.

"Ya fell asleep," Raph said turning the vehicle off.

Lila rubbed her eyes. "Thanks for the ride," she muttered opening the door.

"Text me and I'll pick you up," he said as she closed the door and walked away. She gave a wave of acknowledgement adjusting her blazer.

He went to start the van up but paused looking back over at Lila walking towards the taped off area where the explosion happened. Mind made up he got out of the van sneaking through the shadows and passed police guarding the scene looking for Chief Vincent.

Raph found her speaking with a man sitting on a stretcher getting patched up by EMT's. Raph recognized him as the seller meeting Laker. He took a throwing star flashing it till the light caught Vincent's eye.

She walked over trying not to draw too much attention. "Raphael?" she asked peering into the darkness surprised to see him.

"She needs a break. Both of em do," he said nodding his head towards the two detectives surveying evidence.

Vincent followed his gaze watching Lila sway and brace herself on the table. "I can't just let my two detectives go."

"A day. Give'er a day off. What good is she dead on 'er feet."

Vincent admitted that was a good point. "Alright, fine. I'll give her the day off tomorrow."

Raph stopped her before she could go back to the crime scene. "I'm her ride, so don't let her leave on her own."

Vincent nodded, "Noted. Have a good night, Raphael."


Lila hopped in the van planning to curl up in her seat and sleep on the way back to the lair, but her thoughts jumbled at the smell of bacon. Raph handed her a paper bag.

"It ain't McDonalds, but. . .ya know I can't really. . . Anyway, Mikey made it."

Lila smiled opening the bag and pulling out the hot sandwich resting her head on his shoulder with a happy sign. "It's better than McDonalds."

Raph chuckled pulling out of the garage. "Well, you can thank Mikey. He made it."

Lila ate the sandwich quietly still exhausted but feeling better. "Thanks for not letting me drive last night."

"Any time."

"Laker's not dead. There was no body and no blood that we found. He must've gotten away before the blast happened."

"Figure he'd be slippery. So, what does that mean?"

Lila finished off her sandwich thinking over her theories with Freedman. "Means we still have the Dragons as a threat. Hopefully, they back down, but it's hard telling. They're facing a lot of pressure from other gangs. Unfortunately, we just have to wait and see."

Raph pressed a botton opening the sewer grate. "I hate waiting."

"How's Andrea doing in training?"

"Good. Really good actually. Takes after Leo."

Lila smiled relaxing a little. "I know she's been a handful lately."

"She's just a teenager. You think she bad ya shoulda seen me at her age."

"Oh, I can only imagine."

"Nikki's lucky he got his moms temper and not mine."

Lila chuckled sitting forward. "Nikki's a handful in his own right. Him and Andrea have an affinity for getting in trouble."

"Comes with being a mutant I think." He pulled the van into the garage.

"Chief told me you talked her into giving me the day off."

Raph met her green eyes hoping he hadn't overstepped. "I was worried. Ya looked real tired last night," he admitted looking away ready to get out of the quickly shrinking van. His fidgeting paused when he felt her lips against his cheek. He froze feeling his face flush.

"Thank you, Raphael."

"A-Anytime," he stammered following her out of the garage.


School has been kicking my ass and I just haven't had the energy to edit a new chapter and post, but here it is a few days late anyway. One more chapter and book 1 is over. What are you're thoughts, I'm curious to know! Thanks for reading!