1. Introduction

He'd seen plenty of mutants but this one...this one was something else. A giant turtle, but like a perfectly formed mutant turtle, not with any extra arms and legs and random things growing out of places that they shouldn't. He was just...a turtle, but larger, standing on two feet and talking. Casey would have been in awe if the turtle hadn't tried to ruin his beat down party by telling him he was letting his anger get the better of him.

They'd fought and damn Casey didn't think he was going to win against this mutant, but he'd got the upper hand and managed to get away. He'd spent that night nursing his injuries, and there were quite a few. He'd also taken out his old sketchbook to draw and make notes about the new mutant that he'd had a run in with.

The next time Casey saw the mutant turtle, he was storming around, muttering things to himself and Casey followed him, hoping for a rematch but instead was lead to what must be the turtle's home. He found that the turtle he fought was not the only one, there were three others with him. He'd learnt their names, Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo as well as their giant rat Sensei, Splinter and April was friends with all of them.

Raphael had been the one to fight him and the one he had followed back to their home, it was good to put a name to the face that had beaten his.

With just his luck, Casey had been followed into the sewers by things he assumed were known by the turtles and were apparently going to bring others if their location got out, so he and Raphael had chased after the one that had got out of the lair and together they had taken the intruder down.

Who Casey first thought was his enemy, now turned out to be an ally and someone who he'd consider his best friend and eventually...even more than that.

The kid's getup would have made him laugh if he wasn't so pissed. Hockey sticks, bats and other 'weapons' were piled onto his back, tattered clothing and a mask as well as face paint? This boy was crazy and was out looking for trouble with a temper almost as bad as his own and Raph knew that he had to stop him before he got himself or others hurt.

They'd ended up beating the shell out of each other and Raph had to admit that the kid was good, so good he'd almost taken Raph down and then later had followed him back to the lair without the red banded turtle noticing. Another human who knew about their existence, but he was a friends of April's and she trusted him not to tell about her unusual friends. But he'd also led some of their enemies to their lair and almost had their home location broadcast. Together he and the new guy, Casey, had managed to stop and take him down together. They worked quite well together and Raph was happy to have another spirit like his own to fight alongside.

Casey Jones was Raphael's best and closest friend, but if you ever asked him if he thought he and Casey would be anything more than just best friends, he would have given you the wrong answer.

Karai was beautiful, Leo thought that the second that he saw her, and she'd looked at him with interest and curiosity, not the horror or fear that most humans showed before running away screaming even after they had saved their lives. He'd always teased his brother for his crush on April from the second that he saw her, but now he could kind of understand where he was coming from.

Of course he knew she was the enemy and later would find out she was the Shredder's daughter but that didn't diminish his feelings for her, it only made him want to help her, to bring her over to their side and away from the Shredder's grasp, but that was much harder to do than Leo first thought.

Leo never gave up on Karai, he helped her escape the Shredder's evil hold and helped her understand the truth about her past and that his father, Master Splinter...Hamato Yoshi, was also her father. Of course that had messed with Leo slightly, yes there weren't related by blood, but Karai was still his sister and he still had deep feelings for her.

He and Karai had been through so much together, Leo couldn't see himself living in a world without her, but he didn't think Karai felt the same way.

Karai would be lying if she said that she hadn't thought Leo was cute from the very beginning, of course he was a mutant and a turtle, but he was interesting, he had an innocence about him that Karai liked, that part of her wanted to change, to tempt over to her side, but she couldn't, he was devoted to his clan, to his family and Karai respected that, after all she'd been loyal to her father after everything that he had done.

Things changed between them over time, the two becoming closer after she finally believed Leo about her true parentage and that the Shredder had been lying to her all her life. Of course things from that point on in her life were rocky, Shredder had held her prisoner and then used her as bait to lure the turtles out which had led to her mutation.

She'd almost lost her humanity, but Leo wouldn't let that happen, wouldn't give until she was happy, healthy and safe. Leo would do anything for her, she knew that, she also knew that the leader of the turtle clan was in love with her, but she's spent her whole life using emotions are a manipulative tool and didn't want to do that with Leo. All she needed to do was keep him close but avoid getting any closer.

April was one of the first real life humans Donnie had ever seen and she was definitely the most beautiful, one look in her direction had caused his brain to stop working and his heart to almost beat out of his chest. His emotions had been spoken out loud and his brothers had teased him and he hadn't cared until he jumped down to rescue the girl when she was in peril...and she'd screamed at him, frightened by his appearance. Donnie knew his appearance must be a shock to a human...but it still hurt and took a deep dig at his ego.

He'd done everything that he could to rescue his crush from the clutches of their kidnappers and April O'Neil had become a close friend and ally of Donnie and his brothers. Donnie's feelings for April never wavered and sometimes he went too far with his affections and April would get uncomfortable, so he would back off, only to go back to going over the top.

When Casey came into their lives and showed interest in April, Donnie saw red, there was no hiding his jealousy, even more so when Donnie and Casey got to know each other and were fighting for April's affections. But then, a truth about Casey came out and he was no longer a rival for April's love, the only thing now for Donnie to do was tone down his behaviour and to show April he was serious about his feelings for her.

April regretted the way she had reacted to Donnie the first time that she'd seen him. She'd always been one of those people to never judge a book by it's cover and got to know people before making any assumptions about them, but this apparently hadn't applied to Donnie, but in her defence he was a giant mutant turtle and he had shocked her. She knew he was only trying to help her but she was panicking too much to care about much else.

Freaking out had probably caused her to get kidnapped, instead of being saved by the mutant, but Donnie had tracked her down and rescued her and they had become friends, she also became friends with his three brothers and their mutant rat sensei and father. Over time they had not just become her friends, but her family.

When Casey came into their lives, he had become a kindred spirit for Raphael but an arch rival for Donnie, the two constantly fighting over April and she hated it. She liked both of them but their over the top affections were getting on her nerves and she even gave in a few times to Casey and went on a few dates with him. One of these dates led to a not so surprising truth that Casey confessed to and now, when she thought Donnie would be all over her...he wasn't...and April was almost missing all of the affection and attention. Maybe it was her time to give Donnie her time, attention and affection.