Guys, guys I'm sorry. Life got so weird. I'm pretty much always working and dfhmgm. It's okay though, because I'll make it up to you. This chapter is so fucking long. Ugh. Is it weird that all of a sudden I feel awful for making this 2014 based? Like, I adore all the incarnations, and 2014 makes the least amount of sense origin wise and wasn't the best movie, but I got hooked on it. I don't know, I liked the character work on the turtles, but I'm trying to bring back more of the sassy 2003 April and I might try and bring back elements from the older series' as well, but I couldn't help but adore the new turtles. It's a damn weakness. Whaterr. Thanks for the reviews, all you lovely humans. :'D

April had decided she was going job hunting with Dana. Despite loving her cousin, April had limited funds, and feeding two people and the occasional turtle or four was becoming pricey. She dragged Dana to every help wanted sign she could find, picked up every application she saw, and had made her homeless little companion print out more than enough copies of her resume, which mostly contained high school internships and back up gigs. Oi vey. After what seemed like forever, Dana had about 30 applications in her purse to fill out and bring back, but still had more than half of her resumes left. They'd just missed hiring season in preparation for summer, so most of the hiring signs were in the process of being taken down and many people had simply turned them away, having too many employees to consider. Dana was growing hopeless and dreary, and April could understand. She'd just gotten a new job a few months ago after being laid of from Channel 6 news, and she wasn't exactly thrilled. She'd managed to find a smaller news station, even though Vern had offered to help her try and get her job back. She hadn't wanted to risk his job in the process, so she resorted to building her resume before she even thought about approaching Thompson again. Dana groaned from beside her.

"I'm never getting a job. I'll just have to live on the street and find a good cardboard box for a house. I'm going to die hungry in the streets." God, she could be so dramatic. April shoved her cousin's arm lightly, rolling her eyes.

"No you're not, dumbass. I'm not going to let you go jobless or homeless. You're family and I'll keep helping you until you get on your feet. You'll just have to take me out for expensive meals once you have a paycheck." She smirked when Dana shriveled her nose at her.

"What am I, your future sugar mama?" They laughed, stopping by the curb to wait for the cars passing by. Just then, April's phone went off. Without even glancing at the caller ID, she answered.

"Hello? Mikey! How are you?" April went off into a conversation with the person at the other end of the line and Dana had to think for a minute. Mikey? She'd heard that name. She pondered for a minute before it came to her. Michelangelo! Right, she almost forgot that there were three other turtles, considering she'd only seen one of them. She heard a loud voice on the other end of the line, very teenage sounding. There was something about missing his "baby cakes" and begging her to come visit later, to which April laughed.

"Sorry Mikey, but I still have D-" Dana jumped at the opportunity.

"Wait, wait. Can we please go down? I want to meet the others! I'll be good I promise and I won't tell anyone, and I probably won't even remember how to get there after because I'm terrible with directions. Please, please, please?" Dana begged to her cousin, looking up through her eyelashes, and jutting her lip out. April looked at her, like the 'do I look like I'm your mother?' look, and blocked the receiver with her hand.

"Are you 12? That doesn't work on me. Plus, I don't know if they'll even want me bringing you down there." April had a point, but Dana was determined to win this argument.

"Can you at least ask? This has been the worst day ever and I really think this would make me feel better." She smiled coyly as April considered her suggestion. At this rate, she was going to have to meet them one way or another, Raphael had, although accidentally, made sure of that. April sighed and turned back to the phone.

"Mikey, can you do me a favor? Ask me how Splinter would feel about meeting my little house guest?" Simultaneously, she heard Mikey and Dana 'eep' at the same time in either ear, cringing. Just what she needed, two over excited teens. She heard Mikey practically dump the phone on the table as he ran to Splinter's room and scream out the question, following with a slew of "April promises she won't tell anyone where we are and she's good with secrets because she already knows Raph (duh) and puh-leeeeeease?!" Splinter's answer was too quiet to make out, but when she heard Mikey come racing, very un-ninja like back to the phone, she was pretty sure of the answer.

"Splinter said yes, but he made me promise to do the dishes so I have to start now! I'll see you tonight! Bye, babe!" He hung up without giving her a chance to ask what time, so she just assumed she'd head down by 9. She turned to see Dana, wide-eyed in anticipation.

"He said yes. Let's-" there was no time to finish, since Dana had already tackled April in a death grip of a hug, spewing out "Thank you" repeatedly. The older woman pried the other off.

"What I was trying to say, was let's go home and get some of those applications filled out before we head out. We started out productive; we're not going to stop just because we have plans in a few hours. Understand?" Dana rolled her eyes, lightly hitting April's shoulder before readjusting her bag's strap on her shoulder.

"I'm not 12, y'know." April merely responded by ruffling Dana's hair sending her ponytail into a frizz fest.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Of course it had to be a sewer, Dana thought, it couldn't be just some shady ass house. After getting through half the stack of applications (with more than a little help from April copying down half of the information needed on each), Dana had just enough time to change into something a little better for first impressions, and, as April insisted, some shoes she didn't mind getting wet. Dana was confused at first, it wasn't supposed to rain that night, but as soon as April opened up the manhole after walking a few blocks down to an abandoned alley, Dana went white with realization. April rolled her eyes, descending down the ladder. If Dana wanted to be part of this friendship, she was going to have to get used to getting a little dirty, gross as it was.

"Just follow my lead and you won't get that much on your feet." Dana mumbled something about unsanitary conditions, but began descending after April. Once the manhole was securely closed and the two were on the ground, they began their journey, following the twists and turns that the boys had taught April when she had begun coming down more often. After what seemed like forever to Dana, and by forever she meant 25 minutes, they stopped in front of a wall; Donnie had installed a civilian entrance when he realized the small jump down the pipe for the brothers, was quite a leap for an average sized woman. She punched in the code, pulled down some sort of lever made out of an old pipe, and suddenly the wall began lifting upward. Dana's vision was suddenly flooded with light. There was a large main room with several couches and seats surrounding a large TV and as she entered she noticed a kitchen to her left. A hallway extended down the left after exiting the kitchen, what she presumed were the bedrooms, and several alcove rooms spread in multiple directions from the living area. She decided she would go on a hunt through the different hallways at a later time, but right now, she needed to scope for turtles. It didn't take long, as the first turtle came bounding to the door. He was smaller than Raph, only coming to about 6'2" and built a little more like a surfer. He looked younger than Raph as well, his baby blues the brightest Dana had ever seen, and a light sheen of freckles across his face. As soon as he opened his mouth, Dana was positive this was Michelangelo.

"Hey angelface! I missed you so much and you've been gone for so long! I thought you forgot about me." Dramatic, just as Raphael had described, although Dana thought it was much cuter than the older brother clearly did. Mikey pulled April into a gentle squeeze, said woman giggling as her youngest turtle showered her in affections. After their proper hello, April nudged him in the direction of Dana, who stood, an amused grin on her face.

"Mikey, this is my cousin Dana. Dana, Mikey." Mikey came forward, taking Dana's petite hand gently, looking almost mesmerized at Dana's face.

"… What? Is my nose broken?" Dana was excited, but the intent staring was getting uncomfortable. Mikey slowly broke into a smile, shaking Dana's whole arm in excitement.

"Raph was right, you do look like Rapunzel! And you're so tiny!" Dana's eyes squinted. Are you kidding me?

"Don't you call me princess, too. Unless you like things thrown at your head." Raph was at least 3 of her, but Mikey, Mikey was small enough to challenge. She would win at least one of these battles. Mikey snickered, leading the ladies to the living room and giving a quick little glancing tour to Dana, when Raph stepped out from the bedroom hallway. He grumbled something about replacing his punching bag, until noticing the two women. Dana wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw him smile, just a little bit.

"Hey, Princess, didn't I say I'd tell you when you could come down? Hey, April." Dana proceeded to stick her tongue out at him, to which he snorted ever so quietly.

"Actually, your father, I think, said I could, so ha!" He resorted to walking by and patting her head gently. She was about to continue her bickering, but two more large turtles, a taller, lankier one with glasses, and a slightly shorter one wearing bamboo armor, came out with a giant talking rat. Dana jumped lightly, she'd forgotten their, father?, was a humanoid rat person. She'd have to get used to that. He looked at her, kindly, welcoming her to their home and asking everyone to take a seat for dinner, as Donnie, who Dana assumed was the lanky nerd boy, had already gotten dinner. It was weird, sitting in on a dinner with four turtles and their rat father, while her cousin joined the conversations as if it was the most natural thing. Dana hadn't expected things to feel so normal and look so, well, fascinating. But here she was, slowly joining in on conversations, learning about Mikey's comic books and Donnie's experiments; Leo's new katas and Splinter's favorite Soaps. It was nice; she could get to know them without having to pester, seeing as the last turtle she did that to ended up getting annoyed. Speaking of said turtle, he was rather quiet, mulling over his pizza with his trademark scowl. She'd have to remember to tell him he had resting bitch face, it would be rude to swear in front of everyone she'd just met. Following dinner, Mikey suggested a movie, and they all flocked to the living room. Raph took a corner on the couch, and Dana plopped down next to him while Mikey fetched the "required movie snacks" and Donnie set up the big screen.

"So, I guess I went against the rules. I owe you; next time you come over, I'll let you peek at my bass." Dana smiled as he shifted to look her, raising an eyebrow as he gave her a small smirk.

"So that's what you play, eh? Gotta say, I was expecting something more interesting, like an oboe or some shit." She shoved him and he suppressed a laugh. He never thought she'd be so easy to get along with.

"Just wait, I'll show you how good I am and you'll feel real stupid for comparing it to an oboe." They both laughed quietly and continued talking gently as the menu for whatever ridiculous action movie came up. Dana remembered later, after the movie, to tell him he had resting bitch face, rather than a nice good-bye like she gave the others. He merely responded by casually flipping her off as he closed the door. Yes, Dana thought, this is the start of a marvelous friendship.

Guys, this ending is so lame and precious. I have a list of things to do. They will be done. I can't promise when because I start my second job next week. We'll see each other soon, though.