Chapter 5

"This is yer stop, kid," Casey announced as he brought his battered, worn pick-up to a stop in front of the police station. He managed (with only minor difficulty), to open his slightly dented driver's side door. A quick jog around the front of the vehicle allowed the vigilante (mask now securely in place) to move into position to open the child's door, "Right this way."

"Seems like chivalry isn't dead at all," she said wryly, sliding out of the car and staring up at the station, "So homey-looking, isn't it?"

"Yup," Casey agreed, eyeing the building.

"Well, thanks for the ride. I think I can take it from here," she said, heading up the steps.

Jones laughed aloud, "You're kiddin'. Right?" he asked, walking up behind her, "How's about you an' I walk in together, huh?"

"Exactly what I was thinking," she grinned, letting him guide her through the door into the lobby.

The officer behind the front desk looked up as they entered and he frowned, "Well, look who's back. Haven't seen you in a while, Kylee."

"I missed you too, James," she said, her cheeky grin having transmogrified into a hard scowl the second he'd spotted her.

"Ol' friends?" Casey asked her quietly.

"You might say that," she shrugged.

"Speaking of old friends," James said, rising from his chair, "I've got a few of your in the back who'll just love to see you."

"Ohh…finally bagged a few Purple Dragons, have you?" she asked with mock-interest.

"'Bout time," Casey said, adjusting the bag on his back so he could reach it, "Here, sir," he said, his voice a tad muffled from the mask he wore. Jones held out a brown paper bag, "This stuff was in her coat."

James's eyes lit up as he took the bag and looked inside, "Finally gotcha before you could sell it. You're busted big-time now, sweetie."

"Joy," she said blandly, "Don't suppose you've got any reward money for this fine gentleman, do you?" she jerked her head in Casey's direction.

"Wait, what?" Casey asked, obviously confused.

"Well, they've wanted me hauled in for a while now," she shrugged, "I figured they'd at least make it worth your while to hand me over to them."

"No thanks," the vigilante shrugged, moving to leave, "Just doin' you a favor, kid."

"And she does appreciate it – I can tell," James said, putting a hand on each of Kylee's shoulders from behind, "She likes you. She came willingly. So thank you, uh, sir…" he said, eyeing the masked man as if seeing him for the first time, "The NYPD will take it from here."

"Go for it, man," Jones responded, waving once as he headed out the door, "Anything to reform the punkers."

"See ya, hockey-man," she said, winking at him before being steered down the hall and out of sight.

Casey simply smiled and left the building, walking out into the bright, New York City morning sun.


"Raph? What are you doing here so early? Wha-what's wrong?" Twenty-five-year-old April O'Neil, hair still wet from her morning shower, swung the door to her apartment open wide, taking the teen turtle's arm, pulling him inside. 'He's been crying…' she thought to herself, noting the streaks of wetness on his cheeks, 'But why? God, what could've happened?'

"Nothin'," he murmured, allowing himself to be brought into her living quarters.

'Of course he doesn't wanna tell me,' she thought, 'That's fine. We can do this his way.' "Here sit down," she gestured at the couch, "Are you hungry?"

"Nah, just…just wanted ta check up on ya…see how you were doin' an' all…"

"Oh, yeah I'm just as good as I was last week when you guys came by," she said, ruffling her own wet hair with one hand and sitting down beside him, "Business is slowly growing, though I wish I could find someone to help me out downstairs sometimes. Not that I don't appreciate everything you guys have done to help me, it's just that it'd be nice to have someone who I could present to the customers, is all." She bit her bottom lip, knowing she was probably talking too much.

It was true though. After the antique shop was destroyed three years ago they'd been so supportive, helping her find a new place. And true to his words the first night they'd met, Donnie had aided her in creating a small business of her own: a tiny tech/research center below her apartment from which she had created a connection with a ring of other up-and-coming businesses, performing technical consultations and making repairs all while continuing to develop new technologies at home. Donnie, of course, operated as a silent partner, and had been quite an inspiration to her, as far as research and development was concerned. All in all, things weren't too bad in her life. But at the moment, her own success was the farthest thing from her mind.

Raph didn't even seem to have heard her, until a moment passed and he spoke up dully, "Didja ask Casey?"

"Casey means well, but he's just a bit too destructive," she said with a smile, "Actually, I…uh…I put in a request to the juvenile detention center," she admitted, her smile faltering just a bit.

Again, no reaction passed over Raphael's face, and his response seemed almost delayed, "Didn't know they leased 'em out. Gonna get one'a those punks on parole or somethin'?"

"Sort of. It's a new reformatory program, and it helps to lessen their sentence," she said, "I asked for a young girl – I figure that'd be the easiest to handle."

Another long pause of awkward silence, "Ever get around ta those self-defense lessons?"

"For three weeks now," she said, "You guy's be proud of me, I think I'm doing well." There was another silence as she stared down at her hands, debating over if she really wanted to press him about why he was really with her and not with his family. Finally she said quietly, "Raphael…are you sure you're okay? You just seem kind of…distracted."

He blinked gloomily, his mind seemingly worlds away. This time there was no response from the amphibian, just silence as he continued to stare forward. Her words had failed to even register within him, his thoughts too focused on the incident in the sewers.

His demeanor tugged at her heartstrings. Even when he was brooding he was never this quiet. Knowing he didn't want to talk, but knowing also that she couldn't just sit there and do nothing, she slid closer to him. Wrapping her arms around his torso, she gently kissed the top of his head, every fiber in her body wanting nothing more than to comfort her surrogate little brother. He was hurting, and she wanted to do anything she could to lessen it.

It might take all day, but she knew he would talk, when he was ready. And she could wait. She had no responsibilities more pressing than this, and so she just sat there, holding him, the only sounds being the morning traffic so far below them.


"Man, this is all my fault!"

"What are you talking about?" Donnie looked up from his lab, where he'd been poking at the Battle Shell's new remote absentmindedly.

Mikey sighed, holding his head in his hands as he sat, partially hunched over on the sofa, "I made Raph come here to tell everyone about his problems. I thought Master Splinter (along with you guys), would be supportive. Now he's run off, maybe for good!"

"Maybe telling sensei first wasn't quite the right choice," Leo said, seated next to Mikey on the couch, polishing one of his katanas, "It may have been better to talk to just us first – get him started on rehabilitation…then, once he'd made progress we could let it all out in the open."

"But it's too late to think about 'what ifs' now," Donnie said, spinning around in his swivel chair to face them, "Mikey – you did the right thing getting him to admit to the problem, you just didn't execute it properly."

"I can't say I blame him for leaving, though," Leo said solemnly, "I can only imagine how humiliating this morning must have been for him…if it were me, I'd want to get out too."

Mikey sniffled a bit, "Ya know, you two are doin' a real good job a' makin' me feel better here. Can't we pretend for a moment that I already know I screwed up horribly and that I feel terrible already?"

Leo and Donnie exchanged guilty looks. "Sorry," Leo said, setting his sword down on the coffee table so he could swing one arm around his brother's shoulders, "We know you were only trying to help him."

"Yeah," Donnie nodded, "Given what an odd night it must have been last night, we probably would have done the same in your position."

"Would it make you feel better if we all went out and looked for him?" Leo offered gently, "Together? Dishonored or not, he is still our brother, after all."

Mikey smiled, blinking away the drops of liquid his body had produced from his eyes, "Yeah, yeah it would…thanks guys…"

Leonardo stood up, resheathing his katana and stretching, "Let's roll."


April kept her office closed that day – there was no dire need to open it, and her attention was best served elsewhere. Over lunch (she'd warmed up left-over frozen pizza) Raph had told her simply that he'd gotten himself into trouble and didn't think he was very welcome at home for the moment. He would say no more on the matter and she didn't push him. She was happy he was talking at all, though he still seemed pretty out of it.

They had spent the entire morning sitting on the couch in tense silence, and after lunch it was where they returned, the most of the tension was gone. Raphael had never rebuffed her attempts to comfort him and she appreciated it, now curled up beside him, with one of his arms around her, massaging her shoulder numbly. She could hear his heart beating beneath the plastron and was glad that the pulse-rate was normal. He was calmer now, she realized with relief. That was a start.


"Hey guys! What're you all doin' out in the middle of the day? Ain't that against the rules or somethin'?"

"Hi Casey. Have you seen Raph at all today?" Leo said curtly. There was no time for pleasantries.

"Nah, but he was here last night," the vigilante responded rather lamely, wishing he could have thought of a better answer than that to give the three brothers of his friend.

Mikey looked discouraged, but Donnie snapped his fingers, "I'm gonna call April," he said, pulling out his Shell Cell, "Even if Raph isn't there, we can let her know to keep an eye out for him."

"What's wrong?" Casey asked, slightly concerned over the unusual amount of attention his friend was getting.

"Well…" Leo glanced over at Mikey warily before continuing, "Raph's run off again. I know it sounds like just-the-usual, but it's more serious this time. He disappointed Master Splinter by his recent behavior and kind of feels like he's been disowned. Which of course isn't true," he added hurriedly, "and we just need to find him before he does something we'll all regret."

"Gimme a minute to get my gear an' I'll help ya," the human offered, turning to retreat into his apartment to retrieve his weapons bag and mask.


The Authors Talk Back!

SulliMike23 - Thanks!

VestqueX - me too! But don't worry, as you can see, April's got it covered!

Chibi1309 - great to see you again! Thanks! Keep reading!