I must apologize for my long absence- Fiddle Camp beckoned! But now I'm back with the second chapter of this story.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed last chapter! You guys ROCK!

And without further ado, here is the next chapter!


Casey rubbed his eyes with a free hand. Driving four hours straight at night with little sleep was not exactly the smartest thing that he had ever done. By all rights, he shouldn't be this tired at all- he had gone for longer periods without sleeping, but the hypnotic sounds of the road were lulling him into a state of half-consciousness that even he would admit to being bad news.

"How you holding up?" Casey glanced over his shoulder. April crawled over the seats and the snoring mutants to kneel next to Casey's seat.

"'m fine." He said wearily. "Wouldn't say no to some coffee, though."

She nodded sympathetically. "There should be a 24-hour diner up the road here. We'll have to get off of the highway, but we need to get gas anyway."

He grunted in agreement. He then looked over at Don, who was fast asleep, forehead mashed against his window.

"He should probably go in the back, then. A bit too much light at a gas station, ya know?"

"Yeah." April said quietly. She paused, looking pityingly at the green-skinned teenager. "Poor thing. I don't think any of them are older then 17. They must be worn out."

Casey snorted. "17? Huh, 'Teenage mutant ninja turtles.' Who woulda' thought…"

April looked out of the window and sighed. Then she frowned. "How much money do you have?" He gave her a look.

"Oh, shut up. I mean, I don't know how we're going to get any food. Unless we find an ATM or something, I'm tapped out."

Casey let out a long sigh. "Great. Well, maybe we could… I dunno, scrounge for change in the parking lot? Maybe you got some change in the front here?" He started rummaging around in the front of the van.

"Watch the road!" April hissed, her face paling and her fingers digging into armrest. "Jesus, you're going to get us all killed!"

Casey popped his head back up and glared at April. "Look, lady, I drive fine. Now just go an' wake the kid up if you're gonna do it, and let me drive!"

April huffed, annoyed and chastised, then turned to wake Donatello. She put her hand on his shoulder and gently started to shake him. "Donatello? Donatel-lo… Hon, you have to wake up, we're going to a gas station and- oh!"

Don had jerked awake and grabbed her wrist, twisting it and throwing her into his lap before April could do more then gasp.

"Jesus Christ…" Casey swore and swerved the car, startled, nearly taking out a road sign. April's lay stock still on Donatello's legs, trying desperately to not panic. He seemed to wake up slowly, blinked a couple of times, then fully awoke when he realized what he had done. He widened his eyes in shock and let go of her wrist.

"Oh God… I'm sorry April… I didn't mean to… It was a reflex, I, uh, oh God…" He was extremely distressed, almost on the verge of tears.

"Donatello! Don! It's okay, I'm not hurt or anything, everything's fine!" She tried to comfort him, but he still was unsettled, and he carefully slipped out from underneath her to disappear in the back of the van without another word.

April looked after him with sad eyes. Casey looked at her, then at the darkened shapes now moving around in the backseat, then back at April. "Jeze…" April didn't say anything.

Several moments passed, and Casey and April could hear the turtles talking quietly in the back of the van.

Some time later, April spoke. "Look, there's the sign for the gas station."

"Great. So what are we gonna' do for money? Ya' think of a plan yet?" Casey said.

"Here." Leonardo suddenly appeared in between the seats. He held out a handful of bills to April. "Will this help?"

April turned around in her seat in shock. "Leonardo, where in heaven's name did you get all this money?"

He looked sheepish. "Well, there's always lots of money left behind at drug busts, and since the dealers don't need it anymore…" He shrugged. "Will that be enough?"

April took the money, and quickly looked through the bills, noting that there were several hundreds mixed in with the dirty fives and tens. "Yes, yes, I think that this will be more then enough. Thank you." Leo nodded, satisfied, then returned to the darkness of the van's cabin.

Casey pulled into the gas station. "Look, th' diner's here too." April peered out of her window.

"That's handy." She peeled a bill from the stack of money from Leonardo and gave it to Casey. "Here, you get the gas and I'll get some food." She turned into the backseat. "Hey, what d' you guys want? Water, sandwiches, coffee…"

Leo's disembodied voice floated out from the back of the van. "Water and sandwiches sounds good right about now. Just get a lot of them. We'll need to save some for when Raph wakes up."

Mikey piped up. "I want pizza!"

April smiled. "I don't think they sell pizza here."

"What godforsaken place have you brought us to!" He quipped, his voice playfully horror-stricken.

She chuckled. "Funny. Be right back."

She left the car, passing Casey, who was already pumping gas outside.

"Hey, lady, I'll meet y' in there, okay?" She rolled her eyes and gave him a half wave as she entered the diner.


10 minutes later, April was sitting in a booth, waiting for her order to come up. Casey strode in the door, surveyed the empty diner, then sauntered toward her booth.

"The van all set?"

"Yep." He sank into the cracked red leather seat across from her with a sigh. "Funny how's after a long drive ya always wanna sit down right away, ya know?"

"Yeah. Oh, here." She nudged a Styrofoam cup toward him. "There's your coffee. I didn't know how you take it, so it's black."

"That's fine." He grabbed the cup and eagerly took a swig. He swallowed painfully and made a face at the coffee. "Ugh. Where'd they get this, the bottom o' someone's boot?"

She sighed. "It's what they had. You can't really expect them to have a fresh brewed pot just for you, can you?"

He shrugged. "That's the way it always worked at home."

She rolled her eyes. "If you haven't noticed, you're not home anymore, Mr. Jones."

"You wound me with your words, lady." He said sarcastically. He took another swig of coffee before speaking again.

"So." He put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "I know who and maybe what they are, but I dunno how you're connected with them. I mean, I wouldn't expect a classy lady like yourself getting' mixed up wit' them."

She glared at him. "Raphael saved my life. I'm simply returning the favor."

"Are y' now?"

"Yes."

"An' there's nothin' in it for you?"

April slowly put down her coffee. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, you're a reporter…" Casey trailed off suggestively.

"And what, does that mean that I'm not trustworthy! That's utterly ridiculous!" She said furiously.

"Can't blame me fer askin.'" He said flippantly, taking another sip of his coffee. April opened her mouth, outraged. Then the diner waitress called out to her.

"Hey, miss. Your order is ready." April closed her mouth with a snap and glared at Casey furiously. "Watch me."

Then she stood up and flounced over to the counter, cursing the day that she had met Casey Jones.


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