Disclaimer: Yep. You're right. It's the same as the two previous ones. Good Job!

Ch.4 – Return

"Are you sure about this?" Michele asked Brianna as they walked the streets of New York early in the morning. They had just arrived from Paris. Afraid that if anyone knew she was coming back that they'd find her, Brianna had opted to take the bus from the airport to the city. Instead of having April pick them up. She'd go straight to the turtles if it weren't for the fact that she didn't know where their new lair is. April did and that was exactly why they were going there first.

"Yes. I told you, these friends of mine can help us," Brianna reassured her. Michele gave her a look that said "whatever you say". They walked the rest of the way in silence. At last they reached April's apartment and knocked on the door.

In a few moments the door opened to reveal April already dressed. Her eyes went wide and she smiled as she gave Brianna a hug when she saw who was at her doorstep.

"Brianna! What are you doing here? I didn't know you were back already. Oh, is this your cousin?" April asked referring to the other girl on her doorstep.

"Yes, this is Michele. Michele, this is April," Brianna said as she introduced the two women.

"Hello," Michele greeted.

"Listen, uh. Could we come in to talk before someone sees us?" Brianna asked while she nervously glanced around to see if anyone was watching them.

"Oh, certainly. Come right in," April said as she moved to let the two girls in, shutting the door behind her.

Ow. Gosh. My head feels like a ton of bricks landed on it. Kelly thought as she started to wake up. When she finally did, she realized that she was not in a hospital. She was lying on an old mattress on the floor. There were a few tables with medical instruments on it. A couple more mattresses were stacked up at the other end. The room looked like it was used as some kind of infirmary. Putting the pieces together, Kelly realized that her plan had been a success. It worked! It really worked! Now to get the proof that I need.

"Oh, you're awake. How do you a feel?" A large human-sized turtle with a purple mask over his eyes asked Kelly. Those creatures are for real? No way! It's gotta be like a costume or something!

"You needn't to be frightened miss. I won't harm you. I just want to make sure that your injuries are healing nicely, especially the ones on your head," Donnie assured her.

"Oh, well, umm, my head hurts. But could I ask you a question?"

"Sure, I guess," Donnie worriedly said.

"Why do you insist on wearing that costume?" Instead of telling her that it wasn't a costume, Donnie started laughing. So that's why she didn't scream when she first saw me. She thinks I'm just a regular guy in a costume. Boy, won't she be surprised? Kelly, puzzled by his reaction, just stared at him. Finally, after a few minutes, Donnie got control of himself and replied, "This is no costume,"

"What do you mean?" She asked him. How can it not be a costume? Turtles are not that big. And they can NOT talk!

"I'm what you would call a mutant turtle," He explained.

"Mutant turtles? I thought mutants didn't exist," And they don't. Do they? Is this really happening? Or did I hit my head harder than I thought and I'm just dreaming all of this?

"Well, you thought wrong. My story begins..." Donnie said as he started to tell her the story of how he, his brothers, and his sensei came to be.

"Please! Stop! I don't know anything! I'm not who you think I am!" A beaten-up woman lying in a cage yelled out to the men outside the cage. The men were all dressed in military attire and had whips to beat the woman in the cage with. The woman closely resembled Brianna, the woman that Leo is in love with. From what Leo could tell these men thought she knew something when she really didn't. The woman cried out a few more times, prompting them to start beating her again.

"Nooo!" Leo called out as he tried to run towards who he thought was Brianna. He hit the ground with a thud right when the security guards grabbed him. Startled when he landed on the floor, he opened his eyes to see that he was in his room. He had only dreamed the horrific scene with Brianna. At least he thought it was Brianna. That dream felt so real. It was like it was actually happening, but its not. Brianna's safe and sound in Paris with her Aunt and cousin. Isn't she? I better give her a call just to be sure.

"What was that?" Kelly asked. Donnie had just told her about the ooze and his brothers when they heard a rather large thud coming from one of the other rooms.

"I think it came from Leo's room. I'll go check it out. Stay here," He ordered her. Kelly got out of bed as fast as she could. Due to her head injury, she stumbled when she tried to get up too fast.

"Whoa there. You shouldn't be up. You need your rest," He said as he ran to go help her get back into bed. She refused his help and said, "No. I want to see what the noise was, I'm coming with you,"

"I won't be long. I'll come right back here and tell you what it was. You really need to lie down, now c'mon,"

"I said no. I'm coming with you to investigate that noise. Now let's go," She said as she started for the door. Donnie sighed and shrugged his shoulders when he decided it was futile to keep arguing with her, so they both left to go to Leo's room. They didn't have to go far to find him. Along the way, Leo bumped into them.

"Leo, what's going on?" Donnie asked.

"I.. Oh you're awake. How are you doing?" Leo started to explain but then noticed that their guest was awake and standing next to his brother.

"I'm alright," She replied.

"Has something happened, Leo?" Donnie asked again. He could see the worry and fear in his older brother's eyes.

"No, well, I don't know. I had this terrible dream about Brianna. Well, I think it was Brianna. I was going to go call her to see if she's okay,"

"Leo and Brianna sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..." Mikey and Raph sang together as they joined their brothers in the hallway.

"Mikey!" Leo called out and smacked his brother's head. He was about to go for Raph when they heard their sensei's voice, "Leonardo! Raphael! Micheanglo! That is not how you behave in front of a guest!"

"Sorry Sensei," All three of them said together as they bowed their heads.

"It's okay, really," Kelly assured them. Boy these people sure are weird. Then again they're not really people are they? Four mutant turtles and a mutant rat. Man won't Agent Morgan be surprised when I hand him my report in two weeks.

"How is your head?" Splinter asked her.

"It hurts but I'll be fine,"

"You don't seem surprised by us. Why is that?"

"I explained it to her, sensei," Donnie answered.

"Ah, okay. Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Micheanglo, it's time for practice. Go meet me in the dojo, I will assist our guest to some breakfast,"

"Okay, but what's your name?" Mikey asked her. Here they are talking to her and about her but not one of them had even bothered to get a name from her. She sure was a beauty to look at, despite her injuries. Her hair was a shiny red copper like color and seemed to flow down to themiddle of her back. She was quite slender but not skinny.

"Kelly," She replied.

"So what brings you girls to New York?" Casey asked as Brianna and Michele sat down to have breakfast with him and his wife.

"I need the turtles help with something," Brianna answered. Michele only looked down at her food.

"Oh really? With what?" April asked.

"Well, first, Michele needs a safe place to stay. I was hoping they could help her out,"

"You're more than welcome to stay here, Michele," April offered her. Michele continued to stare and eat her food.

"Thanks, but Michele needs a safe place right now," Brianna answered for her cousin.

"Oh, so you're in some kind of trouble then, huh?" Casey asked.

"Look, I don't want to repeat the story more than once. So when we meet up the guys, I'll tell everybody then what's going on,"

"Fine with me," Casey said. Everyone ate their breakfast in an uncomfortable silence. April finally broke it with a question that she would later regret asking.

"So Michele how's your mom?" April innocently asked. Brianna stopped eating and looked up in surprise. She glanced worriedly at Michele and saw the tears rolling down in her cheeks. Michele's head was down so low it was almost touching the pancakes.

"We'll get through this, okay? I swear I'll find out who it was," Brianna reassured her. Michele nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Did something happen? Oh, I am such an idiot! I am so sorry! Please forgive me, just forget that I even said anything," April said as she rambled on.

"Its okay, April. You didn't know. Now you see why I want to wait before I tell the whole story," Brianna said.

"Oh yes, of course. I am very sorry for what happened. If there is anything at all I or Casey can do for you girls, just name it," April said. Brianna was about to tell her that there wasn't anything she could do but thanks anyway, when the phone rang.

"I'll get it," Casey said as he got up. The women continued to eat their meal, only this time in silence. Michele had stopped crying but was still too shaken up to utter a word. Both April and Brianna were at a loss for words. Casey broke the silence a few minutes later by saying, "Hey that was work,"

"I thought you had the day off?" April asked. Casey worked as a secruity guard at a hi-tech office building and was frequentely called in to work, even on his days off. This upset April from time to time.

"I did. Or I do. It's only for a couple hours. I'll be back for lunch. We'll talk to then, love ya," He said as he kissed her forehead and left for work. April sighed and asked the girls, "So you ready to go see the turtles?"

Author's Note: Ok I hope this version is a lot better than the old one. It'll start to pick up here soon. I don't know when I'll be able to add the next chapter since I have a wedding to plan and I'm getting my wisdom teeth taken out in two days. Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing!