I was going to wait until 10/18 to post this, but Frozenwolfheart22's review made me want to post early :)

Gonna warn you guys... this one's a doozy. Strap in.

March 20, 2012

7:39am

Splinter glanced at the clock over his mug of now cold coffee. The rat sat defeated at the island in the middle of the kitchen. It had been almost twelve hours since he had last hugged all five of his children, just over an hour and a half since the boys had left to go track down where the Kraang had taken April… his daughter… His grip on the mug tightened as he thought back to a time in the past when he had lost another child…

xXx

Hamato Yoshi awoke outside of the dojo, reeling from the heat of the flames. He did not remember how he had gotten outside. He felt a light pressure inside his curled fist. He opened his hand to see the flower Tang Shen had given him lying in his palm. Yoshi's heart dropped as he remembered the blow Saki had dealt to Shen, the feel of her life leaving her body. A scream ripped through his soul.

"SSHHEEENNNN!" His heartbreak was immeasurable. He couldn't hear Mwai's cries, but Shen was the last one the child had been with. In one night, the man lost both his beloved wife and daughter.

With nothing left to keep him in Japan, Yoshi fulfilled Tang Shen's last wish: He moved to New York City. He thought that starting anew would be enough to banish his demons. Turns out, personal demons can follow you anywhere.

Yoshi turned to alcohol to drown his sorrows. When he was drunk, he could barely hear Mwai's last cries or the shredding of claws across Shen's chest. The relief only lasted until he awoke from his latest blackout.

One night after a drunken brawl at a bar, Yoshi stumbled downtown into a family noodle shop. The restaurant was empty except for the proprietor and his family. Yoshi plopped down into a seat at the counter, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Somthin' hot," He slurred, face red with how much alcohol he'd already had. The owner merely nodded his head.

"Of course, friend." The man reached under the counter for a fresh batch of noodles to put into the pot on his stove. "Now, I hope that you won't take this the wrong way, but are you from Japan?"

Yoshi attempted to sit a little straighter in his chair. He almost fell out of it instead. "I arrived a few months ago. How could you tell?"

The man turned to face him. A pair of black glasses covered his eyes. He tapped his ears. "I thought I heard a familiar accent. My wife and I moved to America from Japan not long after my daughter was born." He gestured for his wife and child to join him. "My name is Murakami. This is my wife and my daughter, Mai."

Yoshi's eyes widened as Mai approached the counter. Even though this girl was older than his Mwai, the slight similarities were enough to send his emotional state over the edge. Mrs. Murakami discreetly pulled her daughter closer to her, away from the sobbing drunk man.

Murakami felt his way around the counter to place his hand on Yoshi's shoulder. "We all have things in our past we want to run from. The hurt will never go away. What matters is what we do next. Do you have a place you can stay tonight, friend?"

The sobbing man sniffed. "Splinter. My name is Hamato Splinter."

xXx

Returning to the present, Splinter ran a hand down his face. I cannot lose another child… His ear twitched as the turnstile clicked. He sighed, seeing Mai enter the kitchen with grocery bags. Ice Cream Kitty followed behind her.

"Hey, Splinter-san." She approached warily. She set her bags down before checking the side of Splinter's still full mug. "Have you slept at all? Eaten anything?"

He shook his head. "Not until my daughter is home safe."

Mai glanced around the kitchen, knowing that the Hamato men liked to squirrel away certain favorite snacks. "Splinter… you haven't had anything to drink-"

"No." He spoke sharply. The man sighed seeing the girl flinch at his tone. "Forgive me, Mai. No, I have not touched a drop of alcohol since your family took me in that night. I have worked too hard for my sobriety; it would also be disrespectful to your family for everything you've done." Splinter massaged the bridge of his nose. "I cannot say that the temptation hasn't been there. This… situation is bringing up unpleasant memories…" He blinked, seeing Ice Cream Kitty sitting on the counter in front of him. He looked at her warily before she rubbed herself against his cheek. "Are you able to sense those with sadness in their hearts, small one?" He chuckled wetly as he scratched behind the kitten's ears.

Mai placed a fresh cup of hot coffee in front of the man she saw as her uncle before putting her hand over his. "April's gonna be okay… you know that, right? The boys are going to bring her back."

He sighed, patting her hand. "You're very good at pep talks, you know." He smiled. Splinter's smile froze before he whipped his head around at the sound of the turnstile clicking again. "They're back!"

Splinter and Mai dashed out of the kitchen as the boys hopped over the turnstiles. Donnie took more care, as April was passed out hanging onto his shell.

"Is she alright?" Splinter demanded. Donnie nodded as he slid her off his back onto the couch in the common area.

Raph patted his father's shoulder. "She's fine, Pop. Just had a long night. She passed out halfway home."

Mikey knelt beside the girl, gently shaking her. "April? We're home, sis." Splinter brushed a stray lock of hair away from her forehead. April groaned as she squinted against the dim light in the lair.

"Hey, Papa."

"Oh, dear one." He kissed her forehead. "How happy am I that you are home and that you are safe. Did they harm you in any way?"

April winced against a forming headache as she showed Splinter the needle marks on the inside of her arm. "Not any more than they had before. But, I did find out some stuff that might make this whole night worth it!"

Donnie played with the strands of April's hair that splayed out over the edge of the couch. "If you're feeling up to it, April, we can all talk in my lab. You can tell us more about what happened and I can look through that thumb drive you took. Sound good?"

"Yeah." She hesitantly pushed herself up. "Let me grab a quick shower and we'll debrief."

xXx

It had taken everyone a moment to settle in Donnie's lab. Mai and Mikey took off to the kitchen to make everyone breakfast and coffee while Leo and Raph pushed several of the smaller sofas into the lab so everyone could sit more comfortably. Mikey brought in the last tray of bacon as Donnie plugged the thumb drive into his system. There was only one folder on the drive, but selecting the folder revealed dozens of files and other folders. He sighed, settling in for a lot of scrolling.

"Fascinating…"

April giggled into her tea. She had just finished explaining what had happened since her abduction. Even though Donnie was in 'research mode', she knew he had been listening. It was a special talent of his.

Raph sipped his coffee from his collectable Red Angel of Preventing Harm mug. "Now what were you sayin' early about the Kraang keepin' your old man somewhere?"

Splinter choked on the sip he had just taken. "What?"

April twiddled with the tails of the yellow headwrap keeping her damp hair out of her face. "During my escape, I overheard two Kraang talking about the DNA results from by blood sample. By the way, they need me and my specific DNA for some big plan to change the earth. Can you keep an eye out for that in the files, Dee?"

Without looking up from his computer, Donnie gave a thumbs up.

"Anyway, they were talking about comparing my DNA to 'Parental Sample Kirby O'Neil'; that's my birth name, O'Neil! They talked about contacting the Northern Base to double check. That's got to be the farmhouse Mama and I escaped from when I was little!" Happy hopeful tears began forming in her eyes. "My daddy's still alive!"

Leo exchanged a skeptical look with Splinter. It had been so long… was Kirby really still alive?

"I hope so, April," Leo leaned forward. "For your sake."

April narrowed her gaze at her brother. "I know he is, Leonardo."

The boy held up his hands in defense. "Don't go full name on me, Red. I want him to be alive just as much as you do. I just don't want you to get your hopes up in case we find something bad." He twisted his body to see what the techie turtle was up to. "Find anything yet, Don?"

Donnie continued scrolling, growing increasingly worried. "This… shouldn't be possible…" He whispered. He rolled over to his filing cabinet, withdrawing a file to thumb through it before rolling back to the computer.

"I don't like that look…" Mikey whimpered. Ice Cream Kitty had found herself purring in the boy's lap again. She meowed in agreement. Donnie pointed to his screen, turning it around so the others could see it.

"When April started exhibiting her powers, the two of us took a sample of her blood and compared it to other 'average' sources I'd found on the Internet. There's always been something… off… about her DNA that I couldn't crack. I think I finally found the answers."

April tossed a wadded up piece of paper at her friend. "Well… what is it? Tell us already!"

Donnie rubbed his forehead where the paper ball bounced off. "Based on the info I've looked at so far from the folder you copied, your cellular makeup is actually a morphogenesic blend of human and Kraang DNA…" Raph spit out his coffee.

"HOLD ON! You're sayin'..."

Donnie gestured to April. "April's not entirely human. That's why your blood's always been different. That's why you have psychic powers. In reality, you're a half human half alien…"

"Mutant…" The girl whispered. She fell further back into the couch she was currently sitting on between Splinter and Mai. The older woman wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders. "So… one of my parents was a Kraang?"

"Gross!" Mikey gagged.

"No," The purple clad turtle continued scrolling. Going deeper into 'research mode', his tongue stuck out. "According to these files, the farmhouse belonged to your great grandfather in 1922. The Kraang crash landed there and… started experimenting on him and his family… They began injecting Kraang DNA to try and - stabilize it? What does that mean?" He muttered to himself. "It became more stable when your mother was born in 1969. They call her Experiment 273 here. But they claim that it was perfected in you…"

April rubbed her chest. "But what about my dad? If he didn't have any Kraang DNA and my mother and I escaped… Does it say where they've been keeping them? Is he still at the farmhouse?"

Donnie selected a different file and kept scrolling. He breathed in sharply, rubbing his eyes. "Mikey," He croaked. "Go get Boba out of April's room." The younger boy gave his brother an uneasy look before doing what he had been told. Splinter foresaw the direction the conversation was heading. His heart broke for his daughter.

"Dee, what's going on?" She shook off Mai's arm to sit up. "Just tell me! We need to get my dad out of there before it's too late!"

Mikey came back with the stuffed animal, passing it to Donnie. The boy rose from his seat to kneel before the girl on the couch. He pressed her childhood toy into her hands, trying to bring her some comfort for the news he was about to break.

"April…" He choked back tears. "April, the Kraang extracted Kirby's DNA a few days after you and your mother ran away. They wanted some on file in case they ever came across you again. But since he didn't possess any Kraang DNA himself… They experimented on him. They experimented on him so much that he-" He was stopped by April shoving his hands away.

"NO!" She shook her head, tears streaming down her face. "No! I heard them say - say to check against the sample at the Northern Base…"

Donnie squeezed her hand- the one holding Boba. "April, I'm sorry, but he's gone…"

Mikey gasped, tears now falling for the sorrow of his sister. He curled into Raph's plastron as his big brother pulled him in for a hug. There were tears in the red turtle's eyes as well.

Leo sniffed. He gestured to the boys and Mai to give April, Splinter, and Donnie some space. The last thing he heard as he exited the lab were April's sobs. Selfishly, he hoped never to know this heartbreak.

This chapter became so long, I needed to cut it in two. Everything I Ever Thought I Knew Part 2 coming soon!

*ALSO: anyone who follows my Miraculous fics, I have an idea kicking around in my head as a sequel to my Miraculous Trilogy. It's not anywhere close to being written (as of 10/14/21), but it's in development. Make sure to follow me to stay up to date!