"So, what's his name?"

Allison looked up at Michelangelo, seeing that he was curiously peering into her tank and admiring her pet box turtle. If the rat snout she currently had would have allowed it, she would have let out a half-smile. "Botticelli," she replied. Leonardo had also gotten up and looked down at the large turtle on her desk. "Hmm," Michelangelo mused, "I'm sensing a common theme in turtle names."

Allison laughed quietly as Leonardo gingerly put a hand in the tank and petted Botticelli's head. "How long have you had him?" Leonardo asked. Still not moving from her bed, she told him, "Ever since I moved here. I guess I felt kinda lonely not having a turtle around." She laughed again, seeing Leonardo's small smile.

"He's pretty big," Michelangelo noted. "I woulda thought he was older." Leonardo looked up at him wryly. "If size were any indicator of age, Mikey, then he probably thinks we're ancient." Considering this, Michelangelo agreed with a small smile.

Allison couldn't help but wonder if the two larger turtles somehow felt offended by her choice of pets. Standing, she quickly explained, "I don't know how old he is, actually. My friend found him in her garden and was going to get rid of him. I happened to be visiting her when she found him and offered to take him home with me." Standing by the tank, she pointed one clawed fingertip towards Botticelli's shell. "See how the shell's all misshapen? That's called pyramiding. It happens to turtles who don't keep a proper diet. Luckily, his case wasn't too bad when I took him in, so caring for him isn't as hard as it could have been."

"Improper diet, huh?" Michelangelo pondered somewhat worriedly, trying to look at his shell's reflection in the full-length mirror attached to Allison's closet. "Y'mean like, pizza and stuff?" Sitting at her desk, Allison dryly answered, "I mean like garbage and stuff."

Leonardo's eyes softened as he looked down at Botticelli sympathetically. "Poor little guy. It's times like this when you realize just how good we actually have it." Michelangelo concurred. "Yeah. Turning into mutant turtles is definitely the best thing that ever happened to us." He looked at Allison and flinched. "Uh… of course, mutant rats aren't too bad, either. Just look at Splinter. When the wintertime comes around, he's always the warmest out of all of us. Then again, that probably doesn't help much in California, huh?"

Allison looked down, though she was somewhat amused by Michelangelo's attempt to make up for an insult that wasn't there. "It's okay, Mike," she said. "Donatello and Raphael will be back soon, and then this will all be over." Aware of the fact that she sounded as though she were in denial, she stood up and walked back to her bed. As she sat down, she was surprised to see that Leonardo had followed her and sat besides her.

"I'm sorry you ever had to get involved in something like this," Leonardo whispered comfortingly. "I promise that-" Allison cut him off with a small chuckle. "Don't make me any promises, Leonardo." As she turned to meet his eyes, Leonardo could see that she was speaking earnestly. "In case you've forgotten about everything I've been through, I'm a lot stronger than most girls my age. I freaked out when I saw that I was changing back, but now that I know I'm not gonna try and kill everyone in the building, I'm fine. And now that you guys are here with me again, I'm not afraid."

She gently laid a hand on his arm, still cautious about the possible contagion factor. "It might be a crummy start to your vacation, but I'll make it up to you. And that's a promise. Okay?" Before Leonardo could answer her, Allison reached over and hugged him, showing her thankfulness. Grateful that she could still seem so optimistic about this entire thing, Leonardo embraced her back.

Sitting on the desk now, Michelangelo watched the exchange between the two of them and raised an eye ridge. Looking down at Botticelli, he smirked, "Heh, looks like Raph's got some competition now." Hearing Michelangelo's remark, Allison looked over at him. "Raphael? What do you-?"

Her question was cut off by a sharp beeping sound. Allison started, but calmed down when she saw Leonardo answer his shell cell. "That you, Donnie?" Still wondering over Michelangelo's words but not wanting to bring it up, Allison tried to concentrate her thoughts on Leonardo's conversation. Hopefully, Donatello was calling to say that he and Raphael were on their way back with the compound, and needed them to prepare for the-

"What?"

Allison felt chilled by Leonardo's voice. It sounded terrified while still trying to seem in control. Having been coddled by most of the people she's worked with because she was always the youngest, Allison knew what this meant. Something was wrong, and Leonardo was going to be determined to attempt to leave her out of it.

"Okay," Leonardo continued, still trying to maintain his calm. "Okay, where are you? Okay, hold on." He looked up at Allison and asked, "Do you know where Brightby and Carter Streets are?" Allison thought for a moment and responded that she knew where Brightby was and was pretty sure she could find Carter somewhere along it. To Donatello, Leonardo said, "Okay, Allison knows how to get there. …What? …Well… all right, fine. Fine. Just hang tight. We'll work something out once we get there."

Putting the shell cell away, Leonardo looked up to see that Michelangelo had moved to look at him oddly. Looking to Allison, Leonardo asked, "Do you have a car?" She nodded and got up, fishing her keys from a purse on her bureau and picking a long hooded duster up from the floor. Seeing her put the jacket on, Leonardo quickly added, "You'll stay here. Mikey and I will go pick up Don."

Allison looked at him, surprised. "But I'm the one who knows how to get there." Leonardo informed her that it would be too risky to let her out. He stood and walked over to her, reaching for her keys. Realizing something, she drew back. "What's happened to Raphael?" Instead of answering her, Leonardo simply requested the keys once again. She shook her head and backed away from him. "Where's Raphael?"

Seeing that this could launch into an argument, Michelangelo asked, "Hey bro, let's just take her with us. She does know how to get there, anyway." Leonardo sharply answered, "She can just as easily give us directions. Now Allison, please, give me those keys and tell me how to get to Brightby and Carter." Knowing now that something was wrong if Raphael was unaccounted for and Leonardo was determined to leave her behind, Allison said, "You'll get directions once I'm in that car with you."

Leonardo lowered his hand, staring at Allison intensely. Though he knew that Donatello had warned that it was best that she stay behind, Leonardo had a feeling that that wouldn't be possible. As much as she may have connected with Raphael, Allison's personality was also very similar to that of Leonardo's. If they were as alike as he thought, there was no way Allison was simply going to stay behind while she had any strength left in her.

Without another word, Allison lifted the hood of her duster and covered her face, briskly storming past Leonardo. "I'll drive," she stated, motioning for Michelangelo to follow her. "I'm a bit more protective of this car than my old one." The jacket billowing behind her like a cape, Michelangelo simply blinked at her as she left the room. "Whoa," he whistled. "Why do we always fall in with these assertive female types?"

Leonardo stepped besides his brother, watching as their friend opened up a glass display case in her living room. She removed several small items from within and then finally withdrew something that looked similar to Donatello's bo staff. "I don't know, Mikey," Leonardo responded, finally moving to join Allison as Michelangelo followed him. "But maybe it's not wholly something to complain about."

Turning back to the turtles, Allison noticed them looking at her weapon. "One of the props from The Sewer Dwellers," she explained. "One of my favorite toys. Decided to buy it before it wound up on eBay." Michelangelo admired the long black rod with the delicate silver designs and the red tassels at either end. "Pretty," he commented. "But how's it handle off the set?" Pulling it to her side and continuing towards the door, she replied, "We'll find out soon enough."

Leonardo reached over and grabbed her elbow, pulling her towards the window that he and his brothers had entered from. "Let's hope we don't," he said, genuinely worried now. "Allison, for all intents and purposes, you're our driver and our navigator. Donatello was dead set on having you stay behind, so I can't have you running around with a giant movie prop. There are no cuts or edits or stunt doubles. I don't want to take a chance with your life." Pulling away from him and trying to keep her frustration out of her voice, she retaliated with, "So you'd rather waste time and take a chance with Raphael's life?"

The question seemed to strike a nerve and so, not wanting to look at Leonardo's face, she turned sharply to the window. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, raising the Venetian blinds. "I just don't exactly like being pinned down by authoritative figures all that much." Peering at Leonardo over her shoulder, she added in a vaguely amused voice, "But I guess you're used to dealing with people like that, huh?" Not giving Leonardo a chance to answer, she quickly ducked her head and dived out the window.

Startled, Leonardo and Michelangelo darted towards the window and gaped out. Both were surprised to see that Allison was jumping from limb to limb on the nearby tree, until effortlessly touching ground. With her black duster fluttering behind her and the staff in her hand, Michelangelo couldn't help but comment, "Now there's a girl who learned how to make an exit from watching movies!" With that, both of the turtles leapt out of the window directly onto the ground, rejoining their friend.

Being at the back of the apartment complex, the parking lot was visible from where the trio stood and they quickly made their way towards it. A few people were in the vicinity and glanced at them oddly, but Leonardo and Michelangelo tried their best to ignore the glances. As they approached the entrance to the parking lot, the turtles noticed a security guard standing up from his post and gawking at them. "Follow my lead, guys," was all Allison breathed out.

"Hi Malcolm," Allison said perkily, handing the guard her driver's license from her pocket. "How's the shift going?" Squinting down at the ID, Malcolm scratched his head. "Oh, it's you, Miss Grayson. Is it a full moon out tonight?" Allison laughed good-naturedly as the identification was returned to her. "Just doing a full dress-and-make-up for some re-shoots for the movie." Interested, Malcolm peered at Leonardo and Michelangelo and asked, "Ohh, and these are a couple of your stars, huh?"

"Yup," Michelangelo professed. "Top billing, our own trailer, all that sort of thing. We can't even go out without our costumes or the paparazzi will- Ow!" His spiel was interrupted by a hard nudge from Leonardo's elbow. "We're just extras," the more mature turtle quickly explained. "No one important. We're probably going to end up being cut from the film, anyway." As Allison waved goodbye to the security guard and quickly led the turtles towards her car, Malcolm called, "I sure hope not, fellas. I don't know much about the movies, but those are some of the best-looking costumes I've ever seen. Woulda almost made me think you were real critters!" Unable to resist, Michelangelo turned and told him, "Don't forget to look for us in the special features section of the DVD!"

Scolding Michelangelo in hushed tones, they made their way to Allison's car.