Author's Note

Sorry for the late posting of this chapter guys, a lot of personal/life stuff the past month or so. I had intended to fix up the chapter and post it before all that went down but somehow I just didn't. You know how it is. Hopefully it won't be as long before the next one. Enjoy!

CHAPTER FOUR

A DASH FOR FREEDOM

A couple of days had passed since the little ninja family came home from their unexpected escapade, and things had once again begun to settle down. The four brothers went on their nightly patrols as usual, observing the streets after the sun had gone down to watch out for any potential trouble. Donatello had continued to study the spacecraft in his workshop in-between training sessions, Michelangelo occasionally pestering him when he wasn't busy reading comic books or playing with his little pets. Leonardo and Raphael carried on with training in their spare time, often having to shuffle their footing as Dash would scurry hastily through the lair at random intervals. April and Casey also stopped by a few times, April still checking up on the small yellow alien out of curiosity, and Casey casually dropping hints of wanting to join in on the midnight runs. This tranquillity lasted but a short time, as one evening the lair echoed with the growls of Raphael and his underlying anger coming to surface.

"Alright!" He bellowed. "What the shell happened to my punchin' bag?!"

His brothers began to gather as he held up his tattered old punching bag, a large hole revealing the inner materials that gave the item its durable consistency. Mikey, on the other hand, remained where he was in front of the TV, petting Klunk as he crunched enthusiastically on his snacks. Donatello tilted his head as he stared at the punching bag.

"…What's the problem exactly?"

"What's the prob- It's got a freakin' hole in it!" Raph pointed directly at the fluff bulging out of the ragged inner lining. "Just look at that!"

"Doesn't that always happen when you overuse it? It's happened before, why don't you just sew it back up again?"

Raph lowered the bag slightly as he looked at his brother.

"I haven't used the thing since yesterday and it was perfectly fine then!" He gaze shifted over to where Mikey sat. "Mikey…!"

The youngest turtle looked over his shoulder, speaking with a mouth full of potato chips.

"Don't look at me, dude, I use nunchaku! How'd you expect me to cut a hole like that in it? Besides, cutting open the punching bag? Puh-lease! I did that gag years ago, give me some credit."

The fuming individual's line of sight then set upon Leo, who had joined the gathering shortly after Don, arms folded.

"…You honestly think I'd use my swords on your raggedy old punching bag?"

A growl of frustration escaped between Raph's clenched teeth as he looked back at the massacre on his beloved boxing equipment. He needed someone to blame and he was quickly running out of possible suspects.

"Maybe it was Klunk." Don suggested as he bent over to inspect the damage.

Beginning to tire of his brother's unnecessary outburst, Leo marched over to grab the bag and place it carefully on the floor. Raph glared harshly at him, about to vocalise his protest when he was halted by the opposing turtle's stern tone.

"We can worry about solving the murder mystery of the battered heavy bag later. It's time we went out on patrol."

Before anyone could say anything else, a yelp was heard from the other side of the room, the group turning their heads to look over at Mikey as he flailed his arm around frantically. Dash stood not too far away from him, cowering slightly with his ears drooped low.

"What's wrong now, lame brain?"

"He bit me! Dash bit me!" The young turtle whimpered.

Donatello walked over to his brother, crouching to lift up Dash and hold him carefully in his arms as he reached the seating area. Mikey got to his feet, holding up his finger to show the smallest speck of blood emerging from his skin.

"It's just a little prick, Mikey." Don frowned. "Go get a band-aid from the kitchen or something."

Raphael sneered from across the lair.

"Baby."

As the over-dramatic ninja shuffled his way into the kitchen to tend to his wound, Don looked down at the alien in his arms and lightly prodded its nose.

"I don't see how you could get bitten by hi-"

His sentence was cut short as he slid his finger into Dash's mouth and flinched, caught off guard by the mild stinging sensation brought upon by the teeth digging into his flesh. It wasn't exactly painful, but it was a lot more of a dominant sensation than he had expected. Suddenly concerned, he gently held Dash's jaw open so he could get a better view of his teeth, and sure enough, the little creature had developed a small set of sharply-edged choppers in the corners of its mouth.

"…Well that's…strange." He turned to walk over to Raphael and Leonardo, Dash still in his clutches. "I think we may have found your culprit, Raph- though I don't really understand how this happened. He could barely chew through Mikey's potato chips the other day."

Raph fumed once again, taking a step forward and lifting his hand to point at the creature in his brother's arms.

"I told you guys that thing was trouble!"

Leo placed a hand on his arm, gently lowering it to his side.

"Take it easy, Raph." He looked at Dash. "Don, do you think it'll be okay to leave him here?"

"I don't know…" Don shook his head, "I mean he still seems pretty docile, but…"

"I say we get rid of it!"

Raph made a throwing gesture with his hand, which was soon met by Mikey pushing past him and swiping Dash out of Don's arms.

"No way! We can't!"

"Haven't we been over this already?" Donatello sighed as he carefully took Dash back from his brother. "I say we go on patrol to clear our heads. In the meantime, we can drop Dash off at April's- she'll have a look at him."

Leonardo nodded in agreement.

"Great, we have a plan. Now can we go already?"

After some hesitant contemplation, the four young ninja carried on with their agenda and set off to the world above, Donatello tucking Dash carefully into his bag on the way.

April has just finished wiping the countertop by the till of her antique shop when she heard a knock at the door. Being as she closed up well over an hour ago, she could already make a guess as to who was there awaiting her.

"Coming!"

Upon opening the door she was almost brought with a sense of accomplishment for guessing correctly, as four green mutant turtles stood before her, raising a two-fingered hand in greeting.

"Hey guys." She smiled. "What's up? Not on the run are you?"

"Actually, we're just stopping by to give you something." Donatello stated as he slid his bag from over his shoulder and placed it on the ground, struggling to unzip it as the material mysteriously squirmed.

April raised an eyebrow. From past experience she could only gather this could either be a really good thing, or something that she would later regret and have to take out her frustration on a tub of ice cream shoved at the back of her freezer. She almost fell over as Dash practically leapt from the unzipped bag, Don only just managing to catch him and hold his wriggling body in a firm grip. After a brief moment of attempting to break free, the small alien eventually opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. Noticing the familiar figures around him, he gradually calmed down, becoming limp in Don's grip as he gently petted him.

"Could you look after Dash for a while?"

"W-What?"

"It won't be for long, we're just going for a run- and- well…"

Raphael stuck his finger forward, pointing it towards the little yellow creature.

"That stinkin' alien ripped up my punchin' bag, that's what!"

Leonardo lightly slapped his forehead in frustration and pulled his sibling back, taking a step forward in his stead.

"We're just not too confident keeping him in the lair unsupervised at the moment, and we don't want him left alone with Master Splinter either."

April took a step back, holding her hands out ready to protest.

"Woah woah- Hold on! You want me, the owner of an antique shop , to look after a rabid alien that can barely keep still at the slightest pin-drop? I'm sorry guys, but this place already got trashed once, I can't afford it to happen a second time!"

"Please, April?" Mikey stepped right up to the red haired woman, clasping his hands together. "Please, please, pleeaasseee?"

"We promise it won't be for long." Don assured as he held Dash out towards her.

Bringing her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose, April sighed. She had little confidence in the idea, however she knew that her friends would have had to make the decision between her and Casey as a caretaker, and naturally she would have been their first choice. Normally she would be flattered, but her concern for her shop overrode most other thoughts in her head. Regardless, she took the alien from the turtle's grasp and held him in her own, running a hand across his fuzzy coat to keep him calm. Don smiled at her gratefully.

"Thanks, April."

"Don't mention it."

Her response lacked sincerity, but nonetheless, she smiled and waved as the young ninja turtles swiftly left the store, leaping into the shadows of the night. After closing the door behind them, she had only just turned her back to the entrance before she heard the door creak, followed by Don's voice once again.

"Uh- you might want to be careful- he has the potential for arm chewing now."

"Excuse me-"

However, as she spun on her heels to address her friend, he had already left, the door also having been closed. With an exasperated sigh, she shook her head and made her way up to her apartment, carrying the small yellow alien in her arms, who by this point had buried his snout in her woollen sweater.

A couple of hours passed and the turtles had yet to return from their nightly patrol. Having finished her dinner and collected leftovers in a spare bowl for Dash, April slumped back onto her crimson couch, the small alien sleeping contently on the cushion next to her. As she lifted the remote to turn on the small television across the room, her head turned to look down at the creature. Taking care not to wake him up, she gently shifted Dash onto her lap. It had taken a while to get him used to the sudden change in surroundings, and she didn't want to disturb the peace she had finally acquired. After briefly running her hand across his back, her fingers slid down to his jaw and cautiously felt around his teeth.

"Well you certainly do have a good set of fangs there, Dash." She followed with a sigh. "No wonder they left you here…that's some abnormally fast dental development."

Looking down at the furry creature on her lap, she smiled faintly. Before she could think about anything else she heard a loud, harsh knock at the window, causing her and Dash to flinch upright, the alien's long ears perked up. April got to her feet as Dash hopped off her lap, soon making her way over to the window where a familiar, but not entirely welcome, face beamed at her with a confident grin. She hesitantly opened up the window, allowing the largely built man to scramble through.

"Why can't you just use the door like a normal person?"

Casey let out a laugh as he regained his posture, puffing out his chest.

"Where's the fun in that? I'm being spontaneous!" He made his way over to the couch. "Besides, I tried knockin' downstairs like five times."

The young woman put her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes. It was fairly typical that today of all days the big goof of a man, Casey Jones, would decide to barge into her apartment uninvited. She didn't particularly dislike his company, but he could have at least called first.

"So- Uh- What are ya up to?"

"Nothing, the guys just stopped by and asked me to-Ah! Wait!"

Her sentence barely finished as a mild screech came from the sofa, Dash scampering onto the floor having nearly been crushed by Casey's body weight. The startled man pulled a hockey stick out of his bag that he seemed to carry everywhere with him and stepped in front of April as the creature made a dash for the open window. The frantic red-head pushed her friend out of the way to chase after the little alien, but her effort was in vain as he had already escaped, dropping from the window and landing in the street below.

"Oh no…"

She winced as she watched Dash hop back and forth in a panic, soon running across the road to be lost behind the passing traffic. Casey shifted to stand behind her.

"What in the heck was that?"

His answer came partnered with a forceful shove from the woman in front of him.

"You idiot!"

"What?! What'd I do?"

"That was Dash! "

Casey scratched his head, putting his hockey stick back in his bag with his free hand.

"Y'mean that weird little alien thing the guys got from that space prison place?"

"Yes!"

"Well what was it doing in your apartment?!"

"I was looking after it! And you just scared it right out of the window and into civilization!" April turned back to stare out of the window, hoping to catch another glance of yellow in the darkness. "This isn't good. I'd better call them."

As she began to rummage around the room, Casey held up his shell cell.

"Don't worry, babe, I got this."

The four turtles were only a couple of blocks away when they heard the ringing come from inside Donatello's bag. They came to a halt on the respective rooftop as their brother fished the cell out of the bag and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Don! We gotta talk."

"Casey?"

The siblings looked among themselves.

"What does that meat brain want?" Raphael whispered.

"Uh- Casey, can this wait, we're kinda in the middle of-"

"No! Y'gotta listen!" The voice boomed from the other end. "What's the deal with you guys goin' off on a street run and not invitin' me- Hey!"

The voice changed over to a feminine tone, April having pulled the device away from Casey.

"Don, we've got a problem. Dash is gone."

"What do you mean he's gone?"

Michelangelo sprung to attention, leaping over to his conversing brother.

"What's he saying? What's he saying?!"

"Shhh, Mikey!" The turtle hushed before returning to his call. "April, what happened?"

"I- I opened the window and he got out- he just dropped right into the street and ran off, I don't know where he went."

"Okay, we'll be right there."

With the single press of a button, he hung up, turning to address the others.

"Uh, Guys? Here's something we didn't anticipate."

Shortly after receiving the alert, the turtles returned to the antique shop, grouping together with Casey and April to get a briefing on the situation. April held her hand to her chest as she calmly explained what had happened. Mikey, on the other hand, was pacing back and forth across the carpet, his hands clamped to his head. His whimpers gradually got louder and louder as he paced until Raph silenced him with a backhand to the head, as the young turtle's whines had begun to drown out April. Leo made his way over to the open window.

"So he just jumped out onto the street?"

"Yeah, I couldn't grab him in time."

"Well work on your reflexes!" Mikey snapped.

Raph tugged on the back of his brother's bandana.

"Mikey!"

"But now we gotta find him! New York is huge! He's out there somewhere lost and cold and scared and-"

"Geez, would you put a sock in it?!" Raph folded his arms. "I say good riddance to the thing. Let someone else find it, let it be their problem."

"How can you say that?!"

The oldest of the turtles stepped in between the bickering pair, gently pushing them further away from each other before giving them a stern look.

"Enough, guys. Don't worry, Mikey, we'll find him." He turned to look at Donatello. "Don, do we have any way of tracking down Dash?"

Don scratched the back of his head.

"Uh, that'd be a negatory, I'm not so great with combining tracking chips and living organisms. At least not yet."

"Why didn'cha just put a collar on it?" Casey interrupted.

"I had considered that, but I didn't think something like this would happen so soon…guess that was poor judgement on my part. Sorry, Mikey."

"Then it looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way." Leo declared as he placed his fist into his palm. He continued onto his plan as he began to point at the various individuals in the room. "Casey and April, you search the more exposed areas on street level. Mikey, you and Raph keep to the more shadowed streets and check the sewer tunnels. Don and I will go to the rooftops to get a wider scope of view. "

"Okay, but we'll have to make a stop at the lair first. I'll need some equipment."

"Hold it!" Raphael boomed as he took a step forward. "You can't be serious about chasing down that thing!"

"Raph, not now." Leo retorted.

"Well I ain't taking part in this wild goose chase! So what if a stupid little alien goes missing? It isn't our responsibility!"

"And what if someone like Bishop finds him? Something like this could easily get traced back to us and put everyone in danger. "

The hot headed turtle gritted his teeth as he withdrew. As much as he hated to cave in, his brother had made a valid point. If something were to happen to his friends or family due to his own suspicions, he would never be able to forgive himself. Deciding to remain silent on the subject, he took one more step back to join Mikey, who was too busy fretting over the loss of his companion to make any sort of remark. Assured that he would no longer be interrupted, Leonardo shifted his attention back to the rest of the group.

"Right, now let's go find Dash before someone - or something - else does."

With a conclusive nod, everyone promptly branched off into their respective pairs to begin the search for the little yellow alien that was now loose in the darkened streets of New York City.

The dark sky soon became shrouded with a blanket of clouds, releasing droplets of rain to patter harshly onto the pavements below. Being completely unaware of his surroundings, Dash scampered back and forth across the roads, desperately trying to find a place of shelter or at least familiarity. For a night in the city, there was an unusual lack in traffic, though this did not stop the small creature from getting caught in a few headlights along the way. The sudden downpour was beginning to hinder his vision, along with the sudden blasts of bright lights still having lingering effects on the eyes, and this only caused Dash to feel more stressed. After a brief moment of hesitation, he made one final leap across the puddle stained road to scurry into the nearest alleyway.

Unfortunately for Dash, the street he had chosen to occupy was bustling with tall figures, their large feet hitting the pavement in a hurried pace to get somewhere, some occasionally skimming a nearby puddle. These colossal beings perplexed the small alien. There were similarities in the species' appearance with the pale-faced characters he had run away from, but none bore any resemblance to the green terrapins that had primarily given him refuge. They all varied in size and exhibited different combinations of fabrics over their skin. Dash's curiosity caused him to overlook the incoming foot that soon nudged his stomach. The sudden impact stirred him, and once again he bolted towards the alleyway, the overshadowing figure stumbling over his small, nimble body. Promptly hiding behind an abandoned bin bag, the small alien began to catch its breath, poking his head out briefly to look at the large human composing itself. He had but a small opportunity to observe the mysterious looming figure before a bright light flashed across his vision. This surprise caused the alien to recoil back into the shadows, and the large silhouette walked away promptly after, leaving the creature shivering and cowering in the musty narrow passage.

An hour passed before the rain eventually lessened down to a light drizzle, the streets now covered in patches of dirty puddles. Due to the sudden downpour, many people had retreated to their homes or nearby bars for shelter, leaving the roads deserted enough for Michelangelo and Raphael to scour the area more freely without being seen. Despite the decline in rain, Raph had gotten soaked enough for his mood to once again go sour, his arms folded and teeth grating against each other as he peered around an alleyway corner with his younger sibling.

"This is so stupid, we've been looking for ages and still nothin'. Can't we just go home now?"

"No way! The streets are clearer now so we have a better chance of spotting him!"

Raph tipped his head back and sighed in frustration.

"Just give it up, Mikey! That thing is gone!"

Ignoring his brother, Mikey carefully made his way to the next alleyway, beginning to look in trash cans and behind abandoned knick-knacks. Raphael shook his head, sighing once again before following. A ringing sound made him stop in his tracks and dart behind a nearby bin bag. It wasn't until he caught a glimpse of his stomach that he realised the noise was coming from the shell cell tucked into his waist-band. He grunted as he answered it.

"What?"

"Anything?" Leo's voice resonated from the other end.

"No, not a stinkin' thing, and I for one am this close to going home."

"Raph, come on..."

Before Leo could continue to persuade his brother, Donatello carefully took the cell to make his own attempt.

"Listen, Raph, I know you're still mad about your bag, but could you cooperate just for now? I mean, do you honestly want to hear Mikey moan about this for the rest of your life?"

No response came from the other end.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

A low grunt escaped Raphael's lips.

"Fine." He turned to look back over at Mikey, who was now making his way to the next alleyway. "But what if we never find it? We've been all over the freakin' city for hours and got nowhere."

"It may not be your forté, Raph, but patience is a virtue in situations like-"

The young turtle was unable to finish his sentence as it was interrupted by the ecstatic cry from the other end of the call. Mikey waved frantically from the alleyway he had recently searched.

"Raph! Raph! I found him! I found Dash! He's here! Quick!"

Without another thought, Raphael darted over to where his brother stood, peering carefully into the alleyway as he continued to hold the shell cell to his head. Only a metre or so away lay Dash, who had now buried himself amongst numerous bin bags.

"What was that? Raph? Did you find him?"

Mikey crouched down to the small creature's level and smiled.

"Yeah, we found him. We'll meet you back at the lair."

He put the cell back into his waistband as he moved carefully to stand not far behind Mikey, watching as he cooed at the alien.

"Hey there, little guy. It's me! Did you miss us?"

At the familiar tone of voice, Dash lifted his head, ears perked and alert. He sniffed the air briefly to detect the turtle's scent, and let out a whimper as two large hands carefully lifted him out from amongst the trash. Relieved, the young turtle held Dash close to his chest and petted him, running his hand along the cold, damp fur that was now shivering in his arms. Raphael folded his arms, grunting.

"C'mon already, we need to get back. It's freakin' freezing." He pointed a finger at Dash. "Even he thinks so."

Michelangelo blinked as his brother turned to make his way to the nearest manhole cover. He promptly hurried to his heel, a large grin filling up his face.

"You do care!"

Raph turned his head to glare at him.

"I do not, I told you we should've gotten rid of that thing! Look at the trouble it's caused and we've barely had it a week!" He faced his brother, staring him down as the light rain continued to leave trickles down their reptilian skin. "I'm tellin' you, bro, that thing is bad news and as soon as we get back it has to go."

"That's not fair! He's just scared! Wouldn't you be if Casey's giant butt came crashing down towards you?"

"This isn't funny, what if it had gotten caught by someone?"

"Well he didn't, did he? Besides, it won't happen again, look at how scared he is!"

Raph's gaze met with the small creature in Mikey's arms. Still trembling, Dash sneezed, and looked up at the turtle with wide, fearful eyes. Mikey held him up towards Raph's nose.

"How can you say no to that face?"

Almost certain the alien's dark grey eyes got even larger, Raphael let out a frustrated grunt.

"You're both annoyin' as heck, you know that?"

"Is that a yes?"

Raph turned to continue down the street.

"Raph?"

"We need to get back to the lair before everyone worries. Hurry up."

With a brief exchange of looks with Dash, the younger brother shrugged before following, face beaming as his newly reunited companion buried himself into his chest once more.

Back at the lair everyone had gathered together, Dash fast asleep in Michaelangelo's bed after a seemingly long series of examinations from April and Donatello. Assured that he was healthy and unharmed, they left him to rest as they discussed among themselves. Raphael continued to press that the alien should be removed or at least detained, but his advances were expectedly shot down. The verdict remained that more time was required for observation on Dash's behaviour, and that it would be wise to introduce him to the topside world gradually, meaning no visits to the shop for some time - which April happily agreed to.

"He just needs more time to adjust to his surroundings," Said Donatello. "I'm sure within a couple of weeks he'll be a lot calmer and know his way around enough not to get lost so easily."

Raphael cringed at the mention of 'weeks' as a time frame, but held his tongue. Klunk brushed up against the agitated turtle, seeming to soothe him slightly and allowing him to continue listening to the conversation.

"In the meantime, we should all be able to get back to our routines. As for your bag, Raph, I should be able to fix it up if I take a look at it - although it...may not be quite as sturdy as before." He paused briefly. "Unless you can find me some fresh sand, that is."

Mikey's eyes widened as he stood up in excitement.

"Beach trip?!"

"No, Mikey."

"Awww."

Biting the inside of his cheek, he sat down again as the group's chuckles began to echo through the hall, not so much as even stirring the small alien that slept soundly in one of the connecting rooms.

"Evidence, you say?"

Agent John Bishop stood in the middle of his main lab, taking off a pair of white latex gloves as he loomed over the young boy in front of him.

"Y-Yes, sir. Of a real, live alien - this time I'm sure of it!"

The boy held up his phone to show off the find, his face filled with determination. Screwing up his eyes to try and make out the image, it took a minute or so before Bishop felt a smile creep upon his face at the view before him.

"Interesting." He took the boy's phone. "Looks like you'll have some more work cut out for you. I want you to investigate this as much as possible, check other possible sightings, the area you saw it in, everything."

"Yes, sir!"

"We need to capture this... creature , as soon as possible. If it does turn out to be an alien, we'll need to take immediate action and make sure it doesn't pose a threat to mankind."

The boy before him nodded, taking his phone back when handed to him. Receiving a pat to the shoulder, he promptly made his exit.

"I'll be right on it!"

Bishop watched intently as he left, scratching his chin as he peered over at the various equipment and documents set up around the room. His grin continued to linger as he walked over to a computer and set his fingers upon the keyboard, the light of the screen vividly reflecting off his glasses.

"It seems a change of focus is in order."