Author's Note

For those who enjoy playing voices in their head for reading these types of things and would like a guide for Vye's, I have currently settled on Christine Marie Cabanos as her voice. Think like a mix of Shiemi from Blue Exorcist and Minori from Tora Dora-
That's all I have to say for this chapter! Hope y'all enjoy!

Chapter Six
Interning

The nightly landscapes of Michelangelo's mind were no different than usual, in fact, this dream was one of his favourites. There was little else to it other than the newly discovered pizza trees that provided varying slices for him to enjoy as he mosied along his merry way. However, something was different this time. A bush covered in...spaghetti? He hadn't had spaghetti in a long time, why was this here? Still, food was food, and he waltzed over to the bush. He massaged his hands together as he prepared to dig in - after all, there was no need for cutlery in a dream. Before he got a chance to scoop up the stringy pasta, it began to float towards him and smear across his face. He tried to push the strands away but it just continued to writhe around, so much so that it began to tickle his nose. He let out a small sneeze followed by another attempt at trying to beat away the spaghetti, flailing his arms around aimlessly, but the pasta kept tickling. He felt the pressure build up in his nose again, inhaling deeper and deeper until suddenly;

"AH'TCHOO!"

The convulsion woke him up instantly, and as he came to terms with his lucidness he continued to feel a slight tickle around his nose. With a yawn he sat himself upright in his bed, stretching out one arm while the other rubbed across his face.

"Aw man, Klunk...I was having that dream again but I guess you were sleeping on my face-"

As he wiped the remaining sleep out of his eyes, his vision came into focus. It wasn't cat fur that had been antagonizing his face but a mass of amber-hued hair. Human hair. Seeing the sleeping girl curled up beside him, he let out a high pitched scream as he tumbled backwards to fall off his bed, landing flat on his shell. As his pained groaning resonated from the floor, the girl slowly opened her eyes and began to sit herself up, Klunk joining her as they had both been roused by the sudden ruckus.

"Vye!" Mikey called up as he got to his feet. "What are you doing in my bed?! You're supposed to be on the couch!"

Vye looked at him blankly, the drowsiness keeping her eyelids from fully opening. She didn't understand why the turtle was reacting so harshly.

"I always sleep here…"

"That was when you were 'Dash'! You can't do that now !"

"Really? Why?"

Mikey pulled himself up towards the high platform of the bed, snatching his pillow from underneath her.

"Well, for starters, you're way too big!"

"Oh."

"Now, get out! Out, girl! Yah!" He hurled his pillow at her head before hopping back down to ground level and pointing at the floor as a gesture for her to follow.

Vye still didn't fully understand, but it was clear she'd done something wrong already. She'd spent the last two weeks snuggling up in this same spot to sleep at night that it had just become a habit, she hadn't considered that would have to change now she was in a new body. This was all really confusing. After being pelted with the pillow, she yawned in unison with Klunk before carefully climbing down from the platform. Klunk, however, curled up and went back to sleep, much to her envy.

The impact from the fall having woken him up, Mikey proceeded to lead way towards the kitchen, Vye bumbling behind him. Having been a quadruped for so long, she was still adjusting to walking on two feet, not to mention the new strangely lanky legs she had acquired with her new body. The bagginess of the sweats she had been gifted from April didn't exactly help in the matter either, and the feeling of different materials on her skin was a whole other thing to adjust to. Once they both reached the kitchen, Vye having stumbled multiple times in attempting to get down the ladder in her wobbly new legs, they found themselves met by Leonardo, who turned to them as he closed one of the cupboards he had just been raiding from.

"Mikey, was that you screaming?" He questioned before moving his attention to Vye. "Oh, morning, Vye."

"Well you would too if you woke up with a face full of alien hair!" His brother exclaimed as he began fumbling in the cupboards for something to eat. Leo looked at him, baffled.

"Uh, what?"

"Vye was in my bed!" His arms now full of various snacks, he closed one of the bottom cupboards with his foot.

"Oh, I see."

Leonardo began to pour cereal from the box he had just grabbed, placing it back before he continued.

"Did you sleep okay, Vye?"

"Hey, don't ignore me, Leo!" Mikey cried. "What are we supposed to do if she won't sleep on the couch? I'm not giving up my room again!"

Leo pondered for a moment. His brother had a point, though the rudeness of his complaining right in front of their guest resulted in merely a small glare before telling Mikey to pipe down and looking back at Vye.

Unsure of how to handle the situation, Vye merely nodded in response to Leo's question, but recoiled slightly as Mikey's vocal tone rose. She was starting to feel bad for causing such a scene on her first morning in this new form, but no one had told her about the new sleeping etiquette. Opening her mouth to try and say something, she was quickly interrupted by a deep, coarse growling sound that suddenly emitted from somewhere in her body.

The sound caught the attention of both turtles, their gazes meeting her stomach. This seemed to distract Michelangelo from his previous complaining as he grinned through the pile of snacks he had gathered together in his arms. Chuckling, he shifted so that he could hand her a plastic packet.

"Hungry, huh?"

"A little…" Vye responded as she received the packet.

As Michelangelo began to tear into his own pile of various snacks, Vye stared down at the single one in her hands.

"Um...How do I-?" She looked over at Michelangelo for guidance, catching him ripping open a similar looking packet with his hands. "...Oh."

It made sense, she had noticed that humans in particular seemed to use these tiny appendages for a wide variety of tasks, especially when dealing with food. She tugged at the packet with a bit of a struggle, puffing out one of her cheeks - how did he do this so effortlessly? Then, a pop. The immediate aroma was familiar to her and she peeked inside. The bag was filled with potato chips, one of the frequent foods Mikey had fed her over the past weeks. Vye then realized she had no idea how she was meant to eat this, in her previous form all she had to do was force her face into the packet and demolish what was there, but that didn't seem quite as practical now somehow.

At that moment Donatello walked in, holding an empty glass that he had come through to refill. Upon seeing their alien guest, he started to greet her, only to have his attention taken by his younger brother's excessive munching. At this point Leonardo seemed unphased as he worked his way through his cereal, but paused as he noticed Vye looking over at Mikey again, watching him pour an entire bag of pretzels into his mouth.

Vye took in this display and looked over at the other two turtles, who slowly and silently shook their heads at her. Taking another moment, she looked back down into the packet and hesitantly put her hand in. It felt strange, the grease rubbed on her skin as she reached for a single chip and carefully took it out of the pack. As she hinted the chip close to her mouth she looked at Don and Leo again, who proceeded to give her mirroring nods of approval. Receiving this as acknowledgement that she was doing the task correctly, she put the chip in her mouth and began to chew. This method seemed less efficient, but there must have been something to it.

Unknowing that his eating technique was being silently scrutinized, Mikey put down the remains of his final treat, a loud belch escaping him in the process. A stern voice from behind then startled him.

"Michelangelo."

"Eep!" He turned to see the small rat standing behind him, giving a very questionable look. "Oh, hey Master Splinter!"

"You should be more aware of your manners when we have guests."

Mikey sheepishly scratched the back of his head, laughing.

"Yeah, but- Better out than in, right?"

Master Splinter sighed, seeing that his words were not going to get through. Instead of pursuing further, he made his way towards the cupboards to prepare himself some tea. Vye watched curiously as he did this, continuing to cautiously nibble on the potato chips she brought to her mouth one by one.

"Training will begin soon, so I suggest you do not overeat." Splinter added.

"It's probably a little late for that, Sensei." Donatello remarked as he pointed out the pile of empty wrappers flooding the table.

Their father sighed, looking as if he was about to say something until he was interrupted by a beckoning voice from beyond the kitchen.

"Helloooo? Anybody home? Guys?"

Recognizing the voice, the turtles all turned to look at the doorway, where April now stood. She was carrying a small plastic bag and had a rucksack held over one shoulder. Seeing she had found who she was looking for, she smiled and entered the room.

"Hey, April." Don greeted.

"You're early." Leo continued, putting away his now empty bowl into the sink.

April carefully took the rucksack off her shoulder and rested it on the table.

"Well I did say I was going to drop by with some more clothes. It's not much, but it should do until we can take Vye up onto the surface to-" Her voice trailed off as she spotted the girl in question, who was watching her in the same curious manner as everyone else, still eating her potato snack. "Wait...That's not her breakfast is it?"

"Sure it is! We weren't gonna let her go hungry!" Mikey beamed.

April looked at Mikey in disbelief for a second, almost dropping the bag in her hands. She then placed her hand on her hips, leaning forward slightly to scold him.

"Mikey! You can't just give her potato chips for every meal!" She started. "She's in a human body now, she probably needs to have a more human diet. She's not like you guys, it might make her sick."

"Aww, what? But she likes them!"

"That's not the point…"

Vye tilted her head as she watched the group discussion unfold. It seemed whatever she was eating now also wasn't quite right. There really was a lot to learn with this new form, would she even be able to handle it all? The playful turtle was right though, she did like the potato chips, even if they did taste a little different to her than before. The change would probably adapt her tastes in many ways, which she had forgotten to consider. Did this mean there was a much wider variety of foods she had yet to experience? Something about that thought sparked an excitable curiosity in her.

After April had finally convinced Michelangelo to be more stringent with the newly human guest's diet, she took the rucksack again and held it over the back of her shoulder.

"Alright, so...Where am I putting this?"

The group all exchanged looks, except for Vye who obliviously continued to munch away at her food. The night before Vye had been left to sleep on the sofa, a common practice they'd shared with many of their guests, but after finding her curled up in a different bed the following morning it was beginning to cross their minds that perhaps that wasn't a viable solution.

"Anywhere but my room!" Michelangelo blurted out, sensing his family's gaze settle on him.

April raised an eyebrow, realizing she'd hit a nerve. Vye was probably still adjusting to her new place in the lair as well as the group overall, and it sounded like she'd already been a bit intrusive in some way. Given that she herself had also stayed in Michelangelo's room once before, it made sense to her that he had a bit of a sore spot in having to share it.

Insistent in trying to keep the sanctity of his room, Mikey indulged the others on what had transpired that morning. April had hit the nail on the head, and she sighed as she folded her arms. Meanwhile, Donatello rubbed under his chin thoughtfully.

"It's probably instinctual." He mused. "As 'Dash', Vye relied heavily on her other senses, and probably acted on a lot of impulses. Sort of like Klunk."

"So she's...acting like a cat?" Leo asked.

"Well...I suppose so, theoretically. She probably didn't realize she was doing it."

Mikey gulped. "I-It'll go away though, right?"

April slowly tapped her cheek in thought as she absorbed the conversation before putting out her own idea. This matter seemed like it might be more delicate than they all originally thought.

"Maybe a compromise would work." She started. "How about if she just stays in the room? If Don's right, then it's probably partly a sensory thing. She's in a human body now so her sense of smell and the like are probably a lot different from before, but it'll be a lot easier switching from Mikey's bed to the floor, for example." Looking at Michelangelo's agitated expression she placed her hands on her hips. "Give her time and she'll probably get more comfortable sleeping elsewhere. For now though, it's probably better if we don't rattle her too much."

"Aw what?! Come on, April!" Mikey whined. He was slowly losing the battle.

"Michelangelo." Master Splinter interjected, placing his hand on Mikey's arm. "We must offer those in need our hospitality when we can. It is the honourable thing to do."

"He's right, Mikey." Said Leo.

Donatello nodded along with the others before adding another point.

"Besides, think about it. She must've really wanted to get that familiar comfort." He started, carrying on before Mikey could object. "She started off on the couch, but somewhere during the night she scrambled all the way up into your bedroom. I'd say climbing up and down that ladder is a pretty hefty task for someone adjusting to being bipedal after spending who knows how long as a quadruped."

Unable to get a word in edgewise, Mikey merely grimaced as he was continuously pelted with counterpoints and arguments. His head sank a little as the reality of the situation washed over him. He'd lost. This solution made the most sense, and while he hated it, he didn't want to push any further in fear of getting booted from the room altogether, especially if it led to him sharing a room with Raphael again. That was definitely something he wanted to avoid.

"Ahhh fine, whatever! She can sleep in my room." He blurted reluctantly as he began to leave the kitchen. "But not my bed, okay?"

He turned and pointed at the young girl accusingly as he got to the doorway, looking unusually strict.

"Okay." Vye nodded.

With the matter seemingly dealt with, April made her way to drop off the clothes like she had announced, while Leonardo began to help Master Splinter with making his awaited tea. Donatello turned to Vye just as he was about to leave the room.

"Don't worry, we should have some spare padding somewhere. I'll set it up in there for you."

She wasn't sure what he meant by padding, but she surmised he must have referred to the fact that Michelangelo probably wanted her to sleep on the floor, which would have been hard and uncomfortable. Merely nodding again to Donatello as he left, she dropped her now empty snack packet with the rest of the rubbish left behind and made her way to follow behind Mikey again as he marched his way towards the television area.

On her route she turned her head to look across the spread of the lair. Looking at everything at her new height gave her a new perspective, and though it was a little strange it was also intriguing how different it made the place seem. The size was a little less daunting now that she was bigger. As she looked around her gaze stopped as she caught glance of Raphael walking from his room towards the kitchen area. They both halted as their eyes met, Raph scowling and letting out a low growl as he clenched his fists. Vye flinched at this reaction, quickly looking away as soon as he stormed off towards his destination. Even though she was bigger now, there was something about that particular turtle that still intimidated her greatly.

"Hey Vye!"

Her nerves were practically punched away by the sound of Michelangelo's voice beckoning her from the nearby sofa.

"Wanna watch tv?" He grinned as he patted the cushions, seeming to have already gotten over the fact she was hijacking his room. Unbeknownst to her, he had already begun to consider the fact that if she was bunking with him, it presented a massive opportunity for him to expose her to all sorts of Earth culture. Comic books, video games, movies; the important things.

Giving a slight smile in relief, Vye continued on her way over. In her previous form she had paid little attention to the cluster of moving picture screens in front of the sofa, so as she sat down she found herself quickly enthralled. It wasn't like she'd never seen a television anywhere before - in fact they were quite a common technology throughout the galaxy - but she hadn't had much opportunity to sit and enjoy the contents of it. Most of the time she would catch newscasts from other planets, but what Michelangelo appeared to be watching with something more recreational.

Getting caught up in the superhero world in front of her eyes for at least ten minutes, Vye almost didn't hear Donatello as he addressed her, having stopped on his way towards his work space.

"Say, Vye, I've been wanting to ask you something."

It took a minute to register she was being spoken to, and once she did, she turned her head to look over at him. Mikey, however, remained with his eyes glued to the television.

"It's nothing major, I was just curious." Don continued. "It's about your eyes."

Vye blinked slowly.

"My...eyes?"

"Yeah, I noticed that when you mimicked April they didn't become green like hers are. They became a different colour entirely."

"Oh yeah!" Mikey blurted out suddenly as he turned around on the sofa. "I was wondering about that too! What's the deal? And why are you so small?"

The alien girl felt a slight warmth in her cheeks once she realized what they were referring to, shifting her gaze to her knees and twiddling her thumbs.

"O-Oh...That." She muttered. "That's...Well... I'm still young for my kind and, well, quite inexperienced...So sometimes I mess up my form a little. Especially if I'm interrupted or...distracted."

"So it was just an error?" Don queried. "Does that happen with every form you take?"

"Um...Possibly. I'm not entirely sure, but...It happened with my last one."

Mikey tilted his head slightly. "Y'mean Dash?"

"Yes. I got the coat markings wrong of the original species, and well...When one of the locals noticed…"

"...They handed you over to the Galactic Federation." Donatello finished her sentence, looking up in thought. "I see, so that's why you were in their lab."

Vye closed her eyes as she nodded, her head remaining drooped in mild shame. She hated admitting that she'd been caught due to such an obvious mistake, worse being that it wasn't even the first time it had happened. It had become difficult to keep count of just how often she'd been found out due to one of her form blunders.

"In that case," Don spoke up again. "Why don't you try changing them?"

Vye looked up at him again, looking a bit perplexed. To clarify further, he continued.

"Well...Purple isn't exactly a...common eye colour on earth. Certainly not for humans."

"Oh…"

She hadn't noticed this, Dash's sight was rather different from how she saw things now so the colour of earth human eyes hadn't occurred to her, and it probably wasn't a good thing if part of her stood out that much. Self-consciously feeling around the area of her eyes with her fingertips, she began to ponder this for a moment. This didn't last long as Michelangelo suddenly blurted out his own feelings on the matter.

"Aw come on, Don! But they look cooler this way!"

"It doesn't matter if it's 'cool', Mikey." Don frowned. "Anything that makes her stand out isn't exactly a good thing. What if she wants to go topside and blend in with other humans?"

"Hey, last time I checked we stand out a shell of a lot more than she does, and we do just fine." He gestured to Vye with his thumb, catching her attention. "Also if you're far away enough, they don't look that bad!"

Donatello squinted at his brother before returning his attention back to Vye, who upon noticing the glance looked straight back in silence. Not peeling his eyes away he took a few steps from the couch, folding his arms as he began to ponder. Michelangelo had a point, as much as he hated to admit it. From a distance or a glance her eyes could probably pass for blue at best, and if she struggled as much as she claimed to get her forms right, there was probably a risk of making things worse if she tried to change it now. Conceding, he sighed and moved his hands to his hips.

"Well...I suppose if anyone asks, she could say she has contact lenses…"

"Contact…?" Vye started before getting interrupted by Mikey gripping her shoulders and shaking her from side to side.

"See! It's fine!" Mikey grinned, grabbing the TV remote and pointing it towards the television screens. "She could pretend she's a superhero! Or dressing up like one of the aliens in Super Major Space Race 89 ! Though you'd probably need a cloak for that..."

While he wanted to point out that none of those were exactly a better option, Donatello already felt a little exasperated and merely shrugged it off, given Mikey appeared to mostly be talking to himself at this point. It took a moment for Vye's head to settle from the sudden rattling, and once it did she came to a realization; the mention of space had triggered a thought.

"Oh...I never got a chance to thank you."

"Me?" Michelangelo pointed towards himself, lowering the remote in his other hand.

"Yes. Well...All of you." She continued. "If you hadn't gotten me out of that Galactic Federation lab when you did...I don't know what they would have done to me in there…"

An anxious grimace washed over Vye's face for a moment as she recalled the nerves she felt being stranded within her own containment cell. Catching the waver in her voice, Donatello snapped out of curiosity mode and smiled down at her.

"Well we're just as indebted to you. If you hadn't broken out when you did and caused all that distraction, we might not have even gotten out of our cells."

"Yeah! It worked out for everyone!" Michelangelo added. "...Well, except those Collection Squad guys, heh."

The comfort in their words reached Vye, causing her to smile just a little bit and forget about her previous anxiety. She began to fixate her gaze on her twiddling thumbs again, this time her face warmed with a bashful happiness, as she was reassured she had done something helpful.

The moment of self-satisfaction was short lived as the sudden blaring of sirens began to echo through the vast space of the lair, causing everyone to jump - Vye more so than the others as she hadn't heard the sound before. It was the security system again. Before she could muster the words to ask what was happening, Donatello had already rushed over to his computers, frantically typing away as he tried to track down the source of the trigger. Mikey simultaneously got to his feet, but remained close to Vye as she cowered behind the couch cushions. Raph's usual gruff bark then hollered from across the room as he walked out from the kitchen.

"Yo, Don, what gives?!"

"Just give me a sec. " Don insisted as everyone began to gather into the central room while the warning sounds continued on.

He got to his feet abruptly, leaning on his desk.

"Uh...Guys?" His voice shook slightly as he pointed to his screen. "I think it's the Galactic Federation...Again."

Sharp exhales escaped the group, April taking a step forward.

"Wait, you mean the aliens that came and arrested you-?"

Leonardo frowned, walking to stand behind his brother at the computer.

"Donnie, are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean...After last time I used some materials from the ship we hijacked to add to the biosensor database...And this signal is definitely from one of those cruisers."

"But didn't we totally lose those guys?!" Mikey wailed from where he stood.

"Yes, but they already knew how to get to our planet before we did that." Don answered. "Not to mention they've already been in our home once…"

Donatello sighed as he parked himself back down in his chair. He had said this out loud just as he was realizing it himself. Even though he had removed what he thought were tracking perimeters from the ship, none of that would make a difference if their location was already known from the get-go. The siren carried on whooping, starting to grate on Raphael's nerves and causing him to grit his teeth.

"What are they doing here though?" April asked.

"Take a wild guess." Raphael growled as he gestured with his thumb towards the small girl who sat skittishly on the sofa behind them.

Vye flinched as she felt everyone's gaze fall upon her, gripping tightly onto the cushions she was hiding behind. Anxiety began to fill her eyes. Of course they would be looking for her. Despite everyone's varying degree of stress, Leo remained calm and turned to their father for guidance.

"Master Splinter...What should we do?"

"Hm…" Splinter mulled. "First...I ask that you turn off that alarm, Donatello."

Hearing his name mentioned, Don snapped out of his brief sulk and immediately did as he was told. The lair was met with silence once again, and while a relief to everyone's ears, it didn't ease much of the tension.

"Secondly," Splinter continued. "We should wait patiently for our guests."

It took a couple of minutes to shift the group into a unanimous decision, mainly due to Raphael's objections in the matter. They all stood around anxiously in wait, except for their alien guest who had been ushered off into the closest room by Leonardo, and merely sat on the ground just to the side of the doorway so that she could listen in. The Collection Squad arrived as abruptly as expected, though appeared to be much more peaceful in their approach, which threw everyone off guard. There were no signs of disruption on the surface level, and the main crew were accompanied by less security personnel than the last time. A familiar cloaked alien with cat-like eyes stepped out from the small group, holding a clipboard to their chest, and the other hand holding an equally familiar device. On seeing the figure, Raphael tutted as he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"You guys ever heard of callin' first?"

His comment was met by a gentle shove from Donatello, who stood next to him. The alien leered over at Raphael before returning their attention to the entire room.

"Good day, residents." They began. "I understand this may be an...unforeseen event for you all, considering you 'escaped' our capture the last time we met."

Everyone became wary, their expressions showing minor worry, except for Raphael who continued to scowl. The alien ignored this and continued.

"However it is with great contrition that we come to you this day to let you know, in person, that you have all been...pardoned."

The group's jaws suddenly became laxed. Did they hear him correctly? Leonardo stepped out from his place to question the alien.

"What do you mean 'pardoned'?"

"Well, after extended investigation it turns out that there was a….hm." They hesitated. "An error on our part, when we set out your arrest. You see…"

The tall figure stepped aside as they gestured for a shorter, more youthful alien awkwardly came forward to stand level with them, their head hung low.

"One of our interns that was in charge of organizing the databases for the planets we were searching managed to slip up on some vital information." The taller alien carried on, looking down at the younger counterpart with mild disappointment. "Which means our database of 'registered creatures' was….incomplete."

Donatello's eyes widened slightly as he brought his fist down into his palm. That's right. Last time they were arrested because of Klunk, and they had acted like they'd never seen anything like him before.

"I thought it was strange that you guys didn't know what a cat was." He blurted out without thinking, receiving some minor glances from the others.

The alien took no offense to this however, and merely looked at Don for a moment before looking back at his subordinate with disapproval.

"Hm...Yes."

They were clearly experiencing mild embarrassment from the situation, unable to state anything further as they nudged the intern forward.

"We bring you our most humble apologies."

"I-I'm so terribly sorry!"

The pair bowed to the group, the intern doing so more deeply and frantically than their older staff member. Everyone exchanged awkward glances, totally taken aback by the turn in events. Given how the last time went, this definitely wasn't how they expected the encounter to go. They all felt a bit of relief in having listened to Master Splinter's guidance this time around, who was watching the scene unfold quietly. Unsure of what to say, Leo said the only thing he could think of.

"Uh, We...We accept your apology."

The relief they all felt was challenged as the aliens straightened up again, the experienced creature continuing to speak.

"The Galactic Federation thanks you. As compensation, neither the Federation or Collection Division will approach your household or this planet again for a minimum of 6 Earth months unless in a state of emergency." He shifted his gaze to look at Donatello, whose shoulders flinched slightly at the sudden focus on him. "As a gesture of good will you have also been permitted to keep the Collection Cruiser that you... borrowed ."

All Donatello could do was chuckle nervously, scratching his cheek. The next words spoken by the alien caused the group to tense up once again.

"However, as a matter of galactic safety and protocol, it is imperative that I query the whereabouts of the creature that you took with you."

"Klunk?" Mikey asked, worry in his voice.

"No...The other one."

From behind the nearby doorway, the words struck Vye like a needle, her arms wrapping around her tucked knees as her anxiety began to flare.

"We know that particular being is not from this solar system, and I'm afraid it's essential that we take it back to the Galactic Federation Laboratories for safe keeping."

Michelangelo's worry quickly became irritation as he frowned at the sentence just spoken.

" Safe keeping ? That place is far from safe keeping! You were hurting he- uh- it!"

"Michelangelo." Splinter cooed, walking over to his son to prevent him stepping further forward. "I apologise for my son, however I am afraid the creature you seek is no longer here."

The alien raised what would have been an eyebrow, their suspicion growing evident on their face.

"Unfortunately I can't just take your word on that. We have a warrant for a required sweep of the area…"

Vye tightened her grasp around her legs, closing her eyes tight. As Splinter began to try and ward off the alien's suspicions, she reopened them. If she was found out, they would all get arrested again - or potentially worse. There had to be something they could do to get the squad to leave...Something…

It was then she noticed the large dark blanket bundled just a few meters away from where she sat. Her fingers dug into her clothes for a moment as she gathered her courage, and then carefully stumbled to her feet, scooping up the material.

"It's gone."

The new voice echoed through the room, bringing everyone's attention to look over at the source. The turtles all looked amongst themselves, fighting the instantaneous urges to tell the girl to go back into hiding. Vye swallowed hard before making her way over to the cloaked alien, presenting the dark blanket in her arms.

"The creature...You won't find it here because it...it passed away. It couldn't survive in the atmosphere."

The alien's cat-eyes squinted at the small girl.

"...And who are you?"

Vye opened her mouth to speak but no words came out, thankfully April swiftly came forward and placed her hands on her shoulders to help stop them from trembling.

"She's- ...She's my daughter, sir." She began. "I wasn't sure what you would do to us, so I told her to hide."

"Ah...Of course. You're a local." His gaze moved back to the young girl, his stare becoming intense.

With no further words, the alien finally lifted his small scanning device, allowing the beams to run down April's body before checking the various data on it's small screen. Appeased with the confirmation she was human, he then moved on to do the same with Vye. Although the process took the same amount of time, it felt more than twice as long as everyone found themselves holding their breath, the scanning laser moving slowly down and down the small alien's body, until…

"...Hmph. I see."

The scanner then went across the blanket held in Vye's arms, detecting the various hairs left behind from the previous day. The alien let out a frustrated sigh as he examined his findings.

"Most disappointing...Though, it's probably for the best." He dropped his arm to rest by his side once more, looking across the group. "Then we have no further business."

He took one final bow, pressing on the apologetic intern's head to force them back into the same position.

"We thank you for your cooperation."

Almost as quickly as they'd arrived, the squad made their way quietly out of the lair, leaving the entire group in silence.

It wasn't until Vye's knees buckled, causing her to slide down onto the floor, that everyone snapped back to attention. Michelangelo rushed over to help April in pulling her back to her feet, grinning slightly.

"Not bad, you guys!"

Leonardo rubbed the back of his head, continuing to look off in the direction that the collection squad had left in.

"That was...really unexpected. More than that, I can't believe that actually worked."

"They...They believed me, right…?" Vye stuttered, looking down at her hands as the blanket was taken from her by April.

"It seems so." April smiled. "Their scanners didn't pick up on you either."

Donatello tapped his chin thoughtfully. "They don't really seem to know what they're looking for, do they…?"

"I said it before, those goons have their heads filled with space dust." Raphael grumbled, his voice getting closer to the group.

Vye nervously looked up at Raphael, who remained crossing his arms and glaring down at her. She braced herself for the inevitable yelling, only to be met with a mere grunt. The idiot could have easily just turned herself in and saved them a world of trouble... then again that would have probably resulted in yet another unwanted trip into space for all of them for 'harbouring a figurative' or something along those lines. He hated to admit it, but it probably was the right thing to have done in the moment.

"I guess you're not terrible." He paused. "Not at lyin' though, your lyin' stinks. You're lucky those guys are dumb as rocks."

Slightly dumbfounded, all Vye could do in response was blink. Was this his way of being nice? It was very hard to tell. She already struggled with earth social cues as it was, but reading Raphael was a whole other battle in itself. Master Splinter tapped his cane gently against his son's foot before setting it back down on the ground.

"As I always say...Patience is a virtue."

"You were right Master Splinter." Leo smiled lightly.

"Yes, and now we may rest easy."

Michelangelo punched the air with his free fist as he and April aided Vye in sitting back down on the nearby couch.

"Sweet! No more Galactic Police!"

His excitement was quickly deflated by Master Splinter pointing the slim cane in his direction.

"Except for you, Michelangelo." He began, sternly. "You are very much behind in your training, which incidentally begins in 5 minutes."

"Awww…! But Sensei!"

As Mikey moaned and groaned trying to reason his way out of an early morning training session, Donatello approached the now rattled alien girl sat on the edge of the couch. The incident had clearly put her on edge, and the potential of being caught out in such close quarters had most likely shaken her nerves - the behaviour almost put him in mind of the way she was back when she was 'Dash'. Vye's gaze remained fixed on her hands, and though he spoke gently she still jumped at the sudden interaction, jolted out of her daze.

"Hey, maybe we should give you an official tour of the lair." He suggested. "It's probably a little confusing at the moment, right?"

After digesting his words Vye nodded slowly. It was true, though she had been living there a short while already, everything looked different than it used to and her sense of direction had also changed significantly. Not to mention a lot of the time in her previous form she spent being carried around by other people, so finding her own way around was a bit of a challenge at times. One thing she'd noticed in particular was that her sense of smell wasn't as good any more, and that was going to be a detriment in the matter. Sensing that he had piqued her interest, Donatello smiled and placed his hands on his hips.

"Alright, then we'll start with the central space."

"Woah, hold on a minute!" Michelangelo boomed, causing all eyes to fall on him. "I have to do 100 high flying kicks, but Don gets to do a tour?! How is that fair?!"

"Because your brother isn't lacking in discipline." Master Splinter scolded, tapping his cane on his whining son's head.

"Ow!" Mikey groaned. "But why can't April do it?"

"Miss O'Neil has more pressing matters I'm sure."

April scratched the back of her head, her other hand on her hip.

"Sorry Mikey, I would but I'm already late for opening up the shop." She raised her hand in apology. "Maybe next time."

With the exchange of some waves and nods, April parted ways with the group, quickening her pace the closer she got to the exit. The unprecedented alien encounter had already made her late, and it wasn't an ordeal that was exactly easy to explain to customers. Michelangelo watched her leave with an almost longing expression, his dreams of getting out of training becoming shattered the moment the door closed behind her. He let out a long arduous groan as his shoulders slumped forward, finally accepting defeat. Leonardo patted his shoulder, attempting to perk him up.

"Come on, Mikey. We'll help you with your form."

This was followed by Raphael giving a light punch on his other side.

"Yeah, you could use it."

The two older brothers began to lead him off towards their usual training spot, Splinter watching carefully for a moment before turning to his remaining son, who had tapped on his shoulder lightly to get his attention.

"I'll make it for half-time, Sensei."

"Of course. However, make sure Miss Vye gets a good run of the lair. We do not want her getting lost in the sewers."

"Sure."

Master Splinter had raised a valid concern, to which Donatello suddenly felt a minor hint of pressure. His main objective at the start was merely to distract Vye from the sudden inspection, but obviously it would be far more important to ensure that in future she didn't wander off and give away their location in the process - not to mention what could happen if she accidentally ended up top-side or even roaming into the much more dangerous lower levels. He shook this feeling off rather quickly as he received an affirming nod from Master Splinter, giving a small bow of his head in return. As the rest of his family made their way onward towards their planned activity, he shifted to face the puzzled red-head still sitting on the sofa.

"Shall we?"

It didn't take long for Donatello to take the Cytolerus on a loop of the lair, although it was hard to tell if she was retaining any of the information he was putting across. For the majority of the time she merely stared and nodded, her eyes occasionally widening when something of interest caught her gaze, but not much other than that. Maybe their home wasn't that interesting to an alien who had seemingly been all over space? As they reached the final spot by his work space, he turned to face her again.

"...And this is the lab. You can have a look around if you want, but- uh...Please don't touch anything."

His comment almost went unnoticed as Vye stared absentmindedly at the desk spaced to the side. She remembered that desk. It was the one she'd been examined on multiple times in her previous form. The memories gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, it almost felt like a different life now, even though the last time she would have been checked was probably less than a week ago. It felt even more strange to be looking down at it, instead of looking up from it.

"Are you okay?"

The second comment from Donatello snapped her out of her thought process, her head jolting to look over at him.

"Oh...Yes."

"Well, that's pretty much it." Don placed one hand on his hip. "You'll get used to the place soon enough."

Vye nodded at him slowly, seeming to stare. Feeling a slight unease, he leaned forward to wave his hand carefully across her line of sight.

"...Books…"

The sudden words surprised him and he leaned back again as he realized she was in fact staring right past him. Turning around to follow her gaze he noticed the large shelving unit she had been eyeing up.

"Oh, yeah. Do you like reading?" He asked.

It took her a moment to think of an answer. Did she like reading books? She wasn't sure. When was the last time she'd actually seen one? She knew they held all sorts of written words for a wide array of uses, but it had been a long time since she'd acquainted herself with such items.

"...I don't really know." Was all she could reply.

"Hm…" Donatello rubbed under his chin for a moment, thinking to himself. "Well, it might not be a bad idea for you to try some."

He walked over to the bookshelf in question and scanned the contents with his finger. A lot of the content there was highly advanced, probably not the best thing for an inexperienced extra-terrestrial starting out as a human. Finally his trace came to a stop and he pulled out one of the slimmer books, covered in a very light layer of dust as it clearly hadn't been picked up in a while. Vye looked down in bemusement at the small paperback handed across to her. There was a picture of a human skeleton on the cover, though not knowing what that was she wasn't able to perceive the image herself as she cautiously took the book from Don's grasp.

"It's just a basic level biology book, but it might be worth looking at so you can understand your new form a little better." He paused as he noticed her gaze shooting right past him once again, examining the rows of books laid across the shelves. "...But you can read whatever you want...I guess?"

Vye slowly shook her head as she looked back at him.

"No, I'll be fine with this."

Donatello smiled a bit as he turned to make his way out of the workshop, raising his hand to her.

"Well, help yourself." His open hand changed into a point as he realized something. "Although, just...don't eat anything when you read them, okay? No matter what Mikey says, greasy fingers do not help you turn pages easier."

There was a slight hint of disapproval in his tone as he recalled one moment in particular where one of his first editions of Mechanics & Theory was horrifyingly besmirched in cheese-dust fingerprints. Not fully understanding what his warning had to do with reading, Vye tilted her head slightly before nodding. She then followed him out of the workshop and made her own way towards the entertainment area, while Donatello himself made a beeline to join the rest of his family with their training session.

Now having a moment to herself, she opened up the small book on her lap and skimmed some of the written lines. She seemed to be able to read them perfectly fine, that was good. After putting in a bit more focus, her eyes began to squint and she wrinkled her nose as she tried to absorb the information. This was meant to be basic? Humans were clearly more complicated than she thought. The sudden sound of clattering broke her concentration and she turned her head to peer over the back of the sofa she had made herself comfortable on. It was only the turtles, appearing to be clashing their weapons against each other. She'd vaguely noticed them doing this activity before but as she would usually be sleeping, she hadn't had a good look. What was the purpose of it? It looked like they were trying to hurt one another, yet it was all an organized affair that they seemed to be inclined to. With a shake of her head she decided not to question it and merely watched for another minute before returning her attention to the book in her hands, trying once again to dive her mind into the knowledge laid out in front of her and allowing the echoing sounds of Master Splinter and his sons' sparring to gradually become part of the new ambience.

The young dark haired boy hesitated as he stood in the doorway, his hand tightly grasping onto his phone. In ordinary circumstances he would have no problems stepping foot over the threshold between him and the man mere metres away, but when it came to bearing bad news all that confidence crumbled away. He had been trying so hard to make a good impression after all. As he gulped to try and swallow his fear, he was addressed with a raspy voice that caused the gesture to get stuck in his throat for a moment.

"I assume this is about your weekly report." Agent Bishop hissed.

The catch in his throat caused the boy to cough instead of speak, clearing his throat briefly before attempting again.

"Y-Yes, sir." His voice remained slightly scratched, easing off the more he spoke. "I've been constantly investigating the alleyways, checking news articles as well as online postings...I-I even tried going into the subway like you suggested but there have been no signs or mention of the creature anywhere."

As Bishop refused to turn away from his own monitor, the boy looked down at the phone in his hand. He had finally found something...something that could put him up the ladder, put him in favour with the revered Agent John Bishop, and yet nothing to show for it.

"I...I definitely saw it, sir."

"Oh I'm not doubting that." Bishop smirked a little as he turned to face the boy, his arms crossed behind his back. "Young man, I have seen more on this earth than you could possibly imagine."

Being a member of the Earth Protection Force had given the Agent a lot of insight into the wider scope of life in the universe. He had made this very clear in the induction period of the boy's internship, which only fed his fascination and determination to do a good job under his wing. Agent Bishop sauntered towards the boy, looking down the rim of his glasses at him.

"It's out there somewhere, believe me." He turned around, adjusting his tie with one hand. "Nothing hides from Agent John Bishop, or the U.S. Government."

"You really think it's still out there?" The boy stuttered. "Have you heard something-?"

Bishop's grin returned as he walked over to one of the other large monitors in the room, looking over his shoulder at the boy for a moment before attending to the keyboard on the desk in front of him.

"In a manner of speaking." He began. "Have you heard of the Federation of Universal Protection against Deadly Extra-Terrestrials ?"

As he looked at the display on the screen, the boy went slack-jawed, almost unable to even think on the ridiculously long name presented to him. What looked to be a Wanted notice was shown, though all the text was in a language he could not recognise. It definitely wasn't a human language.

"No...sir." He barely croaked.

"It seems they are looking for a particular species, one that could pose a threat to all life in the universe as we know it." Bishop continued. "They wish to capture and exterminate them at all costs."

"Is there really something that dangerous out there?"

"Not out there, son." Bishop turned to face the boy once more, his expression turning more grim. "I believe it's here, on this planet."

The boy almost dropped his phone at the sudden turn, fumbling to grip it tightly and looking up at his mentor nervously. The deadly alien was here? On Earth?

"H-How can you be so sure?"

The flapping of Bishop's sleeve was heard as he enthusiastically threw his arm out towards the monitor, gesturing at particular markings.

"Do you recall when you showed me that original photo? Well...This state-of-emergency message was broadcast across the galaxy mere weeks before your sighting." His lips curved into a grin. "An awfully big coincidence in my book."

The young boy regained control of his jaw and brought his hand up to cup his chin as he listened. It was quite a coincidence...but how could they be sure this was the same creature? Unable to read the contents of the space message himself, the boy had no choice but to take the Agent's word for it. If he saw reason to be concerned, there was probably a good chance he was right. The hand on his chin shifted back to his side as his confidence began to return, his gaze looking more bold than before.

"So what do we do?"

"We keep looking. I'll be working on correspondence with the Galactic Federation to see what information I can get on their side." Agent Bishop turned partially towards the screen again. "Perhaps I can strike a deal with them. You keep up with your weekly reports, but check sightings outside of the city too. We can't have this spreading."

"Yes, sir!" The boy nodded.

A mild excitement began to build within his stomach. What he feared had become a dead end seemed to have become something much, much bigger. A small hopeful smile crept onto the boy's face as he stared up at the screen above, eager to move on to the next step.