Groaning, Cassidy woke up with a stretch before opening her groggy eyes. Sitting up, she patted the space around her, this isn't my bed. Scrubbing away the eye crusts, her eyes adjusted to the dim light as she took in her surroundings. That's right, she was in Raph's room. Mmhmm, Raphael. He set her ablaze so easily. She chided herself for allowing him to see the scars that littered across her back. She wasn't ready for him to see them, she didn't want him to think badly of her. But, by his reaction and how he was so gentle yet willing to lay waste to anyone who harmed her, it warmed her core. That man could unwind her in the most delicious way. Speaking of which, where was he?

Climbing off the mountain of mattresses, Cassidy shook out her hair and threw on a thunder cats sweatshirt she found in his dresser. She giggled to herself as she imagined him waltzing around and lair as a little turtle boy, wearing a bandana too big for his head and shorts too long for him. Shaking her head, she crept out of Raph's room as quietly as she could, not wanting to draw too much attention considering Raph had snuck her in earlier that morning. She glanced at her phone, she had only slept about four hours, it was now 8 o'clock in the morning. She made her way down the stairwell, she realized that there was no commotion in the den. It was uncommonly quiet. Not being fully awake still, she groggily walked towards the dojo. She peaked around the thin, rice paper door so see all the boys and their master, training. Her eyes glanced around the room, landing on each ninja as they spared against each other. Then, she landed on their father, he was seated only about five feet from her.

"Please, come in Miss Cassidy, sit here." Master Splinter patted the seat beside him, she felt incredibly out of place considering she just woke up and was still wearing all of Raph's clothing. Sheepishly, she made her way over and sat beside their Sensei. Once seated, she glanced up towards the boys, her eyes finding her favorite terrapin, he briefly glanced her way with a wink before advancing on Mikey. She bowed her head in a blush, that strong need was building.

"Did you sleep well, my child?" Splinter asked, his eyes looking at her from his perennial. She flinched, not realizing that she had borderline started drooling over his largest son.

"Yes, I apologize for not asking first. I forced Raphael to bring me here, I didn't want to be alone after everything." She rambled on, fidgeting with her fingers, not making eye contact as she held her head down in shame. She didn't want him to be upset or disappointed in her.

"No need to apologize. The Hamatos' help our own, and you are a part of this family Miss Cassidy."

"Thank you Master Splinter."

"Now I must ask…what is the nature of your relationship with my most tempered son?" If Cassidy didn't know any better, she could've sworn that she'd seen a smirk on the old rat's face.

"Uh, it's um…fairly new…" She wasn't sure how to continue. Last night they made their feelings of each other known, but didn't add a label to it.

"I see," the wise rat said, nodding his head as he continued to watch his two youngest sons spar. Calling out different instructions to better their form, using a few Japanese terms Cassidy assumed.

"Please understand, I do care about your son, deeply." Cassidy lifted her head and made a point to look at him, he met her and had a smile across his lips. He had a glint in his eye as he nodded towards her, placing a paw along her knee and giving her a gentle squeeze.

"I have no doubts Ms. Cassidy. Thank you." She felt a bubble of joy flutter in her belly, this was a good sign. She was able to take a deep breath and physically relax beside him as her eyes drifted back towards his sons. She has never been this happy or at ease this early in the morning. She felt peace.

"Sutoppu." The boys halted, bowing towards their opposing brother and turning to face Master Splinter. He gathered the each of his sons in a huddle, speaking low. Cassidy watched on in awe as their heads bobbed with acceptance held on to each of his words. Each brother bowed their heads before separating to put their respective sparring weapons on the back wall.

"Good Morning Cass!" Mikey sang as he bounded over to her and wrapped her in a big hug.

"Good morning to you too Mikey" He giggled as he set her down beside Raphael again.

"Morning Cass," Donnie nodded before grabbing a bucket and mop from the small closet in the back half of the room. "Come on Mikey, I want my coffee,"Donnie whined which earned a grumble from the youngest turtle as he gave Cass an eye roll before walking back towards Donnie. She watched Mikey walk back towards Donnie when she saw that Raphael was making his way towards her after Leo gave him a bump on his side and a look she didn't quite understand.

"G'mornin' babe." Hmm, babe… I like that. Cassidy blushed as he was now standing in front of her, his hulking form bent over her short frame.

"Morning…why aren't you helping your brothers?" She nodded towards Donnie and Mikey as they cleaned up the dojo mat, working their way back and forth.

"Eh, Mikey got sick and Don and him woke Dad last night after we got here so they both have cleaning duty." Raph shrugged, a smirk plastered on his face as he grabbed a new toothpick from his belt. She could tell that he was trying to be subtle, but his face gave him aways as his eyes traveled over her body. She knew that she looked like a frumpy box, she began twisting her fingers as she took in his sweaty, hulking form. Watching as his pebbled flesh pulled and twisted with his flexing muscles underneath. She saw the sweat glisten down his jaw, leaving a salty trail down his neck. She unconsciously licked her lips, meeting his eyes again she blanched. She'd just been caught ogling him like a piece of meat. She bit her lip as she felt her own neck and cheeks collect heat.

"Like what ya see?" He grinned, that toothpick was the star in many of her dirty thoughts. She felt that surge of confidence again, looking at him she placed her hand at the side of his neck, twirling the mask in her fingers.

"Absolutely Big Red." She smirked, letting the hand at his neck slowly drop down, placing a feather light touch over his collarbone, grazing down the center dip of his hard plastron. She felt his body tense, a sharp breath exit his lungs. Her face was scarlet, but she wanted to feel him again, feel his lips against hers.

"Hey Cassidy," Leo startled her out of her daydream, she let go of the red terrapin in front of her and looked to her right. Leo made his way to her, a smile on her face.

"I hope you slept well." She let out a breathy giggle, he was always so formal.

"I did! I'm sorry for forcing Raph to bring me here, I just…"

"No need to elaborate, Raphael already let us know. We are here for you." He laid a hand on her shoulder before stepping away towards the others. Cassidy felt bad because Mikey didn't look like his normal exuberant self as he kneeled on the ground with a bucket and sponge.

"So, did you get yelled at because of me?" Cass turned back towards Red, looking into his golden amber eyes.

"S'nothin', Dad and him were okay with it." He said as he placed a hand under her chin, never breaking eye contact.

"Hope you slept okay." His other hand gave a gentle squeeze against her bicep, his thumb swiped circles along her sweatshirt covered arm.

He wanted to kiss her so badly, but Mikey was the only one that knew anything had happened between the two. His brothers and father were under the impression that he slept on the couch in the den and not in his bed with her. He thought back to that morning when Leo came strutting into the kitchen to make his morning tea and how shocked he was that Raphael was already up and was watching tv on the couch. It was only six in the morning, Raphael was never up this early, especially since they got home around four that same morning.

"Hmm, I did…thanks to you," she trailed the cracks in his plastron with her fingers as she looked up at him. She wanted to kiss him but didn't want to be greedy with the new physical aspect of their relationship. A true smile graced his features, he brought his hand up to ruffle her hair before walking around her and out of the dojo.

"Let's go Mike, we're hungry." Raphael called back behind him, as he met up with Leo at the dojo door before disappearing out into the lair.

— —

Breakfast went by smoothly, Cassidy loved Mikey's cooking as she scarfed down about four pieces of bacon and at least three pancakes. She hadn't realized how hungry she was, considering last night she only had two pieces of pizza. They were all laughing together when she suddenly felt a hand on her thigh. She glanced down to see Raph's large, three-pronged hand grip her thigh with a gentle squeeze, before his shell-cell rang.

"April," he mouthed to her before standing and walking towards the couch in the den.

She watched him leave when she felt a nudge on her side, glancing over she saw Michelangelo's baby blues looking at her with a glint in his eye.

"Sooo, babycakes, how was last night?" He grinned in an excited whisper as he wiggled his eye ridges.

"Mikey," Cassidy whispered with a whine, but a smile was on her face. She leaned into him, in hopes that their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"It was…everything." She finished, another blush grew on her cheeks, his eyes grew big, an unmistakable twinkle in his eyes.

"So sis, how was the Big Brute? Was he gentle? Honestly didn't know he had it in him…" Mikey questioned, he was bouncing in his seat as he leaned towards her, grabbing her hands in his, she had his entire attention.

"He was…wait, NO nothing like that happened!" Cassidy's eyes went wide as she noticed the look on his face, the smirk and his bright blue eyes, he was insinuating that Raphael and her did…that.

"We…we just kissed Mikey, I swear! We haven't even…we…" Cassidy was flabbergasted, but the insinuation was playing in her mind. Would he be gentle? Would he be the first to make a move? Has he ever done itwith anyone before?Cassidy's mind was racing, she could feel herself getting heated and needed to find a distraction.

"Well, that was one hell of a kiss that I saw last night girlie." He chuckled again as he stood, stretching. He moved to stand behind her kitchen chair where he wrapped an arm around her shoulders from behind. Bending so he could speak in her ear, "Love ya sis." He winked before grabbing his skateboard and disappeared out into the tunnels. She adored Mikey, he was such a romantic and she cherished him and his antics.

Cassidy glanced to her side before grabbing her plate and setting it into the sink. She began to wash the dishes when Donnie came back into the kitchen.

"You don't need to worry about that Cass, it's Leo's turn for the dishes."

"Oh it's alright Donnie, I don't mind. Anyway, you guys weren't expecting to feed another mouth, it's the least I can do." Donnie gave her a small smile and a nod, knowing that like his red brother, he wasn't going to be able to say anything that would change her mind. A comfortable silence overcame them as he made himself another cup of coffee.

"Um, Donnie…"

"Yeah?" He didn't glance up as he watched his newest coffee maker.

"What do you know about him…um, about my half-brother?"

"Oh…um, yeah…where would you like to start?"

"The beginning please…what's his name?"

Donnie gave her a sad look, "Let's go to my lab, it'll be more comfortable and private." Donnie then grabbed his finished cup of coffee before he made his way back towards his lab. Cassidy finished drying her plate and set it back in the cupboard. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before following boy-genius to his lab.

Once inside, she threw herself on top of the cot that Donnie frequently napped on while he sat in his custom computer chair. He started slow, but after a few minutes, she was flooded with more and more information. Learning more about herself and her own life from a stranger than from her own mother. Cassidy found out that she was originally born in Manhattan, her half-brother was also born in Manhattan about eight years prior. Her half-brother, Nathan Morris was given up for adoption once he was taken away after his mother died after overdosing while his father survived. Eight years later, Nathan's father meet Charlotte who ended up having Cassidy. Once she was born, Charlotte fled back to her home in Ohio to live with her mom after their father was arrested for domestic violence and drug charges.

This was a lot of information for Cassidy to swallow but she stayed silent while drinking her water. She could tell that the purple genius was trying to remain professional without his emotions clogging up any of the information. She appreciated his tenacity with delivering this new information with such efficiency. He continued to dive into further, he said that Nathan grew up in foster care, had trouble with the law, but was incredibly smart. He ended up breaking into TCRI at the age of eighteen and had seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. Donnie was only able to track him by following articles involving TCRI and Baxter Stockman. At this point, Donnie let her know that the only reason he had found out she even had a half sibling is because when he checked into her background, he found out that her father, who has since passed, had another child. After learning that, Donnie being who he was, needed to learn everything about her. That is how Leonardo stumbled upon Donnie deep in research and all but forced him to share such information with him. Cassidy sat in absolute silence, sipping her water here and there. She was uncertain how much time had passed until Raphael came into the lab.

"Cass…April is here for you." Raphael said, his voice on edge as he crossed his arms while looking back and forth between her and his purple banded brother.

Stretching, she hadn't realized that her back became sore sitting on the hardened metal surface of the medical cot. Jumping down, she walked over to Donnie and patted him on the shoulder, "Thank you Donnie…I needed to know, and I…I'm sorry for the way that I acted," she said, giving him a small smile which he reciprocated by laying his hand on top of hers before letting her follow Raphael out of the lab. Donnie had felt guilty about how the events of her finding out about her half-brother transpired a little over a month ago. Donnie shook his head, as he turned to continue his research into Baxter Stockman because he was worried that the sneaky scientist had something up his sleeve. Now that Shredder was out of the picture, he feared that Stockman was going to try and take his place in power.

Cassidy and Raphael made their way out of Donnie's lab, gently bumping into each other along the way towards the den.

"E'rything okay?" Raphael questioned, stopping just before they made it to the den. They had cover of the tunnel which Cassidy was thankful for, allowing them a little bit of privacy before they were in front of April and the rest of his family.

"Yeah, I'm okay…just a lot to take in y'know?" Cass looked at the ground, water bottle still in her hands, watching the water within the bottle slosh about in her grasp. She could sense that Raph wasn't sure how to answer her, so he simply laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to lock eyes with him.

"April is bringing you clothes and stuff. Figured you didn't wanna wear mine all day."

"Oh, thanks. I mean, I'd rather wear yours than prance around naked" she giggled before thinking clearly, her eyes bugging out of her skull. Did I just say that? Smite me now!

"Uh…" wanting to back track, she made the mistake of looking at him again. He had the largest smirk upon his face, full on, his arms crossed his chest as he peered down at her.

"Hmm, I think it's like to see you prancin' in nothin'" he said teasingly, an unmistakable glint in his eye.

"Shut up," she mumbled with an eye roll, remembering the events of last night of him walking into his room and seeing her with nothing but his shorts on.

"Says the one who choked up cause he caught me in his shorts."

"Sayin' I was able to get you in my pants?" His smirked even more, as he took a step closer towards her.

"Weren't you ever taught to knock?" She exasperated, fiddling with the water bottle in her hands, trying to focus on anything but the hulking, green turtle in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat.

"Don't gotta knock, my room." He pushed.

"Not when I'm in there, I know Sensei taught you manners."

"Oh, especially when you're there, doll." He pushed closer towards her, the air supply shrinking.

"Oh really?" She rushed, feeling his hands reach to encircle around her waist, his chest pressed against his own.

"Really." He started leaning closer, but felt him hesitate as he neared her. He was so close, she wanted to kiss him all day. Cassidy let out a breathy moan just as their lips were about to touch.

Crunch. Crinkle.

Oh. My. Gosh!Cassidy internally screamed! They both looked down at the god forsaken water bottle in her hands. Her face was steaming, she crushed the bottle in her excitement of having him so close.

She felt his deep chuckle vibrate against her chest. Why am I like this!? Her inner turmoil written across her face. He chuckled, bowing to kiss her forehead before he stepped away and started making his way out into the open den.