It was a quiet drive. And usually I liked it that way, but I was so anxious and fidgety and exhausted all at the same time and I needed something to keep my mind busy before I went crazy. So I broke the silence.

"What's the story behind that scar on your shoulder?" In the rearview mirror, I caught Raphael jerk his gaze from the window as if I'd just woken him up. He lifted his right arm, glancing down at the raised scar tissue with a lopsided half-grin.

"Mikey sliced me when we were sparring a few years ago," he shook his head, reminiscing in the memory. "Idiot was trying to use a kusarigama for the first time. When Donnie told me how bad it was gonna scar I figured I'd make something good out of it and got him to turn it into a kanji."

I grimaced. "Like with a knife?"

"A kama."

"So you let Donnie cut you with an axe for the sake of a cool tattoo," I summarized dryly.

"Mikey did it," he corrected.

Mikey? Of all the brothers, why would he let Mikey do it? He must've caught my confused expression in the rearview mirror.

"He's a little more artistic than Donnie," he explained. "And Leo wouldn't've let me if he knew about it."

I just about burst out laughing. "You kept it from Leo? Wouldn't that just make him angrier?"

"Sorta."

"So he was mad when he found out?"

"Yeah. But it worked out good cuz I never coulda tattooed myself with tebori anyway. And it looks pretty sick."

I snorted. "Yeah. Must've hurt like hell, though."

Raph shook his head, laughing quietly to himself. "You have no idea," he said. "After it healed, Mikey went over it again. I would've had him do it a third time if Leo hadn't told Sensei about it."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. "Why would you want it done three times?"

"Why not? It makes it bigger."

I shook my head. "You're ridiculous," I muttered. "So what does it mean?"

"Fèn. It means anger, mostly."

I rolled my eyes. "How fitting. What about the one above your lip? How'd you get that?"

"Meand Leo were sparring a long time ago and he was rubbing it in my face that he won. So I wanted to go again, but with real weapons instead of bokutō."

"Bokutō?" I was too nervous to attempt sifting through my memories for the answer while driving.

"Wooden training weapons," he supplied. "When we were younger that's all Sensei would let us spar with. But I was mad I lost and bet Leo I could beat him if we were using real weapons."

Typical Raphael. "Did you?"

"No. Sensei came home and stopped us."

I fell quiet for a moment, unable to imagine how angry Splinter would've been. "...So Leo sliced you?" It must've been pretty deep if it scarred so bad.

"Yeah, right after I got him."

I managed to contain my gasp. "Those scars around his eye were you?"

"Yeah," his voice was low. "I don't really remember the fight, I was so mad. I don't think I meant to hurt him, it just kinda happened. Y'know?"

I nodded solemnly. "Yeah."

"I dunno if Leo meant to or not, but he got me pretty good."

I glanced in the rearview mirror, watching as he ran his thumb over the most prominent scar, his lip, and down his chin where it continued. "Got me on both sides," he said, feeling a less noticeable scar on the other side of his lip that led to another down the other side of his chin. The quartet of scars formed a broken, almost invisible 'x'.

"Why did that one not heal?" I asked curiously.

"It was deeper than the rest, so I asked Donnie to leave it."

Another one? "Why?"

"As a reminder."

"Of what?" Maybe it was because I didn't have any of my own battle scars, but I couldn't comprehend his insistence on prominent marks.

He shrugged his broad shoulders. "To be better I guess. All my scars are there because I screwed up, so all of 'em remind me to do better next time."

I nodded, "okay, I get that. But that seems a little extreme—constantly trying to improve—don't you think? I mean, what if you get a really stupid one? Like I have one from slipping and ramming my head into my bed frame. What's that gonna remind me of? To not jump on my bed?" I snorted. "Not a very heroic reminder." And it hasn't stopped me anyways.

"You did that?"

"Yeah," I sighed. "Scar's right below my eyebrow. And I have one on my thigh from a dog bite. But it's not stopping me from loving dogs."

He laughed lightly. "Yeah, I got one from a cat. Right on my thumb," he shook his head. "I hate cats."

I laughed. "Yeah, me too. It hardly scarred, but I got one from a cat bite on the side of my hand."

"Which one?" He asked.

I looked down at it, barely able to make out the puncture marks. "Right. Where's yours?"

"Right."

Huh. "You're a rightie?"

"Mostly. You?"

I narrowed my eyes in confusion. "Um, yeah. Completely. How are you mostly a rightie?"

"Ninjutsu requires ambidexterity."

"Right," I nodded, then suddenly perked up with excitement. "So I'm gonna get that too?" I nodded again to myself, answering my own question. "Sick." We drove in silence for a while, but I couldn't handle the quiet for long.

"What's your dumbest scar?" I asked.

"Uh…I dunno.…I have one on right above my plastron from tripping with my sai in my hand when I was small."

I laughed. "Nice. I have one on my neck from a hair-curling wand."

He grimaced audibly. "Ow. I got electrocuted when we were setting up cameras in the sewers."

"Ugh," I shivered involuntarily at the reminder of my recent injury. "I hate getting electrocuted."

Raphael chuckled. "Yeah, it was weird. I didn't get it as bad as you though. I got another one in my palm from breaking a lightbulb Mikey and I were throwing around."

"Oh, I got this one on my arm from when Liv and I were having a lightsaber fight with sticks."

He laughed and shook his head. "You guys are weird."

"Hey! You guys are weirder!" I argued, laughing myself because I knew he was right. Liv and I were pretty strange.

"What about the one on your face?"

"Huh?"

"The scar," he repeated. "On your cheekbone."

"Oh," I shook my head and exhaled through my nose. "My stupid older cousins. When I was really young they pinned me down and pretended to cut my face like the joker. Knifeslipped and cut me."

Raphael was silent and I knew he was pitying me.

"Yeah. I have one on the bottom of my foot from stepping on a nail," I laughed at my own stupidity. "And one on my ankle from scratching myself while climbing a tree and letting it get infected."

"Aw, I got one once from messing around with Mikey and it ended up getting infected and I was really young so I thought I had to get my leg chopped off."

And we laughed at the idiocy of our past selves and told the stories of our scars.

AN: Yooo it's been a hella long time you guys I am so sorry omg haha. School's just been a major pain in the ass lately, like project after project and test after test and essay after essay it literally never ends. Like I have a speech in LA this week that I'm really stressed for and like three projects to for Lord of the Flies and a personal response like damn. But summer's almost here and I am so ready to do absolutely nothing lmao.

So I didn't get many recommendations for the second book, which is gonna be titled The Shadow's Revelation. But that's totally cool with me lol it just means I'm gonna start writing it without knowing how much you guys wanna see of Casey Jones and April O'Neil and stuff. But there's still time for recommendations, so if you have any just leave me a review! I received one recommendation I'd never thought of and wanted everyone's input because I think it would be really cool! Would you guys like to see another OC fall in love with one of the turtles? If so, what would you like them to be like? Which turtle would you like them to fall in love with? I'm thinking maybe she could fall in love with Leo and maybe her family could be killed during the final battle with Shredder? Idk, leave some suggestions or opinions please!

Also, I'd love to know how much of Casey Jones you guys would like to see! And if you'd like to see April or not!

Thank you all so much for your continued support and patience! I love all of you! Keep being awesome and make sure to leave a review (maybe answer some of my questions!) :D