Morning had come warm and welcoming to the vast city of New York, the sun's rays stretching out and touching every last inch of the earth as it could. Somehow, it even managed to reach its beams of light down through the countless nooks and crannies of sewers and into Master Splinter's meditation room. There, sat Leonardo, back straightened, resting on his knees in a meditative state.

It was sometime around 6 am that morning that Leo finally decided to get up and do something other than force his heavy eyelids to stay open as the vile creature in front of him slept. He'd first gone to the kitchen and gotten himself something to eat and drink, having become in need of sustenance from the unexpected events of the night he had just endured. He opened the fridge to see what there was, but realized that they needed to go to the store desperately. He leaned against the door for a moment and sighed. He then straightened up and closed it.

He turned around and scanned the kitchen counters for anything in plain sight. He spotted the container of brownies that Mikey had made from when April came over the past weekend. He tiredly shrugged to himself and swayed over to the other side of the kitchen, pulling off the lid and taking out a couple. He stuffed one in his mouth and took another with his free hand. With his other hand, he pushed the lid back on the container before making his way out of the kitchen.

Leo finished both brownies in just a couple steps out of the kitchen and meandered through the lair. He found himself heading for the bathroom, to which he took one look at and immediately felt the need to use it.

Leonardo was never one to spend more time than required in the bathroom, but just before he was about to open the door to leave, something caught his eye in the mirror. The turtle looked into his reflection on the drab mirror, studying his eyes and the mask he wore. Looking at himself, he got the feeling that something was off, or wrong with his image. He couldn't quite place it, so he assumed that it was his mask.

The blue ninja reached up and untied the tails of his mask and let it fall off his face and into his hands. He looked over it for a moment, turning it over a couple times to make sure it was okay. Looking back up at himself, he almost laughed at how different he looked without it. There weren't many times that he removed his mask after he earned it five years ago.

Leo's eyes widened, blinking as if he had just thought that right. "Has it really been five years?"

The turtle looked down at his mask again and let out a chuckle. It really had been that long already. He and his brothers were nearing 20 now. Two whole decades. So much time had passed already. It was almost like yesterday they were 15 and went above ground for the first time.

Leonardo looked back up at himself and sighed. He noticed some bags under his eyes from his restlessness. He didn't even know that was possible. While he was still a turtle, being a mutant gave him odd human like features. Sometimes all these things about him never fazed him, having grown up like that and having three other brothers who looked him made it all seem normal. But there were still times throughout his life where he felt ashamed and uncomfortable with himself.

From the beginning, he knew he was different. He knew his entire world was like one out of a sci-fy movie. He could remember days when he was younger when he would stand in front of the mirror and question his existence. Why was he like this? Why were his brothers, and father, like this? Why couldn't they go up to the surface? Why would people be afraid of them?

Master Splinter always taught the brothers that they were different for a reason. For a long time Leonardo didn't know what that reason was. Even now, he still wonders what reasons he meant.

Leo would never tell, but he is, and always has been, insecure. About himself, about the way he looks. He strives for perfection in everything he does, even if that means coming off as the bad guy for trying to keep his brothers in line. He doesn't always notice, but subconsciously he always looks at himself any chance he gets. He always made fun of Raph for that as they got older, but the more teasing he did, the more it seemed to be true for himself.

He is probably the most insecure about his leadership skills. There have been numerous times since they became an official team where Splinter has had to sit him down and either try to get something through to him, or reassure him that he was still young and ever learning. There had only ever been a number of nights that Leonardo had broken down over anything on both hands, and all of those times had been over the same thing; was he good enough?

()()()()()()

A soft beeping noise was the first thing that the girl could make out as she came to again. Her body felt unbelievably heavy, but at the same time, a little lighter than she had remembered. She pried her eye lids open, a thin layer of crusted mucus flaking off her eyelashes. the room before her was dim, but she made out some streams of light that slipped through the door. She blinked at the door, which was currently wide open. She took a deep breath and raised a hand to her face to rub her eyes.

In the middle of her rubbing, however, she realized something was wrong. She pulled her hand back and inspected it. She scoffed softly, seeing that her wrist was free. Her enjoyment unfortunately lasted only a moment, because if her hand wasn't restrained, something was up. She looked to her other hand, and saw that it was also unrestrained. She pulled at one of her feet, as both were both under a sheet, and found they were still restrained.

The girl tried to swallow the stale taste in her mouth, but since being so dehydrated, she was hardly able to produce any spit. She brought both hands up to her face and rubbed the drowsiness away. Her fingers dragged down her face as she looked out into the length of the room. She hadn't noticed a tv on the other end of the room, and she definitely hadn't realized that it was turned on.

Panic flooded her chest as she searched the room for any big figures, hoping that what she remembered was only a dream. Just as she had thought it, said big figure entered the room. The girl's eyes widened like a deer in headlights as she followed the figure with her eyes. She dared not to make sound, going unnoticed would be her best bet.

"Don't try to be slick now, I knew you're awake before I walked out of the room."

The girls eyes flicked up to meet a pair of amber ones that sat behind a pair of thick glasses. The hulking mass of turtle that he was turned his body to face her, and...smiled? Upon turning towards her, she also noticed that he was holding a mug of coffee in each hand. She could smell that beautiful dark liquid from a mile away.

The girl let out a shaky breath as he approached her, her hands subconsciously gripping the sheets below her almost to the point of tearing. His walk was something she almost wanted to chuckle at; a noticeable swaying from the transfer of weight from each foot and a spring in his heel that was a bit dorkish. For something so tall, he stood with a hunch in his back, whether that be from the equipment on his back or to make himself seem smaller.

She kept her eyes on him the whole time, never blinking. He too kept his eyes on her, but she hadn't really noticed as her eyes studied his whole person. He made his way to the cart sitting next to her bed and carefully set down a mug of coffee. The mug he set down was actually big for a mug, but it was definitely smaller than the one he held onto. He took a step back after placing it and sat himself down on a nearby stool.

"Go ahead, it's just coffee. Unless that's not something you're into, I can get you something else to drink." He said before he took a drink from his mug. She only kept staring at him.

The two sat in silence for another moment, then she decided the smell of freshly brewed coffee was too much to ignore. She took her eyes off him for a moment and grabbed the mug eagerly. She flicked her eyes between him and the mug, and then took a sip. That sip led to a long draw, and then to a big gulp. Her stomach was screaming at her for something, anything. The liquid burned her tongue and throat as it went down, but she was desperate.

Donnie leapt up to try to take the mug away before she hurt herself but with a flick of her hand she sent him back down into his seat. The jolt of energy shot through his body and grounded him to his stool. He looked at her with astonishment as she kept her hand held up and proceeded to down the rest of the mug. She finished it off and brought it down, taking in deep breaths to catch her breath again. The heat had burned the delicate tissue in her throat, but she didn't really care. She was thirsty and she wasn't one to complain in that moment.

"Water." was all she could make out through the panting. She lowered her hand and Donnie sprang up, still looking at her in awe. "Water!" she repeated again, more desperately.

"How did you- what...how?" Donnie sputtered more to himself as he frantically searched his lab for any water. He stumbled over a half package of bottled water and grabbed a couple with one hand and brought it back to the girl. He handed one to her and she immediately opened it and began to chug it. She let out a moan as the cool water soothed her burning throat. The coolness felt amazing as it went down and reached her stomach. She finished it rather quickly and let out a whimper when it was all gone. She threw it down and reached for the second one, but Donnie pulled it away.

"Ah ah ah, hold on." He waved a finger at her, to which she glared at him for. "Not just yet. You get this once you answer a few things for me."

Donnie held the bottle up out of reach as he explained his deal. The girl only let out a low groan as she sat back and folded her arms. She looked to the door for a moment, and then back to the turtle.

"How did you do that? Keep me in my seat?" Donnie asked, cocking his head towards her a bit. He waited for a few moments, but she wouldn't look at him. Here eyes seemed blank, and she acted as if she didn't hear him. But the slight quiver in her bottom lip said more about how she felt about him asking about than words could.

After another moment, he took a breath. She didn't seem particularly anxious to talk about whatever she had just done, and it really only seemed like she did it in the heat of the moment. It wasn't painful, just unexpected. He decided to leave it be for the moment. There were other important questions to ask, and what Leo didn't know wouldn't hurt him for the time being. Donnie hoped she wouldn't do the same to his brother. That could end badly.

"What's your name?" Donnie asked instead.

After a moment of no response, he sighed and spoke up. "Fine, I'll go first. My name is Donatello, but you can just call me Donnie. Or Don, it doesn't matter. Also, yes, I am a turtle, if you were wondering that."

Donnie sat patiently awaiting her response, but when she only stared at him still, he figured threatening to withhold water was going to be the only way through to her.

"Alright, I guess you won't need this-"

"Wait!" Her voice rasped out as Donnie moved to get up. Donnie turned back to her. Her eyes changed from boiling anger to exhaustion, and perhaps desperation in just a few moments.

"Please. I- I'm..." she tried to say, but her throat was so scratchy is made her cough.

"Take your time. What is your name? Who are you?" Donnie asked gently.

She swallowed and took a breath. "My name is Grace."

Satisfied, Donnie handed over the water bottle. Grace snatched the bottle from his hand and tore off the cap, raising it to her chapped lips quickly.

"Hey hey, slow down. You'll make yourself throw up. I'll take it away if you don't listen to me." Donnie threatened.

This seemed to get through to her, because she began to sip at it slowly. After a long draw from it, she lowered it to her lap, but still clutched it between both hands as if he were going to take it from her then.

Donnie readjusted himself on the stool before asking another question. "Do you, do you know who we are? Do you know where you are? Whats the last thing your remember?"

Grace stared at him for a moment out of the corner of her eye. She looked back at the water in her lap, and began to speak. "Am I not in New York City anymore?" she said just above a whisper.

Donnie cocked his head a bit to make sure he heard her correctly. "No, you're still here. We're just, in the sewers.

She looked back at him, searching his face. Once she saw the sincere look on his face, she relaxed a little. She brought the bottle up to her lips again and took another swig. She held the liquid in her mouth for a moment as she looked around the room. For some reason it didn't seem so dark and scary anymore. She swallowed and looked back at the turtle.

"I remember you stabbing me. Or well, more like throwing an unnecessarily huge blade at me. That landed through my leg." Grace said in a nonchalant manner.

Suddenly, it was like what she had just said clicked with her. She took one hand off the bottle and grabbed the sheet covering her legs and lifted it up. Her eyes widened at the sight of it wrapped up.

"What did you do to me?" She became frantic over the lack of visible leg. She pressed her hand over as much of her leg as she could. Donnie set his mug on the table behind him and put a hand on the side of the bed. He thought about what he could say to calm her down, but after she pulled off the rest of the sheet to see her leg was still fully there, she did so on her own.

She sighed, but still looked over it. "I just wanted to make sure it was still there."

Donnie frowned a bit, but let it go. "Of course it is. Just needed a lot of stitching, and you'll need physical therapy after the wound closes, but it didn't go through any bone or anything. It'll take time, but you seem tough enough. You did manage to outrun me and my brother for a while." He gave a small smile but she didn't notice.

Grace just shrugged. Donnie folded his arms in front of him for a moment before he remembered that he should check over her while she was awake. He stood up and made his way back to his desk. Grace flinched a bit when he got up and followed him with her eyes. He came back with a small pen light and a clipboard. He set the board down on the table behind him and scooted the stool up closer to the side of the bed. Grace instinctively moved back when he leaned towards her.

"I'm just going to shine this in your eyes. Your speech is normal, but I noticed your eyes have a slight nystagmus, or possible just some kind of vestibular dysfunction. I'm guessing its from either a concussion or some kind of head trauma. I remember you took a nasty fall before we grounded you. Do you remember much of the chase?"

She searched his eyes for a moment and shrugged softly. "I just remember running. A lot. And being tired. I also remember getting stabbed a couple a times. My shoulder burning, my lungs burning, my head spinning. And then everything goes blank. I wake up here and come face to face with some very...questionable looking people." She glanced between him and her water bottle that she was raising to her lips again. Just before she took another swig, she said, "No offense."

Donnie chuckled and shrugged. "I've heard worse."

Grace swallowed the water and nodded along. "So have I."

The purple clad turtle looked at her for a moment wondering what she had meant, but didn't say anything. He shook his head and told her to look at him while he checked her eyes.

"Just hold still."

Thank you thank you THANK YOU to all those who have read and commented and WAITED forever for the update to this story. Omg I am so bad at focusing on one thing at a time.

I get so easily sidetracked especially since school is online now and even then, I swear I'm losing days. I can never seem to remember what day of the week it is either. And so time slips away from me and I'm left to adding a little bit of this story very slowly.

But again, thank you for all of your support and patience :)

Also, this is in my eyes the Bay Movie turtles, and so in the 2k14 movie they were about 15, so in the 2k16 they were about 17, so this is gonna take place like 2019, so they'll be going on 20. So somewhat aged up? Idk yet, I'm just going off my own age lol.

Anyway...enjoy the new chapter!