I am convinced that the shell cells have texting capablities, if only because it would be a way of silent communication when the guys were in trouble.

I stared at Christina causiously, unsure of how she was going to react. I had reflexively stepped in front of Mikey, not that there was any real hope of hiding him at this point. I opened my mouth to speak, I can explain... But before I even started I realized, no, I couldn't. Not in anyway that would be quick and simple.

Her eyes had widened at the sight before her. "What-" she cut off her own question with a sigh."Well, this isn't quite what I had expected," She finally quipped, setting her bag down. Whatever the reason, Christina didn't seem too incredibly phased to find a mutant turtle man in my apartment, although she definitely was a bit perplexed. I was still looking at her with a good impression of a deer in the headlights. "Excuse me," the blonde said indignantly, "You can't ask me to research your superhero legacy and potential comrades in this city and then be surprised when I don't faint when I see one in person."

I let out the breath I had been holding. I guess we would start with simple then. "Christina, Michelangelo. Michelangelo, Christina," I introduced tentatively, gesturing at each of them I turn.

"So, did you guys meet on some sort of super secret hero dating site? You're sending me the link, right?" Christina had been examining us both, but she ran her eyes up and down Michelangelo slowly, raising one of her eyebrows inquisitively. "Although I have to admit, Kay, I didn't expect you to move this fast," she smirked.

I sputtered, well aware that my face was coloring once again. I had hoped that Mikey had not heard all of Christina's embarrassing comments from when she had stopped by moments earlier. I suppose that didn't matter anymore, not with her basically repeating them right now. "We're friends," I said through gritted teeth. I let out another deep breath of air. "Remember that guy that helped me on my first...adventure? Voila." I had been purposefully vague when I first told Christina about my so called adventure because I knew she was still a little shaken up from seeing me go off the edge of a building. And I had continued my cover story for Mikey, if I was wearing a mask to hide my own identity it only seemed fair to not go into detail about him. She had pressed me for more information a couple of times after that, especially about my "knight in shinning armor." I held tight to my story and after enough flustered changes of subject and excuses she dropped the subject. Mostly.

She looked at Michelangelo with new interest and I could see her thinking back to everything I had told her. "Still, just wait until the tabloids get ahold of this: Are they comrades or could they be more? Read further for the exciting truth about Redwing and..." she squinted at Mikey, head tilting to one side, "Turtle Titan is it? Like I told you, I do my research," she retorted when she saw our surprised faces.

Although this unexpected introduction was going pretty well, things started going downhill from there. For me, that is. Christina had recruited Michelangelo to help critique her lastest costume creations because she really needed the opinion of someone who was "in the know" she had pleaded with fluttering eyelashes and a simpering smile. She had spread out a number of sketches across my kitchen counter and they were steadily making their way through the large pile. I started shuffling through the designs as well, Christina had shared a few of her ideas with me, but there was a staggering amount of sketches here. Christina was a pretty good drawer, I mused. Although clothing designs were obviously her forte she had been able to create a decent enough likeness to me in the designs.

Mikey had paused on a couple of pages before glancing up to me and then very quickly pushing them under a single page at the edge of the table. He cleared his throat and pulled a different sketch towards him.

"I like this one, although, take it from someone who knows, capes can be trouble," Mikey said. "That one there is okay, but it's lacking a little...flair."

Christina continued scribbling down notes. "That's what I was thinking, but it might hold up in person. I have a couple samples for her to try."

It was like I wasn't even in the same room. "Another time, perhaps," I said, smiling with my teeth clenched.

Christina audibly gasped and the two of them started protesting as if they had rehearsed it. "It will only take a second!""Dude, you'd look totally awesome!" "Mikayla, I hand sewed this just for you!" This elaborate presentation was completed with heartbreakingly pleading looks.

"Oh no," I said dryly. "Your sad expressions have gotten the best of me. How ever did you discover my kryptonite?" Did they really think that this was going to work? ...Shit. It was working. Christina was looking incredibly forlorn and Mikey managed to pull off the saddest looking puppy dog eyes that I had ever seen. "No. No, you guys, enough of this." They increased their efforts. Christina's bottom lip trembled. "Oh my god, you guys are like little kids." I sighed and held up a single finger. "One. I'll try on one thing."

Christina actually let out a cheer and Mikey gave her a high five. If I hadn't been standing there the entire time they had known each other I would have suspected them to have coordinated this out. In my wildest dream's I hadn't ever imagined that I would be introducing Christina to Mikey. I was glad that she hadn't been freaked out by the meeting, but I hadn't expected they would be getting along this well. Not that it was a bad thing, I told myself firmly. I had enough secrets in my life as it was. It would be a relief to not have to deal with one more. A relief. Yeah.

It ended up being more than one of course. I liked the one that most closely resembled a normal set of clothing, although I admitted that the original outfit was a little easier to move in. Christina still made me try on a cape, although she eventually agreed that it wasn't the best idea. There was am elaborately stylized mask too, with flaming red edges and a sharp bridge that resembled a beak. It was lovely, but I was pretty attached to the one that had been handed down to me.

"That's not going to work on me again," I said, placing my hand on my hip. "I'm sure there will be other opportunities." I was building up a resistance to their guilt tripping. But I left to change back into normal clothes before I fully made eye contact.

Mikey and Christina were still deep in conversation when I returned. Well, I suppose this was better than awkward silence.

"Well, look at the time," Christina said, glancing at her phone. "Just past midnight. I need to be getting back."

I actually hadn't realized it was that late. The time had passed by quickly. Mikey stood and stretched. "I should be heading home too," he said somewhat reluctantly.

I smiled weakly. "I guess we'll have to make a plan to finish the movie another time." I went to eject the movie so he could take it back with his other horror films. I handed it out to him, but instead of taking it he placed his hand over my own, tightening my grip on the film.

"Keep it here until we finish it," he said with a slight smile.

I nodded mutely as he slung his bag of movies over his shoulder and headed to the window. "Have a good trip home," I finally spoke. Anything more than that felt awkward, especially with Christina here. I suddenly didn't know what to do with my hands as they dangled limply by my sides and so I clutched the movie with both hands. I glanced up at him, before quickly moving my eyes away.

"Until next time dudettes!" He exited through the window to the fire escape and quickly vanished from sight, just like the last time.

When I eventually turned away Christina was looking at me. "Until next time, huh?" She queried, hand on her hip.

"Why? Did you want to join us?" My voice was more strained than I had intended. "You guys seem to get along well." I cursed myself for how stupid I was being right now. I turned away away and wondered how my chest could feel so tight.

"You're kidding me, right?" She laughed. I turned back to her forcing the biggest smile I could muster. Apparently it wasn't very convincing. "Mikayla," she sighed. "Do you really not... never mind. Hey, I'm sorry. I promise I'll steer clear next time. And we'll have a girl's night sometime soon. No superhero talk or anything." She pulled me into a tight hug. "Seriously, though, I've gotta jet."

I was still very confused about what she had been saying, but the knot in my chest had loosened. I wanted to apologize, but settled for helping her pack up her bag. I grabbed the stack near the edge of the table and leafed through them, dimly recalling that this was the pile Mikey had pushed off to the side. More sketches. More costume designs. Ones with very little actual clothing. I wouldn't have been so concerned if I hadn't been the subject of said scandalous drawings. It also entered my mind that she had been showing off these particular drawings to pretty much everyone in the world.

I snatched the papers off the table. "Really Christina?" I asked, shaking the sketches at her. "What were you- Why- These would be totally impractical!"

Christina shrugged, unconcerned. "I was playing around a little. Taking a page from the classics."

I placed them at the bottom of the large stack of papers. "Well, leave them at home next time!"

She smiled at me knowingly as she shouldered her bag and all of its contents. "Good night, Mikayla."

Mikey whistled to himself as he made his way through the sewers and back to the lair. The night had certainly been interesting. He was unable to fully suppress the goofy grin that kept stretching across his face.

He quietly made his way back into his home. Although his own profession had made a "normal" schedule more of a necessity, in all honestly it really wasn't that late for his family. His attempt at sneaking inside was foiled when he yelped as he was grabbed and pulled into Don's lab.

"Woah, Donnie! What the shell?"

Don was unsympathetic. "Working late?" He asked, giving his brother a long and searching look. "Again?"

"Uh, yeah, you know, these hours are crazy," Mikey said with a weak chuckle. He sidled off to the side, creeping towards the doorway to escape. Don moved to block his way.

"Really, Mikey?" The disbelief was clear on Don's face. The two stared each other down, but Mikey was usually easy to read, and right now was no exception. The orange masked turtle wore his heart on his sleeve and his emotions on his face.

"Mikey..." Don said once again, starting to become exasperated. "What have you been doing?"

"I've been hanging out with this girl," Mikey blurted out. He snapped his mouth shut and looked at Don guiltily.

This hadn't been quite what Don had been expecting. The purple masked turtle was struck dumb. "And she...knows? It wasn't at a party or something...?" Mikey nodded his head up and down frantically and then shook his head from side to side at a speed that made Don feel a little sick. Don rubbed his forehead, trying to lessen to headache that was fast brewing.

"Well, I actually did first meet her at a party," Mikey corrected. "And once right before I got to my gig. But then I ran into her on the roof..." he slowed as he noticed Don's look of disapproval. "Donnie, she's cool! She would never tell anyone about us!" Don's steely expression did not give, but if there was anything Mikey knew it was how to get his brothers to lighten up. None of them were resilient enough to completely resist his puppy-dog eyes.

Mikey could see the moment Donnie's resolve started to shake. "You could meet her!" He piped up, glancing at his brother hopefully. "I promise you, she's really cool. I'll text her now!" And now there wasn't any way for Don to justify crushing the excitement on Mikey's face. Don wasn't completely sure how he had even gotten drawn in this far, to the point where there was no backing out.

Mikey looked back up from his shell cell. "So should I have her tell her friend to be there?"

Donatello's voice was absolutely not shrill. That would be undignified. "Her friend? How many people know about you?"

"Sooo, that's a 'no' then?" Don's steely state was an answer in itself. "Dude, chillax! Just the two of them." Mikey said with a dramatic huff of air. "And there's a code to dealing with secret identities."

Don sat down with a thump. "Mike, listen. You are going to get me some more coffee. I am going to fix the toaster that Leo has managed to break again somehow. You will go about your night. And we'll talk about this more tomorrow." Mikey opened his mouth to add one more thing, but Don interjected. "And I will go with you to meet this girl."

Don's head started pounding even before Mikey hurried to offer up the much needed coffee. He hadn't even gotten this girl's name, he mused. It crossed his mind to call his brother back, but on second thought this was yet another thing that could wait until tomorrow. One thing he had paid attention to, however, was the way Mikey's cheeks had darkened.

I had a hard time falling asleep after Mikey left. My mind was racing far too fast for my mind to calm down enough to rest. I tossed and turned as thoughts, stupid thoughts, kept crossing my mind. I burried my face in my pillow with a muffled groan.

I was trying the method of laying as still as possible and hoping that sheer boredom would lead to slumber. I let my eyes rest shut, ignoring the soft beep of my phone. And then it beeped again. I sat up huffily and reached over to silence it.

And of course once I saw who it was I was robbed of any hope of falling asleep anytime soon.

Hey! What's up? I responded. Our emails had dropped off since we had starting meeting in person, I didn't know how he felt, but I really enjoyed talking to Mikey face to face. Texting was a much faster way to communicate now that we had exchanged numbers. I really wasn't expecting what came next, however.

Is it cool if my brother comes next time? He wanted to meet you.

I guess? Which brother? I read over the message a couple of times before sending it, making sure it sounded more nonchalant than I felt. Which really wasn't hard. The question had sparked no small amount of nervousness. Why did his brother want to meet me? Was there something I had done to get Mikey in trouble? Was it his oldest brother, the one who had been imposing rules and curfew?

I should have been relieved when the next text informed me that it was Donatello, who I mostly recalled as being the most technologically inclined. I couldn't remember any particular personality trait, but perhaps that was a good things. One time Mikey had described his other brothers as "hotheaded" and "controlling" so maybe the lack of description was a good thing. This probably explained why I didn't feel much better.

I sighed. What was I doing? I needed to relax. I finished the conversation, set my phone down and fetched my laptop. I knew I just needed to watch something mindless and I would eventually drift off.

"Dr. Stein, we've pinpointed the location of the subject."

Longest chapter yet! Thank you to my oh so wonderful reviewers: reallywannaread, lizzybudd, anonymous-1, and REDpanda. As always your reviews bring inspiration and happiness.

I had thought Christina would probably be introduced at some point and then BAM there she was. Okay Christina. There's a couple things in here that I was going to put in at a later point, but like I've mentioned, I've sped up the timeline a bit so it was now or never. Good news here is that I was really stuck with one of the guy's OCs (I realized that with upcoming story things I was going to have to basically scrap her because there was no actual plot and things weren't making sense), but I kept at it and came up with something I'm really excited about.

Bad news is even though I have most of the next chapter written there are some pretty important plot points that I'm still nailing down, so I'll have to see about next weeks update. Although trust me, you would much rather I take a week off after this chapter than the next chapter. ;)

Reviews are love~