Eighteen year old Amy was standing on the edge of the building, her knees shaking slightly and her throat more than a little dry. It wasn't the first time tonight she wondered how she had let her pride get the best of her, and it was that pride that now kept her from backing out. She leaned over a little bit and swallowed hard again at the height. That...was a long way down...

Twelve years now she had been training under her adoptive father and uncles. She knew every move they could teach her, and could put them together in various combos without giving it a second thought. Though not as strong or as quick as those who trained her, Amy could hold her own very well in a fight. She had trained with various weapons but preferred the bo staff and had been given her very own, handmade of course, weapon on her sixteenth birthday. Even now it was slung on her back in it's retracted form in a special harness that came with it. Donnie was experienced in making them after all.

But the one thing they had never taught her how to do, and refused to do so for the longest time, was teach her how to rooftop hop. Because she wasn't altered in any form and was at a serious disadvantage was their reasoning. Well, on her adult turning birthday, which was two days ago, she stood up at the table after they finished with her cake and she firmly told them she was going to learn it, even if she had to teach herself. And if they wouldn't help her, then they could scrape her up off the concrete. She was a damn adult now and she could learn it if she wanted too, so there. Then she crossed her arms.

Mom sighed and dropped her face into her palms as the turtles gave each other long looks.

Cris just kept a straight face and took another bite of cake, then chewed slowly, watching how this would play out.

Leo pushed his plate back with his own sigh. After he placed his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together in front of him, he then leaned them against his mouth, watching her a long while over those hands. Long enough to make Amy start to feel uncomfortable actually. But she refused to back down from that piercing gaze. "Alright Amy." He finally agreed and her heart leapt in her chest with excitement. "We will teach you. But only under certain conditions."

"And what would those be?"

"First, do not go out and practice on your own. At least one of us will always be with you. Second, you will do what we say while up there. I don't care how old you are, the first time you give us lip, it all stops. It's too dangerous to have arguments with you about it in mid flight. Third, we set the pace. If we don't want you trying to cross something it's because we don't think you are ready for it, regardless if you think you are or not. Is that understood?"

She was so ecstatic that they were going to do it, she had happily ageed.

Now she was wishing she had kept her damn trap shut.

"You sure this isn't too high?" Amy heard her mother ask in a worried filled voice behind her.

"It's as low as we dare to go." Leo answered. "If we go much lower we risk not being able to catch her in time if she slips."

Oh yeah Leo, that was the perfect thing to say right now...

All too soon she heard her four teachers walking up to her and turned to face them, trying to look brave over the fear that was starting to set in. Each of them had bolas attached to long ropes tied to their belts.

"What are those for?" Amy pointed to the new accessories.

"To catch you with if you fall." Was Leo's calm answer.

"Oh..." That didn't make her feel better either.

Mikey was looking at her with amusement, biting his lip to keep from laughing at her. He was obviously seeing past her tough facade.

"Did you stretch?" The orange masked turtle asked.

"Yes."

"All loosened up? Nothing feeling stiff?"

"I'm good."

"Ate a light supper like I told you too right? Don't need a case of motion sickness."

"I didn't eat anything actually."

"That works too." Then he finally broke down and grinned. "I hope you went to the bathroom before you left...otherwise this might get messy..."

"Mikey!" Amy was about to strangle him.

He just laughed harder.

She felt a firm hand on her shoulder a moment before it turned her around. And because of that she didn't see the smack Raph placed on Mikey's head.

"Worth it!" Mikey laughed again. "Did you see the look on her face!"

He got popped again.

But it was Leo that held her attention now, his hand still on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him Amy. Listen to me."

Amy took a few breaths to calm down and focused on her adoptive father.

He nodded with approval before he spoke again. "Same applies here as in training. Keep your body loose, the movements smooth and fluid. Don't tense up. Focus on the turtle you are being tossed to, not what is below you. We'll let you know who is going to be on the receiving end before each toss. Once we've done that to the point you are comfortable we will move on, but for now we just want you to get used to moving around like that up here. Ok?"

With another deep breath, she nodded.

"Alright, then I guess it's time." Leo removed his hand from her shoulder and took her hand instead as they walked back a distance on the roof. The rest of them were watching quietly off to the side as they turned back around. The other three were already out of her sight, probably setting themselves up for her first leap.

Amy looked at her mother one last time who managed an encouraging smile despite her worried expression.

"Ready?" Leo's calm voice asked her, his hand securely holding hers.

She just nodded again, not sure if she could get a word out past the big lump in her throat.

"Go!" He suddenly barked and they took off at a run, that edge rapidly growing closer. "Push off with that last step, gain momentum from it!" He instructed right before they ran out of room to run.

After years of following his commands in the dojo, she instinctively did just that. Her foot came down and she pushed herself upwards and out. Then she was airborne, with nothing under her. But she didn't go down.

"Raph!" Leo called out right before his arm pulled on hers, giving her an even bigger burst of speed before he let go. Her eyes immediately found the red masked turtle as he hung from a nearby building and locked onto him just as Leo told her to do. Her arms reaching out for him as she quickly closed in.

Amy saw a grin on Raph's face right before he easily caught her arm, adjusted her momentum into a swing and threw her almost straight up. "Mikey!"

That one was a bit harder to track down, because he wasn't stationary. He was already in the air again, coming in over her at an angle. Nonetheless he easily caught her, spun around with her in mid air to keep momentum going before she was thrown a third time. "Donnie!"

He was heading towards the same area she was on the next rooftop over. His path intersecting hers so smoothly there was no lurch when he finally reached her and guided her in. "Tuck and roll!" He landed with her.

She did just that, letting her momentum of her landing fizzle out in a few forward rolls before she got back to her feet again and ran on. Turtles were hitting the rooftop around her and they also kept on running towards the next edge. Then they all leapt off and repeated the process.

Slowly her fear was starting to fade. Firm hands caught her every time and their smiles at her clearly showing her they were enjoying this very much. It was infectious, because it was a gleeful excitement that replaced the fear. The more she did this, the more fun she had with it. Rooftop running fucking rocked!

Eventually they started taking her higher, though she really didn't notice. Up to this point she had held firm to Leo's instructions to focus on them. Then she made the mistake to look down...and completely flipped out on how high she actually was. Her body tensed up, her arms started pinwheeling and her legs kicking...and she completely missed Mikey's hand because of it. She suddenly found herself freefalling without a parachute and decided to wake everyone up in the nearby buildings with her scream.

It didn't take too long for her to figure out that her panic was completely unnecessary. She barely fell two stories before she felt something wrap around her waist, then her fall went from a vertical drop to a pendulum arc as the line drew tight. Looking over her shoulder told her Raph had thrown his bolas to catch her from the rooftop and was now guiding her back upwards to a waiting Donnie who was calmly hanging off of a fire escape. Leo hit that same level even as she came swinging up, landing in a crouch on the rail. Both reached out and grabbed an arm and pulled her onto the solid platform.

She didn't even untie the bolas, she just crawled on her hands and knees to the building wall and sat down, shaking violently as she leaned up against it.

"That one didn't go as planned." Leo calmly noted.

"No shit sherlock!" She snapped back at him.

Donnie was trying so hard to keep from laughing he snorted a few times.

Leo just raised a eye ridge at her, his eyes very amused. "I told you not to look down."

"Bite me!"

Donnie lost it. He couldn't control his laughter and slipped off of the rail because he was laughing so hard. Leo just leaned over a bit and watched him fall for a moment before he leaned back in. A moment later Donnie's hand came back into view as he climbed back up, still chuckling.

Mikey's head came down as he hung upside down from the level above. "You ready to give up and go home now?"

Give up? Give up!? After trying for the last few years to get them to teach her...he wanted her to give up? Oh hell fucking no she wasn't going to give up! She stubbornly got back to her feet and untied the bolas with quick, angry jerks. Muttering under her breath the whole time. Then she slammed them onto the fire escape. Give up indeed... Asshat... "No, I'm not!"

Donnie was laughing again as he recoiled the rope and bolas before handing them to Raph who had made his way over by then.

This time both of Leo's ridges came up, and that amusement was still there. "Alrighty then. Back up we go."

Anger kept the fear away this time. She refused to let that mishap ruin this for her. Amy had dreamed of being able to do this with them, and she was going to do it god damn it!

It was Donnie who started of with her this time. They cleared the roof and once again she was being tossed from turtle to turtle. Growing more confident in herself, and them. The next time she inadvertently looked down, she flipped the street way below her off before redirecting her attention back to where it was supposed to be. There would be no splat tonight and fuck you gravity.

By the time they guided her back to where they started, and the anxious family members who waited for them, Amy was growing tired. They saw it and adjusted accordingly the last few rooftops until they landed in that last roll. When she got back to her feet, a wide grin was on her tired face. This had to be the best night ever...

"How did it go?" Mom asked, relieved to see her standing on solid ground in front of her again.

"That was awesome! Oh my god that was so amazing! We have to do this again tomorrow! Please can we do it again tomorrow?"

This time Leo was laughing quietly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her towards the fire escape so they could go down and head home. "Not tomorrow. You are going to be very sore, though you don't realize it yet. Give it a few days and we'll go again."

She pouted a bit over that, but he was probably right. Being tossed around like that probably pulled on all kinds of muscles she didn't know about.

Leo let the others walk ahead of them by slowing their pace, then looked curiously at the girl still wrapped in his arm. "Tell me Amy, why this intense need to learn how to do this?"

She bit the inside of her cheek as she pondered how to say this. "Because I want to help you guys. Dennis already goes out with you, but he mainly does surveillance from the van. I'm not suited for that. I want to be out there with you, and in order to do that...I have to be able to keep up. And I can't if I can't manage the rooftops."

"You sure this is what you want to do Amy? There are so many other things you could be doing with your life."

"Maybe so. But I'd rather follow in the footsteps of the turtle who raised me. I can still go to college or do whatever I decide to do, but I still want to help you also. Nothing will ever change that desire." She smiled as she looked up at him. And was stunned to see his eyes moisten up as he looked down at her. He didn't say anything else, but his arm did squeeze her a bit before they reached the fire escape.

They took her out again two nights later, and on regular basis after that. After a couple of months of this, there was a new member joinig the patrols. A new bo staff was put to use and assorted thugs, gang members, pursesnatchers and anyone else they ran into soon learned that this normal girl was anything but normal. She had officially joined the ranks of her fighting family, and Amy was loving every minute of it.