I wake up absolutely exhausted. My mouth is dry and my entire body aches. Without even opening my eyes, I feel something different. I'm not in my bedroom.

That's right...yesterday I graduated. Or tried to. I smile. Not because we made it out alive, but because of something else I remember.

Leo and I kissed. I find myself grinning. Leo likes me, and I like Leo. And we both know that now. But we aren't dating. No, I don't work like that. We can't just kiss and automatically become a couple. He needs to ask me properly.

I hear someone stir, and I glance over and find Mallory sprawled across the floor with blankets everywhere. I laugh at her red bouncy spirals of hair floating everywhere but in place. She snuggles into a blanket and settles back down, still asleep.

I'm still in my graduation dress. I know that my hair is probably a wreck. Combing my fingers through it won't do much but frizz it even more but that's okay. After yesterday's hectic adventure, I don't expect myself to look picture perfect. But I am satisfied with myself for always having a ponytail holder around my wrist.

I comb through my hair some more with my fingers, just enough that it won't be tangled when I actually have to brush it later, and I gather it up into a bun. There isn't a mirror in Leo's room; not that I expect there to be. So I head out of the room, hoping I look decent.

"Good morning, Lexi," a voice says as I enter the kitchen. I look up and see it's Donnie. I give him a tired smile and nod.

"Hi, Don. Got any bread?"

"Always." He slides the bag of wheat bread over to me.

"Where is everyone? And what time is it?" I ask.

"It's almost seven. My brothers and I just got done training with Tatsuo and Splinter," Don explains, as I place my bread into the toaster. "They're all probably showering or getting ready."

After my toast is ready, I sit on the couch and watch tv until the rest of the turtles trickle in. I want to talk to Leo about last night, but I can't do that with everyone here. I glance over at him to see he's already looking at me. He smiles and takes a seat next to me.

For the next hour or so, everyone just does their own thing. By the time it's nine, Donnie is fully awake and working on one of his experiments in the lab. Mikey has retreated to his video games. Splinter is in his room meditating and Raph has gone back to sleep.

"So..." Leo says quietly. I look up at him and his hazel eyes melt into mine curiously. "What are we?"

I grin and cover my face with my hands. "You did not ask the cheesiest question you could've ever asked."

He laughs and nudges me with his shoulder. "You should be used to my cringe by now." His face softens. "I'm assuming you want me to ask you properly sometime to be my girlfriend?"

I grin and laugh. "With a ring and everything."

"Right," he says, returning the grin and turning back to the television.

"You said that you learned some interesting information while held captive," Serena begins. "Have you shared this information with anyone yet?"

"No," I admit, shaking my head. "I didn't know when the right time would be."

"Is this information a possible threat?"

"Yes."

"Then the right time would've been as soon as you learned it." She pauses. "It's been three days and you still haven't told anyone?"

I bite my lip. I don't know what to say. "Sorry."

Serena sighs and shakes her head. "We'll gather everyone immediately and you can tell us what you know." She is about to walk off to announce her order over the intercom, but I stop her.

"Wait!" I say, more forcefully than I meant to. I take a breath. "Um...I'd feel more comfortable if the entire Headquarters didn't hear me tell the information." I don't know how emotionally stable I'll be; this is just a precaution.

She turns and faces me. "What do you suggest?"

"My family, the turtles, Noah and a few lead Agents, like you. I'd also like to request Doctor Faulkner." I'm surprised at how confident I sound.

She purses her lips for a moment, and then gives a single nod. "Alright." She turns and walks off before I can reply.

"Lex," Leo's voice. "Serena said we need to meet in the Conference Room. Is everything okay?"

I smile half-heartedly. "Yeah, everything's alright. I just need to tell about what happened Friday. The stuff I learned."

Three days have passed since Leo and I revealed our feelings for one another. He'd kissed me one other time since that night, and it was a small goodnight kiss on Sunday night. We aren't official yet. I've been trying to figure out if Leo is just trying to think of a really creative way to ask me, or if he's just ditched the idea all together.

Once everyone is gathered in the Conference room, the blinds are shut and all faces are turned towards me. I feel under pressure.

"The majority of you probably know that I was attacked on Friday, and taken away," I begin. I pretend that Leo is holding my hand and whispering encouraging words into my ear. "I was taken to the underground portion of a building." I tell the story about how I woke up to a dark cell.

"The basis of all of this is that I learned so many things that could put New York in danger." I pause. "There's...there's a group of people. They aren't really even people. They used to be. Some never even were. I guess I should start from the beginning of it. I witnessed some strange things."

"This agency I've discovered is called the RBMC: Russell Burgess Metamorphosis Center. This center is run by a man named Russell Burgess. He's a mad-man as they described him, but they can't say that to him. He controls their every move. He mutates people and things."

"What makes him different from the ooze that mutated the turtles is that with his mutagen, he can control minds. It does in fact make them have supernatural abilities."

"I have a question," One of the agents says.

"Ask."

"Are all of these mutants...well...reptilian? Or do some look like humans?" As he asks the question, I flinch.

"The more dangerous ones look human." I pause. "The man who kidnapped me...he looks human. But he has ridiculous strength and speed. He has the power to kill in just one punch." I turn to the turtles. "That was why I warned you guys that we couldn't fight them when you saved me."

"Did you meet this Russell man?"

"No," I say. "Everything about him is just what I heard."

"Thank you for the information, Agent," Serena says, standing. "We'll get back to work now."

I watch everyone disperse. I've rubbed my hands almost raw, nervous.

"What did you leave out?" Leo's voice asks from behind me. I pause, close my eyes and then slowly turn around to face him. I continue to rub my hands, even though a few more seconds and they could be close to bleeding.

"What do you mean?"

"You did a weird little hesitation thing."

I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms at an attempt to appear confident. "A weird little hesitation thing?"

"When you want to say something but you hesitate, you do this think where you breathe in really sharp but then you close your mouth again." He nods once. "A weird little hesitation thing."

"You're more observant than I thought," I say, laughing a little. "Can you tell my blood type just by looking at my ears too?" He stares at me with a small smile on his face but an expectant look on his face. And it's for a reason too: he's right. I did leave something out.

He brushes my hair out of my face and tilts his head so he's looking into my eyes. I blush and look down. He's so close that I could just lean in and kiss him. Yet at the same time, I know I can't.

"Why'd you leave something out?" he asks softly. I open my mouth-ready to tell him-when Rose pops her head through the doorway.

"Hey Lex, it's time to go home," she says.

My face reddens when I realize she is noticing how close Leo and I are standing to each other. Great, Lex. Not suspicious at all.

"I can take Lexi home," Leo offers.

"Oh," Rose's voice sounds teasing. "Okay. I'll tell the others."

After my sister has left, Leo and I head home. We are almost to the apartment when he brings it up again.

"So...are you planning on telling anyone what you're hiding?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You. I'm planning on telling you."

"Okay," he begins. "What's the big secret?" He squeezes my hand tighter and I smile. But the smile quickly vanishes when I think about what I'm hiding. How can I say it without getting shivers sent down my spine? "Hey you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, no...I want to tell you." I pause. "While I was there...I met a mutant. She looked human and everything. She scared me, Leo..." I try to blink back tears. "Her name was Laney."

"What did she look like?"

"She would look like any normal girl. Straight brown hair, freckles and rosy cheeks." I pause. "Only her eyes were different. One eye was blue and other was green."

"She kept trying to look me in the eyes, and I couldn't help but keep looking into hers. Then she asked me something weird. She said, 'How would you like your eyes like mine?'" I pause and swallow, feeling the fear rise up in me just like it had the first time. "When I asked her what she meant, she said, 'They would look so very fine.'"

"She kept saying weird things that rhymed. It went from a friendly conversation to feeling like I was being cornered. Then she kept getting closer and closer. Her eyes turned black, Leo. Just...pitch black. And I couldn't help but look. I literally couldn't look away." We reach my apartment just in time for the tears to spill.

Leo embraces me into a hug. I shaking uncontrollably.

"Leo...Leo her eyes have haunted me the last three nights. She's been in my dreams. I have her stupid chant memorized and I feel like I'm going insane," I sniffle.

"Shh...Lexi, it's okay." His reassuring voice calms me down a little bit.

"But Leo..." I pull away. "What if I do go insane? What if I go crazy?"

He pulls me into another hug. After about five minutes, I've stopped crying. I pull away from him and sniffle. He shakes his head and wipes away my remaining tears.

"Lexi..." he says quietly. "I know you're scared. But everything is going to be okay. We're going to put a stop to this man and all those people that he's hurt."

I nod a little, and rub my eyes.

He looks at me for a moment, and then leans in and kisses me. I needed it. He takes one of my hands and puts the other on my cheek. I feel all my fear wash away as I kiss Leo. After a few moments, he pulls away and leans close so only I can hear him. Not that there's anyone else in the room anyway.

"You're okay."