"So he was controlling Lexi's mind with his mind?" Benj summarizes, scrunching his eyebrows together.

"No," Dr. Faulkner says, shaking his head. "Maneuver Men don't have minds. They are being controlled. Like I said before, everyone in the RBMC is being controlled in one way or another."

"So Laney was controlling this specific mutant," Leo verifies. "And someone is controlling Laney." I glance over at the blue-clad turtle. Because of his concern for my safety, he's worked non-stop on trying to eliminate anything out there that could be aiming at me.

"That's what we're stuck on," Noah pipes in, fixing his gaze on me as if it were supposed to reassure me, despite the unsure words that are coming out of his mouth. "One individual person—or mutant in this case—can't simply control a single Maneuver Man...they don't have that power. As odd as it seems, they have the power to control the entire group of them, but not the power to control an individual."

"What are you trying to say then? The one out there was the only one I saw," I point out, narrowing my gaze. "I know I would have been able to see the others if there were any."

"Maybe they were hiding!" Mikey exclaims, spinning around in the chair he's sitting in. Leo shoots him a look and Mikey sighs. The chair stops spinning.

"Or they could have been in plain sight but she was so drawn into the one she saw, that it was the only one she saw," Noah concludes, nodding at Donnie and Dr. Faulkner.

"Why does no one ever listen to my ideas?" Mikey whines, crossing his arms. Even after Leo shoots his younger brother another glare, the orange-clad turtle doesn't drop the question. Mikey gives Leo a defiant look—which is very rare for Mikey to give. "It seems like anything I have to say is just brushed off and no one even cares!"

It looks like Leo is about to give him another look, but I remember that date I went on with Mikey months ago. He had told me that his brothers often brushed off things that he said and treated him like a child. So for his sake, I say something before Leo can scold.

"He's right," I say, fixing my gaze on Mikey. "They could have been hiding. I mean, you don't know everything about the Maneuver Men, right?" Everyone is silent, but Mikey is looking at me with a thankful look, and slightly hopeful that I would cause them to listen.

"Well no," Dr. Faulkner says, shaking his head. "But we know that—"

"But do you know everything about them?" I press. Only an idiot could miss the warning look that Mom shoots me, but I pretend that I do.

Dr. Faulkner shakes his head.

"Then who's to say that they weren't hiding? Mikey may be the youngest but he definitely isn't an idiot. So I didn't see any others; sure, that could've been because of my uncontrollable attraction to the Maneuver Man. But it also could be because the rest were hiding." There is a silence.

"I suppose you could be right," Dr. Faulkner agrees slowly, turning towards the orange-clad turtle. "I'm very sorry for underestimating your ideas, Michelangelo. There is a very large possibility that you could be correct." Even though Mikey is smiling, I know he isn't satisfied. He gives a simple nod at Dr. Faulkner.

"It's alright, Doctor," he says, turning his gaze at his brothers. After a few moments, Leo sighs.

"Sorry that we always overlook your opinions, Mikey. You deserve a voice just as much as we do," Leo apologizes and Mikey's smile grows bigger as Donnie apologizes too and Raph mutters a, "Sorry".

"Anyway," Rose presses, taking in a breath. "The main point of all of this is that there isn't just one, there's a pack. And for some reason they want Lexi."

"But why?" I stress. I feel like I have asked the question a hundred times, but each time no one pays any care to answer. "What did I do? Why do they want me?" There is a silence. Dr. Faulkner turns towards Mom.

"We may need you to come with us to help investigate. With all your training, it would be a huge help. I'm only a scientist, you know." I feel like Mikey had—angry that no one will listen to me. I feel my lip unconsciously jut out. I refuse to look at anyone.

"Of course," Mom responds, nodding her head. "I'll make sure that we give all the help we can."

"I know you're mad, but there isn't much else we can do, Lexi!" Rose says, shaking her head at me. "You know sometimes, I wish you were more like Benj. He doesn't ask so many questions."

"Well Benj isn't the one being targeted by every villain in New York, now is he?" I retort, crossing my arms.

"You just can't have the answers to all of your questions—you need to understand that we don't know everything."

"Well it seems like you know something, you just don't want to tell me," I accuses, glaring at my sister. She's quiet for a moment after that, and then she sighs.

"Lexi, there are some things that we can't tell you in order to keep you safe."

I scoff.

"Some things?" I rage. "Some things that you haven't been telling me are the reason I've been hurting even more."

"We can't do much and you know that!"

This time, I bite my tongue before I can say something else. I fall back onto the couch and sit there with my arms still crossed, glaring into the carpet. Rose avoids looking at me, and I do the same. For the next five minutes, the only sounds that can be heard are the overhead fan, and a distant melody of music coming from Benj's room.

Mom had sent the three of us home from the Headquarters hours before our original work hours ended. She claimed that it was "safer" if we just went home. But the turtles stayed at the Headquarters. I hadn't said anything to them when I left. Rose is right. I'm still mad that nobody has the answers I'm looking for. But the unreasonable side of me just keeps thinking that maybe if I repeatedly ask those questions, they'll eventually have the answers. But reality is that some questions are never answered.

"You really need to learn how to let people help you, Lexi," Rose says, shaking her head. She then turns on her heel and storms into her bedroom. I bite my lip and prop my head up with my hand. I continue to stare at the floor for a few minutes. I don't even try to think about what she could have meant by that.

After a while, I get up and begin heading down the hall as well. Although I'm planning on entering my bedroom at the end of the hall, I find myself stopping at Benj's. I knock two long raps, two short, two long and then two short. It was a code we made up when we were younger.

"Come in," he says before I even finish knocking.

I open up the door and find him sitting on his bed with his laptop. Now that I'm actually in his room, I can hear the music better than before. The song, 'Pompeii' by Bastille is playing from his iPod.

"What's up?" I ask, but there's a bit of double meaning behind it the question. He has a look on his face that's a mixture fear and hope.

"I don't like it when you and Rose fight," he says quietly. "It bothers me." His response surprises me.

"It bothers me too," I admit, taking a seat at the spinning chair that sits right in front of his desk. "But don't worry—it's alright now."

"Are you sure?"

I pause and stare at him for a moment. He doesn't believe me and I don't believe me. Things have never been as close with Rose and I as they have been with Benj. It's probably how different she and I are. Benj and I have a lot of the same personality traits. It could also be that I'm under stress.

"Mom's been acting different." I'm unaware at first that I have changed the subject, but once I realize, it's too late.

"I haven't noticed," he admits, looking back to his laptop.

"Of course you wouldn't," I mutter. I instantly regret it. He looks up at me for a moment. "She's been more strict with me. Maybe because I'm an adult now and I should learn to take things seriously."

"You do take things seriously," Benj says, closing his laptop. He pauses for a moment, like he's going to say something. "You've been a really awesome sister to me. And you've been a good sister to Rose too."

"But I feel like I've failed you guys. I feel like I'm putting our family in danger...like I'm going to be the cause of your deaths. It scares me a lot because I keep thinking what if one of these days, we have to fight the Dark Angels and they take you and you never come back? Not only would I never be the same, but I would regret all the things I didn't teach you...all the things I failed to do as an older sister."

Benj is silent for a moment, like he's thinking.

"Remember when we were little and we'd go down to the beach?"

I nod my head.

"You'd always take me down to the water and pick me up and swing me around." I feel my mouth twitch into a smile. I do remember that.

"Mom would always sigh and tell you that you needed to be careful. Then she'd compare you to Rose, who hardly ever went down to the water because she was afraid of getting her clothes wet," he adds. My smile falters.

"But then there were other times," he continues, smiling again. "Times when you taught me how to read big words and how to identify certain sea creatures. I'll never forget the time you and I thought that that huge rock in the water was a whale that had come close to the shore."

I grin and nod at the memory.

"We almost drowned trying to swim up to it," I remember.

"And then there were times where you would manage to get Rose out into the water too. She'd cling to Mom, but you'd beg and you'd plead for her to come in. Once you'd get her out into the water, the three of us would just stand there on the sand, trying to jump all the waves."

"And you know something that you never saw, but I never missed?" He pauses. "Every single time you'd get Rose out into the water with me and you, I would glance over at Mom. And she had the biggest smile on her face. And it wasn't because Rose was getting in the water. The smile was for you, Lexi. She was proud of you...and she still is."

I've never needed anything more than those words right now.

"So Lexi," he says, shaking his head. "Don't you ever say that you've failed us as a sister. Ever again." I nod after a moment and we just sit there listening to the music. I notice that he has been playing, 'Pompeii' on repeat. I don't blame him—it's a great song.

"But if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all? And if you close your eyes, does it almost feel like you've been here before? Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this? Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?" I sing softly along to the song.

Benj and I talk and hang out late into the night. It's been months since I'd just really talked to my brother, and it feels really nice. It's the first time in a long time that I have felt like things were normal again. Like I feel okay with not being okay.

When I finally leave his room, I exit just in time to hear Mom come through the front door. I enter the living room right as she puts her purse down onto the couch.

"Mom, I'm sorry," I say, embracing her into a hug. "I've been such a brat lately. I know that I should understand that we don't have all the answers, but it's just hard for me, you know?"

"Oh sweetheart..." she mumbles, tightening her arms around me. "I just want you to be safe." She pulls away and looks into my eyes for a moment. "Lex, I promise you that if I find anything, I will tell you. I know how you feel about this kind of thing...and I would never want to endanger you without telling you something."

"I know...you've just been so...so strict lately," I say quietly. She looks down at me with a somewhat guilty and regretful expression.

"I have?" she asks. "I'm sorry..." She pauses and tucks a piece of stray hair back behind my ear. "I'll promise to try as hard as I can to be that fun, happy Mom that you've always known, if you try as hard as you can to not ask as many questions that we can't answer." I'm about to open my mouth and say something about how that isn't fair, but I think about it for a moment. I think about what she's done for me and what she is promising to do right now...and I think about what Benj had told me.

"Of course," I promise, nodding my head.

I fall asleep with the tune of Pompeii in my head.

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

And if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like you've been here before?

Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?

Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?

But if you close your eyes,

Does it almost feel like nothing's changed at all?

A/N: Yes, Lexi has been kind of acting like a brat lately, but remember she is frustrated. I'm not defending her...but yeah, I'm defending her. I feel like a person under all that stress is allowed to act kind of like a brat. Kind of like in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix when Harry kept getting mad at everybody because nobody would tell him anything.

SPEAKING of which, I know the big question Lexi has is probably shared with a lot of the readers rn: why IS Lexi the one everyone is after? As it might seem stereotypical for the main character to be the one that everyone is trying to kill, again, i promise there is a reason for it. And I promise you will find out that reason. I think it's going to be in the 3rd book though so I guess you'll have to keep readingggg.

Speaking of THAT, yes, this book is coming to an end. There will be a few more chapters and then onto book 3 we go. And let me just say, I have outlined the last chapter for this one and it's going to be WILD. Like, emotional roller-coaster GALORE (at least it was for me even just thinking about it). It might not have the same affects on you guys.

As always, I love and am so grateful for whoever chose to read my story! Thanks so much!