Here's the next chapter. I wish I could say it's an awesome one, but I'm still getting things set up, so there's not a lot of action. Bear with me. The good stuff is coming, I promise.

Searing Hurt Pt. 2

April

April hummed a little tune happily under her breath, glancing down one last time at the paper she held in her hands as she strolled down the sidewalk. The sun was shining, she had just finished her last round of detention, and now it was the beginning of spring break. The weather was so warm that you barely needed a jacket to ward off the cold, which that had global warming scientists worried and normal kids like April thrilled. She was off to show Donnie a school newspaper she had noticed on the floor of the hallway. It had caught her eye because she was right on the front cover.

April had no recollection of… doing a cartwheel?... while rounding bases after a homerun, but that was exactly what she was doing in the picture. Even while upside-down, she had a huge grin plastered on her face, and the headline read: APRIL O'NEIL LEADS VIKINGS TO VICTORY! 14-1! April chuckled, pocketing the article and ducking into the ally that held her favorite manhole.

Just as she stooped down to push away the cover, she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder. April whirled around to find a man in a bright orange vest and construction hat. The man tilted his head, moving his hand away from her shoulder. "What are you doing, miss? The sewers are closed off, and even if they weren't, I can't imagine what a nice girl like y-"

"What do you mean, 'the sewers are closed off'?" April interrupted. "Why?"

"Haven't you heard? Oroku Saki is sponsoring a 'cleansing of the sewers', so to speak. Tomorrow we're gonna head down and plant gas bombs to kill all those rats that were bothering us a couple weeks ago."

"Gas bombs? Kill them?" April repeated in alarm. "Is the gas strong?"

"Oh, you bet. It could kill a human if you gave it a chance, so that's why we're sealing off the manholes. Planting them is gonna be pretty dangerous. 'Course, that's why we got fearless workers like m-"

Her perfect day shattered, April raced from the alley, shouting a quick thanks to the dumbfounded worker as she headed for another manhole. However, workers surrounded that hole, and the next, and the next… flying into a panic, April yanked out her T-Phone and punched a two: Donnie's speed dial.

"Donatello!"

April's insides melted at the sound of the familiar voice, which was a first. It was so preppy, so familiar, and so ALIVE. She preferred to keep it that way. "Donnie! It's April! They—they're putting gas bombs in the sewer! You have to get out! It KILLS and…"

"April, April, chill, we know!" Donnie managed to get in above April's panicked shouts.

"What?" April slowed to a walk, suddenly realizing that she had been sprinting as she talked. "You… you know? What are you guys going to do, then?"

"That's actually where you come in. Ara mentioned that you've said you have a farmhouse in the woods upstate. Could we stay there until the sewers are safe again?"

April nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her over the phone. "I don't see why not. No one's using it, and there aren't any other people for miles. I'll write up some directions."

"Thanks! You don't want to come with, do you?"

"Uhh..." April squinted up at the sky, considering. She wanted to, but she wasn't sure how her aunt would react. "Maybe; I'll get back to you as soon as I know for sure."

"Great!" Donnie gushed. "I need to tweak the shellraiser a bit and pack, so I have to go, but if you can, I'll pick you up before when we head out, okay?"

"Err, okay."

"Sounds good. See you soon!"

"Let me get this straight." April's aunt crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back on a counter. "You want to go out into the wilderness of the state of New York with your… extremely shy, Japanese friends for all of spring break?"

"…Yeeeah." April affirmed, suddenly realizing how fishy that sounded.

"And these… friends… are four teenage boys, a teenage girl, and their wise old father."

"Yeah."

"And all the teenagers are fifteen… how did that come about?"

A bead of sweat pricked April's brow, and she reached up to scratch the back of her neck. "The, uh, boys are quadruplets, and the girl is an orphan that the dad sorta adopted… I… guess," she trailed off, biting her lip. Her aunt raised an eyebrow, and April felt a sudden need to defend them. "But I promise you, they're totally trustworthy, and they've really been helping me through Dad going missing," she stated, standing up a little straighter.

A hurt look crossed over her aunt's face. "And I HAVEN'T been helping you?" She reached up and rubbed her brow, squeezing her eyes shut. "Well, I guess I haven't. I'm sorry, April, it's just that with work…" Her aunt grimaced, taking her hand from her forehead. "Which reminds me, this arrangement just might work out. I haven't worked up the guts to tell you yet, but I have an important meeting in Chicago this week with some very important clients; I'll be gone for quite few days over break."

April let out a short, bitter laugh. "Why does that not surprise me? You're never here. Luckily I have the turtles to talk to, because otherwise…"

"The turtles?" her aunt interrupted.

"Never MIND!" April fumed. "The POINT is, my dad was kidnapped, and you don't even CARE. You just bustle off to your stupid job and…"

"You think I don't care?!" Her aunt shot back, throwing a frustrated hand in the air. "April, Kirby was my big brother. I love him more than you'll ever know. You know why I 'bustle off to work'? Because I know that if I don't keep busy, I'm going to break down, and I'm trying to be strong for you. I KNOW I'm doing a sucky job, but it's the best I can do!" She slid into one of the chairs and buried her head in her hands. "It's the best I can do," She repeated numbly, shaking her head.

April stood in shock for a moment. She had never seen her aunt show weakness before. She was always so calm and in control. "I'm sorry," April murmured, sitting down beside her aunt.

"No, no, it's okay, you're right." Her aunt sat up, forcing a smile onto her face. "But we can talk about that later. If your friends are going to leave today, we better start packing." April's aunt hopped up as if nothing had happened and headed down the hall towards April's room, April trailing behind.

Her aunt went straight for the closet and swung the doors open. She began tossing pieces of clothing onto the bed for April to pack. After a moment's hesitation, April pulled her suitcase out from under her bed and unzipped it, folding each piece of clothing and placing it inside.

"So." April's aunt pulled out a jacket, examined it with a few clucks of her tongue, then tossed it onto the bed before diving back into the closet. "When can I meet your friends?"

"Meet them?" April squeaked, freezing mid-fold as her eyes widened in dread. "You want to meet them?"

"Well, of course!" her aunt laughed, tossing some tops onto April's lap. "You can't possibly expect me to send my niece off into the wilderness with some people I haven't even been acquainted with!"

"But you can't meet them!" April exclaimed, making her aunt freeze mid-examination as she held up some socks.

"Why not?"

"Because… because…" April searched her mind franticly for a good excuse. "Because, umm, err, okay, I didn't want to have to tell you this, but…" April cleared her throat. "They were all in a fire and got badly burned." Her aunt's firm expression wavered, and April continued. "They really, really hate meeting new people, and it just makes them really embarrassed about their whole… mutation, let's call it. It would be super awkward all around if you insist on meeting them."

Her aunt sighed. "April, you have to see my point of view…"

"They're only fifteen," April coaxed. "And Dad has met them. In fact, they were the ones who helped us when we were getting attacked. That's how we became friends."

Her aunt shook her head, finishing her closet raid and sitting down on the bed. "Still, I've never even TALKED to them."

"Here, let's compromise." April pulled out her T-Phone. "You can call them on the phone while I finish packing. That way, you get a chance to talk to them without actually having to see their faces and making it awkward."

Her aunt paused, then slowly nodded. "Fine. But only because I trust you."

*Note: When I originally wrote this, they went to a cabin Ara had in the woods, but I'm switching it to April's farmhouse to keep things more canon. I wish I wasn't so good at accidentally guessing plot points; Nick seriously likes stealing my thunder. XP