I decided not to write a whole chapter about the flashback. I'll incorporate some important parts but not too much of it. Maybe that will be a bonus chapter...not sure just yet. The parts that are included are in italics.

I am so sorry that I am super late with this chapter. There is no excuse for this. Here you go.

WARNING: Possible Triggers.

Thank you to BrightLotusMoon for being my beta.

~Inculpate: accuse or blame.~

Tensions are running high. Meditation and sleep are inconsistent. Research is failing. Sadness, guilt, and regret is a constant heavy weight on the Hamato clans' shoulders. All because of what they did. All they think is about is their fallen father and their incapacitated baby brother.

It's been about 4 months since Michelangelo was brought back here from the fight. He's not doing so well, and I'm honestly worried that he isn't going to make it. I want to hold onto that last shred of hope that he can come out of it. Leo did after all, but Leo didn't have to be hooked up to at least 5 machines to keep him on life support. No one can properly function around here because of this. I try everything in my power to help the turtles in any way that I can but they constantly refuse my help or they don't even respond. I can't blame them, though. Their sunshine is hidden behind dark thick clouds.

Leo is constantly trying to reach Mike through the realm of the spirits with the arts of meditation. Raph is the same as when Leo was in the coma. Constantly looking over Mike, except this time, he won't even enter the room. I guess he's afraid that if he gets too close...something will happen. You don't have to be psychic in order to see that he feels guilty about making Mikey run away. We tell him that it isn't his fault but he won't listen to us. Donnie is throwing himself into research 24/7 researching a way to bring Mikey out of his coma and what the hell was even in that liquid. I'm pretty sure that the liquid that was shot into him was dissolved by now into his system. But who knows what it's doing to him. Donnie is pushing himself beyond his own limits. I try to get him out of the lab but he won't listen to me. He only listens to Kiki. I see the way that he looks at her. I think Donnie likes her, I'm glad that he found some happiness in this dark time. I'm also glad that Casey apologized for their damn rivalry. He said that he was sorry because he was the one that always started the fight. I still have to say sorry for all of the pain that I've caused him. Casey is trying to make things right between him and Donnie but Donnie is either ignoring him and or throwing him out of the lab. Cassie is constantly by Mikey's side, she always running her hands over Mike's body and is whispering things that we can't make out. I don't mean to sound like a bitch but I don't like her. I have a bad feeling about her. I've seen what's she's capable of when she unleashed her powers. And I'm going to admit that it was really stupid of me to try and start a fight with her. I just got so mad. But she was right about several things, I did leave the only family that I had over a stupid misunderstanding. It wasn't their fault that the mutagen fell out of the ship. And they did try and help me get my dad back after all. Mikey put his life on the line when he went to bait him. And I never even got to thank them for it, I ran without hearing their side of the story. I hurt Donnie in the process. The only good thing that came out of it have I met Casey and then he met the turtles. Cassie was right about another thing, I do get ahead of myself a lot, I should stop bragging about how I'm almost a kunoichi. It will take many more years to become an actual kunoichi. I mean look at Karai, she's been training her entire life, and I've been taking lessons for barely a full year. Hopefully, this will get better before it gets worse. Meanwhile, we will do what we have to do, Donnie will research and check Mikey's vitals, Raph will watch from afar, Leo will meditate, Casey will work on the truck, Kiki and Cassie will help with Donnie and I'll just write in my journal.

- April O'Neil

11-23-13

We were finally able to convince Raph to enter the lab. I had to lie to him in order to do it, but I don't regret it. I told him that I can sense that Mikey is missing his big brother. Raph is too tired to see through my lie, but at least he's finally letting his walls down in order to 'care' for Mikey. We also left the turtle family alone with Mikey today. Leo was reading Mikey the latest issue of his favorite comics for him, he made sure to do the voices that Mikey loves. Raph was and still is constantly apologizing to Mikey for all that he did while holding his hands tightly, but not too tight. I think Raph is trying to assure himself that Mikey is alive by holding his hand. Donnie is...silent. I'm still not completely sure why but I think that he feels guilty for not intervening sooner than he did. I feel that he is sad because he hasn't been there for Mikey. I can sense that their guilt runs deeper than the recent events. I can still hear their thoughts about Mikey, I can see their memories.

Speaking of memories, Cassie has the ability to show us the memories of Mikey. She showed us what Kiki, Mikey, and she did when Mikey ran away. They smiled, they laughed, they cried, they were happy in other's presence. They watched anime together, they discussed music together, they played music together and sang. They cooked, read comics and books, they drew and wrote stories. They did everything that we never did with Mikey together. I can tell that Mikey has a connection to Cassie. You don't have to be psychic in order to see that they are close. They are going to be and are best friends. Mikey looked so happy when they were running around in the woods. It was so funny. Kiki and Mikey planned to do a classic prank on Cassie when she fell asleep on the couch. Kiki ran a tissue over Cassie's face and Mikey put whipped cream on her hand. When she touched her face, she woke up. She realized that it was whipped cream and began to chase them. Cassie attempted to throw whipped cream at Kiki and Mikey but she ended up chasing them around the woods. I didn't even know Mikey had that much stamina. There were a lot of things that none of us knew about Mikey. Like how Mikey has a very high pain tolerance. Mikey tripped over a log and broke his arm. It was horrible, you could hear the cracking of the bone. He didn't make a sound but his eyes screamed pain. Luckily Kiki set the bone and Cassie healed the arm. The purple mass was gone in a matter of seconds. It was so cool to watch. Another thing that we never knew about Mikey was his hidden anger. I guess we saw a gateway of that rage when he was fighting Bates 4 months ago. This dark aura surrounded him and he was able to kick some serious ass. And as quickly as it came it was gone. It honestly scared me to see the most lovable and carefree turtle be so angry. We saw that Cassie, Kiki, and Mikey were sparring outside of the house. It was still July, so the weather wasn't too bad. Mikey and Cassie were watching Kiki train with her powers on the dead tree. That was until Cassie made a surprise move on Mikey. He was holding his own until Kiki said they were acting like caged up animals. Mikey stopped midway swing and then began to shake in rage. He dropped his nunchaku and turned around and punched the tree behind him. He made a huge dent. He continued to do so until Cassie was able to calm him down. He apologized and said that it was what I said before Leo woke up. I remember Casey and Donnie fighting, but Mikey was right. It was wrong of me to say that. They did need to blow off some steam.

I have to admit that I think that the turtle family is jealous that some stranger is getting to spend time with their bro. I think they feel they are getting replaced. Cassie found out and assured them that she wasn't. She told them that they were family to Mikey and she was just a friend to him. I can sense that they are also thankful because someone was with him through this time.

They're thinking about all the fun times that they had with him, and they beg him to wake up so they can make more. They are constantly blaming themselves about the whole situation. I don't blame them, but I do blame one person...her. I blame Cassie. If she never came into our lives...this would never have happened! But Mikey still would have run away, even if they never met. The only thing that I am grateful for is the way that she was so nice to him. It actually surprises me that she was so nice in the first place. What does she want with him? Is she trying to hurt him? Is she faking it in order to get some information on us and sell it to the government or something? WHAT DOES SHE WANT FROM US?! I don't completely trust her. I know that sounds like a pretty messed up thing to think, but I just can't trust her yet. After all, it was her that brought that...thing into our lives. Mikey was forced to fight someone else's battle and he got himself injured in the process. I'm confronting her today.

April O'Neil

11-25-16

"I've got some things to ask you." April marched into the kitchen. Cassie had been washing the dishes after that morning's breakfast. She nodded and dried the last plate and placed it on the drying rack.

"Before you say anything I want to say that I am sorry about what I said a while back. I was just upset at the situation around me. I understand if you don't want to forgive me but just wanted to say I'm sorry. Now, what is it that you want to ask?" Cassie asked, turning around and facing April.

"Why are you here?" April asked, dismissing the apology for now.

"Well one, you said I could stay here until we fix our house. Second, I need to make sure that Mikey is ok. I won't leave until I know he's better."

"That's the least you can do... " April whispered. Cassie heard it nonetheless, but she was going to leave it alone.

"I know you blame me for this. But you should be blaming Bates. Besides, weren't you the ones that caused him to run away in the first place? At least that's what I was told."

"Oh of course he told you. He tells you everything!"

"Of course he told me everything. None of you guys were willing to listen to him. You were all caught up in your own little world to pay attention to him. Who else was he supposed to go to?"

"Mikey could have come to me." April stated.

"April you saw how he felt about you guys. He felt that you guys were too busy with your own things in order to actually sit down and talk."

"...He...he never told us." April said suddenly feeling guilty over her actions. She struggled to stand. Cassie saw this and guided her to a chair. Leo, Raph, and Donnie heard the commotion in the kitchen, they ran to help but were stopped by Casey. Who was listening by the doorway.

"April…" Cassie stopped in order to find the right words. "Look...I know that you and me don't see eye to eye, especially...right now. But we can all agree one thing...Mikey is special and he is loved. Right?" April nods in agreement.

"He knows that I love him because I constantly show him that I do. I say it and I show him in the things that we do together. I always remind him that he's loved. Sadly I don't think he knows that he is loved from his family yet. Your actions constantly show it. He told me about the time when you guys first encountered the Shredder. He was passed around like a used rag doll. I think that was the first time he began to doubt his role on the team. I mean he knows the role of everyone else. Leo is the leader and can be calm in any situation. Raph is the muscle of the team and can be counted on to be the protection. Donnie is the brains of the bunch and is able to contribute the intelligence to the team. Mikey doesn't know where he belongs. Leo, Raph, and Donnie are able to come up with the plans and do everything together. I know you guys don't think this way, but Mikey believes that he doesn't give a significant role to the team. He feels as he isn't a contributor."

"But that's not true!"

Cassie and April looked towards the voice they heard in the doorway and saw Raph. "He's the one that keeps us together as a family. He's the one that will always give us a little push when we've all given up hope. He's our sunshine, our light...he can calm me down when my temper gets to be too much. And...and...he's one of the main reasons that I'm still here" Raph's voice broke at the end of the sentence. "He's my best friend...and…I...I managed to hurt him…" Raph's voice broke at the end of the sentence. Leo wraps his arms around his shoulders and Raph leans in for support.

There was a prolonged silence in the kitchen as Donnie and Leo hugged Raph as his sobbing took over him. Leo and Donnie's bodies were vibrating from the shaking.

"I'm just at fault Raph, I always blew off his plans because I underestimated him. He is capable of so much...but...but he'll never be able to explore anything if all we ever do is put him down." Leo abruptly got up and walked over to Cassie. He glared at her before his face broke. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into his plastron. This notion surprised Cassie and everyone around them. It took a second before she hugged Leo back. She didn't know why he was hugging her.

"Thank you…" Leo whispered.

"What...whatever for?" Cassie asked genuinely confused.

"I just want to thank you for everything for the past few months. You took Mikey into your home and made him feel loved. He made a best friend. He deserves all of the friends in the world, but all he has is us. He's stuck with a terrible leader who constantly reprimands him for just being himself and a brother who never pays attention to him because he's "too busy" training," replied Leo.

"At least he has someone that understands him and is patient with him. I never take the time out of the day to actually listen to him. I always make fun of him and insult his intelligence. I'm always working in my lab to be with him. We're supposed to be the B-team. It's always been us. Whenever Raph and Leo fight, he always hides out in my lab, and we talk there. Or...at least we used to…" Donnie said, kneeling down by Raph.

April looked over to Cassie and Casey and indicated them towards the living room. They nodded and each led one of the turtles to a spot on the couch.

"What changed?" asked Cassie, pressing the issue from the kitchen. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she shouldn't be asking this, but she can tell that they need to talk this out.

They'll never be able to move past this if they don't.

"I think it all started after we got our asses kicked by the Shredder for the first time. When we were in HQ of the Shedder, we needed to team up...but nobody wanted him...I didn't want him." Leo swiped at his eyes to try and clean away the tears, but the more he wiped, the more spilled out of his eyes and down his face and on the ground.

Donnie made a strangled sound. "W...we told him that no one wants to be with him...b..because...h...he keeps messing up...it's always been us. When we were little, we always stuck together no matter what. When we had to spar, or go out into the sewers. We were never far apart...But then we got older and I...I let him slip away from me. I should have taken him. I should have asked him if he was ok after all of that. A sign fell on him! And...I never checked on him. I thought I heard someone crying but I thought that was my sleep deprivation catching up to me. I should have checked on him!...What kind of a brother am I?" Donnie sobbed as he cried into his knees. April wrapped her arms his shoulders, hoping to offer some kind of comfort. It didn't help.

Raph nodded. "I always underestimated him. I yelled at him. I lose my temper over the smallest things that he does. But...I now know that it's what makes Mikey...well, Mikey. I never thought that I'd miss him so much like I do now. I'd rather give up my years of ninjutsu training and my sais if it means that Mikey can come back. SHELL! He was my best friend before any of this. Before April and Casey...before this hell...he was always there for me... and I always managed to push him away from me." Raph dropped down to his knees in sorrow. He realized what a terrible brother he's been. Now Raph finally understood why Mikey did what he did. He was just trying to get their attention.

They ignored him, they stepped over him, and Mikey deserved better. They always underestimated him.

"You're not the only one Raph...remember that whole thing with the parasite...Mikey had an idea to nab the creature with his kusarigama chain, but I said that it wasn't a good idea just because he came up with it. We never got to thank him when he saved us from that damn parasite," Leo gritted out in self-beration.

"Did you guys see how grown up he was when he was in Dimension X? He could hold his own against those three monsters. The three of us couldn't even take it down. I felt so proud of him in that moment, and every moment after that." Raph said trying to smile through tears.

"The only reason he went into that damn place is because we denied his request about going to rescue his only friend...A...at the time! He didn't know you then!" Donnie quickly added looking at Cassie.

"It's ok. As long as someone is there for him, I'm happy…"

"You and Mikey have a special connection. I've never seen one like it before." April stated.

"It's true," Leo said. "From what I've seen, Mikey's eyes light up when he talks to you. He's so happy with you. I'm glad that he met you. I know that it's a little soon, and the circumstances aren't the best, but when this is all over, do you and your sister want to help us take back New York?" Leo proposed.

"I would love nothing more than to…help you…"

"I know that you blame yourself about what happened to Mikey...but I want you to know that it isn't." Donnie offered to Cassie. But she shook her head.

"No it was. I thought that if I moved all the way out here, he wouldn't find me…" Cassie said, her resolve starting to break.

"Who was that guy anyway? Why would your boyfriend…" April got cut off.

"He's not my boyfriend...well he was...but that's not who he really is...it's complicated" Cassie said, trying to gain control of her emotions.

"Then who is he? If you don't mind me asking?" April asked.

"He was the benefactor for some experiment, but I was created by accident." Cassie said nonchalantly. She couldn't talk about it. Not now. April tried to push her into talking more but she began to back away when Cassie began to shake.

"Cassie, are you ok?" Donnie asked hesitantly. Said person fell to her knees. She tried to take deep breaths in order to take control of her body. She kept breathing deeply until she was able to clear her mind.

"Ugh...sorry...I think I'm ok." Cassie said after a few minutes of deep breathing.

"What was that?"

"I'm sorry. Long story short, Bates was the main benefactor for an experiment. The main scientists wanted to find a way to create immorality without extracting the youth out of another creature. Midway through the experimentation someone mixed up some cells, some sort of DNA. Then I was created. They found a significant breakthrough. But if they told the government then they would immediately shut down the experiment and try and destroy me, that's what they kept telling me when I would ask why I couldn't leave the building. They somehow discovered that I will learn anything if it's coded into me."

"What do you mean 'code'?" asked Donnie.

"I'm not human. I don't know what I am if I'm being honest. Everything that I know, everything that I do...it's not me. It's not what I actually want. I was genetically modified to be the perfect person. Cassie began to shake as she remembered what she went through.

"What happened? It's ok if you don't want to talk about it." said April.

"No...it's ok...he... Mikey said that talking would help." She smiled through her tears.

"They found out that I have 'unique' DNA. And when it's injected into someone else, it makes them stronger, faster, and smarter than they originally were. But the downfall was that when they extract this DNA, I weaken. It was to a point where I couldn't even get out of my bed. I was getting sicker and sicker every day. At one point I was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS as many people know it. I knew something was wrong with me. Everyone told me that I was ok, but I knew something was wrong.

They really didn't take me seriously until I fell."

Cassie was walking down the dimly lit hallway that connected to her personal rooms. She knew she was not allowed to get late night snacks, but they took away her daily portion. She knew she shouldn't have screamed when they were injecting her with that strange liquid...but...it burned like fire inside of her veins.

She tiptoed out into the dimly lit hallway and made her way to the cafeteria. "I hope they saved some dango for me...it's my favorite."

Cassie suddenly fell forward and landed on her knees. She sat back...

"I fell…" she stayed still for a while to make sure that no one heard her. She then realized that she was still on the ground. Cassie moved her arms and hands to make sure that they weren't damaged. They weren't. But something was not right...she couldn't move her lower half. Cassie became over whelmed with new emotions. She began to pound her fists into her unresponding legs.

"No...come on you *pound* stupid legs! Come on *pound* COME ON STAND UP! *pound* YOU'RE *pound* SUPPOSED *pound* TO *pound* DO *pound* WHAT I SAY! *pound pound* SO COME ON AND *pound* STAND UP! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?" *pound*

Cassie lowered her head into her hands and screamed. The echo was heard throughout the hallway.

Back in the present, Cassie was on the floor and was holding her head, trying to suppress the extreme headache and the horrible memories. She remembered Master Eli talking about something called PTSD.

"Are you alright?" asked Leo, bending down to her level. After a few minutes, she was able to get her breathing in check.

"Yes I-"

"GUYS GET IN HERE!" yelled Raph from the inside of the doorway of the lab. They all ran to the lab and were frozen when they saw Mikey thrashing in his bed.

He was having a seizure.

A/N: Well then...that's that! We finally get to see a little of Cassie's past! If you think that she dominates the story, then someone please tell me. I don't want to make her the main character too much! This is about ninja turtles...I just wanted someone to be there for Mikey when no one else was. Please give me some feed back.

And in all seriousness, if you ever need to talk to someone about anything then i am willing to talk to you.