Note to the reader: Just wanted to warn you that the next few chapters are going to get a little darker than how I normally write. I felt like something a little more serious was due to happen about now, so I went ahead and did it. Hang in there, guys! It'll be back to normal soon. And thanks again for actually reading!

I had known that it would be rough going back, but I had no idea it would be this rough. I had stopped by a convenience store before I started to head back, much to the annoyance of a very tired employee, and now had a bag of goodies weighing me down as I flew. Worse than that, though, was the fact that I was flying against the freezing, snowy wind. By the end of the first hour I had to stop and thaw my wings underneath a lamppost lest my feathers start to freeze. Even though I had pretty much stopped molting and most of my feathers were sturdy and black and heavy duty, I could still feel my wings freeze up under the intense cold. As I started off again I realized that there was no way I could fly the whole way. The next time my wings started to freeze up again, when I landed I hit the ground running and traveled that way: my feet barely made an indent on the snow as I ran and if I angled my wings just right they would lift me up as I ran and carry me a few hundred feet before I touched ground again. It wasn't as fast as flying, but thanks to my mutation I was still going about as fast as a car would drive.

I made it back around five in the morning, nearly frozen (my hair completely so) but determined to finish the mission I had set for myself. In a stroke of unbelievable good luck, Splinter was the only one awake. His old eyes widened in concern when he saw my ragged condition, but the silly grin on my face soon dispelled the worst of his fears.

"How was it, my daughter?" he asked.

"Wonderful, sensei. I can tell you more later, but I'm on a tight schedule right now and really need your help with something. Can you order the boys to sleep in or something? I can't have them seeing the house on Christmas Day before I'm done with my master plan." I panted, holding up the tired plastic bag holding my bounty. Splinter gave me a curious look, but just nodded his head and headed toward the guys' bedrooms. I couldn't help but giggle when instead of entering the boys' bedrooms he simply stood outside each of their doors and said something to the effect of 'If you come out before I instruct you to I will make an improvised hashi and put you in it,'

I set to work, pulling dozens upon dozens of strings of twinkle lights out of the bag and stringing them up around the living room. I lighted the small tea lights I had gotten and set them up around the room. Even though we didn't have any presents under the tree or a plate of cookies for Santa, it was a merry sight to see. After straightening up the room and doing some last-minute cleaning, I nodded to Splinter, who immediately told his sons they could come out and see the living room.

Nobody came.

I stared at the hallway in disbelief. Where were they? Did they dare to still sleep after all my hard work? I stormed into Mikey's room, prepared to knock him upside the head, when I remembered that it was Christmas and that I should probably cut the guys some slack. Mikey's room was messy, with blankets hung up all over the walls and covering the window, causing the strings of Christmas lights hung all across the ceiling to be the only source of light in the room. Pillows and stuffed animals were strewn across the carpeted floor, so instead of my original plan I simply grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. Mikey grunted, ignoring my efforts to fully waken him.

"Good morning, sleepy head." I said, sitting on the edge of his bed and tickling his chin. He smirked and wrapped both his arms around my waist, burying his face in my stomach.

"Good morning, teddy bear." He purred. I laughed, swatting him on the head playfully, but knowing that there was no way I could get out of his powerful hold without some help.

"Leo," I called to the room next door, "I need your help with something, please." Mikey, sensing what I was doing, shook his head and squeezed me all the tighter, pushing all the air out of my lungs. "…now, please…Leo…" I whispered with the little air I had left.

A very sleepy Leonardo, with no mask, no gear, and a very old blanket draped across his broad shoulders, quickly filled the doorway. He took one look at the situation and broke out laughing. Finally he intervened, easily breaking Mikey's hold around my waist. I gasped, my chest heaving.

"You...are...unbelievable." I said in between breaths, falling back against his chest. He just smiled at me and tickled my chin with his finger.

"Good morning," he said again. I slipped off his bed before he could hug me again and into Donnie's room. His room, unlike his younger brother's, was neat and organized besides the massive pile of books in one corner. His desk was littered with a few papers and the walls were covered in schematics and drawings and such, but overall it was pretty neat. The white walls needed some color, I decided, but that would have to wait for later. I walked up to the sleeping form and rubbed my hand up and down the back of his shell, smiling as he squirmed with pleasure. For being seven feet tall and massively built, these brothers could look awfully similar to an overjoyed puppy that's getting its back rubbed if they wanted to. Donnie yawned, his chocolate eyes still clouded with sleep, and looked up at me.

"Time to get up, little guy," I said. He raised an eyebrow at that.

" 'Little guy'? I'm approximately 247% larger than you, not counting the wings." He said sleepily. I just giggled and left the room, bumping into Raph once I got into the hallway.

"Watch it, kid." He said, shoving me into the wall with his shoulder.

"Oh, right," I said, putting on a grumpy expression and hunching over my shoulders. "I'm Raphael. I hate mornings. I'm the big guy who pushes everyone around. Out of the way, little bird, because I'm Raph and I'm scary like that."

That put the others into a fit of laughter. Knowing what his reaction would be, I ducked, narrowly missing a playful swat to the head from Raph. As my last stop, I squeezed around the boys and into April's room, pleased to find her awake in her bed. She looked worn and very thin, but her countenance brightened when she saw me come in.

"Hey there, Angel," she said weakly. "What a pleasant surprise. I thought you had flown off somewhere last night."

"I had," I answered, suddenly aware that my wings were feeling really sore and tense. I made a mental note to ask Mikey to help me work the kinks out as we went about our morning. "But I'm back now. I… I went to see my family. My real family. In New York."

April looked at me, her surprise evident on her face. "And they didn't freak out?"

"They didn't see me. Well, my baby brother did, but nobody believed him when he said his oldest sister had grown wings."

"How did it feel to see them again?"

"Wonderful and awful at the same time. I guess I finally accepted the fact that my family and I can never be truly together again, not the way it was before. But I also came to appreciate just how kind you all were for taking me in the way you did. So I just wanted to say thank you, April, for putting up with me and for sharing your adopted family with me."

Tears sprang to April's eyes and she reached across the old quilt to take my hand. "I know you feel like you lost your family in the mutation, but remember that you have a new one to help alleviate that loss. And remember they are not truly gone. They will always love you. And so shall we." I nodded, suddenly fighting off tears myself.

"Thank you, April. Now, I'd better get back to the boys before they die of curiosity. I decorated the living room for Christmas and let me tell you, it's pretty amazing."

"You do that, dear. I think I'm going to take a nap for a while."

I left April to herself and went back into the hallway, shutting her door softly behind me. The Turtles, still waiting patiently in the hallway, looked at me expectantly. I was struck once again by just how big they were, just how strong and powerful each of the brothers were individually and how strong they were as a team. And for yet another time I was struck by a very simple fact: I was safe here.

Little did I know just how wrong I was.

The spy peered through his binoculars, taking in the situation with sad eyes.

Are they really making me do this on Christmas? It will tear them apart! He thought with an ache in his heart. He may be a trained mercenary, but he was also a husband and a father. No amount of merciless training at three in the morning was ever going to get rid of his fathering instinct. He had learned to push it aside, to not pay attention to it, but now it hit him like a rock.

I'm going to have to kill her…

The thought reminded him of the whole reason he was crouched uncomfortably in a tree in the middle of the forest on Christmas morning and he shook off the sudden passions that had overcome him. Now he was all business. He put the binoculars away and pulled out a digital copy of the report on the girl they called Angel Wings, scanning it quickly to refresh his memory. Finally seeing the tidbit of information he desired, he pulled out a specially-made grappling hook that could stick to most anything, even an icy roof. He put the report away and shot the hook toward the roof. It stuck.

He glided down from the tree and landed on the snow-covered ground silently. His black hood covered most of his face, hiding it in shadow as he peered inside the window to the living room. Inside the old house he could see the Turtles and Angel talking and laughing happily. Taking care of the girl would be easy. It was getting her alone without the others fast on his tail that was going to be the hard part. But luckily he had a plan—a very good plan.

There was a knock outside the back door and I hopped up to get it, my wings nearly hitting Raph in the face. He swatted them away playfully, finishing the cookie he had in one bite.

"I'll get the door." I said. "It's probably Donnie."

Donatello had left a few minutes earlier to get something from the barn and should have been back any minute now. I left the warm cocoon of the living room and went into the back hallway that connected to the back porch.

"Don, you know it's not locked, right?" I cajoled as I approached the door and opened it in one swift movement.

Nobody was there.

I walked out into the cold a little ways, my skin instantly covered in goose-bumps from the freezing wind howling around.

"Donnie?" I called, suddenly wary. Something was not right here. Suddenly I heard a voice calling frantically from the woods a few yards from the back porch. It was Donatello!

"Help!" the voice cried. "Angel, Leo, anybody! I can't move! Help m—" Something cut Donnie off and the air was eerily silent. Without a second thought I sprinted in the direction his voice had come from, not even warning the others where I was going. The wind buffeted me as I ran and I tucked my wings against my body tightly, knowing full well that if they unfurled against my wishes I would be in for a lot of pain as the wind whipped them around uncontrollably.

As I ran, Donnie yelled out again, this time farther in front of me. That's odd. He sounded closer from the house… I thought, but I soon dismissed the thought. Now I was really worried about him. He sounded like he was in a lot of pain. I ran faster.

As I ran, I lost track of where I actually was in the forest. Donnie's voice seemed to move around in the trees, getting deeper and deeper into the forest and farther and farther away from the house.

"Angel!" Donnie screamed to my left.

"Hold on!" I cried, frantic. Where was he?

Then, out of the blue, I could see him. He was unconscious on the snow, his hands bound behind his massive shell.

"Don!" I gasped, noting his bruised eye and a nasty gash on his forehead. The blood had trickled down his temple and onto the cloth that gagged his mouth. "What happened to you?" I breathed in horror. Wait, he's gagged? Then how did he talk? I wondered, suddenly suspicious. Then, shaking myself out of my reverie, I tried to rush over to my wounded brother.

I never reached him.

A searing pain suddenly blossomed at the base of my skull on the back of my neck, just below the hairline. I felt an electric current run up and down my spine, eerily like when I was in Sack's lab all those months ago. My body went limp, crumpling to the ground like a wet piece of paper. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe.

The snow was blocking my windpipe as I lay face-down on the freezing ground. My heart raced, but I couldn't so much as move my pinkie, let alone shift myself so I could breathe. Right when I thought my lungs were going to explode for want of air I felt a rough pair of hands flip me over. I gasped, the cold air burning my lungs. I tried to cry out, but my mouth refused to respond, refused to form words. I looked around frantically, fear coursing through my body along with the current. Suddenly a pair of cold, black eyes were looking down at me. His face was covered with a mask so all I could see were his eyes. He said nothing, just knelt down beside me and reached behind my head, fingering a device that had somehow latched onto me and was causing the pulsing current that paralyzed me.

"You will make no sound," he warned, moving his black hood out of his face, "or I will do this before you can scream" He pressed on the small device lightly and the current intensified a hundred-fold, bringing tears of pain to my eyes. I wanted to badly to scream, but I couldn't. I felt like I was going to explode. The man let go and the pain subsided. My tears froze to my cheeks as they fell, not even reaching the snow. Then, standing up, the man pressed a button on his watch and the current stopped altogether. Before I could stop myself, I drew in breath to scream, both in pain and in terror. Before I could, he pressed the button again and the agonizing pain was back. My back arched convulsively as I tried in vain to stop the torture. Then, almost as suddenly as it had begun, it was over. I breathed heavily, sweating now, but did not scream, too exhausted to even try.

"Good." Said the man approvingly. "you're learning"

Who was this man? Who did he work for? Why was he here? What did he want with me? The questions never stopped.

"You are going to come with me," he announced in an icy voice. I shook my head weakly, my chest still heaving. He raised an eyebrow and reached for his watch again. I flinched, losing all resolve at the thought of enduring the agony yet again. He grinned smugly.

"That's what I thought. We're going to go deeper into the woods and then I am going to kill you. Any questions?" he asked nonchalantly. I was too exhausted to really register what he was saying. Before I had a chance to clear my head he grabbed a rifle from behind a bush and a bag of his supplies. Then, crouching down beside me once more, he pulled a small syringe from his pocket and injected something into my neck. Within seconds I was unconscious.