A/N: Many thanks once again to CPQ for beta-reading. Saved me from confusing everyone with too many Aussie-isms this time round, muchly appreciated! BTW, for any Aussies reading this; 'hot rods' are 'twiggy sticks'!

Also, a massive thank you to virtual wenrog, artykidd and Dragonfly Rider for the reviews, love getting 'em! And to everyone mentioned above for helping me out with ideas for Aprils' attire. I got a heap of great suggestions from everyone, but could only pick one, so I hope you all like what I managed to pull together for her in the end.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the TMNT, or any related characters (much to their relief, I'm sure!) If there is anything else in this story you recognise from somewhere else, then I don't own that either.

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"This is so stupid." grumbled Raph, looking at the untidy bundle of white linen in his hands with disgust.
"C'mon bro, get into the spirit will ya?" prompted Mike, enthusiastically shaking out his own costume and pulling it over his head. After fiddling about for a minute to get it sitting just right, adding the finishing touch of a light chain running from wrist to wrist, he turned to his family with a flourish. "So, what d'ya think?"
"Well, 'technically' ghosts are meant to be white, Mikey." Don deadpanned.
"What're ya talking about? It is white! Kinda…" reasoned Mike.
"Ugh, didn't you wash that after last year? Look, you've still got chocolate stains all down it!" exclaimed Leo in revulsion.

Mike peered down at himself, smoothing the front of the costume with the mitten-like coverings for his hands he'd sown into the sheet a few years ago. Having the crude gloves allowed him to grab that much more candy at once!
"What? You mean this?" he pointed to a series of dark stains down his chest that actually started at one eye hole "It just adds character dude, like dried blood or something!"
"Uh-huh." Leo uttered, unimpressed.

"Well c'mon guys! Aren't ya gonna get ready?" Mike tried in vain to mobilise his kin, failing to move either Don or Leo off the couch with his shooing.
"It takes less than a minute to put our costumes on Mike. Not even Casey's ready yet! We may as well wait a while in comfort, don't ya think?" contended Don, settling deeper in the couch as he flicked through the TV channels.
"But these are comfy!" whined Mike, surreptitiously trying to shift the eye holes cut in his sheet into a slightly less annoying position "An' what if some kids come by trick or treating, huh?"

"Mike!" Leo rolled his eyes. "It's way too early for any kids to be coming by yet. Besides, I'm sure the two seconds it'll take Master Splinter to pull his sheet over his head will be less of a bother than trying to play 'Go' with it on." he nodded towards his father and Professor Honeycutt seated at the side table, seemingly ignoring the boys to concentrate on their strategy "And the girls are bound to take an age getting ready. So there's no real point to us getting dressed yet. Is there?"

Mike slumped in dejection as Leo turned back to the TV, neither bothering about the answer to his rhetorical question.
"Hey!" exclaimed Raph, leaning over the back of the couch "There was football on the other channel, go back will ya?"
"Hang on a moment, I just want to see what this is…" murmured Don, fascinated by a show featuring a weedy guy in a lab coat stood in front of a shiny machine that sported way too many buttons, screens and whizzy things for Raphs' liking at the moment.
"This is just boring crud!" he protested after a couple of minutes of not understanding one darn thing the weedy guy had said "Turn it over to the game will ya?"
"Shhh…!" Don waved him away distractedly.

Leo rubbed his forehead, trying to stretch his patience as a tug-o-war broke out over the remote, causing the TV to flicker between random channels. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his father look up, distracted by the noisy argument. Before his sensei could act Leo took matters into his own hands, literally; snatching the remote forcefully from his brothers and emphatically turning the TV to the news, and down in volume to boot, before tucking the device under his leg where it was safe from marauders.

Despite the disappointed and evil looks he received from his respective brothers, Splinters' smile and nod of gratitude was enough to give Leo a smug smirk, and to prevent any reprisals.
"Grr, I'm grabbin' a drink…" Raph muttered darkly, stalking through the archway to raid Caseys' beer supply.

"I don't get it." Mike sighed dramatically as he plonked himself down at the kitchen table, Raph ignoring him to continue rummaging through the contents of Aprils' fridge "We all used to be so excited about this kinda thing… what's changed, huh?" Mike tossed his costume over the chair next to him and pouted as he wedged his hand under his cheek, leaning his elbow on the table.
"Uhhh, we grew up?" Raph quipped sarcastically, dumping a small bag of hot rods and a couple of cans of beer.
"That's no excuse!" exclaimed Mike, snagging a large handful of the spicy treats whilst Raph was busy pulling in his chair "Look at Ape 'n' Case; they're older than us and still get into this stuff!"
"Ape does." Raph corrected; his tone almost as sour as the look he gave his brother for stealing half his snack.

"Yeah, well a word to the wise my bro, you'd better at least act like you're enjoyin' tonight…" Mike grinned at the baffled scowl Raph gave him "'cos I know Tau's lookin' forward to it. Do you know they don't really 'do' Halloween in Australia? How sad is that? This is the first time she's been able to get dressed up an' go out trick or treating since she was a little kid! 'Sides I'm sure you're gonna like her costume…" The way Mike left his sentence hanging was enough for Raph to perk his head up and give his brother a searching glare.
"Why?" he asked cautiously, sure his brother had something hidden up his sleeve, so to speak.
"'Cos she came ta me for help with it; she wasn't sure what to wear… to 'make things up' with ya."

"Huh?" confused, Raph was starting to get seriously irked by the sly grin on his brothers' face.
"For some weird reason, I just can't understand, she gets all edgy when you won't talk to her about stuff. And you have been acting like a jerk all week; funnily enough since that night we overheard the Scorpions' plans for the Dragons." Mike shrugged "But somehow she's got it stuck in her head that she's done something to annoy ya." Raph briskly shook his head, muttering,
"That's stupid, she hasn't done anythin'."
"That's what I told 'er! But she reckons every time she tries to talk to you about it ya brush her off."
"Do not! 'Sides, we've already talked about it… 'bout her Dad an' stuff anyway. I know how she feels about 'im. How c'n I tell her there's a new gang out after Hun without upsettin' her? It's probably best she doesn't know… You haven't told her, have ya?" Raph asked nervously.
"Nah." assured Mike "I didn't know how to tell her about that; don't think anyone else does either. That should be your job anyway, you being her 'best friend' an' all, so I just sorta 'steered' the conversation away from it."

Raph studied the contents of his can for a moment, though he couldn't find any answers there. Part of him realised Mikes' advice was true; it didn't feel right keeping things from Tau. Especially something like this that he knew she'd want to know, but how to tell her about it? Then another thought occurred; if she'd been chatting to Mike…
"So what did you tell her?"
"Just that it's somethin' we've learnt ta live with; that you get into a funk an' act like a real short-tempered, conceited, pig-headed moron every now an' then." Mike continued on, seemingly oblivious to the threat in his brothers' eyes narrowing "I assured her it usually only lasts a week or so at most, an' lettin' ya take it out on a few street punks tends to help. But you'd better think of something to tell her soon. After all, you don't want her to keep coming to chat ta me instead of you, do ya? Seriously, it'd only be a matter of time before she realised how much more level-headed, better looking, mature, funnier, smarter, stronger…"

"Hey guys! What's up?" asked Casey, wandering past to the fridge with barely a glance at Mike gurgling as Raph administered a harsh noogie to his head-locked brother.
"Nuthin'" grumped Raph as he sat back in his seat. Mike took a few moments, whimpering slightly as he nursed his neck and the top of his head. He didn't bother trying anything more to elicit sympathy from his current audience; he knew it was a lost cause with these two. He did, however, eye Casey dubiously once he'd recovered enough to get a good look at him.

"Hey, I thought you were gettin' ready?" Mike asked. Casey looked mortally offended before answering,
"I am!" Even Raph rolled his eyes at that. "What?" protested Casey.
"How's that different from what you normally wear?" Mike demanded in exasperation.
"HEY! I've gone to a lotta trouble this year!" Casey objected "Look, I've put rips an' blood stains on my singlet and jeans. I've even spattered red paint on my old mask." he tipped his head forward to prove his point and show the hockey mask he had sitting on his hair "And I managed to find this on sale at a junk shop a few weeks ago!" he stated proudly as he held up a toy chainsaw, also liberally decorated with red paint.
"Ugh, man, you go as 'Jason' every year. Can't ya think of something more original?" grumbled Raph. Casey glared at him askance.
"Like you c'n talk… 'ghost boy'!" he taunted.

Half an hour, and a few light bruises for some, later; all the boys were gathered around the TV once more when the bedroom door finally opened. With a flourish April stepped out in a skin tight, light green full body suit covered in swirls of gold glitter, her make up following the theme. The pale brown 'leaves' of material that made up her short skirt enhanced her figure rather than hid it. More of the imitation leaves were twined in her hair as it tumbled down loose from a golden tiara, almost to the elaborate gossamer wings on her back.
"Well, what do you think?" she asked her silently staring audience "Do I do 'Titania' proud?"
"Who? You just look like a really hot fairy ta me!" grinned Casey, his smile faltering a little as April dead-panned him to light groans from some of the others in the room.
"Yes my dear, you do." assured Splinter with a warm smile, getting a grin from April in response.

The brightness of Aprils' costume contrasted starkly with Taus', as the younger girl shuffled out of the bedroom behind her friend. Raph suddenly found it difficult to swallow as his eyes travelled up the knee high black leather boots, almost seeming to merge with the pants, corset, jacket, gloves and balaclava in the same close-fitting material. It was topped off with a headband that had been wrapped in black electrical tape, two small black cardboard ears attached to it. The only colour present was the incongruous orange banding on the handle of a prop whip made from black plaited cord, and the crimson eye shadow and lipstick she wore.

The aspect that caught his attention the most however, was the plunging neckline of the corset. He almost fancied he could see her small tattoo, the one no-one else knew about. He was also darn sure the image of the lacing that criss-crossed the 'V' wasn't gonna vanish from his minds' eye anytime soon.

"Niiice!" drawled Mike, giving a 'thumbs up'. Raph turned to glare at his brother, his look turning to confusion as Mike elbowed him, tipping his head slightly but insistently in Taus' direction. After a moment Raph clicked, turning back to the girls.
"Oh, uh-huh!" he nodded in agreement with an over-bright smile. Tau stepped forward nervously.
"Do you really like it?" she asked uneasily.
"Yeah!" blurted Raph, sounding like an idiot even to himself he tried to regain some sense of decorum "Uh, that is, I… ah, you look… great! Yeah, great…" he petered out with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, good!" Tau smiled in relief "I might do the jacket up when we head out though, I wasn't expecting this to be so low-cut!" she confessed, tugging the jacket closed a little.
"Don't you dare!" exclaimed April, pulling the younger girl to face her and fussing with the jacket till it sat where it had been to start with. "You can't just dress up you know, you have to act the part too! And Catwoman wouldn't hide herself away like that!" she admonished.
"I just feel so… exposed!" protested Tau.
"If you've got it, flaunt it." advised April "Besides, you never know who you might meet. You might catch the attention of some really sweet guy…" Tau interrupted with a quick shake of her head.
"I'm not interested in a 'boyfriend' right now."

"Why not?" prodded April.
"It's too dangerous for a start! It's not like I can go out on a date or anything. What if I get spotted?"
"I'm sure you're father's not gonna be looking for you in a nice restaurant, or on Broadway or anything. Besides, with a little inventive make-up I'm sure most of his goons wouldn't recognise you anyway."
"What's the point? I'm just gonna be leaving…" put Tau, April dismissing the argument with a shake of her head.
"Not for months probably, at your age most relationships don't even last that long! I'm sure if you're up-front about that, it wouldn't be a huge turn-off for most guys."
"Well maybe…, but, ah…, it's not like I have the money to go out…" Tau tried again. April rolled her eyes,
"I'm sure we could find you someone chivalrous enough to cover the tab. That's still the usual way things are done here, anyway! Besides, it'd do you good to get out, have some fun and see the sights a bit. You're not planning to hide out in the sewers the whole time you're here are you?" Tau shrugged lightly in response, unable to think of anymore excuses.

"Tch. Girl, you need a life." admonished April gently, hands on hips "And I'm gonna make sure you get one whether you like it or not! Believe me; you'll thank me for it in the end. Now come on, you can help me get the candy and stuff ready. No!" she forced Mike to step back with a pointed finger.
"Awww!"
"I want some left for any kids coming by tonight. You can just stay put." April grinned, shooing Tau in front of her on her way to the kitchen. Casey and Don quickly followed the girls out of the room.

Raph slumped dejectedly against the end of the couch, barely turning his head to acknowledge Leo as he gripped him consolingly on the shoulder.
"It would be for the best, Raph." he murmured, giving Raphs' arm a final light squeeze before making his way over to pull his neatly folded costume out of the cardboard box they had all been stored in. Raph directed his grimace to the floor, until Mike leaned over to whisper in his ear. He wasn't in the mood for jokes right now, but Mike surprised him.
"Don't listen to 'em bro. The real reason she's not interested in findin' another boyfriend isn't too hard to figure." Raphs' scowl again turned to one of confusion. Mikes' wink didn't do much to clear it, but Raph found himself feeling a little better despite his reservations.

In the kitchen April quickly set her team to work; Casey fetching the bags of candy hidden in various spots around the place, Tau emptying the bags out into a large bowl in between cutting up fruit for a salad, whilst she and Don prepared a couple of rolls of sushi and a large pot of green tea. As they finished up April pulled a package out of the dresser draw.
"Here are those books you ordered off eBay, Donnie." she smiled.
"Cool, thanks April!" enthused Don, emptying the parcel on the table and going through the small stack of battered text books with the excitement of a kid with a new toy.
"How did you manage that?" asked Tau "Don't you need a credit card or something to order on-line?"
"Yeah, April lets me use her details." Don grinned at April in appreciation, getting a warm smile in return.

"It's no problem Donnie, you usually pay me back before I've even realised you've made a charge to my card!" April turned to Tau, explaining "Splinter and the other guys have my details too, mainly for any emergencies. Not that they've ever really used it. The only rule I have is that any amounts charged for stuff that's not an emergency get paid back within a month, so I can make the repayment. I'm happy for you to charge anything you need, so long as you follow the same rule."
"Oh, thanks, but I don't think I'll use it…"
"Well, that's an open offer." assured April "Besides I've been meaning to let you know about this too." she passed the empty package to Tau, pointing to the label on the front "This is the post office box we use. I've made sure it's impossible for anybody to track our actual address from this; with the enemies we've got I try to keep our profile as low as possible. But I was thinking; if you want your friends back home to send you anything, get them to send it to this box. I check it every few days or so."

"Thanks." said Tau quietly, in sincere gratitude.
"It's no problem." smiled April "Raph's mentioned that you feel a bit homesick now and then, and I know sometimes it's just the little things you miss that make it hard."
"Yeah…" sighed Tau "Maybe, once I can afford the postage, I'll get my mates to send over some of my CDs. Heh, you know back home they're always going on about how well different Aussie bands are doing in the States, but I swear you never hear 'em on the radio here. I do miss listening to 'em."
"Well, I'm just happy to help out. After all, that's what friends are for."

Don quickly dressed in his costume as April fussed about ensuring Splinter and the Professor had everything they could want to make their evening comfortable. Tau couldn't help but grin goofily at the sight of her friends draped in sheets; amazed that Mike had managed to embellish such a simple outfit. It was pretty clear who was under the other two; the one stood stoically in pristine white with something protruding over their shoulders had to be Leo. Raph obviously hadn't bothered folding his to store it, and seemed to be hunched over, not meeting her eyes… again. That had become an annoying habit of his over the past few days.

"Dags." she murmured affectionately, with a warm grin. Her smile faltered a little as she noticed Raph shifting uneasily. Deciding to bite the bullet she moved over to face him.
"You ok?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah. I'm just… ah, these aren't the greatest costumes, huh?" he muttered to the floor. Tau shrugged with a cheeky grin.
"I don't know… they do look, 'cute'." Even with his face covered there was no denying Raphs' look of utter mortification.
"'Cute'?" he asked in abhorrence.
"Oh, ok, 'classic' then; is that better?" Tau amended. She figured it was since he settled for grumbling under his breath for a moment. Her soft giggle drowned out by Mike loudly announcing it was high time they got their show on the road.

Leaving Splinter and the Professor to an evening of peace and handing out lollies, the rest of the group followed Mikes' lead to the elevator, heading to the top floor to start their acquisition of sweets from every other apartment in the building they could. By the time they reached ground level they had an impressive collection of treats, Tau glad to see Raph seem to drop some of the broodiness he'd had lately to join in the fun.

Heading out to the Battle-shell, Raph and Tau brought up the rear; busy trading sweets. They finished up as the rest of the group filed into the back of the van.
"You sure 'bout that? Two for one aint exactly fair."
"Yeah, give me chocolate over liquorice any day. 'Sides it's worth it to see you happy." Tau smiled hopefully, giving Raph a catch in his chest as he realised just how much he'd been avoiding talking to her lately. Feeling like an idiot he decided to set things right, catching her by the wrist before she turned to hop in the van.

"Hey. I just wanna let ya know… I, uh, this past week I guess I've been a bit rough with ya, but it's nothin' to do…"
"You guys coming?" interrupted Don, hanging out the door before Mike pulled him back in. Looking back at Tau, Raph noticed she was shivering slightly.
"Cold?" he asked in concern.
"Yeah, a little. Little nervous too." she shrugged "Last time I went out on the streets it didn't work out too well…" she murmured, dropping her gaze.
"Hey." Raph soothed, giving the top of her arms a squeeze "This time I'm with ya, and I won't let anyone hurt ya. Ok?" he sincerely promised.
"'k." she smiled gratefully.

The warmth of his smile was clear in his eyes as he returned her look, almost giving into the urge to pull her into a hug before he remembered hadn't finished what he'd been trying to say.
"Uh, I wanted to tell ya…"
"Ahem. Will you two get in the van now?" Leo ordered, more than requested, from the open rear door.
"Yeah, 'course Leo." Tau lilted, turning back Raph to whisper quickly "We can talk later?" Raph was surprised at the smile of relief she gave him as he nodded, before she turned and hopped up the step.