A/N: Disclaimer- I do not own any TMNT characters except for my OC's (Daniel, Uncle Elmer and Derrin). All characters go to their own creators.

Hello there my lovely readers! Thank you so much for reveiwing my story so far! This chapter is more of a filler chapter before I get into the good stuff! :)

Also, I want to thank EpicThunder101 for reveiwing! This one's for you!

Enjoy! :)

The air was stifling hot on a very sunny July morning.

So hot, that all workers in the Silver Studio had to open all of the doors and windows in the building. Of course, with the low budget, none of the windows had screens so bugs of many a kind wandered in as they pleased.

In one of the back rooms, however, wasn't swarming with insects. A teen sat perched on the windowsill, keeping cool with a box fan positioned toward her. She was fiddling with a handheld microscope, rotating it and taking out tiny parts. Somehow her little cousin managed to jam the little light bulb under the tray into the eyepiece without damaging the glass whatsoever. So when she tried to inspect this cool bug, all she saw were two blurry wires.

All around her lay little screws and plates of the disassembled instrument in her hands. She was so concentrated on her work, that she didn't even hear the office's door click open.

A man, around his mid- fifties, shuffled to the big desk by the corner and grabbed a packet from the top basket.

"Was that Bryan's handiwork?" he asked.

The girl almost fell out of the window at the sound of his voice.

"Uncle Elmer! I didn't even hear you come in!" She cleared her voice and started on the microscope again. "And yes, little Bryan was trying to test his mechanic skills with this one."

Uncle Elmer laughed, his green eyes shinning.

"Well, it looks like you're doing a pretty good job there, lad," he commented.

She ducked her head and murmured a quite thank you. Truth to be told, compliments like that only sprang up in times of work with excellent quality. The girl quietly took out another screw, no noise to be heard in the room.

Uncle Elmer then broke the silence by suggesting,

"Speaking of microscopes, I want you to come around front. Derrin is on the brink of making something new."

The teen nodded, following her uncle out of his tiny office.

Besides the neatness of the room she'd just been in, the rest of the building was overstuffed with lab tables, chairs and desks in every possible inch of the floor. But besides the messiness of the room, it was actually quite comfortable.

One of Uncle Elmer's quotes he spoke when the company first started running was,

"The work is hard, the attire is easy."

Besides the experimental group of workers who have to deal with new testing equipment with white lab coats, it was all jeans, sneakers and tee shirts.

Uncle Elmer, for example, arrived to work at the crack of dawn in his usual plaid shirt, jeans and sneakers. It made his niece smile a bit, knowing how laid back he was about his career even though he was the manager of the whole business.

As they rounded a table, a man in his early thirties flagged them down with a gigantic flapping of his arms by the front window.

"Doctor Green! Long time no see, eh?" he exclaimed eagerly, shaking hands with the older man once he was in reach. "You wouldn't believe how much I've learned down in Austin!"

Uncle Elmer grinned and replied,

"Well, I can't argue with that matter, Derrin… they've got some of the best researchers and scientists in this field!"

Up close, she could now see his physical appearance. He had messy brown hair with blue eyes that didn't seem to stop smiling. And just like her uncle, Derrin wore sneakers (neon yellow to be specific), and jeans. His tee shirt was black with a little rocket ship on it saying,

"This IS rocket science!"

The girl cleared her throat quietly, hoping to gain his attention.

Derrin took a step towards the girl, hand outstretched.

"And this must be the famous niece I've heard so much about!" he proclaimed.

The girl shook his hand.

"I'm Daniel. It's nice to meet you," she responded politely.

Derrin pulled his hand back and clapped it on her shoulder.

"What a polite, young lady! So you're in…what? Grad school? College?"

Daniel shook her head, grinning.

"Nope. I'm in high school, actually. I just finished my freshmen year."

Derrin smiled.

"Why, I remember my freshmen year! I loved the science courses; why I even memorized the Periodic Table of Elements! I had all the good grades…all the wedgies…and the dorkiest glasses you could ever find in the yearbook."

He tapped his temple.

"You see? Contacts."

Daniel giggled, and was about to ask to hear more stories, but was interrupted.

"Now, what was it that you were working on? Something on discovering something new?" Uncle Elmer questioned.

"Oh right!" Derrin popped over to his desk – which was littered with paperwork – and opened his computer.

"You see, I was tinkering with the theory of Biomimetics, and came across this database," he explained. Uncle Elmer rotated the computer towards him and viewed the page, his eyes skittering as he read.

"So this helps with natural dyes?" Daniel summarized once she read the headline. "How did you do it?"

Derrin shot her a goofy smile.

"Really, I have no idea. I was searching on some databases and POOF! Tada! I found something!"

Uncle Elmer straitened up.

"Actually, another company was interested in this as well. If we can just file a meeting down, maybe we can try and work this out together." He flipped through the packet that he'd grabbed from his office, muttering about flight schedules. Daniel gave a confused look to Derrin, who simply shrugged.

"Ah! Here we go! A 4:00 pm direct flight to New York City. Perfect for a summer weekend. Daniel, do you want to come with me?"

Daniel gave a shocked look to her uncle, her eyes almost bugging out of her head.

"Go? To the Big Apple? For a business trip?"

"Now, it's okay if you want to stay here. Business trips can get a little boring. I just thought we could do some sight seeing in between meetings, that's all," sighed Doctor Green.

"No, no! I want to go! I mean, I've always dreamed of going there! We can see the Statue of Liberty, walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, and maybe even see some famous actors while we're there! This'll be so much fun!" cried Daniel.

Derrin chuckled.

"Well, I guess this means it's settled. I've went there once, with my college buddies. I got to see some really neat stuff." He shook hands with the niece and uncle. "It was great to see you guys again."

"We'll be in touch, Derrin," promised Uncle Elmer. He motioned for Daniel to head back to his office. Doctor Green and Daniel walked back to the room, when Daniel heard a shout.

"Make sure to send me a postcard!"

Daniel turned to give Derrin a fleeting smile and a thumbs up before following the older man's suite. Goodbye rural Pennsylvania and hello urban New York! she thought.