A/N: Hope you're all enjoying the story so far. :)

Raph watched Cat scoot a little further away from the young man who'd came with Marina. He could tell right away something was wrong. She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm almost done." She got up and went into the store room to retrieve a part.

He stopped her on her way out. "What's wrong?" Raph watched her eyes dart to Dandrick and he growled. "Did he-"

"No, we were just talking that's all."

Raph accepted her answer. Cat wasn't in the habit of lying to him. He watched as she knelt back beside the bike. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that something odd had just happened. "Why don't you go on to bed, darlin'. I'll finish it up."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

He smirked. "Yeah, you did make dinner after all."

She smiled as she went to him and placed a kiss on his cheek. "In that case, I should make dinner every night."

He chuckled as he gave her a hug. "Uh, no that's okay. You work hard enough." He pressed a kiss to her brow. "Now, go on to bed. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Raph waited for the elevator door to close before he knelt down to finish what Cat had been doing. He watched the visitor out the corner of his eye while he completed the bike. Dandrick never looked up as he completed replacing the wheel. At last the young man spoke. "Is it true humans cannot sense their mates as Mazar do?"

Raph shot him a look. "No, they can't."

"Oh, I see." Dandrick stood and wiped his hands on a rag. He'd completed the wheel instillation.

As he turned to head back to the elevator, Raph spoke up. "Listen, bub, I don't know what you and Cat were talking about. But let me give you a little piece of advice." He stood his back still to the man. He clenched the wrench tightly in his fist. "Stay away from her, if you know what's good for you."

Dandrick glanced over his shoulder with a grin. "It was only scientific curiosity."

As the elevator doors closed, Raph growled. "I'll be watching you, you squirrely little bastard."

Downstairs, Donnie tucked Mira into her bed. She looked at the wall that separated her bedroom from her parents. "Is Mommy okay?"

He sighed. "Yes, she'll be okay. She's just mad."

"At Uncle Leo?"

He shook his head. "No, not at anyone in particular."

"So, what is she mad about?"

"It's complicated, sweetie." He rubbed her head. "Don't worry. I'm sure everything is going to work out."

She glanced at the wall again, her mother's emotions filtering into her. "She's sad too."

He frowned. "Yes, she is."

"Tell her I love her. That always makes her feel better."

Donnie smiled. "Yes, it does. I'll tell her. You go to sleep." He walked to the door and flipped off the lights.

"And Daddy," he turned back. She smiled. "I love you too."

He returned the smile. "I love you too, Mira. Goodnight."

She said a soft goodnight as he closed the door. At that moment Raph came down the hall with a scowl set in place. "Raph, is something wrong?"

His brother glanced at his door. "Lab." He said shortly and turned around.

Donnie followed him in and Raph shut the door. "What's up?"

Raph growled. "I think that creepy punk Dandrick just tried to put the moves on Cat."

Donnie blinked at him in surprise. "What?"

He folded his arms. "You heard me. I caught him upstairs with her just now."

"What was he doing?"

"Fixin' a bike."

"Did he say anything strange?"

"Uh, well, not really."

Donnie sighed, rubbing his eyes. His mind was rather preoccupied at the moment with his distraught mate, so dealing with Raph's possessive streak was the last thing he wanted to be doing. "It doesn't sound like he was doing anything then."

Raph snorted. "He was. I know it."

"Even if he was, Cat can handle herself." Donnie moved to the door. "Don't worry so much, Raph. She'll send him packing if he does anything she doesn't like."

As Donnie left, Raph frowned. That was exactly what he was worried about. What if Cat liked the attention the guy was giving her? He headed for his room. When he crawled into bed, Cat rolled towards him snuggling deep into his chest. She sighed contentedly and he relaxed a bit. Maybe, he was just being paranoid.

Across the lair, Amaya curled into Leo's side. He gently stroked away the beads of perspiration on her bare back. "Leonardo, that young man…"

"Dandrick?" He provided.

"Yes, he disturbs me."

He opened his eyes to look down at her. "What do you mean?

"I do not know what it is exactly. His soul seems unsettled somehow."

He frowned as he stroked a hand through her dark hair. "Do you think he's trouble?"

She shifted so she could meet his eyes. "I am not certain. His soul seems injured." She sighed. "If I was still at the shrine and he was a villager, I would attempt to heal the injury. But…"

"But you're not sure you can in this situation." She nodded sadly. Leo smiled. "Your heart is so kind, my Amaya. But you have to realize that you can't heal everyone that crosses your path. Let's just keep an eye on him. If he is corrupt in some way, he's sure to show his real self sooner or later." He slipped his other arm around her as he pulled the covers up to shield them from the cool room.

The next morning, Sarah rose mush as she normally did. She yawned as she left the warmth of their bedroom. She and Donnie had stayed up well into the night talking. Other than the fact that he'd gotten her to calm down, they hadn't come to any great revelation. They were both still baffled as what their next step should be. It was new territory for everyone.

Sarah stopped cold as she stepped into the living room, across from her Splinter's door was ajar. She glanced at the couch, but it was empty. She quickly moved to shoji screen and pushed it the rest of the way open.

Dandrick was standing in the center of the room looking at something. "Excuse me?" He turned towards her and she gasped. In his hand was the little silver box with Father engraved on its lid. "What are you doing?" She took the few short steps towards him quickly, snatching the box from him.

He frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's lovely. What is it exactly?"

She clutched it to her chest, tears welling in her eyes. "It's Father. It's Master Splinter's ashes."

He flinched. "Your father, but I thought your father is Lord Zenfered?"

She held the box a little tighter as she stepped around him, to place it back on the low table near the photograph of Splinter holding a baby Mira. "That man is no father to me. "

Dandrick frowned as she turned to face him. "I see."

A cry suddenly broke through the silence of the lair. Kaz was awake. Sarah gestured to the door and Dandrick complied. "It's been just over a year since his death. It's still pretty fresh for us all. So, please don't disturb his room."

He lowered his eyes. "Again, I'm sorry. I was looking for the bathroom."

Sarah nodded. "It's down the hall."

Dandrick headed down the hall as Mikey stepped from his room holding the now squalling baby turtle. He glanced at the Mazar as he passed. Then his eyes fixed on Sarah. She couldn't help but grin at his expression. Mikey pouted. "It's not funny." He whined, making Sarah laugh.

She led the way into the kitchen. "It sounds like he's just hungry, Mikey." She pulled out the large jar of formula she and Donnie had made. It contained the same protein vegetable mixture they'd made Mira when she first hatched.

Mikey yawned as he sat down heavily in a chair. "How can you tell?"

She smiled as she filled a bowl with the baby's meal. "Oh, just call it experience. Now that he's finally over his bought of, uh, colic – at least that's what they call it in human babies – you'll start to catch on. There's a I'm-hungry-cry, I'm-dirty-cry, I'm-in-pain-cry and a lovely I'm-mad-at-the-world-cry."

He chuckled. "I think I already know the I'm-mad-at-the-world-cry."

She laughed as she set the bowl in front of him. "Yep, he has that one down pat by now."

Mikey fed Kaz while Sarah prepared breakfast. Slowly everyone began to trickle in. The first to arrive as usual were Leo and Amaya, then Kala. Raph, Cat, Donnie and Mira were the last to appear. By the time their guests showed up the table was stacked with its normal large spread.

"I have been wondering, how is it possible for a Mazar and one of your apparent unique species to have a child?" Stin asked Donnie.

Donnie measured the man's intelligence for a moment before answering. "I used a manner of in-vitro fertilization using an unfertilized turtle egg in order to combine our DNA using comparative genomic hybridization."

Stin raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating, I should like to see the research on your genomic hybridization and how you dealt with the chromosomal abnormalities."

Donnie grinned, obviously pleased at finding a mind as sharp as his. "I'd be glad to share the information with you, but we need to deal with the issue at hand first. Marina may I see the book you brought?" She handed the book across the table and he frowned at the foreign text. "Hmm, I think my Mazar is a little too rusty to read this. Do you suppose you could read the entire story to us? It might give us some clues."

Marina opened the book to the section and began to read. The tale was about two neighboring households that were feuding over a section of land. Each family had born a child in the same year, one a female and the other a male. The two children happened to meet while during their pre-adultescence. It gave a recount of how the children found joy in playing together over a matter of only a few days. Then their parents became aware of their secret playtimes and separated them.

Many years later while in their village the two happened upon one another again. And although their outward appearance had changed, they knew each other instantly. They began to see each other in secret once again. One day when they were deep in the forest near their home, the young man found a flower he wanted to pick for his love. When he plucked the flower, he pricked his finger on a thorn. They were both surprised to see her finger bleed as well as his.

Marina stopped here and looked up at the couple across the table. "That sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

Sarah giggled. "Yes, except it wasn't a flower it was circuit board."

Donnie smiled as he wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, do you want a flower that'll last a few days or a computer that can handle the same amount of data as NASA's?"

"Maybe both." Sarah teased. The others laughed and Marina went back to the story.

It wasn't long before the young couple's parents learned of their clandestine encounters in the woods and tried to put a stop to it. There was a scrimmage between their houses in which the young man was shot in the chest. The girl had pushed him aside as another shot was fired and received a wound in her shoulder as well. The couple was able to make it away from the fighting. But both were badly injured as they shared their wounds. The young man blacked out and when he woke he found his love slumped over him, her chest bearing the wound he'd had as well as her own. His own chest bore no sign of the injury any longer. Distraught over the loss of his bond-mate he took his dagger and plunged it into his heart. Their families had found them later and upon seeing the price their feuding had cost them, they settled their differences and buried the couple together as is tradition on the Mazar home world of Mazaryn.

Marina frowned. "It looks like this couple barely had a year together, but you two have been together a lot longer."

Sarah nodded. "Yes, that's true we've only been married eight years but we've been together for nearly ten."

Donnie rubbed his chin. "Wait, you said the woman had the wounds but the man didn't?"

Marina nodded and Stin frowned. "That would indicate a complete transference of the wound, not just mirroring."

Mikey looked up from Kaz. "So, the guy lived and the girl didn't? How is that possible? I thought if you guys bond then if one dies so does the other one."

Raph blinked. "Yeah, but like Sarah said. If one lives the other lives too. So, wouldn't that also mean if the guy was alive so was the girl."

"Hmm, that is a very interesting theory. It is entirely possible that she could have been saved, if he lived." Stin sipped his tea.

Donnie shook his head sadly. "Yeah, but he gave up and killed himself, then there was no way to bring her back from the brink." He squeezed Sarah's hand remembering the times they had faced that very situation themselves. When they too had stood on death's doorstep, only to draw strength from one another and overcome the darkness in the end. It saddened him to think the man in the story would have given up so easily.

Stin turned to Dandrick. "Would you return to the ship and get the med kit and my notes of molecular regeneration?"

"Yes, sir." Dandrick turned to Cat. "May I borrow one of your cycles to make the trip?"

Cat reflexively scooted back into Raph a bit. She plastered on a fake smile. "Uh, sure."

Raph pulled his keys out and tossed them to the young man. "There better not be a scratch on it when you get back."

Dandrick flashed his brilliant smile. "I promise to return it just as it is."

After he left the others scattered about the lair. The guys went off to do their morning training session, while Kala put Kaz down for a nap. Sarah sat Mira at the kitchen table to do her schoolwork while she, Marina and Amaya cleaned up. Stin was content to watch Mira work over her shoulder. And Cat headed upstairs to open the shop.

Cat shook the older man's hand. "Thanks Tim, you let me know if you have any trouble."

The man with the gray beard and tattoo of an eagle on his shoulder grinned. "I should be thanking you. You fixed my girl up so fine, she's purring like a kitten now."

Cat smiled. "Next time don't take her to some sketchy wrench monkey on the west side. Okay?"

He laughed as he mounted his bike. "You know it, kid. See ya."

As he pulled out, Raph's red bike pulled into the main yard. Cat frowned as Dandrick took off the helmet. "You need to pull around back, the front is for customers."

He nodded. "Sure." He turned the bike back on and disappeared. A few minutes later he came through the back door with a metal box. He set it on a work bench and stepped around the corner to the little office.

Cat growled and slapped the side of the computer monitor. "Stupid machine."

"What's the problem?" He asked as he walked in a few paces.

She shot him a look. "Donnie updated this thing a few weeks ago and I swear it takes a rocket scientist to work this new inventory system of his."

"What are you trying to do exactly?"

"I just need to put in the carburetor I just sold." She glared at the computer. "But this stupid thing keeps telling me I'm making an error."

He smiled. "Mind if I give it a try?" She glanced at him a little wary but decided it was worth a shot. She slipped out of the chair and he took her place. He hit a few keys. "Oh, this is actually pretty simple." He pointed to the screen and clicked on a button. "He set it up so all you have to do is type in the serial number of the one you've used and then say it's either coming in or going out." He showed her with a couple key strokes.

Cat watched over his shoulder and shook her head. "That is fairly simple. Thanks Dandrick."

He stood and smiled his flashy smile. "No problem. And it's Danny."

She shook her head. "No, Danny was my brother's name. It'd feel too weird calling you that."

"Your brother? I haven't met him. Is he around?" He looked out through the office door.

Cat looked away. "No, he was killed several years ago." His hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. This planet must be a whole lot harsher than the way Marina and Stin described it."

She blinked and took a step back out of his hand. "It's alright, it has been a long time now. In any case, I should get back to work. I've still got one more bike to fix up before the owner gets here."

She turned to leave and he caught her wrist. "Do you need any help?"

For a lingering moment she allowed the touch before firmly pulling her hand away. She gave him a false smile. "Uh, nope. I've got it covered. Besides, shouldn't you be taking Stin his things? But, uh, thanks for all the help."

He nodded. "Sure." He stepped past her and picked up the box. As he entered the elevator he smiled to himself. Things were coming along nicely.

A/N: Dandrick better watch it or he won't have any teeth left to smile with...