A/N: Hi again! Another fun one to write, as well as a little sad. I hope you guys like it!

Chapter 7: The New Hideout

It wasn't long after Kirby and Aunt Robyn arrived home late from work, that the others had sent Keno back home, thanking him for his help even though he felt he did but little. Of course, he'd promised to keep the existence of the mutant family a secret from everyone and anyone before he left, though Raphael did consider knocking him out and leaving him out on the street to make it seem like he'd passed out and dreamt all of this.

Once Keno was gone, the turtles decided to get a head start on finding a new place to hide before the Foot had a chance to come looking for them, much to April's protest, but after insisting that this was the best thing to do, she eventually relented, albeit unwillingly. After gathering their weapons and spare flashlights, the boys quickly made their way noiselessly out of the apartment building, through the empty bakery and back out onto the streets. Although it was still pouring rain outside, April had wanted to walk out with them to see them off, and to make sure that the coast was clear.

She held her yellow umbrella over her head as one by one, her turtle brothers sneaked across the empty streets as they prepared to slip through the nearest manhole and return to the sewers in search for a new home. After Kirby and Robyn's gracious invitation, Master Splinter had decided to stay the night in her apartment with Casey, Klunk and Spike until they gave Kirby a call that they'd found a new place, and then Splinter would help them move their essentials out of the old lair.

Before they moved out into the open, April walked across the road first, looking out for any signs of pedestrians or Foot lurking around, before she came to a stop at the manhole on the other side of the road near a curb. Crouching down, April quickly pulled off the cover and beckoned the boys to come over.

As she waited for them, April felt tears sting her eyes. Even though she knew she would always be able to see them again, it was still so unfair that they had to leave everything behind. That old subway station held such happy memories for all of them, and if for some reason they had to move away permanently, she knew she was going to miss it just as much as the boys already did.

It was like a second home to her and Casey.

Leonardo was the first to reach the manhole as he swiftly sprinted across the road, keeping his head low and his dark blue eyes scanning the streets. His shell seemed to glisten in the moonlight as the rain hammered against it. He skidded to a stop just an inch away from the sewer entrance. His stone-faced expression replaced with a smile that warmed April's heart, the oldest turtle approached April and cradled the back of her head with his large green hand, giving his human sister a firm kiss on her forehead, a gesture saved for her alone. He smiled as he drew away. "Thanks again for everything, April. We'll see you again later. We promise," he said.

April took in a shaky breath before nodding firmly. "Yeah. It's for the best after all."

Grinning, he bowed to her once before leaping down into the manhole. She could not help but chuckle.

Leonardo. He was always so staid in the traditional ways of ninjitsu, and oh so protective of his family. What was there not to love about her blue clad hero?

Several seconds passed before the next turtle appeared. Raphael was next in as he charged over the street, casting quick and careful glances about him, but not breaking his stride. As he reached April, his vibrant green eyes looked off to the side, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head before he finally came to a decision. He wrapped a rough but caring arm around her shoulder and bumped his forehead against hers as affectionately as he was able to. He used this with everyone as his way of showing assurance and love, apart from Casey, who he just tackled to the ground instead. "See you later, Ape," he quipped with a soft grin.

She rolled her eyes with a tolerant smile. She hated that nickname, but Raph usually did things to make them all mad. But then again, that was Raph. "See you Raph. Good luck finding the new place."

He saluted as he released her, and then leapt down after Leo.

Raphael. He was always so awkward to show affection or any feeling besides anger, but he never thought twice about showing vehemence to those who dared to threaten him or his family. He was their red clad protector.

Donatello followed shortly after, moving slower and his footsteps quieter as he reached her. Standing up straight, he opened his mouthy to say something but was cut off as April suddenly threw her arms around him, holding him close as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. "Good luck, Donnie. I hope you can still build your amazing gadgets down there," she whispered, still fighting back the tears that threatened to come.

After getting over the initial shock of her embrace, Donnie looked down at the top of her red haired head, smiling softly as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, resting his chin atop her head. "Me too, April..." he replied as he reluctantly drew away from her, resting a green hand atop her head to ruffle her hair playfully, as he'd done so many times. "We'll come back for Splinter once we've found someplace decent. Until then…I guess this is 'see you later'..." Then without another word, he jumped down into the hole after Raph.

Shaking her head, April grinned. Donatello. He was a genius in the lab, but an adorable love-struck dork everywhere else. But for her purple clad tech guru, she wouldn't accept anything less.

Michelangelo was the last to appear, not stopping even to look around as he tore through the rain lashing down upon him. April nearly burst into laughter when she saw that he was wearing the hat he'd worn at TCRI to fool the woman at the desk in the lobby. Stopping before he collided with her, he cleared his throat. "…The lives of two people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world," he quipped in his best 'Old-style New York Accent' as he called it, making April giggle, "that's why you're gettin' on that plane. Maybe not today, maybe not -"

"Would you stop?!" shouted Donnie from below. They heard Raph snicker as well followed by and irritated groan from Leo.

Mikey shrugged nonchalantly, and then he came forward and gave April a quick but loving cuddle. "Bye April!" he beamed.

April snickered as she dropped a kiss on his cheek, hugging him back with all the force she could muster, though she felt the tears finally stinging her eyes. "Bye Mikey," she croaked out. The chances of crying only increased when she felt Mikey reach up and stroke the back of her head gently, before he finally released her and sent her a freckled smile that told her everything would be okay. With that, April watched as the last turtle leapt down after his older brothers in search for their new home, for however temporary it may be.

Michelangelo. He was the wild, devoted and fun loving little brother that she wished she'd grown up with. They wouldn't trade their orange clad baby brother for anything in the world.

With all the turtles gone, April carefully slid the manhole closed again and walked away, letting the rain water mix with her silent tears as she strode back to her human home, praying that her mutant family would be okay.

The tunnels were darker and just as damp from all the sewage that was being pushed up due to the rainfall as the four brothers trekked through the tarnished passageways. As usual, Leonardo took the lead with his flashlight guiding their path as he kept his eye out for any suitable place that they could stay in. Raphael was bringing up the rear, casting his stormy gaze around him in disapproval, which left Donatello and Michelangelo wedged in the middle of the group. Mikey whistled tunelessly as he stared at the tunnel walls looking for anything that could possibly interest him. After a while, the whistling started to get to the others.

"Mikey. Please stop that. It's kinda irritable," Donnie said flatly. Mikey stopped without argument, but pouted in annoyance; it was just too tense and quiet between the four of them, and Mikey didn't do tense and quiet.

No one spoke again as they continued to walk in silence, the only sounds being the trickling of water and the splashing of their footsteps, until Raph's aggravated sigh broke the muteness. "Alright, stop, this is stupid!" he barked, drawing them all to a halt. "We've got the Foot up there with the mutagen, we still need to find out who the heck this 'Kraang' guy is, and we're down here playing 'Century 21!' What's the deal?!"

Leo came to a stop and spun around to face his second brother, growling in agitation. "Raph! Knock it off!" he snapped, his patience thinning quickly. "This isn't a Maze game, we're trying to find a place to hide before they come looking for us first!"

"C'mon, Leo! I know even you can think of something better than this!" Raph shot back.

"I already have! It's called, 'Operation: Relocation'!" Leo spat, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey," Mikey interjected, "I'm in charge of naming stuff –"

"Not now, Mikey!" Leo snapped, not noticing how Mikey flinched before he turned back to Raph. "Raph, the sooner we find a new place, the sooner we can go after the Foot! This isn't about you and your stupid urge to bash a few heads, y'know! Think about what's best for our family before you think of yourself! Now let's move!"

Raph growled like a feral dog at his older brother. He just didn't get it, did he? What if his mighty leader actually got of his high horse and listened to what he had to say for once? Sure, Raph wanted to beat someone up right about now, but it was more than that. They knew where the Foot were hiding, so why let the chance to take them out pass them by now? "Y'know what, 'fearless leader'?" he snarled, "if you'd actually listen, you might just figure out that maybe I'm no doing this for me?!"

"Whether it is or it isn't, what you do will affect the whole team!" Leo miffed in response, prodding Raph's plastron firmly. "You might want to go out and get yourself and everyone else killed Raphael, but I am not!"

"That's it, screw you Leo!" raged Raph, slapping Leo's hand away from his chest. "I'm going back up!" As Raph turned to leave, Leo lashed out and grabbed his arm with an iron grip. Raph snapped his head to him, his emerald eyes ablaze with anger.

"...No. You're not." Leo growled lowly in warning, his azure eyes narrowing as his grip tightened on Raph's arm.

"...let go of my arm, Leo," Raph snarled, his tone tinted with the promise of a violent retaliation.

Sensing there was going to be fists flying very soon, Mikey quickly rushed in to tear them apart. "Guys! Please, no fighting!" he pleaded. "Um, how about this? Two words for a solution to our housing problems!"

They all looked at him expectantly.

"Time Share!" he said with a grin.

Donnie slapped a hand over his face and sighed.

Raph rolled his eyes as he tugged his arm out of Leo's grip and spun on his heel. "I'm outta here!" he shouted over his shoulder as he stormed away from them. Mikey reached out his hand to stop him when Leo made no other move to do so, but Donnie put a hand over his chest and shook his head. Mikey looked down at his feet, helplessly defeated.

Leo sighed angrily and shook his head. "Fine then, Raph!" he shouted after his retreating shell, "Go on ahead, but don't come crying to me when your little plan goes wrong!" Spinning on his heel, Leo trekked off further into the tunnels. "Come on, you two!" he called as he took the lead again.

Mikey and Donnie stared after Raph. "…but…but what about Raph?" Mikey asked timidly.

"He can catch up in his own damn time," he shot dismissively, "let him do whatever the hell he wants."

Glancing one last time at the retreating form of Raph, Donnie reached out and Mikey's hand, gently tugging the younger turtle along. "Come on, Mikey. Raph will be fine," he assured, "He just needs to blow off some steam, that's all."

Sighing, Mikey complied with a nod. "…yeah…" he merely mumbled as he held onto Donnie's hand a little tighter. With that, they followed their somewhat ticked off leader deeper into the tunnels once more in silence, this one far more unnerving than the last.

Time passed, and there was still no sign of anything that could even shelter a cockroach. Mikey had since let go of Donnie's hand as he walked beside Leo, who seemed to have cooled off now, but still refused to say a word. Growing more and more agitated with the silence, Mikey huffed. "Y'know, you'd think finding a decent home around here would be easy," he grumbled aloud as he now walked ahead of Leo, "But Noooooo! You'd think even and idiot could find a place down here, but noooo- AAAAAAHHH!"

Mikey screamed as the floor beneath him crumbled like sand, and he fell down into the hole he'd created.

"MIKEY!" Leo and Donnie cried in unison, all issues and previous thoughts forgotten as they raced to where their little brother had fallen, crouching down and scanning their eyes frantically in the darkness.

"Mikey, buddy, are you okay?!" Donnie called worryingly. He couldn't see a thing down there, even when Leo flashed his light down into the hole; no Mikey, no nothing apart from stone. "Speak to me, Mikey!"

"…Hey guys, check it out! I think I've found something!" Mikey called from below. To their relief, he sounded like he was alright.

Leo and Donnie shared a confused look, before Donnie shrugged his shoulders and jumped down the dark abyss after Mikey. Leo followed shortly after.

Donnie landed next to Mikey, who was stood up and dusting cobwebs off his arms and legs with a grimace. "Mikey, are you okay?" Donnie asked, discreetly looking his brother over for any injuries. To his relief, he found none.

Smiling up at his older brother, Mikey nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. But you guys have gotta check this out!" he grinned as he ran towards a power switch attached to a brick wall. It was old and was covered in cobwebs, but as Donnie got a closer look, he could see all the wires and connectors still appeared to be perfectly intact.

"Pull the switch, Igor!" Mikey laughed in his deepest commanding voice.

Donnie smirked and rolled his eyes as he gripped the power switch with both hands. "CONTACT!" he shouted as he pulled the switch down with a grunt of effort.

With a low whirring sound, lights suddenly flickered on and filled the large space, nearly blinding them all with the sudden brightness. Once their eyes adjusted, the three turtles gazed around their new surroundings, eyes widening in awe. They paced down the stairs that led into an old abandoned train station, with long cobwebs that hung from the ceiling and latched onto long, old subway cars that sat lifelessly on the tracks in the center of the station. Stained glass windows above their heads seemed to glisten and glow in the new light, reflecting their kaleidoscopic colours onto the ground floor. Old boxes and broken wooden crates were littered across the dusty floor, filled with old, unused tools and supplies, but that didn't stop the three teenage brothers from exploring.

"WOW! I don't believe it!" Mikey gasped, "Look at this place! Isn't it neat?!"

"It's very roomy. And well hidden, too!" Leo exclaimed with excited approval as he and Mikey began to roam about the new place, peering into the old subway train and running through the cars and peeping through the windows.

Mikey poked his head through one window, only to end up having a face full of cobwebs. He sneezed loudly before he wiped the webs from his face. "Egh! Blah! Eww, Spider City around here, isn't it?!" he spat as he ducked his head back inside.

Exiting the subway train, they both turned back to Donnie, who'd been gazing around the large space with a thoughtful look on his face. "What do you think of it, Don?" Leo asked.

Donnie didn't reply right away as he hummed to himself in thought. "Y'know…I hear the sewers in Florida are nice this time of year," he joked, turning to his older brother with a cheeky grin.

Leo smirked and put an arm around his taller younger brother. Mikey laughed out loud and ran off to explore some more, his arms spread out as if he were flying. For someone who didn't want to move a few hours ago, he was surely enjoying himself.

"This is going to be a great place for us to stay, Donnie," Leo persuaded, "Even if it's only for a little while. And hey, look, there's even another big room over there where you can set up a temporary lab over there near the utility room. How about it?"

Donnie looked around one last time, scanning the wide open spaces. He then looked down to his older brother who gazed up at him expectantly. Donnie smiled, revealing the gap in his tooth. "I'd give this place a nine point five," he smirked.

Leo raised a playful brow. "Don…"

"What?" Donnie shrugged. "It's important to be accurate."

Leo chuckled and brought his brothers' head down for a noogie, driving his knuckles into his head as he grinned like a Cheshire Cat. Donnie tried to fight back, but his laughter only weakened him as he was left at the mercy of his big brother.

Maybe this place really wouldn't be so bad after all.

Narrowing his eyes, The Shredder gazed coldly at the two figures that lay on the floor before him, groaning and panting in pain and exhaustion. To say that he wasn't surprised with what he found would only be half of the truth; he'd expected the changes they would undertake after exposure to the ooze, but nothing quite like…this.

He turned his bloodshot eyes to the droid standing beside him. "Is this what was supposed to happen, creature?" he queried.

The Kraang turned to him. "It appears that the mutagen is what is known as more unstable than Kraang had thought," it replied. "However, Kraang has calculated that it has indeed made them what is known as stronger for the one known as Shredder to use against the ones called The Turtles."

Shredder nodded in approval. "Excellent. Very soon, the turtles shall battle against my new army, and my finest warriors. Soon, it shall be mutant…against mutant."

Elsewhere, April pushed the door open and hurried out of her classroom that late afternoon as soon as the bell rang, her resolve mimicking the speed of her stride as she shouldered her backpack. She had to call the News Station to see if they had any new leads on TCRI as quickly as possible. Maybe they'd found traces of the ooze in factories or abandoned warehouses or something. If she was going to help her friends, she needed all the information she could get. Opening her locker and quickly grabbing her coat and gloves, she put them on with surprising speed and shut the locker door, and was already headed towards the school entrance within seconds.

Her best friend, Irma Langinstien, wasn't too far behind her as she zipped up her purple coat clumsily, though she was struggling to keep up with her friend's faster pace. "A-April! Wait up, will you?!" she panted in exhaustion, tugging her heavy bag filled with textbooks along with her. "You've been at this TCRI story for days! You're gonna go crazy if – "

"I told you, Irma, I'm going to find out more about that TCRI no matter what!" April argued back, keeping her eyes focused ahead of her as they barged through the main doors of the school building. "You heard what the guys said; they'd mentioned something about a guy called Kraang. That could be the guy or the organization that created the ooze in the first place, so I need to find out who or what that is, and then find out what they were really doing inside TCRI!"

Still trailing behind her, Irma sighed heavily, but smiled. Once April got started, there was no stopping her. She should've known better to be honest. After all, what about the time where she had tried to find out more about the Foot Clan before she even met the turtles? She had almost gotten hurt, but even being held at knife point didn't stop her from doing what was right, for the sake of the people she knew and for the millions of others that she knew would benefit.

That was April O'Neil for you.

"Also," April continued, grabbing Irma's attention again as they exited the school gates and continued down the streets, "I need to check up on Splinter. The guys left him last night at my place with the pets, saying that they'd come back for them as soon as they'd found a new place to stay, but I haven't heard from them since –"

She was cut off as her phone began to buzz in her pocket. She grinned. "It must be them!" she cried happily as she quickly answered it, hoping into a nearby alleyway for some privacy. Irma leaned in curiously to listen in on what they were saying; she was just as much a part of this as April was after all. "Hello?" April answered, then smiled when she heard the familiar voice of her purple clad turtle. "Hey, Donnie! Are you guys okay, did you find a new place to hide yet?"

"Oh, yeah, uh…I-it's not much right now, but, we'll bring you down" Donnie replied, his voice slightly muffled due to the sound of activity behind him. "We've only really had time to pick up Splinter, Klunk and Spike from your place and then pick up a few essentials from the lair, which surprisingly is only a half hour away from here, but it's really well hidden. I-I'll be able to…OW! Mikey, the toaster does not belong on my foot!"

April giggled slightly at Donnie's outraged voice, as did Irma as she stifled a snicker, and also made a mental note to give Mikey a call or a text later on; she hadn't done that in a while, and the two of them needed to catch up on their 'Dusk of the Zombies' marathon pretty soon.

After the arguing had ceased, Donnie spoke again. "Uh, April, the real reason we're calling is to ask; Have you seen Raph by any chance?" he asked.

April raised a brow at that, tilting her head towards Irma, who shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. "Raph? No, I haven't seen him. Why, is he missing?" she asked, worry tinting her voice at the thought of something happening to them again.

"Y'know, we could use a little help over here, Michelangelo!" she heard Leo shout in the background. She also heard Donatello shush them testily.

"Sorry," Mikey's voice rang, "but I need to talk to April! Donnie, gimme the phone!"

"Hey, ow – give me that, I'm – hey – ow! Mikey! Ugh, so you haven't seen him?" Donnie addressed her.

April held back the giggles as much as she could; this was serious, no giggling allowed. "No, I haven't. Sorry, Donnie."

Squeezing the T-Phone a little tighter in his hands, Donnie sighed heavily, but tried to remain positive. Raph was a ninja after all; it would take more than just April to find him. Either that, or he was travelling by sewer. "No," he assured her, "that's okay, April – "

Leo suddenly appeared next to him and spoke into Donnie's T-phone, "Well, April, if you do happen to see him, tell him 'thanks for wasting our time'!" he jeered, "Because instead of looking for the Foot and the mutagen, like we should, we've gotta go out and look for him!" Then he slammed down a heavy bag onto the floor, which accidentally landed on Donnie's toe as he stomped away. Donnie yelped and hissed in pain. The heck was in that bag?!

"What was that?" April asked.

Donnie squeaked, and then said into the phone, "Leo says 'hi'…"

April rolled her eyes skyward, sharing a knowing look with Irma, who shook her head and sighed. Whatever happened down there, it'd obviously ended up with Raph and Leo having another argument…again. Raph must have left soon after that and hadn't sought them out or even called since, which was why they were starting to get a little unnerved.

"Donnie, I need to talk to April! Gimme the phone!" Mikey whined again.

"Oh, get lost Mikey! Uh, so, if – hey! – If you see him, or hear at all from him – "

"Dooooonnnniiiee –"

"Go away, Mikey! If you do see him, let us know as soon as you – "

"Donatello!!"

"Oh for freaking – oh, here!" Donnie sighed in exasperation. April heard scuffling sounds on the other line before Mikey's high pitched cheerful voice came through.

"Hello, April? It's Mikey. I just wanna say…helllooooooo!"

April couldn't fight back the laugh this time as Mikey and Donnie began fighting over the phone again. Irma shook her head with a smile. "Boys," she chuckled. "I don't know how you put up with them sometimes, April."

Hanging up the phone and nodding to her friend as they walked out of the alleyway and down the road towards the subway station, April grinned. "With a lot of patience," she replied, "and a lot of ninjitsu is involved too."

Tap. Tap-tap.

Looking up from his desk with papers scattered across it, Keno looked towards his bedroom window at the sound of tapping, his brow creasing slightly. He saw nothing out on the fire escape, and he just shrugged as he turned back to his homework…though it did nothing to really take his mind off the other night with the turtles. Sighing heavily, Keno dropped his pencil and leaning back on his desk. This wasn't right. He should be out there with them, trying to help them track down the Foot and the mutagen, not sitting in his room doing pointless homework. He was just as much involved in this entire affair than the rest of them, and to top it off, he was the only one who knew the exact location of their new headquarters –

Taptaptaptaptap.

Hearing the tapping again, more frantic and impatient than before, Keno whirled around again, and let out a little yelp at the sight of Raphael, frowning at him slightly through the other side of the closed window. Not missing another beat, the boy hurried over to the window and opened it wide, allowing the giant turtle to hop inside silently, shivering a little bit due to the cold outside. Once Keno shut the window, he turned to Raphael. "…w-what are you…how did you find me?" he stammered.

Casting a glance around the boy's room, the turtle shrugged. "Ninja thing," he answered simply. "Are your parents around?"

Still a little miffed, Keno shook his head. "N-no, my mom's still at work. She won't be back until later tonight. Why?"

Raph sent him a knowing smirk, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You still up for helping us out, kid?"