Tracey ended up sleeping through her alarm and woke up when she hear Master Splinter moving around. Her phone read 7:30am and from the near silence in the lair no one besides herself and Master Splinter was awake. Upon checking her phone, Tracey's eyes widened and she shot up out of bed without waking Artemis who was always a heavy sleeper. Grabbing her clean cloths, she quickly changed and opened the door, again making sure that she didn't wake her friend and then left for the kitchen. Tracey listened for any other sounds, but was surprised that she hadn't been woken up when the boys got back from their nightly sentry duties. She was the lighter sleeper of the two of them and she should have woken up when her alarm went off or the boys made, but she didn't. Stepping into the hall and pacing quickly on silent and bare feet, Tracey made her way to the kitchen and looked around.
"I wonder if the boys will get up if I start cooking now or if I should wait and meditate a little now... hm so many choices." She thought out loud. "Well at least I could get some tea started."
Master Splinter smiled at her from his chair, he was wearing a pair of headphones and she saw a popular soap opera on the TV. Leo was sleeping on the couch his mouth half open. Splinter had thrown a blanket over him before sitting down to watch his stories. Tracey could hear Snoring from Mikeys room and a faint sound of a keyboard from Donnies. She didn't hear anything from Raph's room but she assumed he was asleep. Tranquility reigned this early in the morning. Tracey let out a soft laugh and shook her head at Leo's and Mikey's sleeping situation and then bowed in respect to Master Splinter. Afterward she went into the kitchen, she started to head up a kettle of water and while that was heating up, she took a tea carton from the cabinet. She took a few pinches from the carton of tea and put it in the teapot so it could let that steep until the tea was perfect. Looking through the cabinets, she found a few cups and put them on a tray. The kettle gave a small, sharp whistle and Tracey snatched it up, turned off the gas so the kettle wouldn't wake Leo up, and then poured the water in to let the tea steep until it was ready. She knew how important sleep was and they needed it. She only put a little sugar in a teacup for Master Splinter and then a little more in her own before adding the tea.
"Here Master Splinter." She whispered, coming out from the kitchen and offering him the tray of tea. "I'll make breakfast for the boys in a little while, as they wake I suppose."
He smiled and took the tea then gave Leo who was still asleep a fond look. "I have to admit I have wondered from time to time what it might be like to have daughters." He stood up and moved with her to the kitchen. "I love my sons and the fine men they have become and I am grateful that I was able to raise them but I fear for them as they become adults. They are the only beings of their kind but they will grow to long for female companionship and I am not sure how to help them with this." He settled on a stool and gazed down into his tea. "You treat them as if they are your brothers and I am grateful but may I ask a favor?"
When she nodded he took a deep breath and she realized just how nervous he was to ask whatever it was. "Can you teach my sons how to court a woman?" His ears twitched and she realized he was deeply embarrassed that he couldn't teach them this crucial life lesson himself. "You and Artemis are wise strong and kind women who have lived in the world, my sons already wish they could live more openly in the world without losing what makes them unique. They are Turtles, they might be able to become human through the ooze but they would lose a part of themselves and I am afraid of what might become of them. Will you teach my sons to court a woman as they are?"
He seemed to realize that he was rambling and stopped lifting his cup to sip his tea while he regained his composure. All the while Tracey listened, thoughts of the boys drifted through her head and she glanced over at Leo still sleeping on the couch and sighed. He was right and she knew it. Tracey contemplated all that Master Splinter said and took a sip of her tea before setting it down and nodding. She gave him a sympathetic look and then a smiled.
"We will do what we can and I can understand your concern as a parent. You have done what you can and now they're taking the next step on their journey to adulthood." She said in a whisper, looking down at her reflection in her tea. "We'll take this a day at a time." Looking at the clock on the wall, she began to pull things for breakfast and let the bacon thaw in the sink.
Donnie was the first to wander into the kitchen, he had a technical manual in one hand and mess of electronic parts in the other. He dumped them both on the table and started looking in a drawer muttering distractedly about needing a micro philips screwdriver. Tracey noticed that he wasn't wearing his glasses and it was making him lean in closer to the drawer than he might usually. Shaking her head and smirking, Tracey could relate to him since she too was nearsighted and needed her glasses to see three inches in front of her face, anything further than that was incredibly blurry and she had to squint to make things come into focus for her. "Um Donnie, where are your glasses?" She asked, pouring him a cup of tea, placing it in front of him and sitting him down at the table by resting her hands on his shoulders a little forcibly so he would actually sit. "Breakfast now and toys later, I'm going to make eggs, pancakes and bacon for breakfast... perhaps I will add some fruit salad too."
He blinked at her and frowned. "I left them in my room, I just needed the screw driver..." He trailed off when Splinter cleared his throat.
Inwardly Tracey was giggling and she patted Donnie on the shoulder for encouragement to stick around, but did let him get his glasses and take out his retainer so he could eat properly. She warned him that if he ended up holing himself away with his electronics she might accidentally let a jolt of lightning bounce around in his room and let the sparks fly if he didn't come back out.
"Believe me when I say that my brothers were the exact same way when they were younger. They never ate a proper break... I didn't either for that matter, oh well." Tracey laughed quietly before smiling and starting her preparations to get breakfast started. "They will now if I have anything to say about it."
Once the bacon started sizzling, Leo woke up and was surprisingly alert for someone who had just woken up. Mikey followed his nose to the food and Tracey politely ignored the oversized bunny slippers he came out wearing. Raph was the last out but when he looked around and noticed that Artemis wasn't there he turned around and went to Leo's room. Tracey's first indication that he was up to no good was when he came running out looked terrified and Artemis, in Dragon form, chased him out, hissing evilly. He managed to evade her whipping tail and locked himself inside the garbage truck, Artemis slammed into the side still hissing and Mikey let out a low whistle.
"Dudes... she's like that evil lady on Sleeping Beauty... should we do something?"
Leo shook his head sipping a glass of orange juice. "Nope. He was warned. Let him get himself out of this mess."
Donnie started recording the whole thing. After a minute Artemis stopped hissing and hunkered down to wait, it was full ten minutes before Raph hesitantly left the truck only to be pounced and pinned to the floor with an angry Dragon the size of a large pony on top of him. "Tracey! How do I get her off?!"
Tracey couldn't immediately answer Raph because she was doubled over in fits of laughter, holding onto the rubber spatula she was using to scramble the eggs in a death grip to keep from dropping it. She waved at Mikey and shook her head.
"I have to agree with Leo." She started and flipped the eggs in the sauce pan to let the other side cook. "My sweet Mikey, if there's two things I've learned since hanging out with Artemis it's one: never bother her before 10 and Raph you were warned, and two: never take a toy from a Dragon... So Raph, you'll have to bribe her with bacon or find another way to appease her."
The bacon finished cooking quickly and she set them to drip grease onto a paper towel so she could begin the pancakes. They cooked in the leftover bacon grease and turned a beautiful golden brown when she flipped them. Knowing that the boys were getting hungrier by the second from all the good smells, Tracey handed them plates and they set themselves up to receive the mountains of food. Growing boys needed tons of energy and these boys were no exception to that rule. Everyone dug in and
Tracey had to giggle, seeing that Raph was still struggling to dislodge Artemis from himself.
"I guess you're eating on the floor this morning Raph? Better hurry, the food is going to be eaten." She giggled and returned to the table to pour herself some orange juice.
Raph finally gave up struggling and lay defeated under Artemis's greater bulk. "I'm sorry okay, I won't bug you before 10am again I swear!"
She cocked her head and made a low noise that sounded a lot like a chuckle and got off him padding over to bump Tracey affectionately. Raph sat down with his brothers looking embarrassed and Leo grinned at him. "So what did we learn?"
"That 300 pounds of dragon can out muscle my dumb ass." He grumbled and snagged some food before Mikey finished it off.
"And this is why I tried to tell you that she wasn't a morning person and it would be best to leave her alone my sweet... incredibly violent teddy bear." Tracey answered, giving him a knowing look as a smirk played on the side of her lips. "I haven't kept all eight of my fingers and two opposable thumbs this long by waking her up at the crack of dawn."
With a smile, Tracey looked down at Artemis and ran her nails over the scales on top of her head. She handed her a piece of bacon, making sure she held it in such a way that she wouldn't lose her fingers. Tracey then shook her head and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "You are a slippery creature my sweet, but well played."
Artemis made a soft purring noise and padded back to the bedroom. She came back out dressed and looking smug. "He started it."
"Yes and I'm sure that you gave him a decent head start, but still..."
She let the rest trail off and handed Artemis a plate with all the fixings and some juice. Happily she proceeded to clean up, handing Mikey the few left overs that they actually had from the way that they wolfed down everything she made. Tracey felt that today was going to be a good one and smiled.
"Where will you go set up today Arty?"
"I was hoping Leo would know a good place in Central Park." She looked over at Leo who looked a little surprised then considered it.
"I think I know a spot."
Artemis looked over at Tracey. "Still planning on meditation?"
"Yeah." Tracey replied, stretching upward after drying her hands on a towel. "Hopefully I can get lightning under control with a little meditation and it like fire is a little tricky to handle." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.
"Leo where are you thinking about taking Artemis? I just want to know in case you need me for any reason."
Leo shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I promise she'll be safe."
"Please humor me, I'm starting to make it my life's work to keep track of Artemis. She was kidnapped at least twice while we were in Ancient Greece and that took at least two year off my life." Tracey said, placing a hand over her heart and looked at her invisible watch on her other wrist.
Leo glanced at Artemis who shook her head and shoveled eggs into her mouth. He sighed. "We'll be setting up by the zoo."
"Thank you." Tracey said with a reassured smile. "And now I'm going to meditate... please keep her safe, she means the world to me."
Artemis grabbed one of her cokes and cracked it, taking a long drink. "Let the caffeine kick in then we can go."
Leo nodded and leaned back in his chair staring off into space. Tracey looked at Leo and tilted her head to the side, studying Leo's facial features and rested her hands on the back of the chair nearest to her. "Leo is something wrong?" She asked quietly. "Believe me when I say I have the absolute confidence in all of your abilities to keep Artemis safe, I just worry about her."
Leo leaned forward and leaned on the counter. "Tracey having confidence in us and trusting us should be one and the same. Being part of a team is trusting the rest of your team to hold up their end."
Tracey grew quiet and nodded. "I understand what you mean... and I'm sorry."
Leo glanced at Artemis who was sipping her coke placidly seeming to ignore the conversation, he looked back at Tracey. "If I decide to take her to an alternate location and not tell you are you going to be able to trust me to keep her safe?"
Looking into Leo's calm blue eyes and studied him closely, quietly contemplating her response before letting out a long and steady sigh. She straightened her posture and crossed her arms over her chest, nodding slightly. "Yes... I just worry, it's in my nature."
He nodded and smiled warmly at her. "Thank you."
"Hai Sensei." Tracey replied, bowing slightly before giving him a salute with two her fingers and then turned on her feet and left the kitchen. 'I know they can keep her safe but I can't help but worry. Our last opponent was a pissed spirit bent on wreaking havoc on not only other innocent people's lives but specifically on Artemis's and mine.'
She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize that her feet had carried her to the same room she had used before for meditation and then blinked. With a shrug of her shoulders, Tracey removed her shoes and socks and stood in the middle of the metal island. Tracey closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly and taking her stance. When she inhaled another breath, she began, shifting her weight between her stances and letting her hands flow side to side, up and down, coming back to her center and sweeping wide again. All the while her breathing was even and she could feel something inside her crackling into life. She wasn't really aware of her surroundings until something metal clattered to the floor behind her. Eyes suddenly flashed golden when they opened and her intake of air was sharp. This brought about a quick reaction from her, the crackling in her body rose and manifested visibly in her hands. The result was an unleashed ball of lightning toward the source of the noise before it could be stopped. Tracey's stance was rigid and aggravated like an Adder ready to strike, nothing like her former stance which was more fluid and stream-like. Her breath was panicked, chest heaving air in and out quickly and heart racing, pounding wildly in her ears.
Mikey was crouched one nunchuck in hand the other on the floor. His eyes were so wide it looked painful and he was doing his absolute best not to move in any way, he was barely breathing, she heard someone running up the hall and realized that the lightning had let loose a crack of thunder in its wake. Raph rushed into the room and stopped staring at the blackened scorch mark on the wall about 6 inches above Mikey's head. "What the hell Tracey, Mikey's annoying but frying him is a bit much don't you think?"
"I... I'm sorry... it was an accident." She stammered, looking from Raph to Mikey and then started to shake. "I didn't know anyone was there and I was startled... Mikey, I'm sorry." Tracey started she shift on her feet and rub her arms insecurely, heart still throbbing painfully.
Mikey stood up shakily and swallowed hard. "No.." His voice squeaked and he cleared his throat. "No problem. I was just trying to pass through so I don't wake Master Splinter…" He shuffled his feet and glanced at the scorch mark. "You could really barbeque if you wanted to… bet your BBQ chicken has a real kick."
"I'm sorry... trying to get this power under control is difficult and unpredictable..." She said quietly, looking down at her bare feet. "I can't... control it... yet." Trying to swallow the lump in her throat, Tracey shook her head and her hair fell into her face. She turned away and sat down on the floor with her back to them. Letting out another breath and trying to calm herself down, Tracey wanted to disappear to any place that wasn't here, where she couldn't hurt anyone. "I'm so sorry."
Raph approached her carefully and gently lifted her up onto her feet then brushed her hair away from her face and nudged her until she stood up straight. "Nothing to be sorry about. You're new at it, everyone messes up when they're new. We're 7 foot, walking talking ninja warriors, we've all accidentally hurt each other."
Mikey sidled up and held out his arm showing off a scar on the forearm. "Leo got me pretty good when we first started weapons training."
Raph motioned to the scar on his lip and shrugged. "Mikey hits harder than you'd think." He tilted her face up so she was looking him in the eyes. "Don't flinch, don't hide and never give up. We're warriors, all of us and you and Artemis too. You just don't have all the training we do."
He gave her a fierce grin and it reminded her of the grin Artemis would give when she won a fight or succeeded at something that scared her, it was oddly reassuring. Mikey patted her back awkwardly and grinned too. "It was pretty intense sister. Like that time I accidentally brushed up against the third rail. If I had hair, it would still be on end." He ran his hands over his head and laughed.
Giving them both a lopsided smile and a thanks, Tracey stood up on her toes to lock an arm around Raph's neck to bring him down to her level, she did the same to Mikey, though he was only a head taller than her. In this manner she gave them both a hug before letting them go."I promise not to stop practicing with my lightning... and if I actually do BBQ some chicken I will make sure I cook it in kitchen and with normal cooking materials." She took a deep breath and let it out.
"Now I need to get back to practicing... with a lot more training I will have this thing under control soon. Until then I think all my meditation sessions should be solo and I should be left to my own devices. I'm sorry again Mikey, I owe you big time... Perhaps we could go flying tonight or I could pick up some pizza and then we'll go flying... what do ya say?"
Mikey's face light up at the thought of pizza. "Pizza sounds great! And flying too! Last time Raph got all the best flight time."
Raph gave him a shove and grinned at Tracey. "Yeah, you practice. I'm going back to bed for a while." The brothers left her to her own devices, warning Donnie to leave her alone for the time being too.