The next day Tracey and Artemis put their heads together and tried to decide where to take the boys in the City. Artemis had a tourist map out and was crossing out different attractions. She sighed. "I dunno doll, why don't we just walk around until one of the guys sees something and gets excited?"

"You know I rather like that idea, it's spontaneous and exciting! Just like me!" Tracey answered with a smile as she looked over the attraction brochures and then pushed them away. "I think everyone will have fun walking around and looking at other things too, besides who knows what window shopping we'll get to do too."

She laughed at the thought and grabbed their satchels from Leo's room and checked to make sure their money and phones were inside before handing Artemis her bag and slinging her own across her shoulders.

"I have the perfect way to bring the boys in a hurry, watch this." She smirked and cupped her hands to mouth. "Anyone who wants a topside adventure better hurry up and prepare to leave now, first one here picks lunch for everyone and we're buying!"

Stepping back until her back was against the wall, Tracey pulled Artemis back by the arm gently so she wouldn't get knocked down as the boys came running. Mikey and Donnie came racing out tripping each other up and trying to keep the other from winning. Neither of them noticed Leo and Raph dropping down from the pipes overhead. Leo landed right in front of Tracey beating the other three by seconds. Artemis shook her head and surveyed the boys who all wore a hodgepodge collection of cloths Casey had brought with him. Donnie's glasses kept slipping off his face, what had been too small on his turtle face were now too big on his human face and Artemis smiled gently as she moved to him and used a loop of elastic to keep them attached to his head.

"Way to go guys, what a way to hustle." Tracey said with a smile, pushing herself up from the wall and checking the strap of her satchel. "It was a close call but Leo won and so he'll choose where we all go for lunch and hm, we might have to rethink the clothes a little."

She had to smile and then tapped her finger to her lips before surveying Mikey and Leo, trying to figure out the best look for them. "Jeans and shirts are always comfy and are for all occasions... what do you think Arty?"

Artemis glanced at them and shrugged. "They're all wearing pants, shirts and shoes. And they look better than half the kids I've seen walking around up there." She smiled at Raph who was wearing sweats, sneakers and a wife beater had a hoodie in one hand and she snagged it. "No hoodies, You'll get the cops staring at you if you look like a thug. She took Mikey's hat and turned it around so the bill was facing front.

"Much better, oh this is going to be so much fun." Tracey said with a nod and then looked passed them all to see Master Splinter standing there. "Don't worry Master Splinter, we'll all take care of each other and watch our backs... I promise."

He nodded and watched them head out of the lair in the care of two women he'd come to think of as daughters. When Artemis had checked the alley they were exiting from she helped them all up to the surface and they headed out onto the crowded street. Artemis and Tracey had arranged between themselves that if they got separated she would mind Raph and Donnie if Tracey would keep an eye on Leo and Mikey, she looked around and smiled. "We came up in Central Park. Perfect, we can walk by the Zoo to start."

"Oh this will be perfect! The Central Park is suppose to have a white Siberian Tiger in their exhibit and even at home I haven't been able to see her either... Oh lets go, lets go, lets go!" Tracey exclaimed, looping her arms around Leo's and Mikey's arms and stepped out, bringing them with her.

Without even waiting for the others to follow her, Tracey gently tugged them forward and Mikey's enthusiasm soon grew to match hers. The walked together in a large group and looked at each of the animals and Tracey suddenly started to laugh and tenderly nudged Leo in the side, pointing to the tortoises in the enclosure in front of them.

"Hey Raph, isn't that one a friend of yours?" She asked, smirking knowingly at him. "Hopefully this isn't an awkward reunion for you. You can't deny what happened in Brazil, Artemis and I know all about it."

Raph flushed and Artemis nudged him. "Smile Raph, it was a joke." She turned to look at the animals housed in the Zoo and Raph tried not to blush harder when her hand stayed on his arm, he awkwardly looped an arm around her shoulders while they walked and she smiled up at him before turning her gaze to Donnie who had his nose stuck in the leaflet they docent had given them all. "Donnie, the animals are right in front of you…" She said with a slight laugh.

He looked up at her then have a nervous laugh and stuffed the pamphlet in a pocket and started watching a brightly colored bird in the aviary. "It's almost unreal how bright their plumage is." He remarked.

Tracey looked to see what Donnie was looking at and then smiled and nodded in agreement.

"They sure are..." Tracey agreed, taking a step forward to get a closer look.

All of a sudden there was a great aerial cry from behind them and they, including a group of other people around them, turned to see what was going down. A dark object passed over the sun and it's shadow passed over the crowd of onlookers and then fell like a bolt of lightning with another great cry. Everyone moved out of the way, but Tracey didn't even flinch and held out her arm, not really knowing what to expect or what else to do. Rhythmic bursts of air blow into her face and Tracey was forced to close her eyes as dust flew around her. A hefty weight landed on her arm and made her freeze all together, the thing shifted on its talons and soft feathers brushed over the flesh of her arm. Tracey opened her eyes to see the bird that had alighted to her arm without a leather guard, was a beautiful male golden eagle.
"Well hello there handsome." Tracey whispered gazing into the bird's brown eyes, her own turning gold from a few split seconds before returning to their blue color. "You're a real looker."

She gently began to stroke his crown feathers with her fingers and trailed her affections to his chest until he fluffed himself up and flapped his wings. "That's not cool, birdy, come back here." Cried a young staff member, jogging up the path from an arena further up the path where the staff were talking about the different birds in the zoo and some other interesting facts about them. "Miss please stay calm and I'll take him back now."

Tracey blinked a little owlishly at the staff member and then tilted her head to the side and looked back too the golden eagle again. "Pharaoh, most regal and majestic of all the birds on earth, he is right." Tracey said softly, holding her arm out to the zoo staff member and the bird stepped off. "You must stay here."

"How did you know his name?" The staff member asked.

"A beautiful eagle like him should be called nothing else other than king so Pharaoh seemed like the best name for him." She replied with a smile. "And it doesn't hurt that he told me... it's an animal thing."

The boys gaped at the massive bird watching it placidly accept being handed off to the staff member. The staff member gave them all a chance to interact with the beautiful creature before they took him back to the arena, Artemis checked her phone. "It's almost lunch time. Leo where do you want to eat?"
Leo considered it. "The Hard Rock Cafe." He replied.

"You got it." Artemis replied and led them out of the zoo and hailed a cab. When they arrived Artemis got everyones order and told them to find a table while she placed the order at the front. "No reason for all of us to stand in line. I'll text when I have the food." She said.

"I couldn't agree with you more, come on guys, I saw a table over by the window." Tracey said, directing their attention to the table in which she spied and moved to.

"The food here is good. What are you guys enjoying most about today so far and what are you hoping to see?" She took a seat and pulled herself up to the table, keeping her phone handy for Artemis's text so she could get up and help her bring the food over.

"I'd love to see one of the museums." Donnie said and Mikey groaned.

"Aww come on, can't we see some of the music stores? They're never open at night." He asked.

Leo shrugged. "I don't mind either one but I would like to check out some of the book stores." He looked at Raph. "What about you?"

"I'm up for whatever." He replied and shrugged.

Tracey's phone went off and she saw Artemis text. "Foods up, need help."

"I promise we'll get to see everything you guys want to see today... oh I'll be right back." She said with a smile and then slipped down from her seat. "The food it ready, prepare your appetites for the ride of their lives."

With a smile, Tracey vanished in the crowd and she left the boys to talk amongst themselves while she went to help Artemis pick up food. She was handed a tray by Artemis and together they returned to the table as Tracey relayed what the boys were thinking about doing next. Upon arriving at the table again, she set down her tray and gave Mikey and Leo the food that they ordered before returning to her seat and placing her own food in front of her. "Time to dig in, enjoy guys."

Artemis picked at her salad watching the boys hungrily tuck into their burgers making very happy noises at the flavors. "Oh my god… it's like heaven on a bun." Mikey said happily.

Raph was too busy getting his mouth around a triple decker burger while Donnie worked his way through a huge plate of chili fries. Leo looked at Tracey eating a plate of cheeseburger sliders that literally oozed cheese. He'd gotten a salad like Artemis and was halfway through it before he noticed that Artemis was barely eating. "You ok?"

She nodded and gave him a slight smile. "I'm not really hungry."

Licking cheese from her lips and using her napkin to take care of the remainder, Tracey looked at her friend and tilted her head to the side and studied her quietly, she'd make sure they'd talk later. Tracey finished her sliders and took steady sips of her drink, laughing a little at Mikey while he consumed his burger.

"I'm glad you all are enjoying your food. It looks like there's a music and bookstore up the road, it's a two in one so we can hit those up and then the museum is about two block over from there." Tracey stated, taking into consideration everything the boys wanted to do. "Perhaps on the way home, we'll treat you to a dessert."
Mikey grinned and finished the rest of his french fries. "Awesome! I wonder if I can find the new…." He trailed off when a pretty girl walked by and smiled flirtatiously at him. He grinned back and waved and she giggled as she reached a group of her friends.

"She actually waved at me." He said stunned.

"Only because she thought you were special ed." Raph retorted and nudged Mikey who pushed him back.

"Nuh uh… I look fiiine." He drawled and twisted his cap around so the bill hung over his neck.

"Yeah, an overdue book fine." Donnie replied with a snort.

Mikey ignored him and leaned back in his chair watching the group of girls. Tracey smiled and patted Mikey on the shoulder. She didn't quiet know how she felt about this situation, but she knew that it would be a boost to Mikey's self confidence and that's what he needed. "Yes Mikey you do look good and remember that you need to be yourself, if your girl can't accept you and all your goofiness as a part of you then they don't know what they're missing out on." Tracey said with a smile before looking between Donnie and Raph. "As for you two, it wouldn't hurt to cut Mikey some slack. He's at least in tune with his inner most self, you could learn from him."

"We did cut Mikey slack." Raph replied finishing off his burger. "This is not even the worst we tease."

Artemis picked up her tray with its mostly uneaten salad. "I'll be back in a minute." She said and headed for a trashcan.

Leo watched her go and looked a little worried. "She looks pale… paler… is she ok?"

Raph watched her too. "She seemed ok when we came in here, Maybe she's just tired?"

"No I don't think that's it." Tracey concluded as she watched Artemis head for the bathroom and then she too had the urge to use the facilities. "I'm going to go check on her... and..."

She couldn't finish her sentence before she ran to the bathroom, dodging around people and vanished behind the closed door labeled 'Women'. She ran to a stall after calling for Artemis and found her. Without having a moment to spare, Tracey ran to the nearest open stall and heaved all the contents in her stomach into the bowl. She coughed and made sure everything was out before she left the stall and went to the sink to clean up. Rinsing out her mouth several times to get rid of the bile and sliders taste in her mouth, Tracey wiped her mouth clean and then washed her hands.

"Artemis are you okay? I don't feel so good..." Tracey started, closing her eyes tightly to stop her world from spinning. "Is your world spinning too?"

Artemis came out of the stall her face milk white, she rinsed her mouth and took a few deep breaths. "No more so than normal." She said and ran cool water over her wrists. She turned on Tracey's tap and put her wrists under the cold flow of water, the effect was immediate, Tracey's head stopped spinning and she started to feel a little more normal.

"I don't know why that works but it does." Artemis said softly.

Tracey let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes as the water streamed over her wrists and hands and then looked at their reflection in the mirror. She now looked slightly paler than she had been when she got up that morning, but she didn't know why. And why had she hurled her food? It was good and she had always like the Hard Rock's food, so what was responsible for them to suddenly become sick? Tracey shook her head and turned off the water now that her dizzy spell had lapsed.

"Do you think this is a sign that our job here is almost up? Or is something else happening to us?" She asked before splashing a little cool water on her face and patting her skin dry with a paper towel. "Because if it is I'd rather get a verbal warning... I don't care for the pain and the waste of food."

Artemis smoothed her hair back out of her face and shrugged. "I haven't got a clue but let's not leave the boys out there by themselves. And let's keep this to ourselves ok?"

"Agreed, we don't need them worrying about us too much." Tracey said with one last cough. "We can't let our men be picked up by strange girls and all."

With a smirk, Tracey gave herself a final look over, liked what she saw, and made sure Artemis was alright too before she held open the door for her and then proceeded to walk with her back to their table to see that the boys had finished their food. Leo stood up when he saw them. "Are you guys ok?"

Artemis smiled. "Yeah, I was just feeling a little tired, I guess I didn't get enough sleep. Tracey just came to check on me."

Leo and Raph exchanged a look but Raph shrugged. Mikey was leaning in his chair talking to a girl behind him but Donnie pushed a pair of to go cups forward. "Guess it's a good thing we asked the waitress for more coke to go for you then."

Artemis smiled and took the drink. "Aww thanks Guys."

Tracey smiled at them reassuringly and put her hands on the back of Leo's chair and picked up the second to-go cups and took a sip from the straw. "Yeah we're alright." She said with a smile. "Are you guys ready to go? The music store and bookstore await us."

As it turned out the Bookstore and the music store were owned by the same company and that company had linked both stores through a central door. Artemis took Raph and Leo to the bookstore side while Tracey took Mikey and Donnie to the music side. Artemis found a chair in a central location so she could watch the boys without having to trail both guys as they picked their sections and started perusing the books. She smiled seeing Leo head for the Manga and Raph went for the sports section. She winced as a spike of pain pierced her temples and tried not to visibly sway in her seat. The pain abated and she took a shaky breath, something was wrong but she would be damned if she let it ruin the guys day. She relaxed a little and kept an eye on Raph and Leo who looked for all the world like two 18 year olds just out for a few books, she glanced over at Tracey on the other side of the store with Mikey and Donnie who were both enjoying both the music and the electronic equipment. Mikey was having an animated conversation with one of the techs while Donnie flipped through a display of CD's.

Tracey giggled quietly behind her hand while she listened to their intense debate about music that would mix the best before she turned back to the CDs in front of her and pulled up one of her favorite artists and smiled. She brought it to Mikey and started to converse with him about using it win some techno mixes and voiced her wish to hear what he could do with it when they got back home. "I'm going to purchase Lindsey Stirling's CD and then you can use it! I'll be right back." Tracey said with a smile.

As she walked to the checkout counter, she stumbled a little bit before she caught herself before she knocked over a stand of CDs. Tracey could feel the heat rise in her cheeks out of embarrassment before she let out a giggle and stepped up to the lady at the register. She pulled out her wallet and handed her the money, accepting the bag with the CD in it and stashing it in her satchel. "Did you find anything you liked Donnie?"

He shrugged. "Nothing I can't get online at home." He replied and turned to look at Mikey who had produced a notepad from somewhere and was taking notes while the tech waxed poetic about turntables.

He walked over and joined the conversation while Tracey kept an eye on them, her stomach twisted a little but it was tolerable, the sudden spike of pain in her temples was less so but it left almost as quickly as it had come leaving her feeling a little disoriented. Letting out a low and staggered breath, Tracey put a hand out to her side to steady herself, but wasn't quite as sneaky about it as Artemis was. She took a deep breath and winced again before sitting on the floor and waited for her dizzy spell to go away.

"What a pain in the ass." She muttered, gritting her teeth against the annoyance of pain. "Come on Tracey, get it together... don't you dare ruin this for the boys. Suck it up right now."

"Ma'am, are you alright?" One of the Handy Dandy Helper People, as Artemis liked to call them, bent down to help her.

"Yeah, I'm having a dizzy spell and it'll pass soon." Tracey replied, giving him a smile. "I just need to sit for a moment, but thank you for your concern." She gave him a small wave and sent him on his way. Taking another minute or two to compose herself, Tracey stood and went to go warm the bench with Artemis while still keeping watch on Mikey and Donnie. "You feeling ill?"

"Just a little headache." Artemis replied pressing the pressure point between her thumb and index finger. "I think we should head to the museum soon."

"Agreed, it looks like the boys will be wrapping it up soon." Tracey said quietly. "Come on guys, time to make final selections so we can check out the museum next."

She smiled and stood, preparing herself to leave. Waving to Raph and Leo, Tracey brought them together and paid for their selected items and put them in her bag so they wouldn't be bothered with them. Artemis went and got Donnie and Mikey herding them out to the sidewalk and they headed for the museum. About halfway there

Artemis saw a craft store and had a devilish idea. She told the others to go on ahead to the museum, she'd catch up and she ducked into the store leaving Tracey with the four brothers who all looked puzzled. "Come on guys, Arty will join us in a few minutes, let's leave her be and keep going... besides in there the store has cameras and no one should try anything when there are cameras and plenty of witnesses so she'll be fine." Tracey said, looping her arms with Leo and Mikey. "I don't know what she's planning but it's always funny." With a smile and some effort, she was able to refocus their attention on the sights around them.
Tracey and the brothers were looking at a display of cellphones and Donnie was chattering animatedly about the progression of the technology when Artemis caught up with them her satchel lumpy. She smiled and looked at the display of phones. "Hey Tracey… I think that's your old phone."

Looking to where Artemis was pointing, she saw a display of flip phones. She turned back to Arty and raised an eyebrow at her and stuck out her tongue. "Never going to let me live that down are you?" She laughed and shook her head when Mikey gave her a quizzical look and explained. "I had an old flip phone since I was in high school and when I finally upgraded to the phone I have in my world, it was only because Artemis was moving to Alaska, which she's forbidden to do ever again, and I needed it to take electronic transactions."

"You're forbidden to go to Alaska again?" Mikey asked looking stunned. "What'd you do there?"

Raph facepalmed and Artemis laughed. "She didn't do anything nitwit, Tracey is saying Artemis isn't allowed to move away from her home town ever again because she'd miss her too much."

"Oh." Mikey looked a little crestfallen that Artemis hadn't done anything super cool or villainous to deserve banishment from an entire state.

Artemis patted him on the shoulder. "Someday I'll tell you how I got the cops called on me for pranking a telemarketer."

He brightened and Artemis motioned for them to keep moving through the exhibits. Hanging back a little, Tracey fell into step with Artemis and pointed to her satchel. "What did you get Arty?"

Artemis lowered her voice. "Raph likes to knit but he doesn't like his brothers to know, I picked up some new yarn and some knitting needles and I signed him up for a monthly package to be delivered to the corner they get their pizza at so he can get new yarns every month for a year."

Tracey's eyes opened a little wider and she giggled. "You know, I wouldn't have guessed that he did that some of craft, but I guess I shouldn't really be surprised." She started as she looked over at Raph. "I hope he tells his brothers about his hobby soon, if they hear it from him then he'll be less embarrassed and we won't accidentally let something slip."

Artemis shrugged and patted the satchel. "It's not our secret to tell and if he wants them to know they'll know."

"You're right about that." Tracey said in agreement. "Anyways, let's keep this party moving forward, I'd like to get back to the Lair and sniff around that ghost file a little and since we have a few safe house locations we should probably try to hit those up, find Stockman and bring him to justice." She kept her voice low and smiled at Leo when he looked back at them, a little wave was included to make it believable that everything was okay. Tracey had to giggle quietly to herself as Mikey darted from exhibit to glass case, trying to look at everything all at once. He did remind her a lot of herself when she was in the various craft stores she and Artemis frequented for supplies and crafts for their business.

"I'm going to miss them when this is over Arty, they bring such excitement to our lives." She said, smiling at Mikey when he waved at them.

Artemis smiled and looped an arm around her friend's shoulders. "I'm going to miss them too."

They made a circuit of the main floor of the museum before Artemis called an end to their outing, it would be dark out soon and she wanted them all back underground before dark. When they got back Master Splinter gave a sigh of relief and smiled. "It is good to see you again. Did you have a pleasant day?"

Dropping herself onto the couch and letting out a tired breath of air, Tracey smiled and spoke. "It was great, everyone got a chance to experience the world above and sample the foods above ground." She said with a smile before leaning forward to rub her feet. "Ouch, I didn't think we had walked so far that my feet would be hurting this badly... Oh well, totally worth it and we're all back safe and sound."

Artemis smiled and motioned for Raph to follow her. When she was sure they were alone she handed him the bag from the craft store. "You'll be getting a box once a month on the 3rd at the corner you guys have your pizzas delivered to. It's only for a year but you'll get new yarns, patterns and tools."
He fingered the yarn and smiled before pulling her into a hug. "Thanks Art. For the yarn and keeping my secret." He lifted her up until only her toes were touching the floor.

"No problem. You'll have to tell your brothers eventually though; they're going to wonder about the monthly boxes." She smiled and patted his shoulder.

"I'll get around to it." He let her down but kept his arm around her waist, she felt good in his arms and he found himself leaning down towards her.

She pressed a hand to his chest stopping him. "Raph, you don't want to go down this path, we don't know when we'll have to leave, it could be next week or it could be tomorrow but walking down this path will hurt."

He stopped for a second and considered it before shrugging. "I'm no stranger to pain Art, and I'll never get the chance to kiss anyone like you again."

Artemis laughed. "You smooth talking devil."

He grinned and leaned in pressing his lips to hers his hand cupping the back of her head while he explored her mouth with his. When he pulled back he let out a soft whistle. "You're spicier than Mikeys favorite hot sauce."

He let her go and grinned at the faint blush on her face. She lifted her chin and smirked. "Not so bad yoursel…" She trailed off and pressed a hand to her forehead swaying.

Raph grabbed her before she fell over. "Whoa… I didn't think I was that good at kissing." He joked half heartedly.

Artemis started to reply when they heard a thump and Mikey yelling. "Tracey! Are you ok?"

Artemis tried to turn towards the living room but the world spun and she sagged in his arms. "Shit Art!"

He picked her up and carried her to the living room where Tracey was sitting against the couch face pale and sweaty. She doubled over in pain as her innards started to squirm again like they had at the Hard Rock Cafe that afternoon. A low groan escaped Tracey's lips and she began to shiver even more. Never in her life did Tracey ever experience such pain, not even when they were getting their transforming under control or when her previous relationships had gone horribly wrong and left her emotionally scarred for a long time.

"Arty I don't feel so good and I really did try to hold it back." She groaned, her hair falling into her face. "Oh! It hurts! What can we do to make it stop?!" Moisture started to dampen her shirt as she put a hand to her forehead to stop her head from splitting in two.

Artemis was pressing the pressure point between thumb and forefinger and trying to breath through the pain. "Donnie… I need you to take a blood sample and check it… Are we mutating more?"

Donnie grabbed a lancet from his lab and pricked her finger before running into his lab with the sample. Master Splinter gave instructions to Leo and Raph about the best pressure points to use and they did their best to help the girls through the pain while Donnie checked the sample. It took him about twenty minutes to run it but to

Artemis and Tracey it felt like twenty years; he came out with several sheets of paper and a look of consternation on his face. "You're not mutating more… you're actually expelling the mutagen from your bodies but since that basically has to rewrite your DNA… again… it's a painful process."

"No shit Sherlock..." Tracey tried to bite back, clenching her fist until her knuckles turned white and the prick of her finger had stopped bleeding. "Does that mean that we'll stay human without special abilities or does that mean we'll be stuck as mythical creatures?"

She didn't like not knowing what would happen and let out a sighed. "I'm sorry Donnie, I didn't mean to snap at you... Do you know how long this process could take?" She asked, gritting her teeth and hugging her sides as they ached again. "This feels worse than Red Ninja cramps."

Donnie shook his head. "I can't tell when it'll end but I think if you stay in human form you'll be fine until the mutagen works its way out of your system."
Artemis took a deep breath and tried to focus through the pain. "Ok… no transforming then... "

Raph looked at Donnie then Master Splinter. "Is there anything we can do about the pain?

Donnie shook his head. "Not really, we can't chance any painkiller interfering with the process."

Master Splinter moved forward. "We will have to knock them unconscious. It would be barbaric to leave them conscious in this pain."

Before anyone could object he struck with ruthless efficiency at the girls temples and knocked them both out, Raph grit his teeth but Donnie took the opportunity to check their vitals and make some notes of his own. Leo shook his head. "If this could happen to them… how long do we have in human form?"

Donnie looked up from taking Traceys pulse. "I can take a blood sample and find out."