Disclaimer:…. I obviously do not own Ninja Turtles. Peter Lair and Kevin Eastman do.

"Yeah I lie, and I don't even know it.

Maybe this is all apart of my...Flawed design.

How can you say those things why can't you just believe,

How can you say those things and keep a straight face?"

"Flawed Design" by Stabilo.

"What is this place?" Moth asked as Michaelangelo lead her in a sneak into a strange place – there were headstones poking out of the ground, and there were flowers in front of them. She knew about places like this, but she couldn't quite place the name….

"A graveyard." Master Michaelangelo replied and bailed over the concrete fence, Moth quickly followed suit.

Moth felt her throat go suddenly dry "To…. Visit?" She asked with a gulp; he nodded bleakly and led her to a few headstones.

It was night – they had spent the whole day looking for a lair under the sewers, and gathering supplies, Michaelangelo and Venus agreed to stay away from O'Neil tech, which they explained was run by their former ally April. Finally, they settled on an abandoned water treatment plant near central park. Venus DeMilo was currently cleaning the place up; Michaelangelo proposed she come with them, but she blatantly refused. Maybe, for her, it was too painful.

Michaelangelo came to the first grave – with date of birth and death, was the heading Hamato Yoshi. Michaelangelo bowed respectfully to the grave for a moment, and as did Moth. Bt he had nothing to say, which was expected because the only time he had actually known Master Yoshi was when he was a baby, un-mutated pond-slider.

The next grave was right next to Yoshi's, and even though it was old it was newer than Yoshi's still. On it was written Hamato Splinter, along with the words of A honorable ninja, father, and sensei. This time, Michaelangelo fell to his knees when he bowed, Moth stayed on her feet though.

"Master," Michaelangelo said; Moth looked to the ground when she heard the sadness in his voice "I know it has been a long time since the last time I visited you – fifteen years, I think. But I'll avenge you and my brothers as well – I can never be as great a teacher as you, but I have taken on a student of my own. I believe you would be proud of your grandchild." Moth smiled faintly hearing that, faintly she wondered how life would be if Leonardo didn't go evil and fall in love with Karai the queen-of-evil.

The next grave was the nearest – strangely, it had only a first name. Angel, and baby and judging from her date of birth and death, she had only been eighteen when she died, even more she must have been pregnant.

"Who's that?" Moth asked her father quizzically; she raked her brain trying to think of anyone with the name that Master Michaelangelo mentioned in stories, but she knew the story of her clan from top-to-bottom and the name didn't come up.

"Remember when I said that Leonardo killed a street girl, because she was my friend?" Michaelangelo reminded bitterly, Moth flinched at how unexpectedly harsh his tone was.

"Who was the father of her baby?" Moth asked.

"No one knew." Michaelangelo sighed "That was Angel, keeping secrets….." His voice was chocked up with a lot of emotion, and now Moth could fully understand why Venus DeMilo chose not to come, she never even physically knew these people and yet she was starting to feel terrible.

Not able to stomach much more, Moth walked away to explore more of the graveyard – she read some of the headstones; some people that died to soon, some people that must have lived happy lives for a long time, some that lived terribly, some old and some new. For each grave Moth saw, she began to feel terrified.

Moth put a hand on a gravestone for leverage; her face was pale 'I really could die, couldn't I?' She thought grimly, she never really thought about it, normally she didn't mind the idea of being killed in battle, but now that she saw these gravestones….. She shook her head, dying with honor was by no means a bad thing, and it was not really living if one lived in fear….

"Miss?" Someone behind her said; not expecting it, the ninja girl immediately unsheathed her scimitar, swiveled around and brandished her sword.

Standing behind her was a middle aged man – he was wearing a strange red velvet robe with the large hood over his head, though Moth could tell that he was bald, and his eyes were brown and kindly.

"Back off, human!" She growled and tightened the grip on her sword, the old man smiled.

"Lower your sword, girl. I am not an enemy." He assured, though Moth did not let her guard down. "Trust me, I am only a lowly crypt-keeper, my brother and I."

Moth sheathed her sword "State your business." She said gruffly. To her dismay, he chuckled slightly.

"No need to keep your ninja armor here, my intensions are good."

Moth was baffled "H-How did you….?" She trailed off; how could this mysterious crypt-keeper tell she was a ninja? She didn't wear customary or traditional ninja garb – and her swords weren't even Japanese either, they were Arabian. The stance she had just been in was common in many martial arts….

"Come along, it cold out here." The crypt-keeper said and walked foreword, he stopped and turned back "Are you coming?"

Confused, Moth still followed – the old man led her to a small crypt and he opened the stone door where there were stone stairs leading to, possibly, a small chamber underground. The old man started down the steps and Moth followed, careful to hold the handle of her sheathed sword in hand in case if there was any funny business.

The underground crypt-room as far bigger and more moderate than Moth first thought – it was rather big, and even though it had no windows there was plenty of lighting, and she saw a couple doors meaning there were other rooms (this place must have been some kind of underground bunker…) There was a TV, a couple of computers, desks, a large bookshelf, a kitchenette, a few couches and a coffee table.

"Whoa," Moth said "this is something straight out of Minecraft." Even though she was raised in the woods, there were still the times that she was with the McLeod's; and if there was anything valuable that Violet's brother ever taught her, it was how to play Minecraft. God, she had been so addicted to that game that whenever the McLeod children came to the computer and asked to play, she took out her scimitar and told them that if they didn't go away and a creeper blew her up, than she would shred them for bedding. Needless to say, Master Michaelangelo banned her from ever using the computer again after an innocent pillow fell victim to her Creeper-explosion based rage…..

"Bellicose!" The man called; one of the doors to the other rooms immediately slammed open and another man stood there – he was an almost exact facsimile to the first guy, in fact he even sported the same red velvet robe, except his hood was down, though his had was still bald, and his eyes were yellow instead of brown.

"Holy similar." Moth said and looked back and forth between the brothers "Are you guys twins?"

"You can say that." Grumbled the yellow-eyed one; his voice was noticeably more gruff.

"This is my brother Bellicose." The first man introduced "My name is Benign."

'Weird names' Moth thought.

"Don't think our names are weird." Bellicose growled, Moth tensed up.

'Can he read my mind!' Moth thought.

"Yes, I can read your mind." Bellicose snorted with a half-evil grin.

'Shit shit shit!'

"And swearing doesn't help."

"Don't mind him." Benign assured "He's just messing around."

Moth regained composure hearing that "Next time he wants to joke around, he better be ready to improv with my swords." She growled.

"Funny." Bellicose snorted, clearly unaffected by her threat.

"Sit, sit, both of you." Benign said and jostled them both over to the couch to sit down "Tell me, girl; what is your name?"

"Hamato Moth." She replied – she was not sure why, but she felt as though she could trust these two; both of them looked at each other and nodded, having had a conversation with only eye-contact.

"You are related to that Yoshi chap and his other family, correct?" Benign asked. Moth tensed up uncomfortably. Yoshi was her family, by default; Splinter has seen the deceased ninja as a father and took his last name, but what was Yoshi to her?

"He was my great-grandfather." Moth answered "Splinter was my grandfather, Raphael and Donatello were my uncles."

"It was strange how their death dates were so close." Bellicose commented "What got them, a sickness?"

"Y-Yes." Moth answered; she could never tell them what really happened, it was her clans business.

"Your father certainly takes a long time when it comes to talking to headstones." Bellicose said, out of nowhere; Moth's jaw dropped; they saw…? And knew….?

"I have no idea what your taking about." Moth stated indignantly.

"Save it," Bellicose cut "the giant turtle is your father, don't try hiding it."

Moth sighed in defeat, her shoulders slumped "How could you tell?" She asked. "It's not like I have green skin or a shell."

"We have our ways." Benign answered.

"You're not freaked out?" Moth was confused "It's not like you see mutant turtles every day."

"When you've been through what we have, nothing is surprising." Benign answered sadly "Wait here, I have something to give you." Bening retreated to another room and quickly returned with a wooden box, which he shoved into Moth's hands. "Now, you must go, your dad should be done by now."

Before Moth could full comprehend what was going on, she was hoisted back onto her feet and was pushed out of the room, and up the stairs until she was rudely shoved back outside.

"Give that to Venus DeMilo." Benign instructed, than a smile played on his face again "Oh, and be sure to visit!" He closed to door, leaving a stunned Moth.

"W… Wait!" Moth exclaimed when she fully registered what he had just said. With questions racing through her head, she swung the stone door open.

Her amber eyes twitched; when the door opened, the stairs leading to the underground bunker was gone, instead, there was just an empty room, like the small crypt was just a shed-like.

"Maybe I am insane." Moth said to herself, then she looked at her hands and saw she still had the wooden box; her face paled.

"Moth?" She heard her father say from behind her, but she was rooted on the spot. She was turned around to face Michaelangelo "Are you alright?" Her father asked, concern in his single blue eye behind his red mask "You look like you just saw ghost."

"I think I just did." Moth answered before passing out.

"Is she alright?" Michaelangelo asked his sister, he was clearly panicked. He and Venus DeMilo were the center of their new lair, and Moth, who was still unconscious, was lying on a long crate that they found and was the only thing that could serve as a cot.

"Nothing to worry about, Mike." Venus assured and put a wet cloth on Moths forehead "It's only a mild fever – but that's what stress does. With your home being attacked, you two being driven out of California and traveling cross-country all the way back to New York bring is a decent amount of stress on someone young." She explained, then added "Oh – and stop panicking! I know your worried about… you know… But the fever is slight."

"Last time I thought her fever was slight, she almost died." Michaelangelo muttered bitterly .

He was smacked upside the head. Wide-eyed, he looked at Venus DeMilo with surprise. "Times like this I really wish Raph was here – to remind you to stop being a bonehead!" Venus DeMilo said and rolled her eyes "Some down time, a lot of water, and a few herbs will do the trick, trust me Mikey. You used to get fevers all the time when we were little, and you drove Sensei insane with your deluded rambling and delusions."

Michaelanglo crossed his arms "I'm telling you, that flute-playing zombie was real."

"Yeah," Venus snorted "and it definitely polka-danced with Oprah in the sewer tunnels to the lovely musical styling of Brittany Spears."

"They had a great jazz hands routine." Michaelangelo said with a grin.

Venus DeMilo smirked "So the turtle with ice-water in his veins can actually joke?" She teased, her brother pouted.

"Shut up."

"If I did, I wouldn't be doing my job, now would I?"

"And what would your job be?"

"Annoying you."

"You suck."

"All in the memo." Venus DeMilo commented, then got serious again "But can you explain this?" She pointed at the wooden box next to the crate.

"I have no clue." Michaelangelo shrugged a put a blanket over Moth "She was clutching that thing like her life depending on it, she kept rambling in her sleep about ghosts and crypt-keepers and some other shit like that."

"Is that all?" Venus DeMilo asked, skeptical, there was something more, call it instinct…. Or watching too many cop drama's, either/or.

"Well…" Michaelangelo swallowed hard "When I tried asking her to put the box down, she said 'Jade, they told me to give it to aunt Venus."

Venus DeMilo felt the leaf-green color of her face drain "That's…. That's impossible." She whispered. "She can't be talking to…." She trailed off.

"M….Maybe it was the fever talking." Michaelangelo offered, Venus nodded, but only to convince herself.

"I hope so."

Michaelangelo looked at the wooden box that he literally had to wrestle out of his daughters vice grip earlier "What do you think is in the box?"

"We'll have to find out." Venus DeMilo replied, and slowly opened the lid.

Moth drifted slowly back to consciousness – then regretted it, aside from being achy, her head felt hot, and her skin felt cold. She tried to stubbornly fall back asleep, but she could not will her body back into the warm embrace of sleep. Groaning in defeat, she rolled onto her side. She was lying on a couch, her head was buried in an old pillow and she was practically mummified in layers of blankets.

'Weird – why am I cold when I have so many blankets? I should be suffering from heat stroke.' She mused in her head and pushed the blankets off – she immediately shivered, the air felt really cold, really, really cold. Clumsily, she grabbed the blankets again and hid under them 'Why am I cold?' Moth wondered, and curled into a ball 'Maybe a little bit more sleep…' And, this time, she managed to drift off uncomfortably. What felt like a few moments later, she heard Venus DeMilo ordering she open her mouth, Moth obliged and then complained in a gurgle when some bitter substance that felt like fine wet sand was forced down her throat. Then some water followed, and she was asleep again. The third time she woke up, it was only because something really cold was put on her forehead, but she felt it rather than fully wake up and was immediately back into dreamland.

The fourth – and final – time she woke up, she snapped away rather than drift like before; she was still on the couch, but she was confused to see the new Lair being more furnished and slightly more lived-in than last time she saw it. In fact, the couch she was on was one of three, and there was a wooden coffee table (with a missing leg, so it was propped up with a cardboard box) and n old TV that was currently on. Even more surprisingly, she saw that her coyote. Raphael, whom she promptly remembered having left at the vet to get shots, was curled in front of the couch. "Hey Raphael." She grumbled – her voice was pretty scratchy, her throat kind of hurt too, but other than that she felt pretty normal.

"Good to see you're finally awake, I was beginning to think we'd need to find a prince." Someone said next to her – she turned to see Michaelangelo was on the other ouch, he was watching TV and was macking on a bag of Doritos.

"You might wanna shave that five o'clock cheesy shadow." Moth said, only to have a triangle-shaped cheesy chip thrown at her. Moth ignored it, rubbed the back of her head and yawned "How long was I out?" She asked.

"Three days." Michaelangelo replied.

Moth's eyes just about popped out like in the cartoons "Whoa, shit. That's some coma." She said in disbelief.

"It wasn't a coma – you were awake sometimes, but you were delusional as fuck." Michaelangelo told her.

Moth didn't remember anything. "How delusional?" She asked.

"You grabbed a glass vase, and told us you were late for the ball, then you said if you didn't get there by midnight the zombies would take over, and that would be back because they would never co-sign with the Triceratons."

"Triceratons?" She inquired, he shrugged an 'I don't know'. "What was wrong with me?"

"You had a fever," Michaelangelo reminded her "we were in the graveyard, and out of nowhere you said you just saw a ghost and you passed out. Venus said the stress of the past several days wore you out, and made you vulnerable to infection and you caught some sickness floating around the sewers."

"Wait, where's the box." Moth demanded and scrambled out of the couch before there was an answer, she began turning her head frantically in search of the box.

"Calm down." Michelangelo demanded and snatched something from under the coffee table – it was the wooden box. Before Moth could say anything he flipped the lid; the box was empty.

"What was in it?" Moth asked.

"Nothing, it was empty." Michaelangelo replied "Where did you get it?"

"These weird brothers who live in a crypt." She answered "I tried to ask them why they wanted me to give Venus DeMilo the box, but their bunker disappeared."

The red-masked turtle gave her an odd look before walking over and putting a three-fingered hand on her forehead "Do you still have a fever?"

She swatted his hand away "I'm serious! There were these crypt-keepers – Benign and Bellicose, showed me their underground bunked in a crypt, and gave me the box. But then the stairs disappeared."

"Right…." Michaelangelo drawled out, clearly unconvinced. "Anyways, now that you've gotten your nice long nap and you're all better now, we have to move on with the plan." Raphael raised his head from his paws and perked his ears as if he could understand Michaelangelo. In a way, he could by the tone.

Michaelangelo handed a cardboard box to his daughter "Tonight, roam the alleys."

The plan – she, being human and not known to Leonardo, would infiltrate the Foot clan, as Yoshi and Leonardo had done. Moth would pretend to be a lowly street punk, and join the Foot, she would 'train' with the Foot and become an Elite guard and lure the three Oroku's into a false sense of security. When they discovered Kai, the immediately decided he would have to be the first to go – to eliminate the chance of the curse passing on. Karai would be next. And finally, Leonardo, after all the best was always last. This took away his chance at good back-up.

"For this, you will have to go without your fur-gear and replace it with human clothes." Michaelangelo said "You have to pretend you have never been trained in your life, but at the same time show your talent do you would be quickly picked to be an Elite Guard."

Moth nodded – in the cardboard were human clothes – a ripped-up white t-shirt, a ratty leather vest, slightly torn black shorts and sneakers full of holes. "Huh, punk costume." She noted, though she mentally agonized that she would have to wear human clothes.

"And," Michaelangelo continued "That means you have to give up your mask and your weapons."

"What?" Moth exclaimed in disbelief – her mask and weapons? But those were like a part of her… No, they were a part of her. "You will not take my tomahawk! Or my swords! And I'd sooner die than take off my mask!"

"Moth, be reasonable." Michaelangelo reprimanded "If you're an untrained street rat, that you would obviously not have weapons except for maybe a gun or pocket knife. And when you are in the foot clan, they would give you different weapons. And if you wore your mask, Leonardo would automatically guess you were mine – the red masks are a mark of our clan."

Moth chewed her bottom lip; she didn't like it…. But she could have to do it "Fine." She sighed.

"If they ask you who your parents are, you say…?"

"Don't matter anymore."

"If they ask you where you came from, you tell them…?"

"I ran away….?"

"If you are ever around Kai without any one else around, you will…?"

"End his life and the curse where it stands."

"And tonight, you are going to…..?"

"Find the Foot recruiters, and infiltrate."

"Good."

...Sorry updates have been slow, but I've been preoccupied with Stars Wars the New Republic, I think it's a valid excuse.

Read and review, it drives me to write faster