Sound the alarm! An OC appearance and I didn't even warn you until now. My apologies. If you're put off by the mere thought of non-canon interaction between Donatello and an OC (a female OC no less) let me defend myself by getting these three fun facts out of the way.

1) They are not in love, they are not lovers. 2) The character below is not a desirable beauty, a surprise!ninja master, magical, mysterious or in any way written in a way that make my skin crawl to read it. 3) She won't be saving the day, solving every one's problem, hogging the entire story or be welcomed with open arms by any other characters from the point onwards. Still furious? Boycotting the story from here on out? Send me a message and we'll talk, if I've done wrong please explain to me how and what you'd do about it :)

Rebound

Chapter II

After looking at the time on the shell cell for what felt like the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes I was beginning to wonder if I'd miscalculated, or at the very least got my hopes up prematurely. Still, I didn't expect this... not from her. Something must have held her up along the way. Traffic maybe, or the drive shaft in the Trans Am finally giving out. "Well that's what you get," I would chastise when she finally showed up, "for driving a car from 1985." I grinned to myself a little after the rehearsal played out in my head. Next I'd have said I could take a look at it, but since it was after hours it was going to cost her. At that point I decided to wait a few more minutes before calling it a night.

I half expected her to arrive at the last second when I'd lost all hope like some cookie cutter romance movie, but I should have known better. We were anything but cookie cutter and this was no romance. Headlights were shining at the end of the street as soon as I'd put my cell down.

She didn't see me when she clambered out of the of the idling yellow Trans Am but I could tell she was searching when she shut the door (discreetly, of course.) After frantically patting down her hair with her hands and sticking her head back in the passenger's side window to give some final instructions to the driver, she stepped back onto the sidewalk and watched as the car did a burn out and tore down the street blasting -of all things- poppy Indian techno music. I think she called it Bollywood once, but that could have been the movies the music was featured in. Michelangelo had become a fan regardless and I still jokingly resented her for introducing him to it. There was a time and a place for that type of music, and early morning warm-ups in the dojo were neither of those things.

Afterwards she turned around and started walking idly towards the spot we'd chosen to meet at. There wasn't a lot of cover here, trees were scarce in vacant lots that doubled as parks until they were sold to private developers. "Donnie?" She called out, leaning against a cement block before digging into her purse for a lighter and her Ms. Pacman cigarette case, "If you're still here don't be pissed, you should've known I was gonna be late by now." I decided to hold out a little bit longer, just to see what she'd do next. "Come on man, its tradition by now! Besides, you can't blow me off that easily. Maybe I'll jump on a plane again and never come back." That was my cue, with one deep breath I stepped out from the shadows and was met with the most genuinely happy face I'd seen in days. I didn't know quite what to say, my rehearsed drive shaft opener was useless now. Thankfully she was always the first one to speak. "Ohmigod, I'm so sorry I'm about this." she sighed as she tucked a cigarette behind her ear and moved in for a hug. She was big on hugging, I didn't object even though she always awkwardly tugged on my bandana. I don't even think she realized she did it, either. She smelled like smoke and lemon soap and her bare arms were warm around my neck, some things never changed. This was the familiarity I had been craving for months. "We circled around the airport like, four times. Then Arjay and I had to run home to drop off my stuff and see Eddie."

"How was your flight? Do you feel jet-lagged at all?" I asked, changing the subject as we parted from each other. She almost immediately lit up and took a drag before answering. At this point I wasn't interested in getting into another discussion about Arjay, and especially not Edison.

"Ah it wasn't so bad. The food was kind of shitty so I ended up giving most of it to the guy next to me. Actually, is it cool if we grab a meal to go and head out somewhere?" She asked, as if suddenly remembering she hadn't eaten in hours.

"Okay, sure." I was kind of hungry myself. Mikey would more than likely have a dinner waiting for me in the fridge when I got back but I knew it was going to be a late night. I could always eat it for lunch tomorrow if Raph hadn't helped himself by then.

"Smoke?" She passed me her lit cigarette casually without waiting for an answer and reached into her purse for new one. She knew I preferred finishing hers off by now, otherwise I'd get a headache. I know what you're thinking, there were easily more than a hundred legitimate reasons for me to refuse her offer. The likelihood of me picking up the habit before any of my brothers surprised me as well, I'm supposed to know better. In fact, she never offered me anything until one night when I finally just asked for one. I wanted to experience it for myself, but was disappointed when nothing really happened. And anyways, how often did we get together the first place? I could be a purist of Leonardo-like proportions in old age. The effects of nicotine from my (barely) social smoking now were still reversible, or at least that's what I told myself to get past the thought and back into the moment. "I was thinking Chinese but whatever you want, anything that doesn't come in a vacuum packed plastic tray is fine by me." She suggested while fighting with her lighter in the warm breeze.

I laughed under my breath, it was good to have her back home. She carried the conversation like she had only been gone for a day or two when really we had three months to catch up on over dinner. I took my first drag in months and held it in, trying focusing on the buzz and the decision of what to eat at the same time. When the dizziness set in I realized I'd been too preoccupied with these thoughts to exhale. In a combination of a coughing fit and spell of laughter I finally let it all go, I must have looked ridiculous. She was laughing too, patting my shell with one ahnd and wiping her eye with the back of the other.

"No Chinese, remember last time? Lets get Greek or something." I answered after finally regaining my composure. "Also, why did you get dropped off? Don't think I'm going to be carrying you all over New York City." I finally got my chance to mock-chastise her for something. It was almost as good as my drive shaft lecture.

"Ugh, you know how it is. Someone sorts your mail for a couple months and suddenly you owe them your first born child... Or in my cause your wheels 'cause they needed to get to some concert tonight uptown," she shrugged.

I knew that by 'someone' she meant her freeloading neighbour Arjay. He was kind of a touchy subject between us and I didn't want to get into another argument over him when there were so many more pressing matters to talk about.

"To be honest I'm kind of disappointed you didn't show up in some new project of yours, or even the party van. Business purposes only? Yeah right. C'mon, its pita time."

Once upon a time this could have been April O'Neil. Our late night adventures were far less frequent lately, when they took place at all. The worst part was that I couldn't pinpoint her exact reason for being so distant lately. I know it was selfish to expect anything more from her, but I couldn't help it. April was dealing with a busy time in he life with work and Casey and she wasn't able to make the same commitments to my brothers and I that she had when we were younger. That was the story she was sticking too any ways, but I had my doubts, it had to be more than that. While I knew it wasn't her fault and there was nothing I could do without interfering, I found myself looking elsewhere to fill the void left behind from my close friendship with April. This is how Lisa became a much bigger part of my life then I ever planned on having her be. I didn't tell anyone about Lisa for a long time, partly because I felt I was somehow betraying or trying to replace April, but mostly because even if I wasn't I knew thats how my brothers would react I didn't even want to think about approaching Sensei about her at the time on, at least not this early on. Lisa and April were entirely different women and I was afraid the family wouldn't accept or understand Lisa without constantly comparing her to April. Even worse, I was more terrified of the idea of her and April being in the same place at the same time. To add insult to injury, I hadn't rescued Lisa from muggers, carried her out of a burning building or saved her from an alien abduction. We met online and and then in person a year afterwards when she came out to the city to move into her dad's place for school. I have no doubts that I've already broken at least seventeen ninja rules and twenty five family rules without even going into detail about how it all happened.

Lisa stamped our two cigarettes out with her shoe and linked arms with me jovially before we headed off on our adventure. Just as we began to walk out of the lot she stopped in her tracks and looked me up and down shamelessly. "By the way? Nice get up." I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but suspecting she was baiting me I decided to play along. I never took as much time honing my disguises as Mikey or Raph did. If I could find a hoodie or coat large enough to pull over my shell, dark pants and a comfortable beanie it was good enough for my purposes.

"I thought so, but if you truly doubt my abilities to work an outfit, I understand. When I'm deemed presentable enough to be seen in public with you, we'll reschedule." I answered with a smirk, putting on the most unconvincing performances of insult ever.

"Oh jeez Donnie, just go get rid of that stuff," she laughed "you can wait outside when we get there and I'll order. No tzatziki, right?"

"Absolutely no tzatziki." She made a face that implied I was missing out on the best part but held back all verbal protest. After exchanging coordinates to the pita shop and my hiding place of choice we split up. I'd have time to stash my clothes and get to a safe spot while she ordered. As soon as I was on my own again and about to hop the fence of the vacant lot my shell cell went off in my back pocket, to my surprise it was none other than April. Unnerved, I let it ring just long enough to regain composure before finally answering.