That night a halt was called, much to the relief of the organic pretzels inside of all of the vehicles. And Lavi suspected the Bots were happy about it too once they all pulled into a secluded area. When everyone was unloaded, there was a whole lot of stretching going on, by both fleshies and machines.

"I'm all for the chance to turn the tires loose on the road," Sides said as he unfolded from his car form "but this extended driving, with passengers, is seriously cramping me up."

"Think of how we feel." Cris told him. "We don't even have a decent place to stretch out to sleep."

"At least you get to sleep. We haven't had a serious recharge moment since we left."

Will walked over with a grin. "Which is why we've decided to hang out here tonight. Everybody is going to get a chance to rest and we'll head back out again in the morning."

"If you call sleeping in a tent a good night's rest." Casey grumbled.

"This from the one who prides himself on his adventurous spirit." April rolled her eyes.

"That was twenty years ago. Not so enjoyable anymore as I get older."

Lavi's father was walking by when he heard that comment, and Lavi clearly saw the pain cross his features before quickly hiding it again. Again she wondered what was bothering him. He seemed a bit better, but there was still an underlying sadness that she couldn't quite put her finger on.

'He has been acting off the last few weeks.' Ty silently agreed with her as he also watched from where he was helping Thane raise a tent.

'I just don't understand what's wrong with him.'

'And you won't unless he tells you, which you know he won't do.'

Lavi just sighed before turning back to her own tent that she was going to share with Ari. She was rapidly missing her old father. The one who was always calm, happy, confident. The one who always pushed her during training, and offering words of encouragement and advice on how to better improve. Now he seemed unsure, hesitant and even sad at times. The sparring match they had a few days ago was indeed different, and even fun she had to admit, but it hadn't done enough to restore whatever faith had been lost in him. Not all of it anyway. It was a band-aid on a gaping wound really. But, even as Ty said, she knew her father well enough to know he wouldn't tell her what was bothering him.

She was still thinking about it when her time came to take her watch. Father insisted that his own family members assist in it. None of them were sure it was really needed since the bots seemed more than capable to handle that on their own, but his reasoning did make sense he gave the NEST team. "You are out here because we pretty much drug you out here to find the answers we all are looking for. We will help with the responsibilities of keeping all of us safe." He was in fact holding himself to those words as he shared Lavi's watch, covering the south end while she kept a watchful eye on the north side of camp.

Her hour was pretty much uneventful and she was actually a little bored by the time Dante found her and relieved her. And he wasn't alone. Kyle walked alongside the yellow masked turtle, chatting easily. Over all Kyle felt much more at ease with the younger turtles than with the very intimidating older ones. He was frequently hanging out with them, and the more he did the more Lavi felt a pull towards him. Even looking at him right now sent butterflies swarming in her stomach. She always seemed to be nervous and excited all at the same time when she was near him.

"There she is." Kyle's warm smile popped onto his face when he saw her. "Thought it would be harder find a ninja."

Her smile that she returned was genuine. "Only if they don't want to be found. I want to be found because I really don't want to be out here all night."

Kyle laughed a little at that. "I guess I'm lucky you want to be found then. I'd rather look at you than all these guys out here."

Dante chuckled a little. "Don't let Uncle Leo hear that."

Kyle flinched a little, then looked nervously around.

"Stop it." Lavi told her now grinning cousin. "He gets enough grief from Father." Before Dante could scare the poor man even more, Lavi grabbed Kyle's arm and led him away. "I swear...they are all so childish sometimes." She shook her head.

"But that's what makes life so fun!"

"Depends on your point of view I guess. It gets annoying sometimes."

"No worse than these crazy ass bots get I'm sure."

Lavi smiled as she let his arm go, only for him to wrap it around hers as they walked on. "They are a colorful bunch."

"In more ways than one." Kyle agreed. "Some of their paint jobs are bad enough to give you seizures."

"You should see some of the paintings Uncle Mikey does. Hurts your eyes to look at them."

"I didn't know he painted."

"Not many do, simply because he doesn't do it a lot. His creative genius tends to lean more towards finding new ways to prank Uncle Raph."

Kyle's face took on a wry expression. "I give him kudos just for that. Raphael is one big dude to be messing with."

"True, but Uncle Mikey has the quick feet to pull it off. Most of the time."

"You know...I've noticed that a time or two." He grinned at her. "Your family is very interesting. I'd love to get to know them all better."

"You already know my brother and cousins, somewhat."

"True, but it's the fathers I'd really love to get to know."

She gave him a teasing smile. "Why? So you can get a front row seat on the action when Uncle Raph goes off?"

"No, because a certain turtle in their family has caught my eye, and I'm seriously thinking that winning Leonardo over might be a very important thing to accomplish here pretty soon."

Lavi was so grateful it was in the middle of the night so the darkness was able to hide her furiously blushing face. She even couldn't meet his eyes when he stopped and turned her to face him. He met her eyes and those butterflies in her stomach just turned into albatrosses by the look he was giving her. Chills ran down her spine when he lightly brushed her cheek with his finger tips. "I really do love your eyes Lavi, and I'm starting to like the rest of you just as much. I'd willingly brave the wrath of your father if it gives us a chance at something."

She tried to get her mouth to work, but really couldn't because her mind was seriously spinning around in an emotional whirlwind. "A chance at what?" Lavi was hoping that he was hinting at what she thought he was hinting at.

His eyes still held hers as he asked something that almost made her knees give out under her. "From what I gather from everything I've heard about you, you've never had a decent, romantic first kiss...have you?"

"N-no..." She almost looked away again, but his hand kept her from doing that. "No one wants to kiss a freak like me."

"I do." He said, and her heart skipped quite a few beats. She didn't stop him as his head came towards her. His lips met hers and he gently pulled her against him.

Lavi didn't really know what to do. She was thrilled, but felt awkward at the same time, she didn't know what to do with her damn hands. Finally she just settled them on his chest and leaned into the kiss, letting his probing tongue in. Her eyes closed as his tongue met hers, caressing it, tasting it. She really didn't know what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised over the feelings washing over her. Her hands seemed to move on their own as they reached up and her arms encircled Kyle's neck, her fingers now in his black hair. Elation soon had her responding to his kiss, her mouth wanting more of his. He was kissing her, and it felt so right...

After what seemed like ages they broke it, Lavi now standing on trembling legs as she tried to make sense of what just happened. She didn't however pull out of his arms, that she just now noticed had wrapped around her waist. The smile Kyle gave her was warm. "Now you can honestly say you've had your first kiss. I just hope it was one worth remembering."

"It...was..." She smiled back at him. "Good enough for me to want another."

"Not going to argue with that..."

This time when their lips met it wasn't so awkward to Lavi. Her lips pressed just as firmly against his as his did to hers. What stopped it this time was the slight growling moan that escaped her throat as she pushed herself against Kyle hard enough to slam him into the tree behind him. Lavi almost jumped out of his arms, her face now very heated in embarrassment over the primal urges that had came from her. "I'm...I'm sorry... I didn't mean to...do that..." She turned and fled into the woods, leaving a very confused Kyle standing there.

"Lavi! Wait!" He called after her, he even went so far to go after her a few steps.

"Let her go." Kyle froze at the sound of that voice, then slowly, and nervously, turned to face the owner as Leonardo came out from under the trees on his other side. "She needs time to process this."

Kyle really wasn't sure how much the turtle had seen, and was really hoping it wasn't much. "I-I didn't mean to-"

An upraised hand stopped him short as those ice blue eyes, so clear even in this dark night, bored into him. It made the human very nervous that he couldn't read a damn thing in them. If he was about to get his ass pummeled, he was hoping to at least catch a glimpse of it in his eyes as some kind of warning. He knew that would be the only one he would get. The moments drug on and that really didn't help Kyle's nervousness any. This was the first time he had been alone with Lavi's father, and he was praying he wouldn't end up in a full body cast.

Then those eyes went to the spot Lavi had disappeared through. Made Kyle feel a lot better actually, not being under that intense stare. Leonardo's voice was quiet when he finally spoke, his eyes still locked onto the last spot they had both seen her. "Before I even start with what I came to say, I want to know. Do you truly care for her, or is what she is attracting you to her?"

"Um...I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at..."

Now those eyes were back on him again, and he flinched a little. "I thought I asked quite clearly myself. But let me rephrase it a little. She is different. We both know that. She's half human, half turtle. There is nothing else out there like her, besides Ari. She is exotic, mysterious in a lot of ways to you. Not to mention I know very well the reputation we carry with all of you here and being with her would seriously boost your ego among your colleagues. I want to know if you are drawn to who she is, or what she is."

Kyle knew the answer to this was very important to Leonardo. The stern gaze leveled his way was more than enough to clue him in to that fact. Just like he somehow knew the turtle would know if he tried to lie. "Both actually." He admitted. "But not for the reasons you think." He quickly added when he saw those eyes flash with anger. "She is different, yes. And yes, her being your daughter would make me look good around the others if I parade her around on my arm. But that's not the reason I'm interested in her. I could give a damn of what the others think of me. She is part turtle but I find her beautiful Leonardo, both inside and out. Her being what she is doesn't blind me to who she is. And who she is, is someone I want to be close to. My feelings for her are genuine, I guarantee you that."

It hung there for a moment as Leonardo studied him, his eyes thoughtful. "Very well," He finally said, much to Kyle's relief "then we can have this discussion without me hanging you upside down in a tree by your shoelaces."

Kyle was so happy to hear that.

The turtle in front of him then sighed quietly as his hard eyes softened. "I guess I should have had this conversation with you earlier, when I first noticed what was going on between you two. Instead I chose to hide in my own misery over things that are rapidly changing."

Kyle wasn't sure what to say to that, but he was glad that Leonardo wanted to talk...not beat him to a pulp. It was one thing dealing with a shotgun carrying dad, a Ninja Turtle one was so much more intimidating. That fucker could kill him and Kyle would never see the blow coming.

Leonardo smiled a wry smile, clearly reading what Kyle was thinking on the human's face. "Easy, I won't hurt you. Not unless you give me a reason too. But we do need to talk."

"About what?"

"Lavi." He took a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke again. "I've already had this conversation with Ty and was hoping to catch Lavi before...this happened. But now seeing what I just saw, I think you need to be told as well."

"Ok, Leonardo, you are seriously creeping me out..."

"I'm not trying too." He sighed. "I'm just not good with these things. I can plan, lead, guide under pressure, but I still struggle when it comes to my children. Just bear with an old father who has a hard time letting go."

Kyle smiled at him, and was thrilled when a small one was returned. "Fair enough. I've seen it in my own Dad with my little sister. He didn't exactly have an easy time of it either letting her grow up."

"It's something about those eyes." Leonard told him ruefully. "I could never tell her no when she batted them at me." Kyle actually laughed. "Anyway. Ty is the more stable one of the two. He's just as nervous as Lavi is over...this. He's using his past experience with leading his cousins to drown out certain, mental reflexes if you will. Lavi never had to really drown out her instincts like he did a few times."

"I'm not sure I understand..."

"You will in a minute. Despite how we look and act, we still are part animal. There is no way around accepting that fact. Ty is more level headed and mentally trained to drown out the more primal side. Lavi is more like her mother, she lets her heart guide her...and you have no idea how much trouble that has caused me over the years."

"I've heard the stories." Kyle chuckled. "Did Vicky really make Starscream blow his own arm off?"

"Yes, after her mad ride through a concentrated group of Cons. The point I'm getting at here is this. Lavi is still young, she is still fighting certain, urges if you will. She's never been in this situation before and her animal instincts are kicking into overdrive. Add the fact in that she feels very strongly, she's having trouble facing, and controlling those instincts. I'm not saying that she can't have a relationship, just that she is going to have a hard time trying to figure out how to control herself."

"Ok...I can understand that...I think... I am a bit surprised that you are talking to me about something so...personal."

"Only because I know what she is going through. Kyle, when I met her mother for the first time, I was already well into adulthood. I've had the chance to face those feelings myself and learn how to drown them out. But to be honest even I've slipped once or twice. Vicky knows it because she forced it out of me before without even realising what she'd done. Lavi has had none of that experience. She's scared, confused and really doesn't know what to do. She knows what she wants, but not what to do. Patience is the key here. She needs to work through this, and may need help to do so."

"From who? You?"

"I'm not the one she is attracted to."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you are the one she wants to be with. Didn't I just say that?" Leonardo looked at the befuddled Kyle with slight amusement. "If you want to play the game, you need to know the stakes. I can't tell her what the acceptable boundaries are between you two, that is something only you can discuss with her. Vicky and I know what mine are, after that first incident. And she knows not to wear that nightgown again unless she wants to invite that more...primal side into the bedroom..." For a moment Leonardo's eyes were lost in the distance before he shook the memory clear.

"I really didn't need to hear that..."

"I'm sorry." His chuckle crossed the empty space between them. "It's just that, I only have my own experiences to share with you to help you understand."

This time Kyle was the one looking where Lavi had disappeared too. "I...think I do understand a bit better now."

"Good, then let's go find her. I got a feeling you are about to get a crash course on how to track a ninja."