Ari sat down with a sigh on the log she had placed in front of the fire. It had been an interesting day to say the least. She undid her pink mask, laid it across her leg and began to unbraid her long, blonde hair with the intent to brush it out. It was nice riding with her new friends in their vehicle, but she had to admit the helmet she had to wear to keep her face hidden from others on the road wasn't a very pleasant thing to wear for long periods. And even with her hair braided the way she usually kept it, it still got tangled all to hell somehow.

Emily, a slender elf of a girl with a head of light brown hair and big, doelike brown eyes, walked over with a laugh and took her brush from her. "You look like you stuck your finger into a light socket." was the wonderful compliment given to the youngest turtle.

Ari laughed with her, not offended at all. "As long as I just look the part. Not sure I want to actually do that."

Emily grinned back at her and moved behind her and began to brush out the tangles in Ari's soft locks of sunshine, as her Father calls them. Ari had met this small, kind and a bit shy woman back on base already and they quickly began to form a friendship that could rival Uncle Raph and Casey's.

She was one of the few that was under Tony's command because her training wasn't in dealing damage, but fixing it. And from what Ari could tell from the attack the other night, she was exceptionally skilled at it. She was only a year older than the eighteen year old Ari, but Tony had insisted that she come along on this roadtrip. That alone said a lot about her skill, but she, along with a very rare few others, had been drafted right out of training, some even during it, to join this unique force that had been put together to face big bad robots. Aunt Vicky said that that was pretty much unheard of when she was in, so for NEST to pull them that soon and finish their training at various NEST bases, they had to be more than worth their salt.

But the cheerful Emily never let that get to her head. She was a very grounded person and easily extended her hand in friendship to the younger turtles after their arrival. But she was also a woman, and women loved to gossip.

"Jessica found a flower in her sleeping bag earlier when she unrolled it." Emily told Ari with a grin.

Ari giggled. "No way..."

"Oh yes, a red rose in a glass tube."

"Seems like grumpy butt is finally making his move huh..."

This time the girly giggle came from Emily. "Wasn't expecting that from your cousin, since he seems so much like his father."

"Don't kid yourself. Uncle Raph has a very deep soft spot in him, you just have to use a sledge hammer and explosives to find it. Thane is pretty much the same way. He'll bite his tongue off before admitting openly that he cares for something, or someone."

Emily snorted. "So what is Jess? The hammer or the explosives?"

"I'll let Thane figure that one out."

Ari knew something in Emily's mood had changed by the sudden jerk of the brush in her hair. She turned curiously to see what was bothering the normally so careful young woman, and found her trying really hard to be inconspicuous as two more individuals walked nearby heading for one of the tents, deep in discussion and not seeing the looks the two girls were giving them. One of them was Dante, her tall yellow masked cousin, and the other made Ari try to make herself just as invisible. Adam was with him, another one of the group that had fist introduced themselves to the turtle teens that first time, and one Ari had a hard time accepting as just a friend.

When they moved out of sight Ari sighed quietly and gave Emily a teasing smile. "Why don't you go talk to him? Dante is nothing like Thane, he won't brush you off."

Emily's face went red from embarrassment as she vehemently shook her shy head. Not able to bring herself to speak on the subject, she instead started on Ari's hair again. Ari really didn't blame her, she got all tongue tied whenever Adam was near which was very unusual for Mikey's usually loud mouthed and opinionated daughter.

Ari lost herself in the flickering of the flames in front of her as Emily pulled the last few tangles out. "I think I'll french braid it." Then began the process before Ari could even agree to it.

"I think it looks good down myself." Both girls, who had been lost in thought, jumped with the sound of Adam's voice as he walked up with Dante. Ari found her throat going dry as she looked into the smooth, chiseled face that was found under his dark brown crew cut. His hazel eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement as he watched their reaction. Great, now he was laughing at her.

Dante as also trying to hide a smile as his eyes wandered over them. "Wouldn't be very ninja like. It's hard to sneak around and get into trouble when you have that mop blowing in your face all the time."

Ari stuck her tongue out at her cousin and he just laughed it off.

"So these things are supposed to be ninjas huh." A harsh voice coming from a very unhappy looking, and uptight, blonde man asked from where he was watching nearby. "I find that hard to believe."

Adam's eyes flared a moment before he turned his attention to the man. "Jeff, keep talking like that and see where it's going to get you."

"I just don't see what the big deal is with these freaks."

"They're not freaks." Adam crossed his arms. "You're just jealous and being pig headed because Cindy is with Titian, and not with you. And to be honest, I'm glad she is. You treated her like shit and now she's with someone who is way better for her than you are, and you can't accept it."

"Fuck you Adam!" Jeff snapped and walked off. "I'll get her back. You just wait and see, she'll come crawling back to me."

Adam shook his head as Jeff left. "Ignorant idiot. He's just asking to get his ass whooped."

Dante raised his eyeridge as he also watched him leave. "He does seem to have some issues."

"He could write a book on issues. The only reason he's been kept around so far is because he's, surprisingly, a good fighter. But I'm not sure how much more Epps is going to take of his shit though."

"Should I say something to Ty to warn him maybe?"

"Not really. As big of a show Jeff put on just now, not even he's dumb enough to go against any of you. He knows the reputation your dads have just as well as the rest of us. He'd never openly try anything, and I seriously doubt he could get a cheap shot in. He's just blowing hot air is all."

"As long as he doesn't blow it out his ass." Ari muttered as Emily kept twisting her hair. "He might shoot himself off into space with it."

Adam grinned at her, then laughed. "You say the weirdest shit sometimes."

Dante rolled his eyes. "So does her Dad."

Ari just shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."

"I like it." Adam chuckled. "It's refreshing. Lord knows this boring troop needs a few more like them two to lighten the mood."

"With bots like Hide and Ratchet around?" Emily broke her silence. "They wouldn't survive long enough to crack the second joke!" Then she made the mistake of looking at Dante which caused her to blush and retreat back into her quiet mode again. There was the sound of a slight snap behind Ari then as Emily tried to tie the end off. "Crap." Came the barely audible mutter.

"What?" Dante inquired as he moved closer.

"N-nothing..." the poor girl stuttered as he did "I-I j-just broke her hair tie..."

"No big deal." Dante reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a rubber band. "This will hold it until she can get one from her Mom, or mine." He reached out and handed it to her, and Ari noticed their hands touched a bit longer than they needed to before Emily snatched hers back.

"T-thank you." She told him in a voice barely above a whisper. Her hands were shaking so hard that it jiggled the long braid enough to where Ari felt it.

"You're welcome." Then he raised an eyridge as she forcefully focused completely on the task in front of her, refusing to look at him. "Emily, we've known each other a few weeks now, how much longer are you going to try and hide the fact that you like me?"

Ari facepalmed as the woman behind her froze solid, her face a red flaming mess as her eyes widened. "Oh, real subtle there Dante."

Adam crossed his arms as he looked at her. "I was going to ask you the same thing, motormouth."

Her own eyes widened after he said that and now Emily wasn't the only one wanting to go hide in a very deep pit somewhere. Maybe if she started digging one now it would be deep enough for her to hide in...in about fifty years.

"Sounds like they got you two cornered." Ari's father chuckled as he walked over. "Was starting to wonder who was going to make the first move."

"You knew? Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

He just grinned at his now very flustered daughter. "Because watching this was fun."

Adam was also looking at Michelangelo with wide, nervous, eyes, obviously remembering what had been done to Kyle when he had made his intentions known. The orange masked turtle just waved his fear off. "Relax. I'm not Leo. I won't stand behind you with a damn sword ready to shove up your ass." He grinned. "I'll use my 'chucks instead."

Ari groaned as she dropped her face into her palm, now she knew how Lavi felt.

'Ari, you really should have at least introduced us properly by now. If you are going to hang out with them, and be all moony eyed over one, I'd like to get to know them too."

"Daddy, this is exactly why I didn't do that."

"You're lack of faith in me wounds me greatly." The big cheesy grin he had plastered on his face straight up told her that was a bold faced lie.

Adam had by that point regained his composure and even offered his gloved hand. "Name's Adam, nice to meet you, I like your daughter." Ari groaned.

The offered hand was taken and the shake firmly returned before those blue eyes widened. He turned his grip loose with a startled squeak and something went flying into the air as he snatched his hand back to his side. "What in the name of blue bologna was that?"

Adam grinned as the object, a mouse, scurried away to hide in the underbrush.

That had them all laughing, even Emily. She was the one laughing the hardest as she held her sides. Ari was crying she was laughing so hard.

The elder turtle however eyeballed the now widely grinning Adam through narrowed eyes. "Well played Adam. You might make a decent challenge." He turned and walked away, muttering under his breath.

"Now you went and done it." Dante told his friend.

Adam's grin widened. "I know enough about him to know it was going to happen eventually. I wanted to get the first strike in before he did."

"Yeah, but you just started a prank war."

Adam shrugged. "Oh well."