"Alright Leo! Give it a pull!"

The dragon turned draft beast did just that. Carefully pulled the large slab of broken metal and concrete away with his paw. Normally Donnie would be the one to do this, he was the earth dragon after all, but the second youngest was on the ground, watching the pile of rubble very closely in case the pile decided to shift the wrong way. Which is exactly what it did.

"Hold it!" Donnie called out again and Leo froze. "Raph! Take a little off of the other side, that whole end is about to collapse."

The second dragon meticulously cleared away the wobbly rubble Donnie was worried about. Knowing that if he wasn't careful the lanky turtle would probably rip his tail off. Donatello didn't anger often, but when he did...

"That should be good. Try it again Leo."

Once more the eldest pulled the slab away, and once again was forced to stop as the whole pile shifted. Donnie removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes in frustration. This was going to take forever at this rate.

After a few more move and stops, they were at least able to get it to the point Raph could hold the remaining rubble up with his shoulder as Leo moved the large slab out of the way. Finally, Donnie had eyes on their goal. "Mikey! Go ahead and pull it out! Carefully!"

The youngest dragon walked up and reached in with his massive head, clamped down on the object and oh so slowly pulled it out. For once, paying attention to nothing else than what his task was. But it became apparent by the look on Donnie's face that it wasn't in the best condition. Mikey finally cleared the family van from what was left of the garage it had been stored in and his dragon brothers let the rubble fall where it had been.

"It's ruined..." Donnie moaned as he looked it over. The rest of his family who had gathered to watch looked at him with sympathy. He had spent a long time and a lot of effort in putting it together over the years, and they all shared fond memories of it. It stung them more than a little as Donnie walked around the badly damaged frame of what had been their mode of transportation. "It's going to take me months to fix it back up...even with Dennis and Dante's help..."

Mikey, who had by now gone back turtle along with Leo and Raph, placed a calming hand on his shoulder. "It's alright bro. We still got the old van. It'll do until you get this beast up and running again."

"But we don't all fit in it!"

The teens looked at each other a bit nervous before Ty cleared his throat. "Um, Uncle?"

"What!" Donnie almost snapped as he still surveyed the damage. Now from the dented roof.

"Well, you don't have to worry about that..."

"Of course I have to worry about that! I can't have you all riding around on the roof!"

"We won't be riding on the roof Uncle. Because we aren't going back home."

That snapped Donnie out of his funk and he stopped and stared at his nephew. So did all the other parents. The teens shifted uncomfortably under those long stares.

"You want to run that by me again son?" Leo asked in a calm tone as he walked closer.

"We want to stay here Father." An eyeridge came up as those blue eyes themselves kept boring into him as Leo crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation. "It's just that we don't want to leave our mates. And that's what will happen if we go home. There isn't room in the lair for them to come, and we won't ask them to leave NEST. So this is the only way we can be with them."

"You could use the groundbridge to see them."

"We could, but we don't want too. The fact is Father, it's time we moved out."

"I assume this has been agreed among all of you?"

"Yes." Lavi answered. "We even discussed it with Will and Prime. They are willing to set us up here, so we are still somewhat close to home."

Vicky looked on with sad eyes, but a small smile on her lips. "I think our turtlelings just outgrew the home nest and graduated to the NEST nest."

Leo then turned and exchanged looks with his brothers, his eyes unreadable. Mikey was biting his bottom lip as he pulled Caitlin close to him. Donnie had sat down on top of the van, his legs hanging over the side as he looked at his yellow masked son. Raph had crossed his arms, a slight scowl on his face as he took this information in. "I'm not going to come here every other day to bail your asses out of trouble." The large turtle finally grumbled.

"Pfft." Thane replied, the almost exact same expression on his face. "Good. Was getting tired of the constant smothering."

Raph had a slight smile on his face.

"At least I don't have to worry about them tearing my new training room apart again." Donnie said dryly as he hopped down. "Still haven't finish the repairs in it."

Dante shrugged at him wryly. "In my defense, I did try to turn it off. Not my fault you made the controls so complicated."

"So, Ari." Mikey walked over to his daughter. "You think you are going to have more fun here than at home with your pops huh."

"Of course."

"I got video games."

"So does he."

"I can cook."

"We got a bigger kitchen here. He can learn."

"Hah! But does he have a cool skateboard like mine?"

"No." Ari admitted and Mikey grinned. "But he has an awesome dirtbike. He's even going to get me some gear so I can ride with him." The grin faded. Caitlin was trying not to laugh at the flat look on her turtle's face.

Mikey finally turned away and stomped back over to his wife. "First he out pranks me, now he's stealing my daughter." He grumbled as he went. "Damn overachiever."

Leo had by now turned his attention to his own children. "You sure this is what you want?"

"Very." Ty said firmly. "Please Father, we still love and respect you, but it's time we moved on. You have had a chance to be happy with Mother, don't we get the same opportunity?"

His eyes finally softened as he smiled. "Of course you do." A hand found it's way onto a relieved Ty's shoulder. "No more are you the student, and thus no more need to be bound at home to us. If you can beat your father and trainer, you more than deserve the right to make your own choices."

The grins on their faces was like the sun coming up and Lavi threw her arms around Leo in a hug. "Thank you Daddy..."

"Now, that doesn't mean you get so busy you completely forget about us and don't come to visit."

"We will. We already talked to Jazz about setting up a permanent ground bridge drop off site. Far enough away from the lair so no one can track the energy surge, just in case it does pop up on someone's radar."

"Gave this a lot of thought, haven't you?"

She smiled up at him as she stepped back again. "Yeah. To be honest, the hardest part was telling you guys. Everything else seemed to just fall into place."

"Leo!"

The turtle in question turned at the sound of his name towards Dennis, who was running up. And Leo didn't like the look on the young man's face. "What's wrong?"

"This!" He handed his adoptive father a datapad he had been carrying. "It's all over the news."

Leo looked down at the images playing, and began to curse violently. Vicky, who had come to look around him, sighed at the images. "I was scared this would happen." She rubbed her face in frustration. "There were all kinds of cameras out in that town. They have plenty of footage."

Leo just kept cursing, now under his breath, at the images shown in the news broadcast playing. Images of four dragons. Then he finally shook his head and handed the pad back to Dennis. "It couldn't be helped."

"What are we going to do about it Leo?" Mikey asked, his face very worried.

"Nothing we can do little brother. The secret is out about the dragons." He grew quiet, his eyes searching for some kind of answer and he seemed to find it. "I think it's time we laid low."

Raph snorted. "We always lay low." He winced a little as he looked at the datapad. "Well...usually..."

"I mean permanently."

His brothers stared at him. "You can't be serious." Raph asked, stunned.

"Very. If we keep going out, sooner or later we will be tempted to go dragon again and that will bring all kinds of trouble close to our home. I won't risk it. It's time to retire."

"Never thought I would hear you say that..." Donnie was looking at Leo in astonishment.

"Never thought I would have too, until now." Leo sighed.

"But, we don't have to go now, right?" Mikey asked. "I want to stay a bit longer Leo. I'm not ready to give up both the kids and patrols just yet."

"I agree with Mikey." Donnie added. "We did kind of wreck their base, it wouldn't be fair if we just ran off now."

"I think it would be alright if we stay guys. But no more dragons."

Vicky pouted a little at that. "Never again? Can I just get one more dragon ride before you hang up the wings for good? Please?"

Leo was about to firmly tell her no, but those brown puppy dog eyes she threw his way did him in and he found himself, unsurprisingly, relenting. "Fine, but only a short one. And you will have to wait for tonight."

The childlike glee in her that made her hop up and down while clapping her hands with excitement brought a smile to his face. It was so easy to make her happy sometimes.

His attention was then turned away from her when Adam came stomping up with a grinning Kyle following him at a more casual pace, a scowl on his face and a NEST cap pulled low over his head. "You!" He thundered at Mikey. "Come here!"

Mikey had other ideas as he backed up. "Nope. I think I'm good over here."

"What crawled up your ass?" Raph asked the soldier as he still stalked in on Mikey.

"He did!"

Raph turned to glare at the still backing up Mikey. "What did you do now?

"Nothing..." Came the fake innocent answer.

Kyle just reached over and took the ballcap off of his friend's head before Adam could slap the arm away. Underneath it was neon green hair...and his eyebrows were missing.

"Nothing permanent anyway..."

"You are so dead!" Adam broke out into a charge.

Mikey turned and ran at that point. "Hah! You may take my daughter from me but you'll never out prank Dr. Prankenstein!" Then he howled with laughter as he disappeared behind a bulldozer with Adam chasing him.

High on a ledge overlooking the construction site, the soft laughter of Amaterasu filled the air as she watched the scene play out before her. And it wasn't alone. Four other soft chuckles joined hers from the vaguely shaped forms of elements that floated around her, the only indication that they were more than what they seemed to be were the yellow eyes that formed in them.

"Your charge is quite amusing Morokuma." The ball of mist told the small whirlwind.

"Yes Mizuchi, I know."

"I must admit mistress." The floating cloud of dust told the goddess. "I do not wish to see them hide away. The world will be at a loss if they do."

"Nor do I Tschuchi, but it is their choice."

"A choice they will be forced to change." Futsu grumbled from his ball of smoke. "I foresee others of power attempting to seek them out to test them."

Amaterasu nodded her agreement. "As do I. I fear now that other immortals may have taken note of them. I am not so certain this will bode well."

"But their power isn't a threat to any house hierarchy. Why would they become targets?" Morokuma's eyes shifted to the light goddess.

"Because of their potential. It was not intended that they engage Unicron, but they did so. And was able to assist in bringing him down. Other house leaders may see this as a threat if they were to find stronger individuals than the Prime to fight alongside."

"There are some who would make worthy allies." Mizuchi quietly noted.

"Indeed." Amaterasu agreed. "But neither side is prepared for that meeting, and I will not force it. Events will unfold on their own to make it happen."

"And when those events unfold Mistress, what side will you choose in this confrontation?"

"I will stand firm by my champions Mizuchi." Her eyes flashed a moment. "And beware the gods foolish enough to try and interfere."

They then just turned quietly back to the family below them, once again watching these strange creatures that had held such a large burden on their shoulders, and carried it easily. A smile found it's way on her face again. "Enjoy your rest champions. It was well earned." Then she and her companions faded out of sight.

Author's note: Alright folks... That's a wrap for this one. Thanks for tuning in and I hope you enjoyed it. I always did love the dragon storyline in the 2003 series and since I seriously doubt we will get a movie version of that, I made my own version of it. This particular story means a lot to me and I put a lot of thought and research into it, and I hope it was worth the read, and the effort I put into writing it. See you at the next story! ;)