Chapter 2 - Disappearing Act

"Wait, what do you mean disappear?" April questioned the two brothers as Donnie walked across his lab and grabbed a bag. He seemed to be collecting things into it as he turned to answer her.

"Well, the foot are out looking for you and luckily, it seems that they haven't yet tracked down your aunt, at least for now. So we are taking this opportunity to go in and remove evidence that you were there." Donnie rambled off this information as normally as though he was planning a trip to the park.

"Wait, but what about Susan? What are we telling her?" April asked.

Donnie made a guilty kind of look to this question and glanced over at Mikey.

"You guys, what am I going to tell my aunt?" April crossed her arms in front of her to emphasize her annoyance that they hadn't answered.

"Well, she's going to think that you ran away." Donnie finally said. Mikey also had a guilty expression on his face as he looked over to gauge her reaction.

"So you're telling me, that I should just abandon her? Her brother just went missing, I'm the only family she has left!"

"This is for the best April. We'll leave a note, grab your stuff and be out of there before she even realizes that you left. I'm sorry, but that's how it has to be." He reached out and placed a soft hand on her good shoulder as he spoke.

"Fine, but I'm going with you." She argued. A look on her face saying that she would not be budging on this point.

"No, I think it's best that you stay here. You're injured and the Foot and Kraang are both looking for you–"

She cut him short. "Well it's a good thing that I'll be with my bodyguards."

"You have bodyguards?!" Michelangelo's eyes lit up.

Donnie sighed. "She means US, doofus."

"Oh right." Mikey grinned sheepishly.

"Leo's not going to be happy if we show up with you." Donnie turned back to April.

"He'll get over it." She stated.

"Ooooooh" Mikey raised his brow, clearly surprised that she had said such a thing.

Shaking his head in defeat, Donnie added, "Let me at least get you those pain killers before we go, I imagine you'll want them for the 'ride'."

A little while later, April found herself being carried across the rooftops of New York. It was a beautiful night and if she wasn't so freaked out about everything, and if her ribcage wasn't killing her, she might have been able to enjoy herself. But as it was, she was biting back tears from the jarring pain in her side and her mind was whirling over what they were about to do.

Donatello landed with a soft thud on the rooftop across the street from her building. He gently lowered the arm that was under her knees and allowed her to place her feet on the ground as she released the hold around his neck. Leo walked up beside them and glared at Donnie, obviously annoyed that he had brought her along.

"I wasn't going to let you guys do this without me." April spoke before Leo could, somewhat surprising the blue clad boy.

"It's not safe" He responded back to her.

"Mikey says you've been up here the last couple hours and haven't seen any activity right? We'll be quick. I'll grab the essentials and leave the note."

Leo made a half nod and then turned back to the others and started to plan their entrance.

"Donnie and I will go in alone." April interrupted before Leo could say much, "We'll be quicker and the rest of you can stand guard." Her eyes locked with Leonardo's, challenging him to disagree.

"Fine. But you guys get in and out without being seen." April nodded in agreement. "Are you guys ready?" He asked.

Donnie nodded next and then effortlessly scooped April back into his arms and leapt.

Raph walked up behind Leo and slapped him on the back of his shell, as they watched the two land across the way. "Way to take the lead there, boss."

Setting her down on the fire escape, Donnie insisted that he enter through the window first, just to be safe. But just as their intel has told them, the Foot didn't seem to have any knowledge of April's presence here. It probably helped that her aunt had never changed her name back after her first marriage. Whatever the reason, they were both grateful.

Moving around in the dark room, lit only by outside street lamps, April motioned over to her small desk in the corner. "Will you pack up my laptop and those hard drives? I'll grab clothes and such." Donnie nodded and headed toward the computer.

Fortunately, April had never really felt like making this temporary living space feel like her own. Something about officially moving in, made her feel like she had given up hope of returning home any time soon. She still had a small suitcase packed with most of her clothes, so she just needed to collect the few stray items around the room to hide the fact that she had ever been there.

She walked into her ensuite bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush, hairbrush, makeup bag and toiletries. She smiled a little to herself, thinking that had she allowed the teenage boys to pack for her, they never would have thought to grab things like her hairdryer or the box of feminine products. Did they even know what shampoo was?, she wondered.

She was grabbing her favorite razor out of the shower when she heard her bedroom door creak. As if he had been there the whole time, Donnie was instantly by her side, pushing the two of them back behind the bathroom door that sat ajar.

"April? Is that you?" A woman's voice called into the room.

It was just her aunt. Probably checking on things before heading to bed. April was immediately filled with guilt, and before she knew what she was doing she had called out to her.

"Hey Susan." She stepped out of the bathroom before Donnie could grab her arm, but not before he glared at her, silently voicing that she was messing up the plan.

"Oh April, you startled me! I thought you were gone for the night, but then I thought I heard something." The older woman smiled at her niece. April was glad the room was so dark, or she would surely have noticed the swelling on her face.

"I was just stopping in to grab a few things." April explained, somewhat truthfully.

"Ok. Well, I'm headed to bed. You be safe tonight, call me if you need anything." And as she left the room she stopped at the door and turned around to add, "I love you sweetheart."

April rushed over to her aunt and enveloped her in a hug, catching the older woman off guard. "I love you too."

"April honey, is everything ok?"

"No it's not." April stated, stepping out of the embrace and looking into her aunt's eyes. She knew she was going against the plan, and she knew that she was going to be in big trouble, but she also knew at that moment that this is what she needed to do. "I have to leave. It's not safe for you or for me to stay here."

"What are you saying?" Her aunt's demeanor quickly changed. "Don't even try to start with that young lady-"

But April cut her off before she could continue her rant. "Look, I know you don't believe my story about Dad being abducted, but I'm telling you there is more going on then you could possibly know. And I want you to trust that I am doing what is best!"

"April!" She sounded flabbergasted. "I want to believe you, but even I have a hard time wrapping my mind around robot aliens and mutant lizards!"

"Turtles, actually." April stated. Her bluntness stopped her aunt's tirade and she just stopped and looked at her for a moment, not really sure what to say next.

"Donnie," April called towards the bathroom. "Can you come out here please? Susan, there's someone I want you to meet. This is one of the turtles I told you about."

The room remained silent. Both women, stood and stared at each other for what felt like several minutes.

"Don, c'mon. She needs to see this, she needs to understand."

"Aw man." A male voice finally muttered from the bathroom, causing Susan to jump a little. "Leo's going to have my head!"

Donatello slowly stepped out of the bathroom, he moved smoothly and quietly and had his hands up in kind of a way to show he was unarmed. April knew that he was hoping she wasn't going to scream and was preparing himself to cover her mouth if need be.

Susan's jaw dropped open, but she didn't say a word. She just silently stared at the six foot turtle standing in her guest room.

"Susan, this is Donatello." April gestured between the two politely. "Donnie, this is my aunt."

"Hi m'am. It's nice to finally meet you." Donnie smiled in a shy way and then politely bowed in the Japanese custom.

"..my…God…" Was all she could manage to say. Donatello was grateful that she didn't scream.

"Susan, this is the man that saved me that night." Donnie smiled over at April, not missing the fact that she used the term 'man'. "He and his brothers risked their lives to go after me and Dad, he literally caught me as I fell from a helicopter!"

"I can't believe this." Susan managed to mutter.

"It's true m'am," Donnie spoke up, "and I promise that my family and I will continue to protect your niece."

"I don't doubt that." She said, smiling and then looking back to April. "So, everything you told me was true? There really are aliens and robots that took Kirby that night?"

"And we have reason to believe that they were actually after April all along." Donnie added. "We're going to hide her, so they can't come after her."

"Couldn't I do that?" She asked. "I could take you away from here, we could move to another state, start a new life somewhere." Her tone started to become a plea.

"These guys are going to help me find Dad." April assured her aunt. "There's something big going on here and I'm somehow tied to the middle of it. This really is the best plan."

Susan nodded reluctantly.

"If people come looking, we need you to tell them that I ran away. Can you do that?" April asked.

"I'll do whatever you need me to do, sweetheart. I just want you to be safe." She paused. "I'm not sure how I feel about this whole situation, but you obviously have a better idea of what's going on then I do, and I do trust you. If you think you'll be safest with them, then go."

April lunged forward and hugged her aunt again. "Thank you Susan, for trusting me! I'm going to get Dad back." April stepped back and gestured to Donnie, "This guy here, is a genius! He'll come up with a safe way for me to contact you and let you know that I'm ok."

Donnie looked up, not really expecting to be part of this conversation anymore, a bit of pride swelling in him over being called a genius. "I bet I can reroute an email address to bounce off a few signals–" He stopped when he saw April giving him a look. "I'll plan the details later," He wrapped up. "But I will find a way for April to stay in contact with you."

"Thank you… Donatello, was it?" Susan spoke directly to Donnie and held out a hand to shake his. "Like the sculptor?"

Donnie nodded and took her small hand in his to shake. "Our dad has a thing for renaissance art."

"You promise me that you'll keep my April safe?" She stared into his large eyes, a mother bear kind of look about her.

Donatello's tone was serious and he placed his other hand on his plastron, right over where his heart would be. "I swear on my life."

"Good. Now tell me what I can do to help."

From the rooftops across the street, the three remaining brothers stood watch. Leonardo could see Donatello through the window, shaking hands with April's aunt. He rubbed a hand over his face in frustration. So much for staying out of sight. It seemed when it came to April, Donatello's judgement became blurred at best.

He could barely make out Raphael chuckling to himself from his own perch the next roof over. "I'm really starting to like this girl!" He hollered.

Leo knew that inviting April into their lair and having her on their team would change things, but he had no idea what he was in store for.

A/N:

So? What did you guys think? I know, not the most exciting chapter, but I really felt like that needed to be wrapped up before moving onto 'April living in the lair'! Plus I really liked the idea of her introducing Donnie to her aunt. :D

I promise more fun in the next chapter! And while Donnie is my fave, I'll try to make sure I keep all the turtles included.

I would certainly love to read your reviews and hear what you all think. Big thanks to all those that left one for the first chapter! I truly appreciate each one and it inspires me to write more! :)