Chapter 4 - And So it Begins

After what felt like only a few hours later, April was awakened by the alarm on her phone. She rolled over, groping around for the offending object through blurry, sticky eyes.

She managed to switch it off, groaning from the many angry bruises that still ached. The pain woke her just enough to realize that she was not in a familiar place. Confused, she sat up and did a quick survey of her surroundings.

Decaying brick walls decorated with pages torn from science magazines surrounded her. She took in the musty and ragged blankets she was wrapped in, they had a distinctive smell that reminded her of a car mechanic's shop and a muskiness that was uniquely Donatello. She pulled the blankets tighter around her, feeling comforted by them.

For a brief moment when her alarm had gone off she had forgotten everything. Forgot about aliens and mutants and even her missing father. For a split second she had been a normal teenager, protesting the call of the alarm to get ready for school. That moment, however brief, had been nice.

"Well I guess I don't need my alarm anymore." She muttered to herself, briefly wondering what her classmates would think of her disappearance in class.

The clock on her phone blinked an obnoxiously early time, but she knew that at this point, she wasn't going to get back to sleep.

Reluctantly, she climbed out of the turtle's bed and shivered in the chilly morning air, quickly realizing why there was so many blankets. Thankful for the many scattered rugs on the cold cement floor, she trudged over to her suitcase and dug out some fresh contacts to switch into.

Unfortunately, the pain in her side actually seemed a bit worse and she felt stiff all over. April figured a nice hot shower would be good for her muscles. She dug around some more in her suitcase and pulled out a towel and a small bag of toiletries.

Moving quietly through the dark, silent lair, she felt slightly creeped out by the stillness. She was obviously the only one awake at this ungodly hour. She had never visited this early in the morning, but assumed that with her roommate's nocturnal habits, they would probably be asleep for awhile still.

Cautiously April stepped into the bathroom, groping the walls for a lightswitch. Somehow, she had managed to have never used the lair's facilities before. Recalling some horrific New York bathrooms she had seen in her day, she was a little worried at what she would find.

Her hand grazed the switch and flicked on the overhead lights, illuminating the room in a warm glow. She was pleasantly surprised at what lay before her. She had forgotten that this area the boys called home, was actually an old subway station, long since abandoned before it was finished. It seemed as though this room actually was intended to be a rather large public restroom. With elegant woodwork around the frames and door jambs, and a beautiful mosaic tile floor, (by far the most completed area in the entire building), it was actually rather beautiful.

Two stalls stood to one side and the oversized handicap stall at the end had been transformed into a make-shift bathing area. Set up inside it was an old-fashioned footed bathtub with a standing shower head. A couple of mismatched shower curtains were laced all the way around it, hanging from a handmade frame of what looked to be bicycle chain.

The whole room was surprisingly clean looking, especially for having been shared by 5 men. April mused to herself that Splinter, the tidiest rat she'd ever seen, probably had a lot to do with it.

She quickly used the toilet and then brushed her teeth in one of the three copper sinks before locking herself in the last stall and stripping down. She prayed that there would be hot water and was not disappointed.

Standing under the hot stream, the water washing over her face felt like heaven. It was rejuvenating and April mentally imagined all of the worries from the day before, rinsing away down the drain.

Turning off the tap, April wrapped herself up in one of the purple towels she had thankfully brought along from her aunt's house. While collecting up her clothes, the bathroom door opened. Soft footsteps padded in and she could hear water running at one of the sinks. For a moment, she contemplated hiding in the stall until they left, but that felt silly. She was living here now and would cross paths with the boys in the bathroom eventually.

She stepped out and walked towards the sinks, where one of the turtles was scrubbing his hands. He wasn't wearing a mask, but she could tell from his coloring and build that it was Donatello.

"Morning." She tried her best to sound nonchalant.

"AUGH!" Donnie leapt back a little – completely surprised by her presence.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you." She apologized.

"No, it's fine. I didn't think anyone else was awake" He took in her wet hair, hanging down in dripping, wavy red strands, he had never seen her hair out of its elastic. She had obviously just showered, and with the amount of humidity in the room he was embarrassed that he hadn't even noticed. "Some ninja I am?" He joked. A small yawn snuck its way out and he was suddenly hit with how exhausted he was. "I guess I'm a little out of it."

"Have you gone to bed yet?" She asked.

"Not technically, but I nodded off at my desk for an hour or so, does that count?"

April looked up into Don's big brown eyes, free from their usual hiding place behind his mask. Taking in his appearance, she came to the conclusion that he had been up building something, as he seemed to be scrubbing grease off his hands and had a couple dark smears on his cheek.

Along with his mask, she noticed that he was also without his usual protective pads and wraps. In fact, he wasn't even wearing his belt, he was completely, well, naked. She suddenly felt awkward and averted her eyes to the floor.

In his sleep-deprived state, it took him a moment to notice the way she was looking at him, he wasn't sure at first, what was so different. Then he realized he had wandered in here thinking he would get cleaned up before bed and had taken off his mask. He hadn't intended for her to see him without it.

He was painfully reminded how different his face was from the human race every time he looked in the mirror, with his wide green beak and not a single hair on his head, including eyebrows. But it was even more obvious when he was without his mask, which he felt, helped define his more humanoid features. Wishing to hide inside his shell, which was yet another non-human reminder he'd rather not display in front of her, he self-consciously turned away, to hide himself from her line of sight.

He faced the sink and pretended to fiddle with the tap. "Sorry, I know I look pretty weird without my mask on."

"Wha? Oh – no. I wasn't thinking that at all." She quickly spouted off, feeling terrible to have made him think so, if only for that second.

He turned towards her again, his brow raised and voice skeptical. "You don't think I'm weird looking?"

"No, I don't." Her voice was soft and genuine. She gently laid a hand on his shoulder, to keep his attention. "I mean sure, you and your brothers have your own undeniable uniqueness about you, but I've never thought you were weird looking." She looked right into his eyes and smiled, wanting to make sure that he knew she was serious.

She truly meant what she had said. Sure the first time she laid eyes on him, she may have screamed a bit. But in her defense, she was in the midst of being kidnapped. And it wasn't so much that she had found him weird or frightening, just, you really don't expect a six foot turtle to walk over and talk to you.

Now that she had spent some time with the family, had seen them interact with each other and tease and play, she really saw them as just teenage boys. Sure, there was no missing the fact that they were green and had shells, but at their core they were teenagers, awkward in their own skin, just like she was.

She felt like she needed to prove her point, to make sure he knew that she was serious and not just scrambling to backtrack. Her mind replayed one of the many times he had complimented her (whether or not he had intended for her to hear it) and she realized she should return the favor. "You have adorable big brown eyes. Somehow they seem even bigger when they aren't hidden behind your mask."

Donnie smiled again and it warmed her heart.

"You don't have to say that." He looked a little embarrassed.

"Yeah I do." She smiled back up at him. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable, I was just realizing that I had never seen you without all of your gear on... I felt like I had walked in on you naked or something."

Donnie chuckled a little. "Well, you know, technically I'm always naked." He shrugged at himself, emphasizing the point. "In fact – you're the one that's naked."

They both looked down at the thick terry cloth wrapped at her bust line. It was as if neither of them had actually noticed her state of undress before that very moment.

Donnie's gaze whipped back up away from her bare shoulders and his cheeks burned furiously. April also felt herself flush and haphazardly stepped back from him and grabbed her clothes she had set on the counter.

"Yeah, I should probably go get ready." She mumbled, failing to act calm and collected.

"I should probably grab a few hours of sleep." Donnie retorted, looking anywhere but at her.

April rushed out of the bathroom and back to the bedroom feeling utterly embarrassed. One more thing to add to her list of 'why it's weird living in an underground lair with a bunch of mutant teenage boys'.

April spent most of the early morning in her room doing research on her laptop, thankful that Donnie had already encrypted it for her during one of the many times he helped her with homework. She thought she would be excited about the prospects of no longer going to school and worrying about homework, but after her last few days, the normalcy of it sounded appealing. Not being able to focus, she had even managed a short nap, but by 9:30 she found herself growing hungry and figured the house should be up by now.

Wandering into the kitchen area, she found Mikey sitting at the cement slab, which served as their make-shift table. He appeared to be eating some kind of scrambled egg with pepperoni and sardines in it. Hiding a small shudder, she wished him a 'good morning' and opened the fridge in search of something that a 100% human would want to eat. Scanning the many questionable items on the shelves, she settled for some leftover olive and mushroom pizza. Thankful that she had requested the 'boring' toppings, as Mikey had referred to them. She mumbled to herself about needing to do some grocery shopping and joined the youngest turtle at the table.

"Did you sleep ok?" Mikey asked between mouthfuls.

"Yeah, I forgot to turn off my alarm though, so I've been up for awhile."

"Ugh, if I had it my way, I'd sleep till noon, but I'd get my butt handed to me by Sensei if I missed the early training session."

"Hey Mike–" A gruff voice called into the room, followed by its owner in red. "Oh hey April, You guys about ready?"

"Ready for what?" April asked between the two brothers.

"Training. In the dojo.10 minutes."

"I'm in!" April was suddenly charged with excitement. This was something tangible that she could actually do to help prepare herself for the fight against Shredder and the Kraang. She wasn't about to let herself be caught unprepared again by Karai or any other bad guy.

"Are you sure that you should–?" Michelangelo started to ask before being smacked in the arm as April glared at him, her eyes silently motioning towards Raphael.

Not sure how to back pedel, Mikey opted to instead shove his last bite of breakfast in his mouth. "We'll be right there!" Was quickly mumbled around eggs.

Raph rolled his eyes at whatever they were not telling him and waved his hand in dismissal as he left the room.

April's feeling of excitement didn't last long and was disappointed to find herself yet again on the sidelines practicing her techniques alone, while the boys sparred in the center of the room.

Each step and twist pulled and burned in her sore muscles, but she didn't care. She knew that she needed to get better to prevent it from happening again.

Around the fiftieth or so time she had successfully completed the newest kata, she heard Splinter call out to the room to switch.

"Hei Sensei!" Was chorused and the boys switched partners. Leo against Donnie and Raphael against Michelangelo. At the signal, the boys began against their new opponents. Today's lesson was focused on hand to hand combat and the boys practiced the familiar moves with ease. Raphael was always displeased when he had to set his sais aside and was clearly not putting forth his best effort.

"Raphael!" Splinter interjected. "Your form is sloppy, straighten your back!"

The red clad turtle gave an audible sigh, much to his sensei's distaste.

"Yame!" Splinter called out, causing the group to end their round. "Raphael - switch with April!" He gestured for the turtle to move to the sidelines.

April's face lit up, this is what she had been hoping for. She had had many opportunities to practice alongside the turtles, but this would be her first time sparing with one as a partner. She quickly moved into the middle of the room, taking her place in front of Michelangelo.

Donatello, however was much less thrilled with this decision and gave his younger brother a knowing glare. Mikey, didn't need to be told that Donnie was warning him that he better take it easy on her.

Once everyone had taken their new positions, Splinter once again called out to the room to begin practice. "Hajime!"

April and Mikey both bowed to one another and took their stances.

The young turtle slowly began to circle the girl, very aware of the judgmental eyes of his older brother boring a hole in the back of his head. He took two almost playful punches towards April that she easily blocked, giving him a look as if to ask what he was doing. She returned the attack with beautiful precision, each time her hands landing exactly where they should. Mikey easily blocked and dodged each familiar move as he slowly backed away. One hand swiped past his head and as he ducked, he spun around by instinct and swept his leg out, catching her by surprise. The kick more offset her footing and she tripped a little, catching herself before even hitting the ground.

"Hey!" Donatello yelled out at Mikey just as Leo swung at him. Not paying attention, the full brunt of Leo's fist caught him across the chin and Donnie fell back to the ground.

"Yame!" Splinter ordered and the whole room paused.

Donnie sat on the mat holding his jaw, Leo looking down over him. "What was that?" The older one asked.

Mikey tried to extend a hand to help April to her feet, but she had already righted herself. "What was that?" She asked of him, dusting off her knee, completely oblivious to the other sparring team. "You weren't even trying!"

"i just…I was… I didn't want…" Mikey blubbered and was thankful when Splinter gestured for them to gather in.

The five students all lined up and knelt down in front of their sensei.

"You all seem very preoccupied." Splinter began. "Perhaps this is a good time to end session for today. I expect for you all to arrive tomorrow with more focus."

"Hei Sensei!" They all replied in unison.

The group filed their way out of the dojo and wandered into the main room. Leo headed straight to the television switching to a rerun of Space Heroes.

"Thank goodness for that show's time slot, or you know we'd be hearing a second round of criticism from Mr. Leader over there." Raphael pointed with his thumb, over his shoulder toward Leo.

Mikey walked up, his arms full of water bottles he had grabbed from the kitchen. Donnie took one and passed it to April, before grabbing one for himself. Mikey handed the last one to Raph, as he used his best mock-leader voice, puffed up his chest and held up one finger to help emphasize his point. "Even though Master Splinter just told us moments, ago, I'm going to repeat everything you did wrong. Because I'm the leader and that makes me sound more in charge!"

April and Raph chuckled at his over-the-top imitation.

"Oh hey, are you guys still free to help me out now?" Donnie asked his brothers, his mind obviously elsewhere.

"What are you guys doing?" April asked, wondering if maybe she could help.

"Going on a scavenge run!" Mikey replied rather excitedly.

She must have looked confused because Donnie felt the need to elaborate. "We're going to the dump to scrounge around for usable parts. That's where we get most of our stuff around here. It's amazing how many perfectly good things get tossed out when they could be easily fixed."

"Easy for you, maybe." Raph remarked.

Donnie rolled his eyes at the comment and continued. "Anyways, they are closed on Sundays, and it's easier to look in the daylight." He paused before adding, "I'm not so sure it's wise to take you above ground, after yesterday…"

He needn't go into any more detail, April knew exactly what he was trying to say. He was afraid for her. It was crazy to think that it had been just the day before when she had been attacked by Karai.

As it was, April was anxious about leaving the confines of the lair just yet, and really the idea of sifting through trash sounded kind of terrible, so she politely nodded and waved goodbye to the trio as they took off.

The rest of the afternoon, April found herself finding various ways to keep herself preoccupied. Not completely aware that she was never left alone for very long.

She half-heartedly watched a couple episodes with Leo before dozing off on the couch. The lack of sleep finally catching up with her.

When she awoke, her companion had been replaced with Master Splinter meditating silently on a ledge off to the side and Mikey humming to himself as he moved around the kitchen making lunch, apparently back from scavenging.

April made sure to help so she could keep an eye on whatever wound up on her plate. Which ended up being some Ramen noodles and an 8 month past it's expiration date granola bar. The chocolate had that waxy white look about it, but it still tasted delicious.

At one point she looked for Donnie in his lab and then his room, but had been unable to find him. So again she found herself sitting in the purple turtle's room trying to do some research into TCRI or sightings of the Kraang or any other news item she could get her hands on. Still not finding much, she found herself reading one of the many science books that littered the young genius' room.

There was a loud rap at the door and Mikey popped his head in as soon as she called out to enter. "Wow. You must really be bored if you are reading that stuff."

Mikey suggested that they play some video games, but after awhile he excused himself and disappeared, only to be replaced by Leo who slid right into his spot and picked up the controller.

"When did you get here?" April asked surprised, as she finished a level and turned to swap Player 1 with the turtle beside her.

"Oh, Mikey said he had to run out." Leo answered simply, taking the remote and starting up the next level.

They played in companionable silence, uttering a 'nice move' or 'get it!' when needed. April had hardly noticed the time passing, before Mikey had returned and called them into the kitchen.

The two saved their game and wandered towards the kitchen area. April rounded the corner and was suddenly struck with a sight. Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo and even master Splinter were seated around the large cement table, which had a haphazard table cloth across it and mismatched place settings for everyone. A small candle flickered in the very center of everything. Leonardo quickly moved around her and grabbed a seat as the whole group yelled out, "surprise!"

"You guys!" April tried to find words to comment on the thoughtful gesture, but found her throat was constricted and her eyes were brimming with tears.

"We wanted to officially welcome you into our home!" Mikey said, hopping up from his stool and grabbing boxes of takeout. "I picked up food from Mirakami San; pizza gyoza of course, but also some of your favorite dishes that he recommended."

Mikey used a soft hand on her back to guide her to her place at the table, setting down the stack of food with the other hand.

"I don't know what to say." April finally choked out. Quickly swiping away a single tear that had escaped down her cheek.

"After everything that happened, we wanted you to know how very happy we are to have you here with our family." Leonardo started. And then Splinter took over.

"And while it may not be for the best circumstances, we hope you are still able to enjoy your stay."

Donnie and Raph both nodded in silent agreement from the other end of the table.

"This means so much you guys, thank you." The redhead could think of nothing else more fitting to say.

"Believe it or not, this was all Mikey's idea!" Raph added, as he started opening containers and passing them around the table.

April looked over at the young turtle, eyebrows raised in an impressed look.

The freckled turtle had a proud grin on his face.

"Thanks Mikey." April smiled.

The new family sat, crowded around their makeshift table and thoroughly enjoyed the feast that Michelangelo had brought. They chatted and laughed. And even though they all knew that terrible things had happened to bring April to this point in her life, they still felt that she belonged here as part of their strange little family.

Looking around at the happy faces of her friends, April felt more at home then she had anywhere in years. She still missed her father, but at least she knew that for now, she could be happy.

End Chapter 4

A/N - So, this chapter took me forever! I couldn't find a nice way to go through all the random moments in her day without it feeling so choppy. Hopefully it wasn't too bad! And of course I couldn't leave poor April feeling down for very long.

So did you like the bathroom scene? I know it's been done before, but I couldn't help myself. I seem to really have a thing for leading male characters that have self-doubt about their appearance, and their ability to find anyone to love them for who they are. And yes, Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite loves stories. ;)

Again, many thanks to all of the reviews and critiques sent my way! As I said, they make my day. :D