April and Casey enter the underground Lair, clicking through the turnstiles. She exhales loudly, mentally dropping all the troubles of the school day from her shoulders. She looks out into the den and sees Raph and Mikey playing pinball. She calls out a greeting to them and they absently respond.

"Hey."

"Welcome home."

She smiles at Mikey's words. Yes, this place is truly her home away from home.

"Hey, Compadres! I get dibs on next game!" Casey muscles his way in between Raph and Mikey at the pinball machine.

"Cool it Jones! You almost messed up my chance at getting' the perfect score!" Raphael sneers as he furiously taps on the side controls.

"Pff! Not likely. You'll never come close to my score!" Mikey jeers.

"Watch me, shell for brains!" Raphael's hands move at blurry speeds.

"Dude, don't break it before I get my turn." Casey teases.

April strolls to her room, removes her notebook full of homework from her backpack and pads into the kitchen to grab something to drink. She opens the fridge to reach for a soda and another hand grabs the cool beverage for her. She looks up to see. "Casey!"

"Thanks Red, how'd you know I was thirsty?" He winks at her and snaps the can open.

"Lucky guess." She sighs and nabs another soda for herself.

Mickey calls out. "Hey, Case! Raph lost all of his balls!" He chuckles. "It's your turn to play!"

"Welp," Casey downs the can in two gulps and crushes it in his fist. "Gotta go show those amateurs how to win."

"I thought you came down here to study with Donnie and me, not fool around with Ren and Stimpy."

"I heard that, April!" Raphael barks.

"Yeah April, don't make fun of how fat and dumb Raph is." Mikey cracks.

"I ain't Stimpy! And I'll prove it to ya!" Raphael pounces on Mikey and they wrestle across the floor.

"Awe c'mon, April." He swings an arm around her shoulder and leads her towards the living area. "We'll have a little fun first and then you and Donnie can bore me to death later."

April comes close to punching him in the arm, when the two teens hear a low rumble coming from the garage. They quickly head for the heavy door and push it open. The blue jets of the cruiser die out. The shiny hatch slides open. Two helmeted riders lift their face shields. Kala is in the pilot's seat and Donnie is in the back, sporting the biggest smile April has ever seen. The two teens climb out of the ship.

Donatello whips off his helmet. "Kala, that was beyond cool! I have so much to record! You are totally amazing for this!" He praises.

Kala removes her helmet as well. "I would not have been able to fly again if it wasn't for you. I owe you much thanks, Donatello." She steps close to him, stands on the tips of her toes and presses her forehead to his. Their noses briefly brush against each other and Donnie nearly gasps. She heads for the back wall and places his and her helmet on a shelf.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Donnie whispers to himself.

"Me either." April says.

Donnie and Kala turn to see April and Casey at the door, a playful smirk on his face.

"April! W-welcome back! How was your day?"

"Not as 'cool' as yours, I bet!" Casey says and walks closer to the alien ship. "This ride is off-the-charts funka-delic!" And then he turns and sees Kala. " So, you must be the alien chick April has been telling me about. Hey." He wriggles his brows and gives a gummy smile. "The name's Casey." He offers to shake her hand and she just stares at him.

She easily notices his missing teeth and smiles. "Are you kin to a champion hockey player named Emilio McChang?"

April and Donnie widen their eyes and cover their mouths, almost bursting with laughter.

"Wow… you must have some powerful alien senses or something to know how awesome of a hockey player I am just by looking at me!" Casey grins, fully unaware of the innocent jab at him. "Do you have super strength, or can you walk through walls… or change shape?"

"Um, not…" Kala tries to say.

"Why don't you tell me all about it over a friendly game of pinball?" Casey drapes a hand over her shoulder and shepherds Kala towards the door.

As they exit Kala greets April in passing. "Hello April. I trust your day of academia was productive."

"Very, thanks." April says to her, watching her one-track-mind school buddy and the swaying hips of the graceful alien walk away. April turns her attention back to Donatello, who is caught looking just past April's gaze. She sighs and crosses her arms. If she could have rolled her eyes any wider, they would have popped out her head.

"Ugh, I get it, Donatello. You find her absolutely fascinating! Don't think I don't understand."

He blinks a few times. "You do?"

"Sure. It's the same way you felt when you first met me. I was just a new discovery, a shiny new thing to learn about. And now, Kala's your shiny, new friend." She says with resignation.

Donnie's face twitches. Why is she acting like this? "April…"

She interrupts. "No, I can't blame you. She's really cool. You must be totally geeking out over all the new tech she's showing you…so, where did you two go?"

"Oh, April is was exponentially exhilarating! She needed to take her cruiser out for a test run and she asked me where I'd like to go and I said aren't you just going to go around the city or something and she said oh no we can go much farther than that and she asked me if there was one place on my planet I wanted to go where would it be and I said I don't know I never really had the opportunity and she said well what about the Galapagos islands, you know the place your Darwin traveled to in the book you let me read on your tablet and I said wow can we really go there, it's like 3000 miles away and she said we can get there in 20 Earth minutes and I was like YES I am so there so we flew there and while you were at school I was at THEE Galapagos islands rubbing shells with a 120 year old tortoise who is probably like my distant cousin I took so many notes and saw so many things and it was wonderful and it's all thanks to Kala and would you like to see the pictures I took of us on my T-phone?"

With eyes half lidded April gives her 'friend' and solemn stare. She clenches her notebook to herself. "No thank you, Donatello. I can tell by your excited rambling that you have a LOT of notes to categorize from your little fieldtrip… and I have a LOT of homework to do." She turns to leave.

"April, stop. Stop! What are you…?" Donnie grabs her arm and turns her to face him. She averts her eyes, a strong blush streaks across her face.

He can't believe what he's seeing. April is… jealous! April O'Neil thinks Kala is taking up all of her 'Donnie Time'. As joyous as he wants to be at this realization he can't help but reassure her of his feelings. He softens his grip on her but doesn't let go. "April, don't be like that. Yes, Kala is fascinating and so is her alien technology, and her fighting skills and her spaceship… but she could never replace you. My brothers will always be my brothers, but you are my best friend. You don't tease me or call me names or constantly ask me to fix something. You understand me. I've needed someone like that for such a long time, someone who just 'gets' me. After all these years, I've always felt like a part of my family, yet I was all alone in my mind… and then you came along and I was finally glad I was me." If that wasn't a long-awaited confession, Donnie doesn't know what is, but he had to tell her the truth. Of course it may have been a bit too much. April's eyes are wide in bewilderment and her mouth is open but it doesn't look like she's about to say a word. He steps back and shies away; his face reddening as well. He looks into her eyes a heartbeat too long before speaking again. "Ahem, all that to say, I'm sorry for getting carried away. You're my friend and I apologize for making you feel any less." Whew, quick save!

She tries to hide her smile as she looks up at him. "I accept your apology. I'm sorry too, for being such a spaz."

He chuckles. "I'll still help you with your homework if you'd like."

"What about your Galapagos notes?" She says with mock shock.

He brushes it off, lightly nudging her along towards his lab. "No way, Darwin can wait. Evolution takes millions of years, after all."

April giggles feeling much better. "Ok, Donnie… thanks."

…

Leonardo, now finished with his afternoon meditation, reflecting on what he had spoken about with his sensei, leaves his bedroom to find Kala. He sees her standing by the blinking pinball machine. His brothers and Casey are a heap on the floor, moaning in dismay.

"Hi guys. What's up?"

Casey speaks first. "She's a maniac!"

"She's a cheater!" Raphael whines.

She's a… mazing!" Mikey squeaks.

Leonardo, utterly confused turns his attention to the pinging sounds of the pinball game. His eyes drop to the floor. 999,999,999 points!? She beat my score! Shock and anger boil within him. He immediately quells his small moment of contempt and clears is throat. "Oh, guys, grow up, it's just a game. Kala, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Of course, Leonardo." Kala follows him into the dojo.

Raphael's wrath bellows out. "Yeah Leo! Show here what for! Dust the floor with that feathered head of hers!"

Kala turns back and looks at Raphael. She puffs up her cheeks and wiggles her fingers at the sides of her face. If he is interpreting it right Kala is giving him the Neutronian equivalent of blowing raspberries at him.

"Did she just brush me off? Lemme at her!" Raph yells. Mikey and Casey hold him back.

"Dude! Dust the floor with her head? Not cool." Mikey chides.

"Yeah man! And what were you really planning on doing with her once you got your hands on her? Knock her pretty little block off?" Casey asks.

"No!" Raphael snatches his arms away from his brother and friend. "I dunno, just yell at her, I guess."

"Hmph. Good, cause if you tried to drop-kick her, I'd knock you into next November." Mikey warns.

"Oh… oh really, Mikey?" Raphael smirks devilishly at his baby brother. "You stickin' up for your girlfriend now?"

"Whoa, didn't she just get her like, yesterday. Boy, you move fast, Mike-man!" Casey jabs.

"What? No! I just, know it's wrong to beat up on girls… especially super cute ones from another dimension. Now if you'll excuse me… I'm going to try and get second place on the pinball machine cause first place is now impossible." Michelangelo says astutely.

"Not if I get it first!" Casey says.

"In your dreams, hose brain!" Raph says.

…

Kala sits down on the firm tatami mats of the dojo. Leonardo quietly sits across from her, looking much too serious for a turtle his age. She looks up at him and smiles slightly.

She sets the tablet aside. "Alright Leonardo. Can I help you with something? Or are you going to pummel me over the pinball game?"

"No, no, this is not about the game." He says lightheartedly. "I was hoping that we could help each other... You mentioned that in your rebellion, you have those who fight alongside you... your comrades?"

She nods her head and frowns. "Yes... I was with them trying to take down the Kraang Ship. All we had to do was distract its cannons and get to the top-front of the ship to destroy its teleportation device."

"The Kraang know how to teleport? I thought somehow the ship just..." He wasn't quite sure what it had done. To him, it just vanished. "They have technology thousands of years beyond our own."

"The Kraang are scavengers and thieves. But they are also very intelligent... they are talking brains after all... Everything the Kraang are capable of now, is the result of many different planets being tricked by the Kraang. The same happened to us on Neutron. They gained our trust then attacked. They stole our technology and used it against us, almost destroyed us and sent our people back to the Stone Age... Now we are nothing more than slaves in their factories, making their weapons and ships, so they can wage war on other planets... I had no idea their greed had lead them to trample in other dimensions. Once my comrades and I found out about the portals we tried to intercept." She rests her head on her knees and closes her eyes.

"What happened to them?" Leo asks softly.

She shakes her head. "I don't know. Once I passed through the portal, I lost all contact with them... I may be their leader but they are much more than just my underlings. Zak and Dask...they are my friends, my brothers... very much like you and your brothers. We have been together since we were orblings. And just like their parents, my parents refused to fight. They have lived too long under the Kraangs' oppression, never knowing what freedom truly is. I want to give them that freedom but... I feel as though I have let them down, like I deserted them. I am adrift from them separated by space and time." She looks up at Leonardo. A single tear falls down her face, Her features may be different, but that drop of sorrow rolling along her skin hits very close to home. "Leonardo, you are a leader. I can tell. I see how your brothers look up to you. You understand this heaviness inside my aching hearts. How can I excuse my failure when it's at the expense of my people?"

Leonardo bows his head and takes a deep breath. She sounds just like him. He says these types of things to himself, when he's alone. He berates himself for making decisions and battle plans that end up getting him and his brothers captured or hurt. He constantly questions why Splinter had made him the leader. Donatello is the smartest. His brains had gotten them out of impossible spots. Raphael is the toughest, no matter how great the opponent; he's always the last one standing and the first one to get back up. Even Mikey would have made a good leader. He'd never let his teammates give up on themselves. He'd cheer his brothers' spirits and helped them believe in the strength they had... because they were not alone. "Kala, when my fears of disappointment and abandonment try to get the better of me, I've learned to focus, not on the facts, but the truth."

She looks at him with confusion and he goes on. "You see, the facts, in your case, are that you got separated from your friends, got shot down by the Kraang and are sitting in a sewer with a group of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." She looks even more distraught but he quickly adds. "But the TRUTH is that, although Dask and Zak aren't here right now, and the Kraang got away, you're safe and healthy, you have new friends you can lean on... and you haven't given up. You gave your best and you'll keep giving your best. I know one day, because of you, your people WILL be free."

She smiles at his uplifting words. "I think I understand. It's just like in the book you lent me 'The Tale of Two Cities' The facts were that Carton was a poor man unfit, by society's standards, to pursue his love of Lucie. He wanted to give her everything although he felt he had nothing to give. But, in the end, the truth is that, he was always a hero, who had given his all so that those most important to him could be free..."

Leo nods and returns her smile. "You won't fail so long as you never forget who you are."

Kala stands and wipes the tears from her eyes. I new spark of determination runs through her. "You are right, Leonardo. I will not forget who I am. I will not waste my time here by feeling sorry for myself. I will use this time to plan our next attack! And one day my people WILL be free! May the light of Neutron forever burn bright!" Leonardo stands and pats her shoulder. "Thank you, Leonardo. You are a true leader." Kala rests her forehead on his and smiles all too closely to his face. She turns to step out of the dojo. "I think I am going to take my cruiser out for a run. Would you like to come?"

Leo clears his throat and looks away, trying to get his temperature under control. "I, um, sure. This isn't going to be your test run is it?"

"Oh no. Donatello and I have already done that. We flew all the way to a place called… Galapagos? I thought it was nice but he was truly excited." She turns to him and smiles. "Is there a particular place you would like to visit, my Eartino friend?"

Leonardo tried to hide his grin. They run to the garage and saddle in the midnight-colored spacecraft. He plays it cool but inwardly he is as giddy as a kid on Christmas. He cannot believe that he is about to visit Japan and be back in time for dinner.

…

A/N: Leo is really cool. Kala's really cool too. Wish I had a friend with a spaceship :/ Any comments are gravy to me!