I'm not entirely thrilled with this chapter, but it's the best it's going to get. I needed to move the story along, but I also wanted to get some of the alternate universe background for April and Casey in, especially since some of what happens with April may play a part in a later story. Still, I hope you all enjoy this, though I do apologize for the end. You'll see what I mean when you stop reading this AN and get on with the chapter. :)

After his night out with his brothers, Leo felt there was nothing this welcome home party could throw at him that he wouldn't be able to handle. Unfortunately for everyone involved, nothing could have prepared them for what happened that night.

Looking back on it, the brothers would find it quite humorous that it wasn't the loud, abrasive Casey that caused Leo the most distress, but April instead. It just went to show that Shadow's influence could pop up anywhere and at any time.

The party was slated to start around 6:30, and the turtles were getting some last minute details taken care of, when the two humans arrived, pretty much as they always did. In other words, Casey came tearing into the Lair, boisterously announcing his arrival, while April entered more sedately behind him. There had been more than one nervous glance cast Leo's way as Casey loudly made his debut, but Leo's relaxed body language and friendly smile soon put them at ease. Of course, Casey wouldn't be Casey without him getting a bad case of foot-in-mouth syndrome at least once during the evening, and he did so that night very early in the evening.

"Dude, someone went a little overboard with the body art," Casey said immediately upon being introduced to the oldest turtle. Raph instantly smacked him upside the head, while Mikey just glared at him. "What," the confused human whined. "What'd I say?"

Rather than be insulted, though, Leo just laughed. "You're quite right, my friend," Leo said with a grin. "The markings are a bit over the top. I sometimes wonder if my master was a graffiti artist in another life."

Seeing that the new turtle wasn't upset by his thoughtless comment, Casey proceeded to ask, "So…what do they mean?"

"They have any number of meanings, depending on which marks I engage," Leo responded. "The most basic explanation is that they are symbols that allow me to use my will to enhance my physical and mental abilities."

"Oh," an enthusiastic female voice said from behind Casey. "I think I get it now!"

Leo turned to face the speaker, only to have his thoughts come to screeching halt in panic. Unconsciously, he began to back away from the red-haired female in front of him, his body tensed as if awaiting a blow.

Recognizing the Shadow-driven response, but uncertain what set if off, Raph moved to intercept his shake, and shaking, sibling. Making sure to keep his movements slow as to not startle Leo, he put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa, easy there, Leo," he said softly. Leo, however, continued to quiver, and the wild look in his eyes was beginning to scare the younger turtle. "Leo, look at me. Look at me! I don't know what you're seeing, but you need to look at me," Raph ordered, his tone bordering on desperate.

"Don't you see it," Leo whispered hoarsely, a shaky hand pointing at April. Suddenly, he switched over to mental speech. Don't you realize what she is? She's a nascent queen. I can feel it from here. As bad as my master was, the queen were hundreds of time meaner, crueler, and more vicious. Among the Chi'Tarri, none are more powerful than the queens.

The change in tense, and even more so the manner of communication, alerted Raph that something was seriously wrong. It was clear, wherever his mind had gone, it was a scary place; scary enough that the Leo-part of his brother had disappeared almost completely, leaving only Shadow in his place. That actually gave Raph an idea about how to get through to his brother.

"Shadowblade," Raph said firmly, using the name Leo had given Hun during their confrontation. "That's enough. April is a friend; we've known her since she was fifteen. No way is she some creepy, sadistic alien dictator wannabe. She's not going to hurt you, or any of us. I promise; just give her a chance."

For a long moment, Leo didn't say anything, and didn't move. He didn't even blink. Taking a chance, Raph reached out and placed a gentle hand over his brother's heart. After a long, silent moment, Leo returned the gesture. They eyes met, and the slightest shudder ran through Leo's body. Finally, he gave his brother the very slightest of smiles. He allowed Raph to lead him back to where a visible upset April was waiting with the others. Leo opened his mouth to apologize, but April beat him to it.

"I'm so sorry if I upset you," she said in a rush. "Donatello said things hadn't been easy for you, and of course I don't want to make things worse. I had no idea seeing me would bring back such bad memories. Maybe I should…"

Her apology was cut off as Leo placed a light finger over her mouth. Startled, she met his eyes, and Leo saw the one thing that would always set his new friend apart from the cruel Chi'Tarri queens he'd mistaken her for: genuine compassion and empathy. Whatever else his senses were telling him about this young woman, he knew for certain now she would never hurt him. She literally wasn't capable of the brutality and malice he previously encountered at a queen's command.

Removing his finger from her mouth, he said, "Can we try this again?" At the warm smile he got for an answer, he said, "Then let me introduce myself. My name is Leo, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry if I distressed you a moment ago; as you can see, I still have some…issues from my past to resolve."

"Well, I'm April, and the pleasure is mine," the red-head replied. "And nevertheless, I'm sorry I brought up such bad memories."

"Not your fault," Leo said. "Besides, something's telling me getting to know you just might help settle some of those memories."

"So, we good now," Casey suddenly interrupted.

"We're good," Leo confirmed.

"Aaaand that's my cue to cut in," Mikey said from the kitchen doorway. "We've got the food set up in the kitchen. Come grab some eats, and let's move this party to the family room." When Leo seemed ready to hesitate, Mikey added, "We've got pizza. You don't want it to get cold."

"Pizza," Leo asked, suddenly eager. He'd become a huge fan of the dish after his first bite several weeks before.

"Yep," his brother confirmed, "so come get it while it's hot."

TMNT

Once everyone had filled their plates and settle down to eat, the topic turned to how the turtles met and April and Casey.

"I know you were 15 when you met my brothers," Leo told April, "but how did you meet? As far as I know, fifteen-year-olds don't go wandering randomly through the sewers; other than us, that is."

April's warm laugh was like a balm to Leo's still unsettled emotions, helping him relax even more. "No, usually teenagers avoid the sewers like the plague," she agreed, "and the truth is I didn't meet the boys in the sewers. I actually first met Mikey one evening at an empty playground. I was headed home from my after school job, and I cut across the park since it was the shortest way home, when I heard the sound of a little kid crying. I don't know if the boys told you, but I was in foster care, so I was accustomed to helping out with the younger kids, and I hated to hear one upset. I will say, I certainly wasn't expecting to find a child turtle when I went looking for what I thought was a lost child. Still, he was just a kid, and I couldn't leave him like that."

Leo looked at his younger brother for an explanation. "I'd had a fight with our sensei," Mikey explained. "About you, actually. He insisted I let you go; I wasn't ready. I yelled at him about it before tearing off into the sewer; I eventually made my way to that playground where April found me."

"I calmed him down, and we talked about things for a while before I walked him 'home,'" April went on to say. "I told him if he ever needed to talk again, he could find at that playground most evenings. I didn't expect him to take me up on it, but three days later, there he was; and this time he wasn't alone. After a couple of months visiting on the sly like that, the boys decided to introduce me to their fa…sensei. He wasn't sure about me at first, but when Mikey made it clear he was going to continue to see me with or without permission, well, what could their sensei say?"

"So, how does Casey fit into this," Leo asked.

"Casey didn't enter the picture until a couple of years later," Donatello said. "Turned out, April was a certified genius, and she started college when she was 16. I think we all figured that would be the end of our friendship, but April made sure her relationship with us wasn't neglected. She and Raph still talked motorcycles. She and Mikey still had movie nights, and she and I geeked-out over the material she was learning in her courses, since she was double majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, along with a minor in mechanical engineering."

At Leo's confused look, Raph interpreted. "She can build practically anything, and if it has power or a computer, she can make it sit up and dance. In other words, she's scary smart, just like Donny."

"Anyway," April said, resuming the story, "it was while I was at school that I met Casey. He stepped in and saved from some muggers one night when I was headed home from class. Turned out, he was working some odd jobs around the campus."

"My goal had been to go into law enforcement, like my dad," Casey said. "But my senior year of high school I injured took a nasty blow to the head, and the resulting brain damage was just enough to disqualify me from going to the academy. So I spent several years floating around, trying to find a new niche. Thanks to April, I finally did."

"He helped a friend with some pretty serious car repairs," April explained. "I didn't have the time, so Casey took care of it for me; that was when I suggested he get his certification, and maybe think about opening his own shop. I didn't know it at the time, but his uncle had been pushing him to do just that, with an eye toward having Casey take over his shop when he retired."

"So, I started taking classes, with help from April," Casey said, "and April finally agreed to go out with me. We'd been seeing each other for a couple of months, when she decided it was time to introduce me to her family. She made it clear my acceptance of them, or lack thereof, was deal breaker before she introduced me, but nothing could have prepared me for the 'little brothers' she introduced me to. I still don't know what got me most: the ninja thing, the mutant thing, or the sewer thing. It didn't take me long to find my place in the group though."

"What he means, is it only took several dozen arguments with Raph, two encounters with the Purple Dragons, and an ultimatum from me before he found his niche," April said.

"Ah, but Ms. O'Neil, let's not forget the innumerable number of pizza and bowls of ice cream before family peace was established," a soft voice from the entrance said.

Everyone turned to see the unannounced visitor, and the three younger turtles jumped up in joyous surprise. "Sensei," they all cried in unison as they ran to the newcomer's side.

Leo couldn't have been more curious to meet his brother's mysterious teacher, considering everything he'd heard about him, so he wasn't expecting his whole world to come crashing down around him when he saw the elderly rat. All at once, everything came together in his mind, and he was finally able to remember just whose voice it was that he heard betraying him in his dreams.

"It was you," he snarled, drawing his swords as he advanced toward the crowd at the door. "You gave me to them."

"Leo," Raph cried in bewilderment, "what are you doing? That's our sensei; our father."

"He's no father to me," Leo denied, attempting to get at his target without harming his brothers. "He let those monsters take me away."

"You've got to be mistaken," Mikey protested.

"I recognize his voice," Leo shouted. "I've spent months hearing that voice in my worst nightmare, and now I know why I felt so betrayed. My own 'father' handed me over. Now, get out of the way, so I can face him."

"Have you gone mad," Raph growled back. "No way our father sold you out. I don't know why you're acting like this, but cut it out."

"Move, Raphael," Leo hissed. "I don't want to hurt you, but my honor will be avenged."

"Like shell it will," Raphael replied. Later, when his head had cleared, Raphael would be sickened by what he did next, but in the heat of the moment, he let his anger overwhelm him. Leo had instinctively powered up his spirit marks in preparation for the confrontation with the one who had done him such wrong. When Raphael touched him, however, all the anger, fear, and confusion the younger turtle was feeling lashed through Leo, and the marks went from their regular glowing green that indicated Leo's will flowing through them, to the angry red-white of the punishment level.

In an instant, Leo was gone, leaving Shadow in his place. Reacting as he'd been programmed to do, the tattooed turtle immediately dropped into the Position of Submission, fear and hurt turning his face into an agonized mask.

"I…I…Leo, I didn't," Raph immediately stuttered, almost tripping over his feet as he stumbled back away from his fallen brother. At hearing his real name, all color faded from the spirit marks, and Leo looked up to meet his brother's horrified face. Agony and horror filled Leo's countenance as he realized everyone had seen him so humiliated, and with a wordless cry of disgust, he jumped to his feet and disappeared into the dark sewer, his dismayed family staring silently after him.

So, Splinter is back. As many of you called it, he was the one Leo saw in his dream. Don't worry; he's not going to be a bad guy. I just couldn't write Splinter as evil. There will be an explanation for what happened, and we'll find out more about what's been going on with Donny. So, hang tight. I'll get the next chapter as soon as possible, as soon as I figure out whether I'm going to follow Leo, or stick with the family at the Lair. Right now, my muse is arguing for both.