Hope you're all enjoying it so far. This chapter has a lot of direct quotes from the 2007 movie so those aren't mine and I don't take credit for those. Other than that, enjoy!
The Next Day
Lana rolls over in bed and groans. Everything hurt. She slowly sits up and looks around her messy room. Clothes and books litter the floor and shelves.
"I should really clean up."
She smiles slightly before throwing the covers back and walking to the bathroom. She yawns and stretches and turns the bathroom light on and stares in the mirror. Her sports bra and short spandex leave little to the imagination but she smiles and flexes again. She really had gotten into great shape working out with them, which was to be expected but still. She turns around to look at her back muscles but frowns when she sees the 3 light pink scars. She slowly lowers her arms and turns back around to brush her teeth. She quickly walks out and grabs a blue tank top from a drawer and throws it on.
"Another day."
As she walks through her newly furnished living room she cant help but look around. Everything looked so different. The couch and reclining chairs were a nice brown leather and were set around a large flat screen TV mounted on the wall. The dining room was on the opposite end of the room with a simple mahogany table set. She walks through the part between the living room and dinging room and into the kitchen before grabbing water out of her steel fridge. With it she makes a left and heads up the stairs to the second floor. The furnished guest bedrooms have all their doors shut so she keeps walking up the stairs until she reaches the roof. The sunlight hits her face and she smiles before shutting the screen door behind her. She walks onto the open space and steps onto the special mats and places her water next to the stereo. Her iPod easily hooks up to it and starts playing her favorite music and she falls into her katas.
"Morning neighbor."
Lana stops and looks to her left to see Casey standing there. She puts her leg down and msiles at him.
"Hey dude, what're you doing here?"
He shrugs and sits down on one of the free mats. She starts her kata again but with less focus.
"April out of town?"
"Ya she's somewhere in South America."
Lana nods with a smile.
"That must be exciting for her."
"Ya she loves it. History always was her thing ya know, but it gets lonely around the apartment."
Lana ends her kata and grabs her water before sitting in front of him.
"So you decided to come over to see me?"
"Ya it's not that far."
"Only like a mile from your roof."
He shrugs and smirks.
"Needed the exercise."
"I can see that."
He frowns and glares at her but she rolls her eyes with a smile.
"So who's April working for? Must be some rich dude to send her all the way down there."
"Uh ya you got that right."
Lana makes a face at him before standing and warming up. She throws herself up into a handstand and holds it waiting for Casey to continue.
"She's working for your dad Lana."
Her shoulders buckle and she rolls out of it and looks at him.
"My dad?"
He nods and she rolls her eyes.
"What does he want her to get?"
"Some statues I guess. I wasn't really paying attention."
Lana picks herself up and throws her hair up into a ponytail before looking out at the city.
"That's not surprising. He always was into rare items…"
Casey looks at her and rubs the back of his neck.
"Listen Lana, April wouldn't have taken the gig if he didn't pay so well-"
She looks at him with a smile.
"Casey you don't have to justify it to me. He pays ridiculously well. She'd be stupid to say no."
"You sure?"
She nods and smiles at him.
"Don't worry dude. Just because I'm on bad terms with him doesn't mean everyone has to be."
Casey nods with a small smile.
"I guess so…you seen the guys lately?"
She nods and looks at him again.
"Ya I saw them last night. I've been training with them."
Casey smiles.
"Oh awesome! Learn any cool moves?"
She smiles and nods before executing the split kick.
"Woah! Awesome!"
"Thanks dude. I got it down last night."
He nods with admiration.
"I could never do that."
She shrugs and sits down again.
"I'm sure you could…"
"Okay. Correction, I don't think I'd ever really want to."
She laughs and drinks her water.
"Gotcha."
He watches her and smiles.
"…you seem better Lana."
She looks at him and her smile falls slightly.
"I am…every day gets a little easier Casey."
"That's good…you know when Leo left-"
"Just because it gets easier doesn't mean I want to talk about it."
He stops and nods sadly.
"Want some breakfast?"
"Is that even a question?"
She smiles and stands up and heads back down he stairs to make some omelets.
Somewhere in the jungles of South America, April slices her way through the thick foliage to make her way through it. When she reaches the clearing she sees the evidence of a struggle and continues on her way. The ghost of the jungle seemed like another superstitious legend, but the similarities were just too similar.
"Hello? Is anyone here?"
She continues through the jungle and the foliage trying to see what's in front of her but suddenly her foot goes through the dirt and she's free falling. She yells out and tries to grab the vines around her but nothing stops her fall.
"Oomph!"
She opens her eyes surprised there's no pain but her eyes lock onto the green skin she knows best.
"It's a long way from the city to just drop in."
"Leo."
She smiles and he easily puts her down. She follows him down the rocks and to the clearing she assumes he's been living. He motions to a tree trunk and she sits down while he tends to the fire.
"It's so good to see you."
He smiles at her and she smiles back.
"You came all the way down here to look for me?"
"Actually I was already here on business but the local legend started to sound a little familiar so I decided to snoop around."
He looks up at her surprised.
"What kind of business?"
"Ancient artifacts. Some tycoon with too much time on his hands has his heart set on a collection of 3,000 year old statues."
He smiles and chuckles.
"Well, you always did run with a strange crowd April."
She smiles sadly and nods to him.
"Yeah, well our strange crowd hasn't been the same without you."
He looks up her almost apologetically but shrugs and pick at the fire. She watches him and frowns.
"Things aren't looking so good back home."
"How bad could it be? Donnie's probably got everything under control."
April shakes her head and chuckles sadly.
"He's uh got a job."
"Oh?"
"24 hour IT tech support."
Leo looks up concerned.
"But Donnie's a genius. Why would he take a job like that?"
April looks at him and shrugs.
"At least he's keeping busy, even though it drives him crazy."
Leo nods and looks at her.
"Well, if he's doing that, who's keeping an eye on Mikey?"
April smiles and shrugs.
"No one I guess, but he started his own business. Cowabunga Carl. He's a hit at birthday parties. All the kids love him, and he gets to be on the surface during the day."
Leo nods and smiles slightly.
"He did always want that…"
April can see the conflicting emotions pass over his face before it goes hard.
"All right, let's hear it. What's Raph doing?"
April shrugs and shakes her head.
"No one really knows…he just sleeps all day, then trains."
"Sleeps all day? Well, what's he do all night?"
She shakes her head again.
"No one knows."
He sighs and rolls his shoulder before looking at her.
"Splinter says you don't write anymore."
"Splinter sent me down here to become a better leader. I can't go back a failure. Besides, these people need me more than my brothers do."
April looks at him sadly and sighs.
"If Master Splinter were here...he would ask you, "What is your heart telling you?"
Leo shrugs and looks at her.
"I don't know…I just know something's missing."
April looks at him and nods.
"Maybe, but your brothers need you, Leo. They're lost without you…"
he looks at her with guarded eyes but eventually the soften and he relaxes.
"…how's Lana?"
April looks away from him and shrugs.
"Fine I think…I don't see her that often anymore. She went out to California for a couple months after you left to visit her sister, and she brings groceries to your brothers but that's all I really know."
Leo smiles sadly.
"She always was elusive."
April nods and looks away but when she looks back up he's gone.
"Leo?!"
She groans and gathers her stuff before finding her way out of the cave. When she reaches the surface she heads back to the village and to the docks. The whistle of her ship goes off and she looks at the jungle before walking up the ramp and onto the ship.
Back in New York, Mikey skates through the sewers and eventually ends up in front of the door. He pulls the pipe and runs in while flipping down the stairs.
"Here's Mikey? Guys? Anyone?"
He frowns and shakes his head.
"This place used to be fun."
He goes and sits on the couch and watches the news while yawning.
"In other news the vigilante Nightwatcher has done it again. Stopping the thieves of a bank robbing and hanging them on the street."
Mikey smiles and watches it with admiration.
"I remember how that used to feel. Busting up bad guys and saving the world."
Donnie watches his brother and shakes his head.
"Why do you do this to yourself Mikey? Focus on your work."
"Ya spoken like a true has-been."
Donie rolls his eyes and looks up at Raph.
"Well look who decided to wake up."
Raphael rolls his eyes and flips off the balcony. They both walk into the kitchen and Donnie sits down.
"I bet you think the Nightwatcher is some kind of hero."
"Beat sitting around here all day doing nothing."
"Speak for yourself. We at least contribute around here, all you do is sleep all day."
Raph laughs and shakes his head.
"Yoa you got me all figured out."
Donnie glares at him and scolds him about his temper and their team.
"This team doesn't exist anymore."
He pretends to hit Donnie but something grabs his arm and gently holds it. He looks back and sees Lana giving him a look that would rival Leo's. Raph drops his arm and looks at her.
"You missed training Lana."
"I had a tough day."
Raph looks at her fully and sees a bruise darkening her cheek and shoulder.
"You okay?"
She looks at him before tapping Donnie's shoulder.
"Hey Donnie, I need your help."
Mikey and Donnie both look at her and she smiles slightly before she stumbles into Raph's chest. He easily catches her by her waist but pulls his hand back when it gets wet.
"Shit Donnie she's bleeding."
Donnie quickly gets up and Raph sets her down on the chair. She groans and leans onto the table with her elbows.
"It's nothing I just need like 2 stitches."
Donnie looks at Raph before pulling her shirt up and making a face.
"More like at least 10 Lana."
She shrugs and puts her head on the table. Mikey brings over the med kit and sets it down on the table while grabbing some gauze from it. He switches places with Donnie and pushes on the would to stop the bleeding.
"Ow ow ow."
"What happened Lana?"
"I got jumped on my way here."
"By?"
She looks over her shoulder and pauses.
"…the Purple Dragons."
Raph looks surprised.
"The dragons?"
She nods and winces when Donnie starts to clean it.
"Did they catch you by surprise when you got out of your car?"
She shakes her head and groans.
"…I walked."
"You did what?!"
She smiles sheepishly at them before wincing again.
"Why would you walk here? It takes you through the bad part of the neighborhood."
"Ya dudette that was stupid…especially in what you re wearing,"
She chuckles and shrugs while looking at her outfit. It's the same tank top and spandex shorts from the morning.
"It's comfortable."
"You're stupid."
She makes a face at Donnie but he turns her head around and starts to stitch her up.
"This is gonna hurt. We ran out of the numbing stuff last week."
She nods and he starts. Mikey sits across the table from her and squeezes her hand with a small smile.
"Remind me to buy you some of that-ow!"
Donnie looks at Mikey sadly and she squeezes her hand even harder while rubbing a finger over her knuckles.
"It's okay dudette…we can eat lots of ice ream after this."
She smiles at him but winces again.
"So goin' back to you bein' stupid, why'd you walk and not drive?"
"I like the scenery?"
"Bull shit Lana."
She groans and motions to her bag. Raph looks down and pick up her purse and hears liquid slosh inside. He opens it and frowns when he sees the handle of whiskey.
"Whiskey?"
"Bottoms up bitches."
Mikey looks at Raph then back at her.
"You drunk dudette?"
She shrugs but eventually nods.
"Just a little."
"Makes sense why she's bleeding so much. Alcohol thins the blood."
Raph puts the bottle back into her bag and zips it up.
"You really are an idiot Lana."
"Trust me I realized that over a year ago."
Mikey looks up her sharply and she pulls her hand back.
"Lana?
Donnie finishes the stitches and cuts the thread before coveirng it with a bandage. She stands up and grabs her purse from Raph.
"Thanks Donnie."
Lana heads back to the door but Raph intercepts her making her stop.
"I'm driving you home."
"I don't need you to-"
"Hell if I'm going to let you walk back after getting cut like that."
She frowns and walks towards the garage. He follows and grabs his bag on the way out along with his keys. She walks over to his bike and waits for him to get on and she follows suit.
"Ready?"
"Always am."
He takes off and quickly speeds through the streets so she quickly holds onto him tighter and shuts her eyes. She always loved this. Riding through the streets like this brought back so many memories. Most were good…some were bad. Raph rounds a corner and she grips his plastron even tighter.
"You okay back there?"
"Never better."
"Don't fall off. I don't want to explain that to the others."
She laughs and holds on. Eventually they get back to her apartment and he pulls into the private alley.
"Here you go."
She hops off and looks at him.
"…be safe."
He makes a face.
"What do you mean?"
Lana looks at him sadly before disappearing into her home. Raph watches the door shut before looking at his bag full of his Nightwatcher gear. He grunts and starts his engine before disappearing into the night.