April woke up pretty early the following morning, the leftovers from the meal she and Carol had picked up didn't smell too great. So, April grabbed the bag, put on some shoes, grabbed her keys and took the smelly bag out to the dumpster.
She bounced down the stairs and out the front door. It was a beautiful day already, the sun was out and the temperature was just perfect. She took a moment to enjoy the weather before hurrying around the corner to throw out the trash. Oh her way back in however, she spotted a suspicious man hanging around at the end of her street. He was just standing there staring down the street in her direction. April frowned and squinted trying to see him more clearly.
Once back inside, April raced back upstairs. She hurried back into her room and grabbed her phone off of its charger and typed a quick message to Holly. She received a reply almost immediately, apparently Holly had slept better last night and was up just as early. It said that Holly would wake up the boys and see what they thought was the best plan of action. April took her phone with her into the kitchen, if she was going to have to wait for an answer, she would at least have some coffee and breakfast to pass the time.
Holly had woken up when April texted her. Last night, she had filled the guys and Splinter in on what they had seen the previous day, and while they agreed that the gang members' behavior was strange, they didn't feel it was anything too concerning. Not unless there was more to go on than just them standing around not doing anything. Holly rolled off the couch and grabbed her glasses out of their case, she quickly walked over to the kitchen to see if anyone was already there, and luckily for her, Leo and Donnie were.
"Hey guys, Did April text you?" Holly didn't even sit, she walked straight for the coffee to help un-fog her brain.
"What? No, why would she?" Donnie frowned slightly, judging from Hollys' body language something was going on.
"She saw another creep hanging around her street." Holly said. "Don't worry, she's fine, she's in her apartment with her Aunt." She reassured Donnie when she saw the look of worry on his face.
"What does she want us to do about it?." Leo said. "It's not like we can go out and take care of him."
"No, but she wants to know what you think she should do." Holly put her hands on her hips and frowned.
"Well, ideally she should just stay put and stay safe until we can get there later. But I have a feeling that she won't want to do that." Donnie said with mild amusement. April was not the kind of girl to sit back and let everyone else have all the fun.
"Exactly my point. When are the others going to wake up?" She spun around looking impatient.
"You don't need to wake them up for this. Raph will just be crabby and Mikey will fall asleep standing up if he has to." Leo said.
Holly turned back to Leo, she knew he was right. She sighed and nodded at him and sat in one of the empty chairs. She pulled out her phone and sent April a message saying that Donnie wanted her to stay put and Leo said to be careful, even if he hadn't actually used those exact words.
April was sat watching cartoons while she ate her breakfast, no matter how old she got, she still loved early morning cartoons. Her phone beeped at her and she snatched it up to read what the verdict was. It was pretty much what she had been expecting, no one wanted her to do anything until they could get to her. But that would take all day, and she was not going to miss out on the fun just because she was a little paranoid. She stood up, put her bowl in the sink, and decided to take a shower before she headed out for the day.
Holly was frustrated, she was pacing back and forth behind the couches trying to make up her mind about what to do. On the one hand, it was unlikely that she and April would be able to fend off a group of Purple Dragon members if they were indeed up to no good. However, two people would fare much better than just one, and that was even if there was anything to worry about. There was a good chance that the gang members they had seen last night were just bored, and that the one by Aprils place was just a coincidence.
Holly couldn't take it anymore. She stuffed her phone in her pocket and started running for the exit. "I'm going to Aprils. Hopefully, we'll be back soon."
"Whoa, whoa. What are you doing?" Donnie yelled at her from the couch. He stood up, just in case he needed to stop her from doing anything rash.
"I'm going to Aprils." She repeated.
"Why? It's much safer, and cooler, down here." He started walking towards her, the rest of the turtle boys were interested in this conversation now, and had dropped what they were doing to listen.
"Because, there may not be anything going on, but it would be better if we were together." Holly said hurriedly.
"But if there is something going on, wouldn't it be smarter to wait for all of us to be able to go?" Leo asked from the couch.
"You and I both know April is not going to sit tight, so why should I? The two of us would fare much better than just her by herself." She
The turtle boys all looked at each other. Apparently. they were having a silent discussion that she wasn't a part of. She knew she couldn't fight off thugs like they could, but she couldn't sit back and do nothing.
"Let her go." Raph said suddenly. Hollys' eyes widened in shock, of all the turtle boys, she had not expected him to be the one to agree with her. "We can't stop her, and she's the only one who can go out right now anyway."
"Alright, but call us if you need us." Leo said.
"Let us know when you get to Aprils." Donnie added.
"Don't worry so much guys, she can handle it." Mikey chimed in.
"Thanks Mikey." Holly said quietly.
"Just, you know." Raph coughed trying to cover up his uncomfortableness, "Be careful."
Holly just nodded, she felt touched that they trusted her to do what she felt was right. She turned on her toes and rushed out of the lair. On her way back up to the surface, she called April to make sure she was doing alright. April was still at home, so that was good. But she had been keeping an eye on the street through the window, and there was still the same guy hanging around. Holly made sure no one was around before she stepped out onto the street, she couldn't be too careful right now.
As she walked the city streets, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The people walking around didn't seem like they were up to anything and no one seemed to be following her. Holly relaxed a little, but not completely, as she drew closer and closer to April's apartment she kept her eyes peeled for anything unusual. She walked on the other side of the road than they had the previous night, and passed right by the convenience store where the men had been loitering. No one was there now, just the occasional customer going in to buy milk or coming out with a pack of cigarettes.
The next road she walked down would be the one where the guy had been spotted earlier. Again, she stayed on the wrong side of the road so she could pass by the guy without being spotted herself. As she walked she slowed down slightly to get a better look at the guy. He didn't look like anything special, but he was wearing the trademark black and purple of his gang. He was just leaning against the wall at the end of the street, he had his phone out and was focused pretty intently on it. He would look up every once in a while, but he mostly stayed glued to his phone. Holly crossed the street right in front of Aprils' apartment and walked straight up to the door. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the man straighten up and watch her. She stepped through the main entrance and bolted up the stairs to Aprils' apartment.
"Hey." Holly said cheerfully, happy that her friend hadn't done anything reckless.
"What's up? Come on in." April stepped aside, and Holly stepped past her.
The girls sat around giggling and acting like regular teens while Aprils' aunt was still around, but whenever she left the room, they would switch the conversation to the man outside.
"How long has he been there?" Holly asked.
"He was there when I took out the trash at about seven-thirty. So I would assume he's been there a while." April said.
"What do you think they're planning?" Holly asked
"I don't know, but I'm not letting one guy ruin my day." April hopped up and headed for the door. "We're going out, I'll see you later!" She shouted into the apartment.
"OK girls, have a nice day and be careful." Aprils' aunt yelled back.
"Bye Ms. O'Neil." Holly yelled.
The girls walked down the stairs, and out onto the street. Holly looked down the road, the creepy guy was still there, but now he was standing up straight and was clearly watching them.
"Let's go the other way, just in case." Holly said with a frown
"Yeah, alright." April followed Hollys' gaze and a wrinkle of concern crossed her brow.
The girls turned their backs to the guy at the end of the street and walked away. They kept their conversation light to make themselves seem like they were just normal kids, all the while they kept their eyes and ears open to their surroundings. They rounded the corner at the end of the road and chanced a glance behind them, and just as they suspected he would, the guy at the end of the road was now following them.
"Alright, something is definitely going on here. He's following us." April said quietly.
"No, he's following you." Holly corrected her. "They didn't follow me home last night."
"Me, what did I do?" April sounded more annoyed than anything.
Holly just shrugged, she was smart, not psychic. "Whatever it is, we can't lead him back to the turtles."
"We'll have to ditch him somewhere away from the lair and double back." April said excitedly.
The girls continued to walk in the wrong direction trying to think of the best place to lose their unwanted company. They wandered aimlessly for almost an hour, watching the reflection in the shop windows to see if they were still being followed. It seemed that the guy who had been hanging around all morning was getting worn out, he was still behind them but his pace was slowing and he seemed distracted.
"I know the perfect place to lose this guy." April said suddenly, a grin spread slowly across her face. She took off walking without another word, Holly had to jog to catch up to her.
"Where are we going?" Holly whispered.
"It's perfect, it's on the way back to the lair, but it's out of the way too, and if we do lose this guy we won't have to pass back by my apartment to get to the turtles." April giggled, she had some awesome ideas.
"Ok, but you still didn't tell me where we're going." Holly said irritably.
"You know, you really sound like Raph sometimes." April said. Holly scowled at her and April laughed. "See, right there, that's is exactly the same look he gives Leo all the time."
After another twenty minutes, April and Holly had arrived at their destination. April looked smug as Holly let an impressed look cross her face. The girls walked as calmly as they could towards one of New York's fish markets, it was always filled with hundreds of vendors and customers yelling at each other and throwing fish around.
"This is amazing, how do you know about this place?" Holly grabbed Aprils arm.
"Dad and I used to come here all the time, it's always busy so we should be able to sneak out the back without being seen." April smiled sadly as she thought about her father.
Holly gave her friend a quick squeeze, then took Aprils hand and pulled her into the hustle and bustle of people in the covered market. They ducked around the people and wound between the stalls. They turned and ran down another aisle, and then another, and dove for cover behind crates full of fresh-caught fish. They crouched down to wait and make sure they were no longer being followed. Not a moment later, a panting Purple Dragon member pushed his way out of the mass of people. He frantically looked around for the girls he had been following.
He pulled out his cell phone and ran his hands nervously through his hair as he waited for the other person to answer. "Boss. I lost them." He winced as whoever was on the other end of the line yelled at him. "Yes boss, I'll double back and check." The man stuffed his phone back in his pocket and kicked out at a can in frustration. It bounced off the other side of the crates that April and Holly were crouched behind, they looked at each other with wide eyes. If he followed the can they would be caught. Luckily, however, he turned and stomped back into the market cursing under his breath.
April let out a sigh, as Holly poked her head out from their hiding place, "I think we're good." Holly and April wasted no time running as fast as their legs would carry them to the turtles' lair. They stopped a couple of times to make sure none of the Purple Dragons had picked up their trail again, but it seemed like they were in the clear.
The turtle boys had been waiting patiently for April and Holly to return, but they had been waiting for a few hours now and were starting to get worried. They had tried to keep busy with either reading, working, or playing games, but one by one they had abandoned their hobbies in favor of watching the clock, pacing or staring at their T-phones. Even Mikey had put down his controller and was staring absently off into the distance.
"This is stupid, we have to do something." Raph yelled after half an hour of silence. He was frustrated and worried and hated no knowing what was going on.
"We have to trust that the girls are capable of looking after themselves." Leo said.
"They could be in trouble." Raph yelled even louder.
"Or they could be perfectly fine and you're getting worked up for nothing." Leo yelled back.
"You know what they say, 'No news is good news'" Donnie said, trying to defuse the situation. He wouldn't deny that he was worried too, but he wasn't about to go running around in broad daylight just because they hadn't heard anything yet.
"Donnie's right, so just sit down and chill out." Leo said, he took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. Nobody could get under his skin like Raph could.
Donnie sighed as his hot head brother started pacing. He pulled out his cell phone and checked the screen for the hundredth time. He was debating sending one of the girls a message since Holly had said they would come back.
All the turtles looked up when there was suddenly noise coming from the entrance of their home. It started as a quiet shuffling noise and grew into booming footsteps that reverberated off all the walls. April stumbled into view panting and clutching her side, she dropped her bag on the floor and bent over trying to catch her breath.
"April?" Donnie said, he stood up and went to her side. "Are you alright?"
She nodded and held up a finger, asking for a moment. "We ran all the way from the docks."
"What were you doing there?" Leo asked.
"Getting rid of the Purple Dragon guy who was following us." April stood up straight and retrieved her belongings.
"Speaking of 'us', where's Holly?" Mikey pointed out.
"She was right behind me." April said looking around for her friend.
Raph took off running before anyone could stop him. He knew something would happen, and he wasn't about to sit back and do nothing anymore. He rushed through the twisting tunnels, thinking of all the most likely places Holly could be. His pessimistic mind was also flashing the worst-case scenarios at him, he kept seeing images of the brunette being dragged back to Dog Pound for questioning. He picked up his pace as he drew closer and closer to the surface.
As he rounded another corner, he ran straight into Holly who was turning the same corner from the other direction. They collided with a thud, but since Raph had substantially more mass behind him than Holly did, he remained upright while she bounced off and landed sprawled on her back. Her glasses flew off her face and landed a few feet away.
"Holy crap, are you alright?"
"Oh my god, I think I was safer running from the Purple Dragon." Holly said from the floor.
Raph let out a bark of laughter, partly because he was so relieved to see Holly safe. "What are you doing here?" He pulled Holly back to her feet after he retrieved her glasses for her.
"April dipped through the access and took off running, leaving me to put the cover back in place by myself." Holly sounded irritated, but she had a smile on her face.
"Why didn't you run and catch up?" Raph handed the girl her glasses once she had dusted herself off.
"Are you kidding me? We just ran about four miles to get here, I'm not running the half-mile through the sewers too." She said.
Raph chuckled lightly, Holly filled him in on what had happened to the girls in the last couple of hours while they made their way back to the rest of the group. By the time she had finished telling him her story, his smile had turned to a frown.
"So the Purple Dragons are trying to follow you guys." Raph summed up her story, he felt anger bubble up inside him towards the gang members.
"Well, they're trying to follow April." Holly corrected him, and she had to admit that she was scared for her friend. These men were criminals and were definitely not above kidnapping.
"At least you guys are safe now, we were starting to worry." Raph said.
Holly smiled slightly, "Were you worried about me? Is that why you nearly knocked me out back there?" Raph went very quiet for a moment, he looked a little uncomfortable so Holly decided to go easy on him for once. "Oh relax, I'm just messing with you." She shoved him playfully, but he didn't respond like he usually would. She stopped and looked at him as he continued to walk past her. "Raph?"
He slowed down slightly and glance over his shoulder. "Come on, the others will be waiting for us." He started to walks away from her again, but she stood her ground.
She crossed her arms in front of her chest, "What's going on Raph?"
He stopped again and turned around, he eyed her for a moment, trying to figure out if she was serious or not. She raised her eyebrows at him waiting for a response. "I'll stay here all day if I have to." She said firmly.
"Do you remember the question you asked me the other day?" He asked her with a straight face. For once there was no hint of sarcasm in his tone.
She wrinkled her brow trying to figure out exactly which question he was talking about. It dawned on her suddenly and her eyes widened slightly, "Oh. I asked if you ever got scared."
"Yeah." He shifted uncomfortably again, "For about five minutes there, I was."
Holly just stood there, she let her arms fall to her sides and remained silent.
Raph cleared his throat and turned to walk away, "We should get back, I'm sure Leo wants to talk to you."
Holly watched him start to walk away, and hurried to catch up. She grabbed his hand as she caught up and pulled on it gently to get him to turn back towards her. "Wait, were you worried that I took so long? Or that April came back without me?"
Raph looked into her gray eyes, she was silently urging him to be honest with her, and she wanted to know. But he still was unsure of himself and of what could possibly be. He took a breath to answer.
"See, I told you she was right behind me." April said from behind Raph.
"April! Thanks for ditching me by the way." Holly let go of Raphael's hand and walked around him. On her way past though, she glanced at him for the briefest moment.
"I didn't ditch you, you're just slow." April laughed.
"Where were you anyway?" Mikey asked suspiciously.
"I didn't feel like doing any more running so I walked, and before I knew it I got knocked off my feet." Holly smiled widely at her friends, she started walking back towards the lair and the rest of the group followed. She glanced back at Raph as they all walked away, he was staring at her with a disappointed look on his face. He followed the group but hung back slightly to collect his thoughts.
The teenagers all sat around in the living area having a serious conversation about what had happened earlier that day. April had filled in the rest of the group while Holly and Raph had been in the tunnels, and they all agreed that April was the focus of the Purple Dragons efforts. They also agreed that until they could figure out why they wanted her, it was not safe for her to be alone.
"You know you're always welcome to stay with us, and to be honest I don't think there's anywhere safer you could stay." Leo said.
"I can stay for now, but what about when we have to go back to school? My aunt won't let me out every night once summer is over." April said.
"I can walk with you to school and back, but hopefully they get bored of following you before then." Holly said unconvincingly.
"What do they want with me anyway?" April asked, she was concerned that the Purple Dragons had taken to following her.
"I have a theory," Donnie said, he was frowning slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised if they figured out that you know us. They're going to either use you as bait, or they're going to get you to lead them to us."
"But the Purple Dragons are pushovers, why would they want to find us when they'll just get creamed?" Mikey asked.
"True, but we already know they're being manipulated by Dog Pound and Stockman. So I'd bet it's them who want to find us." Donnie said.
April sighed and rested her head on her hands, it seemed that she was in trouble no matter what they did. The turtles couldn't help her much during the day, and if the Purple Dragons decided they were going to try something, two teenage girls weren't going to be much of a problem.
While the rest of the group talked strategy, April stood and walked into the little kitchen. She grabbed a cup out of one of the rickety cupboards and ran the water in the sink until it was cold. She leaned against the counter and watched the water swirl down the drain letting her mind go blank for a few blissful moments.
"April? Are you OK?" Donatello had followed her from the other room.
April span around, startled by the sound of his voice. "Yes, I'm fine." She smiled at him, "I just needed a moment alone."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll go." He took a step backwards.
"No don't." She stepped towards the lanky turtle and reached for him with one hand, she lowered it to her sides again blushing when she realized how crazy she sounded. "I mean, I don't mind if you want to stay." He gave her a confused look but remained where he was. April sighed again, "I'm just a little overwhelmed right now."
"Can I help at all?" Donnie asked.
"Not really. I just don't want anyone to get hurt because of me." April looked at her feet, feeling foolish.
"No one's going to get hurt, you don't need to worry so much." Donnie moved around the table and put his massive hands on her shoulders, she looked so vulnerable and small, which was not normal for the usually bubbly red-head he knew.
"But you guys are always fighting, and Holly has to practically shadow me from now on, and what if the Purple Dragons get tired of waiting for me and go after her, or my Aunt? She's the only family I have left." April felt tears well up in her eyes, it felt good to get all that off her chest.
Donnie looked into her sad eyes and his heart melted, he pulled her into a tight hug and gently stroked her silky hair. "Everything is going to be just fine. Holly is worried about you too, which is why she is willing to put herself in this situation, she doesn't want to see you get hurt either, and if Stockman is as smart as he thinks he is, he'll know you wouldn't have told your aunt about us since she wouldn't believe you anyway."
He let her sob quietly into his plastron for a few minutes, just letting all the stress go that she had been holding onto for so long. She took a few deep, shaky breaths and pulled away just far enough to look at him again. He smiled his gap-tooth smile at her, and she let out a giggle.
"Feel better?" He said, whipping away the last of her tears with his thumb. She nodded and smiled at him again.
"Thanks, for everything Donnie." She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Her feet barely touched the ground, but they stayed there for a moment. She lifted her head to give him a peck on the cheek, but just as she leaned in he turned his head unexpectedly and she caught him on the corner of the mouth instead.
Donnies' eyes went wide in shock and he almost dropped April. He blushed furiously and tried to apologize but all that came out was incoherent babbling. April too looked a little stunned, but she wasn't sorry. Not even close. Before she could change her mind, she wrapped her arms tighter around him and kissed him properly this time.
Donnie couldn't believe it, he had just accidentally been kissed by April and instead of pulling away from him, she had kissed him again. He let his eyes slip closed and wrapped his arms around her waist, he pulled her as close to him as she could possibly be and held on like she might slip through his fingers at any moment.
They broke apart and just looked at each other for a few seconds. A slight blush crept up Aprils cheeks and a smile broke across her face.
"So, am I in a coma and this is just an extended dream sequence?" He had to say something and it seemed like it could be a possibility a dream. April laughed at him and pinched him on the arm.
"Did that hurt?" She asked.
"A little." He admitted.
"Then I guess it's real." April said.
The two teens smiled, while neither really wanted their moment to end, but they knew it had to. April took the lanky turtle by the hand and pulled him gently back out to the others. She let go of his hand just outside of the group and took her seat beside Holly. Donnie took up his seat on the other side of the circle, and although he was supposed to be paying attention to the conversation, he couldn't keep his mind on topic. April kept looking up at him and smiling. She was having the same problem.
April couldn't believe what she had done. She kept playing that moment over and over in her head all morning, and she was desperate to tell Holly. She kept finding herself smiling at nothing, and whenever someone asked her a question, she realized she hadn't been listening at all. She couldn't seem to get a moment alone with her only female friend, and it seemed even more hopeless once Master Splinter decided he wanted to give them one super intense training session. He and Leonardo had gone into overprotective mode once everyone was fully caught up on the days' events, and thought it best to really put the girls to the test.
April and Holly were told to practice blocking and evading since it was unlikely they would have access to a weapon if they came up against the Purple Dragons in the street. They were each told to stand in the middle of the room and had to defend themselves from attacks that could come from anywhere. April stood next to Holly, and they were surrounded by the four turtle boys.
"Alright, imagine were a typical group of Purple Dragon members." Leo said from behind April. It was a little intimidating being surrounded by the turtles, April was glad that they were just training, and wasn't sure how she would feel if she and Holly truly had to defend themselves. "We're going to pretend to attack you, all you have to do is fend us off and get away." He made it sound so simple.
"Just like that, huh?" Holly said sarcastically. She turned so the two of them were back to back.
"You'll be fine, it's not like we're actually going to hurt you. Just remember your training, and we'll even start off slow so you get the feel for it." Leo looked at his brothers. "Ready?" They all responded with nods. Mikey had the biggest grin on his face, he was apparently enjoying this more than anyone else. Leo then turned to the girls. "Are you ready?" Neither of them really responded, April took a deep breath and kept shifting her gaze from one turtle to the next. Holly had a grim look on her face, but her eyes were determined. She understood why this exercise was so important. In the event of an actual confrontation, Holly would have to do whatever she could to get April away from the group. After all, as of right now April was the target, and if Holly were caught, she would be able to play dumb long enough for the cavalry to arrive.
Splinter sat watching the group from the corner of the room. He was anxious to see that the girls would be capable of at least defending themselves against the boys, if they weren't, then April would be in trouble on the surface. He believed that they could take care of themselves under normal circumstances, but he was worried that they might have trouble against someone who actually wanted to hurt them. Still, he believed in them. They always worked hard during their training sessions and they were advancing faster than he would have anticipated.
Leonardo nodded at his brothers, and instantly Mikey moved to grab onto Aprils arm. It is what the gang members would try first after all. He lunged out and gripped Aprils' wrist, but she managed to twist herself free and pushed his arm away without too much issue. Behind her, Leo and Raph both took a step towards Holly.
Holly flicked her eyes back and forth between the two of them so she could see when one of them lunged. It was Leo who moved first. He swung clumsily at her, just like one of the Purple Dragons would, but she was prepared for it. She side blocked the punch, pushing his arm across his body screwing up his center of balance. He "stumbled" sideways, so she gave him a shove towards his brother.
Donatello was about to follow Mikeys lead and act like he was going to try and subdue April. Unfortunately, he wasn't paying much attention to what was happening next to him, Holly had just given Leo a good hard shove in his direction, and the next thing he knew, his big brother was barreling into him. They both stayed on their feet since they had years of training behind them, but they knew if they really were as uncoordinated as the real gang members, they would have been on the floor.
April saw Leo come flying by in her peripheral vision, but she had Raph on her other side and he was a bigger threat right now. April turned to face him fully, and realized for the first time how menacing he could be. He sent some uncharacteristically uncoordinated blows her way, but she managed to deflect them all. April felt quite proud of herself for all of two seconds until Mikey was back on the attack, He tried to grab her from behind. He dove at her from a couple of feet away, she dropped to her knees and ducked her head down and he flew straight over her and crashed into Raph. They tumbled backwards and landed in a heap on the floor.
"Mikey! Get off me!" Raph yelled from under his little brother. Mikey just laughed to himself and rolled sideways.
April hopped back to her feet, only to be caught off guard by Donatello. He grabbed her from behind around the shoulders and she struggled against him for a couple of moments.
"Come on April, you know what to do." Donnie whispered to her.
April tried to focus and remember what she was supposed to do. She grabbed his wrist and forearm tightly with both hands, twisted her torso slightly, and threw her hips backwards and her torso forwards. Donnie flew straight over her shoulder and landed with a thud on his shell just in front of her.
April and Holly fended off the boys for a good thirty minutes. They were starting to get tired but kept on fighting since they would not be able to call a time out if they were fighting for real.
April had Mikey on one side of her and Donnie on the other, Leo had stepped out of the action for a while to observe what the girls were doing and see if he could spot any issues they might be having. She blocked a punch from Donnie, ducked under another sent her way by Mikey, and then jumped backwards as the two turtles attacked at once. They ended up crashing into each other and crumpled on the floor in front of her. April shook her head and couldn't help but smile.
Holly meanwhile was trying to deal with Raph. He always bragged that he was the best fighter out of the turtle boys, and even though he was taking it easy on her, he was still considerably faster and stronger than she was. He was really putting her to the test today though, he kept sending different attacks her way. First came punches, then he tried to take out her legs with a sweep. She casually hopped over his leg and then she had to duck under his foot that almost took her head off.
"What happened to not trying to hurt us?" Holly said while still dipping and weaving around Raph.
"You guys were doing so well I thought I'd step it up a level." Raph lunged at her again.
Holly hopped backwards away from him and danced just out of his reach. "I don't know, you haven't landed a hit yet." She was smiling cheekily at him, trying to wind him up.
"Oh, don't even go there." Raph said with a chuckle. Holly just poked her tongue out at him, then had to spin sideways as Raph dove at her.
Raph and Holly knew they were supposed to be practicing seriously, but they were having too much fun teasing each other to really pay attention. Holly burst out laughing as Raph landed on his face trying to tackle her. He looked up her from the mats and narrowed his eyes at her. While she was busy doubled over clutching her sides, he grabbed her around the knees and watched her topple over. Holly landed on Raphs shell, she tried to push herself away from him since they were still fighting, but he used his superior strength to flip her over and pin her to the mat. She lay there still laughing with tears pouring down her face, Raph let a smile cross his lips as he looked down at her.
"Would you guys quit messing around already?" Leo was standing with his arms crossed looking annoyed.
Holly lifted her head off the floor to look at him, "Killjoy."
"You two can goof off later, when we're not busy training." Leo huffed.
"You two are in trouble." Mikey sang and pointed at Raph and Holly.
"Alright." Holly shoved Raph and stood back up. "Would you like us to continue?"
"No, you can do wall squats, and Raph you can go clean all the equipment." Leo said shortly.
"Dude, you got me in trouble." Holly shoved Raph playfully. "I'm sorry Leo." She wobbled her bottom lip at him.
"Just go." He pointed at the wall, and she winked at him as she walked by.
While Holly and Raph were being punished, Leo was letting April take a short break. They along with Donnie and Mikey sat on the floor discussing how they thought the girls had done in their little scenario.
"You guys were doing great, right up until someone quit taking it seriously." Leo yelled the last bit over his shoulder.
"Thanks, but I don't feel like we did that great." April said.
"Why not?" Leo asked.
"I don't know. Practicing with you guys is all well and good, but won't it be way different if we actually have to fight." April said.
"Yes, but that's why we practice, so it all becomes second nature." Donnie said.
"I guess." April said.
"Hey, how long do I have to keep doing this?" Holly said from the wall.
"Until I say stop." Leo replied with a smug grin. Holly just rolled her eye, she's he knew he was just reminding her that he was the boss, but she didn't mind, she did like to push his buttons and knew she should really behave more.
"Yes sir." She said giving him a salute.
"Anyway, hopefully, you won't need to actually deal with the Purple Dragons, and you guys gave them the slip a couple of times already so maybe your luck will hold out." Leo said.
April did not look convinced, she didn't want to fight if she could help it and her luck hadn't been the best since her father had gone missing.
After Leo felt Holly and Raph had been punished enough, the group continued to practice for a while longer. April and Donnie broke off from the group to continue with her Bo staff lessons, and things felt different than they had before. Where Donnie used to be jumpy and nervous whenever they were together, he seemed much more confident and relaxed. When they accidentally brushed each other's hands, he would smile obviously at her, and it sent goosebumps up her arms. She had to talk to Holly as soon as possible, she needed to freak out and act like a girl.
Holly and April sat on the floor of the training room drinking deeply from some water bottles. They had been training for a couple of hours now, and Hollys' legs were about to give out due to the fact that she had to do about a hundred squats.
"Hey, are we done here or what?" Mikey asked Leo.
"Yeah, I guess we can call it." Leo turned to Splinter who was still sitting in the training room with them. "Unless there's anything you want us to do."
"No, you have done well today. Enjoy the rest of the evening together." Splinter said quietly.
"Alright!" Mikey yelled, "Who wants to play some video games?"
"Sure, but I get to pick the game this time," Holly said, she tried to stand up but her legs still felt like jelly. "Um, give me a second though."
"Alright, but if you take too long I'm picking the game." Mikey ran into the living room and dove for the controllers. The others could hear him laughing to himself as he switched on the television to watch some cartoon.
"Need any help?" Raph offered Holly his hand.
"No! She's fine." April swatted his hand away, even though Holly had been reaching for it. "I'll take care of her. Go on, it's fine." She shoved Raph towards the door, and promptly pushed Leo and Donnie out with him.
"Alright, gees we'll go. You could have just told us you wanted to talk to her." Raph said once he had been ushered out of the room. April didn't even respond, she just shut the door in their faces and hurried back to Hollys side.
Splinter had been planning on meditating once the teens had left the room, but he sensed that April wanted to discuss something with Holly and decided it would probably be better if he left them for a minute or two.
"Master Splinter, if you want to stay in here we can leave. April didn't mean to be so rude." Holly said glaring at her friend.
"Oh no, I don't want to get in the way of girl talk. I may be an old rat, but I know a thing or two about girl talk." He left the girls alone and made his way out to the kitchen for some more tea.
"Alright, what is going on?" Holly asked.
April could barely contain herself. "So, I don't normally do the girly thing, but I kissed Donnie earlier." She bit her lower lip waiting for Holly to respond.
Holly meanwhile just blinked up at her friend. "Wait a second, what?"
April's face fell, that was not the reaction she had hoped for. "You suck at being a girl." April folded her arms across her chest.
"No I don't! But, are you serious?" A smile started spreading across Hollys' face. "Did you really kiss him?"
April nodded and Holly squealed delightedly. The two girls giggled together as April spilled all the details, and in true best friend fashion, Holly oohed and aahed in all the right places.
"So you just launched yourself at him?" Holly asked finally after she had settled down.
"Kind of, I just couldn't help myself." April said.
"That's alright, I don't think he minded." Holly laughed.
"Probably not." April agreed. "Let's get out of here. I'm sure Mikey already picked out a game and has started without us."
Holly pushed herself to her feet, her legs still didn't want to work properly and she stumbled slightly as they made their way out into the living area.
"Holly, are you alright?" Leo asked.
"Oh yeah, as soon as I get the feeling back in my legs I'll be great." She gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up, and any sympathy he had felt for her was gone.
"Then you should stop flirting when you're supposed to be training." Leo snapped back with just as much sarcasm.
Raph choked on the soda he had been drinking. Holly just laughed, "Alright, I get the point. Nice burn by the way."
"I can be just as sarcastic as you." Leo said feeling smug.
"Yeah, Of course." Holly said laying it on thick. She rolled her eyes and winked at Raph, who had to stifle a chuckle by pretending he was still choking when Leo glared at him.
The gang played video games for a while, until Holly and April pulled out a deck of cards. They started playing two-person games until Donnie's curiosity got the better of him and he had to join in. A while later Leo decided he was bored too and wanted to join in and learn how to play hearts with his brother. Master Splinter came out of his room looking for another pot of tea, but he got distracted by the sounds of laughter and conversation. He watched the teens play a hand or two, then decided he would join in the fun for a change.
Raph and Mikey however remained isolated, Raph behind another of his thousands of comics and Mikey was captivated by the television. The Turtles decided that they would stay in for the night since the girls were with them, and they had already had an overly exciting day.
Splinter headed back to his room first, as usual, but he was followed shortly by the turtle boys. The girls passed out almost as soon as the lights had been shut off, they had had an eventful day and had earned a good nights' sleep. Donatello fell asleep with a smile on his face, he was still thinking about the kiss he had gotten earlier in the day and couldn't help but smile every time he remembered the feeling it had given him. Leo and Mikey stayed up for a while in their rooms doing their favorite things. Mikey played games on his T-phone while Leo watched reruns of his favorite show on the laptop he had borrowed from April. But eventually, they both passed out and enjoyed a full nights' rest.
Raph on the other hand, tossed and turned for most of the night. He couldn't figure out what was wrong. Yeah, he had panicked earlier, but he had enjoyed the rest of his night with the girls. He had an uneasy feeling in his gut that he couldn't shake, but after long enough of lying there his body finally gave in and he drifted off into a restless sleep.
The girls had to leave the turtles the following afternoon. April had to go home as her aunt had started asking too many questions, and she had stopped believing that she was only with Holly. Holly didn't really want to go home since she would be alone, but she missed being able to sleep in her own bed and really didn't want to spend another night on a couch.
The turtles, along with Splinter, we're not thrilled that April had to go back above ground. They would have much preferred for her to stay with them, where it was safe and they could take care of her. However, they knew they couldn't just hide her down in the sewers, it may work for them, but they didn't have family on the surface to answer to.
"You guys need to relax, I'll be fine." April waved off their concern, she appreciated that they worried about her, but sometimes it was too much.
"Text us when your home, and call us if you need anything." Donnie was trying to stay calm, but after the close call the girls had had yesterday, it was proving difficult.
"Enough. We'll be fine already." April gave him a stern look. Donnie nodded and looked at his feet. April felt awful, he was just trying to look out for her and she had overreacted. She pulled him into a quick hug, making sure to give him a good squeeze. "I'm sorry, I will let you know when I'm home. I promise." He gave her a weak smile as he let her go.
Holly, Raph, Leo, and Splinter were all standing by the entrance to the lair. Holly was going through all her belongings making sure she had everything she needed while chatting with the rest of the group.
"I don't think we'll have too many problems. The Purple Dragon is after April but the only lead they have right now is where she lives. As long as were careful we shouldn't run into anyone until we get close to her apartment." Holly rummaged through her bag, double-checking that she had her toothbrush.
"Either way, you guys should be on the lookout for the whole journey." Leo said, like it wasn't the obvious thing to do.
"She lives like nine blocks away. I'm sure we'll be just fine." Holly said.
"The fact that she lives as close as she dose is enough to cause concern. The Purple Dragon are going to be looking in the surrounding neighborhood for April, and the closer we are the more likely you are to run into them." Splinter said, his face was very serious.
Holly didn't dare get sarcastic with him right now. "Your right, of course. We'll be careful."
"Just take care of yourselves." Splinter placed a hand on Holly shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile, which she returned. In truth, she wasn't particularly happy about taking April home either, but there wasn't much of an option.
"Ok, let's go." April said turning around. She grabbed her bag off the floor and walked over to Holly and the others.
"Sure, let's get this over with." Holly picked up her belongings and the two girls started towards the exit. "See you guys later."
All the turtles waved and said their goodbyes to the girls, all except Raph. He was standing just behind his big brother with his arms folded, he had been unusually quiet all morning, and everyone had noticed. He had woken up and gone straight for the coffee, which was normal, but after that, he had refused to sit down with the others for breakfast and then had retreated back into his room and hadn't come out until the girls were getting ready to leave.
Leo elbowed Raph to try and get him to act more social. "Stop sulking." he hissed at his brother.
"Hey!" Raph scowled at Leo, he then glanced at the girls briefly. "Later." He stalked off towards the training room, Leo shook his head disapprovingly.
"What is up with him today?" April asked no one in particular. Holly shook her head and shrugged, this was the first time that she wasn't really sure what was going on. "Oh well, let's go already. I'm not getting in any more trouble."
The girls left and quickly made it to the surface. They slipped onto the street unnoticed by the passersby and set off towards Aprils apartment. After a few minutes of walking, both the girls couldn't help but notice the lack of Purple Dragon members around. They had expected to see at least one since the Fortune Cookie Factory was in this neighborhood, but there wasn't any of them mingled in with the rest of the crowd.
The red-head and the brunette looked at each other with matching expressions of confusion. "I don't understand." Holly said, "We should have seen someone by now."
"Hey, I'm not complaining." April laughed.
They continued walking along the streets, still expecting to run into someone who was out to get them. But still, there was nothing, all the way to Aprils home they didn't see a single gang member.
"OK, what is going on?" Holly asked as they climbed the few steps up to Aprils' front door.
"I don't know, but I'm actually more concerned now than I was when they were following us." April raised her eyebrows at her friend, Holly couldn't agree more.
"Let's go upstairs, I'm going to call a cab to take me home today." Holly didn't feel comfortable walking by herself. April unlocked the door and the two girls hurried upstairs. Aprils' aunt was home and was baking in the kitchen. April ran straight to the front window and peered out looking for any signs of trouble.
Holly walked over and stood beside April at the window. They both looked up and down the street once before looking at each other. They turned back to the street and kept watch in silence, the only sound in the apartments came from the little radio Aprils aunt was listening to while she banged around with the bowels and pans while she was making the cookies.
"Do you have binoculars?" Holly asked suddenly, she was squinting at one of the buildings just down the street from where they were.
"I have no idea. Why?"
"The blinds on that window keep opening and closing, I want to know who's watching the street as closely as we are." Holly shook her head, she was almost certain it was one of the Purple Dragon members. After managing to ditch the guy yesterday, they must be trying to attempt a much more subtle approach. Fortunately, subtlety was not something the gang was famous for. After all, they were usually caught doing whatever criminal act they were working on, and rarely made off with anything worthwhile when they did manage to steal something.
"Nice." April said, "I feel better knowing where they are. If we were to lead those morons to the boys I would never forgive myself."
"Oh god, I know. But I bet there's more somewhere." Holly said
"Probably, but don't worry about it right now, your cab is here." April pointed at the yellow car that had just pulled up outside her apartment.
Holly gave April a quick hug and yelled goodbye to her aunt as she ran out the door and down the stairs. She scanned the street one last time and checked out the window of the other building before she dipped into the cab and Let the cabbie drive her home.
April watched Holly go, and once the cab was out of sight she pulled out her phone to let the boys she was home. A few seconds passed and she received a message from Donnie. It was just a simple "I'm glad you're safe." But it made her smile nonetheless.
"April, could you come and help me for a minute?" Aprils' aunt called from the other room.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." April put her phone in her pocket and rushed into the kitchen.
Fong was tired of having his men calling up day after day saying they kept losing the red-headed girl. So, he decided to go on stake-out himself.
He had been sitting across the street from the girls home waiting for her and her friend to come back, but they had been gone all night and half of the day. He couldn't stay awake much longer, and the idiot who was with him was pressing on his last nerve. Fong peered out of the shutters into the street below. If those two chicks didn't show up in the next half an hour, he was done.
"Hey, boss? Why are we trying to get these kids anyway?" The moronic gang member asked.
"Because Stockman and Bradford want them, and I rather like my head where it is." Fong replied shortly.
"But they're just kids! What use are they?" The goon asked, he was playing with a deck of cards, shuffling them over and over again. A vein in Fongs' temple pulsed in annoyance.
"They can lead us to those freaks, and if you do that one more time I will break both your hands." Fong sounded calm, but he was deadly serious. The other man stopped fidgeting instantly and sat on his hands to protect them from his boss.
Not two minutes later, two girls rounded the corner at the end of the block. They were still a little far away for him to be sure, but he would be willing to make a bet that the red-headed one was the one they were looking for. He rubbed his hands together excitedly as he watched them walking down the street cautiously.
"The boys said these two girls are always together, right?" Fong asked with amusement in his voice.
"The brown haired girl with the glasses right?" The other gang member asked hesitantly. "Umm, yeah."
"Interesting." Fong continued watching the girls. They walked up the stairs and through the front door of the apartment complex. Fong relaxed for a moment, he had been worried for a while there that he would have to go back to his employers with bad news. He allowed himself a second to breathe, before peeking back out at the street. "Has anyone followed the other girl home?" Fong turned to his companion.
"No, we're we supposed to?"
"No, but I already know where she lives." Fong peered out at the street again, a cab was pulling up outside the apartment and the brunette girl hurried out to it. She looked around, and her gaze landed on his window for a moment before she ducked into the cab and pulled away.
"She knows we're here." Fong said to himself. "That one's in on it all too." Fong stood swiftly and rushed to the door of the storage room.
"Wait! Where are you going?" The dumb gang member asked.
"I'm going home, you stay here and watch the red-head. If she leaves, follow her." Fong left his confused partner feeling much better than he had thought he could. After some rest, he would let the others know what he had found out, and they would be able to formulate a plan of action. Although he already had a plan swirling in his head. Tomorrow would be a good day to be a criminal.
Raphael had been avoiding everyone else in the lair all day. He knew they would want to grill him about his weird behavior, and if he was honest, he didn't much feel like talking just yet. For a while he abused the training dummy, letting all his anger out with every punch or kick he threw. After that he had hidden in his room, trying to read his mountain of comics to keep his mind occupied. But that had only worked for so long.
Raph cracked open his door and peeked out to see what everyone else was doing. His brothers were all goofing around in the living room, playing games together and having fun. He couldn't see Splinter which meant he was either in the kitchen or in the training room, and he was hoping for the latter. He crept out of his room and tiptoed over to the training rooms sliding door, which he opened just enough for him to slip inside.
"I was wondering if you would come to me today." Splinter was sat meditating in the center of the room, his eyes were closed and he had a pot of tea by one of his knees. He opened his eyes and reached for his cup, sipping at his tea while watching his son closely.
"I need your advice, and I'm just going to cut straight to the point." Raph wrung his hands together, he didn't usually confront his issues face-on, but this was important. "I nearly did something really stupid yesterday, and I don't know how to fix it."
"How can you fix something if it was never broken?" Splinter asked.
Raph let out an irked sigh, he had a feeling Splinter would miss the point here. "Alright, yes, I didn't actually do anything wrong. But what if I had? What kind of trouble would we be in if I had gone running around above ground in board daylight?"
"Raphael, there are some things in life you have to learn on your own. Finding the balance between caring enough for someone to risk yourself, and knowing when they are capable enough to not need your help, is one of them." Master Splinter set his cup back down, and when he looked back up Raph was staring at him with his arms folded in front of him. The old rat let out a little chuckle.
"Really? That's all I get." Raph huffed.
"I will say that you did act foolishly yesterday. However, if you learn something from your foolishness you will become a stronger person because of it." Splinter rose from the mats and walked over to his son. He placed his hands on Raphaels' shoulders and smiled down at him. "You know what they say.'No harm, no foul.'"
"Where do you hear these things?" Raph asked shaking his head at his father.
"I am an old man, I have experienced many things in life, and I have a lot of free time to watch the television." Splinter chuckled lightly as he saw a grin sneak onto Raphs face.
"Sometimes I worry you're going senile." Raph said cheekily.
"Even if I were, I could still teach you a thing or two." Splinter dug his finger under Raphs jaw and walked him over to the door. "Now if you excuse me, you did interrupt my meditation." He dropped Raph just outside of the door.
Raph rubbed his jaw, but he had a small smile on his face. It never failed, Splinter always knew just what to say to make him feel better.