Leo watched Layla fall asleep next to him. She had curled up facing him, her hands folded in next to her and her knees tucked up by her chest. He counted her even breaths as he tucked her hair away from her face. He had tried to fall asleep but found his mind too preoccupied with planning on how to deal with the wealthy patrons he spied upon earlier. As he propped his arm under his head, he grimly thought of Layla encountering a similar situation when she was younger. She had talked to him about it, of course, but he knew she hadn't quite told him everything. Maybe it's too distressing for her to even speak about.

He surveyed the room. Everything was cold and concrete. He imagined he could see a spot of mold growing in a far ceiling corner. It was the view that was most incredible, and most unsettling. He had been in space before, and the novelty had worn off. Perhaps it was due to the atmosphere of the establishment, but instead of standing incredulous at the view, he merely saw an empty dark void. He turned his attention back to Layla when he felt her shift. Thinking she might have been cold, he pulled the blanket up around her.

I need to sleep. He again decided he would try to will slumber upon himself. He tenderly draped an arm around her and gave her forehead a quick peck.

I need to get out of here.

Layla was standing alone in a dimly lit hallway without windows or doors and devoid of markings. The air was chilly and the silence palpable. Her body was tingling with a sense of urgency to get out now. The hallway appeared to expand endlessly in each direction. Her steps were hesitant at first, until she felt watched. She whipped her head around at the sound of footsteps shuffling behind her.

There's nothing there.

She ran but could not hear the patter of her own feet.

Layla found herself standing in the middle of a bedroom, panting, and draped in a blood-stained tattered white tee shirt. Her body ached, and she recognized the soreness of bruises on her wrists and thighs.

I'm not alone. She turned about the room slowly. Something about it felt familiar, but disturbing. She jumped back when something wet dripped on the floor in front of her. Blood.

When she looked up again, a large shadowy figure stood in front of her, hand outstretched and grasping for her throat. As she backed away her knees hit the edge of the bed. The figure clutched her neck, but seconds later froze. Blood poured from its mouth.

He wasn't sure how long he dozed off for before he woke to her whole body clenching suddenly. Leo propped himself up, brows furrowing when he noticed she was still asleep. Leo recognized the movement; it was as if she dreamt she was falling, and her body tried to right itself. Her face knotted in distress.

"Layla?" He gently shook her shoulder. He frowned when he received no response. He rubbed her back, whispering her name again. She mumbled something incoherent before cracking open her eyes.

"What was that?" He asked, not having caught what she said.

Still with a troubled expression, she tried to prop herself up. "Sorry, hon. Just a weird dream." She looked at him sheepishly. "'M sorry I woke you up," she whispered. She turned to lay on her back and stare at the ceiling, reaching up to fiddle with her necklace.

"'S'okay. I haven't really been able to sleep anyways." Leo observed the tell-tale signs that pointed to her distress. "You alright?"

"Mmhmm," she sighed deeply, trying desperately to will her mind to calm down. "I think it's just this place. It's hard to sleep." She turned her focus to worry about him, rather than dwell on her own current issue. "You can't sleep either?"

"No not really. It's this place and trying to strategize for tomorrow." She turned to run her free hand along his cheek. Leo grasped the hand that was playing with her necklace and used it to pull her closer towards him. "C'mere," he muttered, turning her so that he could spoon her. He placed a kiss on her shoulder. "You wanna talk about it?"

"In the morning. I'm too tired right now," she yawned. Layla wrapped her arms around his, pulling his forearm towards his chest. She kissed his knuckles. She lay there, comfortable and warm, yet mind racing trying to make sense of her dream. She had predictive dreams several times in the past, and this one left her with a similar feeling in her gut. She carefully catalogued each detail so as not to forget. She knew Leo was vaguely interested in interpreting dreams just as she was, and the knowledge that he would help talk her through it eased her thoughts enough that she eventually dozed off once more.

There was no sunrise to awaken them. Rather, Leo's body woke him up naturally. He watched Layla, and content to let her sleep in, quietly left the bed for the washroom.

Layla woke up, immediately noticing his side of the bed was empty. He has his side of the bed, she grinned. The warmth that remained in the sheets told her he had recently left. Noticing her distinct lack of pants, she fumbled around the floor for her jeans. Dressed, she sat back on the bed, wrapping a blanket around her chilly frame. Her thoughts then turned to her dream again, but she knew she was not in an appropriate atmosphere to tackle it.

"Leo?" she called when she heard the door open.

Kissing her affectionately, he said, "I thought you would sleep in more after having a restless night."

"I'm sure I'll sleep a lot when we get home."

She refers to my place as home? "Me too."

Leo sat on the couch scrolling mindlessly through his phone, waiting for her.

"Leo!" She called to him from the washroom, and he sprung up immediately and rushed in.

"Layla?"

"Look – I can't cover it up," she sighed, trying to braid her long hair in such a way that it would hide the enormous hickey at the base of her neck. Leo busted out laughing, and she eyed him stonily through the mirror. Pressing himself behind her, he leaned one hand on the counter while the other snaked around her hips. She could feel another chuckle rumble out of his chest as he gently brushed his lips against the spot.

"This is your fault," she playfully chided him. It's hard to stay irritated at someone who holds you like this.

"I beg to differ. It's entirely your fault."

She turned her face towards his, and he looked up at her through the mirror. "How so?"

"Because you're entirely irresistible. Besides, you didn't seem to mind at the time," he smirked at her, taking far too much pleasure in how flustered she was, as hard as she tried to hide it. She wasn't outward about it, but he could read her refined body language, the little quirk the corner of her mouth did. How she always gave him a certain look when he did this to her. And anyone with eyes could see the blush on her cheeks.

"I guess I wasn't really thinking about if others could see it. Although, it is a nice way of showing everyone you're mine," he delivered that last word with a subtle growl, kissing her neck again. He lifted her hair up and kissed a spot where her neck met her head. Instinctively she leaned her head to allow him more access. "This would have been a better spot," he murmured into her skin, letting her hair loose again.

Leo rested his chin on the top of her head. He looked at her again through the mirror, and he could tell she was still somewhat embarrassed. "I am sorry. I don't really want to broadcast that to everyone, although like I said it is a little satisfying knowing that everyone is going to know I did that to you."

Layla snorted, "As if anyone wouldn't know we're together." That made Leo grin, and he felt delighted thinking everyone would know they were together just based on how they acted towards one another.

He brushed her hair in front of her shoulder. "See? Hardly noticeable."

"You're lucky I like you," she said, trying to glare at him through the mirror, but failing to contain the slight upturn of her lips.

"I am." He hugged her tightly, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Her embarrassed look softened into a gentle smile.

"Am I forgiven now?" He chuckled.

"I suppose," she sighed, turning around to kiss his jaw. She stroked his cheek, noticing the bags under his eyes.

"You're tired," she frowned.

He gave her a weak smile, "I'm alright. I'll just catch up on sleep when we get home."

The brothers sat around a table, eating the meat-heavy breakfast laid out before them. Several other sleepy attendees were eating at tables around them, however, just as many were passed out on the floor from the previous night. The girls sat at another table, and carefully stashed away some food to take back to Nozomi, who was still sleeping in.

"Usagi did what last night?" Leo asked, as Donnie filled him in.

"Gen too," Mikey added. "But they went separately."

Leo groaned and rolled his neck. "How did you find out?"

Donnie answered, "Saw Usagi come back early this morning. I couldn't sleep, so I tagged into the security systems again just to see if I could find anything useful. Shortly after that I saw him limp back to his room. Gen came back maybe 30 minutes afterwards."

Raph shoved several pieces of a bacon-like meat into his mouth, "That kinda ruins the whole 'ain't gonna make scene so we can leave with –'" His brothers shushed him, but he just shrugged.

"So, what now?" Mikey asked.

"We need to find out exactly what they did," Leo replied, getting up. It's not like Usagi to be this way. Layla glanced over at him and noticed how heavy his posture had grown.

Talia cleared her throat.

"What's that?" she asked cheekily. Mina and Nora giggled behind their hands, but Layla kept a straight face.

"What's what?" she said as she delicately sipped on some coffee.

"Looks like a hickey to me," Mina said mischievously.

"Yeah, a fucking huge one!" Nora added, unable to contain her laughter. Layla shot her a withering look.

"Good for you. Glad to know you're not both so uptight in private." Talia winked at her. "Is he a good kisser?"

Mina chimed in, "I feel like he's definitely got to be one of those guys who quite chaste in public but passionate in private. The proof is literally on your neck. Am I right?" Layla could feel the heat building in her cheeks, and when she looked down into her coffee cup her sisters knew Mina had hit the nail on the head.

"Come on, tell us," Nora whined. "Is he good?"

"I'm not telling you guys anything," Layla said resolutely.

"Fine, be that way," her sisters replied.

"We should check on Nozomi and bring her some breakfast," Layla switched the conversation and stood up to leave. The rest rolled their eyes at each other, trying not to laugh.

"Here you go, ma lapinou," Layla stroked the little girl's head, as she stretched up her arms and let out a big yawn.

"Arigato, anego hada," Nozomi whispered, giving a small bow. The women smiled at each other.

"How about a nice hot bath after you eat, hmm?" Mina asked, and Nozomi nodded enthusiastically before diving into her meal. Mina left to fill the tub with hot water, while Nora entertained the little girl with silly stories. Talia searched the room for a hairbrush.

The guys roughly woke up Usagi and Gen before pulling them into Donnie's adjacent room.

Leo's disappointment in his friend's rash actions could not be hidden. "What exactly did you do?"

Usagi spoke first. "My actions may have been rash, but I found out useful information."

"Usagi I thought we agreed we'd make sure everyone left safely and that we would do this discreetly."

"If they find out you killed that guy there could be a lot of trouble," Donnie added, irritation dripping from his voice. Maybe I should just send Talia home now.

"It was only the one, right?" Mikey added, giving Leo a sidelong glance.

Usagi answered first, "For me, yes. I could not simply sleep while that filth was still alive."

"Gen?" asked Raph.

"I didn't kill anybody, I swear!"

"Yeah but ya beat a bunch of rich fuckers up, and those kinda guys could make trouble for us, ya idiot! Did it even pay off?"

"Did you find out everything you need to know?" Leo questioned.

"Yes. There are more orphans here, but not all. Perhaps we can rescue them as well."

Leo sighed. "Do you know where they are?"

Layla sat in front of Nozomi while Talia brushed her hair. "Do you know where those other orphans are?" The men hung back, giving her space.

Nozomi nodded, "But I don't know what it's called."

"That's alright. Do you think you could describe it, or how to get there?"

Nozomi sat thoughtfully for a moment. "I had to go downstairs, where it was very cold and dark. And I had to turn left. They told me if I turn right there are scary monsters, and I could hear them growling. And lots of kids stayed in that room."

"Did you see a little boy who looks like me? His name is Ren," Gen started towards her, but Raph, being aware of how his own size can be intimidating, stopped the rhino by the shoulder.

"No one like that, no." Nozomi hung her head. "Sorry, that's all I can think of."

"That's alright, I know where you're talking about." Layla nodded to her sisters. "Why don't you sit right here for a second so I can talk to everyone else." Nozomi played cat's cradle with the string Nora had scrounged up for her.

Nora spoke first, "We can get there. I'm not sure which exact room but I remember the area she's talking about." Mikey shook his head no. Not one to ever prohibit Nora from doing anything, he still felt an urge of protectiveness and preferred that she stayed out of the line of fire.

"We don't need to all go. Someone should stay with Nozomi," Layla offered.

"One of us should stay with Nozomi too, just in case," Leo said, nodding to his brothers. "Mikey?"

Mikey nodded yes and wrapped his arm around Nora's shoulders, "We can entertain the little lady."

"I can monitor the security systems from here, make sure you aren't being followed and open doors. Talia can help me monitor multiple screens," Donnie said.

"Alright we'll go then. We'll meet you at the entrance and go straight home," Leo said uneasily, but understood what his brothers were doing. He wanted to do the same thing. "You remember where to go?" Both Layla and Mina nodded.

Instead of leaving the staircase to enter the main overlook, they continued down the steps. Leo counted at least three flights before they finally reached a landing with a rusty metal door. Usagi and Gen took the rear. Layla and Mina led the way, with Leo and Raph following very closely behind. It reminded Leo of how they walked with them during the battle nexus festival.

"So uh," Raph coughed to stifle a laugh, "there a reason ya so tired?"

Leo gave him a confused but wary look. "I couldn't sleep."

"So, it has nothin' to do with what happened to your girlfriend?" Raph gave his uptight brother a small smirk.

"What are you talking about?"

Raph glanced over at Layla, then rubbed his neck conspicuously. "Jus' seemed like you were busy last night." Leo's eyes widened just a tad, but he mostly kept his composure. Oh fuck off, as if you haven't done worse.

"I told you, I couldn't sleep," Leo said with a smirk before walking ahead.

"I think this leads to the maintenance side of the underground but we should be able to make our way around," Layla whispered.

"We used to go down here quiet often," Mina added.

Just as the girls described, they entered a series of tunnels with large pipes running along the ceiling and several doors, many with caution signs, leading off the main hallway. After several minutes of traversing through the corridors, the girls stopped at a junction.

"We can't remember," Mina whispered to Raph. Leo messaged Donnie, who took a moment before answering.

D: Looks like you go right.

They continued for another few minutes before Donnie messaged again.

D: Careful! There's two guards wandering the hall to the left.

L: Thanks

Raph and Leo motioned for the girls to stay around the corner, while Usagi and Gen checked the other hallways. Mina reached for Layla's hand, and they gave each other worried glances. They heard a small clash then…nothing. Their men peaked around the corner, motioning for them to continue quietly. The girls stopped in the hallway. They had seen plenty of dead bodies before, it was unavoidable considering their upbringing.

"They're just knocked out, babe," Raph said, seeing Mina's uneasy posture. Leo gave Layla's elbow a squeeze as they continued on.

They made their way to another large junction. Directly across was another staircase.

"That is the staircase Nozomi was referring to," Layla whispered. "This way."

Behind them growls and screeches echoed down the corridor. Leo instinctively grabbed Layla's hand.

"What's down there?" Gen asked.

"Fighters," Mina answered. She snuggled next to Raph's side as he wrapped his arm around her. More guards were around the corner, and quietly dispatched by Usagi and Leo.

"It's one of these rooms," Layla whispered.

Sure enough, they found themselves standing in the middle of a room filled with metal bunkbeds and wide-eyed sniffling children of varying species from Usagi's home world.

"Who are you?" one of the older children asked.

"We're here to take you back home. I am Usagi, and I heard that you were being taken from Edo."

"We don't want to go back to the orphanage!" One child cried out.

"You will not have to. I will prepare a place for all of you," Usagi crouched down on the ground.

"We need to get going," Leo whispered. Layla knelt in front of a particularly young boy and reached out her arms. The little boy regarded her for a moment, wary, before timidly melting into her arms.

"He can't be older than four or five," Layla whispered to Leo as she picked him up. She rested her head against the little boy's and murmured words of comfort. Her heart melted as she felt his weight sink against her and his breaths even out, and out of instinct she swayed to comfort him. He's too young. What on Earth were they doing with a boy this young? Layla felt a righteous indignation swell in her chest, but she tampered it by focusing on the child. What I wouldn't give to have this with Leo. A nameless emotion both fierce and tender knotted in her stomach.

Leo caught himself in awe of how she comforted the little boy, and how naturally it came to her. He sighed heavily, a heavy and intense longing for something that he wasn't sure he could have with her sat in the pit of his stomach.

"Let's go, sweetheart," he whispered, placing a hand on the small of her back. "You got him?"

"Mmhmm," she said. Leo picked up another of the youngest children, as did Raph and Mina. Usagi and Gen followed suit, and the remaining three children held hands and followed closely behind Usagi.

"Leaving so soon?" Connie asked. She was leaning up against the exit door, her dark figure blending with the shadows.

The group halted. Leo set down the child he was carrying and stood in front, Usagi and Raph next to him. He was fully prepared for her to call guards and try to stop them. He glanced briefly at Layla, making sure she was tucked behind him. Raph laid a hand on his sais.

"I have a gift for you," she said cryptically. She stepped forward. Behind her hunched form a figure appeared.

"Ren!" Gen gasped, reaching for his nephew. The pre-teen rhino blankly stared ahead as Gen pulled him into an awkward embrace. "Let's go home!"

Gen nodded towards Connie. "Thank you."

"Of course, rhinoceros. Now go before my other guests wake up."

As they stepped through the door, the four girls stopped and looked at Connie, who brushed her hand against each one of their cheeks.

"Connie…how?" Layla asked. All of them stared at her incredulously.

"I did not wish for your friends to become involved in any further entanglements against these…" she gestured vaguely towards the arena, "vagrants, for your sake. I want you to go on and live your lives without this nonsense. As delighted as I am to see you again," her voice lowered, "do not come here again." Connie winked at the turtle women and ushered them through the opening. "Adieu darlings."

They murmured their goodbyes. The group stood silently in the darkened alley for a few minutes, the silence broken by April and Casey pulling up in the van.

"Guys?" April looked at them with an eyebrow quirked, eyeing all the children.

"We'll explain later," Donnie chuckled at her before helping Talia and a few of the children into the van.

"We'll meet you at home," Leo said as he helped Layla and the little boy she was carrying into the van. Layla, expecting him to accompany them, flashed a worried look. "April and Casey can drive you guys to the garage." He gave her upper arm a gentle squeeze before closing the van door. Behind him, Raph winked at Mina.

The six raced across the rooftops, eager to beat the van home.