(Disclaimer; I do not own TMNT; just Diana.)

(Authors Note: Hello dear readers and fellow writers! I hope the story has been enjoyable so far as I'm happy to be presenting the latest chapter :) Also, if you like this story, you might also like my other TMNT FF "A Street Cat in the Sewers". I posted that one under Ninja Turtles instead of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I apologize for the confusion. That's on me. Regardless, I hope you enjoy this new chapter.)

"English/Speaking"

"YELLING"

'Mental thoughts/speech'

*TV/Media*

Notes

*:Phone Calls:*

Chapter 4

Within half an hour, two of the four turtles emerged from their rooms and entered the kitchen/dining area to find their Father conversing with their female guest before he spotted them out of the corner of his eye:

"My sons, come join us. I was just telling Miss Diana here about our origin."

"So, yer name's Diana," Raph asked as he retrieved the plates and forks and set the table while Mikey began to rummage through the fridge for some breakfast items (eggs, bacon, cheese, ect.).

At his question, the female gave a curt nod, "It is. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. And also, for not giving you all a proper explanation as to where I came from or why I was hiding in the sewers to begin with."

"S'fine. By the way, how're ya feelin'? You were in pretty rough shape when we found ya."

Lightly swishing her tail, she gave the red-clad turtle a small, reassuring smile, "I'm still a bit sore, but I'll be fine. Thanks for asking." She then turned her attention to Splinter, "Also, thank you for removing that bullet from my leg and dressing my wounds."

"It was no trouble, my dear," the old rat replied with a slight wave of his hand/paw.

"So, Diana, serious question: How do ya like your eggs," Michelangelo asked as he heated up a large skillet on the stove and placed several thick strips of bacon within it.

"Um, I'm not really sure. No one's ever asked me that question before," she admitted with a shrug.

"Wait, you've never had eggs?!"

"Oh, no, no, I've had all sorts of eggs. It's just that I've never been given a choice on how my meals were prepared."

"Then today's your lucky day, cause Chef Mikey is here to serve you," he shamelessly winked at her while Raph rolled his eyes and retrieved the orange juice from the fridge.

"In that case, I'll just have some of whatever you fix as I'm not very picky when it comes to food," she admitted as her stomach decided to make its presence known by loudly growling just as Leonardo and Donatello entered the vicinity.

"And here I thought I was hungry," the blue-clad turtle jokingly stated, to which Diana pulled the hood over her head and emitted a slight groan:

"_Sorry."

"There's no need to apologize. It's nice to see you up and on the road to recovery. Sensei did a good job at patching you up."

"He did," she agreed with a shy smile before then glancing over at the purple-clad turtle, "By the way, Donatello, thank you for lending me the hoodie and bathroom supplies."

"Oh, it's no problem," he bashfully smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just sorry we don't have any clothes that are more your size."

"No worries. This works just fine for me," she gestured to the baggy hoodie with a smile. "It's actually quite comfortable."

"I'm glad you like it. Regardless, we'll have April stop by and bring you some things."

"Is she the same April from your origin story?"

At her question, Splinter gave a nod, "She is. Without her, we wouldn't be here today."

"She saved our shells on more than one occasion," Raph added as he placed the juice and several glasses atop the table before taking a seat across from her.

"Yea; April's an awesome babe with an equally awesome body," Mikey commented before quickly adding, "But that's not to say that you don't have an awesome body, Diana. You're totally h-OW," he yelped as Splinter suddenly appeared beside him and slapped him across the shell with his tail while casually refilling his teacup:

"Forgive Michelangelo; he often speaks without processing his words first."

"It's fine. No harm done," she casually waved it off before taking a sip of her tea.

"So, your name's Diana? That's a beautiful name," Donatello commented, prompting her to shyly smile at him.

"Thanks; it's certainly better than Subject D-01."

"Subject D-01? Is that some kind of funky sci-fi name," Mikey asked as he began cracking several eggs into the skillet (alongside the bacon).

"No, it's my identification label," she answered plainly.

"OoOoh_I don't get it," he admitted as his brothers rolled their eyes before Leonardo spoke up:

"So, Diana, I know you've obviously been through a lot, but would you mind answering some questions?"

"I'll try my best."

"I appreciate it. Now, to start: did you escape from ML Genetics?" He figured that she did, but he wanted to hear her answer.

"I did."

His expression then became serious as he studied her face, "Are you aware that you injured twenty seven people in the process?"

At his question, she stared down into her tea and lightly shook her head, "No. I don't fully recall what happened or what I did. I can remember snippets, but the rest is just a blur."

"Would you mind telling us what you do remember," Donatello asked as he and his family continued to listen with interest.

*sigh* "_Blood. I remember the sight and smell of blood, as well as the sound of screams and gunfire. Everything after that is pretty spotty. I'm sorry_I honestly don't remember anything else."

"The memories will come to you in time," Splinter interjected with a reassuring look. "But in the meantime, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?"

"Very well." Focusing on the group before her, she then began her origin story: "Twenty years ago, I was genetically tailored and grown within one of the laboratories at ML Genetics. The reason for my overall existence is still a mystery to me; however, once I was old enough to form a cognitive sentence, I became part of a series of long-term experiments to see how mutagen could be weaponized and utilized to fit specific needs and requirements, such as speed, strength, endurance and recovery."

"Wait, mutagen? I thought no other samples existed," Raph stated as he and his family looked at her with curious interest.

With a sigh, she answered, "After hearing your origin story, I realized themutagen that had been used to help create me was based off of Sacks research. You see, after his lab was destroyed, a few of his colleagues left to work for ML Genetics. Apparently, one of them had managed to recreate the mutagen formula, hence why I exist."

"So, you were created as a sort of weapon and used in experimental research," Leo asked, to which she gave him a nod:

"I was. Unfortunately, some of the experiments I was subjected to had lasting side effects of which I had little to no control over," she added while her tail began to nervously twitch. "One such side effect is that my body will physically shift in size whenever I experience extreme stress, fear or anger. When that happens, my fight or flight instincts completely take over and I have little to no control over my mind and actions."

"Sooo, you Hulk out," Mikey asked, to which Raph sent him a glare.

At his question, Diana tilted her head in curious confusion, "Forgive me, but I don't know what that term means."

"Oh, it's basically when you get really, really, really angry and go on a psychotic rampage," he clarified before flipping the bacon and seasoning the eggs.

"Hmm, I guess that's one way of putting it; however, I would describe it as more of a feral or primal response. Regardless, the transformation is excruciatingly painful and feels like my body is literally being torn apart from the inside out before expanding in size and reassembling into a monstrous entity."

Hearing that, everyone shuddered and cringed in discomfort before Donatello spoke up: "How long have you lived with these side effects?"

"_Nearly ten years," she quietly answered with a frown.

Seeing her discomfort, Raph placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look, "Ya don't have to say anything else, Diana. We won't ask ya to relive your trauma, but if ya ever wanna talk, we'll be here to listen."

"Thank you, Raphael."

"Anytime, Pearl."

"Pearl?"

"Yea. It suits ya cause yer scales look like pearls."

Glancing down at her smooth white and black scales, she shrugged and gave him a smile, "Fair enough."

"Diana, if you don't mind me asking: what's your genetic makeup composed of exactly," Donatello questioned, to which she looked over at him with a soft blush dusting her cheeks:

"Well, there's human, perentie, crocodile, allosaurus, and utahraptor. Now, as to why I'm partially composed of dino DNA is still a mystery to me. Perhaps the scientists at ML Genetics were trying to bring prehistoric creatures back from extinction, or maybe they simply wanted me to inherit specific traits from those creatures in order to further advance their mutagen research."

"Woah, I don't know what all that means, but it sounds wicked awesome," Mikey stated as he then added cheese to the eggs, to which Diana's stomach emitted another loud growl, causing her to fiercely blush. "Dang girl, with how loud your stomach's growling, I'd say you're starving," he noted with a smile, prompting her to bashfully nod in response:

"_That's probably because I am."

"When was the last time you ate," Donnie inquired with a concerned look across his face.

"Well, assuming I didn't actually consume anything or anyone yesterday when I escaped, I'd say it was roughly about a week ago."

"WHAT?!" All four turtles gasped in shock at her answer, while Splinter's gaze hardened at the thought of this poor girl being denied sustenance. Unacceptable!

"I am truly disheartened to hear of your sufferings, but I'm glad that my sons found you and brought you here."

"Same here," she agreed with a nod. "Of course, if they hadn't, I'm sure I would have likely stumbled upon this place eventually, seeing as how I was already in the sewers."

"Well, either way, you're safe now an' no human is gonna experiment on ya ever again," Raph assured her with a serious expression lining his face.

"_I sincerely hope not," she lightly shuddered before opting to change the subject, "So, Mikey, is there anything I can assist you with?"

"Nah, I'm pretty much finished. By the way, would you like hot sauce with your eggs?"

"Can I? I've never been given that option before."

"Well, babe, prepare to have your taste buds rocked," Mikey winked as he then turned off the stove before dividing and dishing up everyone's food, to which he then sat down beside her.

Upon graciously accepting her breakfast, Diana picked up her fork and took an inquisitive bite of her bacon and cheesy, hot sauce drizzled eggs, to which she immediately felt happy tears starting to form in her big gray eyes: it was soooo good! Taking another bite, her tail began to wag, causing all five of them to smile.

"Woah, I knew my cooking was good, but I didn't know it was that good."

The female gave the orange-clad turtle a nod as she savored the next bite, "Mhmm_This is the best breakfast I've ever had in my life!"

"Correction: it's the best breakfast you've ever had so far," he retorted with a smile.

"Speaking of which: Do you think you could teach me to cook sometime? My enclosure wasn't equipped with a kitchen and I've always wanted to try my hand at it."

"You want me to teach you?"

"Well, yes. Is_Is that okay?"

"Babe, it's more than okay: it's a date!" He then surprised her with a hug, causing her to freeze in place as she wasn't used to (positive) physical contact.