Rating: T for occasional language and body horror.
Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and all related characters belong to Nickelodeon.
Summary: "Has anyone seen April?" The Kraang are defeated, New York is safe and all is finally well. Or so everyone thought. When Kirby bursts into the lair looking for April, the Turtles quickly discover otherwise and the nightmare begins anew. Set after S3E13. 2k12 Canon divergence.
A/N: Early dialogue from the scene on the rooftop is taken from the final scene of 'The Battle for New York'. This story bounces off in its own direction from just before and just after that scene.
WCGirl: Thank you. Here's the next chapter :-)
What it Means (to be Human)
Ch 1
April awoke with a cry of pain as something solid slammed into her side, lifting her from the ground and sending her flying into the wall. For a moment, much like an old Saturday morning cartoon, she stuck in place before sliding slowly to the ground as if partially held in place by a thick, sticky slime. She groaned painfully, her hearing ringing overly loudly in her ears. Blinking rapidly, she tried desperately to clear her weirdly purple-tinged, hazy eyesight, trying to make out what had attacked her. Trying, somehow, to pull herself together.
God but she hurt all over... She couldn't even tell her feet from her hands or her head right now.
What the hell had happened to her?
"What the fuck have you done with April, you overgrown, slimy, pink snotball?" a vaguely familiar voice demanded aggressively from above. Despite the volume, his words were muffled and distorted in her pounding head.
April somehow managed to peel an eyelid open enough to see a tall, gangly shape looming menacingly over her. Thinking she had blood in her eyes, she tried reaching up to wipe them clear and flinched at the sight of wobbly pink noodles in place of hands. [Ugh... must've hit my head harder than I thought,] she mumbled painfully, grimacing at the faint squeal drowning out her words.
"Answer me, you chewed up wad of disgusting bubblegum!" the voice yelled again and suddenly, she recognised it.
[Ca...sey? I... I'm right... here,] she groaned weakly in exhaustion, cringing again at the dreadful squeal once again drowning out her voice. Damn, but she wish her hearing would clear already.
What had happened to her?
Suddenly, Casey rushed her, swinging out hard with something long, thin and wooden – a hockey stick, she realised in disbelief, staring at it as it seemed to move in slow motion before whoomph! It slammed heavily into her helpless body, sending her flying into the wall and knocking what little breath she had from her lungs.
"What is going on in here?" she barely registered a stern voice demand. "Where is April?"
"I don't know, Sensei, but we've been found," Casey answered grimly.
Angrily.
Casey faced her again, weapon drawn back to attack and weakly, she tried to get up, tried to tell him it was her and that he must be seeing things like last year when they ran afoul of those hallucinogenic, mutant mushrooms but she was too weak and barely moved even a smidgen. She could barely even draw oxygen and it was getting worse by the second.
Suddenly, as his hockey stick was about to slam into her once more, the world around her began to dissolve and her maniac friend disappeared from view.
Exhausted, confused and in pain beyond all reason, she felt her eyes closing and she simply stopped fighting.
-:-
"We're the best!" Michelangelo cried joyfully as he sprang to his feet, the adrenaline from the fight for the people of New York and indeed for the entire planet, still coursing through his body. Despite a few worrying moments such as when they lost contact with their friends and allies on Earth, their mission into Dimension X had been a huge success and his brothers had been reminded of how well he knew the alien dimension and how much they needed him and if his obnoxiousness over how good he was in Dimension X stopped them from thinking about just how he knew it so well and just how long he'd truly been there all alone, all the better. "Go ninja, go ninja, GO!" he danced excitedly, finishing with an awesome pose he knew his brothers would groan at yet secretly admire.
"Finally!" Donnie agreed happily, gazing around as distant city lights came back on block after block, though huge swathes of the city were left in the dark. "Everything is going to go back to normal. Well," he chuckled self-consciously, "as normal as this city gets, that is."
Leo nodded in relieved agreement but before he could comment, Raph looked about worriedly.
"Yeah, normal but what about the Mighty Mutanimals?" he grumbled, causing Mikey to still in sudden fear.
"What about us?" a warm rumble spoke up from off to the side, making Mikey perk up his head in joy and relief.
"Leatherhead!" he cried, whipping his head around to see his best friend climbing over the edge of the building, Slash, Pigeon Pete and Doctor Rockwell close behind. Unable to contain his joy at the sight of his dear friend, Mikey jumped down from where he was perched and raced across the rooftop, tears of happiness filling his eyes.
He'd missed Leatherhead so much these past awful months. When they'd been forced to flee the city after the apparent demise of their father at the hands of the Shredder and with a badly wounded and comatose Leonardo, he hadn't had time to worry about the fate of his friend. There'd been no room for it among the fear and sadness that overwhelmed his every waking minute but after they'd settled into the farm and been able to... not relax – there was no relaxing to be had while they still lived in fear over whether their brother would survive or not – the worry over those left behind in New York had begun to creep in. Mikey couldn't handle so much emotional turmoil and he couldn't afford to drive Raph and Donnie nuts with his questions of 'Do you think Leatherhead's okay?' Neither was it okay to bring his worries to April, not after they'd all seen her father kraangified in front of them and Casey wasn't someone he could go to about squishy stuff like that so he'd convinced himself that Leatherhead would be okay – after all, he'd survived Dimension X for far longer than even he had – and shoved his worries deep down so he could work on trying to brighten up his family where he could instead.
When they'd returned to New York and saved their very much still alive father, the worry began to surface again but once more, he told himself that if their father, who had been in an extremely bad way the last they'd seen him could survive, then so could Leatherhead who knew more than anyone about keeping hidden and safe from the Kraang.
Then, earlier today, they'd come across The Mighty Mutanimals and Mikey's sheer delight over seeing Leatherhead alive and well had overridden his fear at the sight of Slash. That and he knew that Leatherhead would never work with or trust Slash if he was still an evil mutant out to murder them all save Raph. However, with all the arguing between Leo and Slash and Donnie and Rockwell, followed by the Kraang discovering and attacking them, there hadn't been time to celebrate finding out his friend was alive and well. Now, however, nothing was going to stop him!
Mikey jumped, throwing his arms around Leatherhead's giant neck as he embraced him for all he was worth, the tears of joy now flowing freely. "My big, green buddy!"
"We made it, my friend," Leatherhead rumbled back happily.
Mikey nodded in relief, his face nuzzling against his friend's neck like a cat's.
Donnie cast a relieved smile his little brother's way. Barring Leonardo finally waking and them rescuing their father, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Mikey so happy and his heart melted at the sight. However, he forced himself to look away and at Rockwell who had approached him. "Looks like our plan worked, Doctor," he greeted.
Doctor Rockwell nodded, looking and sounding remarkably proud. "Yes and teleporting all the Kraang back to Dimension X was a stroke of genius. I managed to get every last Kraang the sensors could find out before the portal collapsed."
"You'll have to tell me how you did that," Donnie smiled back. He was sure he could have done the same had their positions been reversed but still, he remained curious as to what Doctor Rockwell had specifically done.
"Of course, my dear boy," Rockwell hooted arrogantly. "There is a vast amount of knowledge I could teach you."
Donnie twitched at the slight but Raph's loud, forceful voice commandeered his attention and distracted, he turned, hoping another argument wasn't about to break out.
"You gotta admit, Leo, we couldn't have done this without Slash and his team," he pointed out insistently.
Mikey, still fiercely clutching Leatherhead, turned towards Raph, Leo and Slash, watching anxiously. Their first encounter earlier notwithstanding, he remembered Raph telling him months before the invasion when they'd discovered the Kraang prison about how Slash had been held in there. When they'd managed to free everyone, Slash had jumped in to save Raph. They all knew that, of course, but what Raph had only confided in him later was that Slash had turned to Raph and given him a smile and a thumbs up, obviously harbouring no further ill feelings. Raph had been hopeful after that and without telling Leo or Donnie who would not approve or understand, had kept an eye out for Slash ever since.
Leo nodded solemnly at their brother before turning to Slash with an apologetic smile. "You did great, Slash and I'm sorry I doubted you. Everyone deserves a second chance."
Releasing a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding, Mikey exchanged happy smiles with Leatherhead before relaxing comfortably into him.
Slash smirked and with a slightly mocking tone, replied, "I just tried to model myself after the best leader I ever knew." Then his tone turned genuine and warm. "You."
Leo gazed at him a moment before grinning and turning to take in everyone proudly. "Turtles! Mutanimals! It's time to celebrate!"
For several seconds, everyone cheered, talking excitedly all at once. Then, Donnie's face fell. "Uh, guys, have you forgotten? Our lair is toast. The Kraang discovered it months ago and that's what kicked off the invasion. The Kraang may be gone now but last I saw, the lair had been completely trashed. We don't even know if it's safe to live in anymore." He then turned to take in Slash and his team sympathetically. "As for the Mutanimal's place, well, the Kraang found that earlier today too. Remember?"
Everyone's faces fell at the reminder and Mikey looked up at his best friend anxiously. Leatherhead smiled down at him reassuringly. "Do not worry, Michelangelo. If it comes down to it, I know of a few good locations in the sewers we could use temporarily."
Leonardo nodded in agreement. "I might know of a place or two also but I'd rather see if the lair can be saved first."
"Either way, fixing up our home or setting up a new one is going to take a lot of work," Donnie sighed, "and since we can't return to Antonio's with all the humans back, we need to make that, along with finding our next meal, a priority over a celebration."
There were nods and murmurs of agreement all around and Mikey clutched at Leatherhead just a little tighter.
"What about Mr. Kurtzman?" Pete spoke up worriedly. "Do you think he's okay?"
"I'm sure he's fine," Leo spoke up confidently. "Master Splinter and our friends April and Casey were looking after him and Master Splinter is an accomplished healer." No one knew how the ninjutsu master was so good but somehow, every injury he looked after seemed to heal faster than when he or Donnie used first aid.
"We have a prearranged meeting place in the sewers," Donnie piped up, offering a proverbial olive branch. "You could come with us and if Jack is still with Master Splinter, see for yourself and if they aren't still together, then Master Splinter should know where he went."
"Yeah, sounds good," Slash rumbled gratefully.
-:-
The group made their way down to the sewers, careful to avoid being spotted by still milling confused and relieved humans, some of whom wandered dazedly even as others searched for loved ones or to work out where they were, while yet others, the lucky ones, joyfully reunited with family and friends.
Mikey, still happily clutching onto his friend who had shifted him to ride on his back, gazed around with interest. For a moment, he was sure he spotted Mr. O'Neil in the distance, looking frantic as he searched for someone, (April) but another human passed in between, momentarily blocking his view, and then the Mr. O'Neil lookalike was gone. Vanished as if he'd been nothing but a fragment of Mikey's imagination all along. Mikey blinked and continued staring in that direction until his view was blocked altogether.
"Get down from Leatherhead, doofus!" Raph grunted, sounding irritable as he tugged at Mikey's leg with a hint of gentleness.
Mikey blinked and looked down to see his brothers and friends dropping into the sewer entrance one by one and he laughed sheepishly as he jumped lightly down from his best friend's shoulder. Raph gave him a shove towards the manhole, slightly less brusque than usual while trying to cover up the fond expression in his eyes.
Before long, everyone was below and the cover in place and they moved as a group through the sewers, Mikey back snuggling Leatherhead's back and Pete trying to fly through the tunnel, totally disgusted by the enclosed space and slime, while everyone chatted quietly.
Finally, they reached the meeting place to see Master Splinter and Jack Kurtzman waiting patiently. The Mutanimals rushed to their friend and benefactor in relief to see him standing, obviously still in pain and wobbling slightly, but standing nonetheless. Mikey promptly slid off of Leatherhead, reluctant to part so soon, but happily made his way to his father and brothers.
Slash turned to face them once they were sure Jack was okay. "Where are April and... Casey... wasn't it? Are they okay?"
Splinter was strangely silent but Donnie replied immediately.
"They weren't coming down to meet us," he explained with a small shake of his head. "They both have families they were anxious to find."
Slash nodded, looking a little relieved.
"We should get back to our base and see if it can be salvaged," Jack spoke up tiredly. "If they survived, I'll send someone down with some supplies for you ASAP."
Splinter bowed deeply in gratitude. "Thank you, Mr. Kurtzman."
"Jack, please," Jack corrected.
"Of course," Splinter replied with a smile and a bob of his head.
Leatherhead smiled warmly. "I will see you soon, my friends," he rumbled, his gaze lingering on Michelangelo before turning to follow his team.
Mikey waved both happily and sadly as he watched them disappear.
"Come on, you'll see him again soon," Raph said, rolling his eyes impatiently. He picked up Ice Cream Kitty's esky from the ground and thrust it at Mikey. "I wanna get home and collapse in bed."
"If only we could," Donnie groaned wistfully. "The last I saw, the lair was a mess and that was more than a month ago. I can't imagine it's gotten any better since."
"We don't even know if it's still safe to live there," Leo added tiredly, somehow keeping up his pace and forcing his brothers to keep up. Raph shot him a 'duh' look. "With the Kraang all gone, the location should still be secure but..."
"But we have no idea about the structural integrity of our home," Donnie finished with a frown.
"Structural inte-what-ity?" Mikey asked in confusion, clutching Ice Cream Kitty's carry case protectively.
"Structural integrity," Donnie repeated patiently. "Basically, we don't know if the walls and ceiling are still standing or at risk of falling down."
"Oh," Mikey frowned. He hadn't thought about that but after all the fighting when the Kraang discovered their home and who knew what they'd done since... "What if they are at risk of falling down?" he asked in a small voice.
"Then it won't be safe to live there anymore and we'll have to find somewhere new to live."
Mikey swallowed and glanced from Donnie to their father. "I don't wanna find somewhere new to live," he said plaintively. "That's our home."
"That it is, Michelangelo," Splinter replied gently. "However, if it is unsafe, then we will have to find a new home. If it is safe, then we may stay but we shall still have a lot of cleanup to do." With this, he gazed at all four of his sons sternly. "And that means all of you."
"Hai, Master Splinter," all four brothers chorused.
-:-
A little over half an hour later, the ninja family carefully approached the lair, zipping from shadow to shadow and keeping an eye and ear peeled for anything that didn't belong. To their collective relief, everything was quiet with no sign of movement apart from a pair of mating rats which quickly decoupled and fled and a few cockroaches which made Raph jump or twitch as they raced for cover. Mikey couldn't help but snicker and was roughly shoved by a glaring Raphael for his amusement. Then, they stopped inside past the turnstiles.
To say the lair was a mess was an understatement.
It was trashed.
Garbage and rubble and Kraang parts were strewn everywhere.
Mikey looked about sadly, seeing photos and artwork knocked from the walls, frames broken and glass shattered everywhere. He had to step carefully to avoid cutting his feet open and was immediately grateful for their toughness, built up over the years of running about barefoot.
His eyes roved the main room slowly, noting the litter spread everywhere, including through the pool and his face twisted in disgust to see how gross the water was.
The arcade machines were knocked over and he saw the devastated look on Leo's face at the sight of his beloved Space Heroes pinball machine. Thankfully, despite the dirt and garbage over it, it at least looked in one piece. As did the all-important television.
Mikey smiled broadly in relief. There was some hope after all if the TV was still in one piece. It wasn't even knocked over.
He itched to race over to it and turn it on but other things were far more important. Like Ice Cream Kitty.
The portable cooler box was great short term but long term, not so much. It was too small and didn't have the space of her freezer. Plus, it didn't keep as cool for as long.
So, shoving the state of their living room aside, he raced for the kitchen, determined to get Ice Cream Kitty back into the safety of her home.
-:-
Michelangelo flopped in exhaustion onto one of the mattresses in the pit and groaned theatrically.
It had been such a lo~ng day, made longer by the time differential between Earth and Dimension X when the portal had been closed temporarily. He could have sworn he'd been awake for three days straight, though Donnie insisted it had only been a day and a half or more precisely, "Thirty-seven hours and twenty-one minutes." Knowing how pedantic it was, Donnie only added the minutes when he felt particularly cranky.
Or when precision was actually important.
Raph rolled his eyes at that and scoffed rudely while Leo merely shook his head tiredly.
They had worked for hours cleaning up the lair and had barely made a dent. Other than a couple of trash piles, one of garbage to be relocated on the first chance they had and another of technological, including Kraang parts, for Donnie to go through before discarding. They'd only cleaned up the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom and made a start on the lab. The rest of the lair had barely been looked at.
Originally, they hadn't planned to prioritise the bathroom but after checking to make sure it was functional – it was but ugh did it stink, like something had crawled in there and died – they had made it a priority. The small piles of biological waste, as Donnie called it, clogging the shower drains had explained far more than Mikey wanted to know but he'd still tried to ask why the Kraang hadn't simply used the toilet and flushed like any normal person, only for Raph to jam his large, meaty hand over Mikey's mouth and drag him away.
In the end, since Mikey had the kitchen and Donnie his lab, Leo, clad in a toxic waste suit Donnie had lent him, had set to work to make sure the bathroom was at least usable. Raph flat out refused to set foot in there and all the dead cockroach bodies convinced Leo there was no point in arguing. Donnie had gazed upon the bodies in curiosity before giving Leo the suit and insisting he wear it and that no one else was the enter the room until the defecation had been cleaned up.
Afterwards, the brothers had dragged the two still usable mattresses into the now clean pit and pushed them together, collapsing side by side on them. Splinter, far more comfortable on a futon than a thick western mattress, decided to sleep on the bench surrounding the edge of the pit.
"Ugh... I'm so hungry..." Mikey groaned pitifully.
"I know, Mikey, we all are," Leo replied sympathetically from where he lay on the other edge of the mattress.
Mikey flicked his eyes across Donnie and Raph between them. A part of him wished he was in the middle, the filling of the turtle sandwich, so to speak, but given how haphazardly he slept, it was widely agreed long ago that he took one edge with Donatello (who could sleep through multiple explosions) beside him. Leo, as eldest and leader, insisted the other edge was his.
Whenever they slept together like this, Raph complained, claiming that Leonardo was taking advantage of his authority to be more comfortable and that it wasn't right or fair but Mikey knew the truth.
It wasn't for comfort or anything stupid like that, it was because Leonardo wanted to know his brothers were safe and that he'd be the one to take the brunt of any danger that came their way. It was the same reason they'd initially tried to keep Mikey in the middle until they discovered the hard way just how much of a bad idea that was for the rest of the brothers.
"I am sorry I cannot provide you with anything tonight, my sons," Splinter spoke up sorrowfully from where he lay. The algae tanks and the worm farm (which they only kept up in case of emergency) hadn't been maintained for so long as to make them unsafe to eat from. Donnie insisted they had to be completely cleaned out to start over from scratch. "Mr. Kurtz... Jack... has promised to send some food tomorrow if he can. From their supplies, if their supplies survived, otherwise, he will source some food to send down when he can."
Mikey nodded miserably as he clutched at his poor stomach. Everything in the fridge had been long dead and gross but he'd been so desperate he'd been about to try eating something anyway. At that moment, Leo had come in to take a quick survey of the space and knocked it out of his hand, reminding him that he'd be sick if he tried. Mikey had sighed and seen sense, though his eyes often wandered back to the fridge until he made the executive decision to clean it out first.
He was tempted to ask what about April and Casey? Couldn't they bring something down for them? Then he remembered how anxious they were to see their families and he closed his mouth again.
"It's okay, Master Splinter," Raph offered quietly from between Leo and Donnie. "We've handled being hungry before and we can handle it for a night now."
Splinter turned his head to look at Raphael in sad surprise but before he could ask, Leonardo spoke up.
"Wait! Not that we can't handle it for a night or two but when did that happen?" he asked in confusion. "I don't remember ever going hungry."
Because they'd had the algae tanks and worm farms as long as he remembered, Mikey realised. Without those, things might have been very different growing up.
"That's because you were in a coma at the time, Leo," Donnie replied just as quietly as Raph. Leo sat up in alarm and gazed down at his brothers mournfully.
Mikey shot him a warm, comforting smile to try to reassure him.
"The first few days at the farm were... hard," Donnie continued in that same quiet tone. "Saving your life and keeping you stable was our priority at the time. That included keeping you warm and with the farmhouse in such disrepair, we had to fix that up to keep the weather out and the place warm. Food was almost an afterthought and since we didn't have much money at the time, April and Casey couldn't stock up on supplies from the nearest town."
"So what did you do?" Leo asked hollowly.
Mikey smiled brightly. That was his cue. "I found some fruit on the fruit trees, brah," he piped up, pleased to remember how he'd actually been able to be useful. "Most of it was old and rotting or on the ground but some of it was still okay."
"Just!" Raph snorted, wrinkling his beak in disgust and Mikey couldn't blame him. Most of it had been shrivelled and there were specks of mould on much of it.
"Just," Mikey agreed with a nod. "It got us through the first couple of days though," he pointed out smugly. "Then Casey found some fishing gear in the barn so we both went fishing a lot too," he added with a laugh. Casey, having never left the city before, had also never been fishing so the first couple of times hadn't gone well at all. It had been up to April to teach them. Then she'd left them to it as she and Donnie worked to hack in and get her access to her father's bank account. Getting the new card had taken over a week though, so they'd continued to struggle in the meantime. Mikey decided it best not to let Leo and their father know that he'd also snuck onto a couple of nearby farms to steal a few eggs and chickens.
April had been fine about the eggs but incensed about the chickens and torn into him over it until Donnie sighed and pointed out their survival was at stake and that Leo needed sustenance that was easy to give since they didn't have the advantage of being able to take him to a hospital and neither did they have the medical gear they so badly needed to take care of him properly. He also pointed out that it wouldn't be unheard of for a few chickens to disappear, taken by wolves or coyotes and that Mikey had taken them from multiple places, not just the one.
"Once a new EFTPOS card was sent out, things became easier and as you know, Casey and April did a few odd jobs as they could get them. They also advertised an electronics repair service which they went to collect and bring back for me to fix before returning the items," Donnie continued explaining softly.
"The point is, we survived then so we'll survive a couple of days now," Raph pointed out tersely.
Mikey glanced his way, knowing the reason Raph spoke that way was because he felt guilty about not helping so much back then. All his focus had been on watching over Leo and it had taken its toll on their hot-headed brother.
No one blamed him for it though. They'd all been so worried and scared for Leonardo and as Donnie had said, someone needed to watch over Leo. Particularly in those early, more dangerous days. The hardest part had been convincing Raph to take a break and allow others to take turns taking care of Leonardo.
"Why didn't you guys tell me any of this?" Leo choked out in disbelief. "I had no idea things were so bad."
"Because it didn't matter, Leo," Donnie replied in exasperation as he too, sat up to stare back at Leo. "You have to understand, we survived and we are fine. We didn't tell you before because it was more important for you to focus on your rehabilitation and healing, not on worrying about how we survived the three months prior."
"But you still should've..."
"But nothing, Leo!" Raph snapped, sitting up and glaring fiercely at their brother. "Stop worrying about shit you had no control of! It was our turn to worry, not yours and we came out of it just fine!"
They did but Mikey knew that was only because Leo had eventually woken up. If he hadn't... Mikey didn't want to think about it. What ifs sucked! Especially when they went into downward spirals like the thought of 'what if Leo didn't make it'...
"I am... sorry to hear you went through such hardships, my sons, but gratified to know things worked out and that we are all together now, at home and safe," Splinter spoke up firmly, putting paid to Leonardo's concerns before they could blow out into a fully-fledged argument. "Now, we still have a lot of work to do to make our home livable once more so I suggest you all get some sleep."
"Hai Master Splinter!" they chorused.
Everyone laid back down and Mikey closed his eyes, only to open them again moments later as he felt Donnie shifting beside him, turning over onto his plastron. He tilted his head at an angle to see Donnie leaning on his elbows and bringing up the contacts list on his T-phone.
"Uh... what are you doing, dude?" he asked quietly.
"Calling April to make sure she found her father and made it home safely," Donnie replied after a moment, his lips pursed stubbornly.
Raph groaned.
"Just leave her, Donnie," Leo commanded softly through a yawn. "You know how anxious she was to see her father."
"It's not like her to not at least text and let us know she's okay," Donnie insisted.
"Just call her in the morning," Raph complained. Mikey sensed his father twitching from the bench.
"Yeah... I... guess you're right," Donnie sighed reluctantly. "Besides, she was angry over being left behind. Maybe a night with her father will calm her down first."
Mikey nodded emphatically. April was great but angry April was scary.
"Maybe," Leo agreed, turning away onto his side.
"I'll just text her to say I hope everything's alright," Donnie conceded, rapidly typing his message. "How was she before she left to find Mr. O'Neil, Master Splinter? You know, after we won and beat back the Kraang."
Splinter was silent a moment. Then, "I do not know, Donatello."
Donnie pushed himself back to his knees to look at his father worriedly. "What do you mean, you don't know?" he asked, obviously fighting back panic from the sound of his voice.
Mikey, Leo and Raph, too, sat upright to gaze questioningly at their father.
"April left just prior to the battle being won," Splinter reluctantly explained. "Casey seemed to think she left via the back entrance and that a Kraang slipped inside behind her before the door closed."
"What?" Donnie burst out in panic. "April left and a Kraang took her place? They've been after her since we met her! What if something happened to her? What if the Kraang took her? What if..."
"Donatello! Calm down and breathe," Splinter commanded sternly, sitting up and gazing at him with a look that brooked no argument. "There was only one Kraang and it had no technology. It was alone and unprotected. If there had been a fight of some kind, we would have heard it," he pressed firmly, his eyes fixed on Donatello as he urged his son to listen to the logic he loved so much. "There is nothing a lone, natural Kraang could do to April without us hearing so do not worry, she obviously left before it found its way inside."
Donnie swallowed, fighting back his urge to argue. Finally, he succeeded and reluctantly said, "I hope you're right, Master Splinter," as he pressed send on his T-phone.
Mikey hoped so too but he couldn't dismiss the niggling feeling of worry that had risen from the back of his mind as he laid back down and tried to sleep.
-:-
Comments, thoughts and concrit are always welcome.
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