The walk to the lair is relatively quick. April's new shop, which is now a little over 3 years old, is much closer to the lair than her old one was, and I know she did that on purpose. She enjoys being close at hand if any of us need her and I know that Casey has been crashing at her place directly above the shop so that he can be close by as well.

My lips twitch as the lair's doors come into view.

It's sweet, if I'm going to be honest, and it's great to know just how much those two care about us. And I know it alleviates some pressure off of my brothers and myself. We want to be close by just in case something happens to them, like when April had to stay with us until her new shop was up and running. Sure, it was tense at times, but it was great getting to know her more and show her that we think of her as family just as much as she thinks of us as her family. I always wanted a big sister! And we all know that we would do the same for Casey. Another big brother, just what I need.

Sure, we'd grip about it, but honestly, Casey isn't half bad. He's really just like another Raph, ya know? Hard exterior but a teddy bear center. They're both family and I can't help but feel even more loved when they're with us in the lair as well.

And now, if those two just get married already, everything would be perfect! I think giddily as I pull on the lever to open the secret passageway.

As the stones shift, I can't help but picture what type of dress April would wear and what colors would go best for their kind of wedding. She would definitely wear white, maybe a little more ivory than a harsh stark white. Maybe something off the shoulder, with full sleeves? I shake my head. No way. She's more of a quarter-length sleeve person. A large smile spreads across my face. They would most certainly have it at the farmhouse. April grew to love the place so much while we were there, and it was the first time all seven of us could be outside during the daytime. Even if Leo was hurt, after a while, when he got better, it turned into something a little more relaxing and refreshing.

Not that I'll ever admit that, I think as I head for the TV pit. I still love my electronics far too much to ever want to abandon them again. I spot my brothers' heads just above the back of the couch and my lips twitch up. But it would be nice to get away and go camping on a weekend getaway. No monsters. No crazy, blood-thirsty ninja creeps. Just the four of us (and maybe Sensei, April, or Casey if they want) lazing around in the sun, going swimming and-

"Earth ta Mikey! Ya in dere, knucklehead?"

Jumping, I just barely cover a squeak as my ribs and back protest such a sudden move. Placing a hand over my heart, I glare over at Raph as he stands a few steps away from me (when did he move?) with a smug smirk on his face and amber eyes watching me like a hawk.

"Geez, Raphie, trying to give me a heart attack?" I ask, pouting at him as the older turtle rolls his eyes.

"I wouldn't have ta give ya one if ya hadn't just stopped walkin' in the middle of da room."

Blinking, I glance around. Casey and April are standing in front of the couch, looks of concern (April) and amusement (Casey) on their faces as they stare at me. Leo and Donnie are also looking at me, frowns playing on their faces as they watch both me and Raph. Forcing myself to smile, I nudge past Raph.

"Awe, Raphie, you do care about me!" I tease as I reach the couch.

Raph growls as he follows after me. My 'Tiger Senses' tingle and I flinch just before his hand connects with the back of my head causing me to yelp. My nose scrunches as I rub the back of my head, pouting.

"Yeah right, knucklehead. And don't call me 'Raphie'."

Still pouting, I turn toward my other two older brothers. Donnie merely shakes his head, a small smile on his face as Leo stands and takes a stance in front of the TVs. I glance over as the sound of a walking stick echoes around the lair and smile as Master Splinter enters the TV pit. The tall rat master sits in the only armchair, walking stick in hand.

"What is this meeting for, my son?" Master Splinter questions, his ears twitching as he strokes his little beard.

Leo sighs, crossing his arms. His eyebrow ridges furrow with a troubled look.

"Karai just reached out to me. She just informed me that a small faction of Foot soldiers has disbanded from the clan, claiming that the only leader they want to follow is the Shredder." Leo shakes his head.

My eyes widen. Rogue Foot soldiers? So, Casey and I didn't find actual Foot soldiers? So, that means… WE DIDN'T BREAK THE TRUCE! I nearly start crying. Oh, thank every comic god there is. I SO didn't want to be the reason our truce between the Foot clan and us ends. My brothers would never let me live it down. I bite my lip as Raph leans forward.

"And how is dat our problem?" Raph smirks, punching his hand into his other palm, exchanging looks with Casey, who smirks back. "Does she want us ta beat some sense back inta dose traitors?"

My heart leaps up into my throat and I look up at Leo with wide eyes. Leo frowns at Raph.

"No, Raph, she's warning us because she believes that they will try attacking us, making us believe that the Foot has broken the truce we've made."

And it almost worked, I think as I cough to cover up a nervous chuckle. Leo shoots me a look to which I answer by merely smiling at him. He narrows his eyes at me but turns back to our hot-headed brother.

"This other faction doesn't like the fact that Karai has forgiven us about the death of her father. And so far, from Karai's intel, this new group is being led by Hun with the help of Tiger Claw, Rahzar, and Fishface." Leo scowls as he crosses his arms as Raph sneers. "They have been spotted all over the city and it's starting to worry Karai on what they could be looking for. She says she has an idea of what it could be, but she would much rather speak with us in person than risk the message possibly being intercepted."

Sensei hums as he leans back in his seat, brown eyes darkening in concern.

"Do you believe this to be a good idea, Leonardo?"

"Yeah, Fearless," Raph jumps in. "Sensei's right. Fer all we know, dis could be a trap of some sort. A chance ta just capture us once an fer all."

"I hate to say this, Leo, but Raph might have a point," Donnie says, cutting Leo off as he opens his mouth to argue. "Our truce hasn't been all that long, Leo. Just a little over 6 months due to that 'Monster-Problem' we solved. And, well, Karai doesn't exactly have the best track record about keeping her end of the bargain."

My gaze turns to my more soft-spoken older brother. Usually, he's a little more optimistic about everything, so it's a little jarring for him to be agreeing with our brother in red. Even Leo appears slightly taken back as our brother talks. April leans over and places a hand on Donnie's shoulder.

"I mean, it wouldn't hurt to at least hear what she has to say, right? And I don't blame her for wanting to be cautious." April's green eyes darken. "Because there's a high chance that Stockman could be working with that other faction and he wouldn't hesitate in trying to get the jump on us."

Casey snorts.

"Or dey could be waitin' fer us to come marchin' in like little ducklings."

April turns a glare onto the blackette, causing the large man to flinch away from the harsh gaze. He smiles sheepishly.

Master Splinter leans forward, tapping his claws on his cane.

"We cannot be too certain that this is a trap," Sensei says, his tone thoughtful. "I do not feel any ill-will in this proposition." He holds up a hand when Raph turns to argue. "That does not mean to not be on your guard, my sons. You will be going deep into a once enemy territory. You must always be alert."

Whoa, wait. Sensei WANTS us to go?

I bite my bottom lip. But then again, Sensei has never steered us wrong about his feelings about these types of scenarios. And usually, Leo can sense if something is off as well. It's been a little more iffy where Karai is concerned, but after Leo's little 'vacation' in the jungle, his 'Danger-Radar' has become super fine-tuned. Almost to the point of being scary. And I think that's why Leo's been a little more protective of late. What can I say? New York City isn't exactly the safest place for a mutant turtle to live in.

I refocus on Leo as he hums in agreement.

"Don't worry, Sensei. We will be on our guard the entire time."

"Then we might want ta leave chucklehead home for this one," Raph says, jabbing his thumb at me, smirking.

"Hey!" I snap, hurt bubbling in my chest. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Raph merely lifts an eyebrow ridge at me, as if saying 'you already know what I'm talking about'. But when he opens his mouth to speak, Leo cuts him off.

"Stop it, Raph. We need EVERYONE at this meeting. If it IS a trap, then we need as many hands-on-deck as possible." Leo crosses his arms, meeting Raph's glaring amber eyes with his chocolate brown. "And Mikey is a part of this team, and we need his agility and speed on our side if we need to bail."

Heat spreads across my cheeks at the praise and I swear, for a split second, that the warmth from the orb pulses again. It only lasts for barely a second, fast enough that I briefly think that I imagined it due to my tiredness. My lips twitch into an almost smile. It's not often that Leo complements my abilities and, honestly, it feels rather weird. A GOOD weird, but weird, nevertheless. Usually, it's LEO who is being praised.

Raph grunts and he leans back on the couch, waving his hand lazily.

"A'ight, Fearless, so what's yer plan?"

A familiar light brightens Leo's eyes and a smirk appears on his lips.

"All right, so this is what we do. Karai wants everyone, excluding Master Splinter, to meet her at the very top of Foot Tower. Casey, since your hair is pretty long, I want you to wear a single earpiece that will allow Master Splinter to hear what Karai has to say to us."

I raise my hand.

"Shouldn't April wear the earpiece since she has longer hair?" I ask causing Leo to shake his head.

"No. April almost always wears her hair up. If this is a trap, Karai will notice instantly that April isn't sporting her usual ponytail." I nod slowly as Leo gestures from April to Casey. "But Casey, on the other hand, has the second-longest hair that covers his ears and almost ALWAYS wears his hair down. So, the earpiece will be easy to hide." Leo turns to Master Splinter. "We'll have a line directly hooked into here so that you can hear everything being said. This way, if we need to make a quick getaway, then you can be in the loop the entire time. Donnie?"

Said brother looks up chestnut brown eyes widening at being singled out. Leo grins.

"I think it's time for a test run for those little toys of yours."

The widest grin appears on my brainiac brother's face before he leaps off the couch and sprints into his lap.

Tilting my head, my own smile appears as I listen to Donnie crash around in his lab. Whoa, whatever that 'little toy' thing is must be pretty important if Donnie is willing to make so much noise in his precious lab as he is. Usually, I'M the one making that much noise in Brainiac's lab and it ALWAYS results in me being thrown out.

Donnie comes flying back out with a large box in his hands, his eyes shining with excitement.

"What's that, Don?" I ask, leaning forward in curiosity as Donnie stops next to Leo and kneels down.

"These, my dear little brother, are what I call 'Turtle-Bots'," Donnie states, holding up a small, shiny green and metallic turtle-like bot. "With these babies, we can scout out the city without ever having to leave the lair." Donnie presses his thumb to the center of the Turtle-Bot's back. Instantly, wings snap out and the turtle's head extends out. My eyes widen as I take in the almost fly-like eyes on the Turtle-Bot's head just as Donnie points at them. "These here are cameras with a 360-degree view so we can see both in front and behind these little guys. We can use these little babies to help track practically anything. They have an infrared, night, day, and an active IR setting inside of their cameras. So, pretty much, these are at military-grade level and I've even installed mini-missiles, stun bullets, paintballs, and rubber bullets here under the wings and in the feet here. The tails, here," Donnie says, flipping the little thing over and showing us a cute little tail. "Hold both oil and smoke to help give us cover if we ever need to make a clean getaway and we've run out of our little smoke bombs."

"They're so cute!" I state, crawling closer to look but not touch. As Donnie likes to point out, any time I touch one of his inventions, they tend to fall apart or break or blow up and Donnie is so proud of these little things that I don't want to be the reason why we can't use them. I peer up at my immediate older brother, his excitement escalating my own. "How do you control them?"

I yelp when Donnie suddenly thrusts the little T-Bot into my hands and reaches back into the box.

"That, my curious little brother, is a very good question!" Donnie practically vibrates as he pulls out a black object. "And, the answer to this is right here!"

I practically hear the 'TADA!' in Donnie's voice as he holds up a controller-like object. Actually, scratch that, it IS a controller. A very familiar controller.

"Doooooonnieeeee," I whine, cradling the T-bot close to my chest. "Is that my controller that you promised to fix for me?"

A sheepish smile replaces Donnie's grin and he rubs the back of his head.

"Yeah. Sorry, Mike, but I really needed a way to control these and your controller was the best option. Not only is Bluetooth, but I managed to extend its range of control as well as how many objects that can be paired to it." Donnie holds up the device. "This little baby can control all 15 of the little Turtle-Bots that I've made so far as well as allow me to flip between each of them simultaneously. And, I can even put them into autopilot with this baby."

Leo nods, eyes shining with pride as Donnie continues to explain how to use the cute little bots. I outwardly pout at the fact that Donnie pretty much took my favorite controller from me without asking, but I can't really rain on Donnie's parade too much. It's not like I don't have another controller around. That one was just my favorite of the four.

Besides, I think as I stare down at the little bot in my hands. I can always persuade him into making me an even better, even COOLER controller than that one. And all I'd have to do is bat my little baby blues at him, quiver my lip just a bit, and maybe emit a soft little whimper and BAM! Donnie won't even know what hit him. Smirking to myself, I glance over at my brother as he shows Master Splinter the controls. Oops, looks like I missed something important.

At some point, Donnie also grabbed a tablet from somewhere (probably the box) and is setting it up on the stand next to his chair. Sensei looks very uncomfortable about everything, holding the controller as if it holds some sort of disease. And considering that we live in the sewers, that might not be as far as a stretch as we might think.

But knowing Donnie, I think as I scoot closer to Sensei. He most definitely sanitized the crap out of it.

Sensei's ears lay back against his head as Donnie tries to explain how to use the controls.

"And-" Donnie pauses as I stand up and hand him the little T-Bot.

"Here, Sensei," I say, reaching out and readjusting my father's paws on the controller. "It'll be more comfortable to hold it like this. This way that each of your thumbs can have easy access to each of the buttons and joysticks. These here." I point to the joysticks at Sensei's confused stare. "And these triggers here," I continue, pointing to the L, LZ, R, and RZ triggers on the top of the controller. "Will be easier to reach with your pointer fingers. The only time you ever need to lift your hands is if you need to use any of these smaller buttons, the Start, the PS, and the Options buttons in the middle."

Master Splinter's shoulders relax a little at the easier grip on the controller, his ears finally lifting from his head. Turning, I smile at Donnie.

"Okay, sorry, continue."

A soft look crosses Donnie's face as he stares at me almost fondly before continuing to explain to Sensei what to do with each of the buttons will do. I glance over at Leo.

"And why are we having Sensei flying our cute tiny mini-mes?"

I sense more than hear Raph coming up behind me and my shoulders tense right before a hand connects with the back of my head. Whining, I pout at my second oldest brother as I rub my head.

"If ya would have been listenin', knucklehead, ya woulda hear Leo explain that we'll need Sensei to pilot da lil' tin-cans ta aid in our getaway."

Frowning, I glance over at Leo.

"What? Both you and Sensei seem pretty sure that this isn't an ambush, why are we going to such extremes?"

Leo reaches out and squeezes my shoulder, his hand warm and familiar and I can't help but relax at the touch.

"We need to test the bots anyways and even if we don't need to use them, it's much better to test them on this type of mission rather than an actual life-or-death mission and possibly find a minor or even a major flaw in these Turtle-Bots when it could mean us living to see another day."

"But Donnie's inventions are nearly flawless when we use them," I state confidently. "And I'm abso-tutely certain that our Mad Scientist of a brother has made another flawless invention. Right, Donnie?"

Donnie's face flushes in embarrassment as he rubs the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

"Awe, shucks, Mikey," Donnie says. I beam up at him.

"You know it's the truth, my dude." I turn my attention back to my eldest brother. "So, Sensei is gonna be our eyes in the sky? What if we don't get ambushed?"

"Then we get to see how well the controller works," Donnie answers instead. "Either way, I'll be able to test something I can't hear in the sewers." Donnie pauses before shrugging. "Well, technically I can but the test will be a more efficient above ground where we will be mostly using these rather than down here."

Blinking, I nod and nearly jump when April and Casey appear next to us.

"So, when do we head out?" April asks.

Leo smirks, crossing his arms as he glances down at me.

"The meeting is at 7 pm."

Casey cracks his knuckles and then his neck.

"Dang," Casey says, grinning as he and Raph fist bump. "Was hopin' ta start bashin' some heads in now."

Raph chuckles as his hands rest on the hilts of his sais.

"Haven't ya heard of 'all good things come ta dose who wait'?"

Hearing Leo sigh, I tilt my head back to look my brother in the eye. Catching my stare, Leo lifts an eyebrow ridge as I grin.

"Why don't I go start supper now then?" I ask, mainly to see if Leo was actually done speaking. "That way we can leave with a full belly and do some more of your awesome strategizing-jig with a full tank."

A fond smile works its way to Leo's face as he pats my head.

"That's a brilliant idea, Mikey. Go start and I'll corral everyone into the kitchen by the time you're done."

The warmth from earlier returns and I fight to not fidget in embarrassment or rub at my chest. Instead, I flash him one of my famous 'Mikey Grins' before heading for the kitchen.

"How's pizza sound?" I call out over my shoulder. Leo offers me a thumbs up.

Well, I might not have found any of the answers I was looking for in April's books, but maybe Karai can shed some light on what that creature was and what that orb was. But until then, I'm just gonna focus on the task at hand and make sure that my family doesn't go into the belly of our once archenemy without having a full belly of their own.

Ripping open the cabinets, I start gathering my supplies, allowing my mind to drift to a place that I'm comfortable with for the next 3 hours.

0o.o0

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Chapter 5 my dudes and dudettes and all my readers who those in between!

I had such a rough time writing Chapter 4, because, well, I was afraid it was going to be boring and finding the right words was kinda hard T.T. It's been a while since I've written fanfic, so it's been a little bit of a struggle getting back into the swing of things. But I'm here now with Chapter 5 and I really want to keep this one going.

Well, enough with my rambles. Again, thank you to everyone who's commented! I deeply appreciate it!

P.S. I also imagine the turtles being 19 years old, being 16 back in the 2003 and 2012 versions for this. I also like to think that while they are all the same age, they have different birthdays, Leo having a birthday more around January or February, Raph being more around March or April, Donatello having his birthday near July or August, and Mikey having his birthday near October or November. But that's just me and helps me out in my stories XD.

P.P.S There used to be an author's note here about whether or not I should post this story on AO3 ( ) and while I didn't get any replies about whether or not I should, I decided to do so anyways. The chapters on here will go up first and then I will post them on there with a more edited version which I will then transfer over here. I write a lot of these chapters at night and I miss a lot when I'm writing it out but I like having something for all of you to read.