•4•

~∆~

All the way back home April kept muttering Leonardo and Raphael and it's becoming annoying. As soon as the front door to our apartment opened, April wasted no time in running into her room and to her closet.

"Girl, what are you doing?" I asked my roommate when April took out some box and emptied it, creating mess. I'm so not cleaning that up.

"Those names. I heard them from somewhere before. I know them. I just can't remember from where." April didn't even spare me a glance. Instead of that she pulled out camera and put there a disk. My curiousity pushed me forward to sit on my knees beside her, both of our attention on the old video record.

"Good evening. This is April O'Neil, reporting live from my daddy's lab. I know it sounds pretty boring, but actually he does some pretty cool stuff." The video showed face of young girl, or better young April, back when father was still alive.

"Time to put the camera away, April." A man sitting in a chair looked behind the camera at April, and I recognized him as Doctor O'Neil, April's dad. But there's someone else standing beside him. Is that the prick called Sacks?  

"Leave her alone, Doc." My eyes widen when I hear the gentle voice belonging to a woman. She turn to swat April's dad shoulder with amused grin on her face, also sending one Young April's way. I can't really puzzle her face from the quality of the video, but what I can tell is she looks damn familiar. 

"And now I will show you something amazing. It's supposed to be from a different planet in outer space." Young April attempted for 'mysterious voice', showing the camera against glass so we can see the tube of shining Mutagen. 

"Here we go." Sacks' stupid face appeared in the video with one of my brothers when they were only normal turtles and he injected Mutagen into him. 

"Mr. Sacks, what sort of experiments are you doing here?" The scene switched to where Sacks stands with April's father and most probably the familiar looking woman, yet she's out of the vision, only her bigger belly showing with her hands grabbing some pills from Sacks' fingers and throwing them into her mouth.

"That's a very complicated question. We're trying to change the world." My fist clenched and nose crunched, sick of this man. He's full of bullshit. What were those pills he gave the woman anyway?  

"Look at the camera. Hello, Splinter." My eyes widen when young April points her camera at a little rat. This is my father? Now I feel ridiculous. April switched disks and I furrowed my eyebrows at her trembling hands.

"And these are mine and Mrs. L/n's little turtles. Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and here this little one in Mrs. L/n's hands is Donatello." The camera showed each of my brothers as little turtles, the last one with purple paint on his shell in hands of someone. But when the camera rises to show who's holding Donnie, my breath hitches.

It's the same woman from my dreams that begin with every time. She has the same kind smile, gentle eyes and voice sounding so angelic it's almost unreal. What is the coinsidence this woman keeps jumping in my dreams? Never before have I seen this woman so how come?

"Come on, April. It's feeding time. I'm sure they starve for pizza as much as us." The woman rubbed her yet to get bigger belly, 'us' meaning herself and the baby in there.

"I knew it. The vigilante. I saw him. I saw them! We saw them. I've known them since I was a little girl. They were my pets. They were my childhood pets, and they were named after Italian Renaissance painters." I didn't pay any attention to neither April nor Taylor standing in the door, keeping my eyes locked on the paused video showing the woman.

April left the camera in my hands and went to rumage more in her own mess, searching for more information about my brothers and how she's connected with them. Meanwhile I rewatched the scene with the woman at least ten times, still not getting why she looks so familiar and why she appears in my dreams. It just doesn't make sense.

"April?" She stops in whatever she were doing and turn to me, but I only point at the camera. "Who's this woman?"

"This? Oh. That's M/n L/n. She used to be my father's and Sacks' close friend." She moved closer to sit beside me, recognizing who it is. I frowned.

"Used to be?" April nodded, bitting her lip.

"Five months after the fire, she died at giving birth. Sacks told me the child wasn't strong enough and died shortly after her." A shaky breath leaves me as I look away, outside the window at the darkness consuming this city. Why do I have this feeling there's more that lies behind it than this? 

"I need air." Wasting no time I shoot onto my feet, using big steps to get to the window and climb out on fire escapes. But before I can climb higher, April stops me by grabbing my sleeve.

"Wait!" I look at her confused."I need your help at my work tomorrow." Groan of annoyance comes out of my throat. I like hanging out with April when she's reporting something but not when it's with her other colleagues. They're such assholes. 

"What for?" I don't wanna go anywhere tomorrow. All I ask for is one normal, free day doing nothing. Without worries and people around me. At least for once! And maybe try to find my brothers' exact location.

"You know." I groaned again.

"April. You heard what they said. They're ninjas and what are ninjas doing? They're staying in secret. I don't have the feeling they want people to know about them. And do you really think that when we tell your boss that it's not one vigilante but suddenly four guys which are turtles, she will believe us? April, think about it." I shook my head at my stubborn friend.

"I have to try at least." Was only thing April said and continued in doing her own business. You have to be kidding me. 

"Do whatever you want, girl." April ignored the rest so I climbed at the top and transferred to few rooftops away, ending on one that has beautiful sight at the city. Getting fresh night air into my lungs, I let my body fall from the edge, smiling at the feeling of cold wind hitting my bare skin.

When I'm 10ft from the ground, from where's my tattoo spring out pair of giant, black, beautiful wings and they carry me up into the night sky, getting lost in this kind of freedom I ever get.

Unnoticed to me, pair of blackish eyes watches from underground, and he stroke his beard thoughtufully. 

~🐢~

In the morning I was woken up from another nightmare by April and almost punched her, luckily she had luck and ducked. After putting on my casual outfit we went to April's work.

April prepared everything with little of my help before I went for her boss. "O'Neil? Alright, what was so important that your friend had to get me?" Asked April's boss when we walked back to April's office, impatient. I seated myself in random chair and watched how is gonna April make this work.

"Okay, are you ready??" April's boss nodded. "Okay. You know how we saw the vigilante? But I had no photos or evidence to show you, so I just sounded crazy. Okay. But we saw him again. Well, we didn't see him again, we saw them, because there's four. There's not just one, there's four. And I was standing as close to them as you are to me right now." April's boss just keep nodding until she asked how they looked like so April walked over to a photo of a turtle. Normal turtle.

"What? Like turtles?" Purching my lips, I force my hand down to stop myself from bitting my nails out of nervousness. I know no one will believe in April's story but you never know.

"Well, they don't look like turtles because they are turtles. They're over six feet tall and they speak English." Boss looked at her like at an idiot then at me in question if she should believe it, which I nodded at but boss didn't believed us either way, not even a single word. She turned to walk away but April stopped her.

"I was awake all night, please look. I was awake all night googling all of the thwarted crimes over the past three months, and this symbol appeared at every single one." April pointed at drawing of a symbol which my brothers left after each fight.

"Look! Every single one of them. This one, look. Here, here, here, here, here. And it's an anciont Japanese symbol that means 'family'." April pointed at pictures of symbols and I walked up to them with April's laptop, where's paused video of young April feeding them with pizza.

"This is my father's lab. This is the same lab where these things were born of created or mutated. I don't know the terminology but will you please just look at what I'm showing you and listen to me. It's all connected. The turtles are the vigilantes and the vigilantes are these turtles." April unpaused the video. Her boss grabbed the laptop and closed it.

"I just want to be clear. You are now telling me that there are four six-foot talking turtles walking around New York City, and no one has seen them but you two?" Boss points at both of us.

"That's what I'm telling you." My friend nods tiredly and I bite inside of my cheek.

"I don't mean to laugh, but is there anything else we should know about them?" Asked boss, visibly done with this shit April pulled.

"They're ninjas. And they do karate." April added.

"Okay, get out."

~🐢~

We walked out the building that now used to be April's work place, and I look at her with pity when she sniffles. 

"O'Neil. Y/N." Our attention is taken by Vern, who stops leaning against his van and approach us. "It could have been worse." 

"I just got fired, Vern. How could it be worse?"

"Maybe it's good. Maybe you should... take a little time, take care of yourself. Come on, let me give you two a ride." Vern turned to walk to his van but April had different plans and turned other direction.

"Not unless you're going to the Eric Sacks estate. I'm not giving up on this story." Vern grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Hey! You gotta put that to bed." He told her.

"Would all of those other great reporters that you worked with, would they have 'put it to bed'?" I roll my eyes at April being the stubborn herself.

"That's different." 

"How is it different? They all started exactly where I am, right?" There was a minute of tense silence before Vern took April's box.

"I'm not driving the Channel 6 news van onto the Sacks estate." I shake my head at Vern giving in to drive her to Sacks, bad feeling settling in my stomach. 

"I will see you at home." I turned to walk the other direction, having no mood to go any closer to Sacks. I had no time to make even a step when I was yanked back and dragged to the van.

"You are in this with me, girl, which means you tag along." I can only growl to myself, either way jumping to the back where I usually sit when going somewhere with them.

"So, what do you want with Eric Sacks?" Asked Vern, buckling.

"My dad used to work for him. He's the only person that's gonna be able to tell me wheter or not I'm crazy." When April said it, I began to panic. She want to reveal my brothers to fucking Sacks and if she does, everything will go wrong!

"Crazy about what?"

"I don't need you to laugh at me also." April cut Vern off.

"Oh, come on, O'Neil. This is the Fenwick Express, it's judgement-free zone. A cocoon of safety." I narrowed an eyebrow at Vern, remembering the time when he judged me for my behavior. Not like I cared.

"Promise?" Asked April, sniffing.

"I'm insulted that you would suggest otherwise." Were last words before Vern started the van and we made our way to Sacks place.

~∆~