"Okay, by attaching Mikey's kusarigama chains to Raph's grappling line, it should be just long enough," Donatello decides as he ties the said equipment together with a tight knot.

Raphael takes the newly-made rope. "Let's find out."

He leans back as much as he can as he starts swinging it, eyes locked on the geyser exit, and he grunts with effort when he finally lets it fly. Casey notices it falling short and chucks his hockey stick, smacking the hook just far enough that it lodges in the rock at the lip of the hole.

"Yes! Goal!" Casey whoops.

"That'll hold," Raphael decides, giving it a hard tug. "Let's go!"

"Destiny goes up first," Donatello says before they can move a single toe.

Destiny arches an eyebrow, tail flicking. "Why?"

"That way, should we fall, no one will land on you and make your injuries hurt even more," he replies with a pointed smirk. "Knowing you, it's bound to happen."

"Good point." She nods and walks forwards, gripping the rope.

"We're right behind you, Desti-bear," Michelangelo urges as she starts climbing.

The boys follow after, every teen grunting with the effort at the steep ascent. Destiny keeps going despite the aches in her torso, keeping her fanged teeth gritted as she climbs.

Too soon, there's a screech from above as the Chimera's wormy face appears. It shoves its head down the hole, chomping and snapping at the nearest mutant, Destiny. She sways, dodging its beak narrowly and giving it a sharp kick in the eye. It roars.

"Whoa! Easy, easy!" Raphael hollers.

The rope swings around with every movement, spinning everyone wildly as the Chimera tries desperately to eat just one teenager. Fed up with the elusive group, the Chimera snaps the rope with its beak and sends them careening back down to the ledge.

Destiny lands in Donatello's arms, looking at each other in surprise before he sets her down carefully. Michelangelo nearly lands in the water before Raphael grabs his wrist and holds him up. Still, the base of Michelangelo's shell catches in the water and his baby blue eyes nearly pop out of his head when he feels the heat.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!" he squeals, leaping out of the water. He lands on his butt and scoots around in circles at Donatello, Casey, and Destiny's feet, whimpering. "My sweet little turtle tush! Ow owwie ow!"

"Guys, water's rising," Donatello says, his attention locked on the bubbling quagmire below. "We're running out of time."

Destiny's eyes flicker upwards, where she catches sight of another small ledge about eight feet up. She frowns, the gears in her head creaking as they start to turn. "There's a ledge," she offers to the others, pointing. "If I turn into a wolf and go up on my hind legs, I might be able to reach it and you guys can climb up."

"How would you get up?" Casey asks.

She shakes her head. "Five of us won't fit up there," she explains, "but you four would."

"No way. We aren't leaving you down here to be roasted," Raphael snaps.

She narrows her eyes. "So all five of us get turned into teenager soup? I think one life for the good of four is better than all five!"

"What if you get us up there, we grab your paws, and you shift back into your human form?" Michelangelo suggests, bouncing anxiously on his feet.

"I shrink inwards when I morph," Destiny says. "My hands would jerk backwards with most of my wolf weight and we'd risk yanking all of us into..." She glances at the water beneath them and her ears flick as she rubs her arm, nails scraping across goosebumps. "Uh...certain death."

"We aren't going to let you stay down here," Donatello argues. "It's out of the question. All or none."

"Four against one, wolfie," Casey says.

"We aren't leaving our wolf-lady behind," Michelangelo says, nudging her with his shoulder.

She falls against the nearest wall, burying her face in her hands for a brief second. "Well, what else can we do?" she demands, briefly looking up at them. "Leo would know what to do if he was here and—" She growls in frustration against her palms as she once again slumps her head. "I don't even know if he's coming...what if his leg...what if..."

The four boys look at each other, then at their stressed female companion. Raphael clears his throat, shifting his arms over his plastron and waiting for one of his brothers to step up and do the whole comforting thing. Donatello is the first to speak up.

"Hey Des, don't worry. Deep breaths. Leo and April have to come for us, right?" he tries. "Diaval too...I guess."

"Yeah, dudette," Michelangelo agrees, moving to her side and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She glances sideways at him. "Leo loves all of us. He's gonna get over here no matter what, and so will April and Diaval! Even if Diaval doesn't like us—"

"He likes you," Casey says, looking quite proud that he joined in on the cheering up.

"Guys? Guys, do you hear me?" a voice calls from above. Their heads snap up, every expression brightening when they see Leonardo leaning over the mouth of the geyser, his head and shoulders just visible to them. "Are you alright?"

"Leo!" Destiny cries, her tail starting to wag.

"Leo, yes!" Raphael grins. He cups his hand across his mouth. "We're okay! Destiny's a little bruised but—"

"I'm doing great!" she interrupts, flapping her hand wildly at him without taking her eyes off of the blue-masked turtle above her.

"But we're running out of time," Donatello adds urgently, casting another panicked glance at the broiling tub near their feet.

On the top of the geyser, Diaval stares at the back of Leonardo's shell in anticipation of his report on the state of the others. April stands at his side, staring blankly into the distance. Her breath hitches and her hand latches around a chunk of Diaval's cloak.

"Guys...wait," she warns, her head swivelling towards the sky. Leonardo looks over his shoulder at her as her lips part with a sharp gasp. "I'm right on top of us."

There's a bloodcurdling shriek as the Chimera appears. Leonardo lunges towards Diaval and April as the Chimera swoops down, wormy talons extended and ready to snatch them. Diaval hisses as Leonardo's hand forcefully shoves against his injured shoulder. Diaval's head spins in disorientation as he lands hard on his side, a scream echoing above him like an omen of what could have been.

When he regains his sense of the present, his eyes widen as the Chimera soars away, April and Leonardo dangling from its talons. The boy stumbles to his feet, his shoulder starting to throb again as he stares helplessly after them.

As the Chimera gains distance, Diaval's image of it gets clearer. He can see Leonardo's grappling hook wrapping around the Chimera's leg and allowing the turtle to swing through the air, flip over its head, and land on its neck.

Diaval's eyes narrow slightly as the birdlike mutant gets further away, just able to catch the sight of April throwing her tessen and smacking the Chimera between the eyes, giving her the chance to shimmy onto its neck.

The sound of calling voices from the geyser reaches Diaval's ears. "Diaval? April? Anyone?"

The archer takes one more glance at the Chimera as it dives towards the trees before he looks to the geyser. His stomach twists and he shuffles across the rock face, the soles of his shoes hardly leaving the earth. He lowers himself to his knees and inches to the edge on his stomach, bracing himself against his good arm as he peers inside.

"Diaval?" Destiny asks upon seeing that bright, distinctive hair of his. "What's going on?" she calls.

He swallows, his chin tilting upwards enough for him to see that the Chimera is flying back towards the peak, screeching. "Uh...flying the bird?" he suggests in a mumble, glancing down at the group again.

"Dude, what? Speak up!" Michelangelo hollers.

Diaval frowns a little and coughs. "They're flying the bird," he repeats, only slightly louder than before.

"WHAT?!" Casey shouts.

"He said that Leo and April are flying the bird, and by that he means the Chimera," Destiny says as her tail lashes to and fro once. She looks up at Diaval and smiles weakly. "Right, Di?"

The boy lifts his good hand and sticks his thumb up, bobbing his head once. Before any further conversation can come from either side, there's a bloodcurdling shriek of terror from above and Diaval's head snaps up to see the Chimera plummeting directly towards him, a gust of wind blasting his shaggy bangs backwards.

"WATCH OUT!" April's voice pierces the din.

There's a earthshaking jolt as the Chimera plunges face-first into the geyser. Leonardo lands on the lip of the hole a second later, holding April carefully. Diaval slowly lifts his head, his bangs flopping back into his face as he stares at the two teens.

Inside the geyser, the five teenagers stare at the dangling head of the Chimera. A second passes before it wakes up, screeching and chomping at the teens. The males dodge the bites, but Destiny clenches her jaw and growls.

"HIYAH!" she shouts, spinning and giving the tri-mutant the hardest kick in the head that she's ever mustered.

Its shrieking cuts off as it goes still, worked into submission. The boys look at Destiny in varying degrees of shock and she crosses her arms as she blows her one streak of black hair out of her eyes.

"That was for bruising me, jerk," she spits.

Although slightly amused, Raphael changes the subject as he glances upwards. "It plugged the hole," he observes.

"That's good, right?" Casey asks.

"No, that's bad," Donatello says, his tone urgent. "The pressure from below has to escape somehow. If the geyser can't erupt, the whole mountain'll explode!"

"Guys!" Leonardo calls from above, shoving the feathery mass out of the way and bracing himself against it. "Move!"

They take turns scrambling up the Chimera's long neck. It shifts a little every now and then, but everyone gets out easily.

Michelangelo pops out of the geyser and grins at Leonardo and April. "Finally! Are we glad to see you guys," he says.

"Yes!" Casey celebrates, wandering over to April. "Thanks Red—"

Donatello shoves him out of the way. "April, your eyes...they're still—"

"Yeah, I can't see anything right now. The creature must be in total darkness," April says. Her fingers brush her head as she purses her lips. "Did someone knock it out?"

"That would've been me," Destiny says, holding her hand up as she crawls out of the hole. Diaval starts to take a step towards her, but stops himself.

Raphael, the last one to emerge from the geyser, moves towards the others with a panic in his stride. "Um, guys, exploding mountain, remember?" he says, gesturing to the plugged geyser. Right on time, the ground starts rumbling.

Destiny morphs into a wolf without missing a beat. "Everyone on my back," she orders.

"What?" more than two mutants ask at once.

"ON MY BACK! NOW!" she roars, her ferocious green eyes blazing like fire as her furry head swings to them like a pendulum.

They're mounted and gripping her jet black fur in just over a second. As the mountain starts to tremble, she takes off down the path, straining to move faster with the work of carrying seven extra people. Most of them are nearly falling off her back and in their attempts to find enough space, Michelangelo ends up nearly piggybacking Raphael's shell and April is crammed onto Casey's lap. Diaval is squished in the very centre of the group, crammed between Leonardo and Donatello. His expression is a mixture of distaste and terror even as he clings to strap of Donatello's shell with the one good hand that he has left.

Parts of the mountain start to break off and tumble down towards them. Destiny strains to run faster even as her back aches and her muscles scream out at her to stop.

"Avalanche!" Leonardo yells.

Destiny keeps going, her breaths growing heavy as her giant paws collide with the ground again and again. Smack, smack, smack, smack. She refuses to slow down.

April gasps as her pupils reappear, instantly latching on Casey's face. "Wait! I can see!" There's a sharp jolt and she clings to the hockey player more even as she keeps grinning. "I can see again!"

"That's great, April! Save it for when I'm not RUNNING FOR OUR LIVES!" Destiny shouts.

The rocks start tumbling behind them, chasing their heels, but the humongous wolf manages to stay just ahead of them. The riders hold each other even tighter as her breaths get more and more ragged. Diaval stares at her rocking head as it bobs in and out of his line of sight, amazed that she isn't tripping over anything.

"Hey Leo!" Casey shrieks. "Do you realize that we're literally riding—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Casey!" Leonardo shouts over his shoulder.

"Des! Hurry!" Donatello screams.

The wolf bites back a snide comment as she launches herself over a small boulder, her eyes locking on a rock overhanging just a few feet away.

As the giant river of rocks and earth catches up with them, Destiny throws herself and her passengers underneath the overhanging. The rocks rumble over top of them and everyone remains pressed against the giant wolf, scared out of their minds as her pounding heartbeat thuds against their ears.

--------

Birds chirp happily, the avalanche having come to a complete stop and the ambience of the forest overtaking the void of silence that it left behind. There's no sign of the mutants and teenage humans in sight.

A squirrel scampers across the rock pile, sniffing and scratching at its ears. There's a low cracking sound from within and the rodent stops, tail twitching and whiskers trembling. After another second, Destiny bursts out of the mess, scaring the little rodent back into the trees as the loosened stones tumble away. The wolf stumbles and pants heavily as she looks back at the gaping hole she left behind, limbs quaking. Everyone else climbs out of the hole, smiles on their faces.

"Yes! Woohoohoohoo!" Michelangelo whoops, batting away a loose stone as he thrusts his fists into the air.

"We did it! We're alive!" Casey grins, hoisting himself onto stable ground.

Destiny collapses onto a large rock, slowly shrinking back into her humanoid shape. She lays on her stomach, her sweaty chest heaving and her curls sticking to her forehead as she lays sprawled over the rock. Her ribs and torso ache even more now, but she hardly notices it due to the burning in her limbs and chest. She lets out a wet, ragged cough.

"Destiny, you were awesome!" Donatello praises as he hops out of the cave cover.

She doesn't respond, not having found her voice yet. She only manages to make her lips twitch into a tiny smile as she raises her hand in a thumbs up sign, eyes shut. Diaval emerges next, one hand gripping his hurt shoulder even though it's in the makeshift shirt sling. He sits down against the nearest boulder, leaning his head back and shutting his eyes as he takes shaky breaths.

Leonardo helps April out of the hole. As she brushes off her clothes, he smiles at her. She looks up and notices the look, arching her eyebrow.

"April...thanks," he says.

"Thanks for what?" she wonders, hooking her thumbs in the belt loops of her shorts.

"I'd still be at the farm if not for you," he continues. "You really inspired me."

"Aw, Leo," she coos. She wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a quick hug, one that he returns.

"You guys were awesome!" Michelangelo laughs, leaping over and high-fiving Leonardo. "It's good to have you back, bro."

"It's good to be back," Leonardo responds.

"Yeah, I mean, if you're not leading, who am I supposed to complain about?" Raphael asks, joining the cluster. He holds his hand out to his brother. They clasp them together and smile lightly at one another.

"But hey, let's not forget to thank our noble steed." Casey chuckles, faking a bow towards a certain wolf girl.

They look to Destiny, who's managed to roll onto her back. Her eyes stay closed as she lays in the sun, the wind rustling the frizzy hairs sticking up from her curls. Donatello notices Diaval resting near her, the turtle lifting his hand slightly and earning the attention of his family.

"I know why Des is injured, but what about Diaval?" he asks.

"He dislocated his shoulder during the first encounter," April explains. "Leo had to pop it back into place."

"Holy shell," Donatello mumbles, running his hand over his head. "Diaval!"

Diaval's eyes snap open as he startles, his shoulder bashing against the rock adjacent to him. He hisses and curls his knees to his bare chest, gripping his shoulder again. Donatello bites back an audible groan of annoyance.

"Hey, calm down," Donatello sighs, walking closer. "We've got to get you home, we've got to ice that shoulder, and I'll check for any tearing in the muscle."

"Mhm..." Diaval mutters, bobbing his head once as he gets to his feet.

"Take it easy," Donatello urges, his hand hovering near the boy's elbow, ready to steady him if he stumbles. The purple-masked turtle eyes his family, jerking his head towards Destiny. "Someone get the other problem child."

"I'm not...a problem child," Destiny calls, her voice a tired drone.

"Okay, you're reckless and he's accident-prone," he retorts without missing a beat, jabbing his thumb towards Diaval. April giggles as Destiny sighs in defeat.

Casey and April catch up to Donatello and Diaval, the group starting to walk home. Leonardo walks to Destiny's side and kneels down, observing her sprawled form. Raphael and Michelangelo wander by behind them, smirking and wiggling their eye-ridges behind Leonardo's shell as they wander off.

"Des, do you think you'll live?" Leonardo asks, poking her cheek and making her face look half-squished.

Her eyes flicker open as she lazily bats his hand away, their fingers tangling in the process. "You guys are really heavy," she mumbles.

He laughs and her lips twitch upwards at the sound. He hooks his arms underneath her body and lifts. Her eyelids drift shut again as she exhales, resting her head against his shoulder as he starts following the others back home.

----------

That evening, after a long shower and some needed patching, the world feels peaceful again. The farmhouse is relatively silent, the light of the lamps inside casting warm patches over the front yard. Every now and then, the sound of the turtles, Casey, or April laughing breaks the stillness. An upstairs bedroom window goes dark as Diaval goes to bed.

Destiny sits underneath one of the many trees surrounding the house, gazing up at the moon with her arms loosely draped over her knees.

The front door creaks open as Leonardo walks outside. He pauses for a moment, taking a deep breath as he watches the wolf girl sitting beneath the trees. He prepares himself, composing his expression as he walks across the nighttime grass towards her.

Her ears swivel towards his footsteps. "Hey Leo," she comments, not looking away from the sky.

"How do you always know it's me?" he wonders.

She smirks and her eyes slide over to him as he sits down next to her. "It's one of my many talents."

He laughs and her attention switches to the moon again as a tiny smile crosses her lips. His laughter fades and he remains silent for a moment. A few crickets chirp nearby, the wind rustles, and he clears his throat. The tendons in Destiny's throat shift as she swallows.

"Listen, Destiny, I'm really sorry about what I said this morning," he starts.

She glances over at him, nodding slightly as her face falls. Her tail flicks and he scoots closer to her, carefully taking her hand in his. She doesn't pull it away, her eyes returning to the stars above her. Still, she's tense.

"I'm really sorry, Destiny. I was a complete jerk to you for no reason," he continues. He chuckles softly and rubs the back of his neck. "Really, I don't know w—"

"I don't..." Destiny starts, her voice wavering as if it's about to break. He stops mid-word, reluctantly shutting his mouth. Her pointed teeth glint in the pale moonlight as she plods through her words. "I...I'm not pretending to care," she whispers out, her face gaining colour and moisture building at the corners of her eyes. She pulls her hand from his. "I don't want you to think that I don't care ever again, because it's never going to be true."

"I know, I just...sometimes I think..." He bites his lip, every word getting stuck in his throat. He dips his head towards her. "When I think about you, my mind doesn't always...put me in the best place. I'm sorry."

Her green eyes meet his blue and he feels his heart rate pick up. Her lips are still tugged downwards as a tear escapes and trickles down the edge of her nose and whenever a breeze blows, the little fly-aways and curls in her hair rustle and brush across her face. Her eyes don't leave his. He almost says everything that he's wanted to say since Christmas, but his lips stay sealed and his vocal chords don't move.

"I forgive you," she says, turning away from him.

He reaches over and brushes a tear from her cheek, feeling her flinch beneath his touch. "I didn't mean to make you cry, Des, I—"

"I'm not crying because of you," she snaps, making him jerk his hand back. She rubs her face free of tears and hastily dries her hands against her jeans as she coughs. "My back still aches...and my ribs hurt. I'm in a lot of p-pain."

Her jaw clenches and she balls her hands into tight fists on her lap. Leonardo says nothing. She lets out a long breath and tilts her head back, watching the pin-pricked sky so intently and with so little motion that Leonardo can see the stars reflecting back in the pools of her eyes. It makes her look thoughtful, distant, unreachable, and Leonardo is hesitant to try and bring her back from whatever is going on inside that confusing little head of hers.

"Did you have fun with April and Diaval?" she asks, her tone bland and void of a spark. "It must've been an adventure."

He shuts his eyes, hugging his knees to his plastron and resting his chin against his kneepads. "Typical. If we talk nowadays, Diaval must be the topic of conversation," he grumbles.

Her head snaps to him, eyes wide and glowing slightly in the dark. "Maybe I keep bringing him up because I'm trying to understand, you ever thought about that, Leo?"

"No, I haven't. I don't like thinking about him."

"I just want to know why all of you hate him so much," she continues, earning a low groan from Leonardo. "Diaval won't tell me. No one in the house will tell me. I just want...to know."

"He doesn't deserve your forgiveness."

"I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"That wasn't your fault! He made you do it!"

"He was Shredder's puppet, just like I was!"

While managing to stay off their feet, they're still on their knees and nearly facing one another. Leonardo fumes, his words sharp-tongued and his arms unmoving. Destiny feels as though steam may explode from all four of her ears and whenever she speaks, her hands wave and flail to emphasize how she's feeling.

"I don't have to like him. There's no rule that says that I have to be his friend," Leonardo snaps.

"I'm not asking you to like him or be his friend!" Destiny retorts.

"It seems like you are."

"You don't have to like someone to give them respect or, I don't know, common decency?"

"You know what?" He lifts his hand, jerking his head away from her. "I'm done with this conversation," he decides as he begins to stand up. "I don't want to hear you defend him when he's done nothing to deserve—"

"Leo!" Destiny lunges and grabs his wrist as the turtle gets to his full height. Her fingers slip to his hand as she droops her head, her breaths shaking. "Please don't walk away like this," she pleads. "Leaving angry isn't going to do any good."

"I'm done arguing with you," he says, his fingers tightening gently. "I came out here to talk to you, to spend time with you, but...we can never do that anymore." He looks down at her as her hand slips from his. "I just want it back to the way it was before," he admits as his voice drops in volume. "Maybe I want to talk about how much I miss Splinter. Maybe I want to watch a movie with you or help you with your uchigatana, but all you can do is focus on Diaval. Talk to Diaval, help Diaval with whatever he injured himself with, blah Diaval blah. I don't like it! I don't like it because I used to be the one who you talked to and spent time with, but now—"

"Leo." Destiny stands up, her hand fluttering towards him but halting. "That was the past," she whispers. "I don't like it either, but things have changed. Diaval, he's carrying some of the same baggage that I am, and maybe that's made me selfish." She does a long blink and rakes her claws through her hair. "Okay, yeah...it has. He was all I had when all I wanted was to go home to you. But...you know I—"

"Don't tell me again," he says, meeting her gaze. "I don't want to hear it again. It still hurts."

She doesn't break the stare for a few seconds. Then, she steps closer to his side and intertwines her fingers with his. She gestures to the sky with a smooth jolt of her head, making his eyes travel to the moon.

"Okay," she murmurs. She gazes at the same moon. "I'll stand here and hold your hand," she says, making his grip tighten around hers. Her lips flicker into a sad smile. "Diaval doesn't like nighttime. He can't see as far and he's more likely to trip and hurt himself. In Saskatchewan, when I couldn't fall asleep, I'd watch the moon and think about how across the country and over the border, you were probably out on a rooftop beneath the same moon." Her head falls to his shoulder and she takes a small breath. "You were the first person I enjoyed the moon with. Every other time, I was alone."

Leonardo's eyes fall shut and he listens to the wind rustling the trees. Destiny's words make him feel warm. They're cheesy, she probably dug them up from something in a book, but the way she says it is so sincere that he can't help but believe her. She wouldn't remember something like that unless she related to it.

"Destiny," he whispers. "Will we ever be enough?"

She's silent for a second before she murmurs out a "yes" that's so soft that it's carried off by the breeze as soon as it escapes her lips.

He tightens his grip on her hand, refusing to open his eyes. A silly part of his heart makes a wish, a wish that somehow the sands of time could turn back. He could wake up with Destiny at his side, Master Splinter alive and well, and New York back to all its chaotic glory.

It's not so, and when he opens his eyes he's still standing beneath a tree, far away from the city he calls home and his father is gone, but Destiny is by his side and there's a gentle pressure of her weight against him. She's not his, no matter how much he longs for it to be, but for now, it's enough. This is enough.