"Alright, here's the alley," Donatello says once they're gathered again. "If we stakeout beneath that water tower, we can rest, get dry, and wait to see if she comes back. Best case scenario, she's just fine and we aren't needed here at all. Worst case..."

"The picture doesn't go back to normal," Leonardo says. "Good plan, Donnie."

The brothers huddle beneath the water tower, finally sheltered from the downpour, and wait. They listen to distant sirens, the sound of vehicles driving across the slick streets below them, the rumbling of thunder, and wait.

Leonardo's eyes drag open as he makes a low snorting noise. He blinks sleepily and looks around, finding that Donatello and Michelangelo have also dosed off. Raphael is perched like a gargoyle at the edge of the water tower, nearly unblinking.

"Raph?" Leonardo whispers.

"Ssh," comes the hushed response. Raphael's finger drifts up to his mouth. "I hear something."

Leonardo moves to his brother's side. They lean forward, straining to listen past the constant rain. Faint, young voices sound from the alleyway accompanied by low growling.

"That thing's ugly as sin, might as well put it out of its misery." This voice is masculine.

A tiny, high-pitched voice sounds next. There's a waver in her tone. "I didn't do anything to you. Leave me alone..."

"You do enough by existing. Come on, boys, let's see how loud a beast can scream."

Leonardo stiffens, his jaw clenching. "Raph, wake the others," he utters, reaching for a katana. "Catch up."

"Leo, what—"

The blue-masked turtle is already running. He skids to the edge of the alley to find a small gang of three young boys, no older than Leonardo, closing in on a very young brunette with eyes that seem to glow in the dark: Destiny. One boy holds a hunting knife and another has a crowbar. The little girl has her fists up, her claws unsheathed, but the terror in her eyes in unmistakeable.

The knife blade glints as one of the boys lunges. Destiny tries to dodge, but her back hits the wall and the knife cuts across her shoulder, making her let out a howling wail. The boy and his friends cackle with sick enjoyment marring their faces, but Destiny isn't done. She swipes her hand at the first boy, catching his cheek with her sharp claws and making him shout.

He touches the bloody cuts, then glares at her. "You little bitch," he snarls.

The boy with the crowbar advances, readying the cruel weapon, and Destiny braces herself. As he swings, she morphs into a wolf and clamps her powerful jaws on the crowbar, engaging in tug of war.

"Get 'er!" urge the boys. "Get 'er good!"

The second boy comes out victorious, wrenching the crowbar from the wolf pup and knocking her over the head. She whimpers, knees giving out as she collapses into the muddy puddles, and he readies for another swing.

This time, a shining blade blocks it. The boy's eyes widen as Leonardo's pure white glare lands on him. With hardly time to breathe, the crowbar is knocked from the boy's hands and the blade is at his throat.

"Leave her alone," Leonardo utters, baring his teeth.

"H-Hey, man, we were just having some fun!" the boy stammers. His friends shift, as if debating whether or not to interfere.

"I think there's better things to do for fun than harming animals and little girls, don't you think?" the turtle hisses. When the boy can only stare, he edges his blade forward. "Answer me!"

"Yeah! Definitely!" he squeaks, his knees starting to knock together. His eyes skim over Leonardo as fear mingles with confusion. "W-What the heck are you, a-anyways?"

"Not important. Run back to your parents now, or else you'll be dealing with a lot more than just my blade."

There's a flash of lightning as Leonardo jerks his head upwards. The three street thugs look up to find three more dark shapes staring down at them from the fire escape, all with cruel white eyes. The boys don't hesitate to flee, abandoning their knife and crowbar in their haste.

Leonardo exhales and sheathes his katana. He turns around and flashes a thumbs up to his brothers, earning the same signal in return. A soft groan sounds from the ground as little Destiny returns to her human form. Leonardo gasps and leaps into the nearest patch of shadow, obscuring himself on the fire escape next to his brothers.

Destiny stands, clutching her arm, and slowly turns to where she saw her mystery saviour disappear. Her little black ears swivel as her sopping multicoloured curls cling to her pale, unscarred face. Her wide, childlike eyes stare with hardly a blink.

"H-Hello?" she calls, shivering with cold.

Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo all stare at Leonardo, making him purse his lips. "Uh...hello," he responds from the darkness.

Her hand tightens against her arm. "Who are you?" she asks, daring a step closer as her little claws unsheathe and she raises her free arm, fangs glinting. "I-If you're gonna steal from me, I'll stop you! I've done it before!"

"I'm not going to take anything from you," Leonardo says softly. "I just wanted to help."

She blinks a few times as her hand lowers. "You...you wanted to help?" she echoes. "But...I'm a monster. Nobody wants to help a freak. They're all too scared."

He almost shakes his head, but then he remembers that he's nearly invisible to her. "I'm not scared of you." he says instead. "I'm a mutant too."

Her youthful face seems to brighten. "Really?"

Leonardo inches down the fire escape and lands on the ground. He moves closer to where the moonlight breaks the shadows and extends his hand so that she can see his arm, his skin.

Her gaze floods with awe as she reaches out and places her little palm on his. His heart clenches as if a fist has surrounded it. Her arms are free of scars and there's a curious light in her eyes that, in his own time, have hardened with the weight of the past.

"Yes, there's more mutants," he murmurs. "You're not alone."

Destiny's hand surrounds one of his fingers as she looks up at the dark fire escape. "Well...if you aren't scared, your friends must be," she mumbles.

"No way! They think you're great! They're just..." He eyes them for a moment. "...shy."

"Oh..."

She doesn't let go of his hand and if he's being honest, he's okay with it. It gives him a reason to stay a little longer. He longs to pull her into a tight hug and keep her warm and safe. He wants to find her and Diaval and bring them to someplace where their lives won't be wrought with misery, but he doesn't do anything. He pulls his hand from hers and allows the darkness to swallow him back up.

"We have to go," he whispers. Donatello nudges him, handing him a small roll of bandages that the blue-masked turtle instantly tosses to Destiny. "Take these and bandage yourself up. Maybe leave this area of town. It's not safe."

"Wait, I have to thank you," Destiny says as she clutches the bandages close. "I want to know your name. I'm Destiny...if you want to know. My friend from TCRI, Subject, helped me name myself."

He gulps. Could it mess things up in the future if he tells her? Can he hope that her mind wipe at seven years old will erase all memory of this meeting? He looks at his brothers, who nod and shrug in response. Leonardo turns back to Destiny and opens his mouth to introduce himself, but a clap of thunder sounds and masks his words.

"Lee?" Destiny asks.

"We have to go," Raphael urges softly, grasping Leonardo's bicep. "Come on."

"Bye, Destiny," Leonardo says before following after his brothers.

"But..." Destiny starts, but they're already leaving. Her tail and ears droop. "I just wondered..." She sighs heavily as the shapes disappear over the rooftop. "If I'll ever see you again..."

The turtles don't stop running, their breaths coming out in little puffs. A high-pitched ringing sounds and a white window opens in the sky before them. The brothers run at full speed and leap into the doorway, which snaps shut behind them without leaving a trace that they were ever there.

----------

"Okay, one more time," Destiny breathes. Her claws are unsheathed and any trace of calm has evaporated from her features. "You. Lost. The turtles?!"

Renet clutches her sceptre protectively, a sheepish smile on her face. "Uh, not exactly, I mean—"

"HOW IN THE SHELL DOES THAT HAPPEN?!" Destiny bellows. "YOU LOST—"

"Destiny, stop," Diaval speaks. The wolf turns to him as he bows his head, biting his lip. "I...did it. Messed with sceptre and sent 'em away. Learned from Renet."

Destiny's wide eyes land on the assistant Time Master and she smiles warily. "He's got magical potential," Renet says. "We spent a lot of time together, so I thought I'd show him the ropes."

"You...what?!" Destiny's mouth falls open. "Diaval, do you realize what you could've done? It took you six months to find us after the Japan incident, this could—"

"Sent 'em to 2002," Diaval interrupts. His guilty look grows as he tugs at his cloak. "Wanted to show 'em what life was like for...m-me, but didn't know how. Hope that they see."

"Your life..." Destiny stops. It's like you can see the wheels in her head spinning as she tries to figure out the basic math. "So you were, what, nine? What does—"

She gets interrupted for the umpteenth time as the Time Sceptre starts glowing. A time window opens up above them and from it comes the four turtles. The boys are on their feet in an instant, spinning around in an attempt to figure out whether this New York is actually their New York.

"Turtle Warriors!" Renet calls.

Michelangelo stops pivoting around long enough to notice them. "Dudes!" he squeals.

Destiny exhales with relief and her tail starts wagging as he hurries towards the turtles. "Guys! Oh, you're okay!" she says.

Leonardo greets her with a tight hug, burying his face in her shoulder. She stiffens up and blinks a few times as she hesitantly returns the embrace.

"Leo...what—" She chuckles lightly. "What happened to you guys?"

He shakes his head and hugs her closer, still not looking her directly in the face. "Nothing...it was nothing," he says. "I just missed you."

Destiny glances at Raphael from over Leonardo's shoulder. Raphael sighs. "I'm just done with time travel," he mutters.

When nobody says anything further, Renet clears her throat. "I think it's time for me to go," she says, readying her sceptre as she heads to the edge of the building.

"Will we ever see you again, Renet?" Michelangelo asks.

"Let's hope not," Raphael grunts.

Michelangelo growls, but Renet ignores the snide comment and says, "Maybe some day, Michelangelo." She kisses his cheek, making him swoon, and she opens a new time window. She flies towards it, waving. "Goodbye, Mutant Warriors. See you in history!"

The window closes and the mutants are finally left alone on the same rooftop where they were first left. Leonardo finally releases Destiny and she arches an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure it was nothing?" she asks. Her pupils dart to Diaval.

"Um..." Leonardo starts.

"Dinosaurs! Lots of dinosaurs!" Donatello suggests.

"Diaval, dude," Michelangelo says, distracting Destiny from Leonardo. The orange-masked turtle walks to Diaval, staring up at him with a gentle, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry for being mean to you and stuff. I didn't know."

Diaval's expression slackens and his lip lifts just a little at the side. "It worked," he breathes. "You know."

"What worked?" Donatello asks.

"Diaval is the one who messed with the Time Sceptre and sent you back to 2002," Destiny says. Leonardo's eyes widen. "He hoped that you guys would find something out about his past and maybe understand why he's...him." When the turtles keep staring at Diaval, Destiny smirks. "Nice try, lying about it though. Dinosaurs...I almost believed it."

Donatello sighs and rubs the back of his neck. He shuffles over to Diaval, slightly downcast. "We did see you over there, and...let me just say, I'm sorry too. If I had known that you—"

"Rather not talk 'bout it," Diaval admits. He glances at Destiny for a split second. "You know now. That's good enough."

"Fine, if that's all settled, can we go home?" Raphael asks. "I need pizza and a long nap."

"Same, bro," Michelangelo agrees.

The group of ragtag teenagers heads for the lair. Leonardo trails alongside Destiny, unable to focus on anything for too long. She notices his weird behaviour and, once they're in the sewer tunnels, she slips to his side and confronts him.

"Seriously, you're creeping me out, Leo," she says.

"Des," Leonardo says, meeting her eyes. "Do you remember anything from before you were seven? Like...people you met?"

She purses her lips, her gaze moving to the path ahead of them. "No, I don't. I've told you before."

"Not even a sliver?"

She sighs. "My earliest memory is a young voice saying my name. After that, it's all in pieces. Soft, jagged Shakespeare, a wrinkled hand resting between my ears, children talking over elementary school homework, a strange man hidden in shadow, a man in a suit..." She stops. "Bits and pieces, Leo. No names, no faces. I'm sorry." Leonardo says nothing and she glances sideways at him. "Why do you ask?"

"Diaval was nine when we saw him. That meant we were five," Leonardo says. It's easier for him to say it without faltering, since only some of his words are lies. "I kept wondering whether you had ever crossed his path and maybe you just don't remember."

She exhales. "Yeah, maybe," she agrees. She bumps her shoulder with his and for a moment, he expects her to wince and grasp a knife cut before remembering that she's ten years older than the her that he just met. "Too bad we'll never know, right?"

He sighs and reaches for her hand, enveloping it in his grip, and he feels at peace when she doesn't pull away. "Yeah, it's too bad."