"Okay, favorite movie... go!" Mikey stated, looking at the rest of the teens gathered in the living room.

"Space Heroes: The Dauntless Voyage." Leonardo cited off quickly.

Shelby's eyebrows furrowed. "Do direct-to-video movies count?"

"Uh, we don't even know what that means." Raph countered.

"Means the movie never played in theaters."

"Yeah, like we've ever been to a movie theater." Raph grumbled.

"Okay, so we'll count it." Shelby stated. "Yours, Raph?"

He scoffed. "Easy. Taken."

Shelby blinked. "Well, that's dark."

"Oh, yeah? What about you, Bradford? Since you feel the need to comment on everyone else's movie." Raph stated.

Shelby jaw clenched subconsciously at that name. "Hunger Games."

Raph let out a sharp laugh. "Yeah, mine's the dark one."

"Hey, guys!" April's voice echoed off the walls, interrupting the group discussion. Shelby and the others turned their attention to the entrance, where April was leading Casey through the turnstiles. "Look who I brought!"

Seeing Casey seemed to instantly brighten the mood. "Casey!" Raph shouted in greeting, pushing himself up off the couch and running towards the entrance. Shelby found herself following close behind. "They let your sorry butt out of the hospital?"

They fist bumped as Casey smiled. "No one can contain the gut-punching might of Casey Jones." April rolled her eyes at that comment.

Casey turned to Shelby. "Hey, Small Fry. Red told me that you saved me from becoming a scorpion-kabob back in Philly."

Shelby smiled, grabbing the elbow of her opposite arm. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Casey laughed, holding out his fist for a fist bump. Shelby obliged. "Exactly."

"I know exactly how to celebrate Casey's being back." Raph flung his arm around Casey's shoulders as he turned to Leonardo, who had now joined the group with Michelangelo. "A patrol!"

"Whoa, Raph. Let's not get too crazy." Leo said as he held his hands up. "I doubt Casey's ready for a patrol if he just got out of the hospital."

"No, he isn't." April gave Casey a warning glare, causing him to chuckle and avert his eyes.

"But we should head out on a patrol." Leo stated. "Mikey, go let Donnie know."

"On it, captain!" Mikey yelled as he sped off towards the lab.

"Casey, April, you're welcomed to hang here with Monica and Shelby until we get back." Leo continued.

Shelby eyes instantly locked with Leo's as her brows furrowed. "I'm... not going with you? What happened to letting me go on patrols? Did I not do well in Philadelphia?"

"No, you did great in Philadelphia. Amazing, actually. But-" Leo's rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes darting away from Shelby's as he struggled to find the right words, "we're a little wary about letting you out of the lair until we infiltrate the Foot Clan Headquarters and find out their plans for this new mind serum."

Shelby stared at Leo with wide eyes, before they narrowed and turned into a frown. "I guess it's crazy how quickly trust can be lost, even when you haven't done anything wrong." She growled.

"This isn't punishment, it's a precaution." Leo stated slowly.

"Oh come on, let's not pretend she didn't have a complete freak out while meditating yesterday." Raph rolled his eyes. "You're too much of a risk right now, Bradford. You're benched."

Shelby's glare didn't waver as it locked onto the Raph, the air in the vicinity dropping like a rollercoaster speeding down hill. "That's rich, coming from you, hothead."

A fire lit in Raph's eyes, and it looked like he was ready to take a swing at a quickly destabilizing Shelby when Casey stepped in. "Whoa, whoa, whoa." Casey said slowly, placing himself between Raph and Shelby with a casual smile pulling his lips. "No need for name calling. Obviously, Shelby's just too shy to admit how badly she wants to hang out with Red and I." Casey chided.

"What's going on?" Donnie asked as he and Mikey approached. They instantly shivered, crossing their arms over their plastrons as the cold hit them.

"Shelbs? Are you okay?" Mikey asked.

"Just fine." Shelby grumbled. Mikey's presence seemed to bring Shelby down a bit- the temperature rose just enough for everyone's teeth to stop chattering. She turned on her heels and stormed away, ignoring Mikey, Casey, and Leo's calls after her. Her legs brought her to her bedroom, where her blacked nails latched onto the wall paper. She pulled down hard, shredding it as she threw her weight into the assault. Moments later, she found herself on her knees, staring at the torn wallpaper as frost began to form within the claw marks. She took a shaky breath, covering her face with her hands, her fingers locking into her mane of brown curls.

With the knowledge of the Foot Clan furthering their reach on top of their new success with the mind serum, Shelby had begun to doubt herself. The same question the turtles were asking- if Shelby was going to turn on them- also filled Shelby's head. She was terrified that the trust she had worked six months to build would be gone in an instant. And it seemed that was exactly the case. After just attaining the privilege of going on missions and patrols, Shelby was once again confined to the lair.

Anger boiled in her chest. "Screw that." She muttered. She went to her drawer, grabbing the black dojo clothes and changing. She pulled her hair up and hooked her twin ono into the sheaths on her back before pulling out her tPhone. Even though Mikey and Shelby were pretty much always together, Mikey thought it would be fun if they shared locations. Now Shelby could see exactly were the turtles were- it seemed they were still following the sewer system, likely making their way to the surface.

Shelby shoved her phone into a pocket, quietly opening her door and making her way down the hallway. In the living room, Casey and April sat on the couches- Monica had joined them. Their voices were muted in Shelby's ears, which primarily picked up the blood rushing to her head. Shelby stuck to the wall, staying in the shadows as she crept past of the living room, climbing quietly over the turnstiles, and then exiting into the sewers.

A brisk wind slammed against Shelby's body, but to her, it was nothing. She quickly located a fire escape in the alleyway she had emerged in and scaled the building, making it to the rooftop. In her human form, she couldn't track the turtles- her sense of smell wasn't as fine tuned if she wasn't a wolf. And her ears were absolutely overwhelmed with the noise of the city. She would once again have to rely on her phone as she tracked the turtles location, slowly gaining on them as they headed towards Chinatown.

They were faster than Shelby when she was just a human, but for some reason, they were slowing down- stopping at Mr. Murakami's, perhaps? Either way, Shelby was grateful as she leapt from one rooftop to another, inching closer and closer to the ping of Michelangelo's phone.

About 20 minutes in, she began to pick their voices out of the sounds of the night. She quickly put away her phone, relying on Mikey and Raph's lack of volume control to guide her towards them. Of course, Shelby didn't want the turtles to know she was patrolling against their wishes; her goal was to be there in the case of an emergency. And if she just so happen to overhear them discussing the future Foot Clan infiltration mission, well, that would be a plus.

"I do kind of feel bad." She heard Donnie say as she peered over the peak of a rooftop, staring at the shells of the turtles, who were all standing near the edge of the roof. It looked like they were taking a break to discuss something serious. "I mean, my notes show no change in Shelby's cells. It's not like she's going to suddenly switch sides and attack us."

Oh, so Shelby was the serious subject. Her nails dug into the panelling of the roof as she listened intently, the bustle of the night fading into the background.

"I mean, she switched up on the Foot." Raph muttered.

"Because she knew they were the bad guys." Mikey stated, shooting a glare at his brother.

"Guys, I don't think Shelby's suddenly going to turn evil." Leo clarified. "But let's look at the whole situation. Shelby was mutated with the intention of being mind-controlled by the Shredder. And he was pretty upset when it didn't work because Shelby turned into a very powerful mutant who fought on our side. Now that he's got a working mind-control serum, it only makes sense that he'd try to get her back."

"Right, because it's way easier to take us out if she's not fighting for us." Donnie added.

"And because it's way easier to take us out if she's the one doing it." Raph grumbled. "So if there's no possibility of her just turning to Shredder's side out of the blue, why did she have a freak out yesterday? She seemed more on edge than usual. And that girl is always on edge."

"My guess is probably nerves." Donnie answered. "I mean, Shelby's not an idiot. She's probably already put all these pieces together and is just too nervous to say anything."

"Why would she be nervous?" Mikey inquired, his lips pulling into a deep frown.

"Well, we have only known her for six months and she doesn't have the best past when it comes to being surrounded by understanding individuals. My guess is that she's scared that we're going to realize that the Shredder's coming for her and abandon her like her family did."

Shelby stared at Donatello, dumbfounded. How... wasn't he a chemist? Why was he psychoanalyzing her?

"Holy chapula, I didn't even think of that!" Mikey exclaimed, wrapping his around his temples.

"Big surprise." Raph chided.

"I- I should call her." Mikey grabbed out his tPhone. "She's probably sitting in her room thinking we all hate her!"

Shelby was touched by Mikey's words- until she realized what was happening. Her reaction was too late, and the call from Mikey's end rang through loudly before Shelby could silence her phone.

Shelby's gaze snapped up to see all four turtles' eyes locked on her, all their mouths agape. Shelby slowly brought her phone up to her ear. "Hey."

"Hey." Mikey muttered into his phone.

"I'm gonna have to get back to you later." She whispered.