Donnie screamed as his foot landed on empty space, his arms waving out for something to grab but finding nothing. He opened his eyes to no avail, seeing only a blur of the environment around him, then nothing as he smacked into the ground, a sharp stab onto his lower plastron.

Was he on... stairs?

"Donnie! Are you okay?!" Leo shouted through the portal.

Donnie dragged his hands under himself and pushed up, blinking, then sighed in relief.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he replied, forcing himself up onto his feet. He rubbed his head and let out a small "Ow..." before turning back to the portal. He stuck his head and arm through, waving the others in.

Retreating from the portal and going down the stairs that they often used as a couch, Donnie took note that Raph was first in line to head through. As soon as he heard the "Woah-!" from Raph, he called out, "Oh yeah, and watch your step."

Within a second, Raph had hit Donnie on the head and growled, "You did that on purpose, you little-"

"Woah, this is your guys' lair?" Nardo said aloud, stepping down from the portal.

"Huh?" Donnie said, turning around. "Oh, yeah. Pretty small compared to yours, though, I'll admit."

"It's still really cool, though," Mikey bragged. "We each got our own room and we have a training dojo, too. Donnie's lab is also connected to the surface so we can go out in the-"

"Yes, thank you, that's enough, Mikey," Donnie cut him off, then laughed as he turned to Tello. "My lab isn't anything special, really."

Tello raised a brow at Donnie in doubt.

"Uh, wait a second," Rael said, the turtles all turning to look at him. He was still in front of the portal, having only moved down a few steps. "Where are your guys' April and Casey?"

They all looked at each other and around the main room of the lair before Donnie got his phone out. "Here, I'll call them."

They all watched in anticipation as Donnie tapped his phone a few times, then held it up to his head.

There was a moment's pause before Donnie spoke. "Hey, April! Where are you guys?"

"Where are we? Where are YOU?! We've been waiting for over an HOUR since you last called us!"

"We had to figure some things out, okay? It's not our fault!" Donnie protested, then sighed. "Just- we have a portal to the lair. We need you guys here soon, before the portal closes. Hurry, please."

"Alright, we'll be there soon," April replied, obviously annoyed. "Bye, Donnie."

"Bye, April. Oh- and bye, Casey. If he's with you, of course."

April hung up before Casey or she could say anything in response. Donnie looked directly at Tello. "I said goodbye to Casey that time, too."

Tello rolled his eyes. "Yes, Donatello, I heard."

"Where are they, Donnie?" Leo asked, stepping towards his brother.

"I'm not sure, she didn't tell me. But they should be here soon."

"Good," Nardo replied, "because this thing isn't gonna stay open much longer."

Donnie looked at Nardo, who was holding his ōdachis in the portal, pushing one against the top of the portal and the other against the bottom. It was a struggle between him and the portal, but he was currently winning.

"Here, let me help," Mikey bounced over to Nardo and took the bottom sword, pushing down with both hands. Nardo switched his left hand up to his other ōdachi and grinned down at Mikey.

"Thanks, hermano," he said.

"What's an ermainoh?" Mikey asked. He butchered the pronunciation and earned a laugh from Nardo.

"It's Spanish for brother," he answered.

"Ohh."

The other six decided to sit on the sofa-stairs-thing and just hang out until the humans got there. Luckily, it was only a few minutes after that they did.

"Hey, gu- woah," April had started cheerily, walking into the lair, before suddenly stopping when she saw the new turtles.

Casey followed her closely before he stopped and stared as well.

Rael waved shyly at them, smiling,

Donnie bounced up and headed towards them, going in for a hug with his crush. "April!"

"And Casey," Tello called, looking down at his phone. He groaned and held his phone up. "Do you guys not have any wifi down here?"

"What's a wifi?" Leo asked. When Tello looked at his face to see if he was serious, he realized that, unfortunately, he was.

"Oh, god..." Tello whispered, face contorted in disgust, Leo and Raph staring at him questioningly.

"Who the heck are you guys?" Casey asked, stepping down the stairs.

"I'm Leonardo," Nardo replied, eyes glued to the portal. He was struggling even more now. "But they call me Nardo, since he's Leo." Nardo nodded towards the other blue turtle.

Casey's head nodded up slightly in a silent "Oh."

"I'm Michelangelo, but it's Angelo for short," Angelo said, sitting next to Rael, who was next to Tello.

"I'm guessing those two are also Raphael and Donatello, then?" April said, appearing next to Casey and crossing her arms.

"Yeah, but you can call me Rael, and he's Tello." Tello raised his arm slightly in a wave, still staring down at his phone.

"So you're all... them? But... not? Them?" Casey tried, pointing between the general direction of the Rise turtles and his turtles.

Donnie, standing next to April, decided to explain for him. "They're from an alternate universe. Basically, it has the same us-es, but with different personalities, appearances, and in some cases, roles."

"And yes, we have an April and a Casey," Angelo cut in, seeing Casey's mouth open with a question. He closed his mouth.

"Well, we technically have two Casey's now," Rael added. "Cassandra Jones, who is from our time, and Casey Jones, her son, who's from the future. He came back to try and stop the Kraang from taking over the world."

"Spoiler alert: we stopped them," Nardo called, pride filling his voice.

"Woah," Casey said, wonder in his voice. "Nice! You guys look a lot cooler than our turtles."

"Rude," Leo said, offended.

"No, it's kind of true," Donnie said. "They're each their own species of turtle."

"Angelo's a box turtle," Mikey supplied, now using his knee to hold the ōdachi down.

"And I'm a red-eared slider," Nardo said through his teeth.

"Rael's a snapping turtle," Leo finished, "and Tello here is a... what are you again?"

"I'm a softshell, Leonardo," Tello replied dryly, glancing up at the blue turtle before returning to his phone.

"Yeah, what he said," Leo added.

"So you're all different species of turtle, right? How are you brothers, then?" Casey asked.

"Well, we got our human DNA from Splinter," Rael said. "But he was human at the time."

"We're technically half-brothers," Angelo added. "Or... third-brothers?"

"It is a special case since we have two dads. One is Splinter while the other is our turtle fathers. Based on basic biology, we needed both a female and male parent to be created as turtles before we were mutated via Splinter's DNA," Tello explained. He had finally given up on his phone and was now leaning forward on the couch-stairs-thing, using his hands to provide a visual example. He normally did this for Angelo, since Angelo learned easier when there was a visual helper, but he did it for Mikey as well now.

"Wait, do you guys have three parents then, too?" April asked, turning to the other turtles.

"Probably," Raph shrugged.

"We haven't really thought about it," Mikey continued.

"It's not like we'd be able to communicate with them even if we did find them," Leo added.

"That's true, but we also do have a way to communicate certain things," Donnie started. "Remember when that sea monster wanted to, uh... y'know, mate with our sub?"

Leo and Raph shuddered as Mikey laughed. "Oh, yeah! I remember that."

"That was traumatizing," Leo murmured.

"We obviously understand calls like that, so maybe we'd be able to understand what turtles say," Donnie finished.

"If we could even figure out what kind of turtles we are," Raph said.

"Ah, that's true," Donnie muttered, holding his fist up to his chin in thought. "I'd have to perform some tests to-"

"OR we could go back through this darn portal!" Nardo called.

"Oh, right!" Donnie said. "Yeah, let's go back. We only came here to get you guys."

"Wait, go back to where?" April asked.

"To our lair," Rael replied, standing up. Angelo and Tello followed, then waited for the other two to stand.

April and Casey stared at him in confusion.

Rael sighed. "Just- come on, go through the portal."

Donnie smiled at April, who then sighed. "Alright, but if we get kidnapped and/or killed, it's YOUR head, uh..."

"Rael," the snapping turtle supplied.

"Yeah, Rael," April finished. "Sorry."

"Just hurry up, guys!" Mikey called. "We can't keep this open much longer, it's getting really hard to hold!"

"We're coming," Leo answered, then hurried through. Nardo and Mikey had to shuffle over to the side to allow Leo to duck through, noticing that the portal had shrunk a few inches.

The other turtles waited for Leo to answer out of habit.

"What are you waiting for, guys? Come on!" came Leo's voice, which kicked them all into motion.

First went Rael, who was closest. Then was Raph, Tello, Angelo, Casey, April, Donnie, and finally Mikey and Nardo. It was awkward to get through, but Nardo made sure Rael was holding the portal open on the other side before he and Mikey let go to hop through themselves.

As they landed, Rael lifted his arm up to let them through, then made sure they all had everything before letting the portal snap shut.

Nardo let out a vocalized breath of relief. Just then, Sheldon appeared in the room, fluttering right in front of Casey and April.

"Aww," Casey cooed, tapping Sheldon's face with his finger. "Did you make this little guy, Tello?"

"Facial features unrecognized," Sheldon droned. "Preparing defense mechanisms."

"Oh crAP NONONO SHELDON STOP!" Tello yelled, jumping in front of Sheldon's whole ass arsenal he had just pulled from the walls. "THEY ARE FRIENDS, SHELDON! FRIENDS!"

"But Donnie, they are not on the list," Sheldon inquired, tilting his head slightly.

"We were working on it," Tello said, calmer now. "Look, let me put them on the list, okay?"

(HELP MY TEACHER ASKED WHAT I WAS WRITING...)

Sheldon paused and watched as Tello quickly scanned Casey and April's faces, adding them to the safe list.

"Try it again, Sheldon."

Sheldon beeped and scanned the two, both of them nervous that they were going to get more guns pointed at them.

Then, Sheldon swerved back to Tello, who was standing a foot away from Casey. "Facial features recognized."

Tello, Casey, and April sighed in relief, a few of the other turtles doing so as well. "Go back onto your charger so you don't drain too much battery."

"Roger that, Donnie!" Sheldon chirped. "See you later, dudes."

The drone buzzed away, swirling around the lair until he reached the lab, where he set himself onto his charger and fell asleep.

"Well, now you won't be obliterated," Tello turned to the humans, both still terrified from the previous experience.

"Yay," Raph said sarcastically, arms crossed. "Now we have more annoyances in the lair."

"Oh, shut it, Raph," Donnie snapped, then turned to April. "You're not annoying, don't listen to him."

"Yeah, right," Raph mumbled to Leo, who stifled a laugh.

"Guys, can we just, like," Angelo started, "do something? I'm kinda bored."

"Oh, sure, Mikey," Nardo said. "Er, Angelo. Sorry, usually D- Tello's the one to call you that."

Angelo waved him off. "Nah, it's fine. I'm still getting used to the nicknames as well."

"It's difficult when we've known each other as our main nicknames for so long," Rael added, then glanced at the turtle who stole his name. "We don't mind, though; it helps to keep confusion low."

"I still respond if I hear Leo," Nardo laughed.

"I think we all will for a while," Tello replied. "It's only natural."

"Nicknames aside, can we go hang out again?" Mikey asked Angelo. "I wanna keep skateboarding on that awesome ramp."

"Well, I think we should try to find April and Casey," Nardo said, then paused as the alternate April and Casey looked at him. "Uh, our April and Casey. Sorry."

Casey shrugged. "No biggie. You guys should call me, like, Case or something."

"Or Cassandra, since you liked being a girl so much," Raph teased.

"No, not Cassandra," Angelo said. Our Casey's mom is named Cassandra."

"Wait, my mom is your friend?" Casey asked.

"No, our Casey is from the future," Rael replied. "And Cass is from this time."

"So why did he come to the present?" April asked. "Or, the past, for him?"

"Angelo sacrificed himself to make a portal to get him here, to try and stop the Kraang from taking over the world," Nardo answered.

"Wait, you can make portals, too?" Mikey cried excitedly.

"Yeah, but it hurts my hands. And I have tremors from when I saved Nardo." Angelo glanced down at his hands as they shook slightly.

"That's still super cool," Mikey grinned.

"Where are your Casey and April, anyways?" Donnie glanced around, expecting the two to jump out of the shadows suddenly.

"Probably sleeping at April's house," Tello replied. "Casey has been staying with April and her parents since we saved the world."

"So let's go to April's house," Raph suggested, his voice matter-of-fact.

"We can't," Rael protested. "She's sleeping right now."

"Plus, if her parents catch us, we're dead," Nardo added.

"I thought she liked girls?" Raph inquired. "I don't think her parents would worry too much about guy friends being in her room."

"Yeah, but if you randomly saw some alien mix between a turtle and a human in your daughter's bedroom, wouldn't you flip out?"

Raph thought for a moment, then nodded. "Fair point."

"Look, let's just get some rest, then we can talk to April tomorrow," Rael said. "She already knows about this whole alternate universe thing, so she probably won't flip out about seeing an alternate her and Casey. Even if alternate her is a ginger white girl."

"Is alternate me... not a ginger white girl?" April asked cautiously.

"No, she's African American," Angelo replied cheerily. "Casey's white, though, I think."

"He's Asian, I think," Nardo corrected. "At least, that's what Cass is. I don't know who his dad is, so I'm not sure if he's full Asian or has another ethnicity there."

"Either way, they should be cool with you guys," Rael said. "Right, Tello?"

Tello hummed, leaning on the wall and staring down at his phone.

Rael sighed. "I think we're all tired. So let's buddy up again, I guess, and head to bed. We'll all have to make beds for you guys, though," he motioned towards the 2012 turtles.

"What about us?" Casey asked. "We don't have any... other-uses to partner up with."

"Uh," Rael glanced at his brothers.

"Casey can sleep with Mikey and I," Angelo offered.

*cutely writes during PE instead of actually doing any of my homework*

"Aw, man," Mikey muttered.

"Ow," Casey said.

"April, you can sleep in the lab," Donnie offered. "Uh, if that's okay with you, Tello."

Tello held up a weak thumb and Donnie turned back to April.

"Uh, sure! I hope his lab has a lot of blankets, though, cause it's cold in here." April gripped her biceps and glanced around. "Is it usually this cold?"

"Yeah, you get used to it," Nardo replied dismissively. "Anyways, we've got some extra blankets and stuff in the med bay, so you guys can go scavenge for them."

"Sounds good," Donnie said.

"I'm going to the lab. Donnie, you can take care of yourself and April, I assume?"

"Yeah, we'll be alright. Angelo can help us if we need anything."

"Welp, Raph and I will head to my room," Rael cut in. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Bye, losers," Raph said teasingly, then grinned as Mikey frowned at him.

The two left, and then Nardo stretched. "Leo and I will go now, too."

"We'll have to get some more blankets from the med bay though, won't we?" Leo asked.

"Oh, yeah, you're right," Nardo replied, pointing at Leo. "We'll go get stuff from the med bay and THEN we'll head to my room."

"We'll come with," Mikey offered.

"Will do, hermanito," Nardo grinned and hooked his arm around Mikey's shoulders. The two started walking, Leo close behind, smiling as Mikey poked Nardo in the side.

"You guys comin'?" Angelo called as he jogged to catch up.

Donnie glanced at April and Tello, then at Casey. "Yeah, we're coming!"

The four hurried to follow the others, letting Nardo and Angelo lead the way.

-

Where was he?

Casey sat up and looked around, feeling the rough blankets fall off his body as he did so.

Oh. That's right.

The faint sound of explosions and stomping of machinery filled the room around Casey, making him shudder. He was never going to get used to that, was he?

"Casey!"

Master Leonardo?

But where was he?

"Casey, over here!"

Casey turned and suddenly, he was outside. The air burned his lungs and nose, and he squinted against the harsh light and flashing beams of the Kraang. He pulled his mask down over his face and looked around.

There he was, trapped under a Kraang soldier.

"Master Leonardo!" Casey cried. He gritted his teeth and rushed forward, drawing a metal hockey stick from his back sash, holding it behind him as he prepared to strike. As soon as he was close enough, he slashed at the Kraang's leg, splitting it in two and sending it crashing to the ground, screeching loudly. Casey quickly dropped the stick and helped Leo up. "Are you okay?"

Leo panted heavily, then winced as he touched his abdomen. He slowly moved his hand away to show he was bleeding out.

Casey's eyes widened and he looked at Leo.

"I'm... we need to find Mikey," Leo said firmly, and Casey nodded.

They ran, and ran, and ran. There was Todd, and April, and a few of their other friends still alive. Mostly, everyone was gone. The Kraang was winning the war, and they had taken over most of the world.

Casey knew they didn't have much time left.

Casey blinked, and now, he was watching Mikey rip open a portal.

Casey said something he couldn't hear, then stopped as Mikey turned to him.

He winked.

He was gone.

And then, Casey was thrown through the portal and Leo got shot, a beam falling down and engulfing the turtle, and he was gone.

He was gone.

Casey sat up quickly, gasping in air as he held his chest, eyes darting around the darkened room. Everything looked like a deep blue, but Casey could make out where he was.

It was just April's room.

Casey closed his eyes and breathed deeper, slower, calmer.

"Casey?"

Casey opened his eyes and looked up at the bed, seeing April leaned on the edge, looking down at him. Her hair was in messy pigtails and she had her glasses off. She reached over to the lamp on her bedside table and pulled a string, flicking it on, both of them squinting against the light.

April looked back at Casey. "Are you okay?"

Casey's eyes drifted down to his lap.

April stared at him silently. "Another nightmare about the future?"

Casey nodded quietly.

April sighed and flipped her blanket off, then stood and headed towards her door. Casey's eyes followed her. "Where are you going?"

April stopped, hand on her knob, and turned back to Casey. "I'm going to get you some snacks. Those always seem to help calm you down."

Casey smiled thankfully and stood up. "I'll come with you."

April nodded and opened the door, revealing a hallway. As the two passed her parents' room, April turned and held a finger up to her lips, signaling Casey to be quiet.Casey nodded and they continued, tiptoeing into the kitchen.

April flicked the light on and started to rummage through the cabinets as Casey sat down at the table. Casey had on a dark grey t-shirt and black shorts, April sporting a bright yellow tank top and white pants.

Glancing at Casey, April asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Casey was silent, then shook his head no. "It was the same as every other nightmare."

April looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, 'Pril. It's not your fault."

April grabbed a banana and closed the fridge. "I know, but I just..." She sighed as she handed the banana to Casey. "I feel bad for not saying something like that."

Casey shrugged and started to peel the banana. "You're right, I get that."

He took a bite and April went to the fridge, looking for something to eat herself.

"I just... I don't really know what you're supposed to say after that," Casey mumbled, his mouth full.

"Case, chew with your mouth closed," April called, rolling her eyes. "And finish your bite before you talk."

"Sorry." Casey swallowed the bite and set the banana down on the table. "I said that I don't know what you're supposed to say after that."

"That's why I say 'I'm sorry,'" April replied, then grabbed some leftovers from the night before. She shut the fridge and turned around, heading towards the microwave. "It's a lot easier than trying to be all 'I can't really relate to that like at all but I'm still going to try and comfort you,' and only succeed in making you feel worse."

Casey nodded. "That makes sense."

April shut the microwave, leftovers inside, and set the time to a minute and 30 seconds. She then turned around and leaned back on the counter, hands holding the edges of it, and stared at Casey.

"You're sure you don't want to talk about it? It can make it feel better, not trying to keep it all bottled up."

"Yeah, but thanks," Casey replied. He gave her a smile to show he meant it, which she returned with her own smile.

They were silent for a minute or so before the microwave beeped, April turning around to get it.

She sat down with the spaghetti, not really caring to heat up any sauce, and stabbed into the container with a fork.

"Can I get another banana?" Casey asked her, and April nodded. She wasn't able to reply vocally, since she had already stuffed some pasta into her mouth.

Casey stood up and reached for the large bowl sat in the middle of the table, then grabbed a banana and sat back down.

They ate in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's company. It was all Casey needed, really, was just to be around someone. He hadn't had much time to grieve over casualties in the future, so he figured that he was making up for it now.

Besides that, Casey just really enjoyed spending time with April. It was a little weird, he had to admit, since she was a lot younger than how he knew her, but he liked her nonetheless. It was the main reason he had trouble being around Nardo and Angelo; he spent too much time with them in the future. Tello and Rael were fine, as Casey didn't get to know them too much, but he still felt somewhat separated from the turtles.

With April, though, he felt like he belonged. Maybe it was because she was human; that was Casey's best guess.

Either way, he felt safe around her, and that's why he was staying with her for now.

Casey had overheard April's parents talking about foster care for Casey, but he had asked April to explain the situation to them. Of course, she didn't tell them that Casey was from the future. The story they'd gone with was that Casey's parents had both died- that part was true- and that he had befriended April on the street.

April explained how messed up the foster care system was and how Casey would be better off with them, but her parents didn't have the money to take care of another kid. They were stretching their budget enough taking care of Mayhem.

Casey glanced over at April, who was finishing the last few bites of her spaghetti. Casey felt bad for her parents, honestly. He wasn't trying to mooch off of them or anything, but he truly didn't feel comfortable staying with the turtles. He had nothing against them, but he felt that it would just heighten his chances of having nightmares.

"Are you good to head back to bed now?" April asked, standing up to put her dishes in the sink.

"I think so, yeah," Casey replied, then smiled. April turned to rinse her bowl out, running her fingers over the fork tongs a few times to get excess food bits off. "Thanks for staying up with me."

April set the bowl and fork in the dishwasher and closed it, then wiped her hands on her pants and smiled softly back at Casey. "No problem, Case. Any time."

Casey stood and made sure to toss both banana peels in the garbage, stepping on the lever to open the lid and then following April back to her room.

April had set up a small "sleepover bed" for Casey. She called it a sleepover bed because "It's what people do when they have sleepovers." Casey just called it a fancy bed; multiple fluffy pillows, a few thick blankets on the floor, and a couple soft blankets to use for warmth. Casey had gotten used to hard rock ground and scratchy blankets that barely covered you. He honestly didn't even know what a pillow was before April showed him.

April waited by the door for Casey to head in before she closed the door. She climbed carefully into her bed so she didn't fall onto Casey, who had sat down and was starting to scoot down to a lying position. Once April had gotten onto her bed, she reached over and flicked the lamp off.

"Good night, Casey," she called quietly, tucking down into her bed.

"Good night," Casey said. He pulled the blankets up to his shoulders and rolled onto his side, staring at the wall opposite to where April's bed was.

He closed his eyes and breathed, imagining anything other than the apocalypse.

-

Donnie stretched and yawned, his eyes closing as he did. He relaxed into the chair and blinked at Tello.

"How long are we going to be doing this, again?" he asked.

"Until I can find out what's making Sheldon spin in a circle singing Justin Bieber," Tello replied stiffly.

"Are you sure he isn't just doing it to annoy you?" April suggested, peeking over Donnie's shoulder at the purple drone laying open on the table.

Tello paused his searching through Sheldon's mechanical guts and pulled his goggles up to stare at April.

"Okay, sorry," April said, backing off and crossing her arms.

"It was a good suggestion, April," Donnie grinned, and April smiled back at him.

"Thanks, D."

"I think I've figured it out!" Tello suddenly shouted, making Donnie and April jump.

"What is it?" Donnie inquired, leaning in slightly to see.

"It's YOU TWO BEING IN HERE," Tello turned on them. "Go help Angelo make breakfast or something, I can't focus with you hovering over my shoulders and flirting."

"We're not flirting!" Donnie protested.

"He was just being nice," April added, "unlike you."

"I don't care about being nice, pick-me version of April," Tello said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "I care about being able to do my work properly so this kind of thing doesn't happen again."

"I'm not a pick-me!" April shouted, and Tello stood up and stared at her.

"Get out," he started, "Of my lab."

April's face was mixed between standing up for herself and listening to the very frightening turtle in front of her. She opted for the latter, huffing and turning around, storming out of the lab.

Donnie watched her, then turned back to Tello, who had sat down in his chair. "What the heck was that?!"

Tello rolled his eyes. "I don't care about your stupid one-sided love story right now, and I especially do not care for it in my lab."

"It's not one-sided," Donnie shot, then added quieter, "At least, I hope not."

Tello turned back to Sheldon and continued sorting through his wiring. "Casey likes her, you think?"

Donnie looked at Tello, surprised. "Yeah."

Tello scoffed. "Then it's a love triangle. She probably likes Casey more, anyways."

"What? No she doesn't."

Tello looked at Donnie doubtfully. "You really think she'd choose a turtle mutant over another human?"

"Well, I-" Donnie stopped, fumbling over his words. "She- she kissed me!"

Tello's eyebrows shot up and he laughed, turning back to the bot on his table. "That's surprising. She seems to be using you, if I'm quite honest."

"Using me?" Donnie repeated. "But... no, she wouldn't. What could she even be using me for?"

"Attention," Tello replied, pointing a screwdriver he'd grabbed off the table towards Donnie. He then used it to start screwing the cap back over Sheldon's stomach.

"Attention?"

"You give her attention, and that's what she wants," Tello explained. "She knows you like her, and she knows Casey likes her. She knows that if she rejects you or acts like she doesn't like you back, you'll stop giving her attention. You'll stop pampering her and treating her like a goddess. If she leads you on, however, you'll keep giving her that attention that she craves."

Donnie ran it over in his head. She wants attention. She's leading you on. He shook his head violently.

"No, you're wrong. April loves me, you're just jealous!"

Tello barked out a laugh, pausing the twisting of his screwdriver. "Jealous?? Jealous of what, Donnie? Jealous of that Pennywise cosplayer? Jealous that you have a relationship and I don't? Jealous that you can't see red flags through your heart sunglasses? I'm not jealous of you, Donatello. I'm telling you what it is, how it is. You're just too naive to accept the truth, and one day, it's going to come back to bite you."

Donnie glared at Tello, but he couldn't think of anything to counter what the latter had just said. So he stood up and headed after April.

"Have fun getting your heart broken," Tello called after him, then started mumbling to himself.

Donnie honestly didn't care what he was saying, nor did he care what he had said moments earlier. April loved him. She had to; Donnie was sure of it.

Donnie walked around the lair for a while, just thinking. He ran interactions with April over in his head, trying to find some reason to believe April truly liked him.

"Donnie!"

Donnie looked up at the sound of his fun-loving brother. He realized he was in the kitchen, and the smell of pancakes was wafting through the air. Mikey and Angelo were making breakfast.

"Oh, hey Donnie!" Angelo grinned, turning away from the pan to look at Donnie. "Want to help with breakfast?"

Donnie paused. "Uh, sure. Why not?"

He headed towards the boys, then glanced around. "What all is there?"

"Well, we've already gotten most of the pancakes done," MIkey said. "We're going to be working on the bacon and sausage next, then the eggs."

"Where is all of that? I can make the eggs."

"Over there," Angelo pointed towards a carton of eggs, only a few missing.

Donnie stepped over to the carton and glanced inside, then back at Mikey. "How many should I make?"

"You can just do, like, eight?" Angelo looked at Mikey, who nodded. "Yeah, eight, then. Just make them scrambled."

"What's scrambled?" Donnie asked. "I thought there was only one way to make eggs."

"Oh, there's actually a whole bunch!" Mikey turned to his brother excitedly. "The ones we usually make are scrambled, but there's stuff like sunny side up, omelettes, and a bunch of other ways to cook eggs!"

"Wow," Donnie said, then looked back at the counter in front of him. He grabbed a bowl and started cracking eggs, making sure not to get any shells in it. He knew that April was picky about that kind of stuff, though Donnie and his brothers usually didn't care about eggshells in the eggs.

They worked in partial silence, only talking when they needed to work on something new or get something that was closer to another turtle. After another half hour, the breakfast was fully done and plated, all of it nicely set out on the table in the middle of the kitchen.

"Who wants to go get everyone?" Mikey asked aloud, then suddenly shouted "Not it!" with Donnie. They both grinned mischievously at Angelo.

Angelo groaned. "Can't we all take a few people? Like I'll go get the Raphs and Casey, you-" he pointed at Mikey- "can get the Leos, and you-" he pointed at Donnie- "can go get Tello and April. Casey is with Rael and Raph since he didn't want to help with breakfast. He doesn't know how to cook, apparently."

Mikey nodded, but Donnie made a face. "I don't know. Can Mikey get Tello and April?"

"Why don't you want to get them?" Angelo asked.

"Yeah, I thought you liked April," Mikey added.

"Well- I do, but-" Donnie paused, then sighed. "Tello and I kind of got into an argument."

"Oh, he does that all the time," Angelo waved him off. "He's probably over it by now, honestly. He only holds grudges if you touch his stuff or mess with his tech."

"Still," Donnie said. "It's gonna be awkward."

"The sooner you talk to him, the sooner it will be un-awkwarded," Mikey quoted. Well, he said it like a quote, but Donnie knew that it was his own quote that he just made up.

Donnie sighed. "Alright, I'll go."

"We've gotta hurry, though, 'cause these are gonna cool off real quick," Angelo cut in.

"Okay, let's go!" Mikey replied energetically, then bolted off in the direction of Nardo's room.

"Good luck," Angelo told Donnie, then hurried off to Rael's room.

Donnie sighed and went to get Tello and April. He wasn't sure where April was, but he hoped she was alright after her encounter with Tello.

As Donnie approached Tello's lab, he thought of what he should say. Running a few statements over in his mind, he finally chose one, and rapped on the side of the door.

"Nardo, I do not have the time for your ceaseless shenanigans," Tello called out.

"It's Donnie," Donnie replied.

"Oh." Tello paused. "Come in."

Donnie shuffled in, wary of the noise he was making. He knew that whenever he was upset, he would get ticked off by small sounds, and he figured Tello was the same.

As he came up to where Tello was at, the turtle pushed his chair away from the table and faced towards Donnie, pushing his glasses up on top of his head.

"Hey, so, I just wanted to-" Donnie started.

"No, Donnie, wait a second," Tello cut him off. "I want to say something before you do."

"Okay," Donnie replied, then sat down on one of the spare chairs Tello kept around.

"I... I've been thinking a lot about what I said to you," he started, "and I've realized that I was wrong for saying that to you. I have no right to tell you what to do with your life, let alone your love life. I was just upset at April and had a bad headache. I hadn't had my coffee yet, nor had I gotten my desired amount of hours last night. I apologize."

Donnie stared at him, bewildered. Tello hadn't seemed like the type to apologize. It wasn't in a bad way, of course, Donnie just figured he would apologize through actions rather than words.

"Well... thank you," Donnie replied, "for your apology. It means a lot that you said that. But I also wanted to apologize to you, because you were right. April doesn't really care about me, and I think deep down, I knew that. I just... I guess I just needed to hear it from someone else to know I wasn't making it up."

Tello sighed. "I'm glad I could be of service. Now, is there any other reason you wished to speak with me? I'm in the middle of something."

"Oh, right," Donnie said. "Angelo, MIkey and I made breakfast."

"Is it lactose-free?" Tello inquired, his tone not really stating it as a question, but more of an "I know it's not, I just want you to realize as well."

"I think so, actually. Mikey said they made a special few pancakes for you."

"Oh," Tello paused, surprised. "I'll be down soon, then."

"By the way, would you happen to know where April is?"

"I do not," Tello answered, standing up. "However, I can check my cameras and let you know."

"That would be great, thank you," Donnie grinned.

-

"...and then he just told me to get out!" April finished.

Raph stared emotionlessly at the girl, not giving two shits about Tello kicking her out of his lab. If he was honest, the guy was completely justified in doing so. Raph would've kicked her out sooner.

Rael patted her on the back lightly. "He just needed some time to calm down. I'm sure he didn't mean anything rude by it."

April sighed and slumped forward, exhausted from all the talking she'd done. Tello had woken both of them up at nearly six in the morning doing some weird stuff with his flying robot. Donnie had decided to help, which left April with nothing else to do other than watch. She tried to help a bit, but then Tello got pissed and kicked her out. So she wandered around a little bit until she came across Rael's room. She figured he'd give her a bit of sympathy and maybe harp on Tello for being so harsh, but all he was doing was justifying Tello's actions! What kind of turtle was he?

If April was completely honest, she was used to getting sympathized with. Casey, Donnie, Leo, Mikey, Splinter, and her father would almost always listen and give her some advice. If they couldn't give her advice, they would let her know that they were there for her.

Now that she wasn't getting that sympathy, she felt quite upset.

Who does this guy think he is, anyways? Making a girl think that she did something wrong. Guys like Rael got on April's nerves.

"Can we go back to playing Uno now?" Raph suddenly asked boredly.

"I still want to make sure April is okay," Rael answered, then stopped as April looked up at him.

"No, it's alright," she said sadly. "You guys can go back to playing. I'll go find someone else to hang out with."

(stfu april, you manipulative pos)

"No, no, you should stay," Rael said quickly. 

April looked at Raph. then back at Rael. "Are you sure it's alright?"

"Rael," Raph warned. "She'll be fine."

Rael glanced worriedly at April, then sighed. "Do what you want to, April. We'll keep playing our game and if you want to stay or leave you can."

April felt a twinge of anger in her chest. This guy really couldn't just pick one, could he? Making April choose was going to put her in a bad spot.

If April stayed, they would see her as annoying and clingy.

If April left, they would see her as stuck-up and rude.

April swore at Rael internally then smiled shyly. "Thanks, but I'll go. I have to use the restroom anyway."

As she stood up, Rael and Raph watched her, their faces both contrasting the other's.

April left the room, then stopped when she knew the boys couldn't see her, and clenched her fists.

"Who the hell does that guy think he is," she muttered. "Making me pick? Making me feel like I'm in the wrong? Validating how Tello treated me?"

She kicked a clump of paper, a noise of anger accompanying the action. The paper tacked against the wall in front of her and rolled for a few seconds before stopping a few feet away from April. She felt her nose burn and noticed her vision start to blur, then blinked and felt tears roll down by her nose.

April pushed herself up against the wall and slid down until she reached the floor, then held her head in her hands as she sat there, crying quietly.

All she wanted was some sympathy, someone to make her feel better, like she was doing something right, but no. Nobody was doing that anymore. Casey had seemed to dial it down after the turtles went missing. Donnie had gotten more interested in Tello's tech. Everyone else was starting to show that they didn't give two shits.

April missed her dad. He would always make her feel better.

But he wasn't here now. April was alone.

"April?"

The girl looked up quickly to see Donnie standing in a doorway, across from the room Rael and Raph were in.

"Donnie!" April said, surprised, then quickly wiped her eyes and stood up. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you," he replied, then paused. "Are you... are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine," April smiled. "Don't worry about it."

Donnie stared at her, one hand slightly forward as if he was going to go up to her and hold her shoulder, then let it drop back down to his side. "Alright, cool. Um, breakfast is done. That's why I needed to look for you."

"Oh," April said. She felt disappointed. "Okay, thanks."

There was a few seconds of awkward silence, then it was interrupted by Angelo.

"Oh, hey, April," he greeted, passing by Donnie. "Just getting Rael, Raph, and Casey."

"Knock knock," Angelo called as he entered Rael's room.

"Oh, hey Mikey," Rael said. "Er, Angelo. Agh, I gotta get used to that."

Angelo shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. Either way, we've got breakfast done downstairs, if you guys want some."

"What is it, worms and sewer goop?" Raph asked sarcastically. Even though he was being sarcastic, Angelo had a very bad feeling he was asking sincerely.

"No?" Angelo replied. "It's... it's pancakes. And eggs, and sausage, and bacon."

"Oh," Raph muttered, surprised. He chuckled slightly. "Well, alright! A real breakfast for once."

Rael looked at him questioningly. "Do you guys not usually eat food or something?"

"Mikey cooks most of our food when we're not having takeout," Raph replied, "and Mikey's not the best cook. He's pretty god-awful, actually."

"He didn't know how to make pancakes, so I was curious about that," Angelo muttered to himself. He glanced around as Raph shrugged. "Wait, where's Casey?"

"He said he was going to the kitchen to meet up with you guys," Rael answered, then paused. "Was he not there?"

"Not when we were there. Maybe we just missed him or something," Angelo thought, more to himself than to Rael or Raph. "Let's hurry back to the kitchen before he leaves again."

Rael nodded and stood up, Raph following quickly.

OK GUYS THIS CHAPTER IS GETTING REALLY LONG AND I HAVE NO WAY TO BRING IT TO A CONCLUSION SO I'LL JUST PAUSE IT HERE FOR NOW!! SEE Y'ALL IN A FEW DAYS <3

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