Destiny comes back to the lair a few hours later. Her wings feel like lead and by the time she went on her way home, it was starting to rain, so she's wet too. She hops over the turnstiles, shaking her sopping curls to relieve some of the water from them.

She can hear the TV playing and the sound of laughter. When she looks up, hair still dripping, she sees Michelangelo and Annalise watching a show, his arm draped over her shoulder.

She moves further in, glancing around. "Guys?" she asks.

Michelangelo cranes his neck back, making his head appear upside down, and grins. "Hey, Desti-bear!" he greets. "Waddup?"

Annalise mirrors his movements. "Leo's in his room."

She blinks. "How...?"

She giggles. "He asked us to tell you."

"Oh." Destiny returns the smile. "Thanks."

"No problemo," she replies.

"Have fun!" Michelangelo adds before they both return to normal.

She hurries towards Leonardo's bedroom, stopping by the bathroom for just long enough to grab a towel and scrub her hair and tail dry. With that done, she moves to his door, takes a breath, and knocks.

"Come in," he calls.

She pushes the door open a bit and peeks in. Leonardo lays on his back on his bed, tossing a ball to himself over and over again. He glances over at Destiny and for a second, she notices the hurt that still lingers on his face before it melts away into surprise. He catches the ball and sits up, eyes wide.

"Des," he breathes.

"Hi." She brushes her bangs out of her eyes, sucking in a breath as she moves into the room and shuts the door behind her. She notes that he's cleaned up their discarded clothing: always so neat. "Leo, I'm...ready to talk."

"Me too," he says, a little too fast. He scoots back, patting the mattress. "Please, sit?"

She nods, moving to the bed but, instead of sitting down, she just flops over. She lets out a long sigh, letting her wings go limp, and she hears Leonardo chuckle.

"Long flight?" he asks.

"I flew downtown," she admits. She shifts onto her side so that she can look at him easier. "Wanted to get a peek of Times Square."

"You weren't spotted, were you?"

"Nah, and...even if I was, who could prove anything?"

He shakes his head. "Reckless..."

She shrugs and they fall silent. For a bit, they just linger, unsure of what to say or do. They're talking, sure, but this isn't the talking they need to do.

"So...Des," he starts.

She sighs and pushes herself up, sitting facing him. "I'm sorry," she says.

"What?" He blinks. "Wait, no, I was going to say sorry."

She frowns a bit. "Leo, I'm the one who overreacted. You didn't do anything wrong."

He cocks his head. "But...this morning, you were all upset. I thought...?"

She breathes deeply, bringing her knees to her chest, chin on her knees, and closes her eyes. This is the part she's been dreading, the part she knows might start up the waterworks again and god, she's so sick of crying.

"No," she murmurs, almost to herself. She averts her eyes. "No, you...you were amazing."

His face flushes, eyes wide. "So you...remember it?"

Her brow furrows. "Of course? I mean, it's a little weird 'cause I just felt so...ravenous, but I remember."

He takes a second, blinking, then seems to deflate as he slides down the wall until he's flat on his back again. Destiny stares at him, eyes wide with alarm, and he laughs.

"Oh, thank god," he says. She leans over him and his eyes open, still grinning. "Man, I feel so stupid now."

"Why? What did you think was wrong?"

"Uh..." He clears his throat, pink again. "Well, for one, I worried that maybe you...didn't want to consent after all? Or maybe you felt like I'd taken advantage of you?"

"What? No!" she insists. She shakes her head. "No, I...I meant it, every time I said yes. But..." She looks away from him. "But, that's...uh, part of why I was upset."

"You lost me."

Another breath. "Well, uh...it has to do with my mutation," she says. "In my file, when I read it over a while ago, it mentioned that depending on how much wolf I took after, I may exhibit wolf behaviours. At the time that the Kraang took the observation, they noted how I barked, wagged my tail, howled, used my claws...you know. Wolf stuff."

He pushes himself back up. "Okay, and the heat was a part of that?"

"A little." She reaches up to toy with her hair, twisting the strands around her claw. "There was this...section, in my file, about potential mating behaviour. They tested whether I was fertile, something to do with...uh..." She snaps her fingers. "Hybridization? I didn't really get it. Thing is, they made theories about what could happen once I got older."

He watches her, patient, and she bites her lip.

"Honestly, it mostly talked about adult wolf behaviours and warned against the possibility of me developing them. One of those things was about how, in a wolf pack, the alpha male and female are usually the only ones to mate." She runs her hand up her arm, keeping her eyes averted. "You know I see this family as...a pack."

"Yeah."

"Well...I kind of see myself as the alpha female. I was...the first girl to really establish herself here aside from April, so—" She stops, shaking her head. "Sorry, you get it."

"You see yourself as an alpha," he repeats.

"Right, and...I see you...as the alpha male." She was pink before. Now she's pretty sure she's red. Her nose wrinkles. "This is really weird, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he says. "I find it kind of interesting. It makes sense with what I've noticed about you." He tilts his head, frowning. "But, I still don't understand what this has to do with you being upset. If we're the alphas—"

"I was getting there," she insists. "Wolves tend to mate for life. The mated pair has a strong bond with each other and...that's what scared me." She inhales through her nose, out through her mouth. "And...I looked up raven stuff too, just to see whether that could play a part, and ravens also pair off and court when they're young, then stay together for life. I...it..." She grips her chest, finally looking at him. "When I woke up this morning, it felt...it felt like everything was okay, like your presence calmed me down more than it ever has before. We're bonded now, and...and it's so intense, what I feel for you, that I'm scared if something happens that I won't be able to pull through—"

She has to stop, her breaths getting a little too fast. Leonardo shifts closer to her, reaching out to press his palm to her cheek. Her eyes close, already a little damp, and he brushes his thumb against her scars.

"Des, I'm not going to leave you," he says.

"What if you die? What if something kills you?" she asks, and there are those tears she wanted so desperately to hold back. "I...I keep thinking of the farmhouse, just sitting there with you in that stupid bathtub..." A sharp breath, and her eyes close tighter. "Leo, I...I loved you so much then, but now..."

His face falls as he thumbs away more tears. "If it's within my power to choose, I'm not going anywhere."

"I believe you," she whispers. "It's...it's me I'm worried about." She opens her eyes, reaching up to press his hand closer to her face. "I always run, Leo. I...I ran from this for two years. I get scared and then...then I'm gone. I don't want to hurt you again."

He smiles a little. "You came back, though," he says. "You ran but you came back. That has to mean something."

"I don't trust myself."

"I trust you."

She looks him in the eyes, trying to glare. "A horrible decision."

He laughs, leaning forward until their foreheads are together, their eyes closed. "I love you, Des, and if I can spend years dealing with our unresolved sexual tension—"

"Hey..."

"Then," he continues, pulling back to look at her again, "I can spend many more years loving you openly. Don't you think?"

Her brow loses its creases and she lowers her gaze. "God, you're so cheesy."

"Yeah, but you knew that already."

"I did. You're just lucky you're so adorable."

He grins and she finds herself smiling back. This went okay. She was afraid for nothing.

"Des?" he asks. "Can I clarify something?"

"Yeah?"

"So, what I got from all that, is that you were worried that if we ever..." He hesitates, thinking, then sighs. "If we ever mated, that you would bond to me, is...that why you always asked me to stop when things got heated?"

She bites her lip, again looking away. "Yeah, pretty much," she says. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

He smiles, then grins, then starts to laugh, and she stares at him in shock. She makes a few sputtering noises, trying and failing again and again to form words, and he finally calms down enough to catch his breath.

"Sorry, sorry," he says. "It's just...this whole time I thought you just didn't want to because I'm..." He gestures to himself. "You know. A giant mutant turtle."

"I mean...we're both mutants. I'm a freaking werewolf and you don't seem to care."

"You have the...body of a human woman, though. For the most part."

"So?" She leans closer, poking the beak of his nose. "Your looks have never been an issue for me. You're very handsome, Leo, and I think I told you that back around when we first met."

His grin turns mischievous. "Ah, yes, the beginning of our teenage sexual tension—"

She grabs a pillow and smacks him with it, just enough to get her point across. "You. Are. The. Worst," she says, punctuated by her blows.

He shields himself, starting to laugh again. "But I'm adorable!"

"I'm going to pretend last night never happened because obviously, I made a mistake."

"You were begging for it!"

Her blows get a little harder, her face red. "LEONARDO, I SWEAR TO GOD—"

He grabs her arms as she lifts the pillow again, yanking her down on top of him with a yelp. They crash together, Destiny still flushed and him still laughing, and her lips flap before she too starts to giggle.

She leans down and gives him a quick kiss. "You're still awful," she insists.

"I love you too," he says.

She pouts down at him, taking in that stupid toothpaste-commercial-worthy grin of his, and dips down to kiss him again. He threads his fingers into her hair, gently bringing her closer and deepening the embrace.

Turns out, they had nothing to worry about.

She breaks away. "Shit...what if I get pregnant?"

He blinks. "We, uh...deal with that later?"

"Good idea. I don't need any more anxiety for today."

----------

A week or so later, Destiny finds Leonardo meditating in the dojo and flops next to him, waiting for him to notice her. He takes a few seconds before opening his eyes.

"Congrats, you're not a father," she says, leaning back until her head is in his lap.

He exhales. "Okay, good." Looking down at her, he smiles. "On that note, do you need chocolate and painkillers?"

"Yes, please. And snuggles."

"As you wish."