This chapter is dedicated to woolymammoth58
Thank you :)
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Despite the fact that this time you were in their lair on your own terms, it almost felt more nerve wracking.

They all climbed out of the van with you trailing close behind Leo, flicking through the files on the groups tablet attempting to find the video file Roy had shown you.

A small buzz from your pocket sounded.

As you were about to check what it was, a wise, fatherly voice shrouded with that distinct Japanese accent nabbed your attention.

"Welcome home my sons." He greeted gently. "Have you brought back Y/n?"

Before you could mentally prepare to meet with Leo's dad again, you were led out from behind your blue turtle bro-but-wishing-to-be-more-than-bro by Mikey, who was smiling widely.

"Here she is!" He cheered, presenting you as if you were a drawing done by an eight year old Mikey.

The father smiled at his son before his eyes flicked to you.

"Uhh-..." you looked to Leo quickly who looked at you and gave an subtle, yet encouraging smile.

The rats keen eyes did not miss this. His whiskers twitched, covering the tiny smile he wore.

"Hello!" You said quickly looking back to him.

This time meeting Splinter was undeniably more nerve wracking than before, as you had no rage to hide behind. "It's good to see you again!" You said with a volume that seemed a tad louder than it should be.

He chuckled warmly and bowed in greeting. "It's good to see again as well." He straightened himself back up before stealing a mischievous glance at his boys.

"You've been a common topic of interest of my sons." He said calmly, looking to them for a moment. This moment gave you ample time to let a panicky sweat emerge in your palms before his eyes landed back on you. "You are truly helping us a great deal. I hope they have thanked you for all your efforts."

This seemed to take the edge off of your thoughts, realizing that it wasn't just idle chit chat about you and actually what information you've been gathering. "Heh, yeah..."

You thought for a moment before a slight frown creased your face. "Wait..." you whipped your attention back to the four turtles, Leo specifically. "They haven't thanked me." You condemned them.

Splinters eyes seemed to go dark at this. "They haven't?" His voice was harsh, harsher than you thought he could sound for being a big fluffy rat.

A certain type of fear covered the turtles auras, their faces went a ghostly pale green. You couldn't help but feel like you being there was the only thing saving the turtles.

Attempting to smooth this over for them was the first thing that left your mouth after that thought. "It's okay though! They've saved my life a few times already, I'm just doing my best to repay them." By 'them' you meant Leo, but you weren't about to let Mikey get any grief because of this.

Upon hearing this, Splinters ear twitched slightly as he glanced to his sons once more, you followed suit and turned halfway to watch.

"Is this true?" The rat interrogated.

Mikey, Donnie and Raph all nodded ferociously and chorused their confirmation. Leo looked a bit at a loss for words, going from staring at you surprised to sending the subtlest of glares at his brothers for taking credit he'd earned.

Your phone buzzed once again. It could wait though, this was too priceless to miss. Leo's helpless face was too adorable.

Splinter hummed in thought, stroking his tiny rat beard. "... hmm, saving your life or not, it does not mean they should forget their manners." He commented in a much softer tone.

You chuckled at the boys lightly as they collectively let out a relieved sigh, their shoulders relaxing a great amount.

"Anyway.." your voice caught the gaze of everyone as you lifted up the unlocked tablet. "I have a bit of info on this goo, and not to oversell it, but it's kind of alarming."

Donnie frowned at the tablet and walked forward, peering down at the tablet next to you, holding the side of the screen closest to him. His eyes scanned over it, but seemed to grow slightly at the sight of the goo going crazy all about the screen, it only lasted about six seconds in all but it was enough for Donnies expression change completely.

"Roy has been monitoring this extremely closely." You uttered out, eyes wandering to watch his reaction, hoping that he wouldn't freak out as much as you did but also wouldn't mind if he did so you didn't feel so overdramatic.

Donnies eyes flicked to you momentarily. "When did he capture this on video?" The turtle asked as he ushered you and the tablet away from the others, going farther into their home at a rather brisk pace.

The rest followed close behind.

You tapped on the screen and read the detail bar above the video. "Two days ago."

Donnie hummed to himself as you both entered a large room filled to the brim with a hodgepodge of things completely alien to you. Equipment and tools that were clearly homemade (you couldn't quite discern exactly what they all where meant for) and plenty of canisters filled with a plethora of different types of goo, one large one even had a pair of eyeballs floating inside. However you couldn't even attempt to understand the majority of the stuff in there.

The purple clad turtle then began flinging things around on his messy desk space before finding a small, enclosed Petri dish hidden under the piles of looseleaf and sketches tossed all about. He picked it up and slid it under a microscope constructed of plumbing pipes lamp nobs, and a ton more things I couldn't quite verify.

As he peeked inside he asked another question. "And the DNA in the video is mutagen based right?"

"Uhh yeah! It's Leo's spit." You answered hurriedly. Leo stepped up next to you and gave you a questioning glance.

"Roy says it's remotely controlled and figured it was a test run since it didn't last very long." You said warily. "He also says it's able to control nerves and is pretty much impossible to get off."

A gut dropping expression crossed Donnies face and he looked back to you. "What." His eyes were wide with fear as he turned his attention back to the cellular goo. "That means any mutant can be controlled by this stuff! And if Shredder has ahold of this then..." he took a moment and stared directly at it, as if staring down an endless pit. He swallowed nervously.

"We need to try to pry it off." He stated, rushing across the room grabbing all types of tools, and with that he set to work.

A coldness settles over the room as Donnie frantically started running all kinds of tests.

Your phone buzzed unceremoniously through the tense atmosphere.

Leo places a hand on your shoulder, tearing your eyes from Donnies frantic form. "C'mon. He needs room to work."

Leo led you out of the room, followed by Mikey and Raph, passed Splinter who stood in the doorway. He cast one last glance at his son before exiting the room after everyone.

Mikey plopped on the couch limply, lost in thought. Raph was close behind, but sat on the edge of the cushion with his clasped fists at his scowling mouth.

"What are we gonna do if this really is as dangerous as we think it is?" Raph questions, his aura was frigid and ready to crack.

Your phone buzzed, you slapped your hand over it, trying to quiet the silenced phone. Raph's eyes lifted to you momentarily.

Leo, who was pacing back and forth in front of the TV, stopped for a moment and looked at Raph. "We'll make a plan." He continued to pace. "We'll wear something to protect ourselves or we can make some type of antigen."

"But what if we can't. What if one of us gets that... stuff! Inside of us! Controlling us?!" Raph asked sitting up, waving his hand to the side.

Leo kept pacing, not even sparing a look at his brother. "That won't happen."

"But what if it does?" Raph's voice rose as he stood up. "If Donnie can't get that stuff off any of our cells, we are going to be controlled for the rest of our lives!" He said, losing his temper like a runaway train.

"It won't!" Leo bit back with just as much fire.

"But it could!" Raph yelled.

Your phone buzzed.

Raph snapped his attention to you, making you almost shit yourself at how enraged he was. "Give me that phone."

Oh fuck

You stepped away absentmindedly which seemed to trigger him ever more. He began to advance on you but Leo yanked him back almost instantaneously and propelled himself to stand in front of you.

Raph was about to lose his mind and snarled at Leo, who was calmly glaring at his younger brother.

"Raphael!" Splinter knocked his cane on the ground, seemingly sobering Raph of his anger enough for him to think straight. "That is enough!" He snapped, firmly standing in between Raph and Leo.

"This is the worst time for you both to turn against each other." His sturdy, unbreakable, fatherly voice overruled everything and anything that had just conspired.

Raph's angry expression cooled to simply a strong glare. "Hai Sensei."

"Good. Now..." Splinter stroked his tiny rat beard in a troubled manner. "This is indeed a dangerous weapon. It seems as though we have underestimated whichever Ashmore is behind this. We cannot ignore just how serious this situation is." His voice was even, but the way his whiskers twitched gave away his concerned heart.

"We have to prepare for when worse comes to worst." Raph stated firmly. This gained a nod from the rat.

Leo thinned his eyes. "If worse comes to worst."

"Leonardo, Raphael's concerns are not unfair." He said, smoothly gesturing his hand towards the red wearing turtle. "It's best to have a plan in advance."

Leo slowly nodded in agreement. "You're right. But I just hope Donnie can find a way to separate the mutagen from the goo."

Mikey spoke up for the first time in a while. "Donnie will, he's the smartest dude I know!" Despite his enthusiasm, you couldn't help but feel it wasn't completely genuine. Leo looked down to his feet.

You felt even more worry well up inside, convincing you to place a hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo looked at you and weakly smiled, placing his hand atop yours. "Thank you for showing us this, Y/n."

"It's no pr-" BZZZZ

You groaned and fished out your phone, finally caving to it's incessant attention stealing.

The lock screen lit up, and there was a sea of notifications from David.

He never texted you, you only had his number because Roy insisted you got everyone's.

The pit in your stomach began to grow frigid. You unlocked your phone as if on autopilot, scrolling through his messages with no outward emotion.

David
Y/n, do you know a Floyd?
Received at 5:39pm

Just wondering because
there's a guy here saying
he's your roommate??
Received at 5:42pm

Not to sound too paranoid
but it's kinda freaky because
you said he didn't believe you
about the turtles.. :/
Received at 5:44pm

He's here with a blonde lady
too. On a date??? This is
weird right?
Received at 5:45pm

Image attached
Tap to download
Received at 5:47pm

I'm getting super bad vibes rn Y/n
Received at 5:49pm

A lump of ice formed in your throat, letting it spread throughout your body like plague.

Your finger hovered over the yet to download image, horrified at what you might find.

You tapped the image and in an instant it displayed two familiar faces. Floyd and Polly standing in front of a happily chatting Shane.

Although Floyd was absentmindedly chatting and laughing with Shane, Polly was peering over at a space above the camera at David. Her face was unreadable.

Another text from David landed under the picture.

David
She was beating around the bush but she asked about the turtles.
Received now

"Oh fuck." You lifted your head to the family before you momentarily before diving into a text of your own.

Y/n
David, this isn't good.
Tell me none of you said anything.
Sent now

It took a moment longer for him to write back, it was as if he were figuring out what to say. It made a sense of dread fall into your stomach.

I'm sorry Y/n.

You tugged on your hair slightly. Panicking tears began to well in your eyes.

Everyone seemed to trust them.
Floyd is your best friend right?
He seemed like he could be trusted.
Received now

The thing was that he could be trusted, He was one of the most trustworthy people you knew. But the chilly realization had hit you like a truck, Polly wasn't.

Don't tell them anything more.
Do not do anything that might
alert her. She could be
extremely dangerous, just get
everyone away from her asap
Sent now

Shakily you locked your phone and looked to the turtles who had all focused in on you and your terrified aura. "I think we made a huge mistake." You muttered out unevenly, breath beginning to get shallow.

Leo looked alarmed at this. "What!?"

Your shoulders jaggedly shook up into a tense position.

He calmly stepped towards you and held your upper arms firmly, as if trying to keep you calm. "Breathe Y/n." He said, locking onto your eyes. "Just breathe, and tell me what's wrong." He took a breath, which you followed, getting your body calm enough to utter out what you needed to.

"Good, now tell me, what was a mistake?" He said with a gentle, encouraging tone.

"We were looking at the wrong people." You whispered before clearing your throat. "I think it might be Polly. She's asking about you guys. Sh-She's at the club, she's with my friends!" Panic climbed back up slightly but you forced it down.

Raph growled before he let out an angry shout. "Are you kidding me?! We wasted all our goddamn time on the wrong people?!"

Mikey snapped his fingers. "I can't believe I didn't suspect the butler. It's always the butler." He cried before flopping his arms across the couch's backrest.

Leo kept his hands on your arms as he addressed the others. "We need to make sure, this might be a false alarm." He looked to you again. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this."

There was another buzz from your phone.

They're leaving
Received now

"She's leaving with Floyd." You said looking back to Leo, clearly worried outta the wazoo. "She's going to be at my apartment with him, alone."

Leo hummed to himself before a tiny smile lifted his stoic expression. "Then I guess we have a couple to cock block."

You couldn't hide the instant relief at the fact that Leo was going to go with you. A laugh broke through your stressed appearance before you lunged forward, hugging him tightly. "You're the best buzzkill I could ever ask for."

He seemed to hug back immediately, like this was something he was expecting or like it was something he had been trained to be prepared for. Either way your hug was met fully reciprocated.

He rested his cheek on your head with a gentle smile.

The hug lasted probably about ten seconds before you were very loudly reminded you were not alone.

"Hey, are you guys gonna hug to each other all day? Because if you are, that's major weird timing." Mikey stated shaking his head. "Honestly, Y/n you could do better." He said through a mischievous laugh. It was easy to tell that Mikey was trying to make you feel better in his own way. But it was just kind of embarrassing. You couldn't help a small, stiff chuckle as you swiftly pulled out of the hug, composing yourself as fast as humanly possible.

"Michelangelo!" Splinter grabbed a pressure point on Mikey's neck, causing the youngest to crumple to the ground like a poorly made box kite. "Do not hurt his self esteem! Leo is very handsome."

Leo glared at his younger brother, embarrassment seemed to radiate off of him and he covered his face in his hands.

Raph spoke up. "Hey, as much as I hate to admit it, Mikey's got a point." Splinter glared at Raph, to which the red clad turtle backtracked quickly. "I mean-! I meant that if we wanna save this, Lloyd person, we gotta get Y/n home pronto." He said, quickly making his way over to the entrance by the old, unused pay stations. He made sure to put enough distance between him and his father. Mikey was struggling next to Splinters feet.

You cleared you throat awkwardly. "His name is actually Floyd."

"You want to come along?" Leo questioned his brother, confused but also slightly suspicious. He placed his hand on his chin as he glanced at his brother with thin eyes and high brows.

"C'mon Leo. We all know you trying to do something on your own always ends poorly for everyone." He said walking backwards.

Mikey nodded, finally on his feet as he walked past you both. He placed a condescending hand on Leo's shoulder. "It's true Leo, you're kind of a mess."

"I-wha- I am not!" Leo retaliated, a deeply confused frown met his face.

"Donnieeee!! We're taking Y/n home! We need all hands on deck!" Mikey yelled.

A muffled 'I'm, busy!' Shouted back from the lab.

Raph rolled his harsh, green eyes and crossed his arms, leaning against the short pay station. "You'd do this for April, wouldn't you?" He said, with his head tilted back as if it'd make him louder.

"Y/n isn't April!" There was a few clanging sounds before he poked his head out, goggles rested over his eyes. "Y/n is Leo's April!" He said pointing towards Leo. "Not mine!"

You put your hands behind your back and took a step away from Leo awkwardly, looking off in another direction.

"Also." Donnie pulled his goggles down so they were hanging around his neck, fully showing his disgruntled expression. "Did we all just seem to forget about this horrifying new gooey threat to our motor functions?!" He cried out stressfully, waving his arms all about like an inflatable tube man.

"No. That's why we have to go Don." Raph said.

"Yeah, turns out it was the butler behind it." Mikey said in the most nonchalant way possible, saddling up next to Raphael.

"And that butler is with Lloyd, alone." Leo added, readjusting his katanas to be around his waist.

"It's Floyd." You chimed in again, nobody seemed to notice within the hubbub.

Donnie squinted, mouth slightly agape as if he were searching the deepest of his memories. "What? Who's Lloyd?!" He questioned, peeved that everyone seemed to know who this was but him.

You sighed and pinched the bridge of your nose.

"He's her roommate." Leo said, tightening the belt before looking over to you. "I'm pretty sure?"

"Oh my god. Leo, are you serious? You've almost been seen by him, like, five times now." You said exasperated.

"Uh ohhh~ a boy roommate?~" Mikey cooed, now standing next to Raph who was laughing along with the youngest.

Donnie squinted more. "I don't get it. Why do you need me for you to see a butler get it on with a roommate?"

"Jesus Christ." You muttered before speaking up, worried and tired of this conversation. "Because he could be in serious danger, because the butler could be seriously evil!" You cried out over the overwhelming jumble of interactions. The pure anxiety in your body shook your spine. "And, his name is Floyd!" You finished off, much less confident.

Donnie looked between you and Leo, and Raph and Mikey, before shaking his head. "I don't have to come though, right?"

"No Donnie, you're busy." You said before anyone could say anything.

He grinned smugly in Mikey and Raph's direction before slipping back and slamming the door, getting back to the, admittedly, larger scale problem.

Leo looked back to you before turning and crouching for you to hop on. "Best get a move on." He said over his shoulder.

You climbed on his back quickly and he heaved you up like a back back.

"Remember, we can't let her see us unless we know for sure she's a threat." Leo announced, turning towards his brothers with you clinging to his back. "So, Y/n will go in first, if something does go awry, you both will wait for my signal to intervene."

"Aye, Aye Captain." Mikey saluted with his tongue poked out.

Splinter walked up to our tiny yet lethal group, making very one turn and face him. "Stay safe my sons." His spoke calmly. "Protect each other and stay vigilant, we do not know what this person is capable of."

"Hai Sensei." They coursed and all bowed in sync. This exposed more of you to the rat. You looked up at him timidly and he stared down at you with gentle yet cautious eyes. "This goes for you too."

You blinked a few times before nodding. It felt like he wanted you to say something in understanding like the others did, but he wasn't exactly your sensei or father so you avoided 'Hai Sensei.' and went for the next best thing.

"Okay, hombre." You said, in just as serious tone.

His stare on you lingered questionably as the turtles stood from their respectful bow. "We'll see you soon." Leo promised.

Splinter smiled at his sons once more before they ran off.

You watched as the rat got farther and farther behind and it was in that moment you felt the intense gratitude wash over yourself in a violently sudden peace of mind. A smile places itself on your face as you looked at Raph, then Mikey, then Leo.

"Thank you guys, thank you so much." You vocalized the pure gratitude flowing over your bottom eye lids.

Raph laughed at your vulnerability. "Calm down, you're acting like nobody has ever done you a favour before." He said, completely engulfed by his signature cold attitude, in fact it clouded him more than usual. Almost as if he didn't know how to handle genuine emotion. Shocker.

Mikey frowned at Raph. "C'mon dude, don't be a jerk, she's crying!"

Leo peeked over his shoulder.

The jerk turtle, looked away.

Mikey smiles back to you. "Don't worry Y/n, it's what we do!" His cheery nature couldn't help but make you smile wider.

"Still though." You said before resting your head back down, chin on Leo's steady shell.

"Thank you." You whispered for only Leo to hear.

A darker, reddish tint crawled up his neck. "No problem, Y/n."

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I really keep starving you guys of content huh?

Hahaha! Classic Rain can't get her shit together :p

Anyway, sorry for the tiny chapter.
But also,,
thank you guys for hanging around this long <3 this book is going on two years in January and I couldn't be more proud of how it's been turning out and I couldn't be more thankful to you all for still reading :))))