Is anyone able to access the Spotify playlist for this book? Asking for a friend. (Me)

(Also, the playlist can give you hints for where this story/character arcs are headed, if you don't mind possibly piecing it all together and not getting confirmation until the future chapters lol)

Killer (the song in the playlist) is a song i used to show Floyd's perspective/feelings on some future events :3

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Squeezed tight inside a van full of living, breathing people rubbing shoulder to shoulder to each other was not an ideal situation for anybody involved. Still though, you couldn't help the thankful feeling you had for not having to endure any of April's driving.

Jamie was still wavering in and out of consciousness, not fully recovered from April's apparent lack of knowledge, or concern, for how far a vehicle can be pushed before something truly horrific happens.

He was being stood upright by the three people squished around him being Raph, Roy and a begrudging David. Raph and Roy where fairly nice about it, but David (being the shortest there) didn't appreciate getting blanketed by this guy every two minutes, and made that clear when shoving Jamie away by his face in another direction every time they came in contact.

Other than that it was very quiet and very tense. You were standing squished next to Leo's muscular arm on your left and Frankie who didn't want to start too far from you, squished up against you on your right. His large navy blue puffer jacket making a faint 'zwich' with every bump and turn of the tunnels.

It was uncomfortably hot so you largely worried that Frankie might overheat and start fainting like Jamie was.

His face was burning and covered in a thin film of glossy sweat, momentarily considering that telling him to bring his warmest jacket wasn't the best idea.

You pressed your elbow into his side just enough to get his attention.

His eyes glanced over at you stiffly. "Dude, you don't look so good." You muttered, feeling as if you spoke at a normal volume it would be insulting for some reason.

Frankie looked like he was about to speak, but his eyes drifted above your head to where Leo was and he quickly shut his slightly agap mouth.

Your brows furrowed as you turned to look at Leo, who didn't seem to even be paying any attention to either of you as his stern eyes stared off into space. He was frowning to himself, deep in thought.

You looked back to to Frankie who was now also, staring straight ahead with an even more unstable expression.

"Frankie..?" You peered around then lowered your voice, trying to get a better view of his worried eyes. "For real, are you okay?"

He gave a gentle nod, a large strand of chestnut hair fell down between his eyes. "Yeah, I uh, I'm good. I'm just..." He trailed off as his eyes darted everywhere around him where there was a mutant standing. "I'm nervous." He confessed, voice barely even a whisper.

You offered a smile. "I know this is freaky, but if it helps any, you are handling this all much better than I did at first."

This didn't do too much for him as his focus was unable to stay on you.

So, as gently as you could, you hooked your arm around his to ground his mind and provide some type of comfort. Finally his focus stopped fluttering away from you as it landed to your arm around his then slowly up to your face.

"I promise you have nothing to worry about. This is the best place you could be right now, we're completely safe in their hands." You whispered with a chuckle. Your confidence in the turtles was radiating off of you in warm, soothing waves.

The words you spoke didn't fall on deaf ears.

His wide, worried eyes stayed fixed to your completely calm complexion, he took in your expression as your words hung in the quiet van.

Slowly, your rock solid tranquility ebbed away at his nerves, making him manage to blink a few times and his gaze softened.

You tilted your head towards him slightly, still softly smiling. "Okay?"

He pulled a big breath into his chest, nodding and exhaled with a steadying 'Okay.'

Satisfied with his gradually calming breathing, you lifted your head, facing forward again.

After a few more quiet moments you felt a strong hand snake it's way down to yours, enveloping it entirely.

You felt a fluttering in your chest as you looked down, finding Leo's hand holding your lonely palm to his.

Blinking a few times made you realize this actually happened. Your eyes trailed up his strong arm until they landed on his gently smiling face that stayed looking forward. He must've felt your eyes on him because after a moment he peered over at you from the corner of his pride-filled eye.

Once he met your eyes, his smile threatened to grow wider as he gave you a gentle squeeze, his green skin getting a deeper red tone to it.

The fluttering inside of your chest swelled almost unbearably, as the butterfly wings climbed up and tickled your throat. Warmth flooded your entire face, accompanied by a shy yet unapologetic grin.

As you tried to temper your smiling face by looking forward. In front of you, Donnie quickly looked away, coughing into his hand with an amused smile next Shane who was blatantly staring at you with a sly, knowing smirk while placing a hand to his now jutting hip. He and Donnie were both fairly surprised at this actually happening, luckily they were the only ones who seemed to notice at all.

Embarrassment crushed you like a group of stampeding elephants towards a cool spring. Thanks to both your arms being occupied, you opted to just hide your face by hanging your head low and stare intently at your shoes until the van stopped.

Finally, the stuffy ride had come to an end, unfortunately the embarrassment had just begun.

And oh boy oh golly did it get worse.

Leo began to shuffle out, your hand still woven in his made you trail after him. However, Frankie was also in a hurry to escape the space and rushed ahead of you too.

Your arm was still trapped with his also.

Leo and Frankie met at the entrance with you stuck between the pair, pinned between their shoulders. The three of you effectively could not get through, now all standing in front of the exit. Uneasiness followed soon after once you peered at both of the guys.

They individually glanced at you and the opposite hand that was occupied by the other.

It felt like they were waiting for you to let go of the others hand.

The idle burning eyes on your back didn't help the little situation either. "Uh... lemme just.." You wordlessly slipped your suddenly sweaty hands out of both holds and hopped down onto the platform, putting a few feet of space between you and the van full of people who all had to experience what just happened too.

Leo glanced at Frankie once more. A small bitterness in his eyes fled straight to the young man's core as he then jumped out of the van.

Frankie hopped out of the vehicle and just stood there for a while, stone still until a deep agitated frown crossed his face. That was until he was swarmed by Roy, Shane and Jamie, most likely trying to keep him calm him in your stead while also fishing for info on what just happened. David trailed behind everyone, close by Splinter.

The bunch began to shuffle out after with a certain stickiness in the air. It was all pretty quiet but the sound of April's incessant mutterings with Donnie stood out as your ears perked. You glanced back, half expecting her to be staring at you, however her big, bright eyes were fixed intently on someone else ahead of her. The one and only leader in blue with an expressions that could only be compared to pouting with his gaze cast away and an annoyed frown.

You glanced back to April who covered her giggling mouth, Donnie was trying his best not to laugh as he fought back his smile, aggressively trying to frown in order to save face.

Raph broke through the pair of chuckling friends to get to his older brother, making both April and Donnie stumble away from each other.

Just as the rough turtle slapped a hand on Leo's shoulder, a louder, glass shattering sound emitted from the lair making everyone stare ahead, attention laser focused on the entrance.

"What the hell was that?" Raph questioned, his hand automatically landing on the hilt of his sais.

"Oh god." You jogged forward, hopping over the paygates to the lair. The first thought that ran through your head was that something bad may be happening to Floyd. Afterall, you all left Casey in charge of explaining everything to Floyd when or if he woke up before you all returned. Sure, you didn't know the guy long, but based on his general vibe and everyone else's impressions on him, you could collect that Casey wasn't exactly the most responsible bean of the bunch.

You didn't know what to expect, but seeing Floyd up and playing with hockey sticks alongside Casey was not even on your radar.

"Woah!! Dude! You have a killer slap shot!" Casey said before giving a hard high five to Floyd's raised hand. Like a total bro.

"Hey, I told you, hockey was my childhood." Floyd said, a certain amount of pride radiating from him as he handed the stick over to the raven haired boy.

Casey chuckled as he flipped the stick in his grasp before using it to pull a puck out from a small mountain of pucks pouring from his backpack. "Okay listen, I'll admit you're good with normal shots." Casey then flicked the puck up into the air, juggling it with the end of the stick. "But what about trick shots?!" He asked, his eyes blazing with confidence as he flipped the puck in the air, spun himself twice and smacked the stick to the descending puck with a loud crack, back-handed, and from underneath his raised leg.

The puck had an incredible amount of speed and accuracy despite the seemingly impossible stunt as it shot towards a line of glass bottles propped atop upside down milk crates.

It, impressively, collided perfectly against a green bottle making it explode in a loud shatter.

The concerning amount of shattered glass made you momentarily wonder just how long they've been at this.

Floyd gasped leaning back as he slapped his hands to his head. "Holy SHIT!!" He cried out as Casey smugly rested his elbow on the stick, admiring his handy work. You couldn't help the slight gape of your mouth.

"That was insane!" Floyd spun his attention towards Casey. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

Casey's smugness only seemed to grow with his grin. "Heh, sure, I can try to teach you. But I can't guarantee you'll ever get to my level of radical." He mused, closing his eyes casually. "Not even the turtles can keep up with me." He stated boldly while puffing his chest in pride.

He obviously had no idea the turtle family was standing at the entrance, listening to him shamelessly gloat. That was until Donnie barked a sudden laugh, not even attempting to conceal the bitterness laced within. "Haha, yeah, that's why we left you here." This made the boy whirl around, equipped with some fighting words.

"Arnold Casey Jones." Splinter snapped firmly, gently brushing through the group in his way to the destruction that was his living room.

Casey's puffed up ego suddenly zipped away like a deflating balloon shooting frantically around a room. A wincing grin was the only shred of joy he had left.

"What is the meaning of this?" The rat's words were cool and calm, but held a sharp edge as he came face to face with the rapidly shrinking boy.

Floyd's face quickly drained of colour, along with any kind of comfort he may have had moments before.

You shot a quick, concerned look to Leo who appeared unsure whether to make a move to enter the room any farther.

"I-I Uh... W-We were just finding ways to calm his nerves." Casey said, struggling to keep his smile under the weight of Splinters stare, while his hands pointed in all different ways close to his chest. "Floyd here likes hockey so I—"

"Made a mess of my home?" Splinter finishes, now towering over Casey's head. He gulped.

It was around this point when Leo made his way towards the intensely cross father. "Sensei," He placed a three fingered hand on the fine fabric that blessed Splinters shoulder, gaining Leo a side glance.

Leo flicked his head towards the slightly trembling Floyd.

Splinter peered at the man before a small trace of remorse swept across his features, his ears fell slightly with his proud eyes softening back to his fatherly gaze.

He pressed his eyes shut as his eyebrows scrunched together. "Casey, please clean this up." He demanded softly with a sharp edge in his polite tone.

Casey nodded and frantically scrambled away, searching for a broom.

Now sure the situation had relaxed, you sped towards Floyd with a timid grin. "Hey buddy." You cooed warily in a way that made you feel like a dad trying to talk to his sad, hormonal son. "How're you feeling?"

His emotionally exhausted blue eyes wavered in and out focus as he looked to you. "I'm okay... I'm just—" He a briefly closed his eyes and gripped his biceps tightly. After a second of evening his breath he finally met your eyes with a half hearted smile. "..Happy to see a familiar face."

That wasn't all that convincing, with that little, tight twinge in his voice and the way his brows inched together while looking at you.

Despite the want to listen to his grievances about this situation and about you for the health of your relationship, there was no time. Not for him, not for you, not for the guys, and unfortunately not for the family that was missing a family member.

You nodded and turned around, just in time for April's question. "Is that everyone, Y/n?" She asked, tying her ponytail tighter to her head while striding into the circle of people forming.

"Yeah, everyone I told." You confirmed, letting your eyes graze across all of the people you'd come to truly love and care for. All but one. A troubled frown crossed your face as your eyes fell to the floor in an aggressive, faltering stare. "Except Henry Ashmore. I haven't told him anything, but, I don't know if he's safe. He could be stuck with Polly and not know anything about the threat level there."

Leo's eyes darted to the floor as well while placing his hand to his chin, his would-be brows pulled together. "There's not much we can do if he's with Polly. The best we can hope for would be keeping him out of harms way when we encounter her."

The unrest on his stern face gripped your heart mercilessly in a tight, unforgiving clamp. You couldn't imagine what kind of crushing, suffocating pressure this guy had to be under and still handled it seamlessly. Risking everything to keep not only his family safe, but people he didn't even particularly like.

Sinking deep into your stomach formed a hard pit of sudden realization. Leo was risking everything, and that did not exclude himself.

A rouge hand crept to his shoulder.

The gesture melted only a fraction of the icy worry he held, fishing him out from his cold stupor. He shut his eyes and exhaled a long, deep breath.

"Okay..." Taking a second to recollect, the vibrant determination blazed to life with little more than the uncovering of his eyes. "We've been avoiding confrontation for too long and it's cost my family a brother."

His spine straightens while the stoic blue pools washed through the mix of people before him. "I won't let this loss happen to anyone else's family." He brought his green hand to envelope yours with a steady, firm squeeze. "I promise."

The solidarity of this statement was nothing short of convincing, making it hard to doubt this declaration of his. Your mouth went dry as you stared back at him, cracking a chapped, adoring smile back up at his steady profile.

^•.^•.^•.^•.^•.

You and Floyd sat quietly in the van with Donnie, who was clicking restlessly on his many keyboards with eyes scanning each and every monitor her could stuff inside the Shell Razor.

The blondes legs bounced up and down nervously while his fingers curled around tight on a fistful of jeans, giving his nails a momentary vacation from his teeth. Unfortunately that didn't last long before his finger tips were back between his chomping teeth.

The semi-regular pop of the nail biting and the whirring of outdated, yet upgraded, tech were the only things filling the nauseating quiet.

Donnies straining eyes flickered through unending feeds of security footage. Hungrily searching for a certain blonde backstabber roaming the halls. He'd been at it for maybe twenty minutes, and has said nothing to either you of Floyd the entire time, but neither you or Floyd dared to speak.

Another solid minute of unbearably thick air suffocated your throat and forced your mind to venture into the worst case scenarios. You had to do this quickly, or things would get messy. Floyd was doing his best to stay calm, but he almost looked in a worse state than you.

Odd, considering he didn't have to do anything.

The sudden movement from Donnie shook all thoughts out of your head as he placed a finger to his ear piece. "She isn't home." He finally spoke, a cool demeanour you'd never seen from him.

"Yeah... Yeah... okay... don't worry Leo... she'll be fine... yes, we'll be fast."

Leo.

There was nothing you wanted to do more than see him before this. Call it pessimistic, but something deep and unmoving was adamant that you were walking blindly towards some kind of slaughter.

Without another word Donnie spun around on his chair, facing you with a determined face. "Alright, it's show time."

He stood up and walked towards the door, pausing as his hand hovered over the lever to slide the door open. "You ready?"

You frowned and looked to Floyd worriedly. The man offered a weak smile. "You're gonna be fine." He murmured, gripping your forearm in a way that was probably meant to be reassuring.

A burst of anxiety exploded inside your stomach, uncomfortably jabbing and slicing at your insides. 'Okay' was all you could utter before you woozily stood up. Your legs felt like they were numb, and you had gum sticking to the soles of your shoes. Running in water would be easier than whatever was happening to your newborn deer like legs.

Donnie watched you struggle your way towards him with an unwelcome look of genuine worry.

It was hard to watch.

"Y/n." Floyd said, with a firmer tone in his voice as he quickly rose to his feet. You turned to him jarringly, hoping for some type of comfort redo.

He reached towards you and gently pulled you into a warm hug, leaning your head onto his shoulder. Your nervous shivers felt small against him. "Listen, you are probably the luckiest and most resilient person I know. If something does happen, you will get out." He pat your back gently a few times. "And you have a group of mutant ninjas ready to protect you if anything does go south. So I'd say you've got pretty good odds."

The shaking worsened as you grabbed fistfuls of the back of his shirt. What he said was true, and it calmed your logical side a bit. But a dark cloud in your mind thundered out the thoughts;

I'm gonna miss you so much.

Finally your legs had regained most of their strength, and you let go of your friend.

As you reached for the long handle to the door, Donnies hand grappled onto it first.

Following the arm to Donnie's face, you found his eyes evenly set on yours. "Remember. You are only here to get Henry out of the house as smoothly as possible. Do not raise any alarm. If he doesn't leave with you, then you have to leave without him. Don't worry about anything after that. We'll do our best to keep him safe if it comes to that, but you need to worry about you first."

You nodded shakily. Henry doesn't know anything about this, so it would be easiest to just avoid the whole initial freak out most people had to the turtles and, more importantly, get him out of the dire situation he was unknowingly in the middle of. Plus, Polly wasn't there to fuck anything up.

"Here." Donnie extends his open palm, holding a small earpiece to you. You shakily scooped it into your hands then peered up to the purple clad turtle. "Press once to speak, press twice to keep it on speak once you get in." He gifted you a smile. "We'll be with you every step of the way."

The cool metal ear piece sent a shiver throughout your body as you placed it into your ear. "Thanks Donnie." Your voice was small, but even.

A timid, comforting smile tipped the corners of his mouth unevenly. "You ready?"

A nod was all it took to make Donnie step around the handle and pull the door open for you, revealing the alleyway that sat half a block from the gates of the Ashmore estate.

You swallowed thickly, nervous but ready to get Henry out of this future battlefield.

As your feet touched the poorly paved street a surge of determination and dread sparked all the way to the tips of your fingers. You cast a last glance back at Donnie and Floyd.

The blond smiled brightly. "I await your return with baited breath." He joked, despite his voice cracking twice.

Donnie looked much less frazzled as a calm trust emanated from him. "Good luck Y/n."

You nodded, scared your words would just be blubbering idiocy, before turning away.

The door shut behind you, leaving you to your mission.

Donnie's voice sounded into your ear.

"She's leaving now."

Finally, the voice you'd been waiting for spoke. "Y/n?"

You shakily placed your fingers to the earpiece. "Y-Yeah, hey Leo."

"Are you okay? You know you don't have to do this. If anything feels wrong you can turn around, even if it's nothing." His voice was laced with worry, something you didn't need at the moment.

The words he spoke were tempting, enticing even. Your feet staggered mid stride, almost turning you back around the to affectionately named 'Shell Raiser'.

You trembled, shaking you head back and forth. "No, Leo. I'm fine, I just need you not to talk me down from this."

The impressive gates came into view despite being so far away as you turned the corner out of the alley.

"... okay." He hesitantly agreed.

"You-You and Raph are close right?"

Raphs voice crackled into your ear. "Don't worry, I've got eyes on the entrance and the streets in front. Nobody is gonna sneak up on you, Chickpea." He said confidently with an uncharacteristically light chuckle. "I'm just itching for that Polly fucker to show up." Ah... not light, just totally enraged.

A moment passed before Leo said anything again. "...Yeah, and I'll be keeping an eye on you the whole time." His tone sounded a bit bothered, but it was quickly shooed away. "I won't let anything happen to you. I swear."

A smile pulled at your mouth. "Heh, going a little soft on me there Leo?" You teased, the waver in your voice still present. 

He laughed in a surprised, breathless type of way. Like he'd let out a good amount of stress with it. "Wh— Hey, I'm trying to help you here! Don't make fun of me!" He chuckled.

You laughed too, a genuine laugh. "Sorry, but this is how I relax, Snowcone."

"Snowcone? So this is how you relax, by verbally abusing me."

"What? Gonna cry about it?"

"I might, you having this much power in this relationship is a little alarming." He said on the brink of laughter, the smile on his face was audible through the comm.

"Relationship eh?" You questioned with a cocky hum.

His comm was silent for a second. When he did come back on, he didn't have anything to say aside from verbalizing his current state. "W-Well, I uh....."

Raph and Donnie barked into an aggressive chorus of laughter over the comms.

"Okay, okay, Relax!" Leo said in his failing leader voice. They both ignored him and continued to laugh. "Oh god, no I didn't—! That's not what—! You guys!" He was scrambling now.

"Hahahahaha!! Leo—Hah!— Ohhh, It's fun not being the one being picked on for his feelings." Donnie mused. "I get the appeal of it now."

Your heart gave a pleasant flutter at the thought. Leo, he did have feelings for you. The familiar tingle on your lips made you smile widely.

"Okay, well..." Your words silenced the guys. Here stood the gates before you, tall and imposing. The same as they were the night you'd met Leo. "...thanks for distracting me you guys."

You clicked the earpiece twice and stared up at the gates.

Leo's voice returned. "...Be careful Y/n."

"And don't dawdle." Donnie added clearly.

"Wouldn't dream of it." You replied, more confident than before as you pushed the anxiety deep down into your stomach.

With a relatively steady hand, you pressed on the gates buzzer.

"Hello?" An unfamiliar voice answered as the camera above the button tilted down directly at you.

"Uh, hi! I'm here to visit Henry. I'm a friend." You said, tugging at the bottom of your jacket.

"Name?" He questioned, uninterestedly.

A nervous smile pulled across your face. "Oh! Uh, Y/n L/n."

"One moment please." The voice left but the camera stayed locked on you. This time was effectively used to throw around the possibilities, like maybe Henry wasn't even home. Maybe he would turn you away due to work, or even worse, he was an accomplice of Polly. The colour drained from your face at the thought.

"Yes, come in Miss L/n." The voice stated, automatically unlocking the gate and swinging it open for you.

"Thank you." You said with a small nod to the camera before rushing in. About halfway up the stairs, the gates closed behind you. A sense of finality floated about the closer you got to the large doors to the newly reconstructed entrance.

Just as you made it to the top of the stairs, a muscular, suited woman, probably in her thirties, swung the door open for you. This froze you in your tracks like you were a thief getting caught with an enormous diamond in hand.

She quirked a brow up. "Henry is this way, come with me."

"Uh, oh-okay. But I actually have to make this quick, is can he meet me out here?" You asked.

The woman frowned, confused, still holding the door open for you. "Uh... do you just want to deliver a message? I can tell him if you need to go right away."

"...No, that's okay... I-It's uh, a bit personal. I'll just follow you.. Thank you though." You bit the inside of your cheek as you breezed past her into the mansion.

"Um, yeah okay. Follow me then." Her demeanour was confused but she didn't say anything as she lead you through the new large ballroom like entrance. The marble was freshly waxed and lined with flecks of gold in its grandness. The new chandelier was hugely majestic, decorated with sharp, dangling crystals on every inch. It took up about three times more space than the previous chandeliers.

"Wow. They really took advantage of this renovation." You stated, trying to seem Lee's nervous than you actually were.

The woman hums passively. "Yeah, Mr. Ashmore really spared no expense, didn't he." She said, casting a casual glance around the room, as if immune the its grandness.

"Definitely." You affirmed, before a silence settled over the two of you.

She lead you up the stairs silently and went down the hall to the left walking all the way down to another staircase leading up a floor.

"So... you're a friend of Henry's?" She asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I consider him to be my friend." You chuckled, stuffing your hands in your pockets.

She smiled and looked past her buff shoulder to you, while you were trying not to look or sound winded from the amount of stairs you were climbing. "Well, I can tell you he thinks of you as a friend. Y'know he holds you in high regard." She said, turning forwards again.

"Oh! Well, that's really cool. I think highly of him too." You responded, trying to even your embarrassingly heavy breathing.

"...So... are you guys like..." She reaches the top of the stairs and turned to look back at you. "y'know..." she linked her fingers together I front of herself. "together?"

You could almost feel the turtles leaning into their earpieces.

"Ah! N-No! No no no! Me and Henry are just friends!" You quickly denied, waving your hands frantically back and forth.

The woman chuckled and turned down the large, immaculately cleaned hallway, decorated with mahogany accents. "That's exactly how Henry said it."

This is the worst.

"Heh... yeah... because that's how it is.." You said dryly.

The woman rubbed the back of her partially shaved head. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I was just curious."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." You shrugged, trying to get rid of the sour taste in your mouth.

A couple doors down and you both come across one that looks a bit more extravagant then the rest. "Here we are." She announced then rapped her knuckles against the warm coloured oak door.

"Come in." Henry called.

The woman opened the door inwards, revealing Henry sitting behind a desk with a comically large stack of paper on his right. He lifted his eyes to you and smiled. "Y/n! Hello!"

However once his eyes landed on the woman, his smile strained. "Oh, uh, Thank you, Josie."

"No problem." She said before exiting the room, returning to whatever she was doing before, closing the door behind her.

Henry let out a breath. "Okay, so, what did she say to you?"

You couldn't help the spike in your heart rate. "Uh, she just asked some embarrassing questions."

He groaned and leaned back in his chair. "I'm sorry, Y/n. She can be a bit nosy when it comes to my personal life."

"Uh, it's really not a problem Henry." You waved it off quickly.

He tapped his fingers against his desk and plopped his cheek in his hand while finishing signing off a paper. "So..." he lifted his head again, putting his pen down. "To what do owe this visit?"

"We should hang out." You blurted.

He laughed lightly with a tilting smile. "We're hanging out right now."

A chill ran up your spine. "Erm, no I mean, like, let's go somewhere! My treat!" Your wallet cried out in terror.

He perked his head a bit higher. "oh uh..." His eyes lowered to the paper next to him. "Right now?"

"Yeah! Right now! Let's go and hit the town!"

He hummed and checked his watch. "You know it's fairly late for a day trip, right?"

"W-Well... it's kinda late to be doing work too." You countered.

"Uh... okay. I just need to finish these last few papers, then we go wherever you had in mind." He said picking his own back up. "Make yourself at home."

"About how long will that take?" You questioned.

"Uhh.." He flipped through at least ten pages worth of work. "Thirty... five minutes? Give or take? If I'm fast about it." He replied, beginning to write a bit more.

"Y/n, That's too long." Leo said, scaring you a bit at the sudden voice.

A desperate feeling started to surface. "No Henry we— let's go, It'll be fun I promise!"

He lifted his head to you again with an endeared smile. He couldn't help but your eagerness uncharacteristic of you, but amusing nonetheless. "Just let me finish this." He returned to his work.

"Y/n, we don't know how much time you have left in there, you have to leave."

Panic.

"I swear! Let's just get you out of here! I bet you've been cooped up all day." You said with a forcefully playful smile.

"Just wait Y/n. We have plenty of time." His voice was like that of a father trying to calm his child as his eyes stayed on his papers.

We don't.

You yanked the pen from his hand. "Henry, come on let's go!"

He sighed, agitation rising. "Y/n. I have to finish this. It can't wait."

"Yes it can! We've gotta go!" You snapped.

He looked up towards you across his desk with an annoyed stare. "No it—..?" He stopped mid sentence at the sight of you. "Y/n?" He stood from his chair. "Y/n, are you okay?"

Your watery eyes nearly spilled at this. You heart was racing way too fast. "I'm okay, I just..." Stupidly, you stuck with your excuse. "...I really need to hang out."

He eyed your trembling form for a few seconds.

"Please Henry." You pleaded, the crack in your voice shocked him.

"Okay... okay, let's go hang out." He said. Grabbing his jacket off the coat hanger behind his chair, shrugging it onto his sharply dressed figure.

The relived smile that spread across your face was the most needed smile you'd ever had. "Thank you. Thank you, Henry." You said breathlessly, clutching his pen.

He tossed a scarf around his neck "It's no problem." He affirmed as softly as he could, as if you might break down if anything too stimulating happened.

You opened the door for the both of you as he guided you down the stairs.

"Hey, guys? There are some semi's coming around the back." Raph informed.

"How many?" Leo asked immediately.

"There's... eleven of them."

That same feeling from earlier came back in full force. You were blindly walking towards slaughter.

"Where are you seeing this?" Donnie asked quickly as the soft clacking of a keyboard resounded through the comms.

"It's, Uh... the East. The very back of the house. Their not at the garages though, they're parked." Raph reported with a lowered voice. "It doesn't look too incriminating, but I doubt any bad guy would have their names on the thing."

Donnie's clicking and clacking continues. "Got it!" Another bunch of excruciating seconds pass.

"... oh shit." Donnie's voice pitched higher. "Polly's in the second one."

Your hand grappled onto Henry's arm. The air left your body. "...What?"

Leo turned his voice towards you. "Y/n, listen carefully."

Henry's eyes shifted towards your frozen solid frame. "Y/n?"

"I'm coming for you. Get back up the stairs and stay by the window."

"Okay." You turned to Henry wordlessly.

"Y/n?"

"Sorry, Henry." He didn't get a word in before you turned around and clamped your hand around his and booked it back up the steps.

"Y-Y/n! Wait!" He cried, forcibly trailing behind you.

You'd made it a few steps before the top of the stairs with the window to the outside world, but that was as far as Henry was willing to go. "Y/n! Stop it!" He yelled, yanking his hand from your hold. "What are you doing?! What is going on with you?!"

You didn't even hesitate. "Henry, I know this is gonna sound absolutely bonkers, but Polly is working with some evil guy called Shredder, who has a ninja army, and she is trying to mind control my mutant turtle friends, and will probably kill anyone in her way! Including you!"

"I—What?!" The words swam around in his mind as a confused jumble of accusations. "D-Do even hear yourself?!" He took another step back, down the stairs. "Do you hear what you are saying to me? Y/n, I think you might be having a mental crisis." He snapped. Anger and confusion swirled about the man as he stared up at you.

"Henry. I'm trying to save you!"

"From what?! You come in here, beg me to go out with you despite the fact I have far more important things to do, and then spew this nonsense!" He clutched the fabric at his chest tightly, as if holding himself back. "You know how stressed I am! If this is supposed to help it's a twisted and poorly executed plan!"

"This isn't a plan! This is real! You. Are. In. Danger! I'm trying to help you!" Your voice swelled in anger.

He shook his head and took out his phone, pushing past you back towards his office. "I can't handle this right now. Leave, or security is going to remove you."

"They have mutants with them!" Donnie warned.

"I'm telling you the truth!" You cried, frustration and anxiety were folding and pushing against each other, fanning the fire of your unbearable fear.

He whipped around, fists curled into tight balls. "How dare you! You come to my home, accuse Polly of... God knows what! And expect me to blindly run away with you because of this?" He jabbed a finger towards you. "You're insane!"

And as if on perfect irony alone, Leo burst through the window, rolling a few paces towards a now screaming Henry, landing on his knee and forearm.

The turtle looked up at Henry and rolled his eyes while standing up and brushing himself off. He made eye contact with you who had almost fallen down the stairs at the sudden entrance.

"Are you okay?" He asked, rushing to you to look over your whole body before grabbing your face. There was a small slice on your cheek from the glass, but you were perfectly fine otherwise.

"You really like bursting through windows, huh?" You chuckled, cheeks still squished between his hands.

He sighed a breath of relief, then brushed your hair from your face. "I wouldn't have to do it so often if you didn't get out into positions where I had to."

You smiled at each other. "Thank you, Leo."

"Ha, don't thank me yet. You're still here." He said gesturing around.

Both your eyes fell on Henry who was watching with wide, horrified eyes.

"What about him?" Leo asked, coldly staring at the man.

"Oh! Of course, uh..." You stepped back from Leo's arms, patting his shoulder. "Henry. This is Leo." You said as calmly as you could.

This did pretty much nothing to relax the man though as he wheeled back and darted down the hall.

You turned towards Leo. "Do you think you could grab him before we get outta here?" You asked with an grimacing smile.

He looked at the retreating man and sighed before popping his fingers. "Sure." He promised with a tiny chuckle then fled after the man at an amazing speed.

It only took a few moment for Leo to catch up and tackle the man to the ground at the end of the hall. Earning a horrified yell from Henry as Leo pinned him, tying his hands behind his back as Henry uselessly thrashed against Leo's strength.

You jogged up to the pair and stared down at the man who was now gagged with what looked to be a sweat towel. "Uhh.. is this necessary?"

Leo smirked with an innocent shrug. "It's necessary for me."

You sighed, but couldn't help the smile easing your cheeks. "Sorry Henry." You said, meeting his terrified and enraged eyes. Leo stood up and lifted the thrashing man in both arms.

"Let's get outta here." Leo commented looking down the hall.

"Alright," You hopped up onto his back and wrapped your legs around his body.

He gave you a shrug up, giving you a better grip before he ran back to the window.

However, he stopped jarringly right in front of he window. His spine straightened as he stared.

You frowned and peeked over his shoulder.

There lifting himself up into view on the lip of the window, was the missing piece to turtle quad.

Mikey.

Oh fuck.

______________________

Okay, so a bunch of stuff has happened between now and the last chapter I posted and it's why I've been so inactive.

But I got into university! Holla bitches!!! And I quit my job and moved into the city (again) with my friend and her college friend (who later left us high and dry smfh, rent is expensive) then had multiple heart attacks about my student loans. All the while breaking out worse than I ever have before in my life and trying to make time for a bunch of school projects I'm working on. I have had 4 midterms in a single week. I'm about to die. I am not okay.

There has just been a lot going on and I haven't really had the time to come on here and write. Or really do anything besides homework. And all the time I did have in June, I used on the mha oneshot I put in a contest (I got second place so eat your heart out Edgar Allan Poe u sad bitch 😎 hahaa,, no, I shouldn't compare his masterful work to these unfortunate fanfics)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to see you for the next. Again, this is just going to come out slowly. But it's not gonna be an 'if' I post, more like a question of 'when.'

Later skater.