Welcome Home (a TMNT 2012 fanfic)

It was about 7:35 pm when April heard a tapping noise by the fire escape.

She sat bolt upright at her desk, hands still poised over the keyboard of her laptop, holding her breath. Had she imagined it? No, there it was again. Someone was definitely tapping on the window by the fire escape.

Her mind and her heart began racing simultaneously. There were only three possible explanations she could think of for this situation. One was that a burglar was trying to break into the apartment. The second was that the alien robots she had escaped from a week ago had come for her. The third was that the foursome of giant talking turtles that had saved her from the alien robots had decided to pay her a visit. The only way she could find out which one of those three possible options was out there right now was to go to the window and see.

Very slowly, she leaned over in her chair, reached under the desk and picked up the only weapon she had; an aluminum baseball bat. She could fend off a burglar easily enough with it, but it wouldn't do much to a robot with a laser cannon. And if it was the turtles, she wouldn't need to use it at all. But if she'd learned anything from getting kidnapped, it was to always be ready for danger.

So she rose from her desk, took a firm hold on the bat, and slowly crept from her bedroom into the hallway. As she inched along with her back against the wall, the tapping returned, more impatient this time. Now standing right next to the window, she slowly poked her head out to see who was there. A big green face was pushed up against the glass, wearing a thin orange mask over its eyes. When it saw her it grinned, raised a three-fingered hand and tapped the glass more loudly than before. "Hey, April!" the excited turtle said, still tapping away. "It's me, Michelangelo! This is my voice! I'm talking to you through the glass!"

April heaved a sigh of relief and waved a finger in front of her mouth for Michelangelo to be quiet. It didn't work. She started to grow anxious again, sure that her aunt would hear him from the next room. Fortunately, Michelangelo had not come alone. A second turtle wearing a purple mask raised a fist and bopped him on the head, effectively silencing him. "Shut up, you meathead! Do you want the whole neighborhood to hear you?"

"Oops." Michelangelo said. He added in a whisper. "Sorry, Donnie."

Donatello rolled his eyes at his brother's childish behavior before turning his attention to April. He leaned forward and whispered through the glass. "We want to talk. Can you come out here?"

April checked over her shoulder to look down the hall. There was no sound of anyone coming. Setting down her bat, she opened the window and climbed out onto the fire escape. As she joined the two turtles, leaving the window behind her open a crack, she started to feel safe again.

"You guys are lucky my aunt likes to watch TV at night." she said, slipping her hands into the pockets of her shorts. "But try to make less noise next time, okay?" she added, looking at Michelangelo.

"Will do!" he replied, seating himself on the railing and swinging his legs back and forth.

April didn't find his answer very convincing, but shrugged her shoulders anyway. "So what did you guys want to talk about?" she asked, looking up at Donatello.

For a moment Donatello seemed flustered, as if her question had made him forget why he was there. "Well, I… um…" he muttered, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"Master Splinter says you get to hang out with us at our place!" Michelangelo interrupted, kicking both legs out in front of him.

Donatello frowned at him for interrupting. "He didn't say it like that. But yes, Master Splinter asked that we bring you home with us so he can meet you in person." He smiled at April, showing the gap in his front teeth.

April just stared back at him blankly. "Um, who's Master Splinter? Is he, like, your mutant ninja leader or something? And why do I need to meet him?"

Both turtles looked confused. Then Donatello became flustered again. "Oh, right, we haven't told you about him yet. Um, first off, yes. Splinter is both our ninja master and a mutant. And you need to meet him because…Well, let me start over." His composure restored, he went on in his characteristic intellectual tone. "The other day, we were talking with Master Splinter about what happened with you and the Kraang. And, well…he wasn't too happy about that."

She arched an eyebrow, her hands on her hips. "Why not?"

"Well…" Donatello hesitated briefly before answering. "To be honest, Splinter doesn't trust humans very much. He made us wait fifteen years to leave home for the first time, and we pretty much had to beg him to let us save you when you were kidnapped."

April folded her arms and drew her eyebrows together into a frown. "And let me guess. He wasn't happy about you guys promising to help me find my dad, either."

Donatello shook his head. "Nope. So now, you're the only human who knows about us. And the only way Splinter will let us keep helping you is if we prove to him that we can trust you."

"So you get to come to the lair with us!" Michelangelo chimed in, cheerful as ever. "So whaddaya say? Will you come? Huh? Will ya?"

April took a moment to consider this. She had only met the turtles a short time ago, but they'd already proven themselves to be more dependable than many humans she knew. They were also her best hope of getting her father back, and she wasn't about to let that slip away. Plus, Donatello and Michelangelo were looking at her so hopefully.

She uncrossed her arms and planted her fists firmly on her hips. "Heck yeah, I'll come! You take me to your ninja master in that lair place, and I'll show him just how trustworthy I am!"

Michelangelo cheered and pumped his fists in the air. "Awesome!" In a flash he switched from sitting on the railing to standing on it, fully prepared to jump. "Okay, guys! Let's go!"

"What?" April asked, surprised again. "You mean, let's go right now?"

Donatello nodded, moving to join his brother. "Master Splinter made it very clear that he wanted to meet you tonight." Then his face became worried. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Well…" April began, running a hand through her bangs. It would have been nice to have a bit more time to prepare for this. "How long will it take? I mean, I gotta say something to my aunt, so she doesn't wonder where I am."

"Hmm…" Donatello frowned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "It's slower going on the ground. It would take about thirty minutes to get there from here. I can't say for sure how long your stay would be, but if you have a curfew to meet we can handle it."

April thought about this for a moment. "Okay, I think I can work with that. Just give me a few minutes, and I'll meet you guys downstairs."

Michelangelo beamed brightly and flashed a thumbs-up. "Cool! See ya on the street!" And with that, both turtles leapt from the fire escape, landed on the sidewalk below and vanished around the corner of the building, all without making a sound.

April wasted no time. Rushing back inside, she returned the baseball bat to her room and dug her cell phone out of her backpack. She stopped at her aunt's room to tell her she was going out to meet some friends and would call her if necessary. Her aunt gave her consent, but not before handing her small can of pepper spray "just in case." After hooking the can onto one of her belt loops, April all but ran out the door and slammed it behind her a bit too hard. As she raced down the stairs two at a time, she realized she was smiling.

Soon she was outside. She followed the route down the sidewalk and around the corner where Donatello and Michelangelo had gone. It led her to a dark, narrow alley with some trash cans and old boxes, but there was no sign that anyone else was there.

For a moment she thought they had deserted her. Then she heard a familiar voice say "Psst!" Two of the shadows moved, assumed familiar shapes and waved to her. "How'd it go with your aunt?" Donatello's voice asked.

April walked in the direction of his voice until she could see him clearly. "Perfect. She doesn't suspect a thing."

"Sweet!" Michelangelo said, practically bouncing up to them. "Now let's get this show on the road!"

Donatello shook his head. "Not quite yet. We still need Leo and Raph." He gestured to the other end of the alley with his thumb. "And they should be coming right about…now."

Right on cue, two more shadowy figures appeared. April heard their voices long before she saw their faces.

"There's gotta to be a better way to get pizza." said the first voice.

"What's wrong with the way I got it?" said the second.

"You stole it, that's what's wrong."

"You say stealing, I say borrowing."

By now April's vision had adjusted to the darkness. Sure enough, the two arguing voices belonged to Leonardo and Raphael. Raphael, the one with the red mask, was carrying a flat square box under one arm which could only be a pizza box. Leonardo, the one with the blue mask, stopped arguing with his brother to greet her.

"Hello, April!" he said, bowing in the traditional, polite way one would expect of a ninja. "It's good to see you again."

Instead of bowing, Raphael nodded his head brusquely. "Sorry we didn't come meet you earlier. We had to get dinner first."

"That's okay." April said, smiling pleasantly at them both. "What kind of pizza did you get?"

Raphael shrugged. "Dunno. We didn't open it yet."

"Let me see!" Michelangelo flung himself at the box but Raphael blocked him by planting his foot against his brother's face. Michelangelo whined, still reaching for the box despite the foot pushing on his forehead. "Come on, Raph! I just wanna look! I promise I won't eat any of it!"

"Yeah, right." Raphael growled, keeping him at leg's length. "You always eat the whole thing. Why do you think we sent you with Donnie?"

Donatello sighed and tugged Michelangelo away from Raphael by the tails of his mask. "Chill out, Mikey. We're supposed to share it with Splinter and April, remember?"

"Exactly." Leonardo said, assuming his important leader tone. "And we can all eat it after we get back to the lair. Now let's move before someone notices us." The four turtles gathered around a manhole at the exact center of the alley. April watched curiously as Leonardo knelt on the ground and lifted the heavy metallic cover. Then he looked at her with a smile and gestured toward the dark hole. "Ladies first."

April looked at the open manhole for a long moment. Then she looked at Leonardo. "You're kidding, right?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

She gaped at him. "But…but that's a sewer! Are you telling me you guys live in the sewers?"

"Where'd you think we lived?" Raphael said dryly. "The Plaza Hotel?"

April's face twisted in disgust. She'd never been in a sewer before, but she knew quite well what they were used for. "No offense, guys, but I can't go in there."

"Sure you can!" Michelangelo said, ever the optimist. "It's easy! Here, I'll show you." He crouched, then jumped straight up, curling into a ball in the air. Then he plummeted straight down into the open manhole, shouting "Cannonball!"

April cringed at the resulting splash and burst of water droplets. Then the stench of raw sewage hit her nose, forcing her to cover it with both hands. She took a shaky step backward. "Oh, jeez…"

Raphael rolled his eyes. "Told you guys she wouldn't go for it."

Leonardo gave him an annoyed look before speaking to the girl. "April," he said, as graciously as he could. "We understand why you don't want to do this, but there's really no other way. We can't keep helping you until you meet Master Splinter, and you can't meet him until you come down here with us."

Donatello laid an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. It's really not as bad as it looks. We've lived down there our whole lives, so we know our way around. We won't take you anywhere that isn't safe."

April looked up at Donatello. He was the first turtle she'd met. He was the first one who reached out to her, and the one who caught her when she fell out of a helicopter. If there was anybody in this group she could trust implicitly, it was him. She still didn't like the idea of slogging around in a murky, stinking sewer late at night, but if Donatello said it would be okay, then it would.

With a look of grim resolve, she took a deep breath and nodded her head. "All right, I'll do it." Then she smirked at him jokingly. "But if I catch a horrible disease down there, I'm blaming you."

Donatello chuckled nervously and pulled his hand away from her shoulder, grateful that it was too dark for her to see him blush.

Soon the five of them were navigating the dark, dank maze of tunnels beneath New York City. Some were wide enough for them to walk side by side. Others were so narrow they had to walk single file. The only light came through grates overhead, but they were few and far between. Unable to see most of her surroundings, April had to rely on her other four senses, but mainly she relied on her four companions to guide her.

True to Donatello's word, the turtles were careful to lead their human friend through the cleanest passages they knew of. They moved as swiftly and silently as they could, never too far from each other and always close enough to her. After a while, April managed to ignore any filth surrounding her by concentrating on where she was going, keeping a hand against the wall as she went, or on the shell of any turtle who was close enough. As they continued their journey, the tunnels became so large they were almost cavernous and every sound echoed in the walls. The ground was almost completely dry and there were fluorescent lamps here and there.

Finally they reached their destination, and when April saw it she had to stop and stare with wide, fascinated eyes. The turtles' underground home looked like it had once been a subway station. There was a row of turnstiles at the entrance, and beyond that there was a wide platform with furnishings like a typical living room. There were cushions on the steps, an old TV set in the middle, and even a couple of arcade games. It was well lit, had a high ceiling, and aside from some personal items scattered about on the floor it was very tidy. Overall, it was totally different from what she had been picturing on the way.

"Wow!" she said aloud, gazing around in wonder. "This place is amazing!"

All four of the turtles were happy with this response. Although they hadn't said it, they were all very excited about bringing their first human friend to their home. It was also a huge relief to them that she wasn't totally repulsed by it.

"Glad you like it." Leonardo said. Then he began giving orders to his brothers again. "Raph, take the pizza to the kitchen and reheat it. It's probably cold by now."

"Let me do it!" Michelangelo said, trying again to take the box from Raphael.

Again Raphael blocked him with his leg. "Since when do you know how to reheat a pizza?" he said impatiently.

"Since I'm the one who does all the cooking around here!" Michelangelo retorted, pushing his brother's foot off his face. "When's the last time you cooked anything, Raph? You don't even know how the oven works!"

Leonardo sighed and shook his head as the two of them continued bickering toward the kitchen. They just didn't know how to behave themselves around a guest. Then he turned to Donatello. "You can show April around, Donnie. I'll let Master Splinter know she's here."

Donatello was only too happy to be left alone with April. "No problem, Leo!" Then he turned to the girl and put on his most charming smile. "So, welcome to the lair! What would you like to see first?"

At that moment April looked down at her clothes and saw how dirty they had gotten during her trip through the sewers. Her boots were covered in gunk, her yellow T-shirt had gross smudges on it, and her hands were wet and sticky. There was no way she could introduce herself to the mentor-slash-father of her new friends while she looked like this, even if the guy was a mutant.

"Um, you guys have a bathroom down here, right?" she asked.

"Of course we do! We're in the sewers, aren't we?" Donatello laughed at his own joke, and almost immediately felt stupid for doing so. "Uh, right this way." he said, blushing hard from embarrassment. As he led her toward the bathroom, he mused about how talking to girls looked so much easier on TV.

April was still admiring the lair as she walked with him, unaware of his discomfort. "So am I the first human to come here?"

Donatello tried to sound calmer than he felt. "Yeah, pretty much."

"That's kinda cool." she said with a grin. "How'd you guys get all this stuff down here?"

"Some of it was already here," he explained, reverting back to intellectual mode. "Like the electricity and the plumbing. Everything else, like our appliances and our weapons, we had to find or make ourselves." He cleared his throat. "Well, actually, I make them."

April looked up at him in surprise. "Seriously? You really make all your own ninja gear yourself?"

Donatello blushed again, but this time he was smiling. "Well, I don't mean to brag, but yeah. I like inventing things, too."

"That's really cool." she said, genuinely impressed. "Do you have a workshop for that?"

His smile grew even wider. "Yeah, I could show it to you later, if you want."

"Thanks, I'd like that." She wasn't sure why, but the idea of talking science made her feel happy. Maybe it was because science was one of the few things in her life that still made any sense, or maybe it just reminded her of talking with her dad.

They stopped in front of a small door. "Well, here's the bathroom." Donatello said. "It's nothing fancy, but it's got soap and clean water…" The sound of loud noises from the kitchen interrupted him. Raphael and Michelangelo's bickering seemed to be escalating into a brawl.

"Maybe you should go check on them." April suggested. "I'll be fine here. I just need to clean up a bit."

Donatello groaned, wishing he didn't have to leave her just when things were going so well. "Okay, take all the time you need." Then he turned and ran back the way they had come.

Once she was alone in the bathroom, April tried to make herself look more presentable. After washing her hands and face, she combed her bangs and ponytail with her fingers. There wasn't much she could do about her clothes except a bit of spot cleaning here and there. Then she looked at her reflection in the dingy little mirror. She was starting to feel nervous again.

Gripping the sides of the sink, she took a deep breath, leaned forward and put on her most brave, determined face. "Hang in there, April," she said to her reflection. "You're in a sewer with a bunch of giant, talking turtles with ninja training. Yeah, it's all pretty weird, but they're friendly and they're on your side. Now you just need to talk to this Splinter guy and prove you're not a threat or anything. No big deal. It's gonna be okay. You can handle this."

She repeated the last part out loud a few more times until she started to believe it. Then, with renewed conviction, she strode purposefully out of the bathroom. "That's right," she told herself. "I can handle this. After getting kidnapped by alien robots and rescued by talking turtles, there's nothing that could surprise me anymore."

April followed the sound of arguing voices toward the kitchen. She saw Donatello and Raphael in disagreement over how long it should take to reheat a cold pizza. Michelangelo was trying to snatch a piece from the box, but Raphael had caught him and pinned his arm against the counter. Leonardo was also there, trying in vain to restore order.

And standing right between April and the kitchen was a giant rat. And it was looking straight at her.

At first she just stood there, frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. The rat continued to stare back with unflinching orange eyes. He was dressed in a simple violet robe and held a walking stick in one hand. And he was tall. Very tall.

Then the rat spoke. "Hello."

April screamed.

She tried to back away and smacked against a wall. Then she heard something metallic clatter by her waist. Her aunt's pepper spray! Of course! She'd forgotten all about it until now. As she fumbled to remove the small can from her belt loop, the rat began to approach her. Just in time, she got the can loose and held it in front of her with both hands. "Stay away!" she yelled. "Don't come near me!"

The rat stopped several feet away from her, completely stoic and serious. Suddenly, in one swift motion, he swung his walking stick and knocked the can of pepper spray completely out of her hands. It soared straight up in a perfect arc and sailed down to land in his other hand. April did absolutely nothing. She simply stood there looking utterly stunned with her empty hands in front of her, wondering what the heck had just happened.

Then Leonardo was standing by the giant rat's side. Looking very small and insignificant by comparison, he cleared his throat to speak. "Sensei, this is April." he said, a distinct hint of worry in his voice. "April, this is Master Splinter."

The rat, Master Splinter, arched one furry eyebrow. He scanned the red-haired, wide-eyed, grubby-looking human in front of him. Then he bowed to her in greeting. "It is an honor to meet you, Miss April." he said in a deep, serious voice.

April was too shocked to speak at first. She'd blown it. Big time. Here was Splinter, the turtles' ninja master, the guy she needed to make a good first impression with, and she'd ruined it all with a panic attack. Not only that, but she'd made a complete idiot of herself in front of her new friends. She wished she could find another manhole to hide in.

The sound of Leonardo clearing his throat again caught her attention. He was making signals with his hands, trying to communicate something to her without words. Then it dawned on her. She was supposed to return Splinter's gesture and bow back.

Face burning with shame, April stuck her arms straight down at her sides and bowed as low as she could without falling over. As her brain began working normally again, she tried to speak. "Th-thank you, sir…It's an honor to meet you, too… I'm really, really super sorry for freaking out. I, uh…kind of thought you'd be another turtle, and not a...a..."

"A rat?" Splinter tilted his head to one side and eyed her curiously. With a slight frown, he looked at Leonardo and the others. "Did none of you think to tell her that I was a rat?"

All four of the turtles shrank down a few inches, as if they were trying to pull their heads inside their shells. Leonardo scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "Um, it never really came up, sensei…"

Splinter sighed and shook his head. He turned his attention back to the human girl. "Please excuse my sons for their lack of wisdom, Miss April. They mean well, but they still have much to learn." Then he gave another bow, lower and humbler than the first. "And please accept my apologies for our rude introduction. It was not my intention to frighten you."

"Oh, no!" April said quickly. "You don't have to apologize! It wasn't your fault! If I'd known you were a rat earlier, I wouldn't have freaked out at all!" Before she could stop herself, she was rambling. "Actually, I really like rats! My dad gave me a rat for my birthday when I was six. I loved it so much that I took it to school every show-and-tell day for a year!"

Splinter smiled at her. It was a very kind, paternal smile. "Please come and sit." he said, gesturing toward the nearby space where the TV and floor cushions were. "We can talk more while we wait to eat." As he turned to lead her, his long pink tail swept the floor behind him.

Hesitating, April looked toward the turtles for support. All four of them smiled back at her and made encouraging gestures for her to follow their master. So she joined Splinter and took a seat on one of the floor cushions. She felt a bit less intimidated by him now that they were both sitting down. For a rat he was very clean and well-groomed, and she noticed he had four fingers instead of five.

"What was the name of your pet rat?" he asked casually.

The question felt strange to her for many reasons, but she answered anyway. "Templeton."

"Templeton?" he repeated, furry brows arched once more. "That is an unusual name for a rat."

"I named him after a character from a book." April explained. "It was the only story I knew back then where a rat was one of the good guys."

He smiled again. "I see. Tell me more about this book. What was it about?"

The conversation went on like this for a while. Splinter would ask April a question and she would answer. They were all casual questions, the kind most people would ask when getting to know someone for the first time. At first she considered that this might be his way of interrogating her, but it never felt that way. They were just talking normally.

Meanwhile, the four turtles finally reached an agreement over the temperature and cooking time for their pizza. Once it was in the oven, they drifted from the kitchen to join April and Splinter. When he noticed them, Splinter started to become more serious.

"Miss April," he said, arms folded inside the loose sleeves of his robe. "I can see you are an honest and intelligent young woman. But I fear your knowledge of our existence may put us all in great danger."

She frowned, both worried and confused. "What do you mean?"

"You must understand that the world above cannot know about us." He fixed her with another stern, unflinching stare. "Do you promise to never speak to anyone about what you have heard and seen here?"

April squared her shoulders, clenched her fists in her lap and nodded. "I promise. I don't want you guys to get in trouble because of me." She shrugged. "It's not like people would believe me, anyway. Nobody believed me about alien robots, so why would ninja turtles be any different?"

"She's got a point, sensei." Michelangelo chimed in.

Splinter watched April a bit longer before deciding her answer was acceptable. "Very well. That brings us to the matter of our common enemy. My sons told me that your father was captured by those who call themselves the Kraang."

Her fists tightened and her teeth ground together. "Yes, sir, that's right."

Splinter looked to Leonardo, who was seated closest to him. "Have you told her anything else about them?"

"No, sensei." Leonardo said, shaking his head. "We only told her what was important at the time."

April looked around at the turtles then, eyes filled with both surprise and anger. "Wait, you guys know more about those creeps?" She glared at Donatello, who was sitting right next to her. "You know things about them that I don't? And you didn't tell me?"

Donatello cringed and held up his hands defensively. "No! It's not like that! We really don't know that much! We didn't even know the Kraang existed until we saw them going after you and your dad that night! We got some information while we were looking for you, but that's it! I swear!"

"What information?" April glared at him even harder. "Tell me."

Donatello swallowed a lump in his throat. She was really starting to scare him. He looked at Splinter, waiting for him to either come to his rescue or give his approval.

"Tell her." Splinter said simply.

With some relief, Donatello straightened up and proceeded to tell April what she wanted to know. "Well, for one thing, the Kraang have the same kind of mutagen that turned all of us into what we are now. That was fifteen years ago, so they've been on Earth for at least that long, if not longer. And lately they've been kidnapping a lot of scientists besides your dad. That's it."

April looked down at her fists in her lap, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard. She had just discovered she was caught up in some huge, evil conspiracy. The same alien robots who had taken her father were the same aliens that turned the turtles and Splinter into mutants. What else were the Kraang capable of? And most importantly, what could they do to her father? If they could turn people into monsters with just a few drops of goo…No, she wouldn't think about that. She would find him before anything happened to him. She had to.

As she looked up at the turtles seated around her, she couldn't help feeling disappointed somehow. "So, you guys aren't just helping me to find my dad." she said at last. "It's really about this mutagen stuff, isn't it?"

"Well…Yes, and no." Leonardo said. "It's true that the Kraang are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago, and that's definitely of interest to us. But like sensei said before, they're our common enemy. When we promised to help you, we meant it."

There was a grunt from Raphael. He was slouching nearby with his arms folded. "Sure, but what do we do about it now? Sitting around talking isn't doing any good."

"Patience, Raphael." Splinter said. "There is still much we must learn about the enemy before we can make our next move."

"And that's the hard part." Donatello added. "Evil aliens don't go around announcing their plans to the world. We'll have to do a lot of research just to figure out where they'll strike next."

April frowned thoughtfully. "What about me?" she said. "What should I do? I'm not gonna just sit back and watch while you guys do all the work. If I'm gonna get my dad back, I need to do something."

Raphael snorted. "Like what? Scream at the robots? Get kidnapped again? No offense, April, but you're no ninja. You're just a normal human."

She frowned hard at him. Raphael was definitely a master of ill-timed sarcasm. Under different circumstances she would have replied with a snarky comeback of her own, but he did have a point. What could she do besides screaming and getting kidnapped? Then a light went on in her head. "Wait, that's it! I'm human!"

Raphael arched a brow at her. "Yes, April, we know you're human. I just pointed that out two seconds ago."

She rolled her eyes. "No, genius, I mean being human gives me an advantage! Think about it. You guys need to hide in the shadows, but I don't. I can blend into a crowd and get into places you can't."

Michelangelo perked up, eyes bright with excitement. "Hey, yeah! You can be our eyes and ears topside! Like a secret agent!"

"That's…actually a really good idea." Donatello said. "We can't go out in public during the day, and even at night we have to be careful. But you don't have that problem, April. You can come and go as you please in broad daylight, and nobody would suspect anything."

"Of course they wouldn't. Just look at me!" She smiled innocently and batted her eyes. "For all they know, I'm a perfectly normal teenage girl."

Raphael said nothing, but he smirked. He liked the way this girl was thinking.

"You all have good points," Leonardo said. "But won't that still be dangerous? I mean, the Kraang already know who you are, April. If you got too close to them, you'd be in trouble."

April shrugged. "Yeah, but they also think I'm harmless. I wasn't much of a threat when they kidnapped me, you know. And even if they think I am, well, that's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Is that so?" Splinter had been silently stroking his stringy white beard throughout most of their discussion. Now he was looking at April with those intense orange eyes again. "Are you truly prepared to risk your life in this fight?"

She returned his gaze with all the strength she had in her. "Master Splinter, this is my fight. Those things took my father from me. I'll risk a lot more than my life to get him back." Then she folded her arms, showing that her mind was made up.

The lair was quiet again. Splinter and April continued to sit with their eyes locked in what seemed to be a staring contest. All four of the turtles, even Michelangelo, watched them with baited breath, waiting to see if their master or their friend would back down first.

Then, to the surprise of everyone present, Splinter chuckled. "What a strange girl you are, Miss April."

She blinked, not knowing what to say. "Uh…Does that mean you trust me now?"

"Yes." Splinter said. "And even if I did not, fate has brought us together anyway. So long as you keep your promise to never reveal us, I will let my sons keep their promise to help you."

A unanimous cry of "Yes!" echoed off the walls of the lair. Then April and Splinter were surrounded by four very excited turtles.

"Thank you, sensei! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"This is gonna be awesome! We're gonna best friends, I know it!"

"Finally! Somebody normal to hang out with!"

"We should swap phone numbers! I mean, so we can keep each other informed, of course!"

April was too overwhelmed to do anything except smile at them. Suddenly Splinter raised one hand and yelled "Quiet!" The turtles obediently shut up and froze in place. Splinter sniffed the air. "Something is burning."

Michelangelo's eyes bulged. "The pizza!" He made a mad dash for the kitchen, vaulted over the kitchen table and flung open the oven. He sighed loudly in relief. "Whew! It's okay, guys! It's just a little brown on the edges!"

"Good." Splinter said. He took his walking stick in hand and stood up. "I can think of no better way to celebrate our new friendship than with a hot meal."

The turtles needed no further instructions. After Leonardo, Donatello and Raphael charged off to fight over who got the first slice of pizza, April heaved a sigh of relief and rose to her feet. "Are they always this rowdy?" she asked Splinter, who was still standing in the same place.

Splinter nodded his head and started walking toward the kitchen. "You will get used to it after a while."

"Thank you," April said, keeping up with him. "For trusting me, I mean."

He smiled at her in that fatherly way again and patted her shoulder. "Don't mention it. From now on you are welcome here any time. Oh, and here." He took the small can of pepper spray from his robe and placed it in her hands. "I am sure you will have need of this very soon."

April tucked the can in her pocket and smiled. She might be just a human, but she would not run away from the next fight that came along. And with four ninja turtles as her friends, pepper spray seemed pretty useless by comparison. But there was no doubt in her mind that Splinter was right. If her life remained as action-packed as it had been for the past two weeks, she would need any form of protection she could get.

The End