TMNT with Rae - Book 1

Master Splinter leaned back as he listened to the girl's tale. There were eleven people and yet all of them were experimented on. Most of them were blackmailed, he could guess that just right off of the bat. Some of them probably did do it for the money if that was the case. He looked at his sons, all of them who so badly believed that they were the only ones that were experimented on for pleasure. To find someone who went down the same path as they did, though possibly more violently if the money said anything, was a blessing in many different shapes and forms.

"The Informer group." He decided to speak first. "What would they do with the information about us?"

"The Informers are under Ian's orders. I'm sure Ian will tell them to keep their mouths shut." Haley affirmed. "They'll be the one to keep your secret. I'm sure Ian will bring Cassie with him if you let him meet you."

"For protection?" Leo questioned, not liking the sound of it.

"Cassie is the Leader of the Informer Group." Haley explained. "What we're doing right now, telling you about us and letting you know a little bit our background is technically her job. We just happen to be here first."

Master Splinter was thoughtful, his paws cupped with each other as he meditated over what he should do. "What do you think, my sons, about meeting Ian?"

"I wouldn't mind it, though shouldn't you meet him first?" Mikey bit his lip.

"To meet him as a family would be more beneficial," Don assured Mikey, "One initial greetings are over, I'm sure we'll be able to speak with him or the others on our own."

"That makes a lot of sense," Raph agreed, "We should all go."

Tsuyoi smiled, "We can set up a meeting and everything on Monday or something, that's after my birthday on Saturday."

"What's the name of the club by the way?" Mikey asked.

"Fiery wave."

"Do they have rafters? We could hang out there or something and check it out, since we were invited to come party on our birthday," Mikey looked at Splinter pleadingly, "Would that be okay?"

"You're awfully hopeful after we just got punished for not being careful," Raph snorted.

Tsuyoi watched them amused, "Considering a good portion of the experiments made us into flying folk, yes we have rafters."

"I think it'd be a good idea to scope out the people who we're going to be alliance with before we even meet." Leo subjected. "Mikey's on the right path with that idea and if we do ally with them, then bonus we'll already know the area. If we don't, we still get that bonus."

Master Splinter nodded, "I agree with you, Leonardo. It is best to scope out before we make our decision. I'm sure if Ian really does want to meet us in good faith, he'll not mind in the least that we spied ahead of time. Especially since you were invited, it'd be a shame to not take them up on it."

"YAY!" Haley jumped off of the couch before collapsing back on the couch, whimpering a little as she rubbed her knee. "I forgot I injured this."

"Here, lemme see that," Mikey smiled and reached out, guiding her to put her knee in his lap and he gently started massaging it, "What'd you do? I noticed while you fought you favored it and then that thug took you down after you pulled it. Old injury?"

Tsu was happy Haley was being taken care of and she looked at Leo, "You cautiousness is understandable. I don't think Nix will have a problem letting you guys run around on the rafts. He's the manager of the club."

Leo was a little amused at Mikey, but turned back to Tsuyoi who spoke. "Then we'll do that." He shrugged.

Haley nodded, "I shattered my kneecap playing basketball." She explained, sighing a little at the massage that Mikey was giving it. It felt good for it to be pampered and his hands felt wonderful. "Before they did the experiment on me, they fixed my knee up so that I would be able to move properly...but it still hurts and I still favor it even when I'm fighting. Scared of injuring it again, I guess."

"Ooh, have you been doing exercises to help strengthen it so that doesn't happen?" Mikey asked curiously.

"I think we should be heading to bed," Tsuyoi stood up, "We'll have to get up early tomorrow and head to the apartment. Where do we sleep?"

"The carts are pretty easy to remember," Raph did the same, "The very end is the storage where are the blankets and pillows are. Next to that is Leo's room, then mine, Donny's, and Mikey's. If Mikey and I slept next to each other we'd never get any sleep."

"That's because you snore!" Mikey stuck his tongue out.

"So do you!" Raph shot back.

"The couch is just fine for me, I can just turn into a wolf and make myself a bed here." Haley beamed "And yeah, I do excersies. Cassandra forces me to do as many as I can before I give."

"So then you'll probably take the storage cart." Leo looked over at Tsuyoi. "Do you want me to guide you there?"

"I want to see you transform!" Mikey gawked at Haley. He moved away from her to give her more room, "Is it painful? Do you like being in your wolf form? Shell, I bet you're a pretty puppy!" he gushed.

Tsuyoi giggled at Mikey's antics and smiled at Leo, "That'd be appreciated. The lighting's dim here and unless I take off my sunglasses I don't see well in low light." If she took them /off/ then she would see just fine, but didn't want to do that when she didn't really know these people.

Haley blinked, "You want to see me transform?" At his eager nod, her cheeks flushed and her smile was as dazzling as the sun. "It's not painful at all and I like being in my wolf form a lot. Sometimes I stay a whole day that way when I'm lazy enough." It didn't even take a blink before her whole body began to shift and form. Her skin shifting and sprouting hair, her bones snapping into a different form and her face elongating into a snout and her eyes changing shape with ears on top of her head instead of down to the side. her clothes trying to contort to her figure, but couldn't, causing her to do a moment's struggle to get out of them before she happily bounded over to Mikey, wagging her tail as she bounced around, begging for pettings.

Leo nodded and presented his arm to her. "Here." He said after watching Haley's trick. He could see Donny and Raph stare in fascination as Mikey reached down and gave into her begging. "Thank you by the way. You and your sister were good fighters. Though you both could use a little bit of practice. If you guys do ally, I'll see if I can't do something to help you guys train...or even ask Master Splinter if he'd consider teaching you."

Mikey marveled at Haley's fur, "Oh, you're so soft! You're such a pretty puppy, I was right!" He rubbed behind her ears, "You know you don't have to sleep on the couch, you can just snuggle up with me! Though you'll have to fight Klunk for a spot, that's my orange tabby cat."

"Oh Kami," Raph rolled his eyes, "I'm just going to bed too, gnight," he waved to his sensei before heading to his cart and closing the door.

Donatello chuckled before he swiveled around in his chair, deciding to stay awake a bit longer. He checked his messages, even though the device on his arm hadn't gone off. No...nothing. Oh well, she said she was busy.

Tsuyoi took his arm, though jumped a little at the shocking charged that went though them. "Ah, static, gomen," she wrote it off and when she touched him again there was just a warm tingle. Smiling she motioned ahead for him to lead her, "That is a pretty big offer. Are you sure about it?"

"I'm sure." Leo said firmly. "If we're going to ally then we'll have to have good fighters. And...I saw potential in you and in Haley tonight. You guys would do well. I mean, Haley's hyper activeness isn't all that different with Mikey's and you...well...just because you're blind doesn't mean you can't learn how to fight. I'm sure it'll teach you to be even more aware of your surroundings and of the distances between people and how to use the wind more efficiently."

Haley's ears perked at Mikey's offer and she went over to her clothes, gathering them up in her mouth and she padded her way back to Mikey, tilting her head and following him back to his cart. Master Splinter sighing and shaking his head with a fond smile as everyone disappeared. He turned towards Donny. "Another all nighter?" He questioned politely. "You should get some rest, Donatello at least."

"No, not an all nighter. I just wanted to finish a few things up and then I'm going to bed, sensei. I promise. I'll set myself for another hour just in case," he opened up his watch on his wrist and did one twist. "Goodnight, Master Splinter."

Tsuyoi smiled and they made it to the cart. The idea of sleeping with him a thin door away made her blush for some reason, "I'm glad you find my skills worth honing and perfecting, Leonardo. It would be nice to fight with confidence." She opened the door and had one food inside before she turned her head back at him, "I appreciate this. I can actually say I'm looking forward to my birthday because you and your brothers are going to be there." She smiled, "Goodnight. I will see you in the morning."

~*~

Next morning was a roar of activity. Mainly breakfast and laughter and getting to know one another through their own rights. Haley had slept wonderfully as a dog, and when Mikey left the room, had transformed back into a human and dressed swiftly. Tsuyoi had already been sitting on the couch and the brothers were slowly tickling in to the kitchen to cook. It was a wonderful aroma of bacon and coffee. Leo had provided the tea.

It was a wonderful thing to watch and see and the omelets had tasted so good. Now they were back in the "living" area when Haley's phone began to ring. An Iggy Azaela and J.Lo song playing as the ringtone. Big, big, Booty. What you got a big booty? "Cassandra's calling." Haley said as she picked up her phone, not bothering to look at the caller I.D. "Think we're in for it Tsuyoi?" She didn't wait for a response as she answered the phone, placed it to her hear, only to take it away as fast as she could and place it on speaker.

"-HAVE YOU BEEN?!" A woman's voice shouted, making everyone jump besides Haley. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I'VE BEEN?! NO CALL! NO TEXT!"

"Car gone." Haley chimed in. "You could have died."

"I AM NOT IN A MOOD TO QUOTE HARRY POTTER AT YOU AND IF I DID HAVE ANY SORT OF MAGICAL ABILITIES I CAN SWEAR TO GOD THAT I WOULDN'T BE SENDING YOU A HOWLER!" She screamed. "YOU WERE GONE ALL NIGHT LONG. I WAS WORRIED SICK! I NEARLY CALLED EVERYONE AROUND TO COME FIND YOU UNTIL IAN CALLED ME!"

Leo arched an eye ridge as he listened to Cassandra yell at Haley and Tsuyoi. Tsuyoi didn't seem to bothered, but Haley looked like she was about to hide underneath the couch if she was back into a wolf. Also, he couldn't help but to note that the woman on the other end had a heavy German accent. At least, for right now.

"You knew we were going out," Haley couldn't help it. "I'm still with Tsuyoi. And I think you need to find a new belief system. Your whole Zen thing just got shot."

"WHO IS NOT RESPONSIBLE APPARENTLY!" Cassandra yelled, ignoring the jab. "I told you to be safe. I told that gang activity was getting higher and more dangerous. AND WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DECIDE TO DO?!"

"Get into a fight with a gang?" Haley offered meekly. "Tsuyoi calm her down with your magic, she's going to blow the whole place up at this point."

Tsuyoi smiled and reached out, taking the phone from Haley and things immediately got quieter. "Cass, Haley was injured. Knocked out and she sprained her knee. We were better off coming to the guys' lair. It was my fault for not calling you and I am sorry. Gomen'nasai."

Raph arched a brow ridge. This woman on the other end was feisty, like a cat. Tiger, maybe? He didn't know why, it just fit. And they did say this...Cass was one of them. He'd have to ask.

Mikey patted Haley's back in sympathy, though he had an amused look on his face, "You like Harry Potter, too?"

"Yeah!" Haley giggled. "I consider myself a Gryffinpuff. Friendly and brave. I think we all determined that Cassandra was a Slythern and Tsuyoi was a Gryffinclaw. Or a Ravendor. I'm not exactly sure."

Cassandra was quiet for a little bit as Tsuyoi said it before letting out a loud puff off air. "I get why you had to call Ian first. But next time, you better call me. I don't care if I'm on the stage or not. You call me and let me call you back. You scared me half to death and you didn't come home. What the fuck was I supposed to think?"

Her German accent, Leo noticed, had gone down to perfect English all of the sudden. That was interesting to note. Especially since Tsuyoi managed to calm her down so swiftly. He would have thought that'd take a little longer.

“I’m definately a Hufflepuff, Donny’s Ravenclaw, Leo and Raph tag-team Gryffindor, but Raph has a dash of Slytherin in him,” Mikey laughed, “Gryffinpuff? That’s adorable.”

“I know, and I’ll make it up to you. We’re going to come home soon and until you have to go to work I’ll do whatever you wish of me,” Tsuyoi promised and gave Haley a thumb’s up for success.

Haley giggled as she winked at Tsuyoi. She knew that Tsuyoi would get Cassandra to calm down. She was faster at it than Matt on occasion. Sometimes, luck was amazing. "Yeah. A friend of mine...um...the one that went missing. She's the one that suggested it. She's a pure Ravenclaw. At least, that's what I told her she was. Do you read other books besides the Harry Potter series?"

"Anything I want?" She drawled suspiciously at first, but then perked up. "Fine. I accept. Just come home soon." And with that, the phone clicked off.

“Occationally, though I don’t really have the patience for books. I read comics, though! And manga!” Mikey grinned, “Do you know Naruto?”

“I know Naruto,” Tsuyoi piped up as she gave the phone back to Haley, “The series finally came to an end thre years ago, give or take. It got really really long. I think Haley has the entire collection.”

Haley flushed. "I'm a big, big, big fan of manga." She admitted. "I have a big collection of horror, romance, gore, action, adventure, and slice of life. My room is completely decked out in anime and stuff. Only difference is that I like to go outside unlike the typical people who enjoy that stuff. I sometimes even go to conventions! I got Cass to cosplay with me once! That was great!"

“Oh I bet that was so muc fun! I’ve always wanted to go to one but you know, not much a turtle can cosplay as,” Mikey rubbed his neck sheepishly.

Tsuyoi shook her head and looked at Leo, “What about yourself? Are you interested in that sort of thing?”

"No that's all Mikey's territory." Leo chuckled. "I enjoy the Japanese novels though from time to time. Not the manga, but the actual novels. I've always found the culture to be beautiful."

“Really?” Tsuyoi smiled brightly, “Not a whole lot of the others are interested in it. It’s nice to find someone who is.” She stood up, “Would you take us to the surface? We can grab a taxi there to the apartment.”

"Sure." Leo said, standing up and looked at Haley who stood up, but she looked disappointed. "We'll see you guys at the Fiery Wave. Raph probably knows where it is. It's no secret he knows topside pretty well."

"I guess we say see you later now," Haley frowned. "And just when we were having fun too. Even if we don't alliance or anything, I still want to be your friend okay?!" She told Mikey energetically. "I'll find a way to hang out with you too."

Mikey jumped to his feet and he brought Haley into a squeezing hug, “Of course! I definitely want to be your friend, too!” He set her down and grinned widely, blue eyes dancing, “Take care of that knee! I’ll see you on the 8th!”

()

“Mikey was so sweet on you,” Tsuyoi commented as they walked through the doors of their ajointed home, “How was his little knee massage? You turned into a puddle. I bet you’d just be goo if he massaged your back.”

"Oh you have no idea." Haley groaned. "His hands are like magic. My knee felt so good afterwards. If I could get him to massage my entire leg I'll be a puddle. He gave me such a good petting too. What about Leo? His chivalry really took you off guard a bit didn't it? Especially that compliment he gave you about being a good fighter. I heard it."

Tsu blushed and nodded, “Yeah. Funny that I find a man outside of our group who’s a gentleman and he’s not even human. There was a sort of electric charge, similar to touching Trevor’s hair or something, when I touched his arm last night. I wrote it off as static, but too many of the others had described the same thing, ya know?”

"I wonder if that means you're going to have a boyfriend in the future." Cassandra teased. "It sounds like the both of you have found your matches made in heaven."

"Mikey's a friend!" Haley frowned as she flung herself onto the couch and looked at Cassandra with a faux glare. "Really, Cass. If anyone needs a boyfriend, it's you."

“For you to actually get laid instead of teasing yourself by flirting with others would be a miracle,” the half-blind woman rolled her eyes and took off her sunglasses, rubbing them. It was nice to see normally. “I’m not even sure if Leo’d be interested. They’re only seventeen right now.”

"You're factoring age...into interest." Cassandra said dryly as she looked at Tsuyoi. "That is one of the most stupidest things I have ever heard. If he's not interested in you, it's not becuase of age. You're not even that old anyway. What, twenty three right come the 8th? That's only five years gap."

“Puppy love and wanting a relationship is entirely different. That’s what I mean,” Tsu pointed out, “If anything he’ll probably wonder why /I’m/ interested since he’s, ya know, a turtle. A lgit turtle. I love how I’m suddenly going with the whole water-air forbidden love.”

"We forgot to tell Cass that there's a brother that just might be her type anyway." Haley grinned mischievously. "His name's Raph."

“I’m going to be twenty-two by the way, not twenty-three,” Tsuyoi stuck her tongue out, “Also, yes. Raphael is sort of the bad-boy of the group, nice Brooklyn accent. He’s beefy...like, his muscles have muscles.”

"Brooklyn accent? Sounds pretty cool." Cassandra said as she kicked off her shoes and started to peel off her socks. "My bets are that Tsuyoi gets married first. I don't know about you Haley, you're kind of the baby here."

"Hey!" Haley's cheeks blushed wildly. "I'm not dating Mikey, we're /friends/ don't drag marriage into this!"

Cassandra laughed as she placed her feet in Tsuyoi's lap since she was sitting next to her. "Massage my feet." She told Tsuyoi. "They hurt like a bitch and since you said you'd do anything, might as well do this while you're thinking of Leo. I kind of want to meet them. At least, this Leo and Mikey person. I trust Donny."

“Well after my birthday, Ian and Splinter both agreed to set up a meeting. We’re going to hold it on Monday. Ian wanted you there because you’re the leader of the Informers. I’m sure Haley and I will be there too, unless Ian says otherwise. They’ll be more relaxed with people they know.” Tsuyoi took off Cassandra’s socks and shifted to get a better angle and started working her magic.

"So the eighth then." Cassandra leaned back with a sigh. "So what are you're plans for your birthday besides Fiery Wave? I know you had the movie all planned out, but that was a fail."

“Well,” Tsuyoi didn’t tell her the boys were going to come to Fiery Wave. If they were good at what they did, Cass wouldn’t know at all unless they said something. It would be funny to see her surprised about something for once. “Dancing is high on my list of course. I just want to let loose and have fun besides the usual run around, helping you with this or that and spying to get information and whatnot.”

"With all the weddings that happened, you honestly expected me to take away from my brother's honey moon?" Cassandra asked as she closed her eyes. "Please. Matt worked waaay to hard on it."

"True, she'd throw such a fit if you had called them in." Haley agreed, "I can't wait till we get to see them again. I swear, Cass, you'd enjoy them."

"Sure I will," Cassandra closed her eyes as she crossed her arms underneath her head for a pillow. "I generally do like people before I hate them after all."

~*~

The night was still young, though it was raining. They were in his old apartment. Phoenix had a horrible sense of foreboding. His little sister had only been gone for an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Only...what made something uneasy settle in his stomach was that she hadn't called. She always called when she reached her destination. This had only happened once before, when she'd killed in self-defense and he'd rushed home because of his bad feeling, leaving work early.

Candy was playing a game on his x-box console when there was a knock at the door. Nix froze in place. He didn't want to answer it. Candy gave him a confused look, then it morphed into concern. Forcing his feet to move to the door when there was another knock. His large hand was shaking as it reached for the doorknob. Once unlocked he pulled it open and there stood Trevor, a dead look on his face as he stood getting drenched in the rain. All at once Nix felt ice cold, and the blood drained away leaving him pale.

"I'm sorry. She was dead on scene. There was nothing the paramedics cold do."

Each and every word hit him like a punch to the gut or face and he stumbled back with the force. "D-Dead? No. No, she can't be. She was going to Tsuyoi's for her birthday. Tsuyoi would never let anything happen to her."

"Serenity is gone, Nix. Tsuyoi's in the hospital because Hawk clawed at her. She's likely going to be blind in one eye with horrible scars from now on. She tried, she tried so hard and she blames herself."

"Hawk...he, he stopped by not that long ago and then left right away before I could answer the door. I think he...saw...Candy and I kiss." This was...no. No. It couldn't be. Reni...gone? Dead? That word kept ringing in his ears so loud he barely heard Trevor talk again.

Trevor visibly swallowed, "Hawk got away."

Pheonix felt dizzy and nauseous. Electric must've seen his face turn green because he stepped away as he collapsed onto his knees, vomiting. That was when he felt Candy's soft touch on his shoulder and everything fell apart. Reni. Dead. His beautiful little sister, so sweet and caring. Dead. "Dead. No...no...please," sobs were ripped from him and he threw his head back and screamed.

"Nix?" Candy called softly as he gently pushed the door open to the bathroom. Phoenix was holding onto the sink firmly with both hands, his knuckles pale white as his eyes were glassy and glazed over. Candy gently approached him and softly touched his back, rubbing small circles into his skin through his shirt. "Was it the memory again?" He asked softly, not wanting to disturb Nix if he was still out of it. They were supposed to get ready to go to Tsuyoi's birthday, and he could guess that was one of the reasons why he was triggered so badly.

“It’s only been two years. It’s...it’s so hard to believe.” They were in a whole different apartment, he had a new job, and life had just...moved on. Nix gritted his teeth and tried to breathe, but the tears fell anyway. “I miss her,” he murmured, voice cracking.

Candy stopped rubbing circles and instead wrapped his arms around Nix's waist, nuzzling his cheek into his shoulderblade. "I know, baby." Candy said softly, holding him close as he listened to his ragged breathing. Nix was trying so hard not to fall apart, and he knew that he still had to get Hota ready for the party as well, but it didn't matter if they were late or not. Sam had the key to the bar as well. "Do you think we should go visit her tomorrow?" Candy questioned. "I'm sure she'd want to know how Hota's doing...and we can say hello to Lily and Fran as well." He felt his eyes prick with his own tears as he thought about Lily and Francis.

“Reni would like to know Tsuyoi made it another year, though I’m sure the three of them would be upset the bastard hasn’t been captured yet.” There was a growl to his voice and his blue fire flared on his fingertips. Shaking and clenching his hands to get rid of it, he sighed and turned in his lover’s arms, hugging him tightly and kissing his forehead. He wiped his eyes, “I’m glad Nickey and Alley agreed to a playdate with Daniel. It’s been a while since Hota’s played with someone other than HarleQ.”

"Speaking of Hota, I still got to finish dressing him." Candy sheepishly laughed, "The kids will more than likely play during the party, well..HQ will drag Hota around making sure he plays. Daniel's not so forceful so that's good." He gently moved away from the hug in order to reach up better to kiss Nix's lips. "I love you." He murmured. "With everything I have and am."

“As I love you, Candice,” Nix sighed against those soft lips, “Go finish getting Hota ready, I’m okay. Thank you.” The blond eyed him with an arched brow and he smiled, “Really.” Watching him nod and walk away, he turned back to finish getting ready as well.

~*~

“I’m going to propose to Candice,” Nix told Sam as they were checking the stock in the bar while Candy and Matt were putting up birthday decorations, “Don’t know when, but I’m going to. I have the ring and everything.”

"You do that and Matt'll try to throw you guys a huge wedding like she did with me." Sam chuckled and winked at Nix. "It's about time you finally proposed anyway. You guys been living together for four years now."

“I know...I’d planned to a while back but then you proposed to Matt and she went insane,” Nix ruffled Sam’s hair, knowing how much he hated his /perfect/ ‘do being messed with, “I figured after the whole crazy business of her wedding that another would just kill the mood. I.../was/ thinking about New Years coming up at Lese’s party...but I’m not sure.”

Sam scowled as he started to fix his hair, "I dunno. I mean...you should propose when the moment's right. It's the day of the wedding you got to worry about because it has to mean something to the both of you. But hey," he grinned mischievously, "can you handle being a brother-in-law to Cassandra? Thank God I don't have to worry about her getting married."

“That’s sure as hell going to be interesting, being related to you by marriage. We’re already a family so I’m sure not much will change overall.” Nix shrugged, “I have a little speech I want to give him if I propose on New Years. I decided to tell you since I know you can keep a secret. Please, for the love of God don’t tell Matt.”

"I won't. I always keep my head firmly locked when I'm with her, so you should probably throw up the mental barriers too." Sam agreed. "Though I can't promise I can hold her back on tackling you when you do pop the question."

"I know, and I have been. I hope I'm not a nervous wreck by the time that happens, though, it's like three months away," Nix shrugged, "This morning just solidified my decision. I don't care what happens this time he'll have that ring on his finger somehow."

"Whatcha talking about?" Sam and Nix looked over to see that Matt and Candy had approached them. Matt had a sly look on her face, her hands on her hips and her smile curved. She wore a sky blue dress that looked like the day sky. She seemed to go with theme as she had half of a rainbow shooting from the cloud earrings and her necklace was a yin-yang symbol. She wore a pearl bracelet as well and her see through tights had clouds all over them. Her shoes pure white heels that had bows at the back of the shoes and a buckle at the ankle and over the front of the foot. "Something interesting?"

"Come on, Matt." Candy laughed as he finished off taping the plastic table cloth to the table. They now had to worry about the center pieces, the streamers, and the balloons, but that shouldn't take too much time between the two of them. "They can have their own private conversation without you nosing around."

"I know when Sammy's planning something," Matt pouted at her brother as she went over to Sam and wrapped her arms around his chest. "He gets the look."

"Well at least Cassandra offered to make the cake this time around," Candy switched topics in hopes that it would throw Matt off course. "It was either her or Lese's making it again. She always makes the birthday cakes and throws the parties after all. I keep wanting to offer, but...baking is a disaster."

"You try so hard but it doesn't turn out very well, and my own baking is mediocre at best," Nix agreed. Nix was generally the cook in their household, but it mostly consisted of cooking things on the stove top or oh look, pop some corn dogs in the oven for fifteen minutes. If either of them had to actually sit and put ingredients together for baking it just ended up hideous.

"How are you two even surviving?!" Matt shook her head from side to side, exasperated. "I keep telling you we should have weekend dinners as tradition at my place. That way you're both fed and Hota can enjoy some time with his Auntie and his Uncle."

Sam looked highly amused at his significant other. "Mother hen." He teased. "Trevor and Miranda have been stopping by as well." He commented, turning back to Nix and Candy. "HQ is getting to that age where she has to climb everything in sight and has to know how everything works."

"Oh. She's starting to ask the "Why" questions?" Candy's mouth twitched. "Do you think we'll get any tonight?"

"If she doesn't find Daniel and Hota fascinating, which we all know she does." Sam shook his head.

"I hope the kids will be okay," Nix hummed, "It's a Saturday, the club will be bouncing. They'll be in the back room the whole time but the music will be loud." Looking at Matt he chuckled, "We're surviving just fine. It's not like we starve." Though that could probably be argued with how thin either of them were...but they were athletic and go for morning jogs so whatever they ate just burned off.

Matt merely pursed her lips. "Well either way, let's finish up here."

"I'll set up my D.J stuff and get my playlist running." Candy agreed. "I'm sure everyone'll be fine. We'll rotate around to watch the backroom. I'll bet Cassandra will stay there most of the time anyway." He winked as he walked towards his booth, humming loudly.

Matt lingered for a moment before heading back to her table and started to work on the centerpieces and Sam let out a loud breath. "So close," he muttered. "So very close."

~*~

"This place looks amazing!" Tsuyoi gushed as she looked around. It was so lively in here and it was only seven. The sun had set and more people were coming out. She had the hair pin holding her bangs in place. It was the last present Serenity had made and it was a blue lotus made of little folded fabric pieces and a tiny cluster of pearls in the middle.

Up in the rafters Raph, Mikey, and Donny all sat down and got comfortable. No one noticed them come inside, which was good. Raph nudged Leo's leg and pointed, "There's your Japanese lady."

Leo's cheeks flushed and shook his head, "She's not mine, Raph." He hissed at his brother as he sat down too. The blond haired man at the D.J both was grinning as he was playing some Japanese oriental stuff that was mixed in with dubstep and they could feel the bass all the way up in the rafters. "Though I see your type right next to them."

The redhead had gorgeous shoulder length hair that was completely down and decently curled. She wore a jeans that looked a little like they were painted on with long black combat boots that went up her calf. Her hips swayed from left to right and she looked more like she both at home and at odds with this place. She wore an angel winged jacket, and it didn't look like she was about to take it off at least not yet, but it was left open in the front, Leo noticed as she turned her body somewhat facing them as she spoke to another blond haired girl who was wearing the sky. Her belly ring had a dangle of a heart that had a picture of something white and black. It was hard to see what it was from where they were.

Haley quickly glanced over at the rafters while Cassandra was busy and waved at them before she got back into innocent position. She was wearing a really cute black short skirt that barely touched her knees and a lovely blouse. She wore wedged heels instead of regular ones, which made her legs look shapely. Her hair was braided and swung over to the side.