TMNT-Vamp/Lynx Hiding In Shadows

The city glowed with a sea of different lights. It was stretched out across the horizon, twinkling like neon colored stars. The cars zoomed by underneath the building that Maddie was sitting on, all of the cars stopping and going depending on what light color was on. She adjusted her black jean jacket over her shoulders, and she swung her legs back and forth. Someone would probably look up and worry that she was about to jump or that she was in danger of just slipping off the edge.

Her eyes wandered to the tops of the buildings. Some were higher than hers, but there were a few that were on the same plane. The black panels of the roofs reminded her of dark storm clouds that would appear. She glanced upwards at the night sky, but not a cloud nor star could be seen. Just the moon trying hard to shine a light down on the already lit up city.

Something moved from the corner of her eye and she turned to look. Four silhouettes were running across the rooftops, yelling at each other though their voices were drowned out from the city below. Their shadows were misshapen and animal-like, but that didn't bother her. She knew it was Mikey and his brothers, since he was the loudest one that she could hear. Undoubtedly they were trying to tell him not to be too loud.

She noticed that one of them had stopped, like they felt like they were being watched. It looked like he was tensed, though maybe that was just the way he was. She wondered which one he could be. She doubted it was Mikey, if she'd be noticed by him, he'd be waving to her without thinking. His brothers' had stopped too. Maybe they weren't feeling like they were being watched. Mikey did say that rooftops of buildings were their favorite places to hang since they could do things without being noticed too much in the night.

"Hey, Raph, c'mon!" Mikey coaxed his brother, trying his best not to betray his nerves. He wanted to wave, but then he'd be caught. "We have a fight to get to. Who knows what Karai's up to this time."

"Yeah...sorry, just felt something off. Let's go." Raph agreed and the four of them started off again. It didn't take long at all, really. The Foot were near the downtown district, close to one of the older theatres.

Karai and Hun were always a force to be reckoned with, but there was something about tonight. Something almost desperate. The warehouse was full of weapons and the fight was taking quite a long time. There was a new element to the fight, on top of it all. A woman Karai called Sumi who weilded two tanto blades and as she was fresh, she ended up dancing around the four bothers. Tangling with Leo first as he tried to go after Karai, acting quite protective. Leo managed to shove her off and Mikey jumped in. Raph during this time was toying with Hun. The four of them were older, in their mid-twenties and more buff than when they first started this war. Raph ended up the biggest after puberty, followed by Leo, and instead of two or even all four of them taking on Hun, Raph did pretty good by himself. He couldn't take him /down/ alone, but he could stall him.

Unfortunately, Kurai was having none of Leo's usual 'stop this, join us' speech and she was brutal tonight. Leo was getting quite cut up, and Raph had to yell at him to get his ass in gear and stop holding back. That caused Hun to have the opening he need, and knocked Raph with a backhand using his huge fish. "That smarts..." Raph grunted as he heaved himself into a sitting position. He waved his hand as Leo yelled his way, getting Karai a good slice on his arm, and Mikey jumped down to knock his nunchucku against the back of Hun's head. Mikey got a full right-hook and went flying into the crates.

"It's all going to shit now." Raph mumbled, jumping up and giving Hun a kick to the stomach. How long had they all been fighting? An hour? Longer? "C'mon! I don't wanna be here all damn night!"

"No one does, Raph." Donny said, jabbing his staff into one of the member's stomachs and then smacking the guy who tried to come up behind him for a sneak attack across the face with the bo. He did a side kick to one that was coming at his right flank. "You doing okay Mikey?"

Leo wasn't paying attention to his brothers. All of his focus was on Karai and on Sumi who weren't letting up. Sumi didn't seem to enjoy the fact that Leo was trying to get Karai all on his own, but Leo was determined and two warriors weren't going to get the best of him. "Why are you here, Karai?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Karai scoffed at him, the blood from the cut she got on him earlier dripping from her blade, "You should just get out of our way, we have a deadline to keep or Shredder won't be happy with me."

Mikey huffed as he crawled himself from the crates he'd landed in, "Ugh, my bruises have bruises."

"Tell me 'bout it! These guys really aren't letting up tonight!" Raph grunted as he clashed with Hun again, "Anybody wanna help me with this guy?"

"Tryin' to, bro!" Mikey gritted his teeth and he did his best to try and get Hun off balance, smacking a nunchuck to the back of his knee and wrapping another around his beefy arm.

The fight was just...awful. The energy was different. There was something that the Shredder wanted and Leo needed to make sure that it was stopped in it's tracks. Leo knew that this could turn out bad since Raph and Mikey were dealing with Hun and Donny was dealing with the small fry. Which was dangerous all on it's own. He needed to end this and fast...

"What the hel-AGH!"

The fighting stopped just as one of -the Dragons? The Foot?- flew across the air and landed in the crate. There was a sound of footsteps and they looked over towards the door. A woman was standing there, with torn knees on her jeans and a plaid shirt. She wore a black jean jacket that looked pretty comfortable for the New York heat. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had a smear of...oil perhaps...across her cheek.

She had a small, short blade at her hand and she was lazily tossing it up and down.

She raised an eyebrow up. "This is my territory. I don't recall inviting you."

Sumiko jumped next to Karai during the distraction. "What does she mean by territory?"

Karai cursed, "She's someone Shredder has been wanting, but hasn't been able to get his hands on. We won't be able to get the weapons tonight, we've wasted too much time." She waved her arm, "Let's go!" She shouted to the Foot in the room, ignoring Leo as she jumped off their perch and took off.

Sumiko paused as she looked at Leo, Donatello over in the corner, Raph and Mikey and finally the woman that had barged in. A woman that the Shredder had been unable to capture. She shrank back as Leo narrowed his eyes at her, and she hurried after Karai.

Hun shoved Raphael and Mike off of him, "Time to beat it, boys!" he boomed, plowing by and escaping as well.

"What a bunch of cowards! What the hell? Some random chick shows up and you run away?!" Raph snapped, shaking his sai in the air, "You get back here!" but it was no use. Once the retreat was given, they all bolted.

Maddie knew that she probably should have stayed away, but weapons? She started walking through the warehouse a little more briskly. She barely gave them a glance, she knew that Mikey needed her to pretend that they were strangers. Otherwise, how would he be able to see Cassidy in the shadows if she parted the curtains?

Her pretending, however, didn't work as Leo stepped in her way. She hesitated and Leo's eyes narrowed at her. "Who are you?"

"No one important." Maddie shrugged and was about to try to sidestep, but Leo was good at playing that game, and sidestepped with her. "No one important." She stressed again. "I can be asking about you."

"No one important my /ass/." Raph sauntered up and squared his shoulders, "They all ran away like bitches as soon as you showed up. Ya gotta be some force to be reckoned with if Karai /and/ Hun didn't want to mess with ya."

"Your Brooklyn's showin', bro." Mikey patted himself off, slipping his nunchucku into his belt, "Damn, Leo, how bad Karai get ya? Ya gunna need stitches?"

"I can patch you up in the battle shell. It's bleeding pretty good still." Donny worried at it with a quickly produced alcohol wipe, "This'll sting a bit. Just want to get it under control."

Maddie didn't look at all fazed, her lips twitched a bit in amusement as Leo got fretted over by two of the younger siblings. She was kind of pleased Mikey went for the distraction, but Leo was still keeping his eyes firm on her. He barely even flinched at the wipe. She flinched though, she knew alcohol /stung/ like a /bitch/. She wanted to say that she was surprised that Donny was taller than everyone, and lanky for a turtle despite having muscle. She wasn't surprised that Raphael would be bulky in muscle mass, covered in scars and carrying a heavy weight. Leo was probably the most average, not too muscular, but not hurting in the skinny department and...Mikey just looked fucking ridiculous in those necklaces that Cassidy took time out of her day to make. But they suited him oddly enough. She wanted to make a quip, a smart mouth comment, but knew better.

"Great, ya suddenly gone mute at us big ugly monsters?" Raph threw his hands up, "With how powerful Karai thinks ya are, ya could probably wipe the floor with us, huh? Gunna knock us down, string us up, leave us for the cops to find 'n' take us in to be lab rats? That why yer so quiet? Thinkin' of a way to toy with us?"

"Wow Raph, go right for the worst case scenario why don'tcha?!" Mikey looked at his brother in horror.

Maddie burst into laughter so hard that she doubled over and nearly fell on to her knees. "I'm sorry!" She snickered as she wiped away tears from her eyes. "But wow."

Leo was a little surprised that she'd be laughing at that. It probably took her off guard, or maybe she had been caught? He knew people reacted to fear differently. Some screamed. Some fainted. Sometimes, laughter like what Mikey sometimes does when he gets unbearably nervous was common. "Raph's not wrong."

"No he's not," Maddie wiped the tears from her eyes. "But if I wanted to toy with you, wouldn't I have already done so?"

"Well at least it got ya to talk, damn it." Raph huffed, "Avoidin' Leo's question isn't gunna get ya very far, little miss green eyes with a knife. A /knife/ and tossed /one/ guy into the crates like it was nothin' 'n' and yer sayin' yer not /that important/."

Leo watched Maddie for a while as she shook her head from side to side. "Let's try this again." Leo said after a moment of thought. "My name is Leo and the one that's a little perturbed right now is Raph. The one is purple is named Donny, and then you have Mikey."

"I'm Madeline Black. Maddie. Mads. Whatever you want. I've heard them all." Maddie bowed on instinct since she had been taught that and she froze before hastily standing up. "Anyway. Weapons. Are here apparently?! And uh...I should go find those!"

"No flair, Leo. So boring. Raph the Violent Teddybear, Donny the Brains of the Outfit, thank you, Fearless No Pain Leo here, and of course, the Fabulous Mikey." Mikey patted his chest with a big goofy smile and he took Maddie's hand, being as dramatic as possible as he shook it, secretly /so glad/ he could actually say her name now, "Hello, nice to meet you, Maddie!"

Maddie tried to have a straight face. She /tried so hard/ but biting her lips weren't helping as she turned into her shoulder to snicker. She needed to get her act together, this was why Cassidy was in theatre and she /wasn't/. "Nice to meet you too." She cleared her throat, hoping, just hoping she wasn't blowing this all down hill. "That was...a good introduction. I like yours better Mikey."

Leo rolled his eyes, but he couldn't help but to wonder why it was that Maddie didn't really seem to react...badly to them. Hell April /fainted/ the first time she saw them. Then again she was giggly, a nervous wreck. But something told him it wasn't because of them...or it was...but not in the way they were thinking.

"We can leave the weapons to the police to take care of. A stockpile would be a large concern, even for the NYPD who don't care much about anything." Donny said, finally getting the blood on Leo's arm to stem, and he smiled at Maddie albeit shyly, "Nice to meet you. If you don't have anywhere to be, perhaps we can take this conversation to the rooftops? The Battle Shell /is/ a few blocks away, after all."

"I'm game." Maddie shrugged. Cassidy was going to be so jealous she met them first...she'd have to make up for it somehow. "I'll call it in when we're far enough away."

"Off we go then." Raph huffed and was the first one to leave, Mikey grinning and winking at Maddie before hurrying off after him, then Donny. Leo was the one to make sure she didn't separate, considering they all wanted answers. Police sirens were going off by the time Maddie finally called for them to park it. "Ya gunna talk to us now?" Raph folded his arms as he sat on the edge of the roof, watching her closely.

Maddie sighed as she sat down, folding her legs underneath her. "I'll talk. I'm not interested in making enemies out of you guys. That's just not fair. What do you want to know?"

"Perhaps you could start with why Karai decided to retreat so quickly." Donny offered helpfully, "Do you two know each other?"

"Not like friends." Maddie made a face and she leaned back a little. "My sensei doesn't like the way the Purple Dragons keep trying to recruit people. He also doesn't like the way the Foot are run either. As for why Karai bolted, she's been on the receiving end of my fights before. She knows what I can do and so does the Shredder. I've been approached to join up, I've been threatened. I've been in a lot of tight spots where they tried to force my hand too. But I always got out of it, and it's upsetting for them to keep loosing. I mean, dealing with you four is a challenge of itself. I'm just one person. You can imagine how it grates on the nerves. I know it makes me go nuts."

"So, what /can/ you do?" Raph's accent had lessened now he had calmed down, listening to her story, "What makes you such an asset that they want so badly? It got anythin' to do with why you don't seem to care about meeting four giant turtles?"

"Well, I can see why people would be scared of /you/, bro. I'm too adorable to be scary." Mikey beamed.

"Shut your face before I pound it in." Raph rolled his eyes.

"Raph be nice." Leo snapped.

Raph only wrinkled his nose at Leo in return.

"I don't think that's gonna happen." Maddie muttered.

"Let's see...what can I do...well...um..." Maddie winced, as she shifted where she sat. "It doesn't have anything to do with you, though...now that they saw us together, they're going to make that connection." She winced again. She was going to have to warn Cassidy of that one. "But um..." She glanced at Mikey. "I can do things?" She winced again. "Like....uh...tossing that guy into a crate without touching him?"

"Magic?" was the first conclusion Donatello came to.

"Ooooh so like, sparkles and things? I mean, ya don't seem to be carryin' any wands." Mikey smirked at Maddie knowingly.

"C'mon, Leo, Harry Potter!" Mikey whined.

Maddie just ignored it, "Well the magical world of Hogwarts thought I was a little too dangerous with a wand so they took it away. But yeah, magic, uh works."

Mikey covered his mouth and the little giggles came out in snorts. Raph arched a brow ridge at him, "You're findin' that way too funny."

"We've dealt with magic before, man. Of course that's funny!" Mikey countered.

"We've dealt with magic before." Donny nodded, ignoring his brothers, "Shredder is always after artifacts. Armor, special weapons, things that create time portals to try and stop us before we're born sort of thing. We've been to the future and the past. It's all rather headache-inducing."

"You shouldn't mess with time too much, that'll really mess you up." Maddie frowned deeply looking at Donny. "But yeah, he's always looking for things that other witches have created too. Shamans and monks and priests. Things that he could use as protection and something I happen to be well versed in. I mean, no one knows where my hideout is because it's so well hidden." Mikey knew where it was, but that was because he had been inside of it, but she wasn't about to say that. "My magic is...um....non-conforming. It just is."

"That could be useful and a problem, if someone wanted to find you." Donny tapped his chin, and looked at Leo, "You got anything to add to this?"

"Karai bolted the moment she saw you." Leo said after a moment, "and you mentioned something about territories. Karai does try to keep her honor and her word, when possible, but that depends on Shredder's will too. She can't get out from underneath him."

"The territory thing was an agreement. Don't fuck with me and I won't fuck with you." Maddie agreed. "I'm good at keeping myself hidden, so it's not like she's gonna pop into my workshop one day and try to snatch me. That's best saved for right now...or that warehouse...or down any random alleyway. I should probably stock up on charms..." She muttered the last part to herself. "Give some to Cassidy too...expand the territory a bit if this is gonna be a problem."

"Hard to expand a territory when you gotta fight to keep them." Raph stood back up, cracking his knuckles, "There's plenty of gangs around. Get to big for one person to handle can be a problem. You're a one-man show. How do you plan on doing it?"

"She's not alone, she just mentioned somebody named Cassidy, or do ya got wax in your ears?" Mikey grunted, "She's /magical/, Raph, I'm sure she's got her ways."

Maddie snorted and she waved her hand when they looked at her. "Don't mind me...I'll just be over here...laughing. It's cool."

"Two is still not enough. I have this doubt that your Cassidy isn't magical?" Don frowned, "You shouldn't do this sort of thing with so little resources. We've been handling things so far. They just are a bit more adamant when there's something they want."

"That's a no joke." Maddie shivered a bit. "No, Cassidy's....a lightening bug. She can't do much besides blind people...or make things look shinier than they really are. Though she might just...you know...hate me for saying that. I suppose I should show you a little of what I can do...um..." She frowned. "Uh....maybe I should've waited and got supplies....or something. I mean, I got my blood...but I'm not really fond of the rooftop...wait! Oh..." She deflated instantly. "Shit, I was going to say "hey let me enchant your home" but uh....that's no good."

"Lightning bug, yeah she'll really hate that. Sounds more like a firefly to me." Mikey mused with a soft, playful smile.

"Splinter really wouldn't appreciate us bringing someone new down to the lair." Raph looked at Leo.

"But she's an ally that Shredder has been after. We've all become involved and connected now." Don pointed out, "He'd also be disappointed if we didn't secure her safety."

Leo frowned, "We're found out anyway. A person against the Foot is a person we want on our side. Let's talk to Splinter first, get his take on it, and then we'll come and tell you what the idea is. For all we got...it might be that you have to swear to pretend you never saw us and we stay out of yours and this Cassidy's woman life."

"You should give us a meeting place and a way to contact you, since you just said it's hard to find your home." Donny turned back to Maddie.

"Central Park sounds good to me. There's that turtle pond or whatever, with the castle and all. Would be a pretty funny place for meetups." Mikey grinned. This was just too good. He hoped Maddie was going to go home and call Cassie to tell her all about it.

"Tomorrow night, then, Leo?" Donny tilted his head at their leader.

"All four of us don't need to go, do we?" Raph snorted.

Leo nodded, "Tomorrow night." He turned to Raph. "No, but if she's as powerful as says she is, we don't want to mess things up and be caught off guard."

"Well that's smart." Maddie whistled. "But in all honesty? Nah, you don't need four people. Whatever you got on hand's enough."

"We can figure that out when the time comes." Don compromised and headed for the edge of the roof, pressing buttons on the device on his arm. The Battle Shell took no time at all to come driving itself down the alleyway, "Let's go get you patched up, Leo."

Mikey waited until everybody else had jumped off before he hurried to Maddie and scooped her into a quick, tight hug, "This was a fun night. I'm glad they met you. Next up, Cassie!" He laughed and gave her a cheek smooch before running off the edge to join his brothers.

~*~

cassiebaby: I'm so jealous! She gets to meet you guys and your father first! It'll be awesome! I told her what you guys were up to, and she's a bit nervous. I mean, not crazy nervous like she could be...but nervous.

mikester: I mean, you could say she told you about us since you two work together and demand to come with : 3

cassiebaby: I don't think your brothers are going to fall for that :/. I mean Maddie admitted to me that you two nearly blew cover cuz neither one of ya got a poker face like Lady Gaga.

mikester: Omg now I have that song in my head /thanks is2g Mikey rubbed his face. He really wanted to see her. Would it really matter anymore? Raph was giving me looks all night anyway. Donny doesn't seem to care. Leo was kinda meh.

cassiebaby: M-m-m-my poker face m-m-m-my poker face : 3 you're welcome. She sent first.

mikester: I hate to love you sometimes you turd

cassiebaby: At least I'm not singing Barbie's World. Now that can get annoying. . But no, seriously. I want to make a good impression on your dad and hanging off of Maddie's gonna ruin that by thousands. I should be introduced slowly...like...between snail-like and glacier slow. Like...if Raph's super suspicious already, we should go with him first. You know. Get the hard eggs out of the way.

mikester: I want to bring Raph to Maddie's place. You should be there just as like an 'oh fancy seeing you here' moment. That'll make things easier. Maybe. He was all up in her business tonight, too. It was kinda weird.

cassiebaby: What do you mean? o.O

mikester: She didn't tell you? omg so like, he went from zero to a hundred real fast. Immediately went to the worst case scenario when Maddie didn't answer Leo's question about who she was and her being all like 'not important'. Raph was not having any of it!

cassiebaby: Holy hell Σ(,,oΔo,,*) that's...what the heck Raph?! I mean, she told me that Raph was suspicious, but he actually thought that she was gonna hurt you guys?! I mean I understand big brother protection detail, but he didn't need to go down that far down the rabbit hole.

mikester: I know!!! I told him basically the same thing!!! DX So yeah, he was real uppity towards her, and then towards the end of it all when she said she was gunna expand her territory he got in her face again saying she can't do it by herself and all that

cassiebaby: Well, he's not wrong there. She can't. I mean, I love Maddie to death but she barely sleeps as is. Adding more to her list of things to worry about is just going to make her cut off her eyelids and never sleep again.

mikester: omg ew it's too early to be thinking creepy things like that plz stawp Mikey made a face at his phone, Anyway, yeah so that's part of the reason why I want to bring him to her place. I want them to like, ya know, chill out for a bit. I'm not playing matchmaker idk what you're talking about.

cassiebaby: Sorry love (⌣_⌣”)! You know, you make good points. If you can swing him by, I'll let Maddie know that I'm crashing her place tonight and it'll be a miniature party of sorts. I get to finally meet one of your brothers!!!!! o(*>ω<*)o Can you tell I'm excited?!

mikester: yes you're making me jealous cuz you're using those silly little emojis and I'm over here using old fashioned ones T^T. Brat. Okay, so Raph and I'll come to Maddie's place instead of turtle pond, Leo and Don won't be the wiser. Raph'll know something's up right away cuz I know where it is.

cassiebaby: You love my emotes cuz you know that my adorableness shines through easier and you can picture me better.

mikester: you got me. alright, cassie-koi, I say gnight to you here. I'm pooped from that fight

cassiebaby: Sleep well, Mike-love. I'll see you tomorrow <33333333 all the hearts!

mikester: never enough <3  bai bai! with that, Mikey finally put his phone on silent and set it in his belt, yawning and snuggling his pillow. It didn't take long before he was out like a light.

()

"Where are we /going/ Mikey?" Raph asked in a low, guarded tone as they veered away from Central Park, "This isn't part of the plan."

"Of course it isn't. I'm taking you to Maddie's lair." Mikey answered him with an internal sigh. Here we go.

"And just /how/ do /you/ know where that is?" Raph narrowed his eyes at his brother from his position behind him as they jumped from roof to roof.

"Might be because I've got a thing going on with that /Cassidy/ girl she mentioned." Mikey replied airily.

"Is that so?" the red turtle drawled, "Are you seriously dating a human?"

"Why are you saying that like it's a bad thing?" the youngest looked over his shoulder with a glare.

"I'm just shocked. How long? How the hell have you kept it a secret?!" Raph glared right back.

Mikey winced and paused, chewing his lip, "Uh...not long after Casey and April got married?"

"EIGHT YEARS?!" Raph bellowed, stopping in his tracks, and he stormed up to Mikey when he stopped, grabbing him by the straps of his ninja gear, "HOW IN THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU MANAGE THAT?!"

"Eeeeerrrrr....." Mikey cringed, "I'd only meet up with her when it was my turn to patrol? Aaaand texting? No one ever said texting or talking to humans online was out of the question, you know. I'm sure Donny talks to them all the time on the forums he goes to. We trash-talk the poor kids on x-box to boot."

"You've been dating a /human girl/ for /eight years/ and none of us knew about it?!" Raph was still trying to wrap his head around that, "She knows what you look like? IS THAT WHY YOU AND MADS LOOKED SO COMFORTABLE YESTERDAY?!"

"Geezus! You can stop shouting or you'll wake the city I swear to Kami, Raph!" Mikey swatted his bigger, older brother off of him, "Yes! Yes I've kept this a secret for /this long/! She knows what I look like, we've kiss and hell, we've gone all the way to second base, you big jerk. We just never have the /time/ because otherwise you'd all get suspicious if I don't actually /do my job/ and /patrol/ and kick badguy butt before coming home."

Raph scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to process everything he was saying, "This is just...you've even /kissed her/?"

"Are you okay bro? You look like you're going to have a stroke or some shit. Yes I /kissed her/. I kiss her a /lot/ actually. Every chance I get. She's amazing. Thinks I am, too, mind you." Mikey rolled his eyes. "Says I'm /fantastic/ with my /tongue/ too."

"Great, someone to stroke your already too-big ego." Raph groaned, shaking his head, waving his hands for Mikey to stop. "I get it, thanks. I have to meet her now. Geez. I just...eight goddamn years. Leo's going to lose his shit, too."

"Who knows, he might be totally cool with it. Donny, too. You'd just end up looking like a douche." Mikey teased, but he turned around and started running again, "We got a ways to go yet, she lives in the not-so-great part of town."

"Fantastic." Raph grunted, but he followed after him quickly.

~

mikester: I'm sure she feels me, but have her look at her window.

cassiebaby: OMG! I'll tell her. EEEEEKKK I"M SO EXCITED!

"MADDIE!!!!" Cassidy ran up the stairs, nearly tripping on the third one on the top before scrambling up and getting into Maddie's room, who was combing her wet hair. She wore jeans and a man's shirt, her towel hanging over her shoulders to keep her wet strands off of the fabric. "Thank god, you're dressed. Hey, you should look out your window. I mean the window downstairs."

Maddie snorted, "Because they suddenly learned how to fly huh?"

Cassidy's cheeks flamed. "I'd do it, but I think I'm still a secret, and Mikey's waiting. Come on, you can look prettier later." She grabbed on to Maddie's arm. "They have such awesome timing."

"Alright, alright." Maddie set down the comb and let Cassidy drag her down stairs when she frowned. "He brought Raph?"

"Uh..."

"Huh. How did he manage to do that one?" Maddie frowned, but she didn't question it as she walked over to the window and opened the curtain. She waved at him before she went to the door and opened it. "Come in. I have company over, but...she can pretend she didn't see you if that's still a thing. Though..." She looked at Raph's face. "I'm going to guess that's not a thing anymore."

"Cassie! Fancy seeing you here." Mikey beamed at his girl, "No, it's not a thing. We must've spent a whole minute or two with Raph losing his ever-lovin' mind over it." He jumped through and then wrapped her up in a bear-hug, "There, now he can see the building instead of just a brick wall."

"HOW THE IN THE HELL?!" Raph's shout could be heard outside.

Maddie burst into laughter and Cassidy didn't fair much better as she held on to Mikey and hugged him back, letting him rock her from side to side as she looked over at him. "I thought you told them that you were magic Maddie!"

"I did! I didn't have a way to show them what I could do though." Maddie said, after getting herself under control. "Do you want to come inside, or are you going to stand there and let people see you?"

"He's real vocal tonight." Mikey agreed with a laugh, and Raph came in through the window next quickly, "Raph, meet Cassie. Cassie, may I finally present to you the violent teddybear." He did a flourish and a bow.

"Oh ha-ha, you can cut it out." Raph grumbled as he shut the window behind him and turned back to the women in the room. He did a partial bow, "Hey. So you're Cassidy."

"Here it comes." Mikey whispered.

"Eight years with this shell-fer-brains? I have to live with him on a daily basis and he drives me up the wall every chance he gets. You at least get a break!"

"I knew it! 'Eight years, eight years'!" Mikey mock repeated, "He'll probably bring that up /eight more/ years from now whining about it."

"You can barely keep a secret to save your life!" Raph waved his arms a bit, "Remember the whole purple ooze thing?! You /eavesdropped/ on Leo and Donny and came runnin' to me!"

"You were the first one to come up with a plan to go get it!" Mikey countered, "I can keep a secret when it counts!"

"Oh so anything personal don't count?" Raph folded his arms.

"We're bros! We live in the same tiny confinement for twenty-five years like hell there'd be any secrets after so long anyway that /involve/ us together as bros, man!" Mikey's head fell back in exasperation.

"I'm getting the feeling I should be making popcorn right about now." Maddie was highly amused by this. "I thought it was nine honestly." She glanced at Cassidy curiously.

"It feels like nine." Cassidy grinned at Maddie. "I don't mind the extra year, though its' really been eight."

"Aw." Maddie cooed. "I'm making tea...and maybe that popcorn if they don't stop any time soon. I'm surprised he's not demanding answers from you, but is going after Mikey. Isn't it your turn to be in the hot seat?"

"I don't think that's how it works, Mads." Cassidy frowned, watching her friend leave into the kitchen.

Raph sighed, "I really shouldn't be making such a big deal out of this and I'm really not giving you a good first impression. I'm serious in what I'm saying, though. This is a big deal in and of itself. You're Mikey's /girlfriend/ and you two have been together for a /long time/ and none of us had /any/ idea."

"No I understand it completely! If I came home to my brother or sister dating someone for a long time and they were um...different then yeah! I'd be freaking out too!" Cassidy quickly held her hands out in a comforting manner. "But I heard a lot about you guys. We felt bad that we had to hide. We didn't know how you guys would react to me...at all. I mean...humans can be terrible people to each other. Imagine what terribleness they could be to someone that's different. I mean, you probably don't have to imagine that...Maddie doesn't either...she gets it. Let's try again? Hi! I'm Cassidy Parks, Madeline's best friend and half-way to being sisters. It's nice to meet you." She bowed glancing at Mikey to see if she was doing it right.

"We get called Monsters often even from those we save." Raph agreed with a tired sigh, and he bowed back to her properly, "Raphael Hamato." He answered simply, then straightened back up and he finally looked around the place, "There's so many goddamn /plants/."

"I love how that's the first thing he comments on, and ya know, not the altars and multitude of candles and pictures on the wall with pentagrams and things." Mikey laughed patting Cassidy's back as she stood straight again.

Cassidy snickered a little, "She does go overboard with them." She admitted as she looked around. There were plants scattered about everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling, hiding in corners, on the windowsill, a couple on the coffee table, a lot more in the kitchen near the fridge. "These are all herbs." She explained. "The vegetable garden is outside. She brings them into the garage when there's a cold front since she doesn't want them to die. She works with essential oils too, but mostly herbs and a few crystals here and there. Oh we were just talking about the alters and how come you have so many plants." Cassidy beamed as Maddie came out, with floating tea cups. She waved her hand and two went to Mikey and Cassidy while the other one floated to Raph and she kept hers in her hand.

"I didn't know you were going to make tea. I prefer coffee, for future reference. Arigato." He figured if she'd known Mikey long enough she'd know what that meant. He took the floating cup and immediately felt like he was going to crush it in his big hands. Mikey seemed to take the whole 'dollhouse' feeling to heart and pinched the teacup handle between his two fingers, sipping it with a content hum. Raph scowled a bit, instead going for the way Leo would probably hold it, which is similar to a sake cup, gently on the sides and he sniffed it, "What's in this? I smell honey."

"Nothing poisonous. Lavender, Honey, a dash of lemon, and a little bit of chamomile. Not enough to knock out a person, but enough to calm the nerves a bit. You were freaking out a bit and I was concerned about you. I'll remember the coffee next time. Please tell me you drink it like a normal person." Maddie let out an exasperated sigh as she said the last part.

"Normal person," Cassidy snorted, "Candy-cane'll knock you out if she heard you call her a weirdo."

"She doesn't even drink coffee! She drinks like...a coffee based milk and cream and sugar combination of hell!" Maddie stared at Cassidy.

"Uh...I only really use creamers when it's the holidays, I like the pumpkin spice for fall and peppermint for christmas, but besides that just sugar to help it go down." Raph shook his head, "Candy-can? Does she have a name or are you just going to use code words?"

"Now /her/ I haven't met, in all my time with you." Mikey tilted his head, "She's an illusive one for sure."

"You're just being a jerk now, Mikey." Raph scowled, but he took a sip of the tea and blinked in surprise at the burst of flavors on his tongue, "This is good. I didn't expect so much flavor from things that don't have a lot of taste on their own."

"No her name is Andrea, but Candy-cane was too accurate." Maddie explained. "She's my sensei's assistant in the dojo /and/ she runs her own dance studio."

"A dancing martial artist. Leo and Splinter would get a kick out of that." Raph snorted, "She use magic like you two, too?"

"Fire." Maddie and Cassidy said together in a chorus.

"You weren't kiddin' 'bout bein' practically sisters." Raph arched a brow ridge, "Witches Three, huh? No wonder you really shrugged me of when I said it was too much by yourself."

"Made it sound like you were chopped liver." Mikey sniffed at Cassidy.

"I mean...all I can do is blind someone and all Andrea can do is really burn someone. Maddie's kinda the...magic wheel here. She has more versatile things." Cassidy defended. "We can help protect her, I mean...I can make sure she sleeps and Andrea can make sure she's not slacking off in training, but other than that....yeah if someone asks for a protection spell, we're both gonna point at Maddie."

"Light and fire can be a bitch if you do it right. How often do you practice? And Fire...you can do more than /just/ burn things. You can melt them, you can incinerate. You could heat a weapon in someone else's hand, render projectiles moot. Light /can/ set things on fire if focused enough. Blinding is way more useful than you give it credit for. Not a lot of people have been trained to fight blind." Raph rattled off so rapid-fire even Mikey was staring at him.

Maddie quietly sipped on her tea while Cassidy and Mikey stared at him awestruck. "Huh..." Cassidy said slowly. "I didn't think of it like that."

"Damn, bro, you sound like Donny." Mikey whistled low.

"You had way more confidence than she did about abilities, damn." Raph looked at Maddie

"Awwwww! You have faith in me!" Cassidy teased, but she looked at Raph curiously. "You know, speaking of abilities and Donny and things, what's the verdict?"

"We're actually supposed to take you back to meet Splinter, but should Cassidy and Andrea be included?" Raph furrowed his brows looking at Maddie, "Or should we do that separately, one at a time?"

"Cassidy's already here and she already blew your mind with the eight years thing." Maddie said gently. "You might as well blow them too."

"Maddie no." Cassidy snorted. "That was the wrong phrasing oh my god."

Raph rubbed his forehead, "Mikey already went into detail and you really shouldn't inflate my brother's ego." He quipped.

"I had no idea you were into incest but okay." Maddie shrugged, making Cassidy shriek. "Whatever."

"Donny." Mikey and Raph echoed, "Then Leo." Mikey laughed, "We've had plenty of sleepless random nights thinking about things like that."

"Drunk ones, too." Raph added in, "Not that we'd /do/ anything but it hasn't been beyond the realm of random topics of the night."

"You're so adorable when you blush that red." Mikey cooed at Cassidy.

Maddie snorted as she watched her best friend just turn redder.

"I don't even know." Cassidy shook her head. "Not surprised, but...imaginations don't need to go that direction yet. I'm curious now to meet them...but now I don't know if I'll be able to look them in the eyes."

"Would Andrea even be awake? We can make it a party!" Mikey beamed.

Maddie looked over at Raphael. "Three people going to be too much? Or should we do it just the two?"

Raph shrugged, sipping more of the tea, "We're equipped for random sleepovers when April and Casey drop by with their daughter, so. It's fine. Just be prepared for Leo to toss a fit."

"He might nooot." Mikey reminded.

"Leo has a pole up his ass, unexpected visitors is different than you popping that you have a girlfriend." Raph countered.

Maddie nodded and she took out her phone, "Hey Andrea," she said as the girl answered. "How do you feel about doing something random and strange tonight?"

"It doesn't involve fighting does it?" Andrea asked back.

"No. But it does involve going down into the sewers and seeing walking talking turtles." Maddie answered easily. "Oh and possibly watching Cassidy get roasted for having a boyfriend for eight years. You know the guy. The one she can't stop squealing over."

Cassidy's cheeks turned a bright red. "Shut up!"

Andrea's laugh could easily be heard from the other end even though Maddie didn't have her phone on speaker. "Yeah, I need to take a break from this painting, anyway before I start thinking it's the best thing I've ever done." There were sounds of clinking and clanking, "Uh, just come to your place or what's going on here?"

"Meet us here. Knock three times so we know it's you." Maddie shrugged. "Or just jump through the window or something."

There was a snort. "Alright. By the way. Were we right? Is your past honey there?" It was a soft question so only Madeline heard her.

Madeline felt her heart clench. "We were so right." She admitted, biting her lower lip. "We were right about the other thing too...Cassidy's giving me a look, so I can't say much...but yeah...we were right on both accounts."

"Wonderful, I get to meet both! I pro'ly won't be so lucky, but two out of three's a good ratio. Gimme half an hour to get there." With that, she hung up.

"Thirty minutes." Maddie said as she placed her phone down. "Should I go ahead and make things for a protection spell or should I just...not bother? I don't know what to expect honestly with your family and if they're gonna want proof or not."

"Thirty minutes." Maddie said as she placed her phone down. "Should I go ahead and make things for a protection spell or should I just...not bother? I don't know what to expect honestly with your family and if they're gonna want proof or not."

"You could show them the sparklers and the wands." Cassidy grinned brightly.

"Mikey already made that joke."

"Fuck!"

"A protection spell is something Leo and Splinter are interested in seeing." Raph answered for her.

"So a glamour like the one like my home, a home blessing..." Madeline started muttering to herself as she headed upstairs, pulling the towel that had been on her shoulders off.

Cassidy watch her go with an amused smile. "You made her night."

~*~

"That took a really long time, guys!" Donny came to greet them.

"Sorry, we ended up having to wait for the Witches Three to assemble." Raph jabbed his thumb behind him at the three women.

"If we're going to assemble like the avengers, I vote Maddie is Bucky, I'm Steve, Cassie can be Clint." Andrea grinned.

"The hell? Wouldn't she be Natasha?" Raph looked at her with bewilderment.

"Honey you haven't seen her use her knives." Andrea beamed, pleased he caught onto what she was saying.

"I'm almost curious to see, but...why on earth did we get three?" Leo frowned as he peeked over his brother's shoulder with a disapproving look on his face.

"Because we wanted to see you go up the roof when you find out the secret." Maddie quipped easily as she gently moved through and got in. "Whoa...it's bigger than I thought...two /stories/? That's /insane/."

"It's a really old lair, there's event his magical in-lined crystal in places and there's this elevator we use to go up to the garage that's above us." Donny explained to her proudly, "If you're magical like you say, then the crystal might be able to enhance whatever you do."

"Hey, we all get our own rooms which is nice, too." Mikey laughed, grasping Cassidy's hand, and gave her a wink, "I get to show you the Mikester's luxurious pad."

Leo raised an eyeridge. "You just met and you're already crushing on her?"

"Oh just wait." Andrea held her finger up.

"If you don't react the way Raph's hoping he might go punch something." Mikey agreed.

"I'm curious and worried." Leo admitted. "And for some reason that sits really uneasy in my stomach. Should we sit down for this?"

"Might not be a bad idea." Raph nodded.

"Raph flipped his lid so bad, so yeah." Mikey snickered.

"They're being /really/ vague. Let's go to the couch, then." Donny rolled his eyes.

Maddie and everyone went to the couches. Cassidy kept to Mikey's side, Leo took one of the recliners, and Maddie decided to stay standing and propped her foot against the wall. Her attention was more focused on the liar itself. It was so...interesting that a home was made out of literally nothing and how well it worked. It was warm. It wasn't too drafty; there were things here that could be junk but re-purposed. If Donny and his brothers were human, they could make a DIY youtube channel and never have to worry about rent ever again.

Mikey caught Cassidy as she tried to sit down in the couch. "Where do you think you're goin'?" he grinned, hauling her into his lap, arms around her waist.

"There's no getting away from the cuddles." Andrea giggled as she sank herself into the couch, "Oh no, this thing is a trap. It's so /comfortable/!"

Leo frowned as he watched Mikey interact and he already had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where this was going to go. Cassidy grinned, but it was nervous. She was nervous and it wasn't because of Mikey. She was used to this, she went along with it. He took in a breath, mentally preparing himself. "Okay."

"Right..." Cassidy swallowed as she got comfortable in Mikey's lap. "Uh...this is actually kind of hard..." She glanced at Mikey. "How did you do it with Raph? Like a bandaid? Rip it clean?"

"Don't rip a bandaid clean!" Maddie looked horrified. "Holy..that /burns/. That rips off /skin/."

"Because despite you can take a punch to the face, you're squeamish about bandaids." Cassidy gave her friend a look.

"A punch only hurts for like...a throbbing minute that's annoying. A /band aid/ is like /duck tape/ on /skin/." Maddie pointed out.

"Raph asked how long. I told him and he just came to his own conclusion." Mikey answered Cassie once he was sure their topic was over.

"So, then, how long, Mikey?" Donatello asked easily enough, cheek on his knuckles as he was also in a recliner watching them.

"A few months or so after Casey and April tied the knot." Mikey repeated exactly what he told Raph.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend for eight years? That's a feat most human couples have a hard time doing. A year is a notion in itself for a lot of people, five is like half a century." Donny was amused.

"I knew /you'd/ be okay with it!" Mikey fist-pumped the air.

Cassidy wasn't too worried about Donny. From what she understood from how Mikey explained it, Raph and Leo had been the hard ones. Donny was cool with anything and everything so long as it didn't mess Mikey up in a bad way. Leo was quiet...way too silent for her liking. She worried, was he going to have an outburst like Raph or was he...going to be like Donny and be cool with it?

"How did the two of you meet?" Leo said slowly, like he was trying to gather pieces.

"You tell it better, Firefly. After so long best I got is I played superhero and then I go all sappy." Mikey laughed quietly.

"Well...I was still in high school at the time. A senior." Cassidy said slowly, thoughtfully. "Maddie dropped out of school two years ago because the bullying got to be so bad, and she got shoved down the stairs so...that was a no go. But uh...yeah I was the weirdo's friend and that made me an automatic target. I mean, people played mean tricks all the time and I got them back for it...but they didn't like that so much. So I'm done with practice and I'm about to head home when I get the weird feeling that someone's following me. I look over my shoulder and sure enough there's a group of boys heading my direction. Now, I'd brush that off, but that day it felt...too energized. Like I'm prey and they're predators. I pick up my pace, they pick up theirs. The /moment/ I decided an alleyway was a good idea was the /moment/ they decided to jump me. And jump me they did. I got hit in the head on the dumpster, and I'm not good with self-defense, but I'm trying to remember in the heat of things what Maddie taught me. I managed to get one guy off of me, I can't remember /how/, but I did. The other two got angry. Vengeful almost. And I'm thinking to myself "shit, what do I do now" a literal shadow jumps from nowhere and all of the sudden I'm free to run or do something. Only...I don't. I just...watch this fight happen and it was mesmerizing. I seen Maddie fight before, but this was way different. So different."

She cleared her throat, "Anyway, the guys run off with tails between their legs and I thought to myself that...damn this is bad. This is so bad. He's gonna leave and I hadn't a chance to thank him yet. I had hit myself pretty hard on the head, so I wasn't too worried that he looked different or anything. I thought I was seeing a strange combination of double or something. So I called out to him. I said, "wait!" and he just freezes and I'm like, "Thanks for doing what you did. That was awesome." and he's kinda like "You're...not afraid" and I'm like 'Nah. they were scarier'."

"I do remember that Cassie convinced me to take her to Killian's. That was quite a ways from where we were, so I did what I do best and just...talked to her. About games, about comics, about Klunk, just so she wouldn't pass out. Found out later it was a good thing, too, since she had a real bad concussion." Mikey added.

"I gave him my number and told him that he should hit me up." Cassidy scratched her cheek. "I told him he's too awesome to not know and he was like "alright". So we started texting back and forth. I think a few weeks into that, I asked him if he really was a turtle 'cause I remembered a funny shape."

"I asked her what she'd do if I was." Mikey nodded.

"I think I sat stunned for a moment and then I was texting rapid fire trying to act naturally cool about. Instead I just sounded like a weirdo who was trying to figure out what the word "cool" meant. But he was awesome about it, I mean...he took my ramblings and made sense out of it. Basically, the bare bones of it was that, "if that's the case, then no wonder you wanted to leave right away. Let's meet up again and I'll show you what I'll do." and basically that was a hug." She nodded. "No fear. No nothing."

"She almost made me cry with the hug. I was so happy. It didn't take long before we agreed to...be official. Thanksgiving that year I think it was. She /did/ make me cry that time, saying she was thankful to have me." Mikey sniffed.

"And then we dragged Maddie into it." Cassidy hugged Mikey, her eyes wet as well. "And yeah that's...that."

"That is the sappiest, most adorable thing I've ever heard." Andrea cooed at Cassidy.

It was quite a story, and an adventure. Something taken right out of a soap opera or a romantic novel. Leo never doubted that his baby brother would be the one to fall the fastest. He was the one who gave his heart out just about to anyone who needed it. It was scary to watch and scary to know that Cassidy had it for eight, long years. Eight years they were kept /secret/ and Mikey, who could barely keep his beak shut for anything, did so. Leo wasn't sure how to feel about that. Proud that his brother could keep the shadows, sad that they weren't trusted, amazed that it was /eight years of secretkeeping/ and just...frustration too. Frustration that he never caught on. That /Raph/ never caught on.

"It explains why you were always so upset when your shell-cell malfunctioned." Donny mused, "I had an inkling there was someone important you liked keeping in touch with. But just...a friend. Someone to bounce teenage frustration off of when hormones and emotions run wild. I still didn't know it was a /girl/friend."

"I mean, we did that too but..." Cassidy's cheeks blazed red. "Yeah...it was...we talked about talking to you guys before. Off and on. Sometimes Mikey would be like "yeah let's do it!" but I'd be hesitant and say no. But then it'd flip and I'd be the one that'd say it's time and Mikey would be the one to hesitate. We just...didn't know how you guys would react. Me being different."

"You were never worried about what we thought you would think of us?" Leo looked at her straight.

"You know, Cassie, I feel like you took that straight from Twilight. Being more afraid of what they think of you than the other way around." Andrea giggled.

"Okay but, let's look at the facts first." Cassidy frowned deeply at Andrea, "I hate that book. You and Maddie can talk about it. She's team Jacob by the way. Anyway, Maddie got shoved down a flight of stairs after giving a girl a love charm that worked a little too well. /You/ like speaking in music code when you think you can get away with the whole mysterious hippie vibe or what have you and then you got me who can do some cool things with light if gotten a chance." She turned back to Leo at that. "I'm surrounded by outcasts. So what? He's a walking talking turtle who is awesome as hell and gets on my level. He can kick my ass at some games and I can kick his ass at the rest. We have the same taste in comics and that makes it for some cool fan fiction theories we got going on. Last and certainly not least, he's not afraid of Maddie. And to me that's the icing on top of a very delicious cake."

"I feel as though being afraid of a magic user would be rather counter intuitive seeing who and what we are." Don chuckled, "I see your points, however. Where you're coming from." He resonated with Cassie in this regard, being weaker than the rest, different among already different people. His brothers got upset when he mentioned things like that, though. "I for one don't need all this explanation. Mikey keeps secrets better than anyone really gives him credit for, but being the therapist of the group I think I know that better than I should." He stood back up and offered his hand to her, Mikey letting her go so he could pull her up into a hug, "I'm gunna say 'welcome to the family' first, because if you've stuck out this long with the crazy youngest brother then you're probably not going anywhere anytime soon."

Maddie beamed proudly and looked over at Raph with a large smile on her face. "I like him."

"What's not to like about Donny?" Raph chuckled, some tension in his shoulders going away, "Yeah, I guess you've got a big point there. C'mere, then. Ya gotta be crazy to fit in around here, after all."

"Eight years!" Mikey echoed again, but in a fake old man voice "That's you when we're sixty, Raph."

"You know what the cruelest thing I could do to you is, bro? Put a doughnut in your bed and watch you sob when you find out you crushed a perfectly good sweet treat in your sleep."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Watch me."

Cassidy laughed as she let go of Donny and let out a surprised squeak when Raph hugged her tightly. She let him go and beamed proudly and turned around to see Leo was standing as well. A gentle smile on his face. Clearly she passed his test and when he hugged her, it was nice and warm and comforting. "Welcome to the family." He said sincerely and let her go. "Eight years is a long time, I'm almost shocked you two didn't elope."

"I've been trying to get them to do that but they wanted to meet the family first." Maddie said from her spot near the wall.

"Raph'd know if I stole his trench coat and hat." Mikey pouted.

"Damn right I would, and I can only /imagine/ the look on the elopement clerk's face at this giant hulking mass trying to marry the tiny sweet girl and they're not even drunk." Raph rolled his eyes.

"But isn't that the cutest thing ever. A huge guy in love with a tiny pixie?" Maddie's lips curled into a smile.

"Cassie is the sweet nymph. You're the tricks-y pixie, Maddie." Andrea countered.

"Why am I the pixie of all things?" Maddie frowned looking at her friend.

"Pixies can be dicks. You don't do riddles very much, not like Fae. I think I'd be the Fae." Andrea reasoned.

"Okay good point." She shook her head from side to side and then looked over at the small family group that was finally splitting apart from Cassidy and Mikey. "So you remember that past life thing we were talking about earlier?"

"I doooo, why?" Andrea smiled.

"No reason." Maddie's lips twitched.

"Mmhmm, oh hey, I see a fifth giant creature up on the balcony." Andrea blinked as she was looking straight at Splinter.

"Master Splinter! There you are!" Raph called up to their father, "I was wonderin' where you were."

"Just watching, observing, learning." Splinter replied easily, coming down the stairs near him and joining them, "So we have the girlfriend of Michelangelo, a pixie and a fae, do we?"

"Raph keeps callin' them the Witches Three." Mikey laughed, holding Cassie close.

"I mean it's not wrong." Maddie concluded as she watched Splinter with a soft smile. Every. Single. Lifetime. It shouldn't be a surprise to her by now that he was around. He always was and probably always will be in some form or fashion. "Though to be more accurate, you got the girlfriend of Mikey, a witch, and then a dance artist."

"A dance artist with a smart mouth." Splinter chuckled, 'I do have to ask, why would you be the Fae? Something about being a hippie and music code?"

"Oh dear...I suppose that means I should do an example, huh Maddie?" Andrea hummed, prying herself away from the back of the couch to lean forward more.

"You don't have to. Just an old rat being curious." Splinter smiled, his long whiskers twitching.

"Such a calming song you play, the record going round and round with only a small sad hum in the background." Andrea closed her eyes swaying just a bit, "A father's melody, sad to see your sons growing up so fast."

"Such a sweet message. I am impressed. Thank you, for thinking I am a calming presence." Splinter stroked his beard.

It was interesting, how quick she was able to come up with that. Music code, it was melodic to Leo. It was supposed to be, but...it wasn't something that sounded forced. He wouldn't be surprised if that was apart of her magic.

"Maybe some other time you should tell us what our melodies are. That would be fun." Donny perked, curiosity striking him as well.

"Some other time, no problem. Right now, Maddie is supposed to be doing her ritual to show her magic off." Andrea passed the spotlight on, "That's the whole reason we're here. Cassie and I were just add-ons, really."

“I was fine being in the limelight, it was cool.” Maddie muttered but she pushed herself off of the wall, hesitantly. “Um…yeah. So…I came prepared to do a few. I didn’t know what kind of protection you were looking for. I have three spells already prepared to use. A home blessing, a cleansing, and a shield. I didn’t get to ask uh questions about the…uh…other protection spells. So…I wasn’t really sure what you were going for. But I have those three. Putting those aside, I can do what I’ve done to my home. I can glamor. I can make sure that good energies come in, bad energies stay out. I can make sure that your home is seen by those who you deem worthy to come in, and I can make sure those who are deemed unworthy cannot see a thing. I can put traps up if that’s more your thing…hexes. Curses. A little bit uh darker of magics, but again…I just….didn’t know what you wanted.”

"Well, I seriously doubt we need any traps or for you to tap into darker energies." Splinter chuckled in amusement, "Donatello has our lair riddled as it is, plenty of alarm systems and whatnot. I myself do cleansing from time to time, mostly when all four of them are out, so that isn't necessary either. The glamour however sounds like something useful. The Shredder does send Foot through the sewers to try and find our home once in a while."

Maddie rolled her eyes, "He just doesn't give up does he? Yeah a glamour spell would be nice. I think a minor distraction spell too. Probably.....ten...fifteen feet away from here? Both sides maybe? We'll talk more about that later. Glamour should be fun. Is this the only entrance way they come through?" She asked, pointing over at the doors. "Is there any other way they can get in?"

Leo had to admit, that was thorough thinking on her part. She probably was used to sealing up any and all entrance ways at her own place, which was probably why it was hard to find. She didn't underestimate her enemy.

"There's the garage up stairs where we store the battle shell and some other vehicles we've collected over time." Donny told her, "However, the elevator is in the floor, and it's already been designed where nothing short of a missile strike would damage it. Besides that, there's a sewer pipe that leads into our training room. We're the only ones who can use it, however, because we ride on our shells. No human can go down it safely."

"We're big enough we can climb up it, too, like spiders or crabs." Mikey snickered.

Maddie looked up at the ceiling and sighed shaking her head from side to side before turning to Splinter. "Then do you mind if I formally ask your permission to do the glamour spell? Just the entrance door there, and the garage since those two seem to be the most vulnerable. Everything else, it seems you guys got covered."

Splinter did a polite head bow, "Yes, you may have all the free reign you need to do your spell."

"Awesome." Maddie beamed and she walked over to the door with a brisk yet set pace.

Cassidy beamed. "Man, you guys are just....making her night roll."

"For letting her do a such a simple thing?" Leo turned to Cassidy curiously.

"I've seen her do her magic, but it's always been small things. This is big!" Mikey hopped on his feet as he followed after Maddie to watch more closely.

"Basically what Mikey said, it's a challenge." Cassidy beamed, "And more importantly, it's not for her."

She followed Mikey over to where Maddie was. Leo, who was also curious now also followed but tried not to crowd. He knew that it could be anxiety ridding to have more than a few people just...watch.

Maddie looked at the door. It was made of metal, and it appeared to be sturdy enough. But it was clear to her that the liar had been messed up a lot. She could feel that they had to move a lot too, to try to keep the Shredder off their backs. Closing her eyes, she centered herself and concentrated her breathing.

She could feel uncertainty. The need to protect. The need to move. She could feel family love, which meant that there wasn't any bad blood between the brothers or the father and the brothers, which was rare. She could feel this home wanting to be just that, a home, but fearing that it'd lose it's occupants. There was danger lurking at every corner and with the war getting worse, not better, it was a wonder if they'd survive it. If this home could withstand it.

Absently, she reached for her knife and she pulled it out of her sheathe that was attached to her ankle. The weight was familiar with her hands and she could feel the energies react to it. Not negatively, but with apprehension. With hope. She carefully raised the knife up to the top and she started muttering under her breath as she started working on a circle stopping at a point before continuing. It was kind of hard to hear what she was doing, but there was a bluish light that was appearing and when the circle was completed it turned white.

She slit her thumb against the blade. "With blood for life within the walls, for laughter and joy to fill the halls." She started using the blood against the door creating a symbol. "For every line a promise to protect, for every line crossed evil is checked. Within evil's eyes, let the door disappear, let only good enter here. From evil's gaze, let this home be free, as I will so mote it be." She finished the symbol in the blood. It glowed a bright red before it sunk into the metal and disappeared from sight. Taking her knife she went the other direction with the circle, and pausing at the same points before ending it and she sighed. "As for what outsiders will see, it's going to be the same as the wall. Blending in is better than reconstructing an entire, elaborate thing and it'll confuse them a lot better too." She put her thumb in her mouth. "The protection spell for the garage's probably going to be different, but no less the same."

"That is highly unsanitary, but that's what these are for." Donny came over to her and handed her a few packets of alcohol wipes, "Seeing the different colors as your magic activated was really fascinating. Does that take a lot of energy?"

Maddie took a few and winced as she tore one open and placed it on her thumb. "Well, considering I did a few other spells before this one, I'm a little more drained. A bit of a light snack, water, I should be able to do the other one to little to no problem. The night's still young." She rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her phone to check the time. "Unless you want to have other ideas for it?" She glanced at Donny. "I got the feeling the garage's kind of yours and Raph's domain. Am I wrong?"

"Yes, and Casey's." Don nodded, "You could wait for that until he can come by, and have something substantial to eat to get your strength back. I think Casey would appreciate knowing what's going on."

"That can be something we do tomorrow." Raph piped up from his place in the back, also not wanting to crowd her while she worked, "I can give Casey a shout out to drop by after work at the mechanic shop."

"Sounds like fun to me." Maddie said as she put her knife away on her ankle She was about to say something and she frowned. "Andrea's knocked out?"

Cassidy immediately jumped to see over Mikey's shoulder. "Like a light."

"Pfftt, probably seen you do your thing a million times." Mikey rolled his eyes playfully, "She works all day and then paints most the night. Girl almost doesn't know what sleep is like you, Maddie."

"No kidding." Maddie ran her fingers through her hair, thankful that it was dry so that she wouldn't be sleeping on it, or anything. "I'll stick to the floor."

"Why? We got extra cots." Raph gave her an unimpressed look, "Like hell any of us are going to let guests sleep on the /floor/. You crazy?"

"That's a silly question, but Raph's right." Mikey grinned at Maddie, "Just take the cot, even if you don't sleep either. We got all sorts of entertainment."

Maddie smiled warmly at Mikey. "Fair enough. I'm guessing Cassidy's sleeping with you tonight then or is she stuck with us lunatics in the living room?"

Mikey hauled Cassie up from behind, tucking her under his arm and laughing as she squeaked and flailed her legs, unable to touch the ground, "I'm keeping her."

"Have fun then." Maddie cooed. "Just not too much."

Mikey winked, "No promises." He said as he turned around and ran off, Cassie making noises of protest at being carried like a doll.

Splinter just snorted and shook his head, "Leonardo, at least put a blanket over Andrea. Raphael already has you covered for sleeping arrangements, so I'll leave that up to him. Are you /actually/ going to sleep tonight, Donatello, or are you going back to your laboratory?"

Don rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I was working on schematics, so I'll be going to my lab."

"That sounds like fun," Maddie smiled at Donny. "I wish you luck on that." She watched Leo already shuffle away to get a blanket for Andrea and she smiled a little. Well, at least they found each other...after forever.

()

Casey was still in his mechanic's outfit when he arrived in the turtle garage and Raph arched a brow at him for carrying his hockey stick over his shoulder "You look ready to knock heads together. That's not why I called ya out. It's Donny's turn for patrol tonight so we're not going anywhere."

"Aw man dude, you had me all fired up." Casey grinned a little but he set the hockey stick down. "Whatcha call me out for then? Something going on with the Battle Shell?" He glanced at the said vehicle that was parked inside. "Or is it your bike this time?"

"Nah, see, we found a few people who can use magic, and one of them wants to put a protection spell up here in the garage. Donny thought it'd be a good idea for you to see it in action." Raph shrugged, "Mads or Maddie is what she likes to be called, she'll be up in a minute now you're here."

"Hold on." Casey set his hockey stick down and gave Raph a little surprised look. "You know Magic Mads?" He was a little bit of disbelief. "Wow."

Raph stared at him, "Excuse me? /You/ know Mads? How? What the hell? How come I never heard about this?"

"'Cause she's elusive and she doesn't talk to people?" Casey shrugged as he leaned against the Battle Shell. "She's a mechanic, too. Works mostly on bikes than she does cars, but she'll do them. I knew that she was magic, but I had no idea that she was powerful enough to get on Master Splinter's radar. Or your guys honestly. What did she get mixed up in?"

"Ugh, I guess I better give you the whole low-down on what's happened since the other day." Raph crossed his arms and started with the fight in the warehouse, and worked up to last night.

"Wow, Mikey had a girlfriend for eight years? You know that kind of explains a lot now that I think about it. But yeah, I'm not too surprised about the Foot going after Mads or the territory problems. I'm kind of shocked she decided to jump in your guy's fight. Wonder what prompted her to do that. That's a bit out of character. She tends to leave the fighting to, you know, those that are fighting."

"I didn't know it was outa character. Maybe that's something we can ask her when she decides to get her but up 'ere." Raph huffed, "How long have ya known her? Or how do you know her?"

"I'd say I known her for about...ten months give or take. I knew her a little bit before I started working with Kyle. She was quite...interesting. We ran into each other on the street and she just told me that I should find another job. Sure enough, when what went down at the old mechanic's place happened, I left and I started looking. I didn't really want to go in to the Metal Spiders. I'm not a member anyway. But Kyle was understanding. Oddly enough, he said I came with high recommendations. I thought a co-worker. But nah, it was Magic Mads who basically told Kyle that I was well worth it. I dunno what she saw...I don't think I ever worked on a thing of hers before or anyone she knew. But I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Now that I'm thinking about it. It probably was a Magic Thing. She does that sometimes. Gives random advice to people. Sometimes she even calls people by the wrong name. Though I think it's a Mad thing than a Magic thing."

"Well hot damn, she's got some clairvoyance going on, then, too." Raph put his hand on his chin, "Maybe that's why she joined the fight. It was getting pretty rough. Karai even managed to land a hit on Leo and Mikey got knocked around a lot. There was also a new force on the scene. Karai called her Sumiko from what I understand. Used tanto, or for you, shorter than a katana but longer than a dagger. She was really protective of Karai and bounced around to fight the lot of us, trying to distract and also get a feel for our fighting styles I'm sure."

"Oh that sucks." Casey frowned shaking his head from side to side. "Sounds like a bitch to fight and a challenge and I'm not sure which I want it to be. Oh hey, we were just talking about you and your ability to see the future, Mads." He greeted waving his hand when Maddie came up.

"Oh you're the Casey he was talking about." Maddie blinked a little in surprise when she saw him. "I don't know why that didn't click."

"Yeah, Casey's my main man. Said you got him the job with Kyle. That's real awesome of ya." Raph nodded, certainly looking pleased.

Maddie rubbed the back of her neck, "Thanks. It wasn't any trouble." She smiled a little at Casey. "Raph wanted you to witness me doing magic, I almost feel a little...uh....surprised I guess that you haven't seen me do it yet."

"Yeah, considering you call her /Magic Mads/ and all." Raph clapped his hands on his knees and stood up, "So where you thinkin' about putting the sigils?" She'd taken a good look at the place earlier and had been going through the best tactical locations with Donny down below.

"I'm thinking," Maddie said thoughtfully as she looked around at the room again. "That we do it on the wall nearby the entrance rather than the door this time. Mainly because this is kind of the emergency exit and entrance and Donny told me that you guys transport the injured through this...and I'm not willing to bet money on bad or evil when it comes down to saving a life. So a shield charm instead and...he was thinking about putting up a protection amulet on the review mirrors of the cars." She tapped her finger to her chin. "Something for your bike...though what are your thoughts? Are there any places you're thinking in particular that we should work on?"

"Somethin' for the windows. It'd be nice to come up here durin' the day to work on things, too, when I can't sleep. They're too easy to look in and take pictures /or/ pot shots, ya know? As for my bike...eh, I'll think about it since ya offered, but I can handle my own tail." Raph shrugged.

"Glamour for the windows, the cars, the wall..." Maddie ticked off her on her fingers as she hummed thoughtfully. "Alright we can work with that. The windows won't require blood magic, thankfully. The shield charm I already have set up, its just a point of nailing it somewhere. But the protection stuff for the cars will have to wait till I come back here. I don't have the stuff for it." She glanced over at Casey. "You alright with me doing stuff in here? I know you and Raph share the space. Master Splinter gave me the code green for all of the lair, but...I'd rather get permission than partial."

"I'm cool with everything. It's more Raph's and Donny's and they sound like they're alright with anything you got to throw. I'm just here to watch. Apparently Raph likes showing you off, Mads." Casey couldn't help to poke fun.

"Your energy is a part of this place, too, dumbass. Full permission helps things flow better, 'cause she's not tense and crap worried she's gunna do something we don't like." Raph punched his arm playfully, "For all the magical dohickeys April had in her dad's shop I'm surprised you haven't caught on to a lot of the stuff we've been through."

"I'm surprised you know that." Maddie smiled warmly.

"I'm not, he doesn't look like it, but he's a pretty smart guy. Just cuz I know a bit about magic, doesn't mean I got the experience with it. I just know about it is all. Unlike this guy who tends to get caught up in the weird." Casey punched Raph's arm back with a smirk. "Not saying you're weird Mads. But you're his type for sure."

Maddie shook her head from side to side.

"Alright, 'nough talk, maybe I'll /have/ to take ya out after all since you seem so wound up." Raph laughed, and then motioned to Maddie, "Go do yer thing."

Casey stuck his tongue out at Raph, but watched as Maddie approached the windows. She looked at the sills and she looked at how clearly she could see outside. She moved away and instead of saying a spell or pulling out her athame, she held her hand out. A black energy started to ball up in her hand as she concentrated her work. She wasn't murmuring. She wasn't saying a thing. Her eyes were shut as she continued to draw the power up. When she deemed she had enough, she wiggled her fingers and started to force it spread across her hand. Carefully she went to the window and placed her palm against the glass. "No one can see me, I can see them. No one can see me, I can see them. No one can see me, I can see them." She muttered as the windows tinted darker. "Not a shadow, not a glimpse. I can see them, but none can see me." She pulled her hand away and she took a look at the tint that she made. "Like about that?"

"Yeah! That looks pretty awesome." Raph grinned wide, "Like the super tinted glass on those high protection detail limos." He gave her a thumbs up, "I like it."

Casey whistled. "That is amazing Magic. You really do earn that nickname. All that from energy? What did you do?"

"Just energy." Maddie said gently. "And a chant to set intention. That's all magic really is really. Intention. What do I want and how will I get it is basically how it works. I'm not a shadow magic user, if that's what your asking. I'm versatile, but that doesn't mean I can do what a shadow user can do. They practically turn themselves invisible."

"Haha, we just know how to use the shadows to our advantage but we ain't shadow users. Which is why when the sun comes up we're SOL." Raph put his hands on his hips, "So what's next?"

"Figuring out where to nail the shield charm and then heading home to make those protection amulets. Though if I really wanted to make them strong, I'd go for a full moon at a particular hour, but...temporary ones till then couldn't hurt." Maddie tapped her finger against her chin. "After that, I think you're set."

"Let's take another look around, then. Take all the time you need to find a good spot." Raph went up to join her and took her over to the door first, "I think the Battle Shell should get a charm first. We don't really use the Drill that much. Whatever ya can do to make that charm the most powerful would be best, too, since we use it so much and like you mentioned earlier, we use it to transport injured, too."

~*~

"Okay, you asked your parents to sign you up for this class did you not?" Andrea had her hands on her hips as she watched one of the new kids.

"Yeah. What about it?" The boy frowned at her. He had to only be about fifteen.

Attitude. She dealt with kids who thought they knew better all the time. He was no different. "What's all this lackluster punching and kicking, then?" She did a mock show of what he'd been doing, half-power punching and limp leg kicking.

"I'm doing the best I can!" The kid practically growled at her.

"Sure doesn't look like it. You want to be cool like your favorite superheros?" Andrea ached a brow.

"I like villains like Deathstroke." He scoffed back.

"Well, villains gotta work twice as hard to beat people like the Arrow, now don't they? C'mon, he would think you're petty weak as you are right now, wouldn't he? Here you are, showin' your sensei attitude and he'd sneer at your poor attempts. Put your back into it and show me what you /really/ got." Andrea countered readily enough. She smirked to herself as the boy glowered and returned to doing his forms, his anger putting more power behind his movements, "Discipline, control, power. That's better." She nodded and moved on, checking on other students before she went to go stand beside Killiain who was working with the youngsters because it wasn't so hard on his knee to do the basic white-belt katas. "He's a pistol, that one. I think he's going to give me a lot of trouble as he gets better."

Killian looked over at the one that was at the punching bag and he raised an eyebrow as he watched the boy for a little bit and he shook his head and looked at the kids who were going through their own forms. "He might challenge you when he thinks he has a break. Once you take him down a few notches a few times, he'll start to think. Right now, he's interested in fighting for the sake of fighting. As most boys are." He looked at Andrea. "I got call from Maddie the other day. I asked her if she's coming back here and for once I got a maybe."

Andrea smiled wide, "Might be because she's found herself her long lost honey, and Cassidy finally got to meet the family of hers."

"Finally after eight years. I was calling them married by now you know." Killian laughed and then turned back. "Guys, guys. Punch like you mean to hurt them. A hard thrust. There you go." He nodded as one of the girls managed to do it correctly. "Good." He turned to Andrea. "You like the guy that he's become?"

"Still as hotheaded as he always is, but he hasn't once scoffed at Maddie's powers. He's even given her suggestions here and there, like giving their mode of transportation the best protection spell she can muster since it's something that keeps them safe to and from home." Andrea nodded, "He's quite knowledgeable about magic and magical items, easily following along when she explains things."

"From what I understand, her past life lovers seemed to all have a general understanding of magic. Whether from being in contact with it for so long, or if they were taught about the artifacts. They were always found in a fight...and any type of fighter would know the weapons needed for it." Killian mused as he tapped his cane in thought. "Alright second form let's go!" He told the kids and they scrambled to the mat again to preform another set. "From the mirrors to the back and back again." He watched them start at the same time and turned to Andrea. "Which explains why she'd might return. I'm thinking...we should have her either run the adult class and you stick with the teenagers, or we have Maddie do the teenagers...though I fear for her patience honestly."

"Haha, then I'll stick to the teenagers. I don't take their crud, but I'm nicer about it. She would've just knocked that boy flat when he gave her lip." Andrea smiled, "Honestly, all his brothers are real good, too. We already know how lovable Mikey is, but Donny is all over the place with his logic and medical. He helped Maddie figure out the best places for her sigils by giving her a layout of the lair. Their father is even a very nice guy. I gave him a little musical number."

"You don't give those out very often. Hell you only give me one for my birthday and that's once a year." Killian gave her a look.

"Donny asked me to give the four of them one when I got the chance. I agreed, but of course I was also quick to pass the spotlight to Maddie so she could do her thing." Andrea looked sheepish, "I was...tired. Painting after working at the dance studio, like I always do. I always feel inspired after listening to music all day like that." She scratched her cheek, paused and looked at the boy from earlier, "Ey! Enough on the punching bag, do a series of right and left punches!" she clapped her hands, her teenage students moving from the dummies to do as she told them. Then she looked at Killian again, "Their music rings so true, no nicks and kinks...besides Leo's. He has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, a lot of concerns."

"Yeah he's going to be the next leader from what I understand, so there's going to be a lot of pressure to make sure he can lead his brothers square and true. I'd like to meet them, but...ah well." Killian sighed, "Secrets better left unsaid, though I got a feeling I'll run into them. I should ask Maddie to redo the protection spell she has on here."

"Wouldn't want any of the young rascals to be hurt in the scuffle between the Foot and them." Andrea's expression turned solemn, "Leo certainly has those protective instincts and habits. He was there and ready for me when I woke up. Maddie had left her cot to go chill with Donny in his lab. He said I could take it, but that couch is way too comfortable. Best sleep I've had in a while, actually. I think I knew subconsciously I was in a really protected, safe place. According to Cassie, /Maddie/ slept, too."

"Thank the heavens that girl figured out what sleep looks like!" Killian threw his hand up in the air since the other one was holding onto his cane. "If they want to keep her down there during the night hours, they have my permission. Though I suppose she won't leave her home so easy. All those plants that she got to take care of..."

Andrea chuckled, "Cassie might practically end up moving down there now that she's free to see Mikey and he her. She doesn't have the same commitment as Maddie does to anything but her job. Though, I think I might have to ask Donny some /technical/ questions." She took a breath. They /were/ humanoid, even if they were turtles. Some form of children might not be out of the question. Thinking more about it, finding some mega condoms might be something funny to throw at Cassie's face next time Mikey got heavy on the flirt.

"They need her light more than she does us. Why don't you go back to teaching the young'ns and we'll talk more after class? Maybe barge in on Maddie since you and I both know she ain't gonna be asleep tonight." Killian smirked at her.

"I like the sound of that." Andrea bowed to him and turned on her heal, clapping her hands and shouting orders for the students to follow.

~*~

Maddie shouldn't have been surprised when she opened the door to see Killian holding a bag of take out and a grin on his face while Andrea was holding another bag that was clearly filled with drinks. "You two do know I can cook."

"Yeah, but honey." Killian gently pushed her aside so he could walk through. "You finally got a night's rest. Don't want to tense you up just because we want something fresh and wholesome. Besides, live a little! It ain't gonna kill ya."

"I brought your /favorite/," Andrea winked as she waved the bag side to side and walked in after him, "We both know how you like doing a little mixology here and there. I'm sure you could whip somethin' up real good. Maybe something Harry Potter themed from one of your mixing lists? After all, you've been doin' quite a bit of magic this week."

"You and Mikey I swear." Maddie looked fond though as she took the bag and started shifting through the ingredients. "He's been spewing random Harry Potter things in text. I think Cassidy gave him my phone number for the hell of it." She turned to Killian. "You okay to drink?"

"Yeah I'm fine. Go on, make us something magical. And we'll set up the food here so that everything will be cool when you get back." Killian grinned as Maddie took the bag of alcohol and went into the kitchen. "Harry Potter themed Andrea? Really?" He teased.

"Might as well jump on the bandwagon. Cassie's been making jokes, too." Andrea laughed, "Not to mention I'm hoping she makes firewhiskey."

Killian snorted and shook his head, "I sometimes wonder if you two were sisters in a past life."

"You know, we coulda been, but as fa as I'm aware we've had too many to count." Andrea shrugged, "Don't need blood to be siblings, though. It's cool. Maddie remembers far more than I do, anyway."

"A curse and a blessing." Killian sighed as he leaned back. "I hate that she remembers every life she had. Of course the later ones are harder to recall than the recent ones...memory can only hold so much." He smiled warmly when Maddie started floating the glasses over to them. "Ah! Firewhiskey! Just what Andrea ordered."

"My walls /are/ thin." Maddie said with a small smile as she set the glasses down perfectly on the table and then grabbed the box that was near her and opened it. Rice and spicy chicken stir-fry. "Mmmm. Smells delicious."

"I hope so. I tried to find a place that didn't serve cheep crap." Andrea nodded happily, taking her firewhiskey and held it up, "What should we cheers to? Lovers finally being found?" she smirked at Maddie.

"I mean if we're cheering to Mikey's and Cassidy's impending wedding now, sure." Maddie said sarcastically. "Though don't put me there yet. In this life he hasn't made a move."

"We all know he will. Probably going to tell he's all or nothing and force you to give him your all." Killian rolled his eyes. "To happiness and love! May it never go bored...or old."

"If you're meant to be, then it's meant to be." Andrea clinked glasses and took her first sip, twitching and gritting her teeth at the explosion, "Whoo! Damn. Very nice, very nice."

"I'm going to be housing a bunch of drunks in my house...." Maddie sighed dramatically as she took a drink of hers.

"Alright, so, tell us why you broke your own set of rules and helped out the bros that night?" Andrea asked as she swirled her drink in it's glass.

"I saw them running on the rooftops," Maddie said as she set her glass down and started stabbing the chicken and a few vegetables before she stuck her fork in rice. "I thought it was interesting that they were running right past where I was. I waved to Mikey. Mikey waved back without his brother's noticing, and Raph stopped. And I felt something go down my spine. A bad...sick feeling."

"Your intuition's usually a good one." Killian nodded.

"From what Cassie told me from Mikey's retelling, they'd been fighting for a while, like an hour. What took you so long? Were you hoping you'd be wrong?" Andrea asked with a head tilt.

Maddie shook her head, "I went back to get something from my home. I think I stocked up on knives. I had one on me, but I just had this feeling that I might've needed more than what I had. I think I knew it was someone powerful. I didn't think it was the Foot. It didn't even cross my mind. Purple Dragons and other gang members sure, but not them."

"We haven't been keeping up with the Foot or the Dragons like we should've been. The only thing I know was there was a lot of weapons in that warehouse, but what kind? Assault rifles? We don't know. We should've, but we don't. Now that we're associated with them, we should learn more. Perhaps...oh boy, I'm gunna regret this, but maybe we should do patrols with them when we're able. You on Raph's nights, Cassie starts patrolling with Mikey on his nights or the nights with all the brothers so she's more protected. I dunno who I should be with, honestly. While they might be distracted, Mikey's had a method so far of splitting Cassie time with patrol time so he knows what he's doing. Raph does as well, paroling with Casey on a regular basis. Don and Leo seem more the types to take things quite seriously and would favor protection of those they're with rather than actually taking down the threat."

"That's true..." Maddie frowned as she thought about it. "So wouldn't it make sense for you to be with either Mikey or Raph and then have Cassie go with Leo? Or do you think you should test your luck with Leo?"

"Immediately suggesting Leo? Why not Donny?" Andrea arched a brow at her, "You and Raph would be confident enough in each others abilities, but have that pull to be protective at the same time and you'd quickly find a balance. Same with Cassie and Mikey. If I was with either of them, they might put too much confidence in me, since I'm a dancing martial artist who can use fire. I may sound badass, but I'm not god. Just like you're ten times more powerful than I am with your type of magic, but you've got your own weaknesses. Mikey already knows you, so you might be able to run with him from time to time, do some playful brother/sister interactions and tease each other." Andrea smiled, taking another sip of firewhiskey, "I don't think I'd follow with Raph and Mikey very well in their humor. That's part of their fighting, trash-talking and riling up their opponents or playing so they don't get taken as seriously and are underestimated. I deal with kids with attitude a lot at the dojo. It would probably grate on my nerves if I was with them by myself and they didn't have anyone else near to bounce off of."

"Which is why I chose Leo." Maddie pointed out. "Who do you think has to keep three little brothers in line? He knows the score. Why not Donny? Because of the very reason you just said. You and Leo deal with younger kids a lot. You know the score."

"I...well...you got me." Andrea paused and then relented, wincing in embarrassment, "I was just...being logical about it. I don't want anybody hurt because we fucked up putting people together who wouldn't work. I could probably work with both, for that reason as well. Donny is more relaxed and wouldn't go into danger unless he knew he could win with his skillset, and he'd take my powers and weaknesses into consideration. Leo..." She took a breath through her nose and let it out slowly, "With Leo, he wouldn't just take my word for it and leave it at that. He'd want to see me in action, then make decisions based on that. Which is good on it's own, but you know me. I don't fight unless I have to. I'm like Donny in that way. I mean, that was the first thing I asked you when you called me wanting to know if I was up for some weird shit."

Killian cracked up. "She called you and told you that?"

"Basically yeah." Maddie's cheeks flushed a little. "But seriously think about that. We can talk to the brothers and see what they think. Leo might organize a little sparring thing to see how we do."

"I can do sparring, that's no biggy, but I'm going to have to get my hands on some plain whips so he can see me use them. I'm not going to brandish my damn fire in an enclosed space." Andrea rubbed her forehead, "Talk about no sleep, but yes. Talking to them is something that's necessary. I was just putting my thoughts on the table."

"Speaking of sleep, you both seemed to have slept hard like a rock over down where you guys were. I was just telling Andrea that you should consider staying the night there more." Killian pointed out as he took another sip of the whiskey and sighed in content. "But then I remembered your garden."

"Don't make it sound like you'd be kept prisoner." Andrea rolled her eyes, "Of course you'd come up during the day. That's usually when they sleep, too."

Killian chuckled lightly. "She likes being dramatic." He leaned back into the couch. "Have you thought more about the dojo? I was telling Andrea that I could stick you with the adults. Andrea can handle the ones that give lip too much."

"We'll see." Maddie frowned. "Maybe."

"That maybe is sounding more and more like a yes." Killian looked pleased.

"Don't push her too much or she might run away." Andrea smirked, giving Maddie a nudge. "When should we go back to see them, do you think? You were working on that charm for their truck, so is it going to wait until the full moon?"

"I wasn't going to cut off all contact from them to wait for the full moon." Maddie frowned, "But it'd be objectively more powerful. I'll give them a temporary one. It wouldn't be as strong, but it should be enough to last till the full."

"Well, that's good. I just would feel weird going down there without much of a reason by myself. Going with you and Cassie, or just you, to give them my idea about joined patrols would be easier on me, I think." the ginger took a sip of her fire.

"Why not go with just Cassie? What did she do?!" Maddie stared at her.

Killlian snorted, "I think we all know that if Cassie goes down there alone, she wants to be /alone/."

"As he said. Cassie would be swept up by the big dude in orange and I'd be left kinda fumbling and looking awkward." Andrea shrugged, "She didn't do anything, she just has better things to do with her time."

Maddie sighed shaking her head. "Alright. Just let me know when you want to go down."

"Awesome, I'll take a look at my schedule so I don't go there half dead like last time." Andrea laughed, "We're in for some wild times."

()

Leo had to admit he was pretty impressed that Andrea had taken a lot into consideration and thought. He wasn't sure about how to add Cassidy into their patrols since she admitted she was no fighter, but Maddie and Andrea both admitted to some expertise. Maddie was pretty powerful for a witch, but he hadn't seen her as a fighter. He knew that Andrea was a martial artist and a dancer, but he also hadn't seen her fight either. Maddie already had split them up into the perfect teams as well. If Cassidy could prove that she could fight...decently...then her and Mikey would be the most likely pair considering that they both had the ability to multitask from what he saw the night before. Raph and Maddie made...some sense. Mostly because of her knowledge of magic and Raph's immediate protectiveness over her. Which was both bad and good.

Leo just wasn't sure about how well this was going to work with him splitting with Andrea. Besides the fact that they did have a common background. "You really thought this out. I understand your guys concern about the Foot and the Purple Dragons. If they're starting to try to test boundaries for territory, then it's only a matter of time before it all falls apart. We also don't know much about the weapons. They were heavy military grade, but the police are hush hush. While Donny's a good hacker, you can't hack things that aren't reported on."

"Yeah, you got that right. Also, wanted to add that Maddie suggested sparing sessions for you to get of sense of our styles if you needed that. I went and bought some whips since I'm not comfortable throwing around fire in a place like this."  Andrea motioned to the bad she'd brought with her down here.

"Whips is something I don't usually see in fighting these days." Donny hummed in thought, "Though, they are covered in /fire/ so it's not like anybody could grab them so easily."

"Exactly, but yeah. I agreed to sparring, but I'd really like to stay out of a fight if I can. I know it's going to be hard, dealing with the Foot, but if it's avoidable, wonderful." Andrea shrugged.

"By the way I'm not sparring with Andrea." Maddie shook her head from side to side. "No way in hell am I going near her whips. They hurt."

"I'd hope so. I mean, they can cut and sting, and wrap you up and choke you. I kinda don't wanna go against whips either." Raph shook his head.

"I do want to see what kind of fighting style you two would have, that way we won't get in your way when you use them. As for sparring partners..." Leo was thoughtful. "I suppose I'll go up against you, Andrea. But we need someone for Maddie..."

"I'll go against /Magic Mads/ here. Andrea did mention she's pretty wild with her knife skills." Raph smirked.

"Magic Mads makes me sound like some sort of...gang member. Hey did you see Magic Mads the other night? Yeah she was...she was acting weird...you know talking to ghosts and shit." Maddie mocked sarcastically. "I can't blame it, I know that Kyle and Casey were the ones that came up with it because that's just who they are, but the way you said that made me think of that."

"Hahaha, I'll just call ya Mads or Maddie then, not too different from Mikey or Donny," Raph shrugged, "So that what we're doin tonight? Sparring and sizing each other up?" he looked at Leo with an arched brow.

"Sounds like a decent plan. Better to do that than to go in blind." Leo frowned, "Do you think Cassidy would mind trying to spar?"

"She's new at it, but...she could learn." Maddie shrugged. "Mikey would probably be the better teacher. Or Raph since he was the one that came up with the numerous things that she could do."

"I wouldn't train her myself, I'd feel like I'd break her into tiny pieces, but I could offer suggestions and help." Raph agreed.

Leo was amused. "You were never afraid to break Mikey into tiny pieces."

"Mikey usually deserved it." Raph snorted, "Cassie's just a tiny human."

Maddie was highly amused. "I'm glad you're not afraid to go up against me then. Or Leo to Andrea."

"I figure with your skills as refined as they are, I don't have to worry about hurting you /too/ much, though with the way Andrea was talking, you might do the whole 'dance of death' thing if I don't watch it." Raph laughed.

"Bleed out from a million cuts rather than a few." Andrea grinned.

"Pretty much so." Maddie smiled warmly, "So to the sparring room?"

"Am...I supposed to spar too or should I just...watch and take notes to help better understand?" Don asked hesitantly to Leo.

Leo looked at Donny and he thought about it. "Why don't you and Mikey come in and watch. See what you think when we fight against them. Chances are, you might want to try your hand against them or you might have an idea of how to use their abilities. Or to give them advice."

"I'll see if I can get Mikey out of his room with Cassie. Here's to hoping I'm not ruining anything." Don winced just a bit, but hurried off.

"See Maddie, that's another reason why I mentioned coming down here with you and not Cassie since Cassie would already be down here ninety percent of the time." Andrea laughed and went over to her bag, pulling out the two whips, made of braided leather with a simple rolled ball at one end that had a strap attached to it, "A ball felt more natural than a handled one because it flows with my wrist movements better handing onto the whip itself. My fire whips certainly doesn't use a handle, either." She explained, standing up and following them to the dojo.

The dojo was a large room that had practice swords and weapons all lined up neatly. There was also things on the sidelines that told Maddie they were used for balancing, for practice, and for punishment. In particular, a unicycle. Maddie looked around at the dojo, too much familiar and also not familiar enough. In every life, it was nearly the same with some minor differences. "Do you want me to go first Candy-Cane?"

"Sure, show them what the big deal is and things. I'm starting to feel whimsical, too, by the way. That'll be fun." Andrea found herself a seat on the bench and set her whips in her lap in case anyone decided to sit beside her.

"I wanna hear the story behind that nickname." Raph brought his sai out and twirled them, going over to the middle of the dojo and doing some quick warm-ups, bouncing from foot to foot and jabbing at the air, getting pumped up.

"I'll tell you what. I'll do magic against you....if you force me to." Maddie answered as she picked up a rubber knife from one of the practice walls. "Huh, never thought I'd see this down here. Weird. Okay."

"You gunna use a rubber knife on me? Should I get some plastic sai, too?" Raph scoffed a bit.

"Do you /want/ me to cut you? I will cut you." Maddie warned, pointing at him with the rubber knife. Leo found it a little amusing an apparently so did someone else who snickered behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Cassidy, her clothes were a little bit out of place and her hair out of whack, but she was glowing to a degree. Donny's cheeks were enough to let him know that yeah...he ruined a moment.

"You can cut me, I'll cut you back. A mutual understanding." Raph smirked and then gave his youngest brother a look. He didn't even have any of his gear on, just his necklaces, "Havin' some fun, bro?"

"You should try it sometime." Mikey drawled, looking quite relaxed and not really caring and he kept his hand on Cassie's waist, "So we're training?"

"Getting a feel for who they are when they fight." Leo corrected. "They want to come to patrol with us."

"I hear the sarcasm, it's amazing." Maddie drawled as she placed the knife back into it's home and she took out a real one. Leo couldn't help but to notice that she seemed really at ease with it. Easy on the wrist, a good strong grip. She didn't do anything fancy with her stance either. One arm up, covering the side of her head, clearly going to be used for blocking. Her knees bent at a decent angle. It was clear that she was the type that went full on. Elbows would be her strongest point. Her range was shorter than Raph's. Which meant if she wanted to cut Raph, she had to get up close and personal and to Raph's advantage.

"Sure you don't need a minute to stretch? Don't want ya to, ya know, pull a hamstring or somethin'." Raph smirked at her.

"You know, when Leo says it, he sounds like a teacher. When /you/ say it, I gotta wonder if you're trying to hit on me." Maddie countered.

"Don't give her ideas, she could probably do it with her magic." Andrea laughed.

"Well, if you're fine with just goin' at it, I'm ready whenever when you're are." Raph twirled his sai and got in position.

Maddie watched him with critical eyes and she got back into her stance that she was in. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she watched his sais and his sternum. He was bulkier, faster, and loved to brawl. She knew it from all of her lives. But she didn't know what fight pattern he'd choose. He'd always made the first strike if he thought he could get away with it. But knowing that she was magic, how would he contest her? She took a step back rather than a step forward. How would he corner her?

"You'e not afraid of me now, are ya?" Raph started to stalk around her, rolling his shoulders.

Mikey nudged Cassidy to go over to the second bench so he could get settled and watch this fight commence. "How badly is she going to mess him up?" he asked curiously as Don went to go sit next to Andrea as Leo had taken his customary folded-arm pose to observe everything as critically as possible.

Cassidy watched as Raph was trying to taunt her into making the first move. She watched Maddie slide herself forward a bit. "I think that depends on how the fight goes." She said slowly. "I'm not one to over-hype her power. Raph's got a good advantage with the sais. He can throw too. Without her magic, I'd say it's an equal playing ground. I think it depends on who gets on the floor first...and whose on top."

Maddie wasn't going to fall for that. Afraid? No. She wasn't afraid. But she was curious. It was clear to her that neither of them were going to make the first move unless the other made it. It meant having and advantage. It meant having control. Standing at a standstill like this...it wasn't going to work. She could make him slide, she had magic at her beck and call. But she at least wanted to try a fair fight. "I think you're the one that's afraid of me. Standing back there. Unless....you're actually being polite and saying it's ladies' first move. So sweet." She mocked.

"Ha, I figured you'd hate the idea of me being a gentleman. 'S not my style, anyway." Raph snorted in amusement, "Nah, just testin' the waters. Fine, then, let see what the little black cat can do with her claws."

"It's so funny he calls her a cat." Mikey grinned, watching as Raph did a yell and jumped in with a flip and landing on one foot he did a twirl, slicing the air with his sais before trying to jab at her, getting her to jump and back up.

Cassidy smiled warmly as Maddie did jump back, but instead doing her own twirl, she dodged the attacks the best that she could. The sounds of metal getting and a lot of skin getting slapped was an interesting to watch. She whistled softly when Maddie did get a hit in. "Black cat works though. I don't think I seen Maddie wear a color besides /plaid/. We need to take her shopping. I need to take her shopping. A girl thing." She shook her head. "You know I just realized something." She turned to Mikey. "Do you think that maybe. Possibly. Raph and Maddie might get together before Leo and Andrea? Do they /even/ /know/ the chemistry they have? Not Raph and Maddie, they knew that long time ago. I mean Leo and Candy-Cane."

"Did I miss somethin'?" Mikey blinked as Raph knocked the back of Maddie's leg but Maddie grabbed his shell and the two of them went down to the ground and she rolled while he stabbed the ground where she was. Mikey looked between Leo and Andrea. Leo was serious, like always, and Andrea was more amused and he could so picture her with a bowl of popcorn as she watched this, like it was a wrestling match on the TV and they weren't wielding sharp objects and making each other /actually/ bleed. "What chemistry have you seen that I haven't?"

"A good vibe." Cassidy assured as she looked over at the two of them. "A sad one, too. I don't know how to describe it. But they seem to fit you know? They're that couple that if you look at them you immediately go "oh yeah....they're pretty good looking together. Probably are together"."

Mikey laughed softly and shook his head, "That hasn't really crossed my mind. I mean, Raph and Maddie have been taking a lot of the spotlight, but I guess you know Maddie like the back of your hand so you pay attention to other people. Am I right?"

"Maddie only has eyes for one guy." Cassidy said with a smile as she watched Raph pin Maddie to the ground and Maddie was trying to wiggle her way down rather than up, trying to use his body to climb back on to her knees. "Andrea and Leo on the other hand? I'm more curious."

"What, you don't like being on bottom?" Raph grinned as he kept his position, "Can't knee me in the groin like a normal guy, darlin'. Whatcha gunna do?"

"If Maddie can't get free then we'll be seeing the LA couple go at it sooner than we thought." Mikey shifted Cassidy on his knee and leaned back against the wall.

"If you can get out from under Raph you might as well just say yes to Killian!" Andrea finally spoke up.

Cassidy gasped looking at Andrea. "You're using /Killian/ against her?"

"She's been telling him /maybe/." Andrea winked.

"Maybe?!" Cassidy glared over at the dojo floor. "MADELINE BLACK!"

If /that/ didn't set a fire underneath her, nothing did and Maddie immediately renewed her efforts to get out from underneath Raph. She got one arm free and she smacked him hard against the soft part of his plastron and when he bent that direction she wiggled free her other hand; the wrist was going to be sore and purple later she knew it. She hit him hard in the elbow before rolling over as he collapsed on his side and scrambled back onto her knees, her knife in her hand and her arms covering her head, prepared to launch another attack as she got up on to her feet and Raph rolled back onto his.

"I'm supposing that it's a big deal that she's saying maybe." Leo said slowly as he looked at Andrea curiously. "She fights like this is a street fight. She finds more openings than I ever seen..."

"She vowed she wouldn't when she hurt him but then they reconciled and he has been asking her for years to come back." Andrea explained to him.

Raph winced as he rubbed the soft spot she hit, but he planted his feet and readied his sai again, "That was a real good hit. So, we didn't come up with a signal to call it. I just realized that, too eager to get to the match. We just gunna wait for Leo to say stop? I feel we can do this for a while."

"Raph usin' his head for once." Mikey grinned.

"Shut up, Mikey. It's a good question." Raph snapped.

"We could go on forever." Maddie agreed and she looked over at Leo. "What's your take? Should we keep going until one of us get knocked out or...?"

Leo shook his head. "I seen enough. I'm surprised to see how you fight. You're just as good as we are."

Maddie sighed, leaning her head back. "I guess that means I'm saying yes to Killian then."

Raph twirled his sais and sheathed them in his belt before going over to Maddie and he gave her a customary bow, "That was fun. Your cat scratches sting pretty good."

"Killian is going to bounce off the walls. He already has plans, you know." Andrea laughed as she stood up, Donny also jumping to his feet with band-aids and gauze at the ready instead of alcohol wipes.

Maddie bowed as well and she smiled, "Thank you. I'm glad that I managed to get you off guard." She accepted Donny's help without compliant, wincing a little. "Your sais are harsh, but at least they're clean cuts and not...brutal."

"I keep them good and sharp." Raph agreed, letting Donny fuss over his injuries after he was done with Maddie.

"You really do cut deep when you get a good shot in." Don commented, "Against anybody else I can see why they wouldn't want to mess with you."

"Yeah, good thing I didn't make ya too desperate to use your magic there, too," Raph winked.

"I thought about it when you held me down, but thought that was a cheap shot." She said as she walked over to the other side and sat down and left room for Raph. "Candy-Cane your turn."

"Alrighty, let's have some fun. I also expect to be cut, or for these to be completely ruined." Andrea told Leo and she held her fist out to Cassidy as she went by. Once she got a fist-bump she headed for the middle of the dojo.

Leo also followed her to the middle of the dojo and readied himself for whatever was going to happen next. Maddie hummed softly under her breath and Cassidy leaned against Maddie's shoulder. Both girls knew that Andrea wasn't going to fall for that.

Andrea simply stood where she was, her whips not even unwound. She was poised, her feet making a right degree angle, the only 'form' she had. It took about a solid thirty seconds with nothing happening before Andrea smiled wide, "Your song sounds confused. Does my lack of defense confuse you? Would you prefer I change my tune to something you're more familiar with?"***

"There she goes with the music melody thing." Cassidy mused. "I don't know if Leo's that much of a threat, or if she's just playin' him."

"No, not a threat." Maddie shook her head.

"You don't sound all that impressed with the music stuff, Cassie?" Mikey tilted his head in confusion, "You do, though, Mads. What's the deal?"

Leo couldn't help but to be confused. He seen people have wide stances, short stances, all sorts, yet here she was. Nothing. She kept herself locked up, so he knew better than to charge in. Her whips had a long range and he didn't know how well she could wield them without being on fire. "If you want." He said slowly.

"Andrea doesn't do it often." Maddie explained to Mikey. "If Cassie's ability is empathy and my ability is intuition then hers would be she can feel someone's rhythm. She just doesn't talk about it. This place must be either very safe to her, she trusts her opponent, or both. When she's in a fight, when it's life or death, you wouldn't hear this. This is a game."

Andrea started to walk on her toes, in a circle around Leo, looking more like a ballerina stepping into her next position. He got the hint and they start to circle one another. "We are playing with an interesting set of instruments here. All of you are mostly short-range, with you and Raph being able to throw your weapons, and Donny can be a some-what mid-range with his Bo. Yet, here we are, me with a mid to long range, and if you don't dance your way out of my reach, I could...wrap you up." She did a playful twirl and giggle, her whips unfurling by her side, "Then, if you manage to weave and bend your way to me, it could be game over. Or would it? Would the song and dance continue, because I know martial arts? You don't know what I can and cannot do. A teasing plucking of strings could turn into a vigorous tempo of drums as we trade blows with our hands and feet."

"Jesus Christ Andrea." Maddie rubbed her head as she shook her head from side to side.

"I called it." Cassidy said solemnly. "I so called it."

Raph covered his mouth as he snorted and he leaned against the wall besides Maddie but didn't sit on the bench, crossing his ankles and his arms, "This is gunna be good, isn't it?"

Maddie shrugged, "She doesn't have the same amount of experience I do and Leo has a little more than she does but that doesn't mean she doesn't have her tricks."

"She works at a dojo, though, with Killian?" Mikey was confused, "Or do you mean street smarts?"

"I mean life." Maddie said nodding over at Leo. "He has more of it in fighting and swordplay. Andrea on the other hand, just recently got into it. He has more truth, she doesn't. But that doesn't mean it can't become her truth. Clearly she picked learning how to do martial arts for a reason. I wonder if it's good enough."

Cassidy just rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you everything she's saying later Mikey. She's just pretending to be mysterious."

Maddie punched Cassidy's arm.

"ANDREA MADDIE'S ABUSING ME!" Cassidy called out.

"OH SHUT UP!"

"I'll avenge you later, little sis." Andrea laughed softly, keeping her eyes on Leo.

Leo snorted a little but twirled his katanas in ease, his shoulders relaxed. "So I see that you're the older sister among them then? That's a familiar cry I've heard for years."

"Older in years and I guess in personality, too. I mean, the people they've chosen to pursue fits better than you think." Andrea snapped a whip behind her and she could feel herself winding up, tingles at her fingertips, "Without the music code, I do like the way you move." Her hand twitched around the whip in her other hand, and she could feel the music ramping up as well.

"They're going to attack at the same time. That doesn't happen much." Mikey blinked.

"You called it." Maddie said in an impressed whistle as both Leo and Andrea jumped into action at the very same time. Andrea was having a good time trying to keep Leo at bay, and Leo had to worry about two weapons as well. She nodded her head a few times.

Cassidy watched them fight with a tilted head. "It's more of a dance don't you think? Hardly a fight. You and Raph were going at it like you two would die if you didn't get a hit."

"All or nothin' /little sis/." Raph smiked at her, but he had to agree. "Is Andrea /really/ fire? She's bending her body like water and her flips remind me of Black Widow or somethin', all poised and fancy."

"Natasha /is/ a ballerina so ya know, that makes /sense/." Mikey quipped.

"Shut up, I realize that." Raph grunted, "/Anyway/, I wonder how long it's gunna take before they abandon the weapons and go for hand to hand. Leo's going to squeeze his way between her whips eventually."

"No, not long." Maddie said as she watched them fight. "But let them have a bit of fun. Andrea's going to toss them first."

Andrea smiled at Leo as she jumped back and snapped her wrist, just barely missing wrapping around Leo's wrist and she flourished her other hand, snapping at Leo's feet. His eyes, such wonderful blue eyes that were more the color of a rushing river than an ocean, where Mikey's were like the sky, so bright and glinting with sunlight, Leo's were deeper, soulful with the rush of his thoughts, always thinking, calculating, watching. "Your song rushes so fast, round and round. Do you ever take a break for a slow dance?"