He didn't understand it.

Embarrassment was something the ninja turtle rarely ever felt, considering his 'no-shits-to-give attitude' when the moments called for it as well as the fact that almost no act could top Mikey's own embarrassing incidents. Though he did get a little red on the rare occasion of anyone hearing him talk to Spike, his own pet turtle he'd rescued from the sewers ages ago. But that didn't count, at least not to Raphael.

With the youngest of the teenagers having a vice-grip on the role of 'stupidest mutant in the lair', Raph almost never felt any sort of remorse for the little things he did or said that might not have been the nicest to the people around him. He couldn't help it, that was just how he was on the outside to shield his secretly ultra-soft interior. It'd been a tactic he'd used for years, and it'd worked throughout its use.

But this time, something was off. Something was clawing at his mind, strangling his trachea as he tried to breathe and squeezing his lungs with every shallow inhale and exhale. It felt as if someone had punched their fist straight through his body, penetrating his plastron and diving into his flesh before gripping onto his stomach, tightening more and more as the worry and humiliation began to set in.

What he once could brush off and forget about had developed into a sudden fear and a constant nuisance as the teenage mutant tried to sleep. He tossed back and forth beneath his sheets restlessly, rolling to lay on one side of his body before turning to the other side, then trying to fall asleep on his back after attempting to doze off on his stomach.

"Uh...why would I need to worry?"

Really, Raph? He thought to himself before literally face-palming, his eyes closed and his face scrunched up in distaste. That was the best you had? She kinda-sorta said something in reference to the obvious crush your brother has on her and your go-to response was the most asshole-esque thing you could've possibly come up with?

From where he was reviewing the short conversation in his head, his fear and insecurities were going off like red lights. Did she think he was being cocky? Like he thought she saw Donnie as some sort of competition against him and was somewhat insulted by her assuring him that there was no contest? Or did she think he meant Donnie wasn't competition because he didn't like her?

Wait, did he like her?

The thought caught him like a deer in headlights and he sat straight up in bed, staring blankly at the opposite wall of his room where Spike slept in a box filled with blankets.

Did Raph actually like this girl? Like...like-like Echo?

She was definitely cool in his eyes, kind, caring, generous, and she really knew how to rock the leather-look without even trying. Plus, if the group-talk was any indication, she thought his smart-ass remarks and sarcastic expressions were funny. Not many people he knew- which were only his brothers and his sensei- found Raph's words to be anything but a small personality quirk. It was hard to wrap his mind around, but Echo believed the exact opposite and it made him feel a little more secure about himself.

Though it was never something he'd admit out loud, not when he wielded his tough-guy persona like a shield at all times possible. That night had been the first night in a long time that he'd actually felt somewhat comfortable being himself without subconsciously worrying if what he said was actually more annoying or stupid than funny. It was the small affirmation on Echo's part that brought him that warm, happy feeling.

And what had he done when she wanted to talk to him alone? When she wanted to thank him personally for taking part in her rescue? Acted like a jerk, despite that not being his intention in the long run.

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head before laying back down on his mattress. No, this wasn't as big of a deal as he was making it out to be. He didn't really like Echo, especially when the turtle considered how long he'd known her- less than twenty-four hours. This was just his teenage-hormones wreaking havoc on his emotions. Nothing more than that.

No, Echo was nice and all, but he refused to indulge that part of himself he thought to be illogical. This wasn't a Disney movie; there was no way he could fall for a girl in less than a day. Not completely, at least. With a deep breath, Raphael attempted to calm his nerves and began the process of talking himself out of whatever butterfly-feelings he'd received thanks to puberty.

Then there was the issue of the cash. Three-hundred seventy-two dollars to be exact. The stack of bills were sitting on his makeshift nightstand consisting of two old plastic red crates placed on top of each other, and he had no idea what to do about it.

Though he knew how his brothers would react in the morning when he'd tell them: they'd want to return the cash to Echo. Leo would probably say something stupid about heroes not accepting tips or any sort of payment from the people they rescue. But almost four-hundred dollars? That could get them pizza for a long, long time if they used it at a reasonable pace.

It was this change of thought that finally drew a low, long yawn from Raph's lips and the irresistible whisperings of sleep started tempting him. Whatever he and his brothers decided to do with the money would wait until morning. But as the mutant began to drift off, one final thought regarding the new girl in their life slid through his mind, one last sentence of affirmation that would finally put his worrisome consciousness to bed-

I'll get over it.

And with that, Raphael faded into unconsciousness.

—

Everything was red.

She couldn't remember where she was or how she'd gotten into this mess, surrounded by walls of fire as the girl sprinted through the forest. Her legs were sluggish and felt waterlogged with every desperate step she took, as if Echo had been pulled from a pit of quicksand only seconds prior. Her legs screamed in pain from the weight while she hobbled through the woods, tripping over rocks and dragging her body over fallen tree trunks.

The flames weren't close enough to cause any real damage, but she could feel its warmth and that was enough to spur her into continuing her pathetic excuse for running from the danger. Where she was headed, she had absolutely no clue. All she knew was that the girl needed to be anywhere else but where she currently was.

Spoke filled her lungs like she'd smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for twenty years and she couldn't stifle the waves of coughs that wracked her entire body, shaking her from the inside-out.

It was then that the teenage girl came to a clearing, a small space in the forest barren of trees with a radius of around twenty feet. Although there were no trees growing within this circle of land, a cluster of large, ancient boulders sat at the center of this particular spot, with a dark figure appearing to be sitting on the top of the very tallest stone. Their motionless legs were crossed and their hands sat on their knees as if the individual was in a deep meditative trance, so still that the girl questioned if the person was even breathing.

Echo couldn't explain the tsunami of dread that washed through her veins, spreading throughout her body like a plague and shutting down her insides to a point where all she could feel was pure fear.

This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

She wanted to speak, to turn around and run back into the flames like they were her mother's embrace. Because death, even by being engulfed in fire and burnt to ash, was a safer place to be than anywhere near the person before her. But her mouth wouldn't move and her legs were as immobile as the formation of rocks ahead.

A moment passed and she began to think that her presence may have been unnoticed. Although she felt the flames practically licking at her back as the fire approached, Echo would not move. The fabric of her clothing could've been ignited and burning her flesh, but there was no way in Heaven or Hell she'd move a muscle. No, if she hadn't been spotted by the shadowy figure perched on the highest peak of the stones yet, then there was no way she'd risk drawing attention to herself now by causing a commotion in an attempt to escape.

Because there was no escaping this. There was no escaping them. All she could do now was prolong the inevitable and say her prayers.

***

Echo woke up the next morning to the smell of eggs and bacon drifting through the air, completely erasing the hospital smell from Donnie's lab and replacing it with a comfortingly homey scent. It reminded her a little too much of April and Mr.O'Neil's apartment; she could already feel the homesickness creeping into her stomach. She pushed the blanket aside before getting up and stretching her body, yawning as she extended her arms sleepily.

Donnie hadn't been lying when he said that the couch was the most comfortable piece of furniture they owned. It had been buried under a mountain of supplies and lab equipment, that being the whole reason she hadn't noticed it when she'd first looked around the lab. But that didn't seem to have an effect on it condition. Even when comparing it to her own bed or April's bed, Donnie's lab-couch was caught in a three-way tie with its two other competitors.

With that thought in mind, Echo made sure to fold the blanket she'd borrowed and cleaned up her sleeping area a little out of politeness towards her rescuers. Once everything seemed in place, the girl headed for the kitchen.

What she saw upon exiting the lab would change her life forever.

"What's up, my dudette?" Mikey nearly shouted from the kitchen. The orange-masked turtle, clad in a tall chef's hat and an apron with Gordon Ramsay's face that said 'The squid is so under-cooked, I can still hear it telling Spongebob to piss off', was dancing around the island with a mixing bowl in one hand and a whisk in the other as the sound of 'Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go' by Wham! blasted from a small speaker on the kitchen counter. Sizzling in a pan on the stove was the bacon she'd been smelling earlier, as well as a pile of scrambled eggs cooking in a smaller pan beside it. "I hope you slept well because I've got an awesome breakfast planned!"

"I can tell," Echo chuckled as she sat down on one of the three high stools sitting next to the island. She wasn't usually a morning person, especially after a night as stressful as the one before. But although where exactly he got these ingredients from wasn't known (Leo had mentioned once that Splinter used to dumpster-dive in the alleys by grocery stores when they were younger.), it all smelled too good to resist. And for some reason when it came to this enthusiastic ninja-turtle, she couldn't fight the smile that worked its way to her lips. "Need any help?" From a quick glance as Mikey made his second route around the island, it looked like batter he was mixing. "I can cook pancakes perfectly. Completely circular, no burns on either side."

Mikey opened his mouth to object, but stopped when the sound of the bacon crackling a little too-loudly caught his attention and he squealed. "Sounds good to me! I'll save the bacon!" He quickly hollered and passed the bowl of batter across the table to the girl before tending to the over-cooked meat.

"Are mornings always like this?" Echo asked as she took the bowl in one hand and the whisk in the other. He'd already done a pretty good job of stirring the ingredients together, but she didn't want to seem useless so she continued to stir anyway.

"Nah, this is a special occasion," Mikey told her while he plucked the strips of bacon from the frying pan and placed three of them on six different plates stretched out across the opposite counter. "Usually we just eat algae for breakfast. And lunch. And sometimes dinner too unless we all are too tired from training."

"Algae?" Echo spoke with a raised brow as Mikey placed his grease-filled pan in the sink, then reached up into one of the cabinets and pulled out a skillet for the pancakes. He nodded as Wham! was replaced with Whitney Houston's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and the turtle spread a piece of butter across the skillet's surface to keep the pancakes from sticking.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," He told her, grabbing the handle of the eggs' pan and dishing out generous mountains of scrambled goodness onto each of the six plates once more. "We've been eating it for the past fifteen years, so you get used to it after a while." Echo nodded in understanding before getting to her feet and walking over to the stove. She placed the skillet on the stove and, with a steady hand and Mikey watching her over her shoulder, Echo began to pour the batter.

"Woooow, dudette. You weren't lying," Mikey gaped in awe as she poured three perfectly circular pancakes, all the same size and same thickness, before setting the bowl down with a smirk.

"I know, I'm amazing," She joked and playfully elbowed the turtle in his plastron. It was kind of strange, the level of comfort she felt in this foreign environment with these abnormal people. In a way, she was beginning to feel homesick for April's apartment, but at the same time she was starting to enjoy this different aesthetic. Maybe it was the concussion or just her general level of weirdness that had already taken hold of her life, something simple that could be explained.

But maybe...

...maybe she'd stumbled upon something much greater, much better than this unfortunate situation was willing to show.