Destiny is proud to say that she's able to remain slightly calm and suppress her excitement as she heads to the surface with the turtles. She feels like a brand new person—or mutant—and it's a good feeling. She's not as polished as the turtles, far less experienced, but with her uchigatana and wolf skills combined, she feels like a very dangerous woman.

"Stay close to us," Leonardo orders as the quintet reaches the base of the tunnel that leads to freedom. He turns and gives Destiny a pointed look, confirming who he was speaking to, and he jabs his finger towards her sword. "Don't go crazy with that until you've got more practice."

"Then you can go crazy," Raphael says, a defiant smirk curling across his face.

Leonardo scowls. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Hey, guys, how about instead of fighting, we get up to the surface and start this patrol?" Donatello butts in, stepping easily between the nearly-quarrelling turtles. "Good? Yes? Great."

"I'll go first!" Michelangelo volunteers.

Before anyone can argue, he goes climbing towards the surface, going so fast that Destiny can easily imagine him just flying upwards. Donatello follows with Raphael and Leonardo going after. Destiny moves to the ladder, reaching out and securing her hand over the nearest rung, and hesitates as she cranes her head back.

Evil has been on the down low lately save for the normal muggers and riffraff, or at least that's what Destiny remembers the turtles saying after each of their patrols before. What's more, Casey and April had mentioned previously how they haven't seen much else happening during the day (a comment that served to ignite a pent-up rage inside a certain vigilante).

Destiny's attention wavers to thoughts of Karai and Diaval and the last time that she spoke to them, three or so weeks ago. With that, she remembers how she hasn't even told the turtles about what they talked about. They think that the Foot Clan members simply attacked Destiny.

That's not the case at all.

"Yo Des! It's all good up here, girl!" Michelangelo hollers down to her.

She shakes her head, bringing herself back down to earth as she scrambles up the ladder towards the surface.

----------

Free running with the turtles is more fun than Destiny ever could have imagined; the wind whipping through her hair, the air cool and brisk against her skin as the running warms her body from ear to tail tip, just everything. It feels like freedom.

The turtles leap and laugh and twist and turn as if they're parkour dancers, moving with a grace that makes looking away an impossible task for Destiny to do. It's hard to believe that a human boy their age would be going through the clumsy, awkward stage of life.

"No sign of the Foot?" Leonardo asks.

"None!" Donatello reports.

"Kraang?" Raphael questions.

"Nada," Michelangelo answers.

He lands on a water tower, launching into the air and tucking his body close for a series of front-flips. He lands directly next to Destiny and keeps running at her side, flashing her a bright smile before he pulls ahead.

Destiny, on the other hand, slows to a stop as a sick feeling builds in her gut and sends cold fingers grasping at her shoulders and neck. Evil is still inactive, hiding in the shadows and waiting for the correct time to strike. Her skin erupts with goosebumps as her ears swivel in all directions. There's someone watching her, invisible eyes tearing away at her and making her feel far too vulnerable.

Her hand flies to the hilt of her uchigatana. Ahead, the turtles slow down as they laugh breathlessly and chat amongst themselves. She becomes faintly aware of a voice or two calling her name, but it's all noise to her.

"Guys..." she whispers as they jog back towards her, focused completely on one another. "GUYS!" she repeats in a firmer voice. They stop their chatter and look at her as her hand secures around the sword handle. "I think we're being watched."

"Why's that?" Michelangelo asks.

"Just...trust me," she insists, turning to look at the empty building nearest to her. The wind blows loose strands of hair across her face, making flyaway pieces stick to her sweaty forehead.

"There hasn't been a single sighting in three weeks, at least. I think you're just nervous," Raphael says, raising his arms to the sky and causing his joints to crack.

She latches her animalistic eyes on him. "What if that's what they want you to think?"

Donatello laughs and shakes his head, wagging his hand towards the girl. "Destiny, I think you're being a little paranoid—"

"It could be a trick," she says. "The Foot Clan stays out of sight to make you think that everything's okay, then they wait until you feel safe and attack," she utters.

"Where'd you get that idea from?" Raphael inquires.

She looks at her feet. "Space Heroes..." Leonardo shoots Raphael a smug look, but Destiny's head snaps back up and she recaptures their attention. "It could happen. Besides, Karai and Diaval seemed pretty adamant when they told me—"

Destiny abruptly cuts her words off, sucking in a breath. Confusion passes over every one of the turtles' faces.

"They attacked you," Leonardo says slowly. "Without a warning, they attacked. That's what you said."

"Well...I just said we fought...which is true," she mumbles. "But they didn't want to fight me originally, they wanted to talk."

Their eyes widen simultaneously. Leonardo moves forwards, grasping Destiny's shoulders tightly and pulling her closer to him. She goes rigid in his grip.

"Why didn't you tell us?" he demands, his blue mask bunching together to show his rage.

"I...I don't know. I was just freaked out and I didn't think it was all that important?" She bites her lip. The blue-masked turtle releases his grip on her.

"What did they say?" Raphael asks.

"They wanted me to join the Foot Clan. They said that the Shredder is fascinated by me and wants me to join in one way or another," she says. "Then Diaval started making me see things—"

"See things?!" Michelangelo exclaims. "Dude, like hallucinating stuff? Did he make you eat something bad? Did—"

"Mikey, she didn't eat anything," Leonardo snaps. His eyes switch to Destiny. "Did you?"

"No! He just..." She purses her lips, thinking of the bubbling warmth inside her when she saw that house, all full of light and food and friendly people. "He tried to convince me to join by saying that they could give me something I really want."

Donatello groans and places his head in his hands. "I knew it! Leo, I told you that Diaval isn't just an archer! Didn't I tell you?" he asks, glaring daggers at his eldest brother. "I knew it! He's got some kind of magic!"

Leonardo ignores his brother, fear shimmering behind the pensive mask he wears. Raphael growls, cracking his knuckles, whilst Michelangelo just looks confounded.

"The white-haired clumsy dude is a wizard?" he whispers.

"...and, Karai said that I was important," Destiny adds, her voice barely a whisper, "and that my ability worked perfectly for Shredder's next plan."

That seems to strike a chord with them, or at least with Leonardo. His face hardens, a fierce and protective glint in his sapphire eyes, and Destiny instantly regrets saying anything.

"That's it! We're going back to the lair and you are staying there until we know it's safe," he says, grabbing her wrist and starting to lead her back the way they came.

"Hey! Woah woah woah!" She wrenches herself from his grip. "I'm not getting cooped up again."

"You aren't safe!" the blue-masked turtle insists. "We need to protect you."

"I lived up here my whole life and I did fine without your protection!" she argues. "Plus, now I have a sword!"

"That was when Karai and the Foot weren't hunting you, wanting to recruit you!"

"Oh, really? To me, it looks like I've been watched for a while." She crosses her arms, making intense eye contact with the blue-masked turtle.

"But she only just confirmed that now. Please Des, we want you to stay alive," he retorts, obviously exasperated.

"I want to live, not just stay alive," she says, her voice gaining a new softness as her tail droops. "Keeping me caged is going to do nothing for you."

He turns away and places a hand on his forehead, taking slow breaths. None of the other turtles comment. Raphael whistles something and twiddles his thumbs while Donatello pretends to be enthralled by his t-phone. Michelangelo bounces on the balls of his feet as he watches the stars. Destiny doesn't divert her attention from the back of Leonardo's head.

Leonardo turns around to face Destiny again.

"Must you be this stubborn?" he asks, his tone still holding an air of annoyance.

She flicks her tail and arches an eyebrow. "Yes, because being stubborn is how I am. Deal with it."

Leonardo looks to his brothers, who all cease their activities in a split second. The leader lets out a sigh as he pulls them into a huddle that forces Destiny to wait on the outside.

Destiny knows that Leonardo is just looking out for her, like he's been doing ever since she became their friend and ally, but she finds it to be pointless in the long run. In truth, she needs to be out here. It's as simple as that. She can't stay down in the lair for the rest of her life, never going up to the surface out of fear for what may happen to her in the "big bad world". She'll go insane.

"Okay, let's keep moving," Leonardo's voice sounds. He looks to the wolf girl, his lips pursed. "However, at the first sign of danger, we are getting you back."

"Deal," she agrees. Her eyes fall to a billboard a few buildings away. "On another note...race you to that billboard!"

She dashes away, the turtles calling out and giving chase after her in a moment.

As they race away, a lithe figure leans out from behind a large A/C unit with binoculars raised to her face. Karai smirks lightly, her eyes flickering to the few Foot bots lingering near her—all awaiting orders—before returning her attention to the task at hand.

The deadly kunoichi focuses in on Leonardo, and her brow furrows as a small smirk crosses her ruby red lips. Diaval scoots carefully to the base of the air conditioner, eyeing the drop below them momentarily before bringing his attention to the younger girl.

"Karai," he says.

"Can you reach her from here?" the girl asks, binoculars still held before her face.

Diaval casts his pink eyes to the group, narrowing them as he tries to focus in on Destiny. After a couple seconds, he shakes his head, his ponytail switching which shoulder it had been resting on with the movement.

"Desire's changed," he admits.

"What?" Karai asks. "So you're useless?"

His jaw clenches just slightly. "No, just having a bit o'trouble keeping the connection."

She scoffs, lowering her binoculars. "Father doesn't want you wasting any more time."

"Can't help it," he defends, pulling his cloak closer to his body. He shuts his eyes. "Closer to the heart, harder to control," he says, speaking like it's a mantra that he has long ago memorized. "Not easy to promise someone family."

"But it can be done?"

He stares at Karai for a few seconds, then nods his head and grunts in answer. She eyes the ninjas far away from her. Her hand flies out and latches around Diaval's arm, making his entire body jolt and stumble into her. She holds him in place and practically shoves the binoculars over his eyes.

"You see the turtle in blue? Watch how he looks at his companions," she orders.

Diaval stares. Through the binoculars, he can see Leonardo quite clearly. The turtle is looking at someone, a sort of protective softness in his countenance that makes the magical nineteen-year-old want to squirm in place. He adjusts the binoculars to find that Leonardo is looking at Destiny.

"Destiny," he says simply.

Karai flashes a coy smile. "Exactly, Di," she says, straightening him back up. "Leonardo has his eyes on the wolf, and that could work in our favour," she continues, making sure that the boy is following her words. "If you can't control her, we can get to their hearts in another way. Think of it as...leverage."

He stares down at her, then nods. "Got it."

She turns, ordering the Foot bots back to base with a quick sweep of her hand. "Good. This will give us more time for Stockman to keep working on the serum. In the meantime, Master Shredder may want to know that our prospective recruit could be used for more than what he originally thought."

"Mm..." Diaval agrees.

Karai glances over her shoulder once more, where she notices Destiny looking back in her direction. There's a look of uncertainty on Destiny's face.

"You just wait, wolf girl. Things are just starting to get warmed up," Karai threatens, a light laugh shaking her shoulders.