Donnie and Pulverizer stayed in the dojo for another hour before they were called to meet up with the others. By that point, I had climbed down from the tree and watched them train. A lot of what Pulverizer struggled with, Donnie had me demonstrate to him, hoping it would get through his tiny head. He also kept a sharp eye on Pulverizer for me. There were a couple of times I thought he was going to reach out and grab me, but the purple masked turtle was ready to block any attempt.

     After they left, Sensei emerged and got me started on my training. After a quick warm up and a review of what Raph had started me on so far, I was given a new set of basics to practice. According to Sensei, it was to warm up to using my full body and adjust to using more than fists and feet. Apparently, as Timothy has demonstrated, fighting was the use of your full body, not just a particular area.

     I stood in the middle of the dojo. Splinter had gone into his room to make a cup of tea. One, two, knee. One, two, kick. One, two, knee. One, two, kick.

     I was very focused on what I was doing. Donnie and Raph had pointed out that my posture was awful and that I needed to work on my balance as well. Sensei had caught on to that too. Hopefully this exercise would also be helpful in that area.

     One, two, knee. One, two, kick. One, two, knee. One, two, kick.

     The rhythm I was going at was soothing. It was meditative.

     One, two, knee. One, two, kick.

     I wonder how I was doing in their eyes? I was already impressed with myself. I slowly started to go for over an hour in training the last few days. According to Raph I was picking up on training basics quickly.

     One, two, knee. One, two, kick.

     If I kept at this pace maybe-

     The doors to the dojo were slammed open. Caught off guard, I went to face whoever had scared me, but with the momentum of me turning and how fast my leg was returning to its position, I lost balance and fell on my bum.

     "Oops... Sorry."

     I felt myself staring. April O'Neil softly closed the door behind her before facing me again. Her eyes were a lot bigger in real life than I expected. They were very big, unnaturally blue and doll-like. She wore the same yellow jersey as she did in the show and from what I could tell, her hair was in a pony-tail. I don't know what difference I was expecting, but here she was in all her glory.

     "You're Alex, right?" I waved and she grinned at me, "It's nice to see you awake. Sorry I haven't been able to meet you yet. You're usually in your room when I'm here."

     I smiled awkwardly. It's a good thing I couldn't actually say that I was purposely avoiding her. As a cartoon character, I didn't particularly care for her as I felt the show creators really jumped the shark on her story, not to mention her relationship with Donnie felt forced. Maybe I was just jumping to conclusions, but I wasn't ready to meet her... Now I actually had too.

     "Sooooo..." Apri seemed to be at a loss for words as I sat on the floor, "How have you been adjusting here?"

     I started signing to her and realized mid-sentence that she was totally lost. After a sigh I just gave her a thumbs up. If she didn't understand sign language then at this point I could really only answer yes or no questions. Sensei typically phrased his questions in a yes or no fashion if Donnie couldn't be there to translate. Raph and I used a notepad, but it was in Donnie's lab and I couldn't just walk past her to grab it without explanation.

     I finally stood as she watched me for a long time before speaking again, "How's training going for you? It's kinda hard, am I right?"

     I gave her another thumbs up.

     We stared at each other. The air around us was incredibly awkward and I had no way to make conversation with her.

     Saved by the bell, or better yet, the rough sound of metal on the subway track rang through the lair. I covered an ear to make the sound a little more bearable. April used that as her excuse to run out and check what was going on.

     "A good kunoichi is always perceptive of her surroundings." I jumped when Master Splinter seemed to appear behind me. "Then again you are still only beginning your training." I could only smile and shrug when he chuckled after his speech. "I saw what happened. Still, you have much to learn about perception and awareness of your surroundings. Though I commend you, you seem to pick up on critique and make corrections very quickly."

     I blushed at the praise. Sensei gestured for me to follow. I was excited to see the brothers and I was happy to know they were back safe and sound.

     As we walked out the dojo, I heard Mikey shout, "I got it! The Olympics!"

     "Stop guessing!" Donnie was clearly aggravated by his younger brother. "Obviously it's a Kraang symbol."

     Sensei chuckled, "I take it you can also hear their conversation from here?" I nodded, "Troublesome they may be, but there's never a dull moment with the four of them."

     I grinned in agreement nearly laughing when Donnie shouted, "Quit it! There's something here and I can figure it out if you'll all just go away and let me THINK!"

     The guys walked out of the lab as Sensei and I walked in. The two of us looked over his shoulder to see what he was stressing about. I saw the emblem that was usually shown on Kraang technology.

     Sensei spoke, "Oh, the olympics?"

     "For the hundredth time-" Donnie whipped around to see the two of us. "I- Ugh! It's driving me crazy! I know I've seen this somewhere else, but I just can't remember!"

     "You must calm your mind and wait. You are ninja, Donatello. The word "Nin" means patience and perseverance. Deep breath. Breathe."

     The turtle took a deep breath, "Okay, okay. I'm calm- got it!"

     Before I could even ask a question, he was sprinting to gather the others.

     "Always on the move, those four." Splinter was stroking his beard. "Why don't you come watch April's training session? Then you will be done for the night."

     I guess he wanted me to see someone who was more within my level of training. I didn't mind. I happily followed, ready to see what April was like at her level of ninjutsu. I was impressed with her advancement. She had only been training for a couple of months at this point. From what Sensei stopped and explained to me, she was in the advanced basics getting closer to moving on to intermediate. I took in everything Sensei explained, from her posture to how she executed a combination of moves. The one thing I didn't like was her attitude towards training.

     April would complain to Sensei a lot. This was more than normal, "I need to catch my breath. I'm tired." She complained with almost every move and tried to make excuses for herself. Especially when he would critique her movement or form, she either blamed her schedule or that she had not been able to practice due to school. I could understand, but at the same time, maybe take his critique and move on, not defend your mistake. I was struggling to understand how she could keep complaining without getting on Sensei's nerves.

     Within the hour, the guys came back, announcing that they needed to infiltrate TCRI. April ran out the room as I slowly followed. Behind me I heard something flying through the air. Instinctively I ducked. When I heard the noise turn around to come at me again, I dropped down to one knee, bringing my arms in an 'X' to defend my head, not knowing what was going on.

     "Very good, Alexis."

     I finally turned my head. Master Splinter stood there, staff held over my head as if he was about to hit me, but he had stopped the motion after I went to block. He drew back and I slowly stood, watching him hesitantly. Sensei actually tried to attack me when I was caught off guard? What was going on here?

     He bowed his head and placed a hand over his heart, "Forgive me for testing you so abruptly." He straitened with both hands returning to the top of his cane, "I was curious to see where your natural instincts lie. It seems you are very in tune with them."

     That... was weird. I pointed to the staff and then my ear. I didn't know how else to convey that I had heard the strike coming. Why had he chosen to strike without telling me he wanted to test me?

    "So you heard my cane swinging, but you reacted without question. You knew something was coming towards you and you acted to defend yourself. Many others would have stopped to see their opponent. That can be a fatal mistake." When I raised a brow he continued. "If I had asked to test you, you would have been on guard. If I warned you of my strike, would you not have turned to face me? And If you had not heard my cane, do you believe I would have struck without reason?"

     I looked down in thought. I guess that was true. I trusted Sensei. Maybe I trusted a little too much, but this was my safe haven. Sensei and the turtles were my protectors. I believed them to be my friends and that they would hurt me.

     He placed a hand in between my ears, similarly to how Raph had done on a couple of occasions, "There's great potential in you, Alexis. Now let us go see what the brothers are up to."

     I couldn't help, but grin widely at the praise I had just received. I hadn't even been training for two whole weeks and I got that kind of praise from Sensei! I jogged after him and to the kitchen, still on my high of joy, but also excited to see what the brothers were having a meeting over.

    Donnie was on the other side of the room with Mikey over his shoulder. April emerged from the lab with a giant blueprint sheet, showing the blueprints for TCRI. I immediately noticed as it was being explained, that the top 3rd of the building was blank... Wasn't there poisonous fog up there? If I remembered correctly, so far they hadn't been exposed to the Kranng's atmosphere.

     "First we need to figure out how to get past security in the lobby," Leo voiced.

     April sighed, "Tricky. It's not like we can just pack you in a box and send it special delivery."

     I tapped Donnie on the shoulder, "Question... Do you know the kind of air the Kraang breathe?"

     Donnie raised an eye at me, "What do you mean, Alex?"

     "Have you thought about the kind of air these aliens breathe? They sure act like they breathe oxygen, but what about on their planet?"

     "Yeah... That's a good point."

     Raph jabbed Donnie's shoulder, "What did she say?"

     "She asked if we considered if the Kraang breathe air other than oxygen." Donnie walked over to the blueprints, "She's right. There's a possibility that the Kraang, if they don't breath the same air as us, are using the upper levels to mimic the atmosphere of Dimension X." Donnie placed a hand in between my ears and ruffled my hair, "Good thinking, Alex!"

     Leo crossed his arms, "The problem is that we don't have time to account for that. If that's the case, we're just going to have to wing it when we get up there. We need to leave now and we need to grab Leatherhead. April, you're with us! I've got a plan."

     Donnie smiled at me apologetically before grabbing his bomb and following his brothers and April out. That left Sensei and I to wait for their return. I decided to sit next to Sensei, twiddling my thumbs while we waited. However, he placed a hand over mine to stop me.

     "Would you like to continue training for the evening?"

     I took him up on it. April got back to the lair about an hour and a half later, giving me a false alarm as to it being the guys. However, when she got back, Splinter asked us to change places. I took that opportunity to pace the lair. A hour later, the two came out to join me. Sensei and I sat down and April took her turn to pace. It was getting close to 1am when I finally heard their footsteps. I got up and jogged over to the entrance. However I nearly gagged smelling them. Whatever toxins were in the air of Dimension X definitely stank to high heaven. At the same time, I didn't care. I ran to hug Mikey, the closest turtle.

     "Hey dudette," Mikey ruffled my hair with a sad smile, "Sorry we took so long to get back."

     "Welcome home, my sons." Master Splinter stood as Mikey joined Raph and Leo on the couch, "Was your mission successful?"

     Leo bowed his head, "Afraid not, sensei. Leatherhead's...gone."

     There was a moment of silence and I felt my heart sink. I had forgotten Leatherhead had been transported to Dimension X this episode. I wish I could have met the croc, but at the same time, I don't know how he would have reacted to me.

     "Yeah, but he saved us." After the pause, Mikey pulled out what looked like a giant USB, "And I found this!"

     "Oh good! Now you're picking up alien trash," Raph complained.

     Donnie ran forward taking it from Mikey's hands, "Do you realize what this is?"

     Mikey smiled, "Shiny."

     "It's a Kraang data storage device. If I can decode it, maybe it can help us find a way to stop them."

     That's right! Mikey was making a habit of collecting trash and picked up the USB drive in TCRI. I was quick to follow Donnie to the lab. He started up his computer again. This time, he went to retrieve Metalhead's head and connected the storage device to it.

     I sat beside the computer to get his attention, "Do you think there might be anything to do with me? The Kraang wanted me before they took me to Shredder."

     He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know but it's definitely worth a look. Let's see how much I can decode and find out."

     I sat with him while he worked on installing the Kraang software and began decoding. Within 20 minutes of installation, he clicked on a weird file. Pictures of me popped up across the screen along with what looked like corrupted files. We looked at each other. The keys of the keyboard clacked with his typing. More pages appeared, but I couldn't make out anything they might have said.

     His tongue stuck out for a few minutes and then he groaned, "I'm sorry, Alex most of the file is damaged. Other than the pictures the only thing I can find is the title for a plan called Failure Type. The most I can see here is that they intended to mutate you." A few other pages popped up, all of them glitching, "I can't even see if the results of your mutation was a part of the plan. I'm sorry."

     I pat his shoulder, "It's fine. Don't worry about me. Let's see what else you can find."

     He sighed. I just hoped he wasn't too distraught. My problems could be set aside for later. We needed to find out what was happening with the portal right now. About 10 minutes later, Donnie gasped in surprise. I was already leaning over his shoulder, trying to see whatever it was he was seeing. He abruptly stood up and I followed behind him.

     We walked out to the living room where April was talking about her dad, "My dad wouldn't know anything about what they're trying to do."

     "But if they didn't need your dad, why were they after him in the first place," Raph asked.

     That was when Donnie joined their conversation, "I don't think they were. I used the Kraang processor inside Metalhead to access the storage device. A lot of the files are damaged, but I think I found what they're after..."

     He beckoned the others to the lab. I took my spot right next to him as he started pulling up the files again. However, this time, he clicked a button, similar to my file, this was a file all about April. Many photos of her were pulled up on the screen as if they had been taken by a stalker.

     "They're after me," April asked in shock.

     "Like I said most of the files are damaged," Donnie stated, "this is the most I can currently see what they have on you. It's very similar to Alex."

     With that being said, he showed my file to the others. Most of the photos were taken before my mutation. Some were from my dimension. A few I recognized from when I was with Shredder. I never noticed Baxter or anyone taking pictures of me.

     "The little I could find on Alex is that the Kraang intended on mutating her. Anything pertaining to her past that is damaged except for the experiment I think Alex heard them talking about. Something called Failure Type."

     Silence covered all of us. I could only imagine April was processing the information that would later get her in a lot of trouble. As for the guys, I assumed they were taking in what was going to be on their plate. Little did they know, they would be dealing with the Kraang for many years. At the very least, the show gave the impression that almost all the seasons equaled a year. I had only gotten to Season 3: Casey Jones vs. The Underworld. My knowledge would only be helpful up to a point. At the same time, I did not want to mess with the plot.

     Meddling with the timeline could cause the tides of battle to change on us. While the guys were destined to always win, there was no telling what calamity I could unintentionally bring by trying to change the outcome of the future. The last thing I wanted to do was screw over the heroes of the story.

     What if I did? What if me staying with them already did just that? What if I was unknowingly changing the future to give Shredder victory? What if I was helping the bad guys just by being here? What if I was the bad guy? What if-

     "Alex? Alex! What's wrong?"

     It took me a moment to realize I was hyperventilating. I felt sick to my stomach and my chest was beginning to hurt really bad. My hands were covering my ears. When did my mouth get so dry? The others had backed away from me. How had I not noticed the position I was in? How did I get this bad? How-

     "Hey. Look at me." Donnie was kneeling in front of me. One hand was placed on my knees and the other was reaching for my shoulder. I flinched when he touched me, but I was soon calmed by him rubbing my arm gently. "I need you to try to breathe okay? Just copy me." I followed him through the little exercise. Breathe in...two...three...four... Breathe out...two...three...four... This continued for what felt like ages. I could feel the hold on my ears loosen and soon I was breathing normally again.

     "Is that better?" I slowly nodded. At least my chest didn't hurt anymore. "That was some panic attack you had there." We stared at each other. I could feel my face warm up. I couldn't tell if it was embarrassment or because he was staring at me so intently. "I know it's hard for you right now. I'm so sorry you've had to go through all of this, but I swear I'm going to help you. You'll get stronger and soon enough you can kick Kraang butt yourself! We just have to take it a day at a time."

    I could feel tears well up and hugged him, wanting to hide my face. I knew for a fact Donnie wasn't lying to me. I knew he would do whatever he could to help me as he had so far. I was only scared of what was to come. I was scared that I would only hold the guys back. I could only hope that I could improve as fast as April had so that I could start defending myself. I refused to let myself stay stuck like this. 

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A/N: Well the good news is the TCRI = TCRI the episode. This is most definitely more of a filler chapter, but I am SO excited to see how this plays out for season 1. One thing I really look forward to is expanding on relationships and interactions between characters . 

For anyone who doesn't know. Alex was originally more of a sassy, stubborn little punk. She hated April's guts right off the bat and continued to hate her for a long time. I thinks this version of Alex and her relationship with April is more fitting. Alex is awkward and still very scared of many things at this point in the story and while she was not excited to meet April, she's willing to try and build a relationship. April, on the other hand, isn't quite sure what to think of Alex yet because their first interaction was just...awkward. Even more so because she forgot Alex was mute (and she KNOWS from what the brothers have told her). 

Anywhosits, those are just my personal thoughts as the author. I hope you're enjoying the story so far.

Tootles~

Muse