Author's Note: Robyn is borrowed from the comics. She's April's sister there, but since April doesn't have any siblings in the 2k12 verse, I gave her to Casey. The Ramble is a wood in Central Park. Also, since I am not a hockey player and hours of google searching was mostly fruitless, I would appreciate it if any readers who know a thing or two about hockey would chime in on any inaccuracies regarding the names/uses of Casey's gear. The last five chapters will be posted on Thursday.

Casey glanced at the clock as he shut the front door behind him.

Five past ten. He was going to be late.

Darting quickly up the stairs, Casey changed out of his cashier's uniform and pulled on his sweatshirt. He was just about to put his harness on when he heard the door to his sister's room creak open.

He threw the harness back into his closet and shut the door just as a timid knock rapped on the wood.

Opening the door, he knelt to her height. "Did you have the nightmare again?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Her head bobbed up and down before she abruptly threw her arms around him. Casey returned the hug and exhaled slowly. "It's OK," he said, rubbing his hand up and down her spine gently,. He wished he could tell her they weren't real.

"Casey?"

"What?"

"...Can you sleep with me tonight?"

"Not tonight, Robyn," he said. Standing up, he hoisted her up and tightened the hug. "I need to practice," he said as he began carrying her down the hall.

Her grip around his chest tightened. "Please, Casey!"

"How about when I come back?" he asked.

"No," she insisted, "Now."

Casey sighed, and nudged the door to her room open. "Think you can give Professor X a run for his money," he muttered, coming to stand by her bed. She curled up on the thin mattress, the moonlight pooling on her umber skin. He joined her, his long, gangly limbs taking up most of the bed until he hung them over the edge and crunched himself into a corner.

The minutes stretched on, and Casey tried not to count them as he absently ran his fingers through his sister's curly hair. They lay there in silence, and he listened to her nervous breathing.

Her voice sleepily called his name. "Yeah, Robyn?" he replied, shifting lightly on the bed.

"Is the monster coming back?" she asked, her voice slurring as she began to sink into dreamland.

The question brought the memories back- Central Park, night falling just as they were nearing the end of the Ramble. She used to love it there- the little stone bridge over the river and he remembered stopping to read all the plaques on the benches. It had been a good day.

But then the green mutant had shown up out of nowhere. Casey hadn't even seen it until Robyn had screamed and pulled away from him, running toward the exit. His memory of the mutant was blurry. He remembered thick green vines that had coiling around her as she kicked and screamed, remembered the pair of them melting into the dark woods. In less than thirty seconds, she had vanished.

He had searched the thicket of the Ramble for hours, going off the path into the thick green woods, blindly searching in the direction the thing had left. At dawn, he found her curled up in the mouth of a culvert. Her purple sweater was soaked in a green goo, and the air temperature was so low that she did not stop shivering for nearly an hour. Ever since that day, she had been plagued by nightmares and her outgoing nature had withered away. She clung to Casey when they were in public and made avoided speaking to anyone, even people she was familiar with.

That had been the first encounter Casey had with mutants, and it certainly was not his last.

She repeated her question, timidly, and he broke free of the memory. "No," he promised, kissing her temple softly, "It's not coming back."

With a low sigh, Robyn snuggled against him. Her breath evened. He waited a few minutes before poking her tentatively. She mumbled lightly, but didn't squeal. Casey hugged her gently before untangling himself from her grasp. He pulled the thin comforter up to her cheeks and planted a quick kiss on her forehead. "I'll be back soon," he whispered.

Creeping past his father's room, Casey snuck into his room and pulled his harness on. He was late, so he skipped the facepaint and lowered his mask as he slipped out the window into the night.

The cool night air licked his face as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Dark clouds gathered overhead, blocking the stars. Only the moon shone through the grey curtain. Fog hung on the streets.

Finally, the Duane Reade at the corner of Steinway and Broadway came into site. It was nearly four stories high, so the rooftop was invisible from the eyes of a random bypasser. The perfect meeting place. A familiar green figure waiting on the roof, absently spinning one of his sai over his fingers. Casey landed on the rooftop, and the turtle sheathed his weapon. "You're late, Casey," he challenged, uncrossing his arms.

"Family stuff," Casey replied with a shrug, lifting his mask. "You know how it is."

Raph's face softened a little. The turtle was the only one who knew what had happened to Robyn. "Her insomnia coming back?"

"Sorta. She only went to sleep after I laid down with her for half an hour or so. The nightmares are getting worse, too" Casey said after a moment, looking away. "She's been waking up screaming the past few nights. I- I think she might need to see a shrink, but… it's hard to find a good one, y'know? Especially one who'd believe her about the whole 'being kidnapped by mutants' thing." He paused, and looked over at Raph. "When you texted me last night," he said, "You said you saw Snakeweed."

"I didn't see him," Raph admitted, "but on the way back from patrol, Mikey fell into some of that green gunk he gives off."

"Where?"

"It was down Steinway, over by the- Casey, look out!"

His instincts screamed, and the teen was moving even before Raph's warning. A heavy mace swung smashed into the concrete, missing Casey's head by inches. The teen rolled, and sprang to his feet. The first thing he noticed about their assailant was its size. The mutant was at least as tall as Splinter, and unlike the rat, he was completely ripped. The mutant moved the iron mace with grace and finesse, easily resting it upon its armored shoulder. A mask very similar to the one the brothers wore lay nestled on its face just above its hideous beak. "Casey, get out of here," Raph ordered, moving between the two of them.

"And leave you to fight this thing alone?" he retorted as he lowered his mask.

A low chuckle hissed from the new mutant's throat. At the low, gravelly sound, a thrill of fear spread through Casey's gut but he crushed it down like a tin can. Before he could put on a show of bravado, the mutant spoke.

"Long time, Raphael," it rumbled, tilting its head. "Or, perhaps, not so long. What is it, one, two months? And already, you have a new partner... Casey, wasn't it?"

"Your fight is with me, Slash," Raph said, raising his sai, "Casey isn't a part of this."

With a casual motion, the mutant batted Raph into the chimney. The brick work crumbled, falling all over Raph like cigarette ash. "I'll deal with you later, Raphael," it said, "but for now, I have business with-"

Casey charged. Feinting to the left, he twisted right and brought his hockey stick around in a vicious strike. The hard wood struck one of the mutant's protruding spikes. Painful vibrations traveled up his arm even as the spike snapped off. The hockey stick clattered to the rooftop. He scowled and reached back for another weapon. Slash moved and Casey felt the mutant's meaty hand close around his throat. With a jerk, the teen was pulled off his feet.

Casey flicked out his taser, only to feel himself get thrust over the edge of the roof. Feeling his entire weight resting on his neck, Casey reached out with both hands and grabbed the mutant's arm. trying to get his weight off his neck. Trying to gasp in a breath, Casey glanced down. A four-story drop to the street below, with only the concrete overhang to the store's entrance as a possible break. Ice water filled his chest, and Casey went still. If the thing dropped him, he was a goner.

Fear threatened to paralyze him, but he struggled anyway. A strangled yell erupted from Raph's throat. "Slash, stop it!"

"So," the mutant said tightly, "You care more about a pathetic human you've known for barely a month than for your own family." Slash's arm shook. "To him, you are a freak, a monster. Filthy humans will never accept you... never love you."

Raph's footsteps tapped across the rooftop. "Casey's not-"

The mutant's grip tightened. Casey couldn't hold back a choked gasp. Raph's motion stopped. Casey tried to hold his breath, but he couldn't think. His breath hissed in and out of his lungs like a broken tea kettle. "If his life means so much to you" Slash said, "then forswear your family and come with me."

A thousand things crowded Casey's throat- cursing, threats, pleas, defiance. None of them made it out. He knew what Raph's answer to that question would be. What it could only ever be.

"It will be the way it was, Raphael. The way it should be."

"You're asking me to abandon-"

"You have three seconds."

"Give me your word first," Raphael challenged, his voice hard as the concrete below, "Swear you won't hurt Casey, April or my brothers!"

"Your one moment and you wasted it," Slash said.

Then he was falling.