A/N: You guys are so super cool! I love ya! Hugs all around!

This fic is set shortly after Runaway. Welcome to number nineteen in the series. For those of you just joining us. The guys are about fifty, everyone in the family is a turtle except Cat and Jamie are human, Sarah is an alien called a Mazar that looks human, and Kala of course is our sweet Neutrino.

Cold brown eyes watched as a turtle was shoved to his knees before the throne. "What is this general? I have more important matters to deal with."

"Another captive, my Lord Zenfered."

The older man with a gray beard, frowned sipping at his glass of wine. "Kill it. I have no need to keep prisoners of war."

The young general nodded. "Yes, my lord."

"No! Wait! I have information about your daughter!" The turtle pleaded.

Zenfered raised a brow. "My daughter?"

The turtle nodded vigorously. "Yes, it could be very valuable to you."

"Very well." Zenfered turned to one of the servants nearby. "Bring my daughter to me. I think she would like to hear what you have to say." He took another sip of his wine as they waited for the servant to return. Just a few minutes later Marina followed by Stin stepped into the throne room of the large battleship. "Ah, here is my daughter now. What have to say now turtle?"

"That is not the one I have information about."

The old lord sighed. "This is the only daughter I have." He sighed. "I grow tired. Speak or I will have you slain here."

The turtle bowed his head. "There is another – somewhat older. I know where she is."

Zenfered paused with his glass at his lips again, while beside him Marina struggled to keep her face stoic. Stin's hand gripped her shoulder as he cleared his throat. "My lord, these Turtleoids will say nearly anything to keep us from conquering them."

The old lord put up a hand to silence him. "You are likely right, but I wish to hear what he has to say nonetheless. Speak."

"I met her once on a remote planet. I would be glad to share the information with you." The Turtleoid stood.

"And what may I ask do you want in return?" Zenfered measured the creature before him and determined he was not lying. And if there was the smallest of chances that his first child lived, he wanted to know.

"My life for one." The turtle began.

"And?"

Eznic narrowed his eyes. "Her daughter."

Mira snuggled a little deeper into K-three's chest, a smile playing across her face. His lips brushed the top of her head and she shivered. Even after nearly four years of marriage they still could not get enough of one another as was evident by the desire that suddenly raced through the bond. K-three chuckled as his hand cupped the back of her slender neck. The other slipped down her bridge to grasp her tight green thigh. "You should be tired, my flower."

She grinned against his plastron. "Look who's talking." He chuckled again as he lifted her chin and kissed her. She melted against him as her hands came up to grip his shoulders.

"Yo, Mira! Get up! You're supposed to be helpin'! I ain't blowin' up all these balloons by myself!" Yoshi shouted from the other side of their bedroom door.

Mira let out a frustrated groan and K-three let out a snort. "Beat it kid!"

"No way!" Yoshi banged on the door. "I didn't volunteer for this gig, she did!"

K-three growled, but Mira put a finger to his lips with a sigh. "He's right. I promised to help." She gave him another warm kiss. "Later." She started to pull away, but he held on.

He looked at her with big golden puppy dog eyes. "Promise?"

She giggled. "Yes, I promise." He reluctantly let her up and she quickly pulled on her gear.

Yoshi pounded on the door again. "Mira!"

"I'm coming!" She yanked open the door to glare at Yoshi. He took a step back. It didn't matter that her younger cousin was a lot bigger than her, she could melt metal with that glare. She pushed past him into the hall.

Yoshi glanced at K-three and the older turtle scowled. "Anyone ever tell you, you got rotten timing?"

Yoshi paused for a moment letting his fifteen-year-old mind run rampant with what he might have interrupted. "Sheesh, don't you guys ever give it a break?"

K-three growled and tossed a pillow at him. "Beat it before I give you a pounding you won't forget, you little snot!"

Yoshi smirked as he caught the pillow and threw it back. "Whatever. You probably can't even get up right now." K-three just growled, knowing he was right. If he even attempted to get up, the whole lair would know how aroused he was. Yoshi closed the door as he heard several choice words on the other side. He continued to smirk as he headed down the hall to the living room.

Mira looked up at him from the couch as he entered. She glared. "You know, just because you passed your test a few weeks ago, don't give you the right to be a jerk." She dumped the bag of balloons on the coffee table.

"Hey, I ain't helpin' set up Shinta's party all by myself." He retorted.

Their conversation was interrupted by a bellow from the kitchen. "Mikey!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Oooh, when I get my hands on you!"

Mikey came running from the kitchen as the elevator doors opened and Kala stepped out. She blinked in confusion as he ducked behind her. The confusion was short lived as Sarah appeared with her hands on her hips and very unhappy expression. "I'm gonna strangle you!"

Kala half laughed as she caught Sarah's shoulders. "What did he do?"

"He broke the oven!" Sarah opened her hand to reveal the temperature knob broken into pieces. "Again!"

"I didn't mean it, dudette, really!" Mikey ducked back behind Kala when Sarah glared at him.

"Can't Donnie fix it?" Kala glanced around. Usually when Sarah was on a rampage, he was quick to show up. "Where is Donnie?"

"He went with Leo and Shinta to get Jamie. So, no he can't fix it right now." Sarah took a deep breath trying to calm down.

"He can fix it later though." Kala pointed out.

Sarah groaned, dragging a hand down her face. "It'll probably take a day or two to get the parts from the junkyard. And that doesn't help me make the cake right now."

"You could buy one." Yoshi suggested.

Kala smiled. "That's not a bad idea."

Sarah looked up and sighed. "Okay. I guess it's what we'll have to do."

Mikey raised his head as well. "Uh, better get some pizzas while you're at it. Since I didn't get to make those either."

"I could go get them." Yoshi took a step in their direction. He'd do anything to get a chance to get out the lair.

"No, Mira will know better what to get. You don't mind, do you sweetheart?" Sarah rummaged through her pockets for cash.

Mira grinned at Yoshi while he frowned. "Sure, Mom, no problem."

"Better take K-three. You'll need the extra hands." Mikey suggested as the aforementioned turtle appeared at the end of the hall.

He shot Yoshi a glare, before turning his attention to the others. "Where're we going?"

Mira smiled as she dumped the balloons in Yoshi's arms. "Shopping."

Sarah had completed the search of her pockets and found no cash. "Ask Raph or Cat for some money when you get upstairs."

K-three picked up two of the holo-projectors from the end table. "Okay."

Sarah hugged Mira. "Be careful. I love you."

Mira rolled her eyes. "Mom, we're just going to get pizza and birthday cake."

Sarah smiled as she leaned up to peck K-three on the cheek. "It doesn't matter. I'll always worry about you until you come back."

Mira just shook her head as they left in the elevator. Sarah turned her attention to Mikey. "As for you," she caught his mask tails, "you're going to help me clean the kitchen."

Kala laughed as Mikey was dragged away. She turned to Yoshi to find him grimacing at the balloons in his arms. Somehow he'd got stuck blowing them up after all. "I'll help, Yoshi."

He brightened. "Thanks, Aunt Kala. I could really use it."

Upstairs, Mira and K-three looked around the garage. They hadn't bothered to open today as they were preparing for Shinta's party. No one was in sight so the couple moved towards the office door. Voices could be heard on the other side of the closed door and they paused to listen for a moment.

"Raph, stop. I need to finish this before the party."

"Finish it tomorrow." Raph's voice was muffled.

"You're making it very hard to work, you know." Cat sounded a little less irritated than a moment ago.

"That's the point." Raph growled and Mira decided they'd better knock before it'd be too awkward to do so.

There was a mumbled curse and Raph opened the door. His expression was one K-three had worn a little while ago. "What?"

"Uncle Mikey broke the oven." Mira provided quickly.

Cat looked up from the computer. "Again?"

"Yep, we've got to go get a cake and some pizzas." Mira continued.

Raph raised an eye ridge at her. "Did she kill 'im?"

She laughed. "Not yet."

He frowned and crossed the room to the drawer where they kept petty cash. "Leo and Don left in the van, but you can take one of the bikes if you want."

"Nah, the bakery is only a few blocks over. We'll walk. Besides, that would be kind of hard to carry back on a bike." Mira took the wad of bills from her uncle. "We'll be back in a little while."

"Take your time." Raph grumbled as they turned to leave and he shut the door again. K-three let out a frustrated sigh as he turned to follow his petite wife.

As they neared the back door they found Kaz sprawled on one of the couches with a comic book. Mira frowned at him. "Why aren't you downstairs helping?"

Kaz looked at them over the top of his comic. "Are you kidding? I'd be roped into blowing up balloons." He glanced towards the elevator. "Did you see Mom?" He'd made some excuse about finishing up a motorcycle before going downstairs himself.

K-three frowned. "Yeah, she's downstairs – helping."

"Which is what you should be doing." Mira pointed out.

Kaz just went back to reading his comic. "I think I'll pass."

She shook her head as they started for the back door again. "You better not let Uncle Raph find you goofing off back here."

He snorted. "He's kind of busy right now."

Mira groaned, sometimes it was hard living in a house full of guys. She pressed her thumb to the alarm panel and it shut off giving a count-down of one minute before it reset. She and K-three turned on their holos as they stepped out into the afternoon sun. It was definitely still winter, but at least the snow had stopped a few weeks ago.

K-three wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against his side as they strolled down the street. Even after eight years of being able to roam the public streets freely, it still felt strange doing it. It had been drilled into her core at such a young age not to expose herself to the outside world. But here they were, walking down the city street like any other human couple. And it was all thanks to her mate and his holo-projectors. She smiled resting her head against his plastron. He smiled too, feeling her love wash over him.

A little while later the van pulled into the parking lot of the garage. Leo offered Jamie a hand down as they climbed out. She smiled as she took it. He smiled too as he realized she didn't release it once she was out. Shinta bounced ahead of them to the back door, filled with excitement for his party. As Donnie pressed his thumb to the screen and the door opened, Leo squeezed Jamie's hand. "Thanks for coming, it means a lot to Shinta… And to me."

She smiled softly and returned the squeeze. "I wouldn't miss it for the world." She looked up at the building as they entered. "You live in motorcycle garage." This was her first visit to their home.

He chuckled. "Beneath it actually."

It had only been a little over a month since they'd met Jamie, but she was already becoming a cherished part of their friends and family. He pulled the door closed as they entered. Then frowned at Kaz, who'd fallen asleep with his comic on the couch. Leo sighed inwardly. It seemed like such a long time ago, when they'd been that young and care free. Releasing Jamie's hand, he stepped forward and picked up the comic, giving his nephew a small bop on the head with it. "Hey." Kaz jumped. "Don't you have something you're supposed to be doing?"

Kaz blinked and flashed him a guilty grin. "Balloons." He grabbed the comic from his uncle and took off for the elevator.

Leo sighed and rolled his eyes. "I swear he acts more like Mikey every day."

Beside him, Jamie giggled. "Kaz?"

Leo smiled. "Yep, that's Kaz. Come on, you've still got to meet the rest of the family." Jamie followed after him as the headed for the elevator.

By the time they reached it, Raph and Cat had joined Don and Shinta. "So, what exactly happened while we were gone?" Donnie had felt Sarah's irritation, so he knew something was up.

Raph folded his arms. "Apparently Mikey broke the oven again."

Donnie frowned. "How come I can't leave without one of you breaking something?"

"Hey, it wasn't me." Raph protested.

Cat chuckled beside him as her eyes landed on the woman approaching with Leo. "You must be Jamie. I'm Cat. It's good to finally meet you. Shinta has told us so much about you." She glanced at Leo and then at her spouse. Raph had been right, Leo seemed different around the woman – more at ease. This only made Cat more eager to get to know her, because if she could make Leo happy then they needed her as part of their family.

The elevator door opened and they stepped inside. Donnie gave a humorless laugh as they began their decent. "Let's go see what else he's broken in the past twenty minutes."

They were almost to the bakery when there was a beeping noise from K-three's pocket. He immediately stopped to pull out the old communicator. Mira frowned as she felt her mate's worry flow through the bond. They stepped into a side alley to answer the insistent beep. K-three pressed the button. "Hello?"

Static ripped through the air along with a faint voice. It was very hard to tell who it was. "Ship damaged...have to land…cloak…park…"

Mira and K-three locked eyes. It had been some time since they'd heard from his old friends. The last time had been nearly two years ago. The Turtleoid frowned. "Chase? Is that you?" There was no response. "Something's wrong."

Mira pulled out her cell. "I'll hook into the computer in the lair. We'll be able to see if a ship is approaching." She frowned at the screen as she pulled up the interplanetary alarm system. There was indeed a ship on approach. "They're headed for Central park, maybe ten minutes. Come on!" She hurried up a nearby fire-escape. The rooves would be faster.

A/N: I know, I know - not a lot of Leo/Jamie yet but there will be more in the next chapter.