Disclaimer: You know the drill by now
Author's Note: You'll never believe this! I found my lost Epilogue!!! I had written this directly after writing the final chapter and just as I finished it, the wonderful power went out and I thought this was lost-never to be found again. But I found it!! YAY!! So here, this is basically the brothers reactions to Gwen being there.
Epilogue
Totally unaware of the bickering pair on the stairs, Gwen pulled away from the kiss slowly and smiled at Mikey. So it was true. Her Prince Charming really had been a turtle. And now that she had him back, she was going to make sure that nothing ever came between them ever again. Standing there in the living room, staring into each others eyes, neither one were aware of the small crowd they suddenly had gathered around them.
"Do you mind explaining who this is, Michelangelo?" Leo questioned, his arms folded over his plastron with a single eye ridge raised. He gave Gwen the once over quickly before glancing up the stairs where Angela was still arguing with Raph. Turning his head, Mikey smiled for the first real time since he got home.
"This, is Gwen Masterson. She's the one who was holding me hostage." He answered his voice thick and dripping with sarcasm. He still hadn't fully forgiven his brothers for snatching him that night almost two months ago, but now that Gwen was there, standing safe and sound in his arms, his vendetta against them was quickly diminishing. Gwen looked at Michelangelo in confusion before glancing back at Leo.
"Held him hostage? I did not! He could have left any time he so pleased! You have a lot of nerve accusing me of holding anything hostage, Mr. Blue. Wait…blue…" She quickly glanced back at Mikey and then at Leo. "Ooooh…you're Leonardo. Well that explains it all then. Mikey told me a lot about you 'O Fearless One'." Gwen said, a silly sarcastic smirk playing on her lips. Leo opened his mouth to question her meaning but quickly shut it.
"So she's the one you sent flowers to?" A voice asked from behind them. Turning, the pair smiled at Donatello who was looking at them through what Raph had dubbed his "bug eye" goggles. Tightening his hold on Gwen's waist, Mikey blushed slightly as he nodded.
"Yeah…sorry about that, by the way Donnie…I didn't mean to spend that much of your money. I'll pay you back. I'll buy pizzas for the next two months." Donatello gave a small chuckle as he shook his head and removed his goggles. Stepping up to the two of them, he placed a hand on Michelangelo's shoulder.
"While I would love to get that money back, don't worry about it. Having you back is way more important than money. And now after seeing your reasoning for buying that many flowers, I can see why you did it." Smiling, he looked back at Gwen. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you Gwen. I'm Donatello…but you can call me Donnie."
Gwen smiled as she shook Donatello's hand. So far every description Michelangelo had given her about his brothers had been dead on. Donatello really had been the quiet and pacifist one; Leonardo the up-tight would-be-know-it-all; and Raph…well she hadn't actually met him yet. Turning, she looked around until she spotted Angela and Raphael really getting into it on the stairs.
"Look, I didn't hurt ya or nothin' now did I? So jist drop it already, would ya?"
"It's the PRINCIPAL of it all! You COULD HAVE hurt me! Did you ever think of that? Huh? What if I had a heart condition? What if I had a bad back? Or bad knees? Huh? Huh? Didn't think of that now did you?!"
"Look lady, if ya want me ta hurt ya, I'll hurt ya!"
"I'd like to see you try! I have a brother who is in the military and taught me self-defense before he left." Raphael's eyes narrowed into thin slits as his fists clenched around the hilts of his Sais. Ignoring his look of death, Angela continued her rant.
"And who are you to take down innocent woman without any prior knowledge about them? Hm? What made you think I was out to get you? Ever heard of innocent until proven guilty? You certainly must think pretty highly of yourself to take down a girl when she's just standing there defenseless!"
"Where the hell is your 'off' switch?!" Raphael growled deep in the back of his throat. Stifling a laugh, Gwen pulled out of Michelangelo's grasp and moved for the stairs. She wasn't exactly sure how to get Angie to stop her rampant lecture, but she had the feeling if she did it just right she could get her to switch subjects. Giving a polite smile to Raph, she extended her hand to him.
"You must be Raphael. Mikey's told me so much about you. I'm Gwen and this walking mouth here is my best friend Angela." Eye still narrowed, Raph gave her the once over before nodding back to the still ranting woman, completely ignoring Gwen's hand.
"How do ya shut her up?"
"I am not a walking mouth. I am not some annoying 'Newsie' from the turn of the century. Gwen he tried to kill me!" Angela cried her eyes wide and her arms crossed over her chest. Raising an eyebrow at her, Gwen shrugged.
"Somehow, Angie…I think if Raph had tried to kill you, he would have actually done it. Now, you aren't hurt or anything so stop complaining and act like a civil person. You are going to be stuck down here so you might as well get used to him." Gwen answered. She chuckled to herself when she caught at a glance the way Raphael was already looking her friend over.
"What do you mean I'm going to be stuck down here? Gwen you aren't seriously suggesting that we move into the sewers, are you? Do you know what kind of things live down here!?" Lips pressed together, Gwen glanced back at the turtles, all of whom were looking at Angela with an eye ridge raised. Nodding, she turned back to her best friend.
"Yes, I do. And if they can live down here their whole lives, then I'm willing to give it a try. Besides," She smiled as she bounded down the stairs and back into Michelangelo's arms. Resting her cheek against his plastron, she smiled back up at Angela. "We don't have a place to live yet anyways. And who better to live with than my Ninja Turtle and his brothers?"
A wide smile spread its way across Michelangelo's face as he hugged Gwen tightly to him again. She felt so good in his arms that he never wanted to let go. Kissing her head gently, he looked back up at his brothers who were watching him intently. Part of him wanted to stick his tongue out at them and taunt them for being wrong about Gwen and his "captivity" in Illinois. The other part though, wanted them all to go back to their own business so he could curl up with Gwen and keep her all to himself.
Leonardo finally sighed and dropped his arms down to his side. Stepping forward, he gave the pair a small smile. He was glad he had been wrong about what went on in Illinois. Knowing the truth was ten times better than what he imagined. Gwen seemed to genuinely care about his little brother, and after seeing the way Michelangelo's face lit up and his mood instantly improved when he saw her, Leo knew he felt the same way.
"I'd like to apologize for kidnapping Mikey back from you, Gwen. We should have learned all the facts first before jumping to a conclusion. You and your friend are welcome to share our home for as long as you want or need." Michelangelo's jaw nearly hit the floor when he heard his older brother say that. He was not only surprised that Leo would open their home up to two strangers, no questions asked, but also that he apologized and admitted he was wrong! Blinking a few times, Michelangelo finally smiled and looked at his other brothers. Things had changed after all.
"I have a question though." Donatello said, stepping forward, his eye ridges knitted together in thought. "That house we picked him up at in Illinois. That was your house, right? What happened to it if you're moving down here?"
"Oh…um…well, it had too many bad memories floating around in it. Plus even before my parents died developers had been knocking on our door wanting us to sell to them so they could tear it down and put up a new subdivision or something silly like that. So, I went to track one of them down to see if they were still interested in it, and they were. I sold them basically everything. Except for the stuff that was Mikey's he'd left there, and a few things of mine that I couldn't part with. It's all up in my truck. The rest is probably being looted and burned before getting demolished." She answered, shrugging as she glanced around at everyone. True, it hurt having to leave all her childhood memories behind, but it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it had staying there without Mikey.
Still smiling, Michelangelo leaned down to kiss her again before pulling back quickly. His heart bounced and jumped with excitement. He'd finally get to hold her all night, every night. He was finally able to kiss her any time he wanted to. Just the thought of spending every day and night with her was enough to make him giddy. Finally glancing at the pizza box though, he felt his stomach roar to life also. Blushing a little, he reached over and picked the box up.
"Alright, enough of this mushy stuff! I'm starving!"