My life used to be so normal.

This was the dominant thought running through April's mind as she raced across the New York City rooftops. As she took a flying leap from one fire escape to another, she couldn't help but think back to how crazy her life had become.

I used to be a normal sixteen year old. School, homework, boys, and zits were my biggest problems.

She winced as she made an awkward landing, scraping her shins along the tar roof. Just thinking about the bruises she was going to have in the morning made her want to cry.

Suck it up O'Neil, you're falling behind.

This is what her life had become. In one night over a year ago her entire understanding of the world had been flipped upside down.

The normal teenager had been replaced by a kunoichi in training, worried about mutants, alien invasions, robots, and homicidal maniacs. Not to mention the fact that her best friends in the world were four mutant ninja turtles, her dad was a giant mutant bat loose in the city, her best human friend was a vigilante with a hockey stick, and her sensei was a giant talking rat.

Oh yeah, let's not forget that recently she found out she's also a half alien half human mutant hybrid who is the main key to an alien invasion.

She doesn't like to think about that one too much.

Oh how I would love to be giggling over boys and make up again…

April increased her speed as she prepared to leap an alleyway ahead. She found months ago it was easiest to do this if she didn't hesitate or look down. Reaching the end of the roof, she pushed off with her knees and felt herself in the air above the alley.

It only took about a second for her to realize she wasn't going to make it to the next roof. The distance was much further than she originally gauged. Panic set in as she scrambled to grab a hold of the ledge, certain she was about to plummet to her death. She watched in what seemed like slow motion as her hand passed mere centimeters from the ledge and salvation, sealing her fate to fall.

April squeezed her eyes shut and tried to prepare for impact.

It never came.

She felt a strong hand grab her forearm, halting her descent. Cracking an eye open, she released the breath she was holding, and found herself dangling thirty feet above the ground. Looking up towards her savior April was not surprised at all to see a familiar purple clad turtle.

Donatello was hanging by the ledge of the roof by one arm, supporting her with the other. He must have literally thrown himself over the ledge to catch her. He looked down at her and smiled his gap toothed grin.

"Don't worry April, I got you." He said calmly, like they both didn't just almost die.

April could see the strain on his face and in his muscles, supporting both their weights by one arm. With an impressive showing of strength, Donnie slowly pulled her up so she was even with his body. Instinctively, with something to finally hold onto, April latched her arms around his neck, making the ninja's face blush at the contact.

A few seconds passed, and Donnie just hung there, frozen due to their current proximity. April would have found it funny if they weren't still dangling three stories above the ground.

"Um, Donnie?" She asked, giving him a little squeeze.

Her voice seemed to snap him out of his trance. "Uh…y-yeah April?"

"Not that this isn't fun and all, but wanna, you know….pull us back up?" She couldn't help but tease him a little, she knew she was safe, he would never let her fall.

"Huh?" He seemed confused, but instantly he seemed to come back to reality, the flush fading from his face. "Shell, yeah, sorry. Just hang on tight, April."

Donnie swung his other arm up to the roof edge, and easily lifted them both back up to the rooftop. Swinging his legs up onto the tar, they were once again on solid ground, making April breath a little easier.

"Sorry Donnie. I guess I misjudged the distance in that leap. I think we're going to need to start keeping a tally of all the times you need to save me." April said lightheartedly. She knew she could always rely on Donatello to come to her rescue. She loved all the turtles, but Donnie and she had something special. He was her best friend.

"You don't need to apologize, April. You know I'll always catch you." He said quietly, the flush returning to his face.

"I know I can always rely on you." She smiled and looked into his deep brown eyes, trying to convey her gratitude. "Thank you, Donnie."

"Are we interrupting something?"

April glanced over towards the new voice, to find Leo, Raph, and Mikey standing off to the side watching them. All three had a ridiculous smirk on their face.

Confused about their amusement, April looked back towards Donnie to realize her hands were still around his neck, and one of his was on her waist. Realization about their position dawned on her and she jumped away from the turtle like he had burned her, warmth instantly flooding her face.

"No, no, not at all." She stammered, embarrassed by the situation. Donnie was just staring at the rooftop, obviously mortified.

"Whatever. Why did you two fall so far behind? We took out the Purple Dragons before we even realized you guys were gone." Raph's gravelly tone chimed in.

Donnie finally seemed to find his voice. "April took a fall from the roof. I was just barely able to catch her." He turned his gaze to Leo, voice starting to sound agitated. "I told you we were going too fast, and she was falling behind, she's just lucky I doubled back to check on her."

Leo seemed surprised by normally soft spoken Donnie's anger. "Hey, Don relax. She's proven time and time again she can take care of herself. I figured pushing her to keep up would be good training…"

"Good training!? She almost died, Leo!" Donnie was starting to yell now.

"She knows the risks, she's not a child. I'll admit I made a mistake by leaving her alone, but accidents do happen, Donnie."

Donatello was getting more and more angry. "She should never be alone, and the missions she goes on should be more carefully decided. You know she can't keep up with us, and on top of that she's a prime target for the Kraang. She should be home where she's safe."

April watched the exchange with building annoyance. Sure Donnie had just saved her (again) but that didn't give him the right to talk about her like she wasn't even here, or make decisions for her.

"Excuse me, but she is standing right here." She interjected, hands on hips, annoyance clear. "And she would greatly appreciate it if you boys didn't talk about me like I'm a child and an invalid." She turned to Leo. "You don't get to decide my training without running it by Master Splinter or me, got that? And I appreciate it, but you need to understand I'm not built like you guys; I can't survive the same stuff. I could have died!"

Leo looked down at the ground ashamed, but didn't respond. Donnie looked on, a smug look of satisfaction on his face, which only made April more frustrated.

She turned her wrath on Donnie, poking her finger into his plastron. "And you don't get to make decisions for me! I am not some china doll that needs to be locked away. I want to get stronger and become a better kunoichi, and that means I need to train. Sure maybe jumping thirty foot alleys maybe isn't where I should be right now, but I get to make that call…not you. Stay out of it, Donnie!"

She finished her rant, and looked at the purple and blue brothers. Both looked berated, especially Donatello. Neither offered any kind of rebuttal.

"Now if you excuse me, I'm going home." April turned and abruptly started walking away, only to be halted by a very confused Michelangelo in her path.

"Move, Mikey!" She snapped, instantly regretting it, when a devastated look made it onto his face.

His voice was quiet lacking his carefree tone. "I know you're mad, but after what happened I'm going to walk you home, we can't have you falling off another roof."

She immediately opened her mouth to object, but thought better of it. He didn't do anything wrong, and she had no ill feelings towards him, and (Surprisingly) he did have a point. In her current state she wouldn't be surprised if she just walked off a roof.

"Sure, Mikey. Sorry I snapped at you." She tried to give him her best apologetic smile, which he returned with his innocent grin.

The pair headed away from the others, leaving behind a very confused Raphael, a torn Leonardo, and a devastated Donatello.

Mikey and April continued walking in silence, which was very uncharacteristic of the crazy, fun loving, goofball. Then again, he was never one to be comfortable with confrontation. He's usually the one to break the mood with a joke, or transfer his brothers' fury onto himself with a stupid prank. He probably doesn't have to deal with the aftermath of a fight too often, especially one he doesn't understand completely.

They were almost to her building when he finally spoke up. "Are you going to leave us again now?"

April abruptly stopped moving and stared at the orange clad turtle. "What?"

"Like last time, after your dad turned into Kirby Bat, you left for a long time…"

Suddenly, it all made sense to April. Mikey was scared she was going to cut ties with them again, like she did after her father was mutated. That's why he was so worried.

Oh poor, sweet, innocent, Mikey…

April put her hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "I'm not going anywhere, Mikey. I just got a little ticked off at Donnie and Leo. Don't worry."

Mikey instantly perked up at her statement. "Oh Good, because last time you left Donnie was impossible! He was mega depressed and made all of our lives hell. Seriously bad vibes in the lair. Not to mention you're my favorite human friend…and you bring us pizza!"

April couldn't help it, she started to giggle at his excitement and usual animation. Most of the time, Mikey was like a breath of fresh air.

When they arrived at April's fire escape, she unlatched the window and stepped inside, turning back to Mikey.

"I'll probably give the babies a few days to stew in what I said before I show up at the lair again. Do me a solid and don't tell them I'm really not that mad. It'll make them think about what they've done harder." She grinned evily.

Mikey let out a bark of laughter at deceiving his brothers. "Sure thing, April. Just when you do show up you know what to bring me." He winked at her.

"Let me guess….pizza?"

"Extra anchovies!" He said excitedly, practically drooling at the thought. April made a gagging sound, and laughed.

"Only for my favorite nun chuku wielding turtle." April held out her fist. He smiled and bumped her fist with his own larger one. "Thanks for walking me home, Mikey. I'll see you in a few days."

April went to close her window, but was stopped by a large green hand in the sill. She looked up at Mikey expectantly.

"April, just so you know, Donnie's just worried about you. The times we almost lost you drove him crazy, and he's just scared it's going to happen again. Go easy on the turtle, the heart's a soft muscle…"

With that last thought he leaped away from the window and into the night, leaving April feeling confused and oddly guilty.

As April got ready for bed she couldn't help but replay what Mikey said over and over in her mind. She'd always known that all Donnie was concerned about was her safety. He's always there to catch her when she falls, hold her when she cries, and listen when she vents. Donnie is one of the most important people in her life.

She doesn't mean to be so hard on him, but she's not used to being coddled the way he does. She's been pretty self sufficient and independent her whole life, and likes it that way. His constant hovering can be a little suffocating.

At the same time, she realized she's being a little hypocritical. She loves him being there for her, but hates when he's there too much. It's kind of a lose/lose scenario.

Of course she's aware of the crush he has on her. It would be impossible for her not be aware of it, with all the times he's slipped and the way he can barely talk to her without stuttering and blushing. In the beginning she just thought it was a phase that would pass (with her being the only girl he'd ever met and all), but as time went on it was clear he seems to have genuine feelings for her. April doesn't know how to handle this situation though, so she just completely ignores it.

Curled up in her comfy purple comforter, April thinks about Donnie's crush for the first time in forever. He's her best friend, and quite honestly a great guy, but April doesn't know if she could ever have romantic feelings for him. He's a turtle, a humanoid turtle, true, but still a turtle. It goes against everything she knows.

She's been so scared of hurting Donnie though, that she has just been blatantly avoiding the issue of his feelings. Hoping it'll just go away, even though she's well aware it won't.

Plus, there's Casey Jones, and she knows for a fact she has a bit of crush on him.

Donnie's probably worried sick in the lair right now.

April pulled the covers over her head and let out a loud sigh of exasperation, trying to hide from her guilt.

Mind made up, she reaches for her T-Phone, planning on sending her favorite turtle a quick apology text to ease his mind.

Just as she picks it up, it chirps in her hand, signaling she has a message. Expecting to see Donnie on her screen, she's surprised to see a picture of Casey. He had texted her.

Hey, Red. You still awake?

A smile makes its way to her face, and she types out a reply.

Maybe. Why does the infamous Casey Jones want to know? :)

As she hits send, all thoughts of an apology message are forgotten.