::Author's Note:: It has been one heck of a journey. It's with a bittersweet joy that we say adieu to this story. Within you will find the final chapter of the third part of this tale. Though we close the cover and set it aside, it's not gone forever from our thoughts and we just hope - with the greatest sincerity - that you have enjoyed this adventure along with us and our heroes.

Please, enjoy. We'd love to hear, any who are still reading (or newcomers!), what you think. Thank you for reading and tagging along throughout these trials and tribulations. Truly, each and every word from you - our readers - has been well met and taken to heart. You all are wonderful!

Again, thank you; from the bottom of our hearts.

*gracious bow*

Sing to Me Your Darkest Secrets
Part III
Chapter 10:
We'll Never Know Which Way this Road is Going to Turn

Leo, after coming to the conclusion that she must belong to his brother and the woman who was friend's with Dex, was painfully curious about Shen. Like the young king had warned him, he was beginning to forget that place; without focus he would begin to forget what he was doing in this place that had never really been his home. Raph's sickly body and Joey laying peacefully next to him was more like the dream as the false reality of this place bled into his mind like an open wound.

Shen had long since abandoned Tokyo and come over to sit with Leo, as if drawn to him.

She pulled herself up onto the rickety wooden bench in the cell. She swung her feet lightly with her hands folded in her lap. "I heard you tell Dex that your name is Leo. You must mean Leonardo. Like my uncle, who died many years ago."

"How old are you Shen?" Leo asked.

"Four." she responded without missing a beat, holding up four of her little fingers. "Now, my turn. Are you Uncle Leonardo?"

Leo bowed his head in a single nod, considering his answer before he finally spoke. "Yes."

She frowned slightly, confused. "Uncle Raphael appeared too. How is this possible?" She asked, trying to wrap her mind around the idea that something wasn't as she'd always known it. Leo knew Don, as a youngster, having the same difficulty bridging that which he couldn't prove with empirical evidence. It was yet another indication, next to her very evolved diction, that indicated she was indeed Donnie's little girl.

Her question sparked thoughts of his world that was slipping away from him and gave Leo a moment of grounding as to what his purpose was. "Sometimes things aren't always what they seem, little one. You can't believe what you see with your eyes, unless you feel it in your heart and know it with your mind." He placed a three fingered hand flat on her little chest, over her heart, with the whole of his palm almost engulfing her entire front. With his other hand, he touched her head curly blonde head.

She smiled at him.

"They're here." Leo had forgotten Dex was there until his soft words drifted to the leaders ears and he'd stood up. Dex's movement was barely a preface to the sound of fighting beyond the walls of their room.

In an instant, Leo was on his feet, adrenaline kicking in. Gone was his contemplative mind and, instead, instinct and training took over. He's hoisted Shen off the bench without any consideration to his actions, and placed her behind him. Naturally, he'd been stripped of his single katana, but Leo didn't need a weapon to fight. His body and mind were what he was most skilled in anyhow.

In the short amount of time that he'd been there, he'd assessed their environment, with the intention of determining a plan for escape. The building was a rudimentary structure, the ground below them was just earth, and the walls were simple block. He figured this was only a holding place before they were moved to their true prison. Dex had told him that there were typically six holding cells in each camp before they were relocated. In their pen Leo counted six people, with Shen.

He knew the extent of Toyko's gifts of nature, but he wondered (and hadn't the chance to ask) if they'd been numbed over time with the absence of fae magic as their numbers dwindled. No doubt, nature had abandoned her people too, while war raged on the Earth's surface between them, humans and other races, all of which had been forced out of their former safe hiding was no doubt the dwindling of the magical races was having an impact on their people.

Time for a plan was too late as the sounds of battle came closer. Instead, it was time for action. Leo backed up, his hand behind him, holding Shen back by her shoulder. He could feel her little hands on the back of his calf where she was perfectly content to hide behind him.

"What is it?" she asked Leo in a small and fearful voice, clearly never having experienced the howls of pain that came from fallen opponents.

"Cover your ears, Shen," Leo instructed. The child obliged. "Everyone move away from the door." Leo called out to the others who, a raggedy bunch, obeyed.

It was perfect timing as the thick wooden door splintered, showering the room with wooden shards the size of kitchen knives. Shen stifled a surprised shriek just as Leo turned and scooped her up, so she was tucked against his plastron, and the spray of wood pinged off his shell.

The shrapnel hadn't stopped and Leo had to spring to his feet as the sound of gunfire rang out. It had been muted behind the walls, but present the whole time. Now, with now dampener of the door gone, the sounds echoed like fire crackers in the room around them.

Don was the first to pour into the room. With his bo staff in one hand and a brown duffle bag, no doubt what had facilitated an explosion big enough to get through the heavy wooden door, he darted into the room.

"DAD!" Shen screamed, any amount of poise or filter she'd had before was lost. She darted out from behind Leo's legs, pushing off his shin to gain momentum in her forward spring. Don's eyes lit up too, excited and thrilled to see the bouncing curls of his daughter.

"Shenny, sweetheart! I'm here," Don's words echoed around them. But Leo caught her under the arms before she could really get to Donnie, her little legs struggling to pull against his strong arm. Leo saw a threat the mind of a child could never have perceived in her elation at seeing the man she just knew would rescue her.

Behind Don stood one of the black clad soldier Bishop employed, with some ramped up version of gear Leo used to know, trailing the purple clad turtle. Leo saw him cock the laser gun he was holding and, to his dismay, was aptly aware that Don's attention was not on his surroundings but on the little girl who distracted him. It would be the last thing he'd see.

Leo barely got Don's name off from his tongue before the gun went off - the laser's burst of power cut through the air swiftly, long before Leo's mind could command his body to move. The crack of Don's carapace rang like a horrific gong as it exploded and the bolt shattered his plastron in a millisecond. Bits of keratin and blood sprayed Shen and Leo in the face. It all happened so fast and yet so slow that the sound of Shen's shrill scream didn't even hit Leo's ears until he realized that the monster who'd murdered his brother was going to be in the room.

It was with instinct reaction that Leo even found himself able to move. He pulled Shen close to his chest, protecting her both from physical danger and the horrors if her father's body crumpling to the floor, dead. A sai zipped through the air and impaled the murderous man right through the temple and out the other side of his skull before he could even enter the room.

"DONNIE!" Raph's hand closed around the door frame and he came winging around the corner but halted at Don's body laying on the floor. Shen's wails were still ringing in the room but her face was buried in Leo's neck. "Holy SHIT!" Raph's hand close around the sai in his hand.

"Raph..." Leo warned and breathed in relief, knowing his brother better than, perhaps, anyone.

The hothead didn't hear Leo's words for the blood pumping in his ears. He turned and pulled his sai free of the man's skull. It only gave him the freedom to bring both down, one after the other, in swift punches, into the soft flesh of Bishop's soldier's already dead body. Angry tears filled his eyes as he mutilated the corpse out of retaliation in his blind rage. His tears spoke for so many in the room, for tears Leo was too stunned to cry and Shen was mimicking in rivers down her plump cheeks.

"RAPH!" Joey's voice rang out, appearing in the opening of the room with her face flush. She was one step behind Raph and it was clear she was stunned by his violent, mindless stabbing. She climbed up on his back with a springboard jump, grabbing onto the top ridge of his shell to pull herself up. "What are you doing?!"

Raph threw his elbow into her ribcage and sent her sprawling onto the floor, next to Don's lifeless body. She scrambled back at seeing him laying there, blood pooled and warm, now coating her hand. Her clean hand shot to her mouth as she continued to push herself back, scrambling to get away from the horrific sight before her. She only managed pulling herself to her feet because she ran into the interior wall of the cell.

"Joey." Leo breathed out. It was as if he'd forgotten she'd been part of his life until that moment. It all crashed back around him, seeing her and Raph. They didn't belong here. That wasn't Don, not their Don. She was his Joey, his strongest ties to reality, and Raph was his brother, both very real while the lifeless body on the floor was most certainly not the Donnie he remembered. This was not the world he had left behind, it was something different entirely. And, though it all happened so fast, Leo pulled himself together as his thoughts realigned with the truth and dreams became dreams again.

Soon more of Bishop's soldiers would be pouring in and they'd need to move. Now.

He handed Shen to Dex and move to take Joey by the shoulder. When he neared her, she spotted him. "You..." she growled.

"Joey, man are you a sight fo-" he didn't get any further than that before her fist collided with his jaw. She wasn't as strong as some but there was force and zeal behind her act. And Leo felt it as he hadn't even the slightest bit of defense or expectation for her sucker punch. Leo stood still for a moment, his jaw throbbing. It was a minute too long because in that time she was granted the window of opportunity through which she flung herself. She was little and feisty, must like an angry cat and with all the spunk of one.

She went for any part of him she could find, kicking his shins and knees before grabbing the rim of his shell and jerking him forward. Joey managed to even twist his arm around him, incapacitating him so she could continue kicking and smacking and punching into the meaty parts of his flesh in her fit of rage and anger. She was fast and he could feel her attacks coming fast and hard. It was enough that he had to take a step back, jerking his arm free with all his might, shock overcoming him as she attacked him with the intent to seriously damage him.

"Joey!" He was finally able to catch one of her wrists and push her back into the wall, having folded both her arms up across her chest, defensively pinning her. "What the shell is wrong with you!?"

She responded with the best mouthful of spit she could muster, right to his face. "You're a monster!" She growled at him. "LET ME GO! I can't believe I ever...cared about you. I could care LESS about you, you disgusting, vile CREATURE! I hate you! I hate you and all that you are! You...you're...a monster!"

He could feel the bruises already developing where she had hardly given up and his shins were being punished for it. She squirmed and writhed against his grasp, which made it particularly hard to hold her firmly without hurting her. Her words stung, but Leo was sure she had to have a reason for them, particularly with the measure of conviction she had in them. "I..." he stuttered and it dawned on him, from all that he had seen in this dream driven world. Something was not right. "It wasn't me. JOEY! That wasn't me! I met him too, he was violent and lifeless. That wasn't me! What did he do to you?"

"No, it was you. I saw you...you tried to kill me! I saw the murderer in your eyes, I saw the monster! You killed my dad!" she howled, her cheeks flush and eyes round with disgust.

"Joey! Your dad was already dead. He died long before I met you. Remember...think. Joey, think!" He pressed harder into her. "You were the one who taught meabout the Dreaming. And all that it is capable of all, all it can trick someone into believing. Remember the first time we really spoke? It was over your father's grave..."

Joey's thrashing slowed and she looked at the bit of blue bandanna still tied around her wrist from what seemed like a lifetime ago. She closed her eyes hard and a tears squeezed from the corner of one, slipping down her cheek. "I remember." She whispered, willing herself to put the pieces into place through feeling rather than thinking. It was as if everything over the last few months came crashing back in a matter of seconds. It started, she recalled, with a doll being murdered in an alleyway by a host vampire with the intention to start war. Raph and Casey saw...the Lionels were there...Japan to break a bond...explosion and fire...fell in love...save Raph...

"This is a Dreamdance..." she murmured, her eyes shot open and locked onto his. "None of this is real. You...moron!" She head butted him lightly, with some conviction and strength to her words. "You shouldn't have come here, you'll be just as lost as we are. We aren't on the Silver Path anymore, we aren't safe...we are victims of our Dreamdance, it's stolen our reality. How will we get home?"

Leo managed a half hearted smirk and lower of his eyes. "That's more like my Joey. Have you forgotten who I am? I never come unprepared...I have an anchor."

"We have to move." They both echoed at one another in the same instant, as Leo was still holding her and she was shaking still from her adrenaline rush. "Get Raph." Joey told Leo sharply.

"Yes, you gather up the prisoners." Leo informed her, to which she nodded. The well oiled machine they were in combat and in times of chaos sparked back to life as reality separated from fantasy. Leo could only imagine the dream she had seen of him and what he did...and though it was not him, he regretted every moment. Now, however, was not the time to remind her he was trustworthy and would never harm her. Now was the time to act quickly.

As he passed Don's fallen body, he bent to close his brother's eyes. With this act, he said a quiet goodbye. Whether this was his actual brother or not did not matter. In Leo's heart, he was a part of the Donatello he knew. That in and of itself demanded respect. He didn't linger though, moving immediately to pull Raph off from the meaty pile that his brother's sai had turned the former soldier into.

Leo thrust Raph into the adjacent wall, which he now was able to see was indeed another bungalow for prisoners. He didn't pay it any attention yet, his focus was on Raph. "Hey! Raph...look at me. We have to move. We have to get these people out of here and I need your focus for that."

Raph's breaths were coming out more like pants and struggling gulps of air. Leo wasn't sure he could reach the glassy covered eyes of his broken hearted brother. "HE KILLED DON!" Raph roared but Leo saw more tears than teeth when Raph opened his mouth to scream.

"We'll grieve...I promise, it hurts me as much as it does you. But Raph, we owe it to Don to be sure his daughter gets out of here safely." Leo removed one hand from Raph's shoulder to gesture behind him at Shen in Dex's arms. It was Leo's focused mind and control that kept him from expressing his pain through tears like Raph was. "Standing here right now isn't going to bring Don back, but moving can ensure Shen gets to see another day."

Raph's chest was heaving, but when Leo pointed behind them, Raph's eyes caught the little girl crying into Dex's chest his heart crashed in his chest. The thought of what he would feel the day their father lay unmoving terrified him. He couldn't imagine and didn't want to think about it, what she must be feeling. His shoulders slumped and his head bowed. With the back of his hand, still in a fist from holding his sai, he wiped his tears free. "Then lets move." he grumbled.

Joey had ushered the others forward and each stepped over Don's fallen body.

"We have to get the rest of them out. I can move them fast but you guys are going to have to hold off any of Bishop's men that come. And they will come - that explosion was loud. Lets make it fast." Joey said firmly, receiving a nod of confirmation from both turtle brothers.

"I'll help you move them." Dex offered softly. "Just show me the way."

"We'll hold them off, you get anyone in the other bungalows out." Leo instructed. As he turned to go, he felt a hand on his arm. He turned back to see the blue cloth around the wrist of that which had stopped him. His eyes lifted to meet her.

"Good luck, hot shot." Joey's lips touched his cheek briefly but warmly before the parties broke into their various directions.

They were fortunate that it was a small compound and it took very little time to empty out. It was mostly unguarded and those that did guard it were taken out by Don, Raph, Joey, and the small team they'd brought with them. Dex's presences made Joey's task of transporting everyone through the shadow doorways of the Dreaming exponentially faster as they took them one at a time, moving as quickly as possible. With Raph's force driven by rage and Leo's newfound direction, they were able to contain any guards that arrived with minimal effort.

Don's body was the final one to be moved. Both Joey and Dex did it together, careful not to jostle and disturb the body at rest.

It was in the commotion of the arrivals to the resistance hub that Cagney was notified and with it, she came in a hurry, eager to see how many they'd recovered and to see her family. She pushed through the group hoping to find Donnie with an update to their status and Shen's legs wrapped around him as he carried her. When she broke through the group, her heart stopped and she thought, for a minute, she was going to die right then. Don's body, what was left of it, was laying still and dirty across a rescue cot.

"Cagney," one of the voices said, but she couldn't place it nor the direction it came from. Nor did she care.

She didn't move for many moments and when she did, it was to wave the crowd off. "Go. Everyone...Allister, see to the wounded. Carol, make sure the new refugees are fed. Mikey, bring me water and towels. Joey, please, get the rest of them out of here." She ordered with some cool firmness to her voice. Calm.

"Cagney..." Joey started but the blonde turned on her.

"Just do it." Cagney responded in a dangerously low warning, to which Joey nodded.

Leo had watched from a distance as others parted to leave Cagney alone with Don's body. He was the only one who dared come near where Cagney had set up a small lamp near Don's body. Shen slept in a pile of blankets and pillows on the floor off to the side. It was in what she thought was solitude that Leo watched tears roll down her face while she washed every bit of blood from Don's body with the utmost care. Her damp rag moistened in the water, soaking away blood and turning it a crimson pink color with each soak. She cleaned up his body and wrapped up his chest, what was left of it, in a snug cloth. It was, by Leo's estimation, only for Cagney to experience her grief...her pain. It was why he didn't want to interrupt her.

"You can come sit with me." She finally spoke, her voice surprisingly steady for the droplets of tears on her face.

Leo bowed his head. "I didn't mean to intrude."

Cagney didn't look up when she addressed him the first or second time. "You're never a bother, Leo. And I know you don't intrude. You always stand in the same spot when you watch someone, right over their left shoulder. I could see your shadow in my light and I knew it was you." She spoke softly and with the measure of hurt that Leo knew she must feel. He stepped forward and knelt next to her, surprised by how well she seemed to know him.

He admired the dedication and care with which she handled Don's body.

"You loved him."

She looked up to him finally. She looked so young yet so wizened now, like Dex. Her face was wet and she made no move to hide her tears. "I still love him, Leo. I will always love him. Death doesn't stop love. He was my mate. My favorite person. He will remain both, forever." She bowed her head against her fallen lovers plastron, clinging to the edge of it as her forehead rested there. She kissed the edge of it before she leaned up to look at Leo.

"I promise you, I'll help you fight this war. We'll avenge Don's death so another little girl doesn't have to lose her father."

Cagney smiled sadly at him. "Of course you would. I know you would, it's in your nature. You are a dedicated and loving brother. You may not know this or believe it but we were very good friends before you were taken by Bishop's men." She reached up quietly and brush away a few of her tears with the pads of her fingers. "I've spoken with Dex and briefly with Joey. I understand what happened...you are not the man I knew. You are someone else entirely, the man I knew is as gone as the man I love. What's your world like, Leo? The one you actually come from? Is it like this?"

"Like this?" Leo's voice showed his surprise, shaking his head. He too had glassy eyes for the sadness that radiated around them. "No. Not at all."

"Have we met?"

"Only just, we've just met you, but I believe that we could be friends. If you were able to learn to love Don then I imagine you had a relationship with all of us."

"There was this one time, oh gosh...it had to have been before Shen was born...that you told me you were in love once. You never said her name. I can only guess who that person is. Losing her made you hard and calculating. Your brothers spoke of a warmer Leo. I never knew him, until now. Even still you always stood by the fact that you would rather have loved her and lost her, than to never know what it was like to love...and be loved. I feel that now." A row of tears fell freely from her eyes and she clung tighter to the edge of Don's plastron.

She smiled again, the same sad teary grin. "What do you think would happen if you stayed here to help with my war? Would it change the course of your world?" She nodded. "Maybe, because you're not there, Don will die there too. As much as we need the help and the manpower, maybe you being there will stop this from happening in your world. Who knows." Cagney shrugged.

"I can lead these people and it may be a futile effort but we're going to go out trying. Your people need you to lead them where you belong. Avenge Don in your home place, not here. You don't belong here. Go home, know love, hope you never lose it. We're going to be okay here and we're going to do our best. But maybe losing your life here over something that cant been stopped isn't the answer either. Know him there, love him there, give him your time and attention as you can't do it here. And another senseless death isn't what we need. If you know the way, go. Take your people home. Be their hero, we already have one." She patted Don's chest and leaned forward again, pressing her cheek to his plastron.

Leo bowed his head slightly, his eyes closed as two matching tears of his own slid down his face. He was touched by her words, he knew of the love she spoke of and how to preserve it. Don was a hero...and Leo would do all he could to ensure that remained true, even in his own world. He touched her back lightly, lingering for a moment in comfort as he took the opportunity for hope in his own future. The future of his own reality, where love could exist for them both without death. "Goodbye, Donatello" He whispered quietly and squeezed Cagney's shoulder. "Thank you for showing my brother love before he died...that's all I ever wished for him." And he stood, leaving Cagney to mourn and cherish lost love in solitude.

Leo's link, his katana left behind, glowed as it's tether drew them back to their own world. The three of them woke from what seemed like a dead sleep just as the king returned from his business trip to northern St. Augustine. The sun was just breaking over the spring, creating a flood of pink and orange and blue colors in the sky. Don, Mikey and Cagney found solace in one of the cabins that lined the road to the park's lot for cars.

"The guests won't be allowed in the park until after 9 this morning, you have some time." Dex told them as they all began to sit up, in varying states of disorientation. "But I suggest you come out onto the lawn, the magic of this building will find you not so comfortable in a matter of minutes. Fae magic can be quite...intoxicating."

Raph looked over his shoulder at Joey and then in the other direction at Leo. "I had the craziest dream...it was weird. Where the shell are we?" It was only then that Raph's raspy voice and stiff body caught up with him and he realized that a good deal must have happened that he didn't even know about yet.

"Yeah Raph, a dream." Leo agreed quietly, his eyes moving from his brother to Joey whom he shared a knowing look with.

"You should go wake your brothers, share a last bit of sunshine while you still can. The sewer is no place for a turtle. Then you can return to New York. Know it was a pleasure meeting you." The king bowed before them. He rose with a shimmering smile of sheer mischief. "Enjoy your freedom, Raphael and go knowing you have your freedom. In the future - my advice - don't talk to strangers even if they have candy and remember to always eat your cereal with a fork."

Raph just stared at Dex, only half aware of who he was because the man had been in his dream though they hadn't spoken directly. It seemed, to him, that the young adult was just speaking nonsense. He reached up and brushed his chin with one thick finger and was surprised to discover Kenshin's scarred mark was gone and no blemishes graced his neck. "I don't feel so good." He mumbled when he climbed to his feet.

"I warned you..." Dex said with a knowing grin. He dipped forward and slipped an arm under Raph's armpit and helped balance him.

Joey offered Leo the same to which he bowed and whispered 'thank you' warmly to her. She beamed and nodded. "You did real good, hot shot. Thanks for the save." She winked when he looked at her.

As soon as the two turtles were on the grassy hill that led down to the river, the new morning sun on them, free of the heavy magic within the house, they both felt warm...free. The Florida sun felt hotter than in New York, soaking into their green skin like a sponge to water. Dex was right, turtles were meant to lay as they were, feeling the skin kiss their face. Raph and Leo both, beyond their control, stretched out both their necks in encouragement of the sun's warmth.

"You'll find your brothers over there," Dex nodded to a collection of trees where a drive led into the woods.

"Great...we're in the sticks. Whatd'ya do with the traffic and nighttime lights and rumble of the city? I ain't no country boy - you have a lot of explaining to do, Joey." Raph warned in his gruff tone but with a good spirited edge as his eyes were closed and his face pointed towards the sun.

"Whatever Raph, enjoy your sun. I'll go get them. You two chill." she offered and hurried off, certainly more familiar with the area.

"Hey," Raph turned to address the boy, who's name he didn't know, with the intention to ask about the 'freedom' comment. When he turned, the ground behind them was empty of anyone, the only thing standing there was the old white house. Raph could have sworn it was just a palace, big and ornate and beautiful. Now stood an old, colonial house that had probably seen far better days. "Where'd he go?" Raph perked.

"Who?" Leo asked, but immediately realized who Raph must mean. A small smile passed his face. "Dex is a mystery, Raph. Don't ask too many questions. It'll never make sense. I assure you."

It was Mikey's arrival, clearly having been woken without a fight, that surprised Leo the most. That was, at least, until he spotted the blonde with them. She, like Dex, looked less worn by experience. Leo sat up some as they came closer, Raph and Leo both still bathing in the sun. "You slept with them?" He asked and, as soon as the words came from his mouth, he knew he'd made a folly.

A grin broke across Mikey's face. "Don't I wish! She's a turtle too Leo, don't you know? She's really pretty too!"

Raph's eyes bugged at Mikey's words and he wondered if his brother had hit his head a little too hard. It was clear that Raph was the only one of them that was uncomfortable with all these humans around, from Dex to Cagney now too-they were vaguely familiar to him but not enough for it to be okay to be seen. Leo, however, was well aware of how safe they all really were. Don's cheeks glowed for a moment and, though he bowed his head, caught Raph's confusion. "Don't ask, we have a lot to explain. You missed a lot."

"Yeah, yer tellin' me."

Leo didn't miss the blush that crossed Don's face and he wondered what he too may have missed, even in his own world.

"COME ON RAPH! We gotta show you the spring!" Mikey had his hand around Don's wrist and bolted off with him, waving Raph on excitedly. "You comin', Leo?!"

"Oh, yeah Mikey, in a minute." Leo smiled at little as his orange clad brother was already off, dragging his other two along the wooden walk way the half mile down to the spring area. There was something innocent, peaceful and inspiring about their energy as Leo was certain this was the right choice. This was his world...and those were his brothers he would do anything to protect. Hisheroes.

"I'm going to score us some food. I know people around here." Joey smiled, patting Leo's shoulder as he still sat on the grassy hill. "Some of them owe me favors and favors can come in the form of food. In fact...they usually do."

"You?" Leo arched an eye ridge teasingly, "Know people? Maybe one or two?"

"Hey, don't give me lip." she grinned and winked at him.

"What are you going to do about it?" he taunted back to which she held up a playful threatening fist, but disappeared up the road that lead passed the house.

Leo looked over at Cagney, the only one left with him. "Hi."

"Hi." she returned.

"So..." he glanced at the ground. "Sorry about Mikey, I'm sure he was a handful. I wish I could say he's not always like that, but he sort of is. You just get used to him."

"Ah not too bad," she laughed as she sat down next to him. "I'm a doctor, I'm used to dealing with whiners. It's sort of my entire purpose, half the time I'm not even practicing medicine."

Leo laughed at her light hearted humor. "I...heard about mates your people seek out. Do you believe in them? Do you think they exist?"

"Mates? Oh yeah, of course. Everyone has one and when you find them, you don't ever stray. It's not like just my people have them because we are part animals and mate for life. No, all people have mates...someone Nature has given to you to have an ultimate love and affection for. Yes, mates exist. My parents have been mated for many years. Decades in fact. You're learning a lot now aren't you? The world is bigger than it was last week, or last month, or last year huh? Those sewer walls don't just hide you from the world, but it hides the world from you."

"Oh yeah," Leo made no effort to hide his zeal in that statement. "I've learned my fair share...and I regret nothing of it. It can only hide as much as I allow it to, Cagney. And I never had an intention to let it hide anything."

"You're thinking something...something you're not saying." Cagney smiled warmly at him, plucking blades of grass out of the ground as they sat together. "What's on your mind, Leo? Is it true, do you see stuff in the Dreamdance that changes you?"

"Oh yeah..." he echoed again.

She narrowed her eyes, amused by his demeanor. "You're being coy and keeping your words to yourself. That's okay, we'll play twenty questions to get them out of you. Good or bad things?"

"Both I guess." Leo smiled at her, his eyes shining in his warmth and comfort then. The sun on his shell and the complete relaxation he had was enough to bring out his playful, warm side. The side Cagney in the dreams had spoken of. "Have you met him? Your mate?" Leo asked without a filter.

Cagney arched an eyebrow and grinned. "I'm seeing someone. His name is Gabe."

"Yeah, but is Gabe your mate?"

Cagney looked down. She could see where he was going with it and she didn't attempt to lie. "I've known for a long time he wasn't. It's just something you know. When you meet them. It's there or it's not. There's no gray for my people. But he keeps me company and he's funny...sort of. Well he's nice at least."

"That's not what I asked." Leo rocked forward, his legs crossed underneath him. "I'll asking again...have you met your mate?"

"You must have experienced something exciting in there." she deflected, but glanced up at him. "Are you the one that should be asking me that question, Leo?"

"Probably not."

"Then we understand each other."

"No!" Leo shot back suddenly. "It doesn't just end like that. It's not good enough for me. I'm not going to let Joey slip away and I'm not going to let you just...do that! Say it like it's nothing. You know you've met your mate and you can't just let it slip away. Admit that, to me and to yourself. To the very wind that blows the Spanish moss. Admit it, Cagney."

Cagney bowed her head and carefully twisted a blade of grass between her fingertips. A moment later, her head lifted. "I have no intention of doing that. Mates are for life Leo, but it's a lifestyle I've been raised with. Not one that you - or your brothers - can simply accept. There is still a great deal you four need to learn. The odds are against me. Trust me, I know. I've been fighting with him about the theory of scientific magic for the last twelve hours. We didn't sleep, just talked. All night. Yes, I know my mate and I'm not going to just let him go that easily. I suspect I have a long journey ahead of me though."

"New York is far." Leo added lightly.

"Fortunately, my profession is sort of a commodity that's needed anywhere."

"Then we understand each other." This time it was Leo that mirrored her words from a moment before. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy, and I'm not saying that it's going to work without a hitch. If I've learned anything in my lifetime, it's that these adventures...they never end. At least we try and that's what makes it worth it. It's how we can walk away and say I did my best. I don't believe in failure anymore."

She nodded, a pleasant smile on her face. "I never believed in failure, Leo."

He bowed to her, drawing up slowly before their eyes met again. "You'll be good for him. Better than any of us could be...I know you'll take good care of him, I trust you."

"I'll do my best." Cagney offered.

"It's all we can do."