CHAPTER 1: SWITCHED

Directly after the episode Plan 10, Casey and April try to deal with the initial shock of switching bodies.

The Turtle Sub shook unsteadily as explosions rocked The Technodrome, the pressure creating a current that they rode to safer waters. Despite everyone being relatively unharmed and having achieved their objective to get Raphael back into his own body, no one celebrated.

Donatello was taking it the hardest. He couldn't look at her. His April. Stuck in the body of Casey Jones. He looked down at the scraps of the Neuro-Switcher he had dragged off. It wasn't enough. It wasn't nearly enough. He told himself that somehow he would find a way like he always did. He would figure out a way to get it working, to get April and Casey switched back. When they returned to the lair he immediately shut himself into his laboratory.

Splinter greeted the others, checking Raphael over gingerly. "I am glad to see that you are yourself again, my son."

"It's good to be back!" he said, his face splitting into a grin before he caught himself. He looked over to their human companions and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, muttering an apology.

"Please, do not tell me one of our young friends here has been switched with a Kraang as well." Splinter went over to them, whiskers twitching.

"Not exactly, Sensei," Casey replied morosely.

Casey did not call him Sensei. No wonder Donatello had run off without a word. "You two?" he asked, looking between them.

"Hai, Sensei," April sighed from Casey's mouth.

"I see. Boys? Are all of you in your correct bodies?"

"Hai, Sensei," they replied together.

"Donatello is injured." April shifted her gaze to the floor and removed the hockey mask from her head. "I would go help him, but…he won't even look at me."

"I will go tend to him. I suggest that you rest after your battle and discuss your next course of action."

They nodded and Splinter took his leave. He knocked on the door to Donatello's lab.

"I'm busy!"

Splinter exhaled heavily and opened the door, stepping in.

The flustered turtle stopped what he was doing immediately. "Oh, sorry Sensei, I didn't realize it was you."

"Quite alright, Donatello. I heard you were injured in your battle."

Donatello glanced down to his forearm unconsciously and shifted so Splinter would not see his wound. "I'm fine. I really need to get back to work."

"Donatello," he commanded, purposely using his stern voice. His son flinched but turned his attention back to him again. "You will let me inspect this wound that April was so concerned about."

That got his attention.

"She, she was?" He assumed she would be hating him right now for failing to switch them back before the console was shot to bits. He had tried to shield it with his arms, but a plasma bolt had skimmed his forearm, leaving seared flesh behind. He had jumped back in pain and the next shots fired had disabled the Neuro-Switcher altogether.

Splinter looked at his arm and clucked. "This burn needs to be disinfected. Where is your kit?"

Donatello retrieved it for him and sat patiently as Splinter cleaned and bandaged his arm. The pained expression on his green face had little to do with the burn.

"It is not your fault."

"You weren't there, Sensei. I didn't aim it properly the first time and that's the only reason they were switched at all. Well, that, and Mikey was goofing around with the touchscreen. Then I couldn't keep the machine safe. I failed. I failed…her." His eyes closed, tears threatening to come forth. "It's like a nightmare, seeing her trapped in Casey Jones' body, of all people."

"It will do no good to further defeat yourself for an outcome that cannot be changed. You must focus on taking care of yourself so you can tackle this problem with a clear mind. Only then will you find a solution. In the meantime, April still needs the support of her friends. This will be a difficult time, and though it might pain you to look upon her in the body of your rival…" He paused and looked at him pointedly.

Donatello blushed. Nothing got past Splinter.

"You of all people should know better that it is the person inside who matters, not the body they wear."

oooooooooo

Everyone gravitated to the pit once Splinter had left to talk to Donatello, and April followed as she struggled to pull off all of Casey's bulky gear. She sat heavily on the couch next to him. Next to…herself. They looked at each other.

"This is too weird," Casey said, looking into his own face.

"Tell me about it! Just don't let me catch you pinching my, I mean, yourself, again! You're such a pervert."

He snickered.

"Not cool, Casey," Leonardo sighed, shaking his head. He turned the television on and they all watched in silence for a few minutes.

"We are going to have to come up with some excuse not to go to school for a while. There is no way I am living your slacker life while you flunk me out of my classes," April said suddenly.

Casey smiled. "All right! Freedom pass."

His smirk seemed so out of place on her features, but it was definitely his. April huffed out an annoyed breath.

"Hey, but I have games coming up," said Casey, finally concerned with their new reality.

"I don't know how to play hockey, Casey!" April yelled. She rubbed her face in frustration, the feeling of it foreign. The situation was really starting to sink in. Her hands came back covered in the black and white paint Casey used on his face. "Ugh!" She wiped them off on his dirty sweatshirt, catching a whiff of her new body. "Christ, Casey, when's the last time you did laundry? Or showered?"

"Hey, we were fighting, of course I'm gonna sweat! You aren't smelling that fresh over here either."

"At least I have all my teeth! You don't have to relearn how to talk without a lisp!"

"Guys! Settle down," said Michelangelo, the voice of reason and somehow in a pair of white underpants.

"Attacking each other is not going to help anything," Leonardo added.

April gritted what few teeth she had. "Fine. You're right. Let's just hit the showers and go home."

"Fine," Casey answered petulantly.

"Please tell me you were smart enough to have extra clothes stashed here."

"Of course!" Her own eyes flashed in irritation at her.

They stomped off to the washroom together, leaving the three brothers exchanging glances.

Agitation bubbling over, April undressed and chucked Casey's foul smelling laundry into the corner of the huge washroom in disgust.

Casey eyed her in surprise.

"What? It's not like you haven't seen yourself naked before." She slammed the door of one of the two extra wide shower stalls.

Casey kicked off all of April's tight clothing and struggled with the hooks of her bra. When he finally got it and his new body's small breasts bounced free he couldn't help but giggle. April opened her stall door at the sound of it. "Just get in there and rinse off. Don't touch anything!"

He rolled his eyes and entered the opposite stall. Of course he was curious about this body. Everything was completely different, even his centre of gravity. He was lighter, softer, and rounder.

Meanwhile, in the next stall over, April scrubbed her face and tried not to look down. She was tall and lanky, and every time she moved she seemed to bang an elbow into the side of the stall, cursing softly each time.

"Hey take it easy over there, you're gonna bruise me up," Casey said with a laugh, then heard himself grunt back in response.

Once cleaned up and both dressed in comfortable tracks, they decided they should stick close to each other. Neither of them wanted their bodies to stray too far away. As strange as it was looking at each other, the idea of not seeing or knowing their body was in one piece rattled both of them, and they decided he would stay overnight at her house.

If there was ever anything good to come out of her dad having been turned into a giant mutant bat creature for a time, it was that not a lot of things surprised him anymore. Her friendship with the turtles, the strange creatures they fought, her psychic abilities, her Kraang heritage and the ninja rat master who trained her were all taken in stride. When she explained what had happened to them he didn't doubt her for a moment.

It was hard for him to look at Casey, who's demeanor and expressions shone through his daughter's face, making her a stranger to him. In contrast, seeing her earnest and confused look on the boy's face made him break down a little inside.

They both looked exhausted and he sent them to bed for the night. He showed Casey to the guest room after April retreated to her own bed. "You can stay here as long as you need to. I know Donnie will get you two sorted out. After what he did for me, there's no doubt in my mind. In the meantime, you make yourself at home."

"Thank you, sir."

Kirby turned to leave then looked back at his daughter's body, feeling protective suddenly. "And Casey?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't…touch anything."