"Do you have enough money?"

"Yeah."

"And do you have your phone?"

"Yuppers."

"And is it charged?"

"Uh-huh."

"All the way?"

"Omygosh Leo, you act like I've never gone out to get the pizza before!"

Mikey shrugged on Raph's sweatshirt over his head, which was about twice as big on the blond as it was on his older brother, as he walked to the door. April had to wonder why on earth he had chosen to wear that sweatshirt, of all things, to go out to get pizza in. She figured it was simply for the size and comfyness, but she wouldn't put it past Mikey if he simply liked wearing it because of the weird looks he'd get down the street. It's nerve wracking and Gothic red letters spelling the heavy metal band Slipknot, a heavy contrast to the baby blue eyed, freckled face kid with a smile that could melt glaciers.

April didn't know whether to laugh out loud or cringe at the clash, but she decided to take the latter and smile back whenever the blond teen looked at her.

April O'Neil was currently parked on her best friend's couch on a Friday evening, in her favorite hoodie and pair of paint splattered sweatpants, waiting to start the Jurassic Park Movie Night Marathon that she had been excited about for nearly two weeks. An event all the brothers had been looking forward too. This being the first night in weeks that all the boys were free from school or sports or saving New York to just hang out and chill like normal teens. Which, if you knew her boys, the Hamatos were everything but.

She smiled from her seat, watching the exchange of the oldest and youngest Hamato as they bickered at the door.

"Yeah well, I'm just making sure you'll be all right. Last time, you came home two hours late with only half of the-by-then cold pizzas and somehow covered in motor oil and flour," the moment Mikey opened his mouth to defend himself, Leo's hand was already on the move to close it. "Uh-uhh. Save it. I didn't want to hear it then and I don't want to hear it now."

Mikey let out a laugh as he shook Leo's hand away. "You're right. That's too epic a story for a worry wort like you. Maybe when you're older."

Leo ignored him like a seasoned pro as he handed Mikey a folded up umbrella. "You sure you'll be alright? Raph can always give you a lift there."

A grunt brought April's attention to the red head seated at the kitchen counter. A sour expression had been glued to Raph's face for the past hour and a half as he stared at the laptop screen, an unfinished English paper drawing out every bit of patience Raph had left for the world. She was sure that Raph would be more than happy with any excuse for a chance to break away from the impending 25% of his grade, but from what Donnie had explained to her, Raph had put off the paper long enough. And the self appointed "warden',(aka Leo) was putting him on major lock down until he at least finished the rough draft. And if Raph wanted to be part of the JPMNM, then he couldn't afford to spare any extra attention on anything, or anyone, else.

However, April found out pretty quickly that when it came to Mikey, all rules were thrown out the window for the Hamatos.

Mikey winked at Leo before sliding the umbrella into his sweatshirt pocket and putting his skateboard under his arm. "And rob me of the chance to wear Raph's super comfy, death metal sweatshirt? I think not, Leo."

He opened the back door, and April snug herself deeper into the couch as the cold stormy wind escaped into the house. "My dude, I'll be fine, don't worry. No epic adventures this time, I'm on a deadline," April noticed a wink her way and she smiled as she waved him goodbye. "Save a good spot for me sis! And make sure Raphie finishes his hw so we can get this party started!"

He saluted the house before jumping down the slippery steps and out of Aprils sight. Leo watched him from the door way, shouting at him like the quote-un-quote 'mother hen' he was.

"Make sure to look both ways before crossing the street! And if the rain worsens, make sure to call us and we'll come pick you up! And keep your hood- he's gone," April laughed as Leo sighed and closed the door, shutting out the cold November air and allowing the house to warm up again. "I swear that kid'll be the death of me one of these days."

"Ahh, you worry too much. He'll be fine. He knows what's at stake if he comes home late," April noticed Donnie come up the stares from the garage, carrying some scrappy looking piece of metal April knew to be Donnie's newest invention. "There will be a mutiny Raph has to eat cold pizza again. And he wouldn't miss the chance for a movie marathon. Not when we haven't done one in so long."

"I know, Dee. But this is Mikey we're talking about. I'm still gonna worry regardless, if that's ok with you?" Leo answered, walking over to the kitchen and bringing down a blue mug from the cupboard. "And I'm gonna make some tea. Anyone want some?"

"Me please!" April shot her hand up, and smiled when Leo brought down the yellow mug they had gotten her for Christmas a few years back.

"I'm good. Thanks though," Donnie called absentmindedly as he sat down on the floor between the couch April was sitting on and the coffee table. He leaned his back against the couch cushion and put the gadget on the glass table, spreading out a few gears and tools from his pockets and began working again. Raph let out another grunt that, to April, sounded exactly like the first, but Leo seemed to understand it as a 'no' because he closed the cupboard door and took his and April's mugs to where their kettle was.

"Watcha fidgeting with, genius?" April maneuvered herself on the couch so that she was now laying on her stomach, her head right next to Donnie's as he worked. He gave her a side smile before he continued tinkering.

"Nothing special. It's still in the works right now, but I'm hoping to make an automatic, wireless phone charger," Donnie started, pointing a thumb back towards the kitchen where two of the Hamoto's still resided. "We loose phone charger's like you wouldn't believe-."

"Not my fault," Raph called up from his paper.

"-so what this'll do is charge a phone by simply being in the same room. Any phone within a 30 foot radius, doesn't matter how many and as long as it can connect to the internet, can be charged. No connecting to a wire or anything. The phone can stay in your pocket, for all it's worth. This will reduce the phone to charger ratio and reduce the amount of fights we seem to get in whenever we can't find a charger," Donnie explained, tinkering away as he worked, only looking at April once to give her a cheeky smile. "Or when we find a charger and it's been broken."

"Again, not my fault."

April rose an eyebrow, "That's really great Donnie, but how're you going to stop this charger from getting lost or broken?"

Donnie stopped his hands for only a second, scrunching up his face like he was deep in thought, before shrugging and continuing with his work. "Like I said, April. It's a work in progress."

"Here you go April. One cup of hot peach, green tea with extra lemon and honey," April sat up and took the warm mug from Leo's outstretched hand. He sat himself down at the other side of the couch with a mug of his own, handing a wash rag over to Donnie. "Here gear head. Don't wipe your grease stains on your shirt. You already got some on your face."

At that, Donnie frantically wiped his face with his free hand, but April noticed it only made the grease spot bigger. She smothered a chuckle as Leo simply sighed, putting down his mug before grabbing the rag from Donnie's hand and wiping his little brother's cheek himself.

Leave it to Leo, April would have been happy with any cup of tea, but Leo made her her favorite and knew exactly how to make it perfect. April let the warmth of the cup sink into her hands before taking a slow sip. Flavor and heat exploded in her mouth and made it's way into her system, filling her with a relaxing and comfortable state of mind, and warming her from the inside out. She sighed loudly, taking another eager sip. Absolutely perfect. "Thanks Leo."

Leo nodded a 'you're welcome' and took his own sip from his mug. "So, what do we do while we wait for Mikey to bring back food?"

"We could watch some T.V," April offered, but Leo quickly shook his head.

"Not with Raph working on his paper. I'd send him out of the room, but I'm pretty sure he'll just end up slacking off if I don't keep an eye on him," Leo responded in a tone that only seemed like he was half joking. April waited for an interjection from Raph, but it never came. The second oldest was too busy focusing on the screen of his computer to bother listening in. This paper must have been pretty important, April thought, if it made Raph able to tune out Leo. "And training is out of the question too, since Sensei locked up the dojo to go to the karate convention in DC."

"Was that this week?" April asked, surprised she let it slip her mind.

"Yeah," Donnie replied absentmindedly, still tinkering with his invention. "He left early this morning. He originally was just going to go to watch some of his older students compete, but since he's a regular and a pretty popular instructor, they asked him to judge this year. So he's going to stay there till Monday morning. And it's just always been a long standing rule that when Sensei is out of the house, dojo is off limits."

"Why is that?" April asked, leaning forward, knowing there was a story behind every and any rule in the Hamato house.

"Why do you think? It's the same reason it always is. Raph and Mikey were fooling around in there when we were younger and Mikey ended up getting hur-"

"Ok FIRST of all, Mikey was the only one fooling around in there, I was at soccer practice," Raph yelled out angrily, his concentration obviously broke but he didn't tear his eyes away from his essay.

"Yeah, but you were the one who gave him the idea to go in there and practically slice his finger off in the first place," Leo called back calmly, taking a sip of his tea.

"I had nothing to do with that and you know it, ya wing nut. None of that was any of my fault!"

"Ok, someone explain to me what happened because I'm still lost and now really invested in the story," April asked, and Donnie stopped his work to answer her.

"So when we were little, I think Mikey must have been, what, seven, Leo? Anyway, Sensei had just introduced us to actual weapons, like, a real Katana blade and a pair of twin Sais. Raph and Leo were pretty used to the wooden ones so Sensei decided to see if they were ready to try practicing with the real thing during training," Donnie whistled in reminisce. "And let me tell you, for a couple of elementary school boys, that was the coolest thing. I remember Mikey and I being so jealous of Leo and Raph, but Sensei said we were still too young to handle actual weapons. He was right of course, but that didn't mean were weren't envious of them."

"I remember Mikey bugging the heck out of us during all hours of the day to let him have a go with our weapons," Leo said, continuing the story. "He'd ask us constantly. And with a seven year old Mikey, that carries some weight. I can't give you a number of how many times I've woken up and nearly falling out of bed because a pair of bright blue eyes were this close from your face."

Leo put up his hand practically on the tip of his nose for emphasis and April had to smuggle a laugh. "Anyway, we'd always told him no, but that didn't stop Mikey in the slightest. Finally, Raph snapped. He yelled at him, saying that Mikey was just too young and inexperienced to be able to handle something as complicated as his Sai, and that he should just stick to his, how did he phrase it, 'baby sticks on strings'?"

"If it's Raph, he probably used a harsher phrase than that," Donnie replied and was immediately met with a pencil thrown at the back of his head from the kitchen counter.

"The point is," Raph interrupted gruffly, finishing the story. "Mikey took it as a challenge, like he usually does, and snuck into the dojo when Sensei was driving me to soccer practice. Leo was supposed to be watching him, but whatever, Mikey got into the weapon storage shelf and started messing around with my Sais. No surprise, he ended up cutting himself."

"Man that was so scary," Leo stated, more to himself than out loud, staring at the ceiling as if the memory were as fresh as what he had for breakfast earlier that morning.

"I had no idea what to do, there was just so much blood and Mikey wouldn't stop crying. Thankfully, Sensei was only gone for a few minutes and the cut wasn't that deep, so I didn't have to call 911. But Mikey ended up having to have a few stitches on his middle finger and they had to wrap it up with quite a bit of gauze," Leo said, standing up from the couch and walking over to a near by book shelf. "Mikey thought it was hilarious, since it looked like he was flipping the bird whenever he put his hand up. I think we have a picture of it somewhere in one of our photo albums."

"Ever since then, to get back to the topic, Sensei has banned us from being alone in the dojo without him in the house," Donnie finished off, wiping his hands on the dish rag Leo had gotten for him.

"Even now? When you guys are teenagers and practically masters at wielding your weapons?" April asked.

"Especially now that were teenagers," Donnie answered, a small smile growing on his lips. "Or at least, I'm sure that's what Sensei thinks."

"Found it."

Both Donnie and April's heads turned and followed Leo as the raven haired boy sat back down on the couch, opening up the thick and heavy book on his lap. April leaned in close to get a better view of the picture Leo had the book open to.

Sure enough, a seven year old Mikey was grinning up at her as he held up a heavily bandaged finger. Just seeing the look of utter glee on the the kid's face made April smile back, despite herself. She took the book from Leo's lap to better see the picture as the oldest continued talking.

"It's not like Mikey ever listened though. I can remember a few times Mikey has gotten in trouble for breaking into the weapons safe to play around with some throwing stars," Leo said, and Donnie let out a soft chuckle as he threw Raph's pencil back at him.

"Yeah, he usually only did it though if he was following Captain Rule Breaker over there. Ever since he was little, he's only ever gotten in trouble when Raph's involved."

Raph caught the pencil before it hit his face, never taking his scolding eyes off his English paper. "You act like I invited him to tag along. And don't you two even dare try to act like you didn't do the same. If memory serves me right, you two got into trouble for it just as much as Mikey and I did," with eyes still glued to the screen, he gave his brothers a knowing grin, which sent them into a full blown, heated debate about who got yelled at by sensei more and who was able to get away with it. Typical sibling fight of who-is-the-favorite.

April couldn't stop herself from smiling at their conversation as she flipped through the old photo book in her hands. No surprise, the book was filled to the brim with picture after picture of the boys growing up and April found herself in complete awe as she watched the boy's life grow before her eyes. Pictures of homemade haircuts and lost teeth and cake covered birthday party misadventures filled the pages and every picture told a different story. Obviously, they were all filled with love and smiles and it didn't matter if the pictures were of building snowman in the middle of winter or a haphazard shot of a young Raph chasing an even younger Mikey around the house with a face covered in black marker doodles; April could feel the warmth from every photo and she could only imagine that the person behind the camera was smiling just as hard as she was.

She wasn't even surprised when she found a few pictures of herself and Casey in some of the more recently taken photos, and grinned as the memories re-flooded her memory. As she reached the end of the book, April noted that she didn't see the beginning, only starting from where Leo had opened it up to, and having a sudden urge to see the boy's as wee babies filled her with a new excitement as she speedily flipped to the first page.

A quick reality check caught her by surprise, however, when she found the first picture to be of the Hamato boy's first Christmas. None of them were babies when the picture was taken. A neatly printed text next to the picture told April exactly how old they were when the picture was taken and she had to reprehend herself for forgetting and getting her hopes up.

Ahhh that's right. The boys were adopted by Master Yoshi when they were still kids, April thought as she read the passage next to the photo.

Leonardo(9), Raphael(8), Donatello(7), Michelangelo(6) and Yoshi Hamato's first Christmas after adoption on Sept. 27th.

April's smile weakened, but only for a second as she drank in the comfort of the photo. They were all standing in front of a decorated Christmas tree, and judging from the sleepy expressions and rueful bedheads, April could only imagine that they had just woken up and were about to open presents before Master Yoshi decided to take a quick picture. Each of them, the redheaded girl noted, wearing their respected ninja colors in the form of Christmas sweaters. Mikey, smiling as big as his cheeks would let him, in a bright, orange one that was way too big for him, Donnie, looking like he was about to fall asleep standing up, in a purple one with a reindeer on it, Raph, who looked less than happy at the idea of wearing matching sweaters, was trying to hide the happy elf that was stitched on his red one, and Leo standing tall and proud at Sensei's side in a navy blue, while their new father, smiled in his matching Maroon sweater.

It wasn't a secret. April had known they were adopted practically the entire time she's known them. But it was something that never seemed to stay in her mind. It wasn't an important factor. The boys never talked about it. Never acted like they were adopted. It was easy to forget when they act like they've known each other their whole lives. When they act like how any normal siblings would act.

It should be obvious. None of the brothers looked like each other or like their Asian father, but it's easily overlooked when you see them interact. I guess when you've been around someone for long enough, your personality just sort of morphs to compliment the ones around you. The Hamato boys just fit right together, no doubt about it. It didn't matter if none of them shared the same blood.

The Hamato boy's were brothers. That's all there was too it. And if you saw them, you wouldn't think twice about whether they were related to each other or not.

They just were. And they always would be.

April knew this. But actually seeing the evidence in front of her eyes stirred up some questions she never thought to ask. She was curious. She'd never thought of asking in all her four years of knowing the boys. She never thought to wonder where they came from or who they were before they were the Hamato brothers or even how they came together in the first place.

They were brothers. But that wasn't always the case.

"And then there was the time you locked me in the a bathroom stall and made me think you guys abandoned me!"

"Geez Dee, how many times do I have to apologize for that for you to let it go already! I was ten!"

"YOU DID IT FOUR TIMES!"

"Well whose fault was that? If you hadn't kept falling for it, it wouldn't have happened more than twice. Probably."

"I'll probably, you."

"Hey, Leo?" April asked.

"Yeah?" Leo laughed, not taking his attention away from his brothers amusing conversation but turning his eyes on her for just a split second so that she knew he was listening.

"I was just wondering, what was life like before you guys met?" April asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" He smiled, not taking his eyes away from the action.

April had no right to ask. It wasn't her business. On the one hand, it could be that it was just something they never thought to talk about and was simply that that they were all adopted from the same foster care system or whatever. On the other hand, it could be that they didn't want to talk about it, because it was too painful or heartbreaking and they would end up getting mad at April for bringing it up. The stakes were high, and in all honesty, she was about 90 percent sure she shouldn't ask.

But the other 10 percent of her wanted to know. Needed to know. The least she could do was ask.

So that side won.

April took a deep breath.

"I mean, before you all were adopted by Master Yoshi. How did you guys meet up? What was your life like before all this?"

Leo's smile vanished almost instantly as he turned his head towards April, his solid blue eyes piercing her with a sort of hidden intensity that April wasn't used to receiving and she immediately wished she hadn't said anything.

Her mouth, apparently, didn't get that memo.

"I mean, if it's a sensitive subject, you absolutely DO NOT have to tell me! I didn't mean anything by it, I was just curious when I noticed you didn't have any baby pictures in your photo album and you guys have never talked about it before and I realize I'm overstepping my boundaries and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to if it's too personal, I just-."

"Woah, woah, hey, it's ok Ape. It's fine. You're not overstepping any boundaries," and the awful thing was, April believed him as he gave her a warm smile. He put up his hands reassuringly as a means to calm her down as he stared at her. "I just- wasn't really expecting that."

He turned himself back to facing her on the couch, forgetting his brothers conversation as he rubbed the back of his head, giving her his full attention. "It's not like there's anything wrong, it's just, well, it doesn't really come up in conversation very often, so we just don't talk about it," he shrugged, noticing the photo album in Aprils lap opened to the old Christmas photo. "It almost seems like a different world, it was so long ago. We were just kids."

"You don't have to answer it. I was just curious, but really, it's fine. We don't have to get into it," panic started to boil in the pit of her stomach. This really wasn't her place to ask, but Leo just shook his head, giving her another warm smile as he picked his tea mug back up and taking a sip.

"You act like you've stepped on a land mine. April, it's fine. It's not like it's a taboo subject or anything. I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner," he paused, taking the photo album out of Aprils lap and flipping the page to a picture with all four of the boys lined up in matching white karate-gi. He smiled, tracing his fingers over the worn photograph.

"I was an orphan," he answered finally. His gentle smile never leaving his face. "Grew up in an orphanage, way up in the Bronx. It's not there anymore. It got torn down about ten years ago. It was a really old establishment, built way back in like, the early 1900's."

April wasn't expecting the explanation to start so soon, thinking she'd have to venture a little further to get the info out of him, but she didn't skip the chance to hop on the story train and ride along with Leo. "What happened to your biological parents?" April asked quietly, making sure that each word was spoken carefully in fear of breaking the rapport the two were creating.

"Don't know. Never met them. And don't really care too, if I'm being perfectly honest. I was found abandoned under a nearby park bench when I was just a couple of weeks old," Leo shrugged simply, turning the page to more photos. "One of the adults volunteering at the orphanage found me. They took me in. Apparently, the movie Titanic had just came out, and one of the nurses living there was obsessed with Leonardo DiCaprio. Hence where I got my name."

He laughed good humorously, but April couldn't find it in her to join him. He said it so simply, that it seemed like he was shrugging it off like it was nothing. But this was Leo. And April knew better.

Leo never treated anything so apathetically. Every sentence carried it's own valued weight, and was treated respectively. And nothing he explained was ever said in anger or hatred or hurt. He explained his past like a seasoned veteran, having accepting the truth long ago and being at peace with it.

April respected that, she really did, but she could still feel her heart grow heavy. Even though she had asked, she could have never expected that to be a possible answer. Could never have expected a guy like Leo, brave, kind, loving Leo, to have a past like that. It broke her heart.

"Fearless, what the hell did you do to April?"

April immediately blinked back her watery eyes to notice two concerned faces staring at her from the kitchen counter. She wasn't going to cry, she resolved, that wouldn't have been fair to Leo. But she couldn't help it if the tears threatened to come falling down with or without her consent. How her heart cringed at the thought of someone abandoning a kid all alone in some park.

The thought of someone abandoning Leo. Her Leo. The Leo who would stay up late with you on the phone if you had a nightmare. The Leo who'd help you practice martial arts long into the night even when he could be doing about a hundred other things that were more worth his time. The Leo who everyone looked up to. The perfect role model. The humble hero. The over protective and loving big brother. That was her Leo.

Not a Leo who was abandoned by people who were supposed to love him. That just wasn't right.

"Wait, he didn't do anything! I'm fine! I'm really fine, just, give me a second!" April said, knowing no tears had fallen down her cheeks but rubbing her shirt sleeve across her eyes just to make sure. Leo, wide eyed at the sudden action, put a hand on her knee.

"April? Hey, it's ok. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have explained it so bluntly. It's really ok!"

"No, no, no. You didn't do anything wrong Leo!" April said quickly before returning her gaze to the other two concerned faces. "I was the one who asked Leo about your guy's past. Or, well, Leo's past. It was my fault."

"Is that what you two were talking about?" Donnie asked, leaving his spot next to Raph from when he had gotten up to argue to plop back down in front of the couch. "Why are you guys talking about stuff like that?"

Leo looked at April as if ready to explain for her but she shook her head. She looked from Donnie, to Leo, to the photo album in Leo's lap and then back to Donnie. She took the photo album back and placed it back on her own lap. She flipped back open to the first page and gently ran her fingers over the aged writing next to the Christmas photo before answering.

"You guys don't have any baby pictures," she started, figuring that was the best place to start. "I've known you guys for a good portion of my life, almost like I've known you for the entirety of it. And yet, somehow, I still feel like I hardly know you guys at all. I don't know anything about your past or where you come from or how you're all even here together. You guys are my best friends. You've been with me through thick and thin. You guys know basically everything there is to know about me. About my past. How my mom died. Those were dark times for me. But you guys were there to help me through it."

She looked up from the picture, meeting all of there eyes. They waited patiently for her to finish, listening to her with a sort of ready patience that April wasn't used to receiving from the brothers at the same time. She was silently grateful for it somewhere in the back of her mind. "So I want to know more about you guys. Not because you guys need to or that I'm really deserving of it. But so that in case you guys need help with anything, I can be there for you, just like you guys were there for me."

There was a long, and over embarrassingly long pause, but it was Raph's low chuckle that finally broke the tension. "Jeezus O'Neil, I would have accepted a simple, 'I'm curious'. Nothing that deep."

April could feel her cheeks grow warm as the laughter grew between the boys, but it was all soft and warm and wasn't anything that would make April feel uncomfortable being around. Leo ran his fingers through his dark bangs, pulling them to the side of his head as he rested his arm on the top of the couch frame and stared at April with kind blue eyes.

"April, I told you it was fine. It's not a huge deal for us to tell you. But you're wrong about one thing," he said cooly, a smile playing on his lips. "You actually do know us, almost everything about us, probably better than anyone else. At least, you know the important stuff. The stuff that matters. Our past's are.. well... anything but that. They're not really important. But you are our best friend. Mikey would argue that you're practically our sister, and no one would fight back on it. So if you want to know who we were before we were Hamato's, you're probably the best person to tell it too, in all honesty."

"Besides," Donnie answered, resting his head on his arms as they laid on the top of the couch cushions. "Who are we to deny you simple information that happened years ago. We might as well get it out of the way now so we don't have to bring it up again in the future."

"Won't we have to tell Casey eventually?" Raph asked.

Donnie just rolled his eyes. "Personally, I don't mind keeping hockey mask in the dark."

"Are you sure you guys are ok with this? We don't have to, you know," April ask, and she was met with another one of Leo's smiles and nods.

"Ask away, Ape. Nothing is off limits."

April gave a small smile back. Looking at the picture in her lap one more time before bringing her head up and meeting Leo and Donnie's gaze. Raph had returned to typing on his laptop, but his posture told her that we was every bit a part of the conversation as the rest of them were. "So Leo, you lived in an orphanage most of your childhood?"

"That's right. Up until I was about eight." Leo answered.

"Why is that? Was that when Master Yoshi adopted you?"

"Nah," Leo shook his head nonchalantly. "That's when I met Raph."

"Raph?" April asked, confused. "You mean, at the orphanage?"

Leo ran his fingers through his hair again, shaking his head once more before responding. "Not technically, no. See, I was playing by myself out in the courtyard behind the orphanage dorms. I was the only one out there because it had rained the night before and none of the adults wanted the younger kids to get dirty from the mud. I guess they trusted me enough to be on my own for an hour," Leo shrugged, and Donnie had to smuggle a chuckle under his breath.

"I'll say. The adults running the orphanage would have let you drive the bus if you had asked nicely enough. You were perfect even then."

"I wasn't perfect. I just knew how to act well-behaved and keep my mouth shut and my hands in my pockets. Which is something you wouldn't understand, Mister-I-took-apart-the-microwave-when-I-was-six-years-old-cause-I-wanted-to-know-how-heat-waves-popped-popcorn," Leo replied curtly, but with every bit of older brother fondness as he ruffled Donnie's hair roughly. "Anyway, I was back there by myself. The courtyard was fairly large and had this tall metal fence surrounding it, there to either keep us kids in or others out. Who knew? But there was a little space in the far corner that was hidden by one of the tool sheds, where part of the fence was broken. It was just big enough for me to crawl through, so I used it whenever I could get the chance," Leo said.

He paused, tapping his fingers on the side of his head in deep thought before continuing. "I never liked that place. I'd use the hole any chance I could for an escape out of there, even for just ten minutes. It wasn't like the people working there weren't decent enough, or even that it was like little orphan Annie where we didn't get enough clothes or food. But the place wasn't the best living conditions. The building was old and starting to fall apart. And it was always too crowded and loud. And despite living with twenty other boys in a room, it always seemed so... lonely."

A weird quietness fell upon the group, Raph and Donnie listening just as intently as April was, even if they already knew the story. "It was suffocating. The loneliness. It was easy to go unnoticed in an environment like that. It never really seemed like I belonged there. No one really needed me and I didn't really need to be around. I didn't belong to anyone or anything. So I had planned to run away. To get out of that place once and for all. So I packed up whatever I could, which wasn't anything more than a few scraps of food and a couple of bucks I had managed to scavenge, and as soon as I was alone, I snuck out through the hole and was about to be free of that awful place. But..."

"But? But what? What happened?" April asked excitedly, too absorbed in the story to worry about interrupting him.

"Raph happened," Leo shrugged, motioning towards Raph with his eyes. "I met him on the other side of the fence. He was really seriously injured and I didn't have anything with me to help him, so I ended up having to go back and grab more supplies to help him, closing my window of opportunity to escape."

"You know, I never asked you to help," Raph muttered under his breath, but it lacked every ounce of bravado that he usually defended himself with.

"I guess I was just always meant to be a big brother. I couldn't just leave you there. Besides, you ended up eating all the food I had packed so I had no choice but to go back," Leo smiled warmly, but April found herself frowning with confusion.

"Wait, wait, wait. What happened to Raph? Why was he injured? What was his story?" April waved her hands enthusiastically. Leo turned his gaze towards Raph, but the red head simply shrugged as he continued working on his essay, never meeting his older brothers stare.

"Not really much to tell," Raph said, green eyes turning fierce and sharp as he spoke. "Typical story of a dad who was an abusive alcoholic and a mom who was a drug addict that was never home. The bastard had one too many beers and was in another one of his rages 'cause of mom, and like usual, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was finally sick of it all. So I got the hell out of there. But not without a few bruises and cuts to take with me as a cruel reminder."

Leo's and Donnie's face grew hard and cold as Raph spoke, and it didn't take a mind reader to tell what they were thinking.

"Raph looked like he'd been run over by a semi truck. His nose was bleeding really bad and he could hardly see out of his right eye. Not to mention he could barely walk with all those bruises on his rib cage," Leo spat out coldly, not hiding the pure hate in his voice.

Raph shrugged again, but this time, April could notice the tension. "Yeah, he was a real piece of work, but again, the important part was that I got outta there. And I guess if you think of it, if the old man hadn't beat me black and blue that day, then we probably wouldn't be here today," Raph said, turning his head towards April only to notice her brow furrow further in confusion.

"I accidentally bumped into Raph lying in the alley way, and I guess we sorta just grew on each other. I stayed in the orphanage for another two weeks so that I could continue to sneak out food and clothes and medicine to him while he stayed in, now that I think of it, where did you stay Raph?" Leo asked.

"In the sewer system, next to the harbor, remember? We stayed there for awhile before he moved on to Manhattan," Raph replied, turning back to his laptop.

"Wait, you lived in a sewer?" April asked, scrunching up her nose, but her question went unanswered as Leo continued the story.

"Ahh, that's right, I remember. Anyway, I'm glad I did stay an extra two weeks at the orphanage, cause that's how I meant this little genius," Leo answered, ruffling Donnie's hair once more before the brunette smirked and swatted him away, turning towards April ready to tell his part of the story.

"I was six when I came to the orphanage. My biological parents had died in a car accident the year before. For awhile I was in the foster care system, but well, I never really stayed with any one family for too long. I was kind of a... well... I was a bit of a 'troubled kid'," Donnie chuckled nervously, but Leo simply swatted him playfully on the back of the head.

"You were not a 'troubled kid'. You were a brilliant kid who kept getting stuck with bad people who didn't appreciate your potential or worth," Leo affirmed proudly. Donnie rubbed the back of his head, shrugging.

"You take apart one to many coffee makers and school printers and suddenly your marked as the worlds most dangerous six year old vandalist," Donnie joked, turning the page of the photo album on April's lap to a picture of a young Donnie and Mikey building a couch fort. Mikey was wearing a pair of underpants on his head. "Some families were better than others, but none really liked how... well, I guess how curious I was. Or knew how to deal with me. So after a few weeks of non stop "but why's" and broken appliances, they'd send me back. If you can imagine, I was a bit of a handful back then."

"Back then? You're still a handful," Raph scoffed, typing something quickly onto his laptop.

"And thank God you were. Cause then you would have never ended up at the orphanage," Leo smiled, turning back towards April and turning another page on the photo album. A few pictures of the boys learning how to ride bikes were clumped together, each Hamato wearing a different form of excitement and panic on their faces.

"Despite what they try to advertise on t.v now a days, an orphanage is an orphanage. It would never be a home," Leo said, looking fondly at the pictures. "At least, not for people like us."

Raph's scoff from the kitchen counter caught April's attention as he rubbed his nose. "Ha! Orphanages aren't home for anyone. More like dog pounds for society's 'mutts'. Kids are lined up like dogs, waiting to get taken home by that 'perfect family'. And if you're not that beautiful little blond haired, blue eyed puppy, then you're shit outta luck till you're too old for the system."

Leo frowned at Raph's harsh comment, but if he thought that what Raph had said was wrong, he didn't verbally say it. "Alright, I won't lie, there was a bit of a biased. And yeah, if you got to be around your early teens, it was just sorta an unspoken fact that you weren't going to get adopted. I'm sure things have changed now, but at least, that's how it was going to look for Donnie and I."

"I apparently already had a bad reputation thanks to the foster system, so the orphanage didn't really have high hopes for me," Donnie said nonchalantly, turning another page of the photo album. "And so they partnered me up with the kid who apparently no one had any hope of being adopted, having more adoption interviews in a year then there were actual adoptions."

"I guess they thought the misfits should stay together," Leo commented, laughing at a particular image of him and Mikey making a makeshift cake for father's day. A little Leo with a cake-batter splattered cheek and tongue sticking out in a focused frown, seemed completely dedicated to sticking to the recipe as he glared at the cook book in one hand and a whisk stirring madly in the other. Little Mikey, with more of the batter on himself than in the bowl, apparently had a different agenda and, with a mischievous yet determined grin, was half way though pouring a bag of puff Cheetos into the bowl as the snapshot was taken.

"Fine by me," Donnie replied, sharing the same fond smile Leo did as he looked at the picture, probably remembering the incident as being the amateur photographer. "To be honest, if it weren't for you, and eventually Raph, I'd probably be in a whole heck-of-a lot worse situation, probably on the streets by myself or still in some awful orphanage somewhere. You guys were the only ones who didn't get tired of my questions or try to get rid of me."

"Oh, trust me, I got tired of your questions about five minutes after meeting ya," Raph muttered. "And it's kinda hard to get rid of a kid that had connected himself to your hip. And we tried. Leo could barely go to the bathroom by himself without you following him like a little lost duck. We had no choice but to take you along with us."

Upon seeing Donnie's disgruntled face, Leo quickly followed up with a smile and a, "He's joking, Dee."

"We really did get tired of your constant freaking questions, though," Raph replied.

"But not tired of you," Leo added, roughly running his hand through Donnie's hair. "You were stuck with us and vise versa the first day I met you, I wasn't about to leave a brilliant kid like you behind in a place like... like that."

Leo shook his head, as if trying to forget a certain memory as he turned his attention back towards April, who was still patiently waiting for the rest of the story. "It took a lot of planning, and a lot of messing up the adoption records on Donnie's part, in order for us to safely leave that place without any consequences or anyone looking for us. I think it was early November when we moved into Manhattan. It was just the three of us, living in an abandoned apartment complex next to the river for a couple weeks until we met Mikey. Then it wasn't until another six months that we happened to run into Sensei. And then the rest is kind of history."

"The adoption process was probably the most difficult part, Raph's probably the hardest because technically he was a runaway that was still legally under the "care" of his biological parents. But Sensei pushed for it, fought for it, for us, and another half a year later, we're all sitting under our very first Christmas tree as the Hamatos," Donnie said, flipping back to the very first picture of all the boys together, the picture that had brought upon this conversation in the first place.

"And here we are today," Leo gave a half smile, about to close the photo album in April's lap as if that was the end of the story. But before he could close the album, April slammed her hand down on the page, startling all three of the boy's as they gave her a wide eyed expression.

"WAIT! Wait wait wait, hold on a second! The rest is not history! What kind of explanation was that?" April said quickly, pulling the book away from Leo's grasp and flipping the pages back to a certain picture. Leo cocked his head in confusion.

"What kinda explanation was what? What are you talking about, Ape?"

April rapidly flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for, holding it up for all the boys to see. "Aren't you forgetting someone? A certain freckled face, cat loving blond, blue eyed baby brother? You haven't said anything about how you met Mikey! Or his past, like, where he came from! He must have been, what, five when you met him? How does he play into the story?"

The picture she was holding up was one of Mikey on his first day of first grade. The kid was squeezing his eyes tight in a giant, toothy grin as he stood in front of the doorway. A backpack that looked much to big for him, most likely a hand-me-down from one of his older brothers, was strapped to his back as he held a Spiderman lunchbox in one hand a gave a huge wave with the other. His mop of golden curls being held back by a large, backwards baseball cap he most likely swiped from Sensei because of the initials Y.H stitched into the back of the cap.

April didn't understand why they all looked stunned at her question, and she felt a weird sensation in her stomach grow with every second they didn't answer her question. They all should have been jumping at her questions, ready to reveal some sort of ridiculous yet hilariously heartwarming story about how the youngest of them joined their crew, yet none of them did. In fact, it almost seemed like all of them were hesitant to forfeit any information on the subject, like, it was taboo or something. Which threw April through a giant loop. Why would, after all they told her, why would this be something they kept to themselves.

Unless...

"We can't, really, tell you April," Leo started, but April was quick to the rebuttal. After the entire story, about how the boys came from awful places, why was this the one thing they didn't want to share?

"You can't or you don't want to?" April asked, and both Raph and Donnie shared a glance as they looked towards the eldest of them. Leo sighed, running his hand through his hair.

"It's not like that April, really. We just can't tell you," he began but once he saw April about to argue back, he shot his hands up in defense to cover April's mouth. "And it's not like we don't want to, I promise. Like, I mean, we really can't tell you. We don't know."

April's furrowed her brow and didn't say anything until Leo had released his hands from her mouth. "What do you mean, you don't know?" She said slowly, and Leo let out another long sigh as Raph returned to typing out his essay.

"He mean's, we really don't know," Donnie began explaining, letting his head rest against his propped arm. "We don't even think Mikey knows. He was really little when we found him. Well, technically Raph was the one that found him. He was walking down by the pier on the way back to the apartment complex we were staying at at the time. It was about to be destroyed for reconstruction or something, so Raph was off looking for a new place for us stay when he heard a noise coming from under one of the more remote loading docks. It was raining really hard at the time, so I guess that's why Mikey was hiding under there, probably for cover. He was crying his head off and wouldn't tell Raph anything about him. Raph assumed he was lost and just brought him home with him, thinking that once he was at least dried off and out of the rain, he'd talk."

"Oh he talked all right. Kid wouldn't shut up about some cat he found once Leo had gotten him to calm down and dried off," Raph muttered, typing fiercely on his laptop. "But whenever we tried to get any info about his parents or where he came from, he'd either clam up or say he didn't know. Still does the same thing now even after all these years. If we try to ask him, he just shrugs it off, saying he doesn't remember or his earliest memories are with us in that old, piece of shit building we lived in."

"We kinda have no choice but to believe him. We could never find any wanted posters for him or any news of a missing kid matching his description. After a couple of weeks, we sorta just took him in. He really was too little, but we didn't know what else to do with him. And we sort of all grew attached. After Sensei found us and wanted to adopt us, he always said Mikey was, well, not really the hardest, but the most confusing adoption. There was no record of Mikey anywhere that he could find. Almost like Mikey never existed, as far as legal matters go. Child services had a field day with him when they found out Mikey had never been vaccinated," Leo explained, rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.

"That was a fun day," Donnie muttered, sighing loudly. "To this day, Mikey throws a fit whenever he has to go in to get a shot or to get his blood work done. And don't get me started on him taking pills."

"In the end though, it doesn't really matter," Leo said, looking April straight in the eye. "The point is, we all were able to find each other and that's the important part. Donnie found me, I found Raph, Raph found Mikey and Sensei found all of us. Doesn't matter where we came from, just matters where we are now."

April allowed Leo to take the album from her, sliding it out of her hands and closing it softly before getting up and returning it to it's spot on the bookshelf. It grew quiet, the only real notable sound was the rain pouring outside and the soft clicking sound of Raph typing on his computer.

She would be lying if she said it wasn't a lot to take in, and she was kinda thankful for the silence the boys gave her to process it all.

Her boys. Her boys. It was almost unreal with what they had to go through. They didn't just go through their childhoods, they survived it. And they came out of as the loving, sweet and amazing boys she knew and loved. They didn't let their pasts define them. They came out the other side better than ever. And they did it together.

Her best friends. Practically her brothers. Her family.

Her heart swelled with emotion and gratitude for all the people that lucked out. All the people that had abandoned them, hurt them, let them slip from their fingers. They didn't deserve them. None of them did. And thank God they didn't, because then she wouldn't have known who her family was, and life without her boys wasn't a life she'd ever want to imagine. It was impossible.

"You ok April?" Donnie asked, shifting himself so that he was now off the floor and sitting on the couch beside her, patting her foot with a worried crease in his brow.

April nodded. "Yeah, I just... I need to remember to say a thank you to Master Yoshi when he comes back."

"For what?" Donnie cocked his head to the side in confusion, but Leo simply nodded at her as if he understood.

"Kinda, for everything, I guess?" April replied, but before Donnie could ask for her to explain further, a loud bang all caught there attention as a cold wind quickly came and left the room.

"The FUUUUUUUUUN HAS ARRRRIIIIIIIIIIVED!" Mikey practically sang, bouncing up and down at the door as he shook his shoes off energetically. "Did you all miss me terribly?"

"Terribly is one way to put it," Raph muttered, closing his laptop at the sight of the pizzas that Mikey now placed beside him. "The pizzas better be all there, in perfect condition, and warm Mikey, or so help me-"

"Relax Raphie, they're fine. I made absolutely NO detours. You'd be proud of me. I didn't even try to sneak a bite on the way over here, so just be glad they're not soaking wet," Mikey breathed heavily, falling over the couch and halfway onto April's lap, making her squeal.

"Ahh-Mikey! You're soaking wet! And freezing!" She complained, but Mikey made no effort to remove himself as he suck himself lower into the couch and onto April.

"Uh, duh. That's what happens when you go outside in the rain. I hauled major keister to get here and back and sadly, not even Raphie's sweatshirt was able to keep me protected from the elements, like rain. And wind. And taxi cars."

"That last one's not an element. And please don't tell me you almost had a run in with a taxi car," Donnie said.

"Fine. I didn't almost had a run in with a taxi car."

"Mikey."

"A taxi car almost had a run in with me."

"Mikey!"

"Get off me, Mikey! You're getting me wet!" April cried, shoving Mikey towards Donnie.

"No, you're warm," Mikey whined but let himself be pushed into the brunette, who would have quickly tackled Mikey if Leo hadn't gotten to him first and pulled him to his feet, pushing the blond to his room.

"First, get dry and change into your pj's. Then, you better come up with a good excuse about how you didn't almost get run over, if you know what's good for you and don't want me confiscating you skateboard for the rest of the year," Leo said sharply and Mikey puffed out his bottom lip in protest.

"Geez, I went through all the trouble of getting my loving family pizza for a relaxing night in, and this is the thanks I get?" Mikey feigned hurt, putting his arm dramatically over his forehead. "After I slaved to get here as soon as I could, nearly risking life and limb to bring you all nutriment. And you threaten me! In my own home! And won't even let me relax on my own couch! You wound me!"

"Son of a- You dirty liar! Half of the pepperoni is gone!" Raph called out angrily from the kitchen, instantly bringing Mikey out of his depressed stupor.

"On second thought, I hear my room and a cozy pair of underwear calling me, if ya'll excuse me."

"You want wounded, I'll show you wounded, come 'ere you little brat!" Raph charged Mikey as they both bolted down the hallway towards their rooms. April couldn't help but let out a laugh as she watched them disappear around the corner. Donnie just sighed loudly as Leo rolled his eyes as he made his way to the kitchen. He opened the cupboard door and began bringing out plates and glasses.

"What are we going to do with them?"

"Love them? Feed them? Never leave them?" Donnie replied, as if the response was so practiced, it was second nature. April sank herself further into the couch, letting herself smile when she heard Mikey's pleas for Raph to stop interrupting into a burst of giggles. "Or we could always sell them to a zoo. I'm sure they'd love some more wild animals. Put Raph with the rhinos. Mikey would make a good monkey. His name and personality are already halfway there."

"Nah, I don't think they'd sell for very high. They'd probably try to refund us for their money back within the first week," Leo answered, handing both April and Donnie a plate of pizza as Donnie turned the t.v on and switched it to Netflix. "Guess we're going to have to go with your first suggestion, Dee."

"Don't we always?" Donnie answered as Leo sat himself down on the couch with his own plate of pizza and a class of soda.

"I think I prefer it that way, anyway," April muttered, leaning closer to Donnie has he pulled up the first Jurassic Park movie.

"Yeah," Leo replied, smiling when he noticed Raph walking in carrying a freshly pajamaed Mikey on his back, the blond fiercely rubbing his mop of curls with a towel as they made their way to secure more pizza and officially begin their movie night marathon.

"Me too."

Finally, got it done! Phew! Why the heck is the prologue so long? Simple, there was a lot to explain in order to set up the scene for the new story! Thanks for waiting so long guys! I hope you enjoy it and continue to support it as we get into more about the lives of our favorite ninja brothers! Prepare for a whole heck of a lot of angst, tension, and brotherly love. XOXO until next time!