I'm not gunna lie, I have no motivation left to carry out this story. :(

Word came in that morning from their father in the form of a call from an unknown number.

With all the drama happening of late, the boys had almost forgotten about their parent's absence. They had only begun to worry within the last two weeks about what he could be doing away from home for so long.

Not to say their father hadn't had his fair share of prolonged long distance trips before, but usually they would receive texts from him through Leo telling them where he was, how he was doing, and asking if his boys would be alright without him for another week or so.

Apparently, he had misplace his phone somewhere and was unable to communicate with them until he managed to get a new one. And that had taken longer than expected since the friend he was visiting lived secluded in the mountains of Colorado with no communication to the outside world, and miles away from it too.

In the call their dad told them he would be coming home soon.

The three older siblings went about cleaning up the house, having Casey and April go out and get their groceries for the month, taking care of the yard, and doing some much needed interior and exterior repairs. Repairs like the busted pipe under the sink that Donnie had replaced. Or where the gutter had been pulled from the porch awning from that fat raccoon on the roof the other day that Raph spent all morning fixing back into place. The lawn looked vibrant, and lively, thanks to Leo's determination to mow -and rake the leaves- from the entirety of their property. And the inside was looking spotless thanks to the efforts of the little family.

Normality.

That's the word Mikey would use to describe it.

Or, at least, that's what his siblings seemed to be striving for. Clean the house. Stock the food. The usual and familiar routine they preformed whenever their father was coming home from a trip.

It almost felt like nothing out of the ordinary had even happened while their father was away. Mikey hadn't made a real friend. His brothers never found out about it. He'd never ran away from home, fallen in love with his new best friend, made out with his brother, and his brother certainly hadn't confessed any sort of romantic feelings for him in the process. He hadn't been involved in a gang massacre. Raph hadn't been kidnapped. They didn't walk right into a trap to save him. And Luther was never killed.

He could almost believe it too.

Could almost muster the strength to get out of bed and do something productive.

Almost forget how detached and empty he felt.

Almost believe it had all been a dream.

God, he wish he could.

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.

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The day was crawling by at a snail's pace. Noon was just around the corner as the boys finished up their chores. Casey and April were due back any minute now with groceries, and the guys decided to relax in front of the TV for a while until they showed up.

Raph had the controller of their new game consul Donnie had scrounged up, and was busy ignoring Leo's cheering and jeering beside him as he focused on the screen -tongue clenched tight between his teeth, poking out of his mouth in concentration.

Donnie sat on the smaller couch, typing away at his laptop at a speed that could easily break the sound barrier if he'd wanted to. A blanket was tossed over his lap to keep him safe from the cold chill of the weather.

As Raphael had been saying all day, in the grave, foreboding way he had no doubt also picked up from The Game of Thrones, winter was coming. And they all could feel it in their cold blooded bones.

Leo laughed and threw himself back against the couch as Raph grew frustrated after dying for the fifth time on the same level.

Donnie wanted to point out how useless it was. That Raph could try all week if he wanted, but without Mikey there to do the Vanilla Secret 2 trick for him, he was doomed to lose all his lives and start all over again and again until he inevitably threw a tantrum and gave up. But, mentioning Mikey with the state he was in would only bring the others down, so he kept his mouth shut.

The level started back up with the happy nerve wracking trill of Mario music playing through the speakers. Raph grunted as he jerked the controller up, trying to make a jump onto a moving landing.

A knock at the door broke his focus momentarily, but right back to his game instantaneously. Leo and Donnie looked toward the door curiously.

"I guess they're back." Leo stated, looking to Donnie with a raised brow.

The knocking came again, sounding patient but persistent, and maybe a little hesitant.

"What are they knocking for? They know they can just come right in." Don mused quizzically.

"Beats me." Raph said, just as confused as his brothers, if not a little distracted.

"Maybe they're carrying too much and can't open the door." Leo laughed. "You know Casey's one-trip-only rule."

Donnie stood up to answer it, setting his laptop on the coffee table, and tossing his blanket aside to get up.

"There wasn't that much on the list. Milk, eggs, bacon, bread, coffee, pizza, pop tarts, cheese. Raph's spaghetti-os-"

"Don't talk shit on my sketti-os!"

"So, between the two of them," Donnie continued, reaching the knob and turning it to let them in. "it shouldn't be all that hard to..."

The room was engulfed in a stunned, awe struck silence. It's only break being the music of a failed level, as Mario fell off a cliff due to Raph's negligence.

Leatherhead stood in the doorway in all of his nervous, anticipation filled glory. And he continued to stand there awkwardly as the three brothers looked at him in matching degrees of shock and disbelief.

He lowered his hand from where he was about to deliver another series of knocks, sticking both in his pockets with a bashful smile.

"Uh... hey guys." Luther started, clearing his throat before continuing. "Is, um... is Mikey home?"

The silence continued. The Hamato brothers all looked like they'd seen a ghost. And, honestly, they had. It was standing in their doorway asking for their brother. They weren't really sure what to do.

"Oh my god!" Raph suddenly shouted, dropping his controller onto the coffee table as he started freaking out.

He began ranting quietly to himself, Leo remained sitting still, a gaping mute in the situation, and Donnie started yelling for their youngest sibling.

.

.

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Mikey stirred from the sound of his name being practically screamed from downstairs. He groaned as he pushed himself up from his nest of a bed. His brothers hadn't bothered him all day. For the last few days, really. And he appreciated the solitude.

He knew they wouldn't be disturbing him if it wasn't important. Especially with Donnie yelling like that.

Maybe their dad made it home early.

He picked himself up -disheveled long white t-shirt, boxers, unruly hair and all- and left his room. He carried himself heavily down the hall to the stairs, looking at his feet all of half way down them.

"What is it, Donnie...?" He drawled out in a sleepy voice, shoulders slumping and heart going still as he looked up to see a dearly departed face in the doorway.

His body froze up. His breathing stopped for all of five seconds as his mind struggled to wrap around who was standing in front of him.

Luther smiled in what only could be considered joy, and unbridled relief once Mikey met his eyes. His eyes stung, and his chest felt tight, and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding, sounding an awful lot like, "Michael..."

Suddenly Mikey's body was moving on auto pilot. One foot dropping down to the next step, unsteadily. Then another following that one, slowly. Then he was running down the stairs.

Donnie stepped out of the way just in time for their baby brother to crash land into Luther's sturdy frame. Luther caught him like he was weightless. He didn't notice the burn and pull of his many protesting injuries, didn't care how his muscles ached at the use after so long. All he was concerned about was the boy in his arms, crying into his shoulder like the world was falling apart.

"I thought-" Mikey sobbed, curling his arms around Luther's neck to hold him tighter. "I thought you were-"

"I know... It's alright... I'm fine. Everything's okay."

Mikey gave a few more hics and cries before attempting to control himself, pulling away to look at him.

"I went back to find you," Mikey said, swallowing something thick in his throat. "but I- I couldn't get in, and then-"

The bandage covering a whole side of Luther's face distracted him for a bit, cutting off his explanation, leaving him gaping in worry before saying softly.

"What happened to your face?" He moved his arm back, fingers brushing the bandages like butterfly wings. Thick concern held a place in Mikey's voice, but happiness and the jitters of excitement kept his tone light. Luther was alive. Wounded, yes, but alive.

Luther refrained from answering, and lowered him back onto his own feet, but kept his hands on Mikey's sides, afraid to let go. What with the fire, Mikey was sure to know how the injury got there.

Mikey took a good look at him before carrying on with, "Oh god, what happened to your hair?" He laughed breathlessly, sniffling and swiping at his nose with the back of his hand.

"Some of it was singed. I felt like it had to go." Luther explained, letting Mikey reach up and run his hands through the shorter strands of his bangs. "Do you like it?"

"I love it." Mikey almost squeaked, voice breaking as he shook his head, before lunging in for another hug. "I'm so glad you're alive!"

Luther answered back with a nuzzle of agreement. And the two were content to just stand there squeezing the life out of each other.

The mood dropped abruptly when the female at the door stepped in, clearing her throat to gain the lovers' attention.

"You probably shouldn't be so rough on him, sweetheart. His injuries are still pretty bad." Rennet said, locking eyes with each of the three brothers on the couch an giving a nervous little wave.

Each of them shot up in defensive panic. Mikey let go of Luther completely, remembrance dawning on his face as he recognized who the woman was.

Realization quickly morphed to anger and he took a step passed Luther, the word, "You." rolling off his tongue and between his teeth in a hiss.

Luther caught him around the waist, keeping him from attacking, with a shaky laugh.

"Easy there, Michael, she's a friendly."

"No. She tried to kill us!" Mikey countered back, looking pissed, but eyes resigned with confusion, as he tried to get out of Luther's grip.

"She's the reason I'm still alive."

Mikey stopped fighting, body going still, face softening the slightest bit, but musculus staying tight; coiled, ready to strike. His brow was creased, narrowed down with distaste of their situation, baby blues searching a solitary green for an explanation when there was a known enemy standing in their threshold.

Luther sighed, relaxed a bit now that he was sure Mikey wouldn't act without hearing him out.

"We got out of the fire together. She found us a place to stay, and fixed me up. I wanted to come find you sooner, but my injuries were too much to be moving around."

Mikey looked at the floor, eyes dropping, mouth set in a thin line. "And I wasn't there."

"You didn't know." Luther lifted his chin up, gazes locked. Then let his palm flatten against Mikey's cheek. "And neither did I. I drove myself crazy not knowing if you were alright, or not. But that's how bad it was. She took care of me."

Mikey took a deep breath, holding Luther's hand against his face, and leaning into the contact slightly. Brow still tight, and eyes like cold stone, Mikey looked back at Rennet, hands lowering, but still holding on.

"You kidnapped my brother." He stated, voice unreadable in it's flat tone. But everyone felt a certain chill crawl up their backs when he spoke.

She had the decency to glance over at the mentioned redhead, and look a bit ashamed, before turning back to Mikey with a nod.

"I did."

"Why."

Raph felt something oddly fuzzy warm, yet frosty to the touch settled heavily in his gut at the ferocity of Mikey's protectiveness. It was nauseating, like the feeling you get after standing up too fast, and he felt the need to fall back onto the couch. He swallowed his jumpy nerves and stood his ground.

"I had my orders." She replied, sounding strangely detached to the excuse. Like she'd had to use it a thousand times before and this was just another notch in her belt.

"And what are your orders now?" Mikey asked, voice rising a bit louder with irritation. "To cozy up to us? Worm your way into our good graces with "good intentions" then gather information? Spying on us for whoever it is you're working for, is that what you're supposed to be doing?"

Luther opened his mouth to defend her, but snapped it shut when Rennet held up her hand to him. "It's fine, Luther."

She looked Mikey in the eyes.

"I deserve this. I wouldn't expect any less from the family I almost tore apart." She granted, understanding Mikey's outrage. "But my orders now are my own. For all they know, I'm dead now, and I plan to keep it that way."

"You tried to kill us." Leo butted in, standing from the couch in all his authoritative pride, and protectiveness, and glared hard at the woman in their doorway. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You can't." She said, agreeing that the circumstances were grave. "I certainly wouldn't trust my family with someone like me. Not after what I've done. But I want you to know I'm sorry."

"Oh, well if you're sorry, then sure. Water under the bridge." Raph said dryly, sarcasm like the bite of a snake.

Luther pulled Mikey a bit to the side, leaning in close to keep their conversation a bit discrete.

"Michael, I understand your hostility. If I were in your shoes, I'm not so sure I'd be as levelheaded as you are right now." He whispered. "But I assure you, she is more than trust worthy. And she needs to lay low for a while. I'm going to keep a close eye on her; find her and I a place to hunker down in for a while. She won't be any danger to you, or your family, I promise you."

"What? No." Mikey said, a whole new level of concern, and a touch of unmovable decision shining through his expression. "You're not going anywhere."

The rise of his voice drew the attention of the three debating siblings, and X-government agent in the room.

"You're staying right here where I know you'll be taken care of right. You'll be lucky if I even think about letting you out of my sight in the next year!" He laughed, almost like the mere idea of Luther leaving again was absolutely ridiculous. "You're not just gunna stop in, say hi, then run off again. No. No way in hell. You're officially moved in until further notice."

Mikey looked over at his brothers with sharp eyes and a biting tone. "And no one is going to have any problems with that." He said pointedly.

"But, Michael, what about her?" He asked, a little at a loss at how to tell Mikey no, but trying and failing to come up with another solution in his head.

"You're right. We can't just let her go off on her own. Weather she be looking to turn us over, or actually needs a place to squat for a while, she shouldn't be left unsupervised." Leo pointed out. "She can stay here, where we can look out for her. She can decide weather it be for protection or imprisonment."

The sound of a car pulling up to the house could be heard outside the open doorway, followed by two car doors slamming. There was a moment of bickering between two teenagers, something along the lines of "All in one trip or you're a wuss.", and "We'll see who's a wuss! Race you to the kitchen!"

Running feet came bounding up the stairs, and, suddenly, a pony-tailed red head ran through the front door, arms full of paper grocery bags. Not really bothering to see who all was in her way, April darted around everyone in her path to fly into the kitchen.

Casey burst in a moment later, only to halt in the living room, cursing while out of breath, as April ran to the threshold of the kitchen to point and laugh victoriously at her friend.

Before Casey could sulk and drag his feet -and the rest of the groceries- to the kitchen, they noticed the two additional people in the room with the six of them, and proceeded to be surprised.

"Who are they?" - "Who the hell are you?"

Casey and April asked almost simultaneously.

The brothers understood their friends' concern. It was basically unheard of for anyone out of their tight knit circle to ever show up around their house. And here were two in one day.

Mikey stepped toward his surrogate siblings, Luther being dragged along at their joined hands.

"This is Luther. My boyfriend." He said, voice hesitating a bit at how April gave a knowing smirk in Donnie's direction at his name. That jerk probably told her everything, in explicate Donatello dramatized detail.

Mikey sighed.

"And this-" He gestured toward Renet, an introduction on his tongue that fell short when she cut him off.

"I'm Lisa. Lisa Headrick." She said, holding her hand out for April to take. Smile happy and easy going. "I'm Luther's sister."

"April." The redhead replied, taking her hand with a polite smile aimed right back.

"Nice to meet you." Renet said, leaning in a bit to mumble to her playfully. "I'm so glad there's another girl around. Between you and me, the drama these boys get into is fanominal."

April laughed.

"Yeah its pretty much a never ending roller coaster around here. But, yeah, it was good meeting you too." Pleasantries aside, April was getting one of those gut feelings that something very different than a simple visit was happening here and they were in the way.

"But one of those bags has ice cream in it. Better finish putting the groceries away, right Casey?"

"Huh?" Casey tilted his head confused at the look April was giving him, all wide blue eyes with intent expectancy. Then she gave a small nod toward the kitchen, before turning to walk away, and he scrambled to follow. "Oh, yeah! Yeah, I'm commin'!"

The two scurried out of the way, leaving the Hamato's to deal with them on their own.

"So you're my sister now?" Luther asked, quirking a brow at her, though it was hard to tell with half his face wrapped in bandages.

"Assuming you're still grateful to me for nursing you to health, and are willing to serve as a cover for me; yes, dear brother, unfortunately I've been stuck with you all my life."

"So this is settled then?" Asked Donatello. "I mean, I agree with Leo. Keeping an eye on her is the best option we have. But dad's coming home today? What are we going to tell him about all of this?"

"Right. Suddenly having two new house guests won't be easy to explain." Leo said. "Unless the two of you continue living where you've been held up all this time?"

"What did I just get done sayin', Leo? No! No no no no. Luther's staying-"

"Michael." Luther interrupted, reaching out to hold Mikey's hand. "The two of us can settle down in the shack. I won't be that far away. Everything will go back to the way things were before. It'll be fine."

Begrudgingly convinced, Mikey sighed in defeat and gave in to Luther's argument. "Okay. Okay, you're right."

He leaned in and all but collapsed into a hug, pouting into Luther's t-shirt. Luther hugged him back like they were the only two in the room, leaving the four others as quiet onlookers.

Luther put his hands on Mikey's shoulders, stepping back a bit to look down at him. "We should be going. I don't wan't to freak out your father."

Then the door was open, a middle aged man walking in with a walking stick and a suitcase, smiling as he entered his home after such a long journey.

"Boys, I'm back-" All traces of happiness and relief to be home fell from his face as he looked at the two strangers standing in his living room.

The shock quickly passed as he spotted all his sons in the room -all in one piece, mostly- expression giving way to a touch of anger.

"What is going on here?"

"Oh boy." Leo sighed, scratching at the back of his neck.

"Hi dad." Donnie and Raph mumbled, both equally as resigned to their fate as their older brother.

Splinter's eyes narrowed, seeing April and Casey poke their heads around the corner to watch the situation unfold.

"Who are these people in our house?"

"Welcome home dad!" Mikey said, pulling himself from Luther's arms to face his father. "Man have we got a story for you."

The End

Okay so, like I said, this is all I have the motivation to do anymore. I imagined Rennet took on the name Monalisa and her and Raph have a thing, but I can't. The story has run it's course for me, and I hope you all enjoyed it :)