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Author's Chapter Notes:

Hey y'all!!! Been forever, I know. I just felt the urge to update something tonight & decided this fic would be it. Dunno where y'all are lately, but hope y'all are having fun doing whatever it is y'all are doing! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Only own Catarina, Marietta, baddies, & Rembrandt. Mirage Studios owns everything TMNT. Thank-you!

Soon enough, practice was over, much to the relief of everyone, as Marie and Raphael were still going at it - the younger girl still in a fit of rage. Everyone but the two still pretty much wrestling, left the dojo and headed off in their own directions. Mikey, Rembrandt, and Rina heading for the kitchen; Leo and Master Splinter to his study to discuss things; and Donatello to his lab.

 

"So.....now what do we do?" Rembrandt asked, gulping down the glass of water Mikey had handed him.

 

"Anything we want," Rina smiled. "You can watch T.V., read a book, practice more ninjitsu, play board games, nap, anything!"

 

"Wow," Rembrandt said, not used to having so many rather exciting things to choose from. "I'm....not sure what all of that is.....but it sure sounds fun!"

 

"Ooh! I know! Let's play Twister!" Mikey exclaimed, placing his glass in the sink.

 

"Twister?" Rembrandt repeated.

 

"You'll like it," Rina beamed. "It's a whole lot of fun! Even if Leo likes to cheat when he spins."

 

Mikey chuckled. "That just proves Fearless knows how to have fun," he laughed merrily, leading the way back out into the den as he fetched the game from under the couch - it had been shoved there after the last time they'd played. "I'll spin!"

 

Rina rolled her eyes. "But, of course."

 

"How do you play?" Rembrandt asked, eyeing the mat Mikey set upon the floor.

 

"You just do as Mikey says, without falling over," Rina informed him. "And no sticking your butt on the ground for a rest either, like Marie does! She complains Leo cheats, when she does too!"

 

Rembrandt smiled, as this game sounded like lots of fun. "I'll try," he promised.

 

"Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," Mikey assured him, as they began to play. "Left hand blue......"

 

"What is our next course of action, Sensei?" Leonardo queried, as he kneeled before his father after they had closed the door to the Master Splinter's study. "We need to insure that they don't come looking for us - or Rembrandt."

 

"I believe it may be best to lay low for a few days, and go from there," Master Splinter replied, from where he sat on his mat. "I do not wish for a repeat of last night, and I am forbidding the girls and Rembrandt to leave the lair until further notice. I do not want to see harm come to any of them, anymore than it already has."

 

"Agreed, Sensei," Leonardo agreed readily. He was going to suggest the girls stay below until further notice - and Rembrandt staying in the lair until further notice was a given, since he didn't know near enough ninjitsu just yet.

 

"You and your brothers are to do half hour patrols only," Master Splinter continued. "I do not wish to see harm come to any of you either."

 

"But Sensei - " Leo began, only to have Master Splinter raise his hand to silence him.

 

"My son, it is for the best at this point in time," Master Splinter stated firmly. "I had best not find out about any of you leaving the lair any longer than necessary, or there shall be dire consequences."

 

"Hai, Sensei," Leonardo replied, bowing humbly. "I shall inform the others."

 

"I will be sure to back you up, should you run into any problems when explaining these new restrictions," Master Splinter assured him.

 

Leo nodded his understanding, as he understood perfectly where their Father was coming from.

 

Back in the dojo, Marie still struggled to get out from under her brother in red. She had managed to come close to it, but no cigar yet - which was just intensifying her already immense anger. She paused momentarily to catch her breath, deciding to attempt a different tactic then. Maybe if she was still long enough, Raph would ease up and she could take him by surprise. Least that was what she was hoping, as she just had to teach him a lesson he so richly deserved for calling her weak, of all things!

 

Raphael snorted when he saw Marie was still for a long time, "Nice try, Runt, but I know what you're trying to pull. And it's not going to work."

 

"Oh, I HATE you!" screamed Marie, pounding her fists on the floor.

 

"Quit acting like you're five! It's annoying," said Raphael, nudging her with his foot. They sat there like that for a few more minutes.

 

"Hey, how about I let you up?" said Raphael, poking her with his finger, "And when I do, I know you're gonna come after me, so I'm not going to pull my punches. Then you can see that you just ain't strong enough yet."

 

Marie glared at him, ready to attack whenever he let her up. "Sure, whatever," she grumbled in reply.

 

Raphael moved off and Marie scrambled to her feet. She laid into Raphael who returned her attacks with greater force. It actually hurt when he hit her and he wasn't going easy on her. They took up the entire dojo as they battled; punches and kicks flying back and forth between them.

 

Marie leapt at Raphael but he caught her in the side with a punch and then a kick to the side of her head. The younger turtle landed on the mats and laid still.

 

Raphael stood still, his clenched fists held tightly to his side. Marie's shoulders shuddered and he heard quiet sobbing. He let out a sigh and bent down next to her. "Marie…"

 

"I'm sorry," she said in a stuttering cry.

 

Raphael rubbed her shoulder, "It'll be okay, Kid, I promise."

 

Marie let out a growl and pulled away from him, "No it won't. You have no idea, Raph."

 

"No, but I've been that angry before," he told her.

 

In the living room, Rembrandt had lost his first game of Twister to Rina.

 

"Redo, redo!" he cried as he fell on top of her as she giggled at him. "I don't have the balance like she does," he said as he crawled off of her.

 

Rina poked him in the shoulder, "Don't complain, it doesn't suit you."

 

Rembrandt grinned, "I'll complain if I wanna."

 

"No more Twister, I'm hungry," said Mikey, throwing the spinner down and heading into the kitchen.

 

"I'm gonna go read," Rina said, jumping up and racing down the hallway.

 

"But you haven't eaten in forever!" Mikey shouted, one hand on the doorway to the kitchen. He shook his head and looked back at Rembrandt who was following him. "Girls," he grumbled before entering the kitchen. "So, what do you want for lunch, Brandt?" he asked as the younger turtle went over to the fridge.

 

"I dunno, what can we have?" he asked, opening the fridge door. "Whatever you want…"

 

"Really?" Rembrandt said, his eye ridges shooting up in surprise, though he knew he ought to not be so surprised.

 

Mikey turned to eye the younger boy. "Brandt, anytime you're hungry, just grab whatever you'd like to eat - so long as nobody else's name is on it."

 

"Ah...." Rembrandt trailed off.

 

Mikey nodded, and opened the freezer. "See this?" He said, pulling an item out. "It's Rina's cookie dough - don't touch it, unless she says you can. And see this chocolate here, this is Marie's leftover birthday chocolate, don't touch or you'll lose a finger - maybe literally, who knows anymore with her."

 

Rembrandt nodded, as Mikey continued to show him the non-touchable items that were in the freezer. "Um....how about that - that pizza," Rembrandt suggested, picking up the frozen pizza.

 

"Good choice, my young friend," Mikey grinned. "Pizza is the one thing we all agree on - though, not quite on the toppings."

 

Rembrandt smiled as Michaelangelo showed him how to make the pizza they'd dug out.

 

Leonardo emerged from Master Splinter's study, deciding he'd best see what everyone else was up too and inform them on the new restrictions. After informing Mikey and Brandt, he headed towards Donatello's lab, wondering just what his brainiac brother was up to now.

 

"Hey, Donnie?" He began, as he entered the lab. "What're you up too?"

 

"Making some new trackers," Donatello replied. "Rembrandt needs one, and Marie as you know, needs a new one herself."

 

Leo smiled some, as he knew this was Donnie's way of trying to protect those he loved as best he could. He was a scientist, not a fighter - but he was a kind, caring scientist who wouldn't dare harm any species unless he'd truly no other choice.

 

"Sensei only wants us out on half hour patrols," Leo informed his brother in purple. "Until things have cooled down some."

 

"I doubt they will, Leo," Donnie said honestly. "For all we know, this is just going to increase attacks on us and anyone who knows us. I mean, they know there's more of us now; I doubt they'll stop at anything just to catch us."

 

Leo sighed, as his brother did have a very good point. "I don't know what to tell you, Donnie," he replied. "I mean, we've lived here all this time and they've never known. And now, all our lives are in danger. Heck, we may even have to move far enough away that they won’t find us. But who knows what they're capable of."

 

"Speaking of which, I want to scan Rembrandt later," Donnie cut in. "To ensure they haven't instilled a tracker of any sort in him."

 

Leo nodded. "Perfectly understandable."

 

Rina meanwhile was in her room, reading her book and enjoying the solitude. She was actually a bit glad Marie had thrown her tantrum, as this meant she had time to herself, until Raph got their hot-headed sister calmed once more. She sighed, as she re-read the same paragraph for the tenth time. She just couldn't concentrate on it. And every time she tried too, an image would flash before her eyes, and she'd have to take a moment to calm her nerves.

 

"Not this angry," Marie insisted, sniffling.

 

"Kid, I almost killed Mikey once," Raph told her. "So, yeah, I've been that angry. But I don't know all of what's going on in that hard head of yours. Wanna tell me, so I can keep yah in line a little better?"

 

"I'm not weak," Marie murmured after a moment's silence.

 

"Is that what the Hell all this is about?" Raph demanded. "'Cause that's just plain stupid, Marie. I just proved you ain't strong 'nough yet."

 

"But I am strong enough!" Marie argued. "I knocked that Bastard on his ass and I coulda killed him! I woulda too, if Rina hadn't been there to stop me!"

 

"Have you not remembered a damned thing Sensei taught us about valuing all life?" Raph retorted.

 

"What about what he did to our lives!" Marie cried. "He coulda killed Rina! And he wouldn't've cared one bit!"

 

"But he didn't," Raph reminded her. "We got there in time to save her."

 

"What if we hadn't've, Raph?" Marie snapped. "What if we'd been too late? I can't have him stealing my sister an' killing her off! I can't let him do that to any of you! I just can't!" She was half tempted to inform him of her plans to go back and actually kill the son of a bitch, but she remained silent about it.

 

Rina felt like the room was closing in on her. She had been having a sort of claustrophobia since the night before, but it was getting worse now. She put her book down and sprang up from the bed. She walked out of the room and down the hallway. Raphael and Marie were still in the dojo, Donnie was talking to Leo in his lab, Master Splinter was in his room, and Rembrandt and Mikey were talking in the kitchen. No one would notice if she stepped out of the lair for a little while. She just needed to be somewhere where no one was asking her questions or staring at her like she was going to break into a hundred pieces at any moment. And above all, she didn't want all these damn walls!

 

"It's not all on your shoulders, y'know," Raphael said, leaning back on his hands, "No one's asking you to take on the world just to protect this family. We're quite good at taking care of ourselves."

 

"I know, but I just can't stand the thought of him…" she mumbled, clenching and unclenching her fists repeatedly.

 

Raphael nodded, "Don't go doing anything stupid, you hear?"

 

"I hear," said Marie, her head lowered. She heard, but that didn't mean she was going to listen and agree.

 

Raphael stood up and stretched his arms. "Ah, well, I'm hungry," Raphael said, "I'm gonna go eat lunch. And you, you're gonna go take a shower. Ya stink."

 

Marie glared at him and shoved him in the shoulder. "I do not, and if I did, you stink worse! Gah, does your sweat have to smell like rotten eggs?" She demanded.

 

Raphael reached out to give her a noogie, but she had already jumped away and headed out of the dojo in the direction of the bathroom.

 

After her shower, Marie walked into the kitchen and salvaged a piece of pizza. There were odd toppings on top of it; Mikey had allowed Rembrandt to express his creativity. So there were chocolate chips and whipped cream and gumdrops on the pizza. It looked disgusting, but Marie sucked it up and ate it.

 

"Do you like it?" asked Rembrandt, looking hopefully at Marie.

 

She nodded, "Yeah, actually, it tastes like dessert pizza."

 

Rembrandt grinned brightly, "That's what everyone else said!"

 

Marie glanced at her brothers and noticed that they were all eating sandwiches. Obviously no one wanted pure sugar for lunch.

 

"Hey," Michelangelo said as an idea came to him, "What if we go out to April's country house for a few weeks? Just until this all blows over, and then we can come back!"

 

“That sounds like a wonderful idea, my son,” Master Splinter stated as he entered the kitchen then. He took a seat, and took a slice of pizza, to appease his new pupil. He too agreed it was like a dessert pizza, and that it would be a good treat to have on certain occasions.

 

“So we’re goin’ to the farm then?” Marie checked. She knew if this was true, she’d have to develop her plan to kill the bastard who’d harmed her family, even sooner than she’d wanted.

 

“Yes, I believe it would be best,” Master Splinter replied.

 

“I’ll give April a ring!” Mikey chirped excitedly, running for the phone. “When do we wanna go, Sensei?”

 

“The day after tomorrow, if it is alright with Ms. O’Neil,” Master Splinter answered, as he finished off the slice of pizza he had in his plate.

 

“What all should we bring, Sensei?” Leo wanted to know. “Other than our weapons, of course.”

 

“Whatever will keep you all occupied and relaxed,” Master Splinter said, as he stood to make himself a cup of tea. “I believe a vacation is in order, and a vacation is what we will have.”

 

“The farm house?” Rembrandt piped up then, wondering just what in the world they were all talking about.

 

“Yeah, it’s a few hours from here,” Raph stated. “Lots of space and sunshine, and great places to do some explorin’.”

 

“You’ll love it!” Marie exclaimed. “There’s so much to do out there! And it’s perfect for ninja games!”

 

Raph chuckled. “The Runt still loves a good game of hide ‘n’ seek.”

 

“And freeze tag!” Marie grinned. “And follow the leader! They’re fun! ‘Sides, they might help Brandt with his ninjitsu, an’ I bet he’s never played any of ‘em before.”

 

“Brandt, I think you’re gonna be her excuse from now on,” Raph smirked. “Anytime she wants to play a game, she’s gonna con yah into it, then demand the rest of us to play.”

 

“Well, it’s my job!” Marie reminded him, smiling.

 

“I think it’s high time for a new job,” Leo teased, smiling at the hot-tempered, yet hyperactive turtle girl.

 

Marie stuck her tongue out at her brother, quickly putting it back in her mouth when she noticed Master Splinter looking.

 

“Well, it’s all set!” Mikey grinned, as he re-entered the kitchen. “Ape said we can use it for as long as we like, long as we give her tomorrow to get some things in orders,” he informed everyone.

 

“Sweet!” Marie cried, jumping as she pumped a fist into the air excitedly. “I’ma go tell Rina!”

 

They all laughed, as she practically flew out of the room to go and inform her sister of the fantastic news! A few moments later, Marie returned with concern and worry etched in her eyes and facial expression.

 

“Rina’s gone!” She exclaimed.

 

"What?" asked Leo, whipping his head around to look at her so fast that his bandanna tails gave a nearly audible snap.

 

"She's gone!" Marie repeated, her eyes widening to stress her point.

 

"Where could she have gone, she was just here," Mikey said, looking over at Rembrandt.

 

The turtle in the grey bandanna shrugged his shoulders, "I dunno; I didn't hear her leave."

 

"She couldn't have gone far," Donatello said, standing up from his chair.

 

"Maybe she just went for a walk in the sewers," said Mikey, not wanting them all to go after her. She was probably feeling crowded and babied and she might completely lose it if they all followed her.

 

"But what if someone got her again?!" shouted Marie, whirling on her heel and heading towards the door. Raphael gave a sharp whistle and she turned around to glare at him, "Do I look like a dog to you?"

 

"Naw, but it worked, didn't it?" he said, "Let someone else go after her."

 

"But she's my sister…" said Marie, going a bit on the possessive side.

 

"No kidding, but she's also ours," put in Leo as he stood up as well. "I'll go talk to her," he said, walking past Marie and heading out the door.

 

"Hey, Leo!" Mikey said, running up to him and catching him by the shoulder, "Lemme do it this time, please?" He made his blue eyes wide and gave Leo the unfailing puppy eyes. "I wanna play the big brother role."

 

Leo stared at him for a moment and then nodded. Perhaps Mikey could reach Rina where he couldn't. "Okay, Mikey," he said and Mikey gave him a grateful smile.

 

"Thanks, bro, I won't let you down." He grabbed a fedora off the shelf and headed out the door.

 

Marie scowled at Raphael, "I could've gone after her. I can handle her moods."

 

"Yeah, I'm sure she really wants to talk to you," said Raphael, rolling his eyes.

 

Marie glared at him and stomped out of the kitchen. She went to her and Rina's room and flopped down on her bed. She didn't know if she wanted to do her plan after they went to the farm house or not. She was frustrated. If she waited until after they got back, her plan might be better. But if she did wait, they might move the lab and then what was she supposed to do? Find it all over again? Gaaahhh… At least she could start planning now and decide later. She pulled a piece of paper out of the drawer and started to write down ideas. She would go in at night of course…and head straight for that guy, wherever he was in the building. It'd be nice if she knew where that was…but oh well! It didn't matter.