***
Veronica pulled her newly acquired pickup truck into the school parking lot. Well, it used to be the school parking lot. Now, there was no school. Just a big empty lot. She could still see the scorch marks where the gym had been.
Veronica sighed. Those were the days.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake. She tried to keep her balance but ended up falling back on her ass. A large drill came up from underground, followed by the rest of the vehicle. The door opened and a warthog and rhinoceros walked out, both on two feet.
Any rational, sane human being would be running for their life. Veronica stayed where she was.
"Hey, sis!" The rhino called in a very familiar voice.
Veronica blinked. The clothes and body posture were a dead giveaway. "Brother?"
"Ooh, I'm glad you remember me," Rocksteady said, giving here a hand up. "I was worried the doctors had done something to make you forget."
"Not really," Veronica answered casually, brushing herself off. She looked up to see a tall man in armor exiting the craft.
He walked up to her and bowed. "I am The Shredder."
"Veronica," she answered, trying not to giggle at the name. "Are you my brother's employer?"
Shredder chuckled. "So well spoken. Are you sure you're related to that idiot?" he asked, hiking his thumb at Rocksteady.
"Unfortunately."
Rocksteady grabbed her arm. "Come on, we gotsta get you outta here before some cops show up."
"Or the toitles," Bebop added.
"Turtles?" Veronica asked. "Mutants like you?"
Shredder shook his fist. "On the side of good," he spat.
"I like turtles," Veronica answered, sounding very much like a small child.
"Not these ones, sis. They fight fair and everything."
Veronica shrugged and let herself be led to the module.
***
"Donatello! Please wait up!"
Donatello finally relented and let Angel catch up with him. "Yes?"
"Why are you mad at me?" she asked bluntly. If it's one thing Donatello's learned since meeting her was that Angel never beat around the bush. She was very direct, and sometimes that was a problem.
"I'm not mad at you," Donatello replied, starting to walk away again.
Angel grabbed his arm. "Then why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm not…"
"Yes, you are! Whenever I walk in a room, you make up some excuse to leave, or just leave without a word. I bet you even talked Leo into splitting us up on patrol. Was it something I said?"
"No, Angel."
"Is it because I beat you in practice?"
"No, I'm proud that you beat me, you've improved so much…"
"Was it the kiss?"
Donatello bowed his head. That was it. Angel let go of his hand and sighed.
"Donatello, I'm sorry if I was out of line."
"No," Donatello said, still looking at the ground. "It just surprised me." He finally looked up. "I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before! It's not like there's a users manual I can skim through."
Angel smirked. There probably was a book out there somewhere. "Alright, I'm glad you told me. I'll slow down if you want. I really want this to work, Donatello, and the first thing you have to do is talk to me about these things."
"Well, since you brought it up…" He smiled at her shocked expression. "How about over pizza?"
Angel smiled. "Great idea." She slipped her arm through his. "If we're sneaky enough, we can grab our coats without anyone asking to come with us."
"Knowing my family, doubtful."
They both laughed all the way back to the lair.
***
Veronica stood silently off to the side, as was her habit. She watched quietly and gathered information about those around her. That's the funny thing about people, they hide their true self when others are around. If you don't call attention to yourself, you can catch glimpses of what others don't want you to know.
Bebop was the only other person in the room she knew besides her brother. He was the only one she knew that was stupider than her brother.
She turned her attention to Shredder. He was really comfortable in that armor, she could tell. She didn't like him, didn't even respect him. He wasn't even attractive enough for a one-nighter. Or maybe that was just the armor, and once she got it off…
She turned her attention to Krang. Not much to him. Just a brain in an android suit. God, if he had to have a suit, couldn't he make it a little less ugly? But he was intelligent, and she had to respect that. Only that.
Krang was looking over her scans. For the last hour she'd been poked and prodded with various alien instruments. It was almost as bad as the institute.
"This is quite remarkable," he commented. "You're almost as intelligent as I am. Very impressive. And you're in very good health for being in that place for the last two years. I'm glad they never got around to a lobotomy."
"Thank you," Veronica said softly. She glanced over at Shredder, who was staring at her. She pulled her arms around herself self-consciously and remembered that she was still in her hospital uniform.
"I'm going to need some new clothes," she said.
"Hmm?" Krang looked over at her. "Yes, it would seem you do. You'll have to go to the surface though. There aren't many outlet shops down here."
Veronica gave a polite smile at the pitiful attempt at humor.
***
Veronica turned in front of the three-way mirror. She liked the style but goldenrod really wasn't her color. She picked up another and held it up in front of her.
Bebop and Rocksteady waited by the transport. In fact, they'd been waiting close to twenty minutes. Bebop snorted. "Why does it take women so long to choose one dress?"
Rocksteady shrugged. "I lived with her for fifteen years, and I couldn't figure her out then."
They both looked up when they heard brakes outside. The Turtlevan was parked just outside the store's large front window.
"The toitles!" Rocksteady exclaimed. He tried to push Veronica towards the transport.
"No! I'm not ready yet!" she yelled. She shoved a blue dress in her bag and headed for lingerie.
The Turtles rushed in, weapons ready. Angel disarmed the two mutants with her weapon, the ring on the end htting their blasters way.
"You two decide to take up second jobs as cross dressers?" Raphael joked.
"Ooh, you toitles are gonna get it!"
Of course, the two didn't stand a chance. They were out numbered and out classed. They were pretty much beat until Veronica returned. With amazing speed, she grabbed Leonardo around the shoulders and neck.
"One move and I snap his neck!" They all stopped and stared. One look at her face told them that she was not bluffing. The Turtles backed away slowly. Veronica tossed her shopping bag to her brother and backed towards the transport, still holding Leonardo. Her fingernails dug into his shoulder, thin lines of blood trailing down his arm. She placed one foot inside the transport and threw Leonardo into a mannequin. They were gone before Leonardo could get to his feet.
"That was her," Donatello said slowly. "The Matthews woman."
"Aw, man!" Michaelangelo exclaimed. "Now they've got a psycho on their side. As if they weren't bad enough!"
Leonardo rubbed his shoulder and his hand came back stained with blood. She'd been so strong. Strong enough to break through even his tough skin. Impressive.
***
Veronica twirled in front of the full-length mirror. She was now in one of the Technodrome's storage rooms, which had been turned into a bedroom for her. They did a decent decorating job, for men.
She decided that this was her favorite dress, a deep blue with the skirt brushing above her knees. It was the same color as his mask. She ran the material through her thumb and forefinger, remembering the feel of his skin. She'd had a pet turtle once, when she was ten. She loved it so much, feed it, cleaned the tank, changed the water. She did everything and it still died. "Just, its time," her mother had said.
Veronica sat on the bed and rested her arms on her thighs.
***