If Not For Me - The_Dying_Star (2024)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

𝕴𝖋 𝕹𝖔𝖙 𝕱𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖊

𝕻𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖔𝖌𝖚𝖊

He didn't remember a time when he had felt this at peace. He didn't remember much of anything really.

Weird.

Everything was wonderful here.

Everything was perfect here.

He didn't need to remember.

𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.

He stretched his arms up toward the sunshine and smiled at the steady warmth that he absorbed from it as he wandered the large expanse of tall glittering green grass. It felt good on his pebbly textured green skin.

𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Leo?

He stopped and furrowed his brow.

Who was Leo?

He shrugged again and continued walking. He walked the same path everyday now for.....

"Huh....I don't even know how long." He smiled serenely to himself as he crested a large hill and looked down at the field below.

It was covered in fluffy pink, magenta, coral and white flowers for as far as he could see really. He descended the hill and wandered through the field slowly. The green foliage under the heavy heads of the blooms brushed against his clothed legs.
His three fingered hands brushed against the soft petals as he passed by.

Every time he moved through them and disturbed them by touching the silky soft petals they released their intoxicating perfume into the air.

𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘬𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴. 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵.

He laid down within the field of flowers and pulled a deep breath in through his nose. He wasn't sure why he came here every day. It felt...right....or familiar. Something like that.

𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘱 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘺.

He shook his head. Barely able to dislodge the strange images that kept bombarding him.

He looked up at the brilliant blue sky and watched as giant fluffy white clouds floated by slowly. He watched the massive flower heads bob in a lazy breeze and he reached up to brush his fingers over them again. Hmmm

What were they called again?

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩. 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨?

Poppies? Hmm no. That wasn't it.

𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Pansies? No no. Not it.

𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘈 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Petunias?.... Absolutely not.

𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘶𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦s 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘓𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘴. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Primroses?...Still nope.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘏𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥. 𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘓𝘦𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨.

He furrowed his brow again and stared intently at one of the soft pink blooms. Something about them felt so familiar. So safe.

They felt like.

Home.

But where was home?

"𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘥." 𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘵, 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵!"
"𝘕𝘰!"
"𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦...𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘦."
"P𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴! 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘨ă, 𝘵𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘨. 𝘕𝘶 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘳ă𝘪 𝘧ă𝘳ă 𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘦." 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴. 𝘛𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.
"𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯."
𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯.
"𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘪𝘵."

He rubs at his temples as a steady searing pain blossoms there. Something warm trickles from his tympanum. He lifts his fingers to touch it, bringing them in front of his face. Something metallic and gold is there on his finger tips.

Home. Where is home?

"𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴." 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘱.
"𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶...𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯...𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦." 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺.
"𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴." 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘏𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘦𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴.
"𝘏𝘰𝘮𝘦......𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭....𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦......𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦." 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨.

He sat bolt upright as pain speared his temples again.

"Peonies!" He nearly screamed. The pain throbbed again and he had to grit his teeth.

"Peonies. Feel like home. You...are home. I said I would find you." The turtle wiped at the golden liquid that trickled from his nostrils and shifted to his knees. He squeezed his eyes shut.

He had to remember.

He had to remember everything.

He reached up to his neck where he had just noticed the light weight of something hanging there.

His fingers delicately brushed against the slim silver chain necklace and he wrapped them around it and tugged. The chain snapped off and he held it in his palm. He gazed at it and watched as it pulsed with a golden glow and morphed into the shinmering image of a silver and gold elongated eight pointed star, hovering over his open palm.

He had to remember. Remember home.

He grasped at the star and pulled it back towards him, pushing it into his plastron, right over his heart.

Remember.

His heart was hammering in his chest. Tattooing a rapid beat there.

Home.

Memories flickered over his closed eyelids. Pain kept a steady throb in his temples.

His brothers.

He had to grit his teeth as the pain turned to an agonizing burn.

His family.

He cried out in pain, doubling over, holding his hands against his head as if it were splitting in two and he had to hold the pieces together.

Luciana.

The pain suddenly stopped along with the flashing memories. He took in a deep, shaking breath and looked around. Thankfully he was alone.

Or so he thought.

Where was he?

"Oh f*ck." He remembered now. He remembered everything. He was dead. Very dead. Super dead.

He lifted his hands to wipe the ichor off his face and on his-

He looked down and noticed he was wearing only a pair of white slacks and a white tunic.

"sh*t. There's no f*cking way. Not with all the crimes I committed. Assault. Assault with a deadly wrapon. Blackmail. Cyber crimes, Harboring a wanted criminal, Illegal possession of firearms, the list can keep going..." He was muttering to himself as he stood up and started walking out of the field.

"There's no way they'd let me in here. And I thought I was supposed to go wherever the Hamato clan is." He narrowed his eyes in contemplation as he crested the hill again and looked around.

Yup. There was no denying what he was seeing. Glittering white city. Sunshine. Feilds of flowers. Golden gates off in the distance.

"f*cking Heaven." He growled lowly, clenching his hands into fists at his sides.

He was in Heaven. And he definitely did not belong there.

Chapter 2: Chapter 1 Ascensionism

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕺𝖓𝖊 : 𝕬𝖘𝖈𝖊𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖎𝖘𝖒

It is often written, the story of a once beloved son being cast down to a fiery pit of despair and deprivation. His light would have blinded those that deemed him unworthy.
His light brought to him many things in his long existence.
But none more precious than the daughter born from misguided love.
A heart jaded by cruelty she stands at his side.
An act of retribution that sent her spiralling into a darkness that not even her father could fathom.
A heart that stopped beating the moment she entered her father's realm.
Her mortal soul suspended in time that simultaneously moved beyond them.

"Lux." Green eyes opened to gaze out at the opulent yet dismal landscape before her bedroom window that was currently open wide letting the stagnant hot breeze in. Trees of black bark and dark green foliage bearing sinister looking fruit of a blood red color with sharp spines dotted the courtyard. If one was brave enough to climb the slick bark they could pluck one and cut it open to enjoy the sublime sweetness within of the snow white flesh.
Gray blades of long whispy grass blew in the bone dry breeze, warmed by the endless fire that raged down below.
The sky shown limitless and black, with more stars than a mortal could comprehend, two suns were situated in the western portion of the cloudless sky, blazing brightly, one a bright orange the other a white hot blue, they would soon set and the enormous red moon would take their place. But not many could see this part of Hell.
It was the Pride ring. And it was for hell born, even though she was technically born in the mortal relam, she resided there with her father.

"Lux?" She turned her gaze over her shoulder.
The woman behind her was taller than she, with dark chocolate brown skin that glistened with a golden glittery glow, as if she had been kissed by the mortal realms shining sun. Her eyes were the same golden color, bright and dazzling. The black fitted leggings and dark orange fitted cropped tank top she wore hugged her curvaceous figure underneath black steel armor. A skirt of chainmail draped over her hips with black steel sectional tassets that appeared more like armored scales, black straps criss crossed her exposed midsection and each secured a smaller curved sabre on each hip. Black steel scalemail adorned her shoulders under black shoulder guards that were sharp and spiked, more chains hung loosely over her bust along with a silver talisman of some long forgotten symbol. Black steel bracers covered her forearms overtop black gloves with silver claws at the fingertips.

The more striking parts of her were her large black membranous dragon wings that were folded behind her as well as her long black scaled dragon tail. Under her armor and clothing, down her spine, were small black ridges that became spines when they reached her tail. The end normally sported no additional defense but as of now it was equipped with an eight pronged sharp spiked piece of armor.

Her long black hair, streaked in white and braided, was pulled up into a large bun, though not every piece remained confined. And her black tall spiralized kudu horns on her head were painted with silver war paint along with her face.
Draconia was her second in command. Her right hand. Her best friend.
A mortal soul like herself but born in hell to her demon mother.

"Drake?" Lux responded as she padded softly past her to the large open armoire where she began pulling items from it down and began the long process of arming herself.

"I have received word from Shaydrim. The guards that were sent here have moved to the mortal realm. They are.." Draconia trailed off not entirely sure how to explain to her commander that angels were killing mortals as they spoke.

"They are what?" Lux said softly.

"Killing. Mercilessly. Mortals..."

Rage flared to life in the dark emerald green of her eyes.

"What?!" She looked up at the ebony skinned demon before her.

"We need to stop them..." Draconia's tail lashed in frustration.

Funny how demons were about to try and stop angels from killing innocent lives on Earth. Lives they took in retribution for her father allowing her to join him in Hell. Her mother was no doubt pushing all of this.

Lux snarled to herself, her own tail lashing.

She preferred to do things like putting on her armor by hand, the manual task giving her mind something to focus on. But there was little time for that now.

"This is likely a trap." Lux growled.

"We know." Draconia said resolutely.

With a wave of her hand, a black mist fizzled to life around them and rushed to gather the remaining armor and secure it to her body.

Draconia watched as the once blazing silver armor, now tinged coppery orange with blood, a more formidable sight now, floated on the black glittering mist to adorn her commander's body.

Lux was petite and curvy, much like her mother apparently, with pale alabaster skin that had an irridescent quality to it, like her father, and dark red hair with black undertones. She was dressed in a black loin cloth that was emblazoned with a golden sigil of her father's, a black cropped cap sleeve shirt under draping silver chains that hung down her bust and exposed midriff, silvery orange scalemail was strapped in an upsidedown triangle over her chest and down her sternum, protecting her heart along with a strap of leather connecting two massive shoulder guards adorned in a similar fashion to Draconia's. The scalemail draped over her shoulders under the heavy guards and silver chains extended from the leather straps that held it all in place to a black leather choker around her throat from which a large O ring hung with a golden talisman of her own in the shape of a large elongated eight point star.

Silver scale like bracers and shin guards covered black gloves with golden claws and black steel toed boots which she found practical and not overly clunky.

Strapped to her back was a long black scabbard with a sword hilt sticking out out of it, ornately decorated in skulls, the blade engraved with flames and wolves. The second weapon appeared to be a long black staff with a skull at the top covered in flowers and vines extending down the staff.

Her wings were not out at the moment but her two long dragon tails were, the scales a burnish copper color, the spines black and the spiked armor piece at each end a mix of gold and silver like her armor. Her black curled ram horns were draped in chains and sigils her pale face not adorned with any war paint.

"Gather Shay and Gem. We will go ourselves and stop these... malicious angelic guards. We can't leave them to tear up the mortal realm." Lux snarled, her canine teeth elongated into fangs.

Draconia grinned darkly and nodded before she strode to the large open picture window that Lux had been gazing out of and leapt from it, her wings catching on the stagnant breeze and carrying her over the open expanse of twisted trees and gray grass.

Lux strode from her bedchamber and down a long corridor that would lead to a side door out of the palace. And that was indeed what it was. A palace. Lucifer had had it made when she had joined him. Not wanting his daughter to inhabit some dark hovel while he remained on his throne...ever present...ever dutiful in his desire to punish the evils of the world. The evil he had unintentionally loosed.

She pushed open the side door and stepped out into the openness of the courtyard. A strange sensation prickled over her skin. The urge to move quickly. To go to the mortal realm as fast as possible, weighed on her soul.

Odd. She knew eventually she should have returned to the mortal realm since the half of her lineage from her mother's genes dictated that eventually she would find what amounted to a soul mate for her. But she had not felt any urge to go there in years. Seven mortal realm years....two hundred years in Hell time.

"No time like the present then." She huffed in annoyance.
The whoosh of displaced air caught her attention from above and she looked up to see Drake.

"Shay and Gem are at the Rift." She told Lux.

"Good. Let's get a move on. I'd like to be home for dinner." She quipped as her own wings unfurled behind her. Where her father's wings were white and luminous her's were as black as night. A set of six wings just the same though. She lifted herself into the air and followed her Beta through the open expanse of sky towards a glowing golden sliver of light that looked as if it was tearing two worlds in half. The Rift was where one could enter the mortal realm from Hell, but only demons could do so as well as Lux who inherited the ability from her father.

Drake would be able to pull Shaydrim and Gemino through even though they were not Hell born but rather mortal souls whose bodies were reanimated by Lux and given demonic qualities.

Both of which were currently waiting on the ground near the glowing golden light source. Tentacles of light reached and flared from the Rift as it rippled and pulsed with its own energy.

Shaydrim was a fierce tall and lean warrioress. She was covered from head to toe in bronze armor, her smaller four point stag horns of black stood in stark contrast within her platinum blonde tresses that hung loose and long and wildly whipping around her shoulders. Her pale complexion was also a great contrast to the black war paint on her face and her pink albino eyes glowed faintly, surrounded by the inky black makeup around them.

Gemino was shorter in stature but just as lean with an almost equally pale complexion that was spattered in copper colored freckles on her face and shoulders and neck. Her eyes blazed a brilliant blue like the mortal realm sky and her long copper red locks curled wildly around her like a lion's mane. Her impala horns of white nearly glowing themselves. She was also covered in armor, her's was silver. Each girl had the same eight pointed star that Lux wore around her neck, emblazoned on the breast plates of their armor.

"Do we have any idea how many survived and are there now?" Lux asked them as her and Drake landed.

"Approximately seven but that's just an educated guess. We managed to kill all but one of the Nephilium that they brought. But that leaves what we thought were ten guards. But we just found three of them before we got here ...each missing their heads." Shaydrim had answered and with her last words she gazed over to Draconia who grinned wickedly.

"You're welcome." She purred, her golden eyes glowing.
Shaydrim rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless.

"Let's get it goin then." Gem huffed as she held out her hand to Drake who grasped her's and Shaydrim's as they turned to the enormous golden slit in the air in front of them.

Lux sucked in a deep breath and held her hands out as if she was going to pull the air apart before her.

She stepped towards the Rift and began to do exactly that, pulling the two sides apart to widen it so they could pass through. White flames licked her body as she manipulated the portal enough for Draconia to pull herself and the other two girl's through. Then Lux herself followed.

The mortal realm seemed to weigh heavier on her skin as the Rift fizzled around them when they moved through. When they made it Lux turned to the golden light and pushed it closed as if it were simply a sliding door.
She turned and looked around them.

"This is where they came through at? New York City?" She furrowed her brow. Drake looked down and made a disgusted face as she side stepped what appeared to be a dead rat on the cement of the alley they had appeared in.

A loud thunderous boom echoed in the sky above them and they all turned towards the mouth of the alley to see the sky lit up with lightning as if a storm was surging above the city. But what rained down were winged creatures as they descended upon the hapless citizens.

"Ohhh Lux they stealin' your thunder." Gem taunted.
Lux smiled darkly. "Lightning is my thing." She unfurled her black wings and launched herself into the sky.
In her wake lightning crackled along her wings, red and angry. She reached behind her and grasped the hilt of the sword that was sheathed there and pulled it free. The decorated blade sung as it was released and clanged loudly as it connected with the spear of an angel.

***

"Is it supposed to rain?" Michelangelo glanced out of the Turtle Tank's windshield at the sky that had suddenly filled with thunderheads and was flashing with white and red light. As if in answer thunder rumbled, so intensely it shook the tank.

"It wasn't supposed to, no. Maybe a front moved in." He turned his attention to his older brother who was sitting in another chair currently looking at his phone screen as he texted their long time best friend, April as well as played some sort of game.

Mikey looked back up at the sky and noticed something within the clouds and flashing lightning.
"Is lightning usually red?" He asked suddenly. That seemed to draw his brother's attention away from his phone and he looked over to the orange masked turtle with a confused expression.

"Not typically in a thunderstorm it would usually be white or blue. But the occasional thunderstorm within a snowstorm can happen and lightning has been known to appear pink or green when viewed within a snowstorm."

"Well it's not snowing and I'm seeing white and red." Mikey was staring in awe up at the now very active light show above them.

Donatello leaned forward in his seat to look up as well and his eyes widened.
"Thaaaaat's not normal. But neither are those." He pointed to two winged figures seemingly locked in battle in the sky.

One of them swung a massive sword, the red lightning sizzled along the blade, cascading off of it as it swung in a wide semi circle and struck it's mark, slicing the head clean off the opponent.

"Holy sh*t!" Mikey exclaimed.

"Oh gross! Now there's a head rolling around somewhere!" Donnie groaned.

"Where are Leo and Raph at? We should check this out." Mikey urged.

"Check it out? Uh, nay nay my dear sweet Angelo. We are perfectly safe sequestered in here. Annnddd....I don't want to." Don gave his baby brother a deadpan expression which was promptly ignored so he answered his brother's question instead and caved in anyway. So what jf he was a sucker for Mikey? They all were.

"They went to grab the pizza. I could just forward them our location when we get closer." Don started the tank, the engine rumbling to life.

"Sounds great! Go!" Don exclaimed loudly as Mikey stepped around him to smash the gas pedal down causing them to lurch forward at a break neck speed.

Don shoved him out of the way back into his seat and glared at him before initiating the auto pilot after locking on to a high power frequency reading in that general direction.

"Never do that again." He pointed his finger at Mikey who was watching out the windshield intently. He picked his phone back up and continued his game with his legs propped up on the dash.

"There's more! That one that cut the other's head off is out numbered!" Mikey shouted, smacking Don's phone out of his hand.

"Michelangelo! I swear if you don't stop-"

Donatello's threat was cut off as more violent thunder shook the tank as they got closer and the lightning became so intense it was nearly blinding.

"Where'd they go?!" Mikey shouted as he frantically looked upward.

"I can't see anything. It's too bright. Let me adjust the tint on the windshield and then maybe we can-"

A winged body suddenly landed hard on the asphalt in front of them and Don had to slam on the breaks and swerve to avoid hitting whatever or whoever had just fallen from the sky.

"Ohmigosh it's that one that cut the head off that other one!" Mikey squeaked.

"Did it seriously make...a crater..in the road? How big is this thing?" Don was standing on his tip toes to look as far out the windshield as he could. "We should probably wait here for Raph and Leo."

He turned and noticed Mikey was not in the tank and the floor hatch was wide open.

"Or just run outside in the middle of chaos because that always works well for us." He deadpanned to the empty tank.

He grumbled as he grabbed his bo and hopped out of the floor hatch as well. He moved slowly and stealthily out from under the tank and over to the massive crater in the ground. Mikey was no where to be seen and he had to assume he was already in the steaming crater.

Sure enough when Don peeked over the edge he could see his baby brother's shell turned to him as he crouched over something that had massive wings that were feathered, black, and looked horribly mangled from the landing it had taken.

Mikey turned as he slid down the side of the crater.

"Donnie.. she's hurt bad." Mikey turned his blue puppy dog eyes on him and he sighed and moved around him.
He wasn't entirely sure he was seeing what he was seeing so he blinked rapidly and even flipped his goggles down. Mystic energy radiated off the woman laying crumbled before him. A lot of it. It slicked over her body like a black fire, licking at pale opalescent skin that glimmered in the flashing light of the otherworldly lightning.

She had armor on but not a lot of it, though upon further assessment it appeared the wounds she sustained were inflicted from her fall more than any blades. Bruises marred the alabaster color of her flesh and made the refracted light a sickly greenish color instead of shinmering rainbows of blue, pink, and orange. Small cuts and abrasions leaked a metallic golden substance and that same substance was smeared all over her.

He noticed her wings were actually three sets of black feathered wings instead of one huge set and yet even still they were large enough to probably encircle Raphael and then some. The black curled ram horns protruding from her head were definitely unexpected as well as the twin copper scaled dragon tails.

"What is she?" Mikey asked quietly. Don crouched beside him and reached gingerly for the woman's wrist and felt for a pulse. He felt nothing at first and momentarily he felt as if his own soul reared back in agony of the mere thought of her being dead.

"I ...I think she's dead, Mikey." He said as he still felt nothing.

Mikey frowned and looked back down at the strange woman.

But then a slow fluttering skip beat under his fingertips had him breathing out a quiet sigh of relief. She had a pulse. A slow and very weak one.

"I....I got a pulse! But it's incredibly slow. Whatever she is she needs help." Don said as he stood up and looked above them as chaos reigned in the skies above. The lightning never seened to cease. It shook the ground with its thunder and lit up the city around them as if it were daylight instead of late at night.

"Well I don't think a hospital is a good idea....on account of .. I don't think any of this is a costume." Mikey added as he lifted a feather from a wing.

"She has mystic energy readings off the charts. We will just have to help her." Donnie said as he started typing something into his wrist gauntlet. "April is on her way to the Lair. I figure she can help. And I texted Raph-"

A bright blue portal opened at the top of the crater and Leo and Raph stepped out with a couple of boxes of pizza in Raph's arms.

"Excellent timing." Don quipped as Leo slid down the crater.

"Whooaa. Why is there a freaky hot chick laying in a crater and why the hell is this lightning so cray?" Leo looked up and shielded his face from the bright white lightning.

"Honestly I think it's to cover up the battle up there. We just watched this lady decapitate some other winged thing and then suddenly she fell from the sky and landed here." Don explained as they both looked back down at the woman.

"Huh. You don't see that everyday. What is she? A yokai?" Leo crouched to poke at her boot. Don smacked his hand away with his bo.

"Knock it off. She's hurt. Bad. And she can't go to the hospital." He looked up at Raphael who sighed and nodded.

"Leo come get these and I'll carry the freaky chick with the huge wings."

"I got it." Don was already moving to her side and crouching down beside her. The mere thought of Leonardo touching her made his skin itch. He didn't acknowledge the looks of confusion and blatant pity from his brothers as they watched him approach the winged woman.

"Don...we love you...so no offense but...you can barely pick me up." Leo waved one of his swords in Donnie's direction and all he got was a glare from his purple masked brother.

"Four years ago, Nardo. I can't pick Raph up but I sure as hell can drop kick you into next week? Wanna give it a try?"

"Alright alright." Leo shrugged and sheathed his swords.
Don looked back down at the woman who looked battered and bruised and...her blood...was golden that was what the substance was all over her..and yet she looked at peace. She also looked so small compared to her wings. Not tiny really but petite. She was also curvaceous and from the visible areas of her body she appeared toned. Don crouched and brushed a lock of hair so dark red it looked black in the dim light in-between lightning flashes, away from her closed eyes. Her skin felt smooth and soft under his calloused fingertips. He wondered what color her eyes were as he gazed down at her closed lids, clearly framed by dark thick lashes. She was unnaturally beautiful, even with the curling black ram horns protruding from out of the waves of wine red hair. He slid his arms under her back and legs and lifted her up effortlessly.
He blinked in shock.

"She's light...like... ridiculously light." He glanced at Michelangelo who gave him a thumbs up and a big grin.

"Mikey, Leo, at least lift up the bigger wings so they don't drag." Mikey delicately lifted one of the largest wings in his arms, his face a mask of horror as the fragile bones stuck out from the feathers in places.

Leo blinked in shock but followed his little brother's lead after he made a portal to the top of the crater for them.

"Raph, get the tank door open." Don said urgently as they moved into the shadow of the tank. The cover of shadows gave them comfort even if it was the middle of the night. The flashes of bright white lightning were enough light to expose them to humans.

The red masked snapping turtle pressed the outside button for the large bay door that opened slowly on it's hydraulics.

Once it was down Don carried the winged woman inside and laid her gently on the floor.

"The war paint on her face makes her extra creepy looking." Leo commented as they stared down at her.

"You're not wrong." Mikey crouched down near her head and seemed to be inspecting the paint, his eyes moved over the golden metallic sigils painted over her eyes that bled down her cheeks and then they moved to the various cuts on her body where an identical golden liquid oozed from them.

"Uh....I don't think it's paint." Mikey looked up at his brothers.
Don sighed and nodded at his brother's observation.

"Ichor. The blood of the gods in Greek mythology was said to be golden and they called it ichor. It was also said to be toxic to humans. Whether that was just ingesting it or even just touching it I'm not sure. I didn't care too much for myths."

"So...her warpaint is....blood?" Leo made a disgusted face along with Donatello.

"Badass." Raph grinned which earned him three looks of equal parts horror and disgust.

"Do you think... she's a god? Er..or I mean..a goddess?" Mikey asked in awe. Don and Leo glanced at each other and then back to the woman. Don crouched down again and lifted her wriat again, looking for her pulse.

𝑻𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒕 𝒑𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆 ș𝒊 𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒆.

He jumped back with a yelp when he heard the disembodied voice. Leo blinked at him in ahock while Raph and Mikey furrowed their brow ridges at him.

"Uhhhh. You okay there Donald?" Leo raised one eye ridge
.
"Y-y-yea. Must have been some...uh..static...that shocked me. That's all. Heh." He said, moving to turn back to the tank controls so they could go home.

A loud crash thudded against the tank and they all startled and spun to look out the windshield.

Another winged creature was staring through the thick glass. Its face was obscured by a white half mask with red sigils painted on it. It was clothed in white robes under blazing golden armor and it's wings were so bright white they were painful to look at. But it's smile was feral and bloodcurdling. Pale blue tinged lips pulled away slowly from blackened rotting teeth. A rasping laugh slipped from those cracked lips.

"Give us the Evening Star and we will let you live." Its voice was terrible, cold and multilayered. It swt shivers down Donatello's spine even under the protection of his real shell and his battle shell that was strapped to his shoulders.

"Well since you asked so nicely." Leo smiled.

Mikey slapped him upside the head and glared at his older brother and then at the creature that bobbed impatiently outside the windowpane.

"We ain't givin you nothin. Get us outta here Donnie!"

"On it!" Don was already moving towards the controls which earned him a hiss from the creature as it slammed its fist through the windshield causing all four turtles to yell in terror. Ichor sprayed from its split knuckles.

"Get it off!" Don yelled as he put the tank in reverse and spun it around.

"Leon's got it!" Leo grinned as he portaled out of the tank and onto the roof where he threw one of his katanas at the winged thing. It sunk into its shoulder deeply, cutting through muscle and sinew with sickening ease. He smiled in victory, adjusting his grip on his other sword, its twin portaled back to him bringing the creature to him where he yanked his sword free and delivered a round house kick to its chin sending it flying backwards off the tank.

"Oh yea! Did you see that?!" Leo cheered as he portaled back inside the tank.

"Yes! As it so happens all that did was make it angry!" Don yelled as he smashed the gas pedal down and dodged parked cars as they barrelled down the street away from the creature that was now flying after them. An ear piercing screech echoing through the streets as it shrieked in anger.

"We gotta lose it!" Raph yelled.

"Shoot it down! I armed this thing for a reason and not with just bowling balls anymore!" Don swerved around another vehicle.

"Oh yea!" Raph smiled as he hopped up into his chair and brought down a transparent screen, bringing the weapons system online and taking aim at the creature that roared its anger at the fleeing tank, shining white wings flapping madly to pursue its query.

"Say bye bye birdie!" Raph pressed his thumb down on a large red button on the controls and a green blast shot out of a gun situated on the top of the tank. The blast hit the creature and it screamed in agony as it seemed to dissolve the feathers of its wings and electrocute the thing in a flash of green light, leaving it a smoking battered heap in the street behind them.

"Whoa ....what was that and when did you upgrade us from semi lethal to full on burn it to the ground, Donnie?" Leo was looking out a back window until he could no longer see the smoking creature.

"Plasma cannon. And about a year ago now. We just haven't needed to use it. Our villains are kind of lacking these days with Shredder defeated and the Krang gone. I don't think we need to use a plasma cannon on Hypno ...Meat Sweats....Repo Mantis ....That worm guy whose name I will never remember." The purple masked terrapin pushed the auto pilot button and sat back in his seat to scroll his phone again in indifference.

"Okay but then ...why install it?" Mikey asked.

"Oh.....I was bored." Don shrugged.

Leo, Raph and Mikey all stared at their brother who ignored them completely as he scrolled his social and the tank auto piloted back to the lair.

As the tank rolled to a stop in the lair's garage April opened the hatch from the outside and hopped in.

"Where's the freaky winged- ohhh wow..you weren't kidding." She looked downward at the woman who was still unresponsive.

"We need to get her into the med bay. Her heart beat was incredibly slow when I checked last." Don strode past his brothers and crouched to lift her up again, he made a face of pain as he noticed her leg was twisted in a way it shouldn't be and her left shoulder hung limp.

"I didn't notice before the extent of her injuries." He muttered as he lifted her nearly weightless body. He had been distracted by the way her skin felt under his fingertips and how beautiful she looked under flashing lightning strikes. As he did so the six wings that protruded from her back dissolved into a fine glittery black mist leaving nothing but smooth pale skin aside from the small black ridges that would turn into spines as they ran down her spine to her tails.

"Wh-where'd her wings go?" Mikey waved his hands where the black wings had been, feeling nothing.

"They just disappeared...maybe if they sustain too much damage they do that." Don reasoned aloud as they watched as her tails also disappeared into black mist as well as the curled ram horns and her armor leaving her in just the black crop cap sleeve top that was torn in a few places and the black loin cloth that draped around her waist by a silver chain, and her black steel toed boots. She looked nearly human now aside from the strange way her skin reflected light in a myriad of colors much like an opal and the otherworldly beauty that gave her away as far too flawless to be human.

"C'mon. Let's see if we can reset her shoulder and leg before she comes to." April tugged on Don's shoulder, forcing him to tear his gaze away from the unconscious woman's face and follow the other girl.

"Can we help?" Mikey asked.

April turned and looked briefly at Donnie who was still transfixed by the woman he was currently carrying in his arms and then his three brothers who were all looking worriedly at the woman and their brother.

"I think me and D got this. But we will yell if we need you guys okay?" April smiled which gained a smile back from Raph as well as Leo but Mikey still looked worried.

She turned and continued up to the upper level of the lair and to the circular doorway that led to the room they used as a medical area.

Don laid the woman down on the gurney he had.....found...a while ago. He noticed one other item of her clothing that had remained was the black leather choker with the elongated silver and gold eight pointed star hanging from a large silver O ring.

"One of the things she was fighting attacked us. It called her the Evening Star." He commented offhandedly to April who was busy preparing an I.V.

"The Evening Star? That's a new one. You think this chick is good or bad?" She asked. Don frowned as he looked up at April.

"Does it matter right now?" He asked. April gave him a considering look. He seemed strained. Like he was barely holding himself together. She noticed the subtle shaking of his hands and the way he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

"Donnie? You good?" She asked, thinking maybe he was just overstimulated.

"I will be once we help her." He said looking back down at the woman before joining April in preparing what they needed to reset the woman's leg and shoulder.
Don was focusing on preparing a morphine drip when April gasped.

He looked up quickly to see she was staring at him.
"What?" He asked.

"You're focusing really hard D. You've tapped into your mystic powers." She pointed. Don looked down at his hands which he had not noticed where overshadowed in a purple glowing light. He furrowed his brow in confusion.
When he looked up he noticed a strange light emanating from the woman. It licked the air like fire but it was a strange black color. "Donnie maybe move away from her.." April coaxed when she noticed her friend staring as if he was in a trance at the black fire like light that glowed from the woman.

Don watched, transfixed, as blood red sigils appeared on the exposed skin of the woman and she lifted slowly off the gurney. He moved to reach out to her and pull her back down but April had moved around to his side and pulled him back.

"Donnie I don't know about this."

"Relax. I think I can help her..." Donnie said as he extracted his arm from April's grasp and reached out to grasp the woman's hand.

A flash of white light erupted from their clasped hands sending April flying back to crash into the wall of the room.

The light pulsed from the joined hands of Donatello and the woman, a low ringing sounded with every pulse until it was all he could hear and all he could see.

The room suddenly disappeared and he was left floating in an endless blackness that was littered with stars. Donatello looked around in awe and then back down to the hand he was holding. It was delicate and pale with long black stiletto nails like claws. He looked up into her face and nearly gasped aloud.

Blood red eyes gazed back at him from the familiar pale opalescent face of the woman. Her wings had returned and they flapped slowly, the tiny lights from the stars catching the black fathers and displaying that they too shined with purples and blues in light, like a raven's wings. Her dragon like tails with their copper scales and black spines had returned, lashing and coiling in her mounting agitation and her horns had also returned, black and draped in silver chains with sigils dangling from them like charms. The chains created a headdress which glittered with diamonds, the largest of which dipped low and rested just between her eyebrows.

"Who are you?" When she spoke her voice was multilayered like that other creature's had been but her voice was honey sweet and would have driven him to his knees had he not been floating in what looked like space.
"I should ask you the same." He commented back dryly.
Her head tilted to the side and he felt as though he was being watched by a hungry cat and he was the canary.
"I know your name but I do not know you." She said. Don gave her a confused look.

"You know my name?"

"You are Hamato Donatello. Son of Hamato Yoshi. Descendents of Hamato Karai and Oroku Saki. You wield immense power but have yet to truly tap into its full potential." Her head tilted the other way.

His mouth hung open and he blinked rapidly at her.
"How did you know that? I don't know you?" He phrased the last part as a question and then they both looked down at their joined hands.

He let go of her hand and when he did so he noticed a glowing silver light wrapped around his wrist and extended to wrap around her own.

"You do not know me. But...our souls are connected. The Great Luna has touched your spirit and the Fates have decided our destinies are intertwined." Her blood red eyes locked with his dark brown ones and he couldn't look away as he watched green flecks appear within the red and blossom until the green overtook the crimson color entirely and he was left in awe of the emerald eyes that glowed faintly, boring into his with an intensity that he had never before witnessed.

Her words finally seemed to register to him and he floated backwards a bit.

"Our souls are connected? But why? How?" He looked down at the luminous silver thread that wrapped around his wrist and tethered him to her.

"I am not clairvoyant. I do not pretend to know how the Fates operate and what their motives are. The how is simple. This thread connects us. It is incomplete but still difficult to break." She gestured to the thread. Donatello tugged on it experimentally.

"But it can be broken?" He asked her.

She tilted her head again and her twin tails curled and uncurled like a cat's tail would.

"I have the power to break it, yes." She said finally after a long pause.

Donatello stared at her and then a small realization dawned on him.

"You.....you don't want to break it? But you... don't even know me."

"Do you want me to break it, Donatello?" She asked him.

Donatello blinked back at her as if he hadn't heard her. He gazed at her as if he were finally seeing her.
She was not human.

"What are you?" He asked instead. She didn't seem to be bothered by his questioning so he figured he would run with that.

"I am the Evening Star. But you may call me Luciana. Which, a rare few have the privilege of. Or Lux. If you so desire." She shrugged.

"That thing called you the Evening Star too. But that doesn't answer my question." He crossed his arms over his plastron, the silver thread shifting with him.

"Ah. You were looking for a more technical answer. My bad. I am a hybrid of werewolf and Fallen. And that is, Fallen Angel." She said smoothly.

"Werewolves and angels? That's what I'm working with here?" He quipped. "More mystic stuff." He grumbled.
Her small bubble of laughter caught him off guard and he looked back over to her.

She smiled at him serenely. "Bipedal turtles?" She countered.

He couldn't help but smirk back at her, her mirth seemingly contagious.

"Toucheé."

"What you encountered...the being that called me the Evening Star. Was an angel. I am a fallen angel. There is a difference." She said suddenly, all mirth dying from her eyes.

"Fallen....like...." His eyes widened. "Like I'm linked to a being from Hell?" He scrambled backwards, the silver tether lengthening with him but never stopping him nor breaking.

"Yes." She said simply. "All that you think you know, is not as it seems." She told him.

"That thing attacked us. It...it didn't feel....it didn't look...sound...good. But you said it was an angel?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Donatello frowned and looked down at the glowing thread wrapped around his wrist.

"Do you want me to break the bond, Donatello?" She asked him again. He didn't answer her at first he just looked downward.

Nothing about her seemed...evil. But she was a Fallen Angel. Didn't that mean she was evil? She didn't feel evil. And he could think that because he could feel her. Her consciousness, it brushed his own, he could literally sense her. It had to be this...bond.

"No." He answered looking up at her in what appeared to be shock at his own words.

She nodded. "Then I will not. Not until you tell me to....I will...if you ever wish to be free of me from your life. I will break the bond for you." She told him, he could feel the resolution and sorrow within her words and it puzzled him to no end. Why was she sad. He felt very little from her, sorrow, lonliness, those were at the forefront...he could feel an ever present burning rage...it simmered just below the other emotions. But that was it. And he thought he had issues with...feelings.

"I will return you to your body now. And...you may want to find a trash can. You may get sick." She told him before he felt an intense pulling sensation within his gut and then the rest of his body as he was yanked backwards through the darkness, the stars blurring into streaks of colors as they whizzed past him and then he slammed back into his body, the momentum sending him stumbling backwards only to feel arms catch him under his own and keep him from falling.

"Donnie? Are you back with us? Are you okay?" He could make out April's blurred face in front of him and he knew it was Raphael that had caught him now as his sense of touch came back first.

"Donnie?" He turned his blurry gaze towards Leo's voice and could make out his fuzzy looking face too.

"I'm....fine...." He managed to croak, his throat feeling immensely dry.

And then he felt the nausea hit him like a pillowcase full of bricks.

"Ohhh no..." He shook his head back and forth.

"Here." April and Leo spun around to see the woman standing behind them, her leg mysteriously not twisted and her shoulder in its socket, not a single cut marred her opalescent skin, she was holding out a waste basket. April took it quickly and thrust it into Donatello's hands almost too late as he hurled the contents of his stomach into it.

"What did you do to him?!" Leo rounded on the woman who held her hands up in surrender.

"A spirit journey into my subconscious isn't normal for him. The trip back to his body was quicker than his mind could comprehend. It has been known to cause intense nausea." She shrugged, unphased by the sound of Donatello losing his lunch into the waste basket.
April scowled but turned back to Donnie as Raph let him sit on the ground. He set the waste basket aside, his hands shaking profusely.

"Under... statement." He muttered.

"I did warn you." Lux said.

"I know." Donnie scowled up at her.

"Where'd your wings go? And those tails? And horns? And how are you healed?" Mikey side stepped out from behind Raphael and Lux regarded him with a soft green gaze.

"I retracted them. I can, at will, make myself appear more....human. Though I am not human."

"Noooo really?" Leo rolled his eyes.

Lux turned her gaze to him, the green orbs beginning to shift to red.

"Leo... don't piss her off." Donnie said from his place on the floor.

Leo turned to him and frowned. Don gave him a hard glare which was rare for him and Leo shrugged.

"Fine. I won't piss off the freaky winged lady."

"Donatello healed me." Lux said to Mikey who had shrunk back behind Raphael again. He peeked out and saw her eyes returning to green.

"How?" Don and Mikey asked simultaneously.

"I...did not mean for it to happen..but I believe when you touched me while focusing your power my own power latched onto yours and pulled energy from you to heal. It was not intentional. But it would explain why you feel weak." She told Don who sighed and allowed Raphael to help him stand up. His vision was finally clear again and he didn't feel the need to say hello to anything else inside his stomach but she was right. He felt like he had been hit by a truck.

"What happened to the angel that attacked you?" Lux asked.

"We shot it." Mikey told her. Leo nodded.

"With a bullet?" Lux tilted her head.

"Plasma cannon." Don offered.

Lux blinked at him and tilted her head to the other side and after a moment she nodded.

"It is not dead but you probably managed to destroy its shell. Angels are beings of pure light. They need to create mortal shells to walk the mortal realm. If it is not here I assume it was stopped by your...plasma cannon."

"Its wings dissolved and it was smoking like a barbeque." Raphael told her. She nodded.

"It will return." She sighed.

"To get us?" Mikey squeaked.

"No. Me. It's me they are toying with. But nonetheless I will offer you protection." She stepped towards Donatello who stepped back once. He barely registered the look of hurt that passed in her eyes before it was gone and replaced with a steady unwavering determination.

She moved past him and Raphael and out of the med bay. Standing at the edge of the upper walkway of the lair sbe gazed downward into their home and then upward before she began to drag her hands through the air around her.

Black smoke that glittered swirled around her fingertips as she drew sigils in the air and pushed them out into the lair where they floated all around, imbedding themselves into the walls...the floor...the ceiling. They dissolved into the air of doorways and when she was done she turned to them. As she did so her tails rematerialized and so did her ram horns.

"I have warded your home. Nothing will pass within that will do you harm." She said, her tails swept the floor around her.

"Luciana." She looked over to Donatello who had moved around his brothers.

"Yes?" She tilted her head. She seemed to do that a lot and it reminded him of a puppy hearing a noise it wasn't used to.

"Are you....a demon?" He furrowed his brow at the word.
She gave him a small smile and he felt her immediate sense of merriment.

"No. As I told you. I am half werewolf. Half Fallen, the fallen are not technically demons." She smiled more when she picked up on his thoughts. "You will find no text about me. I was born here in the mortal realm twenty one years ago, mortal time. Humans have never known me. They, however, know my father." She said cryptically.

Donatello immediately caught on to what she had implied and stumbled back into his oldest brother who caught him again.

"Donnie?" Raph questioned.

"She...you .. you're..." He stumbled over his words.

"The Devil's daughter?" She offered.

"What like....the devil? Like Satan?" Leonardo gaped at her.

"He prefers Lucifer." Lux growled lowly.

"Oh my bad. I don't know him very well so let me just give a sh*t about what name the DEVIL would prefer." Leo snapped.

Lux's tails lashed in irritation.

"Leo. What did I say about pissing her off?" Donatello rubbed at the spot between his eyes in annoyance.

"She's the f*ckin' Devil's daughter, Donnie! Excuse me if I don't really care all that much!" Leo rolled his eyes.

"Here." Lux stepped forward purposefully ignoring Leonardo who glared at her outstretched hand and the object she held out to Donatello.

"You have a card? How professional." Don quipped as he plucked it from her fingers and turned it over to read it.

"Luciana Morningstar. The Evening Star. Summon by knocking three times on any surface and speaking any stanza from....." Donatello smirked and raised his gaze up to meet hers. She smirked back at him. "The Summoning by Sleep Token?" He finished reading the instructions.

"I don't even know that song or that band." He told her.

She shrugged. "Looks like you have a song to memorize." She grinned, her canine teeth glinting in the light, long and white and menacing.

Donatello felt a small thrill of excitement at her bold response. He grinned back coyly and pulled out his wallet, tucking the card within.

"Apparently." He wasn't prepared for her to step closer to him enough that she had to look up at him though.

"Pay close attention to the seventh and eighth stanzas. I hope eventually those two would be the only ones I hear from you in particular, Donatello." He gulped at her usage of his full name with what sounded like a slight accent in her voice but not enough for him to place it.

She stepped back, satisfied with the intense blush on his face and the confused expressions of his brothers. She noted the human looked shocked and amused though. Smart girl.

She raised her hands upward and from them black fire sprang to life and engulfed her body before she moved her hands as if to pull apart something.

A tearing sound could be heard as the mortal realm literally tore apart for her in a flash of golden light and she stepped through, the tear closing as if something was zipping it up and fizzling away.

Mikey slapped Donatello upside the head when the portal had disappeared.

"Ow! Why?!" Don rubbed the back of his head and glared at his younger brother.

"Dude! We do not flirt with the literal daughter of Lucifer! Get your mind right!" Mikey shouted.

"Whhaa? What? I wasn't flirting!" Don stammered.

"Oh puh-leeaassee the tension was so thick right there I probably could've cut it with my swords. Get it together Donnie. She's literally the spawn of Satan."

Donatello narrowed his eyes at Leo and huffed indignantly.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes and spun around to walk down the walkway and into his lab.

"I'm serious Donnie! No summoning any devils! Not in this lair!" Leo yelled after him.

"Who died and made you my dad?" Don yelled back as he flung himself into his gaming chair.

"D?" He looked up when April came in and sighed.

"What? More warnings not to flirt with demons? No summoning hell spawn?" He leaned an elbow on one of the armrests and rested his cheek in his hand.

"Actually I was gonna say don't listen to them. None of us are kids anymore. You are twenty four years old. Sure you still have obligations to this clan but.... you're an adult and Leo can't tell you what to do. Also I looked up that song and ooooooooo boy!" April fanned herself and gave him a devious grin.

"Ooo boy and fanning yourself? Do tell." He smiled and spun around to his computer to type the song into a search bar.

"Seventh stanzaaa....ah...oh......wow..." He blinked rapidly.

"Mmmmhm. She was hardcore flirting with you D. Eighth stanza too." She winked at him and he looked back at the lyrics and swallowed past the new nausea that had surfaced from nervousness.

"Well....I am the best looking turtle." He quipped half to himself.

"She kind of looked at you like you'd taste the best too." April teased even though he gave her a horrified look. "Oh relax. I don't think she plans to eat you."

"How do you know? Meat Sweats doesn't usually LOOK like he plans to eat us. But that's the goal nonetheless. I don't want to be eaten." He clicked on the YouTube link to the video for the song and let it play while he turned back to April.

"Not even a little bite. Nope. No eating."

"You might like it if she bit you." April teased again and he scoffed at her.

"Uh, scoff, I am not into biting. I have class, thank you."

"Donnie you've never been in a relationship. How would you know?"

"Do people actually bite each other?" He grimaced and April laughed.

"Not in the way you are thinking." She giggled.

"Oh.....there are other ways?" He glanced at the computer screen to his left as the ad ended and the song started.

"Oh goodie. Metal." He commented dryly.

"Oh nuh uh this is good. Do not hate on this. This guy can sing." April was nodding along with the beat while Don regarded the screen with a bored look which turned to horror when the screaming started and then intrigued when the entire tone of the song shifted as it progressed into a long lapse of ethereal sounding piano notes ended by a symbol note and then into the two stanzas that Lux had told him she wanted to hear from him.

"Ohhh sh*t! That's hot as hell! Hah! Get it?! Hot as hell?!" April exclaimed while he just gaped at the screen.

"These sound like two different songs! One is metal the other is funkalicious and I can't help but enjoy it." He drug a hand down his face.

"Oh that's more than just funkalicious. That's what we call baby making music. That's sexy. She likes you." April laughed loudly at his shocked and then fearful expression.

"D, you could do far worse than an insanely hot fallen angel werewolf chick."

"Our souls are bound...." He said, clicking on a different song just because he felt like filling the silence.

It was April's turn to gape at him in shock.

"When I touched her hand she pulled my...spirit I guess...into her subconscious mind. I could see it. There's this glowy silver rope that ties us together. She said she has the power to break it." He looked back at the screen and the haunting images of Vessel from the video he selected.

"You told her no didn't you?" April asked quietly.

"My logical mind was telling me to. Screaming that tethering myself..my soul...to incidentally the literal devil's daughter was a stupid idea. But...I couldn't. Another part of me... apparently a stronger part... wouldn't let me." He shook his head.

"Is it stupid? Should I tell her to break it?" He looked up at his friend who seemed to be considering it for a moment.

"I don't know D. Does that make you guys...like...soul mates?" She furrowed her brow.

"I assume so." He shrugged.

"Ok. Imma come at this from a different angle then. How many chances do you guys have to find someone who accepts you for exactly who you are...turtleness and all." She placed her enclosed fists on her hips.

"Uhhhh well....as it turns out I have gone down that rabbit hole. Humans? There's a 0.001% probability of finding someone...for each of us....that accepts us in that way. Obviously it's more possible to find platonic friendship since you are here but romantically? Yea the odds suck for us. Yokai? Way higher percentage. In fact I'm almost certain Leo was seeing one a year ago but I realized that following my brother to see what he was up to when he would leave by himself was not exactly.... appropriate." He shrugged.

April sighed. "Okay. So yokai are easier. Humans. Not so much. But we didn't know about other beings until literally today so that should bump up the odds right? Now factor in finding a literal soul mate. D, I could be wrong and I'm almost never wrong, but, I think this is a good thing." She smiled down at him and he leaned back in his chair seeming to contemplate what she was saying.

"So you think I should totally ignore Leo and do what I want? Oh I've been doing that for years." He grinned.

"Exactly. Okay D. I gotta go take care of Mayhem. We still cool for pizza tomorrow?" She had turned to leave his lab but looked at him over her shoulder.

"Oh course." He smiled at her.

"Cool. Later!" She waved.

Don sighed and clicked out of the Google tab and lifted himself out of his chair to walk out of his lab and down to the lower part of the lair to his room and in turn his bed. He pressed a small button on the shoulder pad of the current protective tech shell he had on and it lifted off of him and flew automatically to its place on the wall of other tech shells and machines back up in his lab. He pulled out his phone and searched the band Sleep Token again and clicked a playlist and tossed his phone onto his bed while he pulled off his elbow and kneepads and tossed them aside and then pulled off his mask which he hung on a hook by his bed.

He wasn't sure what the song was called that was playing but the lyrics were poetic in nature and he found that even if it was metal music he was enjoying the haunting lyrics nonetheless.

"No wonder she likes it." He muttered as he crawled into his bed and pulled his phone back over to him so he could see what song was playing.

"The Offering. Also fitting. I'm just glad I don't have to sacrifice a goat or something to summon her. That would not be cool."

He skipped to the next song, Ascensionism, and laid the phone down, turning on his side and closing his eyes while the piano opening played. It sounded sorrowful, like the kind of sorrow he had felt from her.

"Well, I know what you want from me
You want someone to be
Your reflection, your bitter deception
Setting you free
So you take what you want and leave."

He frowned, feeling that those lyrics were almost too close to how he felt himself. Suddenly being thrust into a whole different realm of creatures, mysticism, and a soul bond with a fallen angel-werewolf hybrid that was terrifying and yet probably the most hauntingly beautiful girl he had ever met. Though ..he hadn't met that many anyway.

And then she had just...left.

"Who made you like this?
Who encrypted your dark gospel in body language?
Synapses snap back in blissful anguish
Tell me you met me in past lives, past life
Past what might be eating me from the inside, darling
Half algorithm, half deity
Glitches in the code or gaps in a strange dream
Tell me you guessed my future and it mapped onto your fantasy
Turn me into your mannequin and I'll turn you into my puppet queen"

His eyes snapped open and he picked the phone up to read the title of the song again. Somehow he had a feeling she knew he would appreciate the lyric style of this particular band. The bond....did she have some sort of insight into his mind? She had pulled him into hers.

"Won't you come and dance in the dark with me?
Show me what you are, I am desperate to know
Nobody better than the perfect enemy
Digital demons make the night feel heavenly
Make it real
'Cause anything's better than the way I feel right now
I can offer you a blacklit paradise
Diamonds in the trees, pentagrams in the night sky"

Now that sounded like her. He read the words that popped up in the lyric video and sighed. She was already making him feel....confused...he did not enjoy that feeling.

"Lipstick, chemtrails, red flags, pink nails
With one eye on the door, other eye on a rail
Other, other eye following a scarlet trail
And the last few drops from the Holy Grail, now
Rose gold chains, ripped lace, cut glass
Blood stains on the collar, please, just don't ask
Be the first to the feast, let's choke on the past
And take to the broken skies at last"

He paused the song and closed out the app. It was just too much of a coincidence for the song to map out exactly how he was viewing this weird situation and not only that but how he imagined she was feeling as well even though right now all he felt was the same from her. Sorrow. Loneliness. The rage he had felt from her earlier seemed to have dissipated, being replaced by....hope perhaps?
Hope for what? What was she hopeful for?

He turned over to his other side and squeezed his eyes shut. If he just focused hard enough on falling asleep maybe it would happen.

He was sure hours had passed when suddenly he opened his eyes to the endless starlit blackness around him again as he floated along.

The silver thread was still wrapped around his wrist and he followed it along, floating in the sea of inky darkness and little pin pricks of colors and light until he came to a stop at what looked like a piece of earth floating in space. It was dark with rich soil and had long gray grass on top along with one lonely tree with glossy black bark and dark green leaves and a strange spiked red fruit growing on it.
When he looked at the base of the tree she was there with a book propped delicately in her pale fingers tipped with long black glossy nails. Her wings were not present, just her horns and tails and she wore what looked like pajamas made of a shimmery, gossamer fabric the color of the sky at sunrise. Lilac and pink and the lightest blue, a thinly strapped tank top and what he had at first thought were shorts but really were long flowy pants but she had one leg bent so the pant leg had fallen down to expose most of her leg, which he noticed had a large serpent tattoo on the side of her thigh in colors of dark green, burgundy and burnt orange that disappeared under her clothing. How he hadn't noticed that before he wasn't sure. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and as she read she occasionally bit at her full light pink bottom lip and she looked....adorable yet still like she could kill without much effort.

"Luciana?"

Green eyes looked up at him in shock and then confusion.

"Donatello?" Her head tilted. "How did you get here?" She asked him.

"I...thought you pulled me here again?" He asked.

She furrowed her brow and he had an overwhelming urge to brush his thumb over it in hopes of alleviating her confusion.

"I... didn't intend to? But I don't know if I did?"

"Do you think I did it?" He asked.

"That would require great power...were you focusing your power again?" She asked him.

"Uh....no. I was trying to go to sleep...but I guess.....I was...thinking of..." He trailed off and looked up at the weird fruit in the tree above her.

"Me?" She asked him quietly.

He sighed and ran a hand down his face which he realized was maskless. He had appeared to her exactly as he slept. Completely exposed. Soft shell and all.

"Your appearance doesn't bother me if that's what you are worrying about. I think you are rather attractive actually." So she could read his thoughts.

"How does this bond work? I feel things sometimes that I know aren't me. So they must be you. You can apparently read my mind-"

"It is more than reading a mind. We have a telepathic link. You could just as easily read my own thoughts but you have been choosing not to subconsciously." She closed her book and laid it gently on the ground as she looked up at him.

"You would let me read your mind?" He asked, incredulous.

"Yes? I have nothing to hide from you. Though I would advise you to proceed with caution. I have experienced things that could be traumatic to you." She regarded him with that same expressionless gaze and he found it unnerving and irritating.

Her eyes widened slightly. "I have angered you?" She asked him.

He huffed in frustration and crossed his arms over his plastron.

"No...I'm not angry. I'm irritated. But i believe I may be experiencing what my brothers experience with me. You always look like...you feel nothing. You are hard to read, even if I'm not the best at deciphering emotions as I myself am not great with them, I should at least be able to read you a little. But there is nothing." He frowned.

Luciana blinked and stood up, her flowy gauzy clothing shifting colors from lilac to pink to blue as she moved towards bim, the light from the silver thread around her wrist, tethering them together, causing the fabric to shimmer. She approached him slowly, as if she might spook him. She was much shorter than him, he and his brothers had definitely not anticipated the growth spurt that had them standing at about six and a half feet tall...aside from Raph who was already about seven feet tall, she had to tilt her head up to look at him.

"I....have been apart from the mortal realm for a very long time. I believe I forgot....how..to feel..I suppose. Until now. But...I believe I have what most people call today a...resting bitch face?"

That got him. He doubled over in laughter and she smiled brightly at him when he looked back up at her. His breath caught in his throat and he nearly choked on his own laughter.

"Yes. I guess you do have an RBF." He finally managed to speak after having been caught off guard by the way her eyes seemed to sparkle when she had smiled at him.
He righted himself and looked down at her as the smile slipped from her face.

Don frowned. "Your...smile. It's beautiful." He stumbled over his words but his nervousness seemed to go unnoticed by her as she smiled again at him and he couldn't help but return it.

"Thank you for not saying what most men say. 'You should smile more.' It gets old but even in Hell it happens."

"I mean... I'd like to see it more." He told her. She frowned.

"You would? Even though you are afraid of me?"

"I'm not-"

"I can read your thoughts and emotions Donatello." She cut him off and crossed her arms over her chest which coincidentally pulled his gaze downward but he hastily brought it back up to her eyes hoping he wasn't blushing too obviously.

"I'm....not afraid OF YOU. I'm afraid of..."

"Beach balls. Feelings. Touch. Me." She ticked each off on a finger and he scowled at her.

"Dammit, do you always have to have the last word?" Her eyes widened at the frustation evident in his voice and she blinked.

"I apologize. Continue." She waved her hand at him and his frustration evaporated instantly with her apology.

"I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of what you represent. You represent a very real possibility that I have not once...okay maybe once...thought about. I don't understand love beyond a familial bond because that's all I have ever known. I love my brothers. I love April, she's like a sister to us, I, we, would do so much for her. But I'm terrified of the things I could...that I would willingly do for you, even already. Because of this bond." He raised his wrist and the silver rope wriggled with the movement.

She tilted her head to the side and he squirmed under her scrutiny.

"I would never ask you to do anything you were not comfortable with Donatello. I hope to never put you in a position where you would have to do anything for me that you were uncomfortable doing." She sighed and rested her hand on the glowing silver thread, it flickered and then disappeared from sight but he knew not to ask if it was gone. He knew it wasn't. He could feel her own inner turmoil at the moment.

"What you should be afraid of are the things I would do for you." She turned her gaze back up to him and he watched the green irises there flood with blood red so dark it was difficult to see a pupil but then he realized it was because they had shrunk to thin slits like a cat or a serpent.

"What would you do for me?" He had apparently lost his internal filter because he had not meant to say that out loud.

"Anything you asked." She shrugged. "I have no qualms about killing for you. I'd destroy anyone that brought you harm. As is my right." He shivered at the snarl in her voice.

"I believe there is a particular demon that requires such a punishment through digging through your memories. Ch'rell." Her tails lashed the air behind her.

"Who?" He raised an eye brow.

"Ch'rell is the demon that possessed the armor of Oroku Saki and corrupted him. He was of course redeemed by you and your brothers. And you destroyed Ch'rell's body. But he lives. In Hell of course." She waved her fingers in the air around her as if to indicate where they were but he knew she meant where she was.

"That thing is alive?" Don grimaced.

"He is. But not for long." She growled.

"What are you going to do?" Don reached for her shoulders and made her look at him. She did and the red dissipated from her eyes and her pupils returned to normal.

"Destroy him." She said simply.

"But hes..powerful...really powerful...how?"

"Simple. I will tear him apart and pull out his soul and crush it." She shrugged and he gaped at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You....can just...do that. Just tear a demon apart and destroy its soul? Just like that?" He snapped his fingers.

"Yes?" She furrowed her brow.

"Wow...pretty and mean...you really are my type." He was unprepared for her laughter and it made his stomach do a silly flip flop that was uncomfortable because of how nervous she made him.

"I prefer ruthless. Malicious. Malevolent-"

"Are you trying to seduce me with your obviously large vocabulary?...... Because it's working." He smirked down at her and she laughed again. He could feel the joy from her radiating through the bond and it made him feel all warm inside.

"...I haven't...laughed like that...in a long time." She said between breaths, her radiant smile lighting up her face. She turned and moved back to the tree and her book and he found himself following her there where he watched her sit back down and take another deep breath. He sat down next to her, not close enough to touch her but still close.

"How long have you been away from the mortal realm?" He asked her.

She let out the deep breath and clicked her nails over the hard cover of the book.

"Hell time moves faster than time in the mortal realm. For the first sixteen years of my life I lived in the mortal realm with my mother...after that I chose to come here with my father....I have lived in Hell for two hundred years. But only four in mortal realm time." She looked up at him.

"That'll explain the loneliness I always feel from you." He said softly. She nodded and looked back down at ber hands as they rested on the book in her lap.

"Why don't you look....over two hundred years old?" She looked up with a wry smile at him.

"My heart stops beating when I am in Hell." She said simply. "I basically am frozen in time."

"So it beats in the mortal realm..interesting." he muttered to himself.

"Very slowly but yes." She nodded.

"So...you weren't close to death when we found you?" He asked her.

"Oh no. I was definitely unconscious but not near death. That angel got a lucky shot in and weakened me with her blade. You did still heal me far faster than I would have healed...and it would have been excruciating too. So thank you." He blinked at her and then shook his head with a sigh.

"Something troubles you still?" She asked.

"When you smile I feel all...weird...like I'm gonna throw up or pass out..." He gave her a deadpan look and a small bubble of laughter escaped her causing him to frown.

"I'm so not good with all this...emotional stuff." He grumbled.

"I'm not either." She added.

"You listen to some very poetic music for someone with a slim grasp on emotion." He countered.

"Music is expressive. I like it. Drake says it's how she can tell what mood I am in." She smiled fondly. He decided not to get into whoever Drake was at the moment and instead he raised one brow ridge at her.

"So you use music to express how you are feeling?" He asked her. She blinked at him and then nodded.

"Okay. That's easier. I can feel your emotions but sometimes they are difficult to process....and I get overstimulated easily..."

"If you are ever confused by me I can simply use a song to express my current emotional state. And vice versa." She offered.

He smiled at her and nodded. "Yes."

"Excellent." Her head tilted to the side and she sighed in annoyance.

"What?" He asked.

"My house keeper is trying to wake me up." She grumbled.

"You come here when you sleep?" He asked her.

"I don't dream in Hell." She told him honestly.

"Oh .. that's... different." He couldn't think of a good word to describe it besides the word sad but he felt that would be rude.

"At least you know where to find me." She shrugged and he grinned at her.

"I guess so."

"You should probably wake up now. And remember to find a trash can incase you get sick coming back to your body. You'll get used to it the more you spirit journey here." She told him.

He groaned in annoyance. "f*ck...I didn't want to do that again." He could already feel the tugging sensation in his gut and he barely heard her answering giggle before he whizzed backwards and slammed into his body with a jolt that had him falling off his bed onto the floor.

"sh*t! f*ck! Ow!" He rubbed at his head where it had smacked into the floor and then gasped at the wave of intense nausea that flooded over him causing him to scramble to the waste basket by his gaming set up, heaving whatever had been left in his stomach into it.

"Sonofabitch." He slurred as dizziness caused another wave of nausea that had him dry heaving into the waste basket.

"Oh i hate it. That's terrible." He pushed the waste basket away from him and rubbed at his temples.

"Trouble sleeping?" He groaned at Leo's voice from behind him and turned to see his brother still in his blue pajamas sipping a cup of steaming coffee.

"Look just because you only need a very minimal amount of sleep on a daily basis doesn't mean the rest of us don't need a solid eight hours. I am of that subcategory of people. And I did not get my eight hours. So you can just take your sassy attitude and shove it." Don stood up and glared at his brother who just glared back.

"Were you in that devil lady's mind again?" He demanded.

"You know what? Yes! Yes I was! I am twenty four Leo! Twenty f*ckin four! I can do what I want!"

"Not if it risks our family." Leo narrowed his eyes.

"What risk?! She didn't threaten any of you. In fact she just told me shes going to destroy the demon that possessed Oroku Saki simply because A. She can. And B. He tried to kill us. She's going to Destroy him. For us. Is that evil? I don't think so."

"It's still alive?" Leo's eyes had widened and Don immediately felt bad for bringing it up. Leo was one of the more emotional of the four of them next to Mikey and he still had nightmares about the Shredder....and the Krang... especially the Krang.

"Not for long. Not if Luciana has anything to say about it." Donatello moved towards his brother and rested a hand on his shoulder, he could feel the tremors that were shaking his body.

"He will never harm anyone again after she's done with him."

"He's one of her people isn't he?" Leo glared.

"I don't think that is how it works. But....I don't know much about it." Donatello shrugged.

"Why would she destroy one of her own?'

"Leo...are you not listening to me?" Don flicked his brother in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"I said I don't think that is how it works. She's not a demon. She's a fallen angel. There's a difference."

"Not in my book." Leo grumbled.

"You don't read books so your book doesn't count." Donatello snarked as he turned around and groggily moved back to his bed where he threw himself.

"I don't like it." Leo said from the doorway.

"I don't care." Don said, his voice muffled by his pillow that he was face down on.

"We are the good guys D! We fight evil! She's part of that evil!" Leo continued.

"If you say another word about her being evil I will hit you. With something very large and very heavy." Donatello had turned his head so his voice was clear.

"Donnie-"

"No!" He sat up and glared at Leo. "I said it's enough. She isn't evil. I'm bound to her soul. I can literally feel it. She. Isn't. Evil. Now f*ck off so I can sleep." He dropped back into his bed and turned away from the doorway of the room. He barely heard Leonardo leave as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter 3: Chapter 2 : Sugar

Chapter Text

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔗𝔴𝔬 ; 𝔖𝔲𝔤𝔞𝔯

"This is just what I needed. A nice normal night. With pizza. And my normal friend....well...semi normal." Donatello grinned at April who rolled her eyes at him with a smile on her face as they made their way to the graffiti wall that posed as a facade for the portal to Run of The Mill Pizza.

"Oh please. You just wanted to get away from Leo." April snickered.
"Too true, my dear friend." Donnie responded as they passed through the portal. "He's being really annoying about Lux." His expression deadpanned and April gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. They were seated by Hueso and Don was genuinely feeling much more relaxed than he had at the lair where he could feel Leo glaring at him from almost anywhere.

"Can we pleeeaaassee get something normal?" April was making disgusted faces at the menu before Don reached over and flipped it to the other side where the more traditional pizzas were listed causing her to grin.

"Oh! That's new!" Don smiled and rolled his eyes as he looked down at his own menu.

"I'm feeling traditional today. Perhaps a margarita pizza?" He rested an elbow on the table so he could lean his chin into his hand as he tapped a finger on the menu.
"Sounds good to me!" April said with a shrug.

"And what will it be today, pepino? Your usual?" Hueso asked as he returned to their table.

"Not today my fair bone man. Today me and my normal friend would like a nice normal Margarita pizza."
"Excellent choice." Hueso nodded as he wrote their order down on a small notepad.
"Thank you!" April said with a smile at the skeleton man before he moved away.

"So." Don looked up as she folded her arms and leaned on the table.
"Sooooo?" He looked around them so he wouldn't have to look at her and let her see his discomfort that she knew he was feeling because she knew that he knew she was going to ask about Lux. Damn her for knowing him.

"Leo yelled something about not going into creepy devil ladies' minds to flirt with them. You wanna tell me what that's about?" She grinned wryly at him.

"Ugggghhh I wish he would keep his big...dumb....dumby mouth..shut." he let his forehead fall to the table.

"Am I or am I not your best friend?" April asked him.

"You are my best friend.." he said with his head still face down on the table.

"Okay so spill the tea." She pushed.

"Apparently while I was trying to focus on falling asleep last night I subconsciously traveled via the spooky glowing soul bond route, into Lux's subconscious mind. Again." He lifted his head. "And let me just say....you were right." He did not in fact look happy about admitting that.

April laughed at his deadpan expression.

"About what? That she likes you?"
"I think its pretty much a given that she likes me...our souls are literally linked together. But yes. I appeared in her subconscious without a very comfortable very familiar amount of clothing and she was unbothered and said I am attractive to her. Thus. You were right." He let his face fall to the table again to hide his blush and April giggled.

"Oh man. That sucks D. It's like the equivalent to the dream about showing up to class naked. Only this time it was real and it's the girl you like."

"You are not helping." He grumbled.
"What happens when you go into her mind like that? What does it look like?" She completely ignored his statement.

"It looks like...space. Black...endless...filled with stars or little lights... I'm not sure. This time there was a little patch of dark earth with gray grass and a big black tree with dark leaves and a weird kind of fruit growing on it and she was sitting under it reading a book..." He did not go into detail about the gossamer shimmery nearly sheer pajamas she had been wearing, that would only increase his blushing and he did not feel like being teased by April.

"Was she naked too?" April giggled.
"Focus, April." Donnie snapped his fingers at her, ignoring the way his face heated up. He knew he was blushing and it was incredibly frustrating.

"Okay okay. So she reads? That's cool. What was she reading?"
"I... don't know. We were both distracted by why I was there in the first place. Then we started talking about...well how neither of us is good with emotions, me because I don't understand them half the time and her because she has felt next to nothing for....get this...two hundred years." Don sat back up and leaned back in the booth.

"She don't look a day over one hundred." April quipped. "But seriously. She doesn't look two hundred years old."

"She stops aging in Hell. Actually it's like she stops living. Her heart stops. It beats very slowly here in the mortal realm which is why I thought she was dying. Anyway! She said time moves faster in Hell. She's probably been gone several days maybe weeks now but it's only been less than forty eight hours here." Donatello made a twirling motion in the air with his finger. "We have decided to convey feelings we do not know how to explain by sharing music. She says she uses it with her friends to express how she feels about something. Which I find endearing."

April grinned at her long time friend. "That's...kind of adorable D."
"I know. Somehow within a few hours we have become the most adorable couple. Bow down simpletons. Displays of affection by granting your partners flowers or giant teddy bears are out, making someone listen to a song because the lyrics explain how you feel, is in." He exclaimed in mock pride.

"I feel like if you gave her flowers she would still like that. She's a girl. We still like little gestures like that." April rolled her eyes.

"Wait, really? Should I do that? But I don't even know what kind she likes? What if her favorites grow in Hell? Do flowers grow in Hell?" Donatello's eyes widened and April realized she had unintentionally sent her friend on an overthinking spiral.

"Chillax, Donnie. I'm sure you'll figure that out eventually. Or....try this. I'm gonna blow your mind with this one...wait for it................give her flowers that make YOU think of HER. You're welcome." April bowed as far as the table would allow.
Donatello gazed at her for a moment and then raised one brow.
"Flowers...that...make me think of her?"

"Does that not compute?" April deadpanned. Don scowled at her momentarily.

"I... haven't thought about that. Obviously. sh*t I'm gonna overthink that too." He drug both hands down his face with a groan of frustration.
Their pizza was brought out to them and placed on the table by the....giant fish yokai waiter...and April picked up a slice.

"D. You have got to quit overthinking the little stuff." She took a bite.

"But I don't want to mess up." Don dropped his hands to the table and looked downward.

"You will. Oh man. You're gonna mess up a lot. But it's how you fix it that matters, D." April gave him a reassuring smile.

Donatello sighed and picked up his own slice of pizza. "I guess you're right."
"I'm right a lot, Don." Donatello rolled his eyes.

Several moments passed where they simply ate their pizza as normal and conversed more about Leo's reaction, and the conversation he and Luciana had had. It felt good to explain everything to April who was like a spring board and would help him understand something Lux had done or said.

After they had paid they stood up to leave and waved to Hueso as they moved through the portal entrance.

A blade pressed against Donatello's throat as soon as they materialized on the other side in the alley.

"Oh c'mon!" He exclaimed in annoyance.

"You smell of The Evening Star. Where is she. Tell me and I won't kill your human pet here." A voice hissed next to his face.

He glanced to the left to see his attacker's face was shrouded by a white hooded cloak and the same white mask with red sigils painted over the face. The blade next to his neck pulsed with power that tingled against his skin.

"I don't know what you are talking about." Donatello said indignantly.
"Who you callin' a pet?" April glared at the angel.

"Do not play games with me, yokai!" The angel snarled at him, pressing the blade closer. A tiny zap made him wince in pain and he felt a trickle of blood run down his skin.
"I'm not playing games." He snarled back.

April was holding his hand tightly as he remained in front of her, shielding her.

He knew this was an angel. He also knew that The Evening Star was, in fact, Luciana. This creature was looking for her. Just like she had told them. He quirked a drawn on brow and smirked as he realized he had an easy solution.

"However I do know something that you do not know." Donatello taunted as he started maneuvering April and him away from the portal and closer to the dumpster next to it. The angel kept the blade poised at his throat but paid little attention to the fact that he was turning his back towards the dumpster.

"Oh? Tell me little yokai. What is it you think you know?" The angel's laugh was hoarse and raspy.
Donatello smiledcin self satisfaction as he reached over to the dumpster and rapped his knuckles against the side three times. "You've got my body, flesh and bone."

"What?" The angel stopped laughing.

"The sky above, the Earth below."
The ground rumbled when he finished the two lines from the song and he and April watched as black smoke billowed from the shadows of the farthest corner of the alley.
An alabaster leg, bare from ankle to mid thigh, materialized from the smoke, stepping forward on a high strappy black stiletto heel that clicked ominously against the cement.

The smoke twisted and churned around her body as she appeared, clinging to her as it materialized as a fitted black dress with a long slit up the side that ended just above her hip. It was a halter neck with a deep cut neckline that plunged and stopped midway down her sternum where it was held together by silver clasps in the center that looked like warring cobras, striking at each other, mouths open, fangs exposed. A silver necklace that mimicked a snake lounging languidly around her neck, its tail hanging down just above the clasp while the body curved up, around the back of her neck and connected just above her clavicle, the head of the serpent biting its own body. Her twin dragon tails were not on display but the remaining smoke had become her wings and her horns and her eyes blazed blood red as she stepped from the shadows, heels clicking.
"Abatur. You're a long way from the World of Light." Her voice was multilayered and Donatello grinned innocently at the angel as it locked eyes with him. It's eyes blazed a cold silver under the half mask.

It turned from him and regarded Lux as she made her way toward it.
"As are you, Evening Star." It rasped.
"Ah. But I was summoned here." She grinned and Donatello shivered as he watched her canine teeth lengthen into fangs.

"I did not summon you here and neither did that human child." Abatur pointed to April who was staring at Lux like she was the greatest thing since white bread.
"No. The yokai has the power to summon me. He is mine." Lux snarled the last part at the angel and it laughed that horrible raspy laugh that made it sound like it needed to smoke another cigarette.
"A yokai? Yours? Desperate for followers?"

"He is not a follower. And that is none of your concern. What is your concern is whether or not you are going back to the World of Light or if I will be Destroying you." Luciana stepped closer and peered over Abatur's relatively small but still bright white wings, at Donatello who waved.

Her eyes flashed green for a brief moment and he felt relief from her at seeing him not dead. But he knew the moment she saw the blood that had trickled down his throat from the tiny cut the angel's blade had inflicted.

Her eyes blazed red and he felt a rage that had him gasping for breath and stumbling to his knees, causing April to crouch with him, concern filling her eyes.
"She's....angry." Don managed to whisper to her.

***

Angry. That was not the right word. No. Unbridled rage. That was closer to what she felt seeing even just that small cut on Donatello's throat.

Her eyes flicked to Abatur.
"You....dare..spill his blood? Not only are you an angel, sworn to do no harm. You forsake your duty to the World of Light. You spill the blood of what is mine. His soul is bound to mine and I have sworn no harm will come to him or his family as long as my soul remains in this world or any other." Her hand opened, palm facing him and a black staff fizzled into being allowing her to grasp it. The top portion was carved with vines and flowers and a large skull sat on top. She lifted it ever so slightly and then struck the ground with the end.

The skull's mouth opened impossibly wide and a long curved blade slid out, it was the color of bone and stained with gold on the double edged curve.

Don managed a whistle in approval. "Staff that magically appears and turns into a freaky scythe. Points for creativity."

"You forfeit your life Abatur." She snarled. The angel growled back and lunged with his sword aimed to cut her down.

She moved to the side. "Sloppy." She spun around and brought the staff up to block his sword as he turned back around and swung downward again. She blocked blow after blow, the blade never once touching her but the sound it made as it cut through the air was a low hum. The angel seethed with fury as she effortlessly avoided every attack as if he were no more than an annoying fly.

"You are wanted for treason in the World of Light and I will take you there. But perhaps I will do so after I kill your little pet?" Abatur taunted as he pointed his sword at Donatello who had managed to stand back up and was still standing by the dumpster, keeping April behind him. Lux watched him glare at the angel and lift his lips in a small snarl showing his own canines, a low growl rumbling through his plastron. He glanced at her the next moment. She could feel an undercurrent of suppressed violence from him and she offered him a feral smile, her canines glinting in the dim light of the alley. She deflected another illfated strike from Abatur, this time adding enough force as she smacked the hard staff against his wrist, causing him to drop his weapon.

"You uthra were never warriors." She hissed as she swung the scythe in a large half circle so it hooked around the back of the angel's neck, slicing cleanly through muscle and bone with a horrible searing flesh sound, golden ichor spraying from the stump of a neck as the angel's head burst into white flames and the body soon after, and yes, it did still scream in agony as it died even with it's head detached. Thankfully it didn't last long as the head burnt to white ash and the body continued to blaze. The scent of burning flesh was heavy and nauseatingly sweet in the air.

Lux reached up to touch a sticky substance on her face, pulling her hand away to see ichor staining her fingers. She sighed and looked down at her black dress that was also stained with splatters of gold.
"That does not wash out. Dammit." She grumbled to herself as she turned towards the turtle and human who were regarding her in a mixture of awe and glee. Glee from Donatello, awe from April.

"Well. That was not exactly how I planned to spend my evening. I was in a meeting." She stepped towards them and twirled the scythe once, twice, before tapping the end on the ground again, a loud thud like the ominous beat of a drum sounded in the still night air. The blade slid backwards disappearing into the skull's mouth and when it was gone the skull's jaw closed again. She tossed the scythe up and it disappeared in a puff of black glitter.

"That was freaky and cool all at the same time. You are a badass!" April exclaimed giving Lux a wide grin and a wink.

Lux smiled at the petite black girl.
"All in the name of keeping this one from harm." She turned her green eyed gaze towards Donatello who gave her a nervous smile.

She stepped closer to inspect the cut on his throat.
"You should clean that. There is no telling where that angel's blade has been. Oh! That reminds me." She turned back to the now smoldering body and used her heeled foot to kick some ash away from the sword the angel had been using. She gingerly picked it up and inspected it before it too disappeared in a puff of black glitter.

"I'll be sure to have the forge make that into something easy to conceal for you both. It would appear they are going to be bothering you more than I had hoped." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"So they want you? But why?" She looked up at April and sighed.
"Because I fell by choice. But it's time I involved my father. This has gone too far already. I will not have you come to harm." She shook her head.

"It's just a scratch. No biggie." Donatello offered.
"A scratch from an angelic blade...it could have stolen years off your life." Lux leveled a firm green gaze at him and he sighed. "Perfeecct."

"I believe I can at least deter them....if only for a little bit." She stepped over to him and stopped about a foot away from him before she reached up with both hands and pulled her fingers through the air like it was a tangible thing. Black smoke trailed along her finger tips creating sigils in the air that she pulled together and combined and when sbe was finished with it she leaned backwards, brought her fingers to her lips then blew a kiss at the ward which turned into a ball of red light that pushed into the sigil and then floated lazily forward, imbedding itself into Donatello's plastron where it disappeared.
A silver chain necklace materialized around his neck and he looked down at it in curiosity, lifting it up between his fingers.

"That should cloak you enough. It's not permanent. But it doesn't have to be." She said as she began the process again for April, who noticed keenly that Lux did not blow a kiss at the sigil for April but instead simply flicked her fingers and the light appeared.

When the ward dissolved into April and materialized as a delicate golden chain around her neck with a small elongated eight point star hanging from it she smiled up at Lux.
"Cool!"

Lux smiled and glanced at Donatello who was looking at her in confusion. She furrowed her brow at him but did not ask him what was wrong in front of April.
"I should return to my meeting." She said simply.

April smiled and waved at her. "See ya later then, Lux!"
Lux waved in a slightly awkward fashion and then lifted her gaze back to Donatello who looked highly conflicted on what he should do.
She could practically see the warring emotions, the gears turning in his head.

Finally he broke the staring contest they had apparently been having and reached out his hand to grasp her's.

She looked down at their joined hands and turned his over in her own, brushing her thumb against the soft yet still pebbly textured skin that was a jade green color.

She felt him squeeze her hand before he let hers go and she gave him a small smile before snapping her fingers and dissolving into a plume of black smoke.

***

"Your girl is super cool." April elbowed Don as they walked into the Lair. Don rolled his eyes at her and grimaced slightly when he noticed Leo was reading a comic in the main part of their home, Raph was lifting weights nearby and Mikey appeared to be drawing but he was facing the other way so it was hard to tell until he saw the slew of art supplies around him.

Don sighed and turned to April.
"Could you please refrain from calling her that for the time being? I am still....confused."
April huffed and made a hand gesture indicating sbe would do as he asked.

Leonardo immediately looked over his shoulder and then chucked the nearest object at Don, which happened to be a box of colored pencils that Mikey was using.
"Leo! What the hell?!" Mikey spun around and yanked his brother's bandana tails.

Don swatted the box away in defense and scowled as the pencils flew out of the box and clattered around him. He turned his scowl to Leonardo and sighed as he bent to pick them up.

"That was highly uncalled for, Nardo." He said tersely.
"Stop seeing the demon!" Leo yelled.

Don ignored him as he put the colored pencils back into their box and walked over to Michelangelo who gratefully took the box from his older brother and then glared at Leonardo before he picked up his sketch book and stomped towards his room.

Leo scowled after him briefly but then turned his attention back to Donatello seeing that he had already turned away and was heading to his room too.

"Leo, let it go already." Raphael sat up and leaned his elbows on his knees.

"She's. The-"
"Devil's daughter. We get it, Leo. But she hasn't exactly shown us that she's evil. So can't you just let it go?"

"Leo she just saved me and Donnie's asses from a freaky angel. She's cool as hell not evil." April regarded the blue masked turtle with a cool gaze, her arms crossed over her chest.

"You guys are crazy." Leo said in exasperation. "And Hell isn't cool! It's hot April! Everyone knows that!"

"Says the one acting crazy." April retorted, rolling her eyes.

"I am not! I'm the only one acting with any sense! The daughter of the literal devil can't be anything but evil. I didn't trust Big Mama! And then remember what happened when you guys trusted her?!" Leo protested.

"Yea and then Big Mama helped us out when we went looking for the Shredder-" Raph countered.

"So what! She's still not great! You know it! I know it!" Leo was yelling now.

"Leo. Shut the f*ck up. Now." The three remaining in the main room of the Lair looked up as Donatello addressed them from the doorway of his room, his right hand was twitching and moving like he was typing on a keyboard, the left was crossed kver his plastron, holding onto the right arm.

"Donnie-" Leo started but Donatello narrowed his eyes at him.

"No! I said shut up! I've had it! I have no control over the situation that I'm in and that's frustrating enough! But add to it you acting like a psycho and pestering me to no end! You chucked Mikey's art supplies at me! That was uncalled for! Mikey didn't do anything to you! You're acting stupid out of a pointless fear of yours and I can't handle it! I'm freaking out enough! I don't need you doing it too!" He rubbed at his temples for a moment as he sucked in a deep breath then let it out slowly.

April gave the purple masked turtle a sympathetic look after he had finished his outburst, he was clearly overstimming and Leo was not helping, Raphael sighed and shook his head, Leo simply glared at his brother.

"I'm just trying to protect you..." Leo said quietly.
"Thank you. But i don't need protecting from her. Just give her a damn chance." Donatello clenched his hands into fists at his side.
Leo looked away from him and huffed as he stood up and shook his head.

He turned and quickly moved towards his room, shoving the blanket door aside and disappearing inside.

"He'll come around, Don. Maybe he just needs to meet her again." Raph gave his brother a kind smile.
Don sighed and rubbed between his eyes.

"I won't bring her here if Leo is bent on being a prick. I won't subject her to that. Don't you think ..as the daughter of the most hated creature in the mortal realm, that she gets that enough?"

Raph sighed and shrugged. "I bet."
"Me too. So I won't do that to her." Don said resolutely as he turned back to his room.

He stood in the middle of it unsure of what he was going to do until he heard someone step up to the threshold.

"Why don't you start small. Have you considered...just asking her on a date?" April asked from the doorway as she leaned against it.
"A date?" Don turned and looked at her.

"Yea that thing couples do to get to know each other?" April teased.
"I know what a date is, April."
"Ok...so ask her on one." April smiled at him.

"........." Don stared at her and she gave him a quizzical look.
"What?" She asked.
"What would we even do?"
April sighed. "Anything. Do something you think is fun."

"April....my idea of fun is typically no one else's idea of fun. I know this because my brothers have made that clear on numerous occasions."

"You gotta start somewhere." April gave him a bored expression and turned from the door. "You think on it, then text me. Mkay?" She called over her shoulder.

Donnie sat heavily in his gaming chair and picked up his controller. He didn't want to think about it at the moment. He just wanted to game and have everyone leave him alone.

***

He had been gaming for several hours when he felt an overwhelming feeling he couldn't place. He supposed he could equate it to that time when he was little that Leo had bounced a basketball off his face and teased him about sucking at the sport. Well all sports really. But that particular time he had felt very sad. But this was more than that.
He felt something wet run down his cheek and he reached up to touch it, bringing his fingers away he realized he was crying.

"What the f*ck?" He rubbed at his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. This wasn't him. He wasn't the one feeling this emotion. It was an echo.
It was her.

"Why?" He suddenly realized he had no way to contact her. If he did he would have texted her. But he had nothing.

Did he summon her again? No.
He supposed he could try to find her in that weird subconscious of hers.

He wasn't sure how he had done it either time but the only thing he did know was he had to focus enough to tap into his Ninpo.

He set his controller down and folded his legs under him and sat back in his chair, closing his eyes.
He sat there, focusing on the image of the weird floaty space that he had appeared to her in before.
He popped one eye open and growled in frustration when he saw his familiar room.

"Okay...focus onnnnn what then?" He muttered. He closed his eyes again and took in a deep breath. As he let it out he focused on the suffocating sadness he was feeling instead. He focused on wanting to know why she felt it. As he did so he pictured the glowing silver thread that connected them and when he opened his eyes this time he could see it and the vast openness he recognized as her deep subconscious mind.

He grabbed onto the thread and pulled himself forward by it, propelling quickly into the darkness until he came to a slow stop at the weird little patch of floating earth and the tree. But she wasn't there.
He frowned and floated down to stand on the floating land. The long gray grass swayed in a non-existent lazy breeze as he looked around. The thread literally ended into nothing. Just open air.

"Luciana?" He called out. His voice echoed around him.

"Luciana?!" He yelled louder.

"Donatello?" He couldn't see her but he could hear her.

"Where are you? I don't see you." He looked behind the tree and saw nothing but as he spun around he spotted her as she materialized from thin air.

She was still in the ichor stained black dress but her winged eyeliner and smokey black eyeshadow was running down her pale cheeks and leaving black tear trails and her green eyes were red and puffy.
Donatello stared at her for only a moment. He usually wasn't moved by tears but for some reason seeing her like that made him sad too.
"Am I feeling your sadness or mine?" He asked aloud.

"I... don't know." She said, her voice shook.

"Why are you crying?" He asked her.
"Because." She said petulantly as she hastily wiped at the tears still running down her cheeks, only managing to smear more black makeup.

Donatello furrowed his brow in frustration as he strode towards her with far more confidence than he possessed and grabbed at her wrists gently pulling them away from wiping at more tears.

She attempted to yank her wrists free but he wouldn't let her.
"Luciana. Stop." He said firmly. She glared upward at him and he sighed.

"I take it it's not something you want to talk about?" He asked her.
She stopped glaring, her expression shifting through various emotions; anger, sorrow, confusion, and finally landing on desperation.

"No." She answered him finally. He adjusted his grip on her wrists so he was instead now holding her hands.
"Okay. Then don't talk about it. But your sadness is uncomfortable." He said honestly. Her eyes widened slightly and she opened her mouth to apologize.

"Do not apologize for feeling. Just because I don't understand half the time doesn't mean I want anyone to apologize for feeling emotions. You're fine." He squeezed her hands in his.

"I... don't want....to feel. Not like this." She sucked in a shaky breath.
"Okay. Well. I believe a distraction is in order!" He said with a grin. Donatello let go of one of her hands and pulled her closer by the other.

"This is my best idea of a distraction so. No laughing." He said noticing her eyes brightened a little. With an extravagant flourish he held onto her hand and bowed at the waist then looked up at her with a smirk.

"I've been informed I have yet to ask you one very simple question."
Luciana tilted her head to the side and managed to give him a small smile. "Oh?"

"Would you accompany me on a completely juvenile date of which I have yet to plan but am asking you anyway so you can stop feeling sad?"

A bubble of laughter escaped her lips and she smiled brighter at him.
"Of course." She said simply.

"Wait really? sh*t. Now I have to figure that part out." Donatello stood back up straight looking overwhelmed.

"Anything is fine with me...I could use a dose of...normal..." She said as she looked down at her dress where the golden blood of Abatur still remained.

"I was going for normal earlier and I have concluded that my life is far from normal. However. I will endeavor to treat you to a very normal date." He grinned at her.
She giggled girlishly and he found that he enjoyed hearing her laugh almost as much as he enjoyed seeing her smile.

"It worked. You have been distracted." He told her.

"So I have." She agreed, still smiling up at him.

"Excellent. I'll accept my World's Best Boyfriend metal in gold." He teased causing her to giggle again.
She waved her hand in the air and a golden metal on a purple ribbon appeared from a puff of black glitter and floated around his neck.
He chuckled as he lifted it up and it was engraved with the words "1st Place Smartass."

"I'm hanging this in my room. You can't stop me." He smirked at her.
"Wouldn't dream of it." She said.
"Oh! Um....how do I....talk to you?" He asked her.

She gave him a questioning look and then seemed to realize what he was saying.

"Oh. Well we have a telepathic link remember? You can talk to me whenever you want." She said.
"How?" He gave her a confused look.

"Uhhhh...I don't know. It's kind of effortless for me to slip into your mind. So...maybe don't think too hard about it?" She shrugged.

"Don't think about thinking about talking to you in my head...."
"I also have a cell phone.."
"That works!" He exclaimed immediately and she laughed.
"Okay....go back to your body and I will tell you my number." She smiled at his confused look.

"Uhhhhh okay, easy enough. He said without any sarcasm whatsoever." He looked around him and then back to her. She rolled her eyes at him and then smirked deviously before she shoved him off the edge of the floating chunk of earth.

He fell backwards with a startled cry but soon realized he was gently floating down into the pressing blackness until he felt himself settling to a stop. He opened his eyes to see he was back in his body, still sitting in his gaming chair.
This time he felt only a small wave of the familiar nausea but it passed after a moment and he sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐?
He jumped when her voice sounded in his head. It was definitely in his head as it didn't sound the same as someone talking out loud.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆. He replied. 𝑶𝒉, 𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅. 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒕. He grinned to himself.

𝑻𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖. She laughed softly. She rattled off her phone number to him and he pulled out his phone to type it into a new contact.

𝑯𝒎𝒎𝒎, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆? 𝑩𝒂𝒆? 𝑵𝒐, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅. 𝑩𝒐𝒐? 𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒖𝒎𝒃. 𝑪𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒂𝒌𝒆? 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆.

He smiled as she laughed again taking a moment of pride that he was the one making her laugh.
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒆. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒘.

𝑶𝒉, 𝒆𝒘. 𝑵𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔. 𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒏𝒐 𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒄𝒂𝒌𝒆. 𝑯𝒎. He tapped his chin in thought.
𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆?

𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑳𝒆𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒐𝒇𝒇.

𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉.
He sat there a moment before he remembered something.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑻𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏, 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕?
𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒔, 𝒚𝒆𝒔? He smirked and started typing, saving the contact.

𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕.

𝑺𝒐 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝑺𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓? 𝑾𝒉𝒚? 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 '𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕'? He could hear the deadpan tone of her voice and he chuckled.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒆.

𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕.

𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝑩𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕?
𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖? He shivered hearing the tone of her voice shift.
𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆.

𝑰 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕. 𝑨𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒈. She laughed causing him to smile.

𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒕. He insisted.

𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒘 '𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕' 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆. She purred in reply and he was glad she wasn't there to see the intense blush on his face.
He knew she could feel his nervousness though.

𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐. She said with a soft laugh.

He gulped and mustered up the tiniest bit of confidence.

𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕,...𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓.

He felt a wave of mirth engulf him and knew instantly it was her, smiling to himself he stood up and yawned and then looked down at the shining gold metal that rested around his neck. He grinned and slipped it over his head hanging it on the same hook he hung his mask on when he slept before he crawled over to his bed and almost immediately felt himself slip into a blissful dreamless sleep.

Chapter 4: Chapter 3 : Sweet Dreams

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕿𝖍𝖗𝖊𝖊 ; 𝕾𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙 𝕯𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖘

Lux slammed her open palm flat on the dark varnished wood table.
"You insufferable cad, if my father weren't present I'd show you exactly what I think of your excuses. Five hundred years?! You are telling me you have no record of the whereabouts of one of 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 demons for 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨?"

Her blood red eyes blazed fury and the only thing keeping her in check was the firm grasp her Beta had on her wrist.

A light touch on her shoulder had her turning her gaze to her father.
Lucifer, of course, was beautiful. He had a large broad build, he was nearly six and a half feet tall and his wings, all three golden feathered sets, made him appear even taller. He had large black double curled ram horns and silvery white hair that reached the middle of his back which he wore half braided in a half updo.

His eyes were a luminous green, of which he had passed down to his daughter, and his complexion of opalescent flawlessness as well. He stood to her right in his typical white long tunic, his golden sigil emblazoned on it. A white loin cloth and light tan leather tassets draped his hips along with a golden chain belt from which a scabbard was held to his left hip where the silver hilt of a sword protruded.

"Daughter. Be still. I'm sure Baal has a perfectly good reason for being so completely irresponsible with his charges." Lucifer's subtle dig and his narrow eyed glare on the demon across from them said more about how he felt than the gentle tone of his voice.

"Ch'rell is guilty." Lux seethed.

"Without proof I cannot pass judgement. You know this." Lucifer said gently to his raging daughter.
Lux turned more fully towards her father and then gave Baal, a hulking black skinned demon that looked far more old testament than some of the more recently created demons, a meaningful glare. He truly was stereotypical with his cloven hoofed legs, serpentine tail and clawed hands along with his beasti*al face with protufing tusk-like fangs from his lower jaw and the twisted bone colored horns on his head. His eyes blazed red in return.

"Father the yokai this dolt's slave attempted to harm is mine." Lux said.

Lucifer's calm facade shifted to one of pure joy.

"Your mate? You have found him? But....a yokai? I wasn't aware The Great Luna had made them compatible with werewolves?" Lucifer ignored Baal as the demon began to growl lowly from across the table.

"I wasn't aware of that either. But that doesn't change anything. He is mine. I have access to his memories." She smirked at her father. "I could simply pull them from his mind and project them into a scrying pool for the court to view." She crossed her arms over her chest and gave Baal a satisfied smirk.

"This is ridiculous, your grace, you cannot be so naive as to bow to the demands of a young inexperienced simple minded female-"

"Watch yourself Baal or I will have your body quartered and hung at the palace gates for all to see if you speak ill of my daughter again." Lucifer turned a flaming gaze upon the demon who shrunk back and bowed even though he still looked furious.

He turned back to Lux and grasped her hands in his own when she unfolded her arms. The look on his face was pure unadulterated pride.
"You are brilliant my shining star." He smiled at her and she beamed a smile back at him.

"Thank you, dad." She allowed him to pull her against his broad chest and wrap her in a warm embrace.
"I'd like to meet him." She could feel his excitement and she pulled back to look up at him.

"Dad, calm down." She laughed.
"Calm down? My daughter has found her mate when it could have taken you centuries. You are a mere twenty one in mortal time. That is a rarity that should be celebrated." Lucifer said.

"I suppose. I do have a date with him tonight." Lux blushed slightly.
Both seemed to remember that Baal was still there as well as Draconia who was standing, grinning, behind Lux.

"Baal, you may return to your keep. But if you attempt to leave before the trial I will find you. Do I make myself clear?" Lucifer said to the fuming demon warden.

"Yesssss." He hissed in reply as he stormed from the chamber that resembled that of a large office, if the office had been in a castle made of a mixture of glittering white veined gray stone and black jutting lava rock brickwork with large ornate stained glass windows depicting beautiful florals.
If there was one thing about her father, it was that he enjoyed beauty, no matter if it was a simple rose bloom or a sunset from the mortal realm.

"Now. Tell me. You said you have a date? Tonight? How exciting my star. Do you know what you will be doing?" He offered his hand to his daughter who took it and allowed him to lead her from the room into a hallway down which they strode with Draconia at their backs, the ever present guard.

"No, I do not. But I don't mind that. I enjoy his company. He has a quick wit and a devil's streak a mile wide, no pun intended." She gave her father a toothy grin and he laughed loudly.

"What is his name?" He asked her.
"Donatello." She blushed slightly and her father's grin told her he had noticed.

"You are already fond of him?"
"I am." She nodded once.
"Good! That is as it should be for true mates. You will find that the bond grows stronger the more time you spend in each other's company." He told her.

"His brother does not trust me." She suddenly said. Lucifer sighed and rested his hand on her shoulder.
"And I'm sure that it is because you told them who you are, no?" He asked her as they stopped outside her bedchamber.

"I cannot lie to him." She shrugged.
"Then you will just have to win his brother over with your dazzling personality." Lucifer said with a rakish grin.

"Perfect." Lux deadpanned causing Draconia to snicker behind her.

"Now. I will see to alerting the high court about the impending trial. You get ready for your date. And remember. I love you my shining star. Always." She smiled as her father cupped both her cheeks in his large hands and leaned forward to kiss her forehead before he strode with purpose back down the corridor.

"I've never seen him so happy." Drake commented as they moved inside the room.

"He hadn't had a reason to be before." Luciana said. As Draconia closed the door behind her she turned to see Lux staring at her in panic.

"What is it?" She asked.

"What do I even wear? I don't know what we are doing? Half my wardrobe is armor...the other half....oh my gods I have been dressing like a slu*t on earth. Drake!" Draconia's eyes widened as Lux grasped her arms and shook her lightly.

She extracted herself from Lux's grip and moved to the large walk in closet across the room. She stood with her hand on her hip as she looked around at exactly what Lux had described. Half the closet was dedicated to armor and traditional warrioress garb, the other was formal wear that left little to the imagination.

"Well....perhaps a trip to the mortal realm? Maybe your wardrobe could use a does of....normal?" Drake offered.

"You mean you wanna go-"
"Shopping, baby! My gift!" Drake grinned at her.

"Um.....okay." Lux grimaced.
"You can borrow a pair of leggings and a shirt from me to shop in." Drake said as she pulled Lux out of the closet and out of the bedroom down the hall to her own room.

"Jesus Christ, superstar. Could you not pull my arm out of its socket, Drake?" Lux rubbed at her shoulder.
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚? She startled slightly when she heard Donatello's voice in her head but that changed to a lopsided grin when she realized he had opted for the mental link instead of texting her.

𝑰'𝒎 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎. 𝑵𝒐 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍.

𝑶𝒉, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍? 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. She heard the teasing tone of his voice and smirked.

𝑺𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆? 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒚?

𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅. 𝑩𝒖𝒕, 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒕....𝒚𝒆𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑨𝒕𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆. 𝑭𝒖𝒄𝒌, 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆.

Lux laughed out loud and Draconia gave her a quizzical look. She grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry. It's the mental link." She tapped her temple.

"You can really talk to each other like that?" Drake asked her as she handed her a pair of black leggings and a fitted dark blue long sleeved shirt. Lux nodded as she pulled off her current clothing. A black velvet strip of fabric that was split in half to create what appeared to be two thick black straps that just barely covered her full bust and met just above her naval and the small of her back and became more like a loin cloth. A slim golden necklace that connected at the hollow of her throat and became one long chain hung down to the end of the slit in the fabric and it was held in place by an identical golden chain that draped her hips and hung low with a large charm from which the chain split into three separate chains that followed the length of the fabric, under which she wore a thin black thong.

Black steel spiked hip tassets rested on each hip, attached to the chain and black steel shoulder guards adorned her delicate shoulders.

She slipped on the leggings and then the shirt, not bothering with a bra because she abhorred them and thought they were highly uncomfortable. She turned to Drake who gave her a thumbs up.
"Grab your steel toes and let's kick it, babe." She grinned, she was already out of her signature black steel armor and in a pair of black camo joggers and a cropped burgundy hoodie and her black combat boots.

***

"How do you feel?" Lux peeked over the dressing room stall door.
"If I say thirty, flirty and thriving will you stop asking?" Quoting one of their favorite movies from their childhood together.

Drake smiled at her and made her hands into a heart shape then blew a kiss at Lux.

"Just answer the question." Drake said. Lux turned back to the full length mirror and smiled. It was just baggy tattered jeans that she was trying on but she liked them. It had been so long since she had worn jeans.

"I love them. What's this style called again?" She asked.

"Boyfriend jeans. I suppose they are meant to look like you stole em from your boyfriend." Lux laughed and changed back into the leggings and carried the jeans along with several other items out of the dressing room.

"Well I love them." Lux flashed Drake a smile as they made their way up front to the check out. Lux stopped for a moment when she noticed something and she turned down a section of sweaters. She approached a rack with a long oversized chunky knit eggplant purple sweater that had an equally large hood with cat ears sewn on top. She grabbed it and draped it over everything else on her arm and hurried back over to Drake who glanced at the sweater and smirked.

They paid and carried their myriad of bags from the store and continued down the sidewalk outside.

Lux pulled her phone out and selected the contact she wanted to text.

𝙷𝚎𝚢𝚢. 𝚄𝚖...𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔 ? 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚖 𝚒 𝚖𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞?

She followed Drake along as she rambled about a particular store she liked down the way as ahe watched the little icon at the bottom of the text app indicate that Donnie was typing.

𝚄 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢 𝚞 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚍 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚒𝚗?

𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚝?

𝙻𝚘𝚕. 𝙼𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛.𝟽 𝚘𝚔?

𝚈𝚎𝚜.

:𝙳 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝!

She giggled to herself and was about to slip the phone back into the leggings pocket when it rang with her father's caller I.D. and ringtone which was, Daddy Lessons by Beyonce. She answered it.

"Dad? You never use your phone." She felt worried for a moment before his low chuckle calmed her.

"Relax, little star. You are in the mortal realm and I had no other way to contact you. That's all. I want you and Draconia to use the condo I have there in the city. That way you don't have to skip between hell time and mortal time. The elevator in the building comes down here anyhow so its far easier access than the Rift."

"Why didn't I know about this condo until now, daddy?" She smirked.

"I haven't used it in a while. For all intents and purposes it's yours now." Lucifer said.

Lux blinked and looked at Draconia who had stopped and was watching hwr curiously.

"Okay....thank you. That should help a lot actually." She said.

"Good!" She could practically see his beaming smile and it made her smile in return.

"I'll let you get back to your shopping. Talk soon, little star! I love you."

"I love you too." She pulled the phone away from her ear and clicked the red end call button.
"Wellllll? What's the big dick in charge have to say?"

"First of all. That's my dad, don't refer to his dick, ever. Second of all. He has a condo here in the city. Says it's mine so I don't have to move between mortal and hell time so much." Lux looked down at her phone as a text chimed from her father with the address of said condo.

"It's not far." She said looking at the map she had brought up.

"Sweet! Does this mean we get to stay in the mortal realm more?!" Drake asked. Draconia was not a Fallen like Lux. She was born to a demon in Hell making her Hellborn. Her mother was a notoriously proficient sucubus and she had seduced and used Draconia's father, a werewolf, to bare herself a child. Draconia had lived in hell for a short time before her father had petitioned Lucifer himself to have rights to see his daughter. Lucifer, suffering his own torment by his former love at the time, granted the request without a second thought.
Thus Draconia had left Hell to live with her father in his pack.

Coincidentally the same pack as Luciana's mother. The two had become fast friends and had also befriended two other werewolf girls from a neighboring pack, Shaydrim and Gemino.

Draconia loved the mortal realm and Lux knew this.

"Yes. We will be." She answered her friend finally who grinned in excitement.

"Then lead on to this condo!" She said scurrying behind Lux and pushing her forward.

***

"Whoo! I got mad skills, baby!" Donatello glanced up from his phone at Leonardo who was currently victory dancing after yet another basket.

"How many times do we have to subject ourselves to this a year again?'" he asked Mikey who was to his left.

"The contract states a minimum of two times." The younger turtle grumped.

"Ah. And why did we sign a contract with our brother who is obsessed with winning? In literally everything?" He persisted.

"I... don't know." Mikey said in confusion.

"Because he wouldn't stop pestering us when we wouldn't play basketball with him so we made a contract stipulating that we had to at least twice a year as long as he doesn't bother us about it any other time." Raphael said, tossing the ball to Mikey.

"Ohhhh. That makes more sense." Mikey nodded.

"Is time up yet? I have somewhere to be." Donatello glanced back down at his phone and the game he had been playing on it.

"Three more minutes!" Leo taunted.

"Could we simply keep standing here for three minutes then?" Don deadpanned but his answer was Leo throwing the basketball he had stolen out of Mikey's hands at the back of Donnie's head.

"Sonofa-" Don whirled around and glared at Leo as he dribbled the ball around and through his legs, laughing.

"Why do you have to throw everything at my head?!"

"Because it brings me joy." Leo grinned as he dodged Mikey and Raph and expertly made another basket. The timer on Raphael's phone went off and the three sighed in relief.

"Yay! No more torture!" Mikey cheered.

"Fantastic. Bye bye." Don turned on his heel, shoving his phone and both hands into his hoodie pocket.

"Where ya goin DonTon?" Leo called.

"Away from here." Don called back.

"Donnie's got a daaaattteee." Mikey said in a sing song voice and Raph chuckled. Leo scowled at his baby brother and then at his other brother's back as he disappeared out of sight.

"Twenty three and he acts like he's twelve." Don huffed as he walked down the sidewalk keeping mostly to the shadows and obscuring his face with his hood.

He rounded a familiar corner into a dim alley and stopped next to the graffiti on the building wall, leaning against it.

He was about five minutes early but he didn't mind. He pulled his phone back out and continued the game he had been playing.

𝑷𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕. 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒓.

He looked up from his phone as if he would see her standing there in front of him but all he saw was the other building. He glanced around him and then smiled broadly when he found her standing in the mouth of the alleyway, dressed down for the first time since he had met her in a long sleeved cropped sweater and tattered loose fitting light washed jeans with fishnets underneath and her black steel toed boots. Her black leather choker with the eight pointed star was still on and she had large black steel hoop earings on that had spikes on them. Her wine red and black hair was loosely curled and her eyes dusted in smokey shadow and winged liner.

And somehow she made even that look stunning.

"Never knew my type had a name, but apparently I'm a sucker for alt girls." He said with a smirk.

She smiled at him, the only thing inhuman looking about her was her sharp canines and her opalescent complexion. "I didn't know I was an alt girl until today." She shrugged.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Drake dragged me shopping. All day. Because my wardrobe lacked.....normal clothes." She blinked.

"What do you wear in Hell?" He quipped as he offered her his arm. She smiled again and linked her arm with his.

"Mostly armor. You never know when someone is going to try and kill you." She giggled.

"Riiiighhtttt. Sounds like New York City honestly." That made her laugh outright and he grinned down at her as he led her through the portal wall and into the restaurant it masked.

"There's a whole restaurant just...chillin on the other side of that wall?" She looked back behind them.

"Yep! Our go to since it's yokai owned and operated. We can't exactly go inside normal shops. But we frequently order to go and pick it up in disguise."

"Ahh, pepino. Welcome back. And....ohhhh. Who is this flor radiante?" Don smiled at the skeleton man, Hueso, the owner of Run of The Mill Pizza.

"This is Lux. Lux this is Hueso, the owner."

Lux gave the bone man a genuine smile. "Gracias que encantador eres."

The skeleton yokai grinned at her and led them to a booth table.
"Here you are. I will return shortly." Hueso said with a smile at Lux before he moved to another table.
Donatello raised a brow at the skeleton before looking at Lux.
"Welp. Now I have to fight off the skeleton." Lux gaped at him.
"What do you mean?" She asked before glancing back down at the menu.

Don smiled sardonically. "Luciana. Are you one of those people that has no idea when someone flirts with you?"

Lux looked back up at him and blinked at him with a blank stare then seemed to realize what he was implying.

"Oh...uhhh....maybe? I don't get flirted with. At least...I don't think I do." She looked back down at the menu.

"What? There's no way! Have you looked in a mirror?"

"Are you saying I'm pretty?" She fluttered her lashes at him with a smile that showed her fangs.

Don chuckled. "Yes. But what I'm saying is there's no way you don't get flirted with... because you aren't just pretty. Pretty is too simple a word. You aren't simple." He shook his head. Lux was looking at the menu again.

"Does 'hey baby, suck my co*ck' count as flirting?" She deadpanned as she looked up at him.

Don grimaced. "Uhhhh no. That's called sexual harassment."

"Ah. Then I get sexually harassed. I don't get flirted with." She shrugged, then smiled. "Well that is, until you." He smiled and looked down at his menu then.

When Hueso returned he offered Lux a smile and Don glanced up at her to see her grin back. He realized she was probably simply not used to kindness.

"What will it be, flor radiante?" Lux glanced back down at her menu.
"Frutti de mar?"

"Excellent choice. And for you pepino?" Don heard Lux's faint bubble of laughter at having realized what Hueso called him.

"The veggie pizza sounds good, Hueso, thanks." He responded. Hueso wrote their order down and left and Lux giggled again.

"He calls you cucumber?"
"Yea, all of us." Don rolled his eyes.

"That's so strange." She leaned forward on her elbows and rested her chin in her hands.

"Strange is my life." Don quipped.
"You can say that again."
"Strange is my life." Don deadpanned causing Lux to laugh.

"So what were you doing prior to this? I could feel your mounting irritation. So i assume it involved Leonardo?" She asked him.

"Ohhhh that little jerk had us sign a contract like three years ago that we would play any sport with him at least twice a year and if we did he wouldn't bother us to do so any other time." Don shook his head.

"Why wouldn't you want to play..sports?...with him?" Lux tilted her head.

"Because he has to win. At everything. And that usually means my head is a spring board. Oh and I suck at sports." Don grimaced.

"Oh no." She winced but was still smiling.

"We do this thing once a year we call the Lair Games. Leo won five years in a row but a couple years ago I won. Crowning achievement of my life. Haven't won since." He sighed.

"Sounds entertaining. Not you losing but...in general." Lux said.
"It is." Don smiled regardless of his losing streak.

They lulled into a comfortable silence for a moment where Lux was gazing around her at the restaurant and its patrons while Don tried not to be too obvious that he was watching her.

"So... you're half werewolf? How does that work?" Don finally asked.

Lux looked over at him and folded her hands together on the table top.
"Well for starters it's not like how movies show it. Although oddly enough the one movie that came close to depicting us correctly is the Twilight Saga. Truly very close, makes me wonder if Stephanie had met a werewolf prior to writing it." She said. Don furrowed his brow as he attempted to remember which movie series that was.

"Uhhhh...sparkly vampires? Is that the movie?" He asked. Lux laughed.
"Yes. So we can phase to our wolf forms at will. We can even phase only specific things." She lifted her hands and he watched as her nails shifted to long razor sharp black claws and then back again, and then her eyes glowed bright peridot green instead of being their usual dark emerald green.

"So if you wanted to you could turn into a wolf right now?" Don asked her.

"Yes. Though if I phased back.....I would be highly under dressed." She grinned and Don felt a blush warm his cheeks.

"Riiiight. So it has nothing to do with full moons and curses?'

"Nope. The moon herself is our Goddess, our creator, but other than that we are only stronger during a full moon. As for the curse thing, not at all. The wolf and I are of two separate consciousnesses. But we inhabit the same body. She reacts in a more primal way. Hunt. Kill. Mate. Play. Those are her motivations." She told him. Donatello leaned forward on his elbows now too.

"So she's a completely separate mind inside of yours or she inhabits your mind?' he asked.

"She inhabits mine. She is eager to meet you." He watched her eyes glow again and he shivered slightly.
"She's not going to try to eat me is she?" He winced.

"Oh no. The werewolf part of me is why we are bonded. Werewolves have one true mate for their whole lives. They are connected by a soul bond. When the bond is complete they will have a stronger telepathic connection as well as live as long as the other lives. If a werewolf that has completed his bond with his mate is killed...his mate will die as well. They cannot live without each other as they balance each other's souls. Light and Darkness." She explained to him.

Donatello leaned back and gaped at her.

"So....if..when...our bond is complete....if....you die ...I die?" He asked her suddenly feeling a small pinprick of panic surfacing.

Lux's eyes widened and she slowly reached forward and grasped his hand in her own. Typically he avoided most physical contact, not always of course sometimes he even craved it. But with her, every time she touched him he felt oddly at peace. A calm would settle over him like a warm blanket.

"You remember I told you I would break the bond if you asked?" Lux said gently.

Donatello felt an immediate pang of pain at the thought of the bond being broken and he felt as though his very soul screamed not to break it.

"I remember." He answered her. Lux nodded and let go of his hand but he immediately reached for it and took it in both of his.

"I still haven't changed my mind....does...the bond have to be completed?" He asked her with trepidation in his voice.

Lux sighed and looked down at his hands holding onto her one hand.
"Not necessarily....however.....there are risks involved with that. Truthfully they are lesser than the risks if you were also a werewolf." She said.

"Okay. So. Let's hear them." He said, not letting go of her hand, in fact he had started gently brushing his thumb over her knuckles without even realizing it.

"If you were a werewolf there would be a darkness within you. Not inherently bad. But darkness nonetheless. With the beast comes its darkness. Males need the light their mate brings to keep that darkness at bay....a male that loses his mate before they complete their bond or who never finds her...may eventually lose himself to his darkness and go feral. A feral wolf is a danger to everyone. You, however, are not a werewolf. So, thankfully, you do not have that same risk." She paused and he could feel waves of nervousness through the bond.

"Female werewolves are...few. the ratio is horribly off. There are far more males. And because of their darkness and the impending fear of going feral...males can get...desperate." she shivered and her nervousness shifted briefly to horror and fear before he felt a strange sensation like someone had clamped their hand down around his throat.

"Luciana?" He choked out.

"I'm sorry!" She gasped and he felt the sensation fade.

"Males who are desperate have been known to try and claim females that are not theirs. They...think that maybe if they just finish the Blood Rites, that a bond will form and they won't fall to the darkness and lose themselves. Males that have done this have killed the females out of resentment and anger... they've killed their pups for getting in the way... they've killed themselves." He felt her hand begin to shake and he squeezed it in his.

"So....some...rando werewolf could swoop in and try to say you're his mate?" He asked.

Luciana had been looking at their hands the entire time but now she looked up at him.

"Yes. And without the bond being complete....another male would have the right to do that. If another male attempted to challenge you for the right to bond with me. You would be obligated to fight him." She told him. Donatello grimaced and then sighed.

"Well..that would not be fun. What happens if I lose?" He asked.

Lux squeezed his hand. "You would be killed. The challenge would be to the death." She said, her voice shaking slightly.

Donatello pulled his hand from her's gently and drug both of his hands down his face.

"f*ckin awesome." He grumbled.
"Donatello. I can break the bond. I don't want you to feel like you need to do anything like this." Lux said hastily.

Donatello sighed and let his hands fall onto the table top.

"It's....a lot." He said haltingly.

"I know." She nodded.

It was right then that their food was brought out to them and set on the table. Donatello looked down at his pizza suddenly feeling not so hungry but also realizing this date was quickly getting very depressing. He watched her pull her hands close to her chest and that she nervously bit at her bottom lip.

"How is the bond...completed?" He asked her.

Lux looked up at him and winced.
"Oh boy. That bad huh?" He picked up a slice of pizza anyway and bit into it.

"....we...uh...would...uh...share blood. It's called the Blood Rites." She said causing him to nearly choke on his pizza.

"What?"

"Yeaaaaaaa." She picked up her fork and poked at her pasta dish.

"Like....consume it...drink it? What?" Donatello set the pizza slice down and watched Lux as she seemed to shrink down in the booth seat.

"Yes." She answered.

"Oooookay. Okay. Um. Okay. Did I say okay yet?"

"Three times." She said.

He sighed and sat back in the seat for a moment.

Leo would have a hayday with all this. He would probably also call her a vampire even though that would be stupid.

What would April tell him? Probably that he should suck it up because his odds of finding a soul mate would drop to zero if he let Lux go.
If he completed the bond he would not only have to consume...blood...but he would also be linked to her life...and her to his.

If he didn't complete the bond he would not only subject Luciana, his actual soul mate, to some other werewolf attempting to claim her, killing him in combat and then making her life worse than Hell and possibly killing her...

Not to mention the strangling fear she had felt when even talking about that option.

He looked up at her and noticed she was staring at her food but her eyes looked blank and glassy and he felt like she was attempting to keep her emotions shielded from him.

He leaned forward again and reached out his hand on the table. When all she did was look at it he moved his fingers in a grabbing motion, indicating he wanted her hand.

She reluctantly placed her small delicate hand in his. He rubbed his thumb over her skin, her's was soft and pale while his was textured and green.

He felt that immediate feeling of contentment wash over him when their hands touched and also felt her side of the bond open back up as she relaxed too.

"Touch is important to werewolves isn't it?" He asked her.
Luciana looked up at him and nodded.

"This has gotten very dark for a first date. How about we try again?" He offered.
Luciana gave him a small smile and he smiled back.

***

For the next few hours they managed to talk about anything and everything. From his creation to her experiences in Hell, to his likes and dislikes to hers. Music. Video games which she knew next to nothing about but she still was enthralled as Donatello talked about his favorite ones. By the time he had paid and was leading her through the portal it had been four hours later.

"So you built the thing under your hoodie? What did you call it?" She asked him.

"This one is just a basic tech shell. It protects my real shell." He told her.

"Aren't turtle shells hard?" She asked him. He smiled down at her.

"Not mine. I'm a soft shell turtle. You can even see some of my vertebrae through the carapace." He said. She glanced at his back as if she would be able to see it through his hoodie and he chuckled.

"But you built this, tech shell? And other ones?" She asked him, curious despite knowing very little about technology.

"Yes. I have a whole lab at the Lair." He said proudly and she grinned at him.

"I'd love to see it." She told him. He stopped walking and looked down at her.

"You...really?" He seemed astonished and she tilted her head to the side.

"Yes." She said earnestly. She could feel intense excitement through the bond and she smiled up at him, pleased that she could make him that happy.

They stayed on the sidewalk in the shadows, his hood up and keeping his face mostly in shadow.

"Are you going back to Hell?" He asked her suddenly.

"Actually...no. My father had a condo he wasn't using here so he gave it to me to use. Draconia, Shaydrim and Gemino are there. I think Shaydrim said something about deep cleaning it." She said with a shrug.

"Then, allow me to walk you home, m'lady?" He offered his arm to her as he had at the start of their date and she hooked her arm through and hugged close to it. She could feel the sudden nervous feeling from him through the bond and imagined he was probably blushing.

"So. You mentioned before that you knew of the demon that tried to destroy my family? Has anything come of that?" He asked her as they walked.

"Ugh. Baal, Ch'rell's warden from the Wrath ring of Hell, claims he is innocent but has no records of Ch'rell's whereabouts for five hundred years. Unaccounted for, for five hundred years! That's not just idiotic, it's completely irresponsible." She growled lowly her eyes surely flashing red.

"That's how long he was trapped in the Twilight realm." Donatello commented.

"The Twilight realm? That's Death's realm...what was he doing there?" She asked him.

"Apparently being imprisoned by my several times great grandmother." He said.

"She must have been incredibly powerful." Lux said, a hint of awe in her voice.

"She was." He agreed with a sad smile.

Another comfortable silence fell over them and she rested her head against his arm as they walked. She knew from looking at him next to his brothers before that he was on the leaner side. But he still felt sturdy next to her and she could feel, still, that his arms were very well muscled and since he was only wearing an oversized purple hoodie she could see that his legs were heavily muscled as well. And very long since he was tall.

She glanced up at him and admired his more angular facial structure. He was handsome for a six foot five walking talking turtle. Correction, soft shell turtle.

𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆.

She smiled when he used the bond and she could hear the amusem*nt in his voice.

𝑰 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. She told him.

Surprising her she heard him hum to himself.

𝑴𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐, 𝑰 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑰'𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔.

𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒊𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆.

He looked down at her with a smirk and she quickly looked away and tucked her head against his arm again as they walked.

They reached the tall building made of the same white veined gray stone and black lava rock brick work as the palace in Hell but it had more modern dark tinted windows instead of stained glass.
They both looked up at it.

"This is me." She said.
"Do you want me to walk you up?" He asked.

"Would you like to come in?" She asked instead. He blinked down at her then looked back up at the building then back down to her.
"Sure."

She led them inside, waving idley at the receptionist at the front desk. They walked across bright white marble floors, passing under a massive glass chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, she strode up to the elevator and pressed the 'up' button.

The doors opened and as they passed through the threshold, her tails materialized as she turned to face the doors as they closed. But not her horns or wings.

Donatello looked down as one of her tails brushed against his ankle.
"Are they weird?" She asked him.
"You're asking a walking talking turtle if your tails are weird?" He asked her in return.

"Wait do you have a tail?" She asked him suddenly.

His eyes widened and she knew the answer before he said it by the intense blush on his face.
"Yes."

"Interesting." She mused aloud as the elevator took them up and up and up until it finally stopped at the top and they stepped into a private hallway that was simple and clean. Black silver veined marble floors, white trimmed black painted walls and black and white photos of different flowers hung on both walls in ornate gold frames. They walked the short distance to a set of white double doors and she slipped a key card into the door. The lock clicked and she pulled open the door. She stepped in and he followed her into a large open concept room, the floors were the same silver veined black marble as the hall, the walls were a dark green in this large open space with dark wood trim. Directly across from the foyer was a large dark wood ornately carved dining table and then a wall of windows that led out to a large balcony complete with black cushioned outdoor furniture and one of those tables that had the glass pebbles in the center that a fire would dance in once it was lit.

Directly to their right was an archway into the kitchen which transitioned to dark wood floors, white, gold and silver granite waterfall countertops and black cabinets with leaded glass windows with lights inside.

To their left was a coat closet and then a hallway down which were two bedrooms and a bathroom.
Donatello whistled as he spun around to take in his surroundings.
"This is far from the castle with a mote and dungeon I was picturing." He teased. Lux snickered at him and rolled her eyes.

"Lux? That you?"

Lux yanked Donatello back over to her as Draconia appeared around the corner outside the kitchen.
Immediately the cocoa skinned woman with large black kudu horns and a gray and black dragon tail grinned wide showing white fangs.
Her golden eyes sparkled with amusem*nt.

"Ooooooo. Is this him? He looks delicious." Drake purred as she sauntered closer and walked a circle around the two.

"Yes. Draconia this is Donatello. Donnie, this is Draconia. Drake." Lux introduced. Draconia stopped in front of Don and leaned closer to him still having to look up at him since he was taller.

"I hear you have brothers." She said.
"Uh yes. Yes I do." Don said nervously.

"Any of em as pretty as you?" Drake said sweetly.

"Down, kitty." Lux tugged on one of Drake's braids causing her to pout.
"I want one." She flashed a grin to Donnie.

"You can have Leo. He's always saying he's the pretty one." Donatello offered as he side stepped her.

"Drake would chew him up and spit him out...and he would like it." Lux laughed as she entered the kitchen.
Draconia winked at Donatello as she followed leaving him to trail behind.
"Do you want anything to drink?" Lux asked him as she popped up from the other side of the open fridge door.

"Uhhh-"
"co*ke, Cherry co*ke, Sprite, Grape Faygo, Red wine, White wine, Whiskey, ew gross... tequila." Lux made a face as she read off what she could see in the fridge.

"Sprite is fine." He said. She reached in and then tossed him one.

She herself pulled a Cherry co*ke out as well as sweet cream coffee creamer.

Donatello watched in horror as she pulled a cup down from the cabinet and poured the entire pop into the cup and then added a shot of creamer and ice. She put the creamer away and then turned to a drawer where she pulled a glass straw from and stuck it in her cup. She looked up at him and saw his horrified face and laughed.

"Do not knock it until you try it. It's called a dirty co*ke." She told him.
He grimaced at her and she laughed again.

Draconia side stepped Lux and opened the fridge to pull something out. It was a package of premade cookie dough that she was just eating out of the wrapper.

Lux snatched the crinkling object from Drake before she could put it away and snagged two for herself and then held it out to Donatello who grinned but declined.

"C'mon." Lux waved Don to follow her and he side-eyed Drake as she leaned on the counter popping an entire square of cookie dough into her mouth and winking at him again.

He scurried after Lux who glanced over her shoulder as they exited the kitchen through a different archway that led into a short hallway to the right down to a closed door.

Lux opened it and stepped inside the room and allowed Donatello to enter before she shut the door.

"Sorry. Sucubi genes run a little strong in that one." Lux said as she moved past him to set her drink on a black wood nightstand next to a king sized black carved wooden four poster canopy bed. The canopy was made of dark dusty purple fabric that hung down all four corners, at the top there were mauve and dark red faux peonies and spindley black branches and from each drape of the canopy followed a string of twinkling warm white lights. The lights only ran down the two posts at the head of the bed. It was made up with gray, black, mossy green and mauve satin linens, thick fluffy comforters and layers of soft blankets and pillows.

"Aw. They decorated my bed for me." She stood staring up at it with a wide grin.

"What did you call Drake? A sucubus? Is she a sucubus?" Donatello popped up behind her shoulder and startled her.

"Whoa! Yes! Yea! She's half sucubus. Why?" She asked him. Donatello gave her his trademark 'you gotta be kidding me' deadpan stare.

"Oh, don't worry. She's not like that. Plus she knows if she tried anything with you I'd beat her ass." Lux said in an overly perky voice.

"Pretty and mean." Donatello sang as he set his pop down on the nightstand as well.

"I thought you said pretty was too simple a word for me?" Luciana asked as she moved towards a door on the other side of the room next to an open door that led into a bathroom.

"It is." Donatello agreed.
Luciana opened the closet door and moved inside.

"Hmm. Would it make you uncomfortable if I change or would you prefer I close the door?" She asked him. Donatello blinked rapidly.

"That doesn't make you uncomfortable?" He asked her.
"You're my true mate. If you don't kick me to the curb you have me forever. And I do mean forever because I'm already 221 years old in Hell so we know I'll be long lived which means you would be too...."she had started rambling and stopped for a moment.

"Short answer? No. But you have seen me in far more revealing clothing than this so you probably already have an idea of what I look like naked." She was saying casually.

"What!? Naked? I haven't...you? What?! Nooo." She giggled at his nervous stammering.

"Okay I'm going to change then and since you didn't say anything I'm not closing the door!" She said as she reached for the hem of her sweater. Donatello promptly turned around and she laughed out loud at the waves of panic coming from his side of the bond that were laced with curiosity as well as desire.
Lux quickly pulled off the clothes she had been wearing and put on the oversized chunky knit purple cat ear hooded sweater as well as a pair of fuzzy black kitty thigh high socks.

She stepped out of the closet and over to Don who was examining the wall like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

"Donnie?" She smirked when he jumped. He turned to her and immediately blushed deeply.

"It had to be purple, huh?" He reached out and flicked one of the cat ears on top of the hood she had pulled up over her head. She smiled up at him and tugged on his hoodie.
"Now we match." She said.
Don grinned down at her. "Now we match."

"Okay. Now show me this video game trailer you were so hyped about at dinner." She said as she climbed onto her bed and patted the spot next to her for him. She watched him contemplate it a moment before he climbed up and sat next to her, this time close enough that he lifted his arm for her to scoot closer. She leaned into him and felt his arm drape around her shoulders as he pulled out his phone and opened YouTube.
She rested her head against his shoulder and felt him relax as he scrolled to the video he wanted, explaining to her again what the video game was about. She listened to him intently, asking him a question here and there. She enjoyed listening to him talk about what he enjoyed. She shifted to her side a little and hooked her right leg over his causing him to stammer slightly in his explanation of why he thought a certain character in the game was superior before he relaxed again.

Lux sat with him like that as they scrolled through various YouTube videos, until they both fell asleep, him leaning back into the mounds of pillows behind him, arm still around her shoulders but now resting on her back as she had turned fully on her side and was using him like a pillow with her arm wrapped around his waist and her leg hooked around his still.

She had never slept so deeply in what felt like all her life, so much so that she never felt him wake up and slowly extract himself from her and put a pillow in his place before he slipped from the room.

𝑺𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔, 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓.

Chapter 5: Chapter 4 : Alkaline

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖔𝖚𝖗 : 𝕬𝖑𝖐𝖆𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖊

-- Six Month Time Skip --

Donatello was hastily making his way through the lair hoping he wouldn't be noticed but he was disappointed as he heard Mikey call him from the doorway of his room.

"Hey! Donnie! Can I show you something?"

He inwardly sighed. "Uhh. Yeaaa, Mikey." He turned on his heel and walked over to the orange masked turtle who was hopping back and forth on his feet in excitement.

"I finished my mural. Wanna see?" Mikey asked.

Donatello immediately grinned. "Well, duuhh." He let Mikey push the blanket door aside for him and he stepped inside. Mikey flipped on the light and Don gaped at the massive graffiti mural Mikey had been working on for the last month.
It was super colorful and said 'Mad Dogz' which made Don chuckle.

They hadn't referred to themselves as that since they were teens.
"Well?" Mikey prompted.
"I love it!" Don turned to him.
"Really?" Mikey smiled.
"Really." Don nodded and turned back to it to continue gazing at it.

"Thanks, Donnie." Donatello noticed Mikey's tone seemed unusually subdued all of a sudden so he turned to him again.

"Something wrong?"
"Oh, nothing! I just..uh...miss you is all." Mikey said looking forlorn as he ducked hus head a little and shuffle his feet on the concrete floor.

"I'm right here?" Don said quizzically, truly not understanding for a moment what his younger brother was talking about.

"I know but..." The box turtle trailed off and glanced upward at him. Don quirked one brow at him in question.

"Buuuttt?...What is it Micheal. Spit it out." Donnie prompted.

"You were about to go over to Lux's weren't you?" Mikey asked, big blue puppy dog eyes sparkled at their purple masked brother who grimaced slightly like he had tasted something bad.

"Yes."

He watched the little box turtle's shoulders slump and he dropped his gaze back to his feet. Don was at a loss as he stared at his brother for a moment.

What would Dr. Feelings what him to do? Besides hugging it out. No.

He realized what Mikey meant then after a moment and he rested a hand on his shoulder. The orange banded turtle looked up at him.

"Tell you what. Leo hasn't been as psycho lately now that I have been seeing Lux for awhile now, so what if I ask her to come here sometime this week? We can watch movies or whatever." He said watching Mikey's face light up.

"Really? That would be awesome, D! A movie marathon! Oh man! We should do horror movies!" Mikey was bouncing around on his toes again in pent up excitement. Don smiled at his brother's antics, happy he had managed to fix the awkward moment that had been developing.

"Okay. Good. Don't tell Leo though. I want him to be caught off guard so he doesn't have time to think of horrible things to say to Lux. That or I'll have her bring Draconia...." Don smirked to himself as he tapped his chin in thought. Michelangelo perked up at that and blinked blue eyes at him.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"Luciana's Beta or second in command. Also head of the Royal Guards of Hell. Her best friend aaannndddd...a half werewolf half sucubus that wants a pretty turtle to play with too." Donatello snickered.

Mikey guffawed and smacked Don's shoulder. "That's devious. I like it."

"Okay. I'll talk to them about it. I know sometime this week Lux and her will be going back to Hell for a very important court date for a particular demon we know and hate so I'll have her pick the day and then I'll text you? Got it?" He was walking out of Michelangelo's room as he spoke and his younger brother followed him.

"Got it!....Is....is the Shredder really down there?" Mikey asked. Don stopped abruptly, turned around and grasped bith hus brother's shoulders.

"Yes. But he isn't the Shredder anymore. He's just a demon....I say that like that's not terrifying but I have been hanging out with a sucubus and two demon werewolves and a Fallen Angel for the past six months so I guess I'm miraculously unphased." He smiled down at Mikey.

Mikey smiled back and gave him a thumbs up then he snickered.

"Have they found that special place for you there yet?" He asked Donnie who rolled his eyes.

"I'll ask when I get there." He quipped in reply.

Donatello turned away again and this time hurried more quickly from the Lair as he spotted Leonardo emerging from the bathroom after showering. He was not going to get cornered again. Nope.

He sprinted the last few feet into the sewer tunnel that led out of the Lair and then flipped on the drone blades of his tech shell and launched up the vertical tunnel stopping only to move the manhole cover aside and then put it back before he flew upwards so he could be above the streets and not worry about being seen as he quietly flew the distance to the large condo building.

When he arrived he landed silently on the balcony which she always kept unlocked for him and slipped inside after the drone blades retracted.

He closed the door and strode confidently through the condo to the kitchen where he opened the fridge and grabbed a water bottle before heading out the side entrance of the kitchen down the hall.

It was unusually quiet in the condo but he knew Shay and Gem both had taken up residence on the floor below this one in that apartment since Lucifer owned the top four floors.

He saw that Lux's bedroom door was wide open so he walked in and sat his water on the nightstand prepared to wait for her since he assumed she was probably in Hell dealing with something. He was immediately frozen in place when he turned to sit down on her bed and saw her standing in her bathroom at the mirror, her twin tails waved lazily back and forth and she was absolutely stark naked aside from the towel wrapped around her head holding up her obviously wet hair.

"Oh my muffins!!" He had intended to leave the room but as he stumbled and tripped over himself he instead ended up flat on the floor face down.

Her joyous laughter was the only balm to his injured pride.

"Donnie? I didn't expect you for another thirty minutes!" She called from the bathroom.

"Well I figured I would leave while I didn't see Leo." He called back, his voice muffled since he was face down.

She chuckled in response and he could hear her moving around.
"You know I have to walk out there to get to my closet right?" She said.

"That's why my face is currently on the floor." He replied.

"You know you're allowed to look right?" She giggled.

𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒖𝒃𝒖𝒔? He said in response through the bond.

𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒖𝒃𝒊. 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆?
A shiver crawled down his spine at the shift in her tone of voice.

Granted she had a pleasing voice nonetheless but there were small moments where it became a tangible thing that slicked across his skin and dripped with the promise of desires he had not yet had any experience with. It was like she had a switch that, when flipped, turned her from adorable with a penchant for violence to a deadly predator whose voice dripped with honey sweetness and sex oozed from her pores.

She was alluring and terrifying all at the same time.

How exciting.

𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒎𝒆. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅. He told her, causing her to laugh again from the bathroom. He could hear her bare feet padding across the tiled bathroom floor and then the soft carpet of the bedroom as she moved out of one room and into another. He had turned his face towards the door to the bedroom and closed his eyes as he breathed deeply in and out trying to get control of his erratically beating heart.

Six months was arguably both a short amount of time and a long amount of time. He had yet to pursue much in the way of physical intimacy, not that he even knew how to even go about that. They held hands, they hugged, there were small touches and heated looks but...that was about it. However he had plenty of instances where he could look back on when he had wanted to do something..anything..more. Especially with June well underway.

Curse his terrapin genetics. As an intellectual he usually thought it beneath him to act in such an animalistic way during a particular time of the year.

Now that he had a significant other....well....all the intellectual thoughts usually flew right out the window and crashed and exploded in a violent display of pyrotechnics.

Out of the four of them, he was the more aggressive of the turtles during his...well....rut. It was the equivalent of a rut. So he spent more time here or in his lab distracting himself so he wouldn't bite his brother's heads off. Literally.

He found her to be particularly beautiful and even though he had just panicked, this truly wasn't the first time he had accidentally seen her naked. That had been when he had come over to find Gem and Drake sitting in the living room. Both had grinned at him and Gem had told him that Lux was not there yet.

It was a lie. She had been in her room. Getting dressed. He had opened the door. They had both exclaimed in shock. He had pulled the door shut and then had ran all the way back to the Lair.

Lux had giggled at him and told him that had been a bit of an overreaction.

He had deemed that it hadn't been. But he wouldn't have told her why.
The offending appendage between his legs had been the culprit but he refused to admit to that. It was being traitorous right now. Which was why he had remained on the floor face down as he steadied his breathing.

"You good?" He opened his eyes and turned his head to look up at her. She stood over him in a black bralette over which she wore a long sleeved mesh cropped top and currently she was only wearing a pair of black underwear that had that wide waist band that said Pink in bright pink letters.

"Do you own pants?" He teased causing her to reach down and pinch his side.

"Ow!" He swatted at her hand with a smirk. "Don't get all spicy. I was just asking."

"I do. But now I'm considering not putting them on." She gave him a fang filled grin and he shivered even with a grin on his face.

"You're just trying to tease me. Jokes on you. I'm incredibly inept at anything and everything that goes along with that portion of a relationship. I'll probably never make the first move." He winked at her and she snickered.

"Oh believe me. I already knew that. Don't worry. I'll catch you off guard." She turned back to the closet and he couldn't help but roll onto his shell and watch her walk away. He couldn't help it.

Did that make him an 'ass man'? Probably.

"I can feel you looking at me." She glanced over her shoulder.

"I happen to enjoy looking at you." He told her the same thing she had said to him after their first date.

"Prude." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Tart." He retorted with a toothy grin which earned him a balled up sock thrown at him.

"Sooooo. Apparently my brother is heartbroken and misses me. Big sad. I told him I would invite you over....and possibly Drake so she can break Leon in half and we can all live peaceful happy lives." Don said still on the floor as he waited for her to come back out of the closet. He wasn't prepared to suddenly be pulled up by his arms to his feet. She was grinning from ear to ear.

"Seriously?!" She was practically vibrating with excitement and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Uhh yea. He looked like I kicked his puppy into traffic when I left so I offered. I got a similar reaction from him." He waved his hand in her general direction and she bounced on her toes in glee.

"I've only been waiting forever for you to finally invite me over!"

"Well, blame Nardo and his piss baby attitude then." Don told her.

She giggled in excitement again and suddenly tip-toed and grabbed his face so she could kiss his cheek causing him to blush immensely and stutter a bit.

"I-I-I know you have the trial ongoing so I told Mikey I'd have you dictate what day this week." He said, still blushing as he recovered from his shock at the kiss, cheek or not, that was a first for him. But he did relish the feeling of her soft lips against his skin for just a moment. It was ..nice...not repulsive and skin crawly like he thought it would have been.

"Okay!" She nodded. "I can do that. Ummmmm...." She pulled her phone out of the pocket of the dark gray tattered shorts she was wearing with fishnets underneath, and began scrolling through an app.

"Friday works. Even demons like to have weekends off." She grinned.

"Ah yes, those nine to fives in the heat are probably brutal." He said as he rolled his eyes with a smile.

"At least it's a dry heat." She deadpanned which made him laugh.

She bounced away from him her tails waving behind her as she hurried over to the other side of her bed. He had wondered at the beginning of seeing her how her tails and wings could spontaneously appear with slits made in her clothing for them and then also disappear along with the slits. But...he had had to unfortunately concede to it being simply mystic.

"Lookie what Drake found!" She grinned as she held up a large box and set it on her bed. Donatello immediately knew what it was from the picture on the front and whistled.

"A PS5?"

"Yes! Now you can show me how to play that one game with the cool characters that fight!" She said happily.

"Mortal Kombat?" He laughed.

"Yes! That one!" She said pointing at him.

"Well then let's get this puppy hooked up shall we?" He said with a grin. It hadn't taken Lux long to come out of her more stoic reserved shell and he had realized pretty early on in about the second month that she had been desperate for company and for some sort of normalcy in her life instead of day to day managing the demons in Hell. So he attempted to be the most normal boyfriend he could be while still being super abnormal since he was a turtle and she had shown him that she was in fact far more bubbly than he had originally thought. She was excitable and distracted by shiny objects which he found entertaining, she had a major sweet tooth and could actually cook too. She loved trying new activities but still loved to read and she was mischievous and loved to make him squirm which sometimes made him panic, but she was always quick to apologize and try to make him feel better which he was grateful for. Not many apologized for causing him to become overstimmed.

She always did though if she pushed too far.

She was a saint for it too since on approximately five occasions now he had snapped at her and she had not batted an eye at it. Probably due to the fact that she could easily kick his ass if she wanted to. One of the times he had been particularly mean and she had simply snarled at him and that had shut him right up.

They had only fought once so far, a true fight where they didn't talk for the rest of the day and into the following day until that night he had apologized. Oh they had numerous small petty arguments but thankfully this had been the only true fight. He had made her feel stupid for not understanding something basic about...oh what had it been? Oh yea, her laptop, and she had completely shut down.

Which then didn't help because he didn't even notice and continued to fix the problem with the laptop and then when he noticed she had stopped talking and had shut her side of the bond down he had told her that the issue was simple and a first grader could have fixed it.

That had done it.

She had told him he should leave and he had done so and they didn't talk until the following night.

He, again, typically didn't feel bothered by other people's tears. But because of the bond he could actually feel her sadness and embarrassment and it had actually helped him to understand, far faster than he would have without the bond, that he had royally f*cked up.

He had flown all the way over to her balcony, in the rain, after he had told April and Mikey what had happened. April had told him that words were cheap and that actions meant far more. Mikey...Dr. Feelings, had let him know that he needed to keep in mind that she had separated herself from the mortal realm for two hundred Hell years and that she probably didn't spend a lot of time with technology and that she probably felt very unintelligent around his technological genius. April had then inserted that he should try the flowers. That even if she was a fallen angel and the technical princess of Hell she was still a girl and 'girls like that sh*t.'

Her words.

So he had done that, he didn't know anything about flowers. Aside from the technical stuff. He didn't know what flowers girls liked. Did they all like roses? Probably not.

But he did what April had suggested awhile ago, and picked ones that reminded him of her.

They were big fluffy looking pink peonies. He had not told her why they reminded him of her. He had kept that part to himself.

Not only were they beautiful, they smelled sweet like candy and they were the exact same color as her lips which he wished he had the guts to kiss just to see if they were as soft as they looked.

She had opened the balcony door for him, dripping wet from the pouring rain, the flowers safe inside his tech shell. He had apologized to her for acting like an emotionless asshat, her word, and presented the flowers to her.

She had smacked his shoulder, taken the flowers gently from him and set them on the large wooden table behind her before launching herself at him to wrap her arms around his shoulders.

He had told her he believed she was very intelligent as well as beautiful and carried herself like a powerful Goddess and that just because he knew about technology didn't mean sh*t. That he was the one that was insignificant compared to her. That she was the bright flame, burning in all it's glory, and he was just the moth.

Some of those words may have been poached from Dr. Feelings.

No one would be able to prove anything.

She had refuted that he was as simple or as stupid as a moth and they laughed together. She had held him tighter to her and he couldn't help but do the same, pressing her closer to his plastron and nuzzling into her silky soft hair.

It was the first time they had hugged. Sure they had fallen asleep that first night with his one arm draped around her but other than that they mostly just touched hands, held hands, brushed shoulders, etcetera. She knew he was particularly averse to touch and hadn't wanted to push him.

But...

He liked hugging her. She was warm and soft and smelled exactly like the peonies that still sat in a vase on a small table in her room next to the big window that looked out over the city, kept alive by some sort of magic he assumed.

He looked over at them now and smiled to himself.

***

"sh*t!......sh*t!........f*ck! How do you keep doing that?" Lux leaned over as she watched Don's thumbs move over the playstation controller expertly delivering a finishing move on her player and killing her.

"You gotta hit the buttons in a certain order." He laughed.

"Button mashing is more fun for me." She grinned.

"Ah but that is why I have beaten you the last seven games." He said.

"I beat you twice though with my button mashing." She countered and he laughed.

"I will concede to that."

"Show me how you did that move." She said.

"That's a move for this character that I'm playing. You need one for yours. Try pressing the down button twice, then left, then the circle button." He said.

"Do you have all the moves memorized?" She asked him.

"For every player." He answered.

"Where do you put it all?" She teased.

"Compartmentalizing has done wonders." He selected a new game and she picked up her controller again and button mashed away making him laugh even though she was beating him. She tried the move he had said and watched her player, Kitana, open her fan to shield the two players faces as she leaned in to kiss him. A trail of blue smoke snaked from the other character's mouth before he proceeded to apparently die by some sort of acid as it burned him from the inside out and caused him to vomit profusely and violently.

"Ohh grross........I love it." She cackled manically.

"It's one of her more disturbing fatalities." Don commented as he grimaced at the screen.

"I call it inspiration." She said deviously and he gave her a look of horror.

"You are a twisted little thing aren't you?"

"You have no idea." She laughed at his worried expression before she stood up and reached for her pop on the nightstand, taking a sip of it before she worked up the nerve to ask him something that she had been meaning to ask him for a week now.

"So....question?" She turned to him and he set his controller down and leaned back on his hands. They had opted for sitting on the floor since the bed was at a weird angle to the TV.

"Answer." He quirked a brow at her.

"If I asked you to testify against Ch'rell......in Hell. Would you?" She asked him. Donatello seemed to freeze at the mention of the demon but he quickly recovered, shaking his head as if to shake it free of the disturbing images that had risen up in his mind's eye.

"Yes." He nodded, a determined glint in his dark brown eyes.

"I would need to pull memories from your subconscious. It could be a bit painful for you. But I need to in order to project them into a scrying pool for the court to view." She told him.

"How painful?" He asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never done it before." She shrugged. His eyes widened slightly.

"I believe it is the only way to prove without a doubt he is guilty of the crimes against your family." She told him gently.

"Then I'll do it." He said without any more hesitation.

She smiled and padded back over to him and sat down on the ground again but remained facing him.
"Thank you."

"Thank you. For bringing him to justice." He said quietly.

"You were all very brave. To face a creature such as him." She said to him.

He sighed and looked down at his folded legs and the controller on the ground in front of them.

"We still have nightmares about him...and the Krang..from time to time." He said. "That doesn't seem very brave if they continue to hold that power over us."

"You don't let it define or control you though. So it is brave." She told him firmly.

She could feel his emotions warring around as she hovered just outside his mind. He seemed to be at odds with something he wanted to do or say and she couldn't figure it out nor did she want to invade either to find out. He had been feeling like this the whole time he had been here and she was getting anxious.
Instead he pulled out his phone and seemed to be looking something up.

"I've been a bit conflicted lately." He told her simply and she sat still and silent as she listened to him.

"But, as per our earliest arrangement, here. I haven't stopped listening to this for like a week." He said as he tapped play on the music video.

She immediately recognized the song as Alkaline by Sleep Token. A favorite of hers.

She looked down at the phone as he set it on the ground between them.

"Every once in a while something changes
And she's changing me
It's too late for me now, I am altered
There is something beneath."

She nearly held her breath as she listened to Vessel's haunting voice, glancing up to see that Donatello was back to looking at the controller on the floor as he leaned with his elbows resting on his knees of his folded legs. She could actually hear his heart hammering in his chest and his erratic emotions finally made sense to her. She slowly, so as not to startle him, crawled forward, reaching out her hands. She hesitated with them outstretched towards him, a silent question, and he quirked a drawn on brow at her but nodded. She placed her hands on his shoulders to push him back so that she could move to straddle his lap. She watched his eyes widen as he watched her, his hands shook as she grabbed them and placed them on her hips.

"She's not acid nor alkaline
Caught between black and white
Not quite either day or night
She's perfectly misaligned
I'm caught up in her design
And how it connects to mine
I see in a different light
The objects of my desire."

Luciana kept one hand on his shoulder and the other came up to brush against his cheek softly, a shaky breath escaped from between his lips, his eyes watched her, filled with nervousness.

𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆? She asked him as she leaned closer to him now only a mere inch from his face.

𝒀𝒆𝒔. His reply was shaky but she smiled just before she closed the small gap between them and pressed her lips to his softly, pulling him closer to her as she slid the hand that had been on his shoulder to the nape of his neck. She felt him shiver in response.

"Ooh, let's talk about chemistry
'Cause I'm dying to melt through
To the heart of her molecules
'Til the particles part like holy water
If anything, she's an undiscovered element
Either born in hell or heaven-sent
But either way I'm into it."

He was frozen for a moment. She could feel his uncertainty through the bond as he floundered with what he should do.

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒙. She told him as she pulled back but only a breath of a distance.

He sucked in a deep breath and then let it out again slowly. His hands were still shaking but had remained on her hips.

𝒀𝒂𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒚? She asked with a small smile. He finally seemed to shake himself out of his internal panic and met her gaze, his hands squeezed her hips lightly.

𝒀𝒂𝒚. 𝒀𝒂𝒚. 𝑫𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒂𝒚. 𝑺𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚, 𝑰 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒅. She smirked at him then.

𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈? She asked him softly.

He nodded stiffly and she snickered.

𝑳𝒊𝒂𝒓.

𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒂 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓. He conceded with another nod.

"She's not acid nor alkaline
Caught between black and white
Not quite either day or night
She's perfectly misaligned
I'm caught up in her design
And how it connects to mine
I see in a different light
The objects of my desire"

𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏? 𝑨 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 '𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒛𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒆' 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆? She leaned back just a bit more so she could look at him more fully. She watched him as he seemed to think about it for a few seconds, allowing him a moment to process. He surprised her instead by closing the gap between them and hesitantly kissing her again. When he started to freeze up on her she gently drew her hands over his shoulders and rubbed small circles into them with her thumbs. She already knew he was a sucker for a good shoulder massage when he allowed the physical contact. She felt the moment he finally relaxed. His end of the bond opened back up fully and she could feel his elation radiating from it and wrapping around her like a warm blanket. His hands moved, one to the small of her back and the other to the back of her head.

Lux sighed contentedly, deepening the kiss.

"Not acid nor alkaline
Caught between black and white
Not quite either day or night
She's perfectly misaligned
I'm caught up in her design
And how it connects to mine
I see in a different light
The objects of my desire"

Lux broke the kiss, breathlessly leaning back enough to look at Donatello who seemed a bit dazed. She giggled.

"Your hands are shaking." She said out loud.

"Are they? I thought it was all of me?" He attempted to joke. Luciana rolled her eyes with a grin.

"Would you like me to get off of you?" She asked him and was startled when he immediately wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him.

"Nope." Lux smiled against his neck. She would never stop him if he initiated this much physical contact. It was a rarity as of yet with their first real hug being after their first real fight. She sighed softly and felt him squirm a little.

"Your breath is tickling me." She grinned deviously and gently pursed her lips and blew against his neck causing him to squirm underneath her again and laugh.

"Knock it off!"

She dissolved into giggles when she did it again and he responded by poking her sides which he knew were extremely ticklish.

She attempted to slide off of him and make a break for it but he quickly grabbed her around her waist and rolled with her so that he was now pinning her to the ground with one hand holding both her smaller delicate wrists and the other mercilessly poking at her sides causing her to writhe and try to twist away, laughing hysterically.

That was it though. The day the dynamic truly changed. The day he finally let go of his steadfast refusal to proceed with initiating the physical side of their relationship.
The day she knew he was finally going to open himself completely to their bond and lay his soul bare to her as she did for him.

It was also the day she knew beyond anything that she had fallen in love with him.

***

"Thanks for fixing my phone, homeskillet." Gem grinned at Donatello as he glanced up from scrolling his own phone, sitting on the plush oversized couch in the living room at Lux's.

"No probles."

"You really do have a monotone voice sometimes..." Gem was never good with her brain to mouth filter.

"It's because I'm emotionally unavailable." Don reasoned as he looked back down at his phone.

"Oh baby me too. But that's just because I keep dating red flags." Gem propped one foot up on the coffee table in front of them.

Don looked up at her and quirked a brow.

"I've heard about some of your ex's. Baby-" he said mockingly "those are more than just red flags." He quipped.

Gem blinked at him for a moment then grinned.

"You right. It's like I walk into a circus tent and go 'what a lovely hotel!" She said, talking animatedly with her hands. Don couldn't help but crack a smile at that and chuckle.

"If you're emotionally unavailable then what do you and Lux do in her room all the time lately?" Gem quirked a red brow at him and he looked up from his phone again with an expression that read 'what the f*ck did you just ask me?'

"What?" She shrugged.

"That is absolutely none of your business, Gemino." He told her.

"Awwww but Donnie. C'mon!" The fiery haired werewolf demon smiled at him.

Don blinked at her with an expressionless face. "No." He stood up and proceeded to walk out of the living room and down around the corner to the hallway that led to Lux's room.

It was about then when he felt Lux's rage flare up. He climbed up onto her bed and leaned back against the pillows as he went back to scrolling his social media.

He heard the foyer door open and then slam closed.
"That useless toad! Who does he think he is?!" Don assumed she was yelling about Baal.

"Apparently superior to you, sweetness. When do you get to Destroy him already?" He heard Gem reply.

"Not f*cking soon enough!" Lux snarled as she stormed down the hallway.

Don looked up as she stormed into her room, seemingly too focused on her fury to notice him.

He couldn't help but watch as she yanked open her closet and stepped inside.

She was currently wearing a dark teal blazer and matching slacks. Under the blazer she wore a halter neckline one piece body suit of dark turquoise lace and the blazer was held open, pulled to the side by a black leather belt around her middle with drooping layers of silver chains. Her dark hair was piled up high and secured in a messy twist with a silver claw clip in the shape of a dragon. Her horns were the only part of her full form present at the time.

She kicked off black platform ankle boot heels and yanked at the buckle of the belt at her back, tossing it aside. She slipped the blazer over her shoulders and pulled a hanger down to put it on and hang it up.
The one piece lace body suit was backless and he could see the little black spikes that trailed down her spine in atark contrast to her alabaster skin that shimmered with rainbow light.

She spun around and gasped, pressing her hand to her throat when she noticed him.

"I didn't even know you were there!" She exclaimed, green eyes wide.
Don gave her a tentative smile and wave.

"Were you just going to let me get naked in front of you?" She smirked at him and he blinked in shock and then embarrassment and then panic.

"N-n-no!! I was distracted! You were mad." He said, turning the conversation in a different direction. She gave him a knowing smile.

"I was. But now I am not." She told him as she sauntered out of the closet towards him. He could feel his heart speed up as she approached him.

"W-why were you angry?" He tried again to deflect but she didn't take the bait as she crawled onto the bed, over his stretched out legs, currently clothed in gray jogger sweats and smiled at him with elongated fangs glinting.

He swallowed roughly, currently fighting with the overwhelming desire he felt at the heated look she gave him.

"Donnie." He blinked and realized she had said something.

"Huh?" He said brilliantly.

"You're shaking." He looked down at his hands that still held his phone and noticed that, indeed, they were shaking.

"You don't have to be nervous with me. You know that right?" She leaned back on her knees, straddling his legs at his own knees.

He sucked in a deep breath and nodded.

"I was angry because Baal is continuing to try my very little patience with his games. That is all." She shrugged.

Don furrowed his brow. "I don't understand why he would let one of the demons he was in charge of just run off."

"He likely made a deal with someone more powerful than him. I'm willing to bet money I know who but I do not have any proof yet so I would rather not say." She said as she leaned forward again holding herself above him with a hand on either side of him. He shivered at the way her eyes darkened even more.

"Does my attraction to you frighten you?" She questioned, tilting her head.

"I...no. More like...the opposite actually. My...um... attraction to you scares me." He managed to get the words out and she smiled at him.

"Hmmm well instead of being afraid why don't you act on it?" She asked him.

"If I just act on it isn't that....I dunmo..rude? Not to mention wouldn't that just be me acting on primal urges?" He asked her.

"Are you asking me if it would be rude if you kissed me when you wanted to instead of me asking you to or you asking?" Don blinked and then nodded, his cheeks darkening with blush.

"You're my mate. You are mine. Please, feel free to kiss me whenever you so desire." She told him with a sultry smile that had his toes curling.

"So...like...right now?" He questioned.

"Donatello?"

"Yes?"

"You're overthinking." She told him softly. He sucked in a shaky breath of air and leaned towards her.

The kiss was soft and tentative on his end, he was still nervous and she tried to telegraph only positive feelings through the bond.

She broke away and smiled at him.
"That wasn't so bad? Was it?"

Don smiled back shyly. "No. It's never bad...kissing you..." He told her.

"You are too cute sometimes." She told him.

"And here I was going for an emotionally unavailable bad boy." He rolled his eyes. Lux grinned at him then.

"Feel free to be a bad boy. I won't stop you." She purred as she leaned towards him a little more.

Don smirked at her, finally gaining back some confidence.

"I dunno if you can handle it." He teased.

"Hmmmm try me." She challenged.
Going for broke he shifted so he could lean more fully into the mound of pillows she had on her bed. He tossed his phone aside and brought both of his hands up to rest them on her waist so he could pull her towards him.

She was letting him lead so he pushed himself forward to close the small gap between them. This time when their lips met in a soft kiss it didn't stay that way for more than a few heartbeats. He immediately deepened the kiss, his hands shook only a little as he slid them up her sides, the lace of her bodysuit scratching at his fingertips and palms.

Lux moved even closer so that she could straddle his hips instead, one of her hands resting on his plastron the other sliding up to the back of his neck. He was able to lean back into the pillows again with her following, pressing against him so they wouldn't break the kiss.

In the back of his mind he barely acknowledged the soft moan that came from him when he felt her tongue brush against his bottom lip and then her teeth tug it into her mouth, briefly sucking on it before continuing the searing kiss that was leaving them both breathless but too eager to stop.

He felt hot and cold at the same time. Anywhere her body was pressed to his there was warmth and anywhere she wasn't it was freezing and he wanted desperately to feel her warmth all over.

He heard a soft breathy moan slip from her lips as one of his hands had moved up to unclip her hair and then plunge into the soft tresses, not noticing her horns had disappeared, the other hand moved from her hip to the swell of her full behind, squeezing softly when she drug her nails lightly against his plastron.

He nearly lost every ounce of self control he had when she moaned again and rocked her hips against his.

She was making it hard to think. Hard to breathe. But in the most fantastic way.

He nearly exclaimed in protest when she suddenly broke the kiss and leaned back, breathing heavily.
For a few moments they just held each other's gaze, trying to regain their composure.

"You...are far too tempting." She grinned down at him.

"Am I?" He smirked back in response, emboldened by the rush of desire she had started within him that was being fueled relentlessly by his animalistic genetics.

"Hmmm. Yes. Far too tempting. When I said I have some of the same abilities as a sucubus I was not joking." She told him.

He shrugged and she leaned back towards him again.

"You are not ready for all that, Donatello. Not at all." She told him, enjoying the flare in his eyes at her words. Igniting a challenge within him. He couldn't suppress the groan of desire nor the way his head lolled back and his eyes fluttered closed when she rocked her hips against his again.

"You are going to be too much fun." She purred suddenly close to his tympanum.

"That's me. Tons of fun." He managed to say breathlessly. She chuckled in response before she climbed off of him and then off the bed, moving back into her closet where she pulled the door shut so she could change.

Damn her, he thought, much to her amusem*nt as she picked up on his now apparent sexual frustration from their bond.

When the door opened again she was in a pair of solid black leggings and a hot pink hoodie with a black glittery design of a melting skull that said "Don't talk to me when I'm overstimulated. I will hurt your feelings."

She climbed back up into her bed and grabbed the big claw clip he had taken out of her hair and expertly twisted it back up and secured it.

All the while he simply watched her every movement.

"Someone is apparently very bold today." She commented, picking up on his thoughts again as his eyes wandered over her shapely legs that the leggings showed off.

He blinked and glanced up at her then shook his head as if to shake free the haze within it.

"It's June." Was his response and she gave him a questioning look. He sighed and rubbed at his temples.

"We, being turtles, still experience...heightened hormones... during particular times of the year. Mine happens to start mid May and is the most.....intense in June." He explained.

"Oh. Like a rut? Interesting." She smiled at him and he quirked a brow at her.

"That isn't....off putting?" He questioned.

"No. Of course not. You are literally part turtle. It makes perfect sense you would still retain instincts from that part of your genetics." She said with a shrug.

He sighed and let his head fall back into the pillows again, closing his eyes so he could reign in his breathing.

"We can take the physical part of our relationship as slow or fast as you want, Donatello but believe me when I tell you that you aren't ready." She said gently.

"No no. You're completely correct. I know you are. My rational side agrees." He felt her shift towards him and he opened his eyes to see her lean back into the pillows next to him.

"But your residual animal instincts are telling you I'm wrong?" She offered.

"Correct. I want....you ....but I don't even know the half of what that means....I mean I know the logistics. I know what happens....but.." he growled lowly in frustration, not knowing how to say what he wanted to say.

"Hmm. Easily remedied." She giggled. He picked up on her internal thoughts and grimaced.

"I am NOT watching p*rn. Isn't the majority of that scripted anyway and completely unrealistic?"

"Oh of course." She grinned at him as he side eyed her. His eyes widened as her thoughts projected all manner of scenes.

"Gasp. You dirty little thing you." She giggled and rolled her eyes.

He closed his again but immediately images of..her..of them...began playing out against the back of his eyelids...and he wasn't the one who was imagining them. She was sending them to him via their mental link.

"You are making it very difficult to take anything slow..." He said lowly.

"Just giving you some ...ideas." she mused. He rolled onto his side so he could face her.

"That was a play by play." He quirked a brow at her and she gave him an innocent look before pulling her own phone out to scroll social media.

Donatello frowned, then reached up and grabbed her phone from her and tossed it down to the foot of the bed. Lux blinked at him.

"The f*ck, Don?" He just grinned at her in response before snaking his arm around her middle and pulling her towards him so he could nuzzle into her hair.

She giggled and sighed, trapped in the circle of his arm. He hummed in contentment when he felt her hand slide up his arm and then begin a slow massage down it.

"I bet I could get you to do whatever I want for a shoulder massage." She said.

"Hmmm? From you? Of course. Anyone else can kick rocks." Lux snickered at that and wriggled closer to him.

A loud ringing startled them both.
Lux watched in fascination as a metal appendage with a claw like hand unfolded out of his tech shell on his back and picked her phone up from the foot of the bed and handed it to her.

She read Draconia's caller I.D. and immediately sat up to answer on speaker phone.

"Drake?"

"He's gone." The reply was short and vague but Don felt red hot fury course through the bond from Luciana. Her tails, horns and wings spontaneously materialized, her eyes blazed red.

"What?! How?!" Don cringed at the multilayered quality of her voice and sat up with her.

"Dunno. Your dad is holding court with the royal guard now trying to figure it out." Drake replied.

"I'm on my way." Lux snarled, hitting the end call button. She moved off the bed, black fire licked at her body, bathing her in a dark eerie glow as her hoodie and leggings were scorched away and replaced by chainmail and armor.

"Who's gone?" Don slid his legs over the side of the bed.

"Baal." She growled lowly. Her twin tails lashed the air.

"So you're going back to Hell?" He asked her.

Lux's eyes briefly shifted back to green as she stepped towards him and reached up to brush her fingertips over his cheek.

"Yes. I'll be back as soon as I can." She told him.

"Okay....be ..safe?" He offered with an awkward shrug.

"It's Hell, darling." She winked at him before moving out of the room and down the hall. He heard the door slam shut and sighed.

"Ah well. I guess I can go home and run diagnostics on Shelldon's update now." He mused to himself.

Chapter 6: Chapter 5: I Kissed A Girl

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕱𝖎𝖛𝖊 : 𝕴 𝕶𝖎𝖘𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕬 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑

Luciana clenched her hands into fists, she could feel her sharp nails bite into her palms, her blood trickling down the arms of the throne she sat on next to her father's. His was the bigger of the two with its massive high back decorated in all the symbols that related to him, carved into the wood and then gilded in gold. Snakes, apples, tree limbs, all entwined in the carving that edged the plush upholstery of the chair, upholstery that was black velvet.

Luciana's was carved with stars, wolves, dragons and at the top a crescent moon faced an elongated eight point star. All her symbols. Her's was not gilded but was instead painted black with blood red velvet upholstery.

She sat languidly in her seat, swathed in a dress that was made of chainmail. It appeared to be one large piece that had arm holes and a deep cut V opening for a neckline. It was held tight around her slim waist with a silver filigree waist cinch that clasped once in front and tied with laces in the back, the chainmail being bunched and folded in a way that made it appear like a mesh fabric instead of what amounted to full on armor. There were silver filigree shoulder pieces that sat like shoulder guards and her eight pointed star choker glinted from around her throat in the flickering torchligbt of the chamber. She had her legs crossed and she was barefoot. Her tails draped down the seat on either side of her and her horns were draped in glittering diamond chains with a single tear drop shaped blood red ruby that hung down between her eyebrows. Sigils painted over her eyes in black paint and crimson demon blood made her blood red eyes striking in the dim room.

"How long has he been missing?" Lucifer's steely voice exhoed around the chamber.

"Approximately twenty four days my lord." A royal guardsman stood before the thrones on a raised black marble dias.

"And how did he evade my guardsman?" Lucifer's voice was tinged with fury.

"W-w-we do not kn-know, my lord. We suspect...someone on the inside." The guardsman stammered as he bowed low, attempting to appease his king.

"I see." Lucifer snarled lowly.

"Draconia." Luciana called.

The dark skinned female strode with purpose from behind the thrones and stood at attention for Lux, her gray and black spined dragon tail lashed the air in anticipation, the spiked armor at the end glimmering.

"Find him." Lux seethed through her clenched jaw. Her nails dug into the wood armrests of her throne, splintering it.

Draconia's answering grin was feral with bloodlust.

"Yes, my lady. And how should I present him to you?" She asked sweetly.

Luciana's own fanged grin was just as blood thirsty. "Alive........mostly." she replied. Draconia bowed low to her friend and then to her king and strode from the room, her huge black dragon wings unfurling as she moved quickly out of the chamber calling on another guard to ready her hellhounds.

"Do you think he managed to get out of Hell?" Luciana asked her father.

"I would have felt him leave, being as he is an overlord, a prince no less. He is here. He is being hidden." Lucifer growled.

"He should die for defying you." She snarled.

"He will. After he watches you enact retribution for your mate. I want him to see his fate play out before him, because it will be the same. Pity, my princes were always loyal and he is one of the oldest." Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"It matters little anymore. The void will fill. As it always does. There is, unfortunately, no shortage here." Luciana said as she stood from her throne.

"Yes. But there must be some outside source tempting the loyalty of my princes. I must find it." Lucifer said with steadfast determination.

"Perhaps the angel that is attempting to bring me before Heaven for treason?" She said in a sickeningly sweet voice. Her father's eyes snapped to her, flashing in anger.

"Who dares to accuse you of treason?!"

"Mother." She said with little to no emotion to her voice.

Lucifer shot to his feet and snarled.
"That....bitch welp thinks she can accuse you of such a thing? After what she did to you for all those years?! After what she allowed?! She should have been sent here for her crimes!" He bellowed. Luciana simply stood a step down on the dias and watched him. Her expression remained blank but her eyes had bled scarlet, her pupils slitting until they were barely visible.

"You leave her to me. I will not stand for this." He said as he strode down the dias and towards the main doors of the throne room.

"Of course, father." Luciana said as she watched him go.

Only when he was gone and she was sure he was fully out of earshot did she sink to the stone step of the dias. She took slow steady breaths as she tried to get a hold on her rage and of her sorrow and pain. She didn't want to flood all of that through the bond, not again.

The last time he had soul journeyed right into her subconscious mind. The last time she had lost control.

She couldn't lose control.

She refused to lose control.

Losing control meant dealing with the pain that she had buried for years...hundreds of years now.

𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒂. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆.
She choked back a small sob when she felt his mind brush her own and heard bis voice.

𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖. She said. Only a partial lie. She could never lie outright to him.

𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒋𝒐𝒃 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒎 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒆. 𝑻𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒚 𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅. 𝑫𝒐n'𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓.

She melted every time he used the only pet name he had for her. He knew it too. Curse his big brain and ability to learn exponentially quicker than most. Even if he didn't understand what was going on, he still cared enough to want to understand, he still tried to comfort her in the ways he was learning how.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑭𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑳𝒆𝒐 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. She told him.

𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. 𝑮𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒆𝒔. 𝑪𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒇𝒕. He chuckled.

She laughed softly too and stood up, feeling much better than she had. She was still enraged with Baal and her mother. But she felt like she could breathe again.

𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕? 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕. 𝑼𝒉...𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚. 𝑶𝒓 𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒚. 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒙 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒂𝒑𝒉 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒌. 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒓.

𝑪𝒂𝒏 𝑰 𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚? She asked.

𝑳𝒊𝒊𝒊𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒆? She could feel his curiosity through the bond.

𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒆. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑲𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒊𝒛𝒛𝒂. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔. She giggled.

𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒚. He said without hesitation.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈? She asked.

𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.

She smiled to herself as she made her way out of the throne room and towards the very underused but still well maintained elevator that went straight up to the mortal realm as well as to her apartment.

***

Luciana sighed in contentment, her lips brushing his once more, teasingly. She hummed her approval when he took the bait, closing the miniscule gap between them again in a more heated kiss that she gladly deepened until they both had to come up for air.

"You were right. This is far more fun than fixing Raph's button pushing mishap." He leaned further back into the mound of pillows behind him on the bed and smiled down at her as she laid mostly between his legs. She smiled at him and then let her upper body lay against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. She had changed out of her chainmail dress, which was hung neatly in her closet, and opted for the oversized purple cat sweater, black boy short underwear and nothing else. She really had an pension for being in as little clothing as possible. Probably due to it being bloody hot in Hell all the time.

"Well we didn't actually watch the movie." She giggled.

"It was white noise." He chuckled.

"We did get pizza. Which you were amazing enough to pick up on your way here. Clever you." She lifted her finger to boop his snout. He had shown up exactly on time with a large pizza in hand and a small satchel over his shoulder with various movies in it. She noticed he didn't always wear full on outfits of clothing, and when he did it was either one or the other an oversized hoodie or just pants of some sort. Today was no different, he had on black and purple jogger sweatpants. No shirt though. She quite enjoyed it.

"All part of my master plan to have more time to beat you in Mortal Kombat aaannnddd do this." He said with a flourish of his hand.

"Which do you enjoy more?" She lifted her eyes to look at him.

"Silly silly girl. You should know that I enjoy besting my opponents with my superior video game skills." He rolled his eyes with a smile but yelped when he felt her nip his neck softly.

"Kidding!" He laughed.

"Mhmm." she hummed, rolling her eyes with her own grin.

"If you told me years ago that around the age of twenty four I'd be here in this stupidly comfy bed, sidebar, it's unfair how comfortable it is. Anyway, if you told me I'd be here...in this bed...with an insanely beautiful woman, hint hint-that's you, I would have shot a bowling ball at you for lying to me."

Lux laughed out loud at that. "A bowling ball?!" She laughed again.

"Yes. Indeed. A bowling ball."

"So are you amazed at yourself for bagging a...what did you say again? Insanely beautiful woman?" She quipped.

"But of course. Annnnddd she's a damn princess to boot."

"I'm the princess of Hell. Do I really get bragging rights for that?" She asked him.

"Semantics." He waved his hand.

"You do know that should you complete the bond that will make you Prince Consort of Hell." She said.

"Interesting. Could I bend subjects to my will?" He asked her.

"Of course. With many demons to choose from to do the bending. In whichever direction you demand." She said with a devious grin.

"That doesn't sound like a bad gig."

"It's Hell, sweetling. Everything about it is bad." Lux deadpanned.

"Eh. Maybe it'll grow on me." He countered.

"Oh it will, like a fungus ....or a tumor." She replied sarcastically.

"Gross." Donatello leaned his cheek against her head. "Ah well. Prince Consort of the Fungus and Tumors it is." Lux giggled and playfully smacked his chest causing him to chuckle.

"Did you wanna play Mortal Kombat?" She asked him after a moment.

"Hmm. Play video game? Kiss my girlfriend? Play videeooo gaammee...kiss my girlfriend." He lifted both hands to mimic weighing each choice.

"You know that thing you did earlier, where you kissed me and massaged my lower back at the same time?"

She asked him. She felt his mhmm response vibrate in his plastron.

"I couldn't think straight when you did that." She told him.

"Oh?" She loved when she surprised him, his eyes widened to reflect that and his lips quirked up in a smirk of satisfaction.

"Do it again?" She asked him softly as she pressed her lips against his neck, just under his jaw.

"My pleasure.." he murmured in response before he leaned forward so she could sit up a little more while still being pressed against him, bending his head down to capture her lips in a slow deep kiss, his hands moved to the small of her back and massaged in small circles there. He avoided her spine since that was where little sharp ridges were that turned into spines as they reached her tails. They were still present even if her tails were retracted.

They remained like that for several minutes, maybe even over an hour. They really didn't know or care. He was content to keep kissing her petal soft lips and she was content to let him, each time he made her head spin especially when he moved his hands up under her sweater to massage her bare back. This time he let his fingers brush the small ridges that decorated her spine. Causing her to shiver in delight.

They always say practice makes perfect don't they?

Luciana sighed when Donatello's hands moved to massage further up her back to her shoulders, hiking her oversized sweater up further so that the cooler air in her room made goosebumps rise up on her exposed skin. She moaned softly against his mouth and he deepened their kiss in response.

When she broke the kiss it wasn't to stop but to instead trail feather light kisses across his jaw and down his neck which caused him to shudder.
She stopped for a moment, worried she may have caused him to become overwhelmed.

He pressed his fingers into the muscles at the back of her shoulders and continued to massage there.

"I'm okay. Don't stop, I was enjoying that." He said softly.

She responded by continuing her trail of kisses until she reached where his neck and shoulder met and nipped there gently.

"And here I thought I wouldn't want you to bite me." He said breathlessly.

"You didn't?" She looked up at him.

"Long story. Me and April were talking about you the day we met. She said you looked at me like you thought I would taste good. I said I didn't want to be bitten let alone eaten." He explained.

Luciana smiled at him and he watched her canines lengthen into fangs.

"Trust me. You'll like it when I bite you." She purred as ahe leaned back into his neck and trailed the tip of her tongue against his skin.

She felt his entire body tense up and go rigid for a moment as he tried to keep a hold on his desire that she could feel radiating through the bond like the heat from a bonfire.

"If anyone else licked me I would be immediately disgusted. Why does it feel good when yooouu do it?"

"Probably the bond. You're literally hardwired to enjoy..well...me." she shrugged and he let his head fall back into the pillows.

"You are also new to all of this. I'm sure it's confusing." She smiled as she rested against him again, his hands had slid back down to the small of her back and rubbed lazy circles there.

"Are you...not new?" He asked her.
"Besides your internet education, of course."

"Don?"

"Yea?"

"I am 221 years old in Hell time...." She told him.

"Understood." He nodded. "Not that I enjoy that thought." He grumbled.

"I was wondering when the possessive streak would kick in." She chuckled.

"Would you care if I stayed?....Here....tonight?" He asked her.

"Not at all." She answered.

"Good. It's super late and I do not feel like possibly running into Leo..or any of my brothers in fact.." he yawned and she slid over his leg so she could lay down beside him instead of on him.

"I'm not sleeping with this sweater on just so you know." She told him.

"What?" He blinked at her.

"I get too hot." She said simply.

"So.... you're...you..." She grinned as he struggled to find the words he wanted to use.

"Yup." She grinned at him.

"Oh...umm...alrighty then." He swallowed loudly and she laughed as she sat up to take the sweater off and toss it to the ground.

She looked down at him to see he was staring at her with wide panicked eyes, but under the panic was a steady heat that was only burning brighter the longer they remained fixated on each other.

She simply laid down facing away from him and pulled a blanket from the many on the bed, over her.

"C'mere." She said. Donatello gulped again but scooted closer to her. She reached out from under the blanket to grab his left arm and pull it under the blanket and around her bare waist.

***

He let the bond soothe his frazzled nerves. The peaceful feeling that washed over him anytime they touched skin to skin even if it was just holding hands, chased his nervousness away and he reminded hinself he was twenty f*cking four, he was a grown ass man...turtle..and if he could sit here for hours and make out with his girlfriend...his soul mate...he could certainly cuddle her...even if she was almost completely naked.

"All correct things to list off." She said as she picked up on his inner rambling.

"Shhhhh I'm trying to concentrate on sleeping." He teased as he pulled her closer to him and smiled when she tangled her legs forcefully with his.

"Pushy." He murmured against the back of her neck before he kissed there softly.

She laughed softly and sighed. It was probably only five minutes before she passed out.

He wondered if she slept this easily in Hell?

He shrugged internally as sleep pulled him under a blanket of black nothingness as well.

A weird buzzing noise pulled Donatello from the hazy land of sleep and he sighed in annoyance as he realized it was his phone under one of the many pillows.

He looked down at Lux who had turned over and was currently still sleeping so hard he had a moment of panic when he thought she was actually dead because her heart beat was so slow he was sure he hadn't felt it in a while.

He had pressed his fingers to her neck to look for her pulse and it had taken so long to find it that he had nearly tried to wake her but then he had felt the small little flutter of a heart beat and had sighed in relief.

Now he used the arm that was under the pillows to search for his annoyingly ringing phone. Thank goodness it was on vibrate.

He found it and pulled it out from under the pillows, transferring it to his left hand so he could read not only the caller I.D. but the time.

He groaned. They had only been asleep for three hours but he had three missed calls. One from Mikey. One from Raph and one from Leo. Now it was April calling him, no doubt prompted by his brothers.
He swiped to answer it with a yawn.

"Yes?"

"DONNIE! Are you okay?! The guys just blew my phone up sayin' you wouldn't answer them?!" He cringed at the loudness of her voice in his tympanum.

"I'm fine. I'm at Lux's." He said as he shifted so he was laying flat on his shell, his right arm still under the pillow that Lux's head was occupying.

"That's a relief. And here the way they were actin' I thought you were dead." April said in exasperation.

"I forgot to text Mikey that I was staying here." He said around another yawn.

"Forgot? Since when do you forget anything?" April asked.

He felt a hand trail lazily from around his waist and up his plastron, to rest against his collar bone, soft fingers trailed along the skin where his shoulder and neck met and he shivered.

"Uhhh, since...now...I guess. Uh, April, can this conversation not wait for when it is daytime? In the AM? Not right now?" He let out a shaky breath when he felt lips press against his skin that began a trail across his shoulder then to his clavicle and then his neck.

"Donnie, you should call one of your bros back. They were worried sick about you." April said in irritation.

He felt Lux nip softly at his neck.

"Oh!" He exclaimed and quickly covered with "-kay fine!"

There was a long pause and then April sighed.

"Thanks, D. And don't go forgetting to call them or text them anymore. It's messin' with my beauty sleep."
He felt Lux's hand that had been up by his collar bone move to trail her fingers down his side, she nipped more firmly at his neck as she kissed there.

"O-o-okay. Bye, April!" He stammered before hanging up. He let his eyes flutter closed as he shuddered in pleasure when Lux sucked on the sensitive skin of his neck where she had been lavishing all her attention.

"You're making it difficult to talk on the phone." He told her breathlessly.

"Then don't talk on the phone." Luciana purred against his skin as her hand reached his hip and stayed there.

"You're making it difficult to think." He said in response.

"Then don't think." She countered back, sucking again and then following up with another nip. Her hand squeezing enticingly at his hip, her thumb nail trailing up under the protective edge of his lower plastron, sending an electric tingle through his legs...and other areas.

"I have to call one of them back..." He said.

"Then call." She smiled against his skin as she moved to a different spot closer to his clavicle to focus her attention.

He groaned, but not from annoyance as was the usual for him.

"You better make your call before you'll be too busy and forget." She told him against his skin.

"Okay..." He breathed out the word and lifted his phone...he decided to just call Leo. He knew the other two would be louder.

"Donnie? Are you alive?" He rolled his eyes.

"No my ghost is calling you. Tell everyone I said hi." He deadpanned.

"Guys! Donnie's ghost says hi!" He suppressed the urge to facepalm himself. And instead tried to focus through the fog of desire Lux had created. Leo was talking again and he brought his attention back to the phone call and not on Lux as she pulled herself overtop of him to lavish attention on the other side of his neck. He fought to ignore her soft body that was pressed against his plastron, but that was incredibly difficult to do.

"Are you okay? Where are you? Should we come get you?" Leo was asking.

"No. I'm-" he gasped when her tongue ran along his collar bone. "Fine. I'm fine." He struggled to say.

"You sound like you're hurt." Leo said with worry in his voice.

He felt Lux's chuckle against his neck and he couldn't help but do the same.

"I'm definitely not hurt, Leo." He said as she kissed up his neck to his jaw.

"Then why do you sound like you are struggling to breathe let alone talk?" Leo asked him.

Don was shocked when Lux snatched his phone from him and sat up, straddling him.

"Hello, Leonardo." She said sweetly.

He couldn't help but let his eyes roam down the pale expanse of her exposed skin. His hands grabbed at her hips, his thumbs massaging around the protruding bones there through the soft fabric of her boyshorts. She grinned at him, her fangs glinting in the pale light that was filtering in through the massive window and she rocked her hips against him, causing him to have to bite his lip to keep from groaning out loud.

"He's fine. He's with me. Oh, hello Michelangelo." Lux had a genuine smile on her face when she addressed his youngest brother. Leo must have put her on speaker phone.

"Yes. I promise he isn't hurt. We are...........sleeping." she grinned down at him and he rolled his eyes with a grin of his own which turned into a strangled moan when she rocked her hips again. f*ckin June. He honestly didn't know if he would react this strongly if it wasn't the middle of his...season. But he also had no evidence to prove he wouldn't react this strongly either.

Hello?! She was his soul mate.

"I will tell him. Thank you. Goodbye, Leonardo." She pressed the end call button and then tossed his phone behind her on the bed.

"Your family is sweet. And Leonardo says you need to call them next time. And Raphael and Michelangelo agree." She said as she leaned back down so she could plant a searingly hot kiss on his lips that caused him to moan softly.

"Yea yea, they are. Soooo sweet. He said with no annoyance or sarcasm." He replied with an eye roll as he broke the kiss so he could repeat what she had done to him, trailing kisses along her jaw and then down her neck before he rolled them so his body covered hers now.

"Feeling bold?" She asked in amusem*nt.

"Perhaps a little." He kissed down her neck again and then shocked her when his tongue dipped into the hollow of her throat, eliciting a moan from her. He felt her nails drag lightly up his sides and he glanced up at her before he made the decision to continue trailing kisses further down. One arm was bent to hold himself above her while the other hand boldly moved up her ribs, hesitantly, to cup her full breast, squeezing it gently, his thumb circling around the sensitive skin of her nipple which hardened in response. She bucked her hips up against him with a much louder moan.

His head felt like it was spinning like a top and when she made even that small sound of pleasure he felt like it would explode. He suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe.

He rolled to the side and she smiled softly at him as she turned to face him, lifting her hand to brush her finger tips against his cheek.

"You okay?" She asked him.

"Yea. Just...a little hard to breathe." He gave her a small smile and she nodded in understanding.

He reached his own hand up and brushed it lightly down the side of her neck, and then down the expanse of the opalescent skin of her side, watching as goosebumps raised up there in response.

"Are you cold?" He asked her softly.

She smiled and laughed lightly, shaking her head, reaching around his waist, her hand hovering over his shell. She didn't know if touching him there would be far too much for him.

He nodded to her and she gently pressed the flat palm of her hand against his shell and pulled him closer to her, tangling her legs with his. One of her tails draping over them since they had made a reappearance at some point while she had been passed out. He made a mental note to ask her how that worked. He moved his hand to the small of her back and she sighed when his fingers rubbed small circles there. He also told himself he was doing very well at ignoring the fact that she was shirtless and pressed against his plastron again.

Oh.

Now he wasn't ignoring it.

She giggled, hearing his internal monologue and kissed his shoulder.

"Sleep." She murmured.

That was apparently all he needed because in the next instant he felt himself dift back into the welcoming haze of sleep.

***

Donatello yawned, stretching as he slowly became aware of a strange noise. He sighed as he laid there, allowing his senses to register being awake. He hadn't remembered sleeping that deeply in...a long time. He felt the smooth satin sheets under his skin, cool to the touch when he moved, and the heavy thick softness of the overstuffed comforter that covered him. Surrounded by the scent of peonies and something else, something sweet and floral but not like a flower. He opened his eyes and gazed up at the dark purple fabric of the canopy above him and then to the side, to the gray light of morning through the tinted one way window of the bedroom.

The sound he had been hearing was actually muffled music and it was coming from the main living area of the apartment.

He sat up and stretched again with a yawn and slid his legs over the edge of the bed seeming to notice for the first time that Luciana was not in there.

As if his thoughts had conjured her the bedroom door opened and the music from the outside filtered in now.

"You're out there dancing around to Rhianna while I was here sleeping?" He smirked at her and she smiled down at him as she stood in front of him.

"Absolutely. You were out cold." She informed him.

"I don't think I have ever slept that hard. Is this bed magic?" He looked down at the bed and the mess of pillows, blankets, and the comforter, there were even pillows on the floor now.

"It could be. But I think it has more to do with you just needed a good night's sleep and you don't get it staying up all night working on various projects in your lab." She smirked at him now as he gaped at her.

"Meeee? Pull all nighters? Noooo."
She swatted playfully at his shoulder and he stood up and grabbed her around the waist so he could pull her to him for a soft sweet kiss that had him regretting not kissing her weeks ago when he had realized he had wanted to.
Pulling away he gazed down at her and realized with a jolt something he hadn't yet really grasped.

He loved her. Or he was falling in love with her. He wasn't sure now what the difference was. How did one know they were in love versus falling in love?

He brushed his thumb over the opalescent skin of her cheekbone, admiring the way the light from the window made it look like she was dusted in midmorning dew, catching the sunlight so that rainbows of color danced on her skin.

Her green eyes were dark in contrast though, like a heady pine forest thick with fog from a warm summer rain.

When did he get so poetic?
"You okay, Don?" She asked him. He snapped himself out of his reverie and smiled down at her.

"Yea. I'm okay."

"Good. Hungry?" She grinned up at him.

"Oh absolutely." He beamed a smile at her. "But I would really feel better if I could shower first." She gave him a devious smile and he quirked an eye ridge at her.

"You can use mine or the other shower. Up to you." She shrugged.

"Okay. Give me like fifteen minutes." He told her as he strode to her joined bathroom and shut the door.

Exactly fifteen minutes later he felt refreshed and clean and immediately envious of the tile floor in the bathroom that had a warming option.

"Seriously?" He shook his head as he wriggled his toes against the warm tile.

"The whole lair needs this." He said as he contemplated laying flat on the floor on the warm tiles. "Nope. Too hungry." He turned towards the mirror and wiped away the condensation on it.

"Nooowww...if I was a spare toothbrush ...where would I be hiding?" He said to himself as he glanced at the various drawers and cabinets of the sink vanity.
He decided to just keep opening until he found one, hopefully.

𝑩𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒖𝒑𝒃𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕. 𝑨𝒄𝒓𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒄 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘𝒆𝒓.

He startled slightly at hearing her voice in his head but looked where she told him and smiled triumphantly when he found a toothbrush, still in a wrapper.

𝑫𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐?

He teased as he found her already open tooth paste and started brushing his teeth.

𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚. She replied and he shook his head.

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔.

𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒐𝒘 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. She snarked back at him.

He rinsed his mouth with a cup that was by the sink and proceeded to put back on his black arm wraps and leg wraps and then his mask and tech gauntlet and his belt and the black and purple jogger sweatpants he had been wearing.

He left the bathroom and moved back into the bedroom and lifted his black tech shell up and secured it on again with the touch of a button.

He opened the bedroom door and made his way down the short hall to the kitchen, following the smells of food.

He then noticed two others in the kitchen.

"What up, Donnie D!" Gem chirped from her seat at the large island in the center of the kitchen. The red headed girl smiled at him, her brilliant blue eyes blazed warmly.
Shaydrim waved with a soft smile as well.

"Good morning, Shay, Gem." He nodded to each girl in turn before he glanced to the other half of the kitchen where Luciana was. She was frying bacon in a pan and keeping her eyes on a waffle iron on the counter next to the stove.

"Where's Drake?" He asked.

"Bounty hunting." Gem said dramatically.

Don furrowed his brow and looked over to Luciana who gave him a strained smile

"Hunting who?" He asked.

"Baal." Lux said. Don winced. He knew that that had been the demon who Luciana had told him had lost records of Ch'rell's whereabouts for five hundred years.

"He's hiding somewhere in Hell. Drake will find him. But I told her about tonight so knowing her she will call off the hunt for tonight so she can razz Leo for you. She's looking forward to it." Lux gave him a fang filled grin.

"Lovely. But won't that hinder the search?" He asked.

"Hellhounds are very persistent. She will have some of the royal guards continue for her." Gem shrugged.

"Hellcats are even more persistent and she has one on it." Shay added.

"Too true." Gem nodded.

"Hellcat?" Don leaned against the island counter.

"Think...demon tiger....but they obviously don't look like tigers. They kind of look like a cross between a cheetah and a lion but the size of a tiger. They are wicked fast too and are venomous." Shaydrim explained.

"Yea. Drake likes to hunt in wolf form too so you know she's on the trail. Just gotta find the sneaky bastard." Gem grinned visiously.

"What is she going to do when she finds this escapee demon?" Donatello asked.

Luciana was suddenly next to him sliding a plate of waffles, eggs and bacon in front of him. Their gazes met and he watched as her eyes blazed red.

"She will do whatever she needs to subdue him..then she will deliver him to the foot of my throne. He will watch as Ch'rell's crimes are exposed and his soul is crushed and then he will meet the same fate." Her voice had taken on that eerie multilayered quality and her accent was thicker than the first time he had heard it, way back when she had woken up and warded the lair against angels.

Don lifted his hand and brushed it against her cheek softly and the red left her eyes, replaced once again by brilliant emerald green and she lifted her own hand to cover bis and press it against her cheek before kissing his palm.

"Thank you." She said. He tilted his head to the side, something she did a lot.

"For?" He asked.

"Bringing me back." She told him before moving back to her task.

He watched her for a moment before he noticed Gem reaching for his bacon. He went to stab at her hand with his fork and she squealed in response, jerking her hand back.
He smirked at her. "No touchie."

"But I'm hungry!" She pouted.

"Gemino Ruede. You better keep those grubby paws to yourself." Luciana said from the stove.

Don cackled. "Hah. She goverment named you."

"Hamato Donatello." Luciana's voice whipped against him and he looked at her startled while Shay and Gem chorused "Ooooooo"

"Leave my girl alone." She smiled at him, her voice softening.

"She's the little thief trying to steal my bacon!" He looked down at his plate and saw where there had been four strips of bacon there were now three and Gem was nibbling on one.
"Hey!"

Luciana laughed as she set two plates down in front of the girls. She grabbed a piece of bacon off of Gem's plate though and as she circled behind him she plopped it down on his plate causing him to give Gem a smirk as he picked it up and bit it dramatically.

Gem glared at him but rolled her eyes with a grin.

"She only did that because you two are screwing. Otherwise she would be on my side because she looovvees me." Don choked on his bacon in response and Luciana glared at Gemino.

"We have not 'screwed' for your information. Not that it is any of your business, Gem."

Don heaved in a breath after finally dislodging the bacon from his throat.

"Ignore her if you can, Donnie." Shay said from next to Gemino.

"I'll try my best." He rasped as he shot a glare at Gemino who feigned innocence.

Chapter 7: Chapter 6 : Heart of Glass

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖎𝖝 : 𝕳𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝕲𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖘

"Do you think she likes M&Ms? Oh! Or maybe Skittles? Or both?!" Mikey was flitting around the kitchen in the lair while Raphael watched him in amusem*nt.

"Micheal. Chillax. You're working yourself up into crazy town."

"You're right....Ohmigosh! I have to make popcorn!" Michelangelo exclaimed in a panic.

"What's his problem?" Leo asked, walking in and leaning on their pot rack table contraption.

"Uhhhh...." Raph rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Nothin! Just a movie marathon is all!" He supplied nervously.

Leonardo stared at him with narrowed eyes for what seemed like forever and Raph was sure he would cave any second and blab to Leo that Lux would be here in approximately...five minutes.
But then he shrugged and grinned.

"Sweeeeet. What'er we watchin?"

"I'm not sure! I should go check....um....something!" Raph said hastily before darting from the kitchen.

Leo narrowed his eyes for a moment again, wondering why Raph was acting so jumpy.

"Miguelllll? Why is our brother acting so weird?" He asked offhandedly to his younger brother who was still scrambling around the kitchen.

"Dunno! Gotta make popcorn!"
Leo rolled his eyes and left the kitchen.

It was right about that time that he heard someone enter the Lair and he supposed it was Donnie.

"DonTron! Movie night! You in?" He called out.

His brother emerged from the dark tunnel entrance a moment before Lux. Leo sighed and drug a hand down his face, groaning loudly and very dramatically.

"Can it, Nardo." Donnie crossed his arms over his plastron. Leo glared at him but was momentarily caught off guard as another figure emerged from the dark tunnel.

His mouth gaped open as he took in her sunkissed dark cocoa skin, long braids of black with slim white streaks and dazzling golden eyes that glowed brightly like the sun.

A long gray scaled black spined dragon tail curled languidly around in the air and her black kudu horns were striking. Large black dragon wings were folded behind her and she was dressed casually in a pair of baggy gray jogger pants with cargo pockets that hung low on her curvy hips, showing just a hint of the bright yellow thong she wore, and a cropped black hoodie with a zonbie graphic on the front, the edges frayed. A shiny gold and diamond naval piercing glinted from her exposed toned stomach.

And she was looking at him like he was dinner.

"Uhhhhhhhh who's that?" He pointed nervously.

Donnie gave him a sly grin and glanced at the woman. "This is Draconia." He said. "Draconia this is my brother for all intents and purposes, Leonardo."

Draconia sauntered around Donatello and directly up to him. He had the good sense not to run from a predator so he just looked down at her as she grinned up at him.

"You can call me Drake. Or baby. Or anything you like, hunny." She purred, causing Leo to shiver and look up at Lux and Donnie who were snickering together.

He looked back down at Drake and swallowed loudly. She was honest to God the most attractive woman he had laid eyes on. And that was saying something considering his pension for swinging both ways. He had dated quite a few yokai in recent years, among other things,
but he had never been struck nervous around a female. And none had ever made him feel like he looked like a snack.

Her golden eyes danced with mirth as she held out her hand for him to shake.

He just stared at it.

"Ahem. Uh. Leon. You take the hand and shake it. Not a hard concept buddy." Don rolled his eyes.

Leo looked back up at Drake who was giving him a sickeningly sweet smile and then he finally reached out and grasped her hand.

It wasn't painful...just shocking, when a small electric jolt sizzled up his arm and then over his entire being.

He let go of her hand like it had bitten him and looked at her face to see she was just as surprised as he was and maybe....she looked...
She looked terrified.

"Drake?" The girl looked at Lux who was stepping toward her, concern evident on her face.

"I'm fine. Totally fine. Pretty boy here must have static shocked me. Heh. Spooked both of us." She said smoothly as she flipped her braids over her shoulder.

But Leo knew that was not what had just happened. He knew because he could literally hear her...but her lips weren't moving.

He could feel waves of fear washing over him but he knew instinctively they weren't coming from him.
It was her. Somehow.

She was internally freaking out while playing it off on the outside as cool as could be as she took another step back away from him.

What had she done to him?

He was startled out of his thoughts by Lux as she offered her hand.

"I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot, Leonardo." She was saying. He sighed and accepted her hand.

"You.....make Donnie happy." He looked over at his brother who had been glaring, waiting for him to insult his girlfriend, but his glare switched to shock as he met his brother's gaze. "That's all any of us should be thinking about. I'm sorry for acting the way I did." He told her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Leo?" Don demanded.

Leo smiled and stepped over to Donnie and draped his arm around his shoulders.

"Oh c'mon? I act mature for a minute and you think I'm some body snatcher?" He grinned at Donnie who was eyeing him warily.

"Hmmm. It is refreshing that you are acting your age for once." Don quipped.

"See. Everything is good. Peachy. Gucci." Leo side stepped away and then looked at Lux. "Can I speak with you for just a teeny tiny second though?" He pinched his fingers together to indicate the teeny tininess of the second. Lux raised a single auburn brow at him and shrugged before following him as he quickly strode to Donnie's room. He figured Donnie wouldn't freak out if he didn't go to his own room. He turned when she entered.

"Yes?" She asked.

"What does it mean when you touch a demon and they shock you and then you can feel emotions that you know are not yours and hear them talking without their mouth moving?" He asked in a rush. Lux's eyes widened and she gaped at him.

"Are you saying that's what happened? Just a minute ago?" She asked him.

"Yes that is what I am saying!" He exclaimed loudly before she lurched forward and covered his mouth with her hand.

"Chill." She hissed. He nodded and she let go.

"You heard her voice in your head?" She asked.

"So.... it's in my head?" He tapped on his temple.

"Yes. You.....your.....oh my gods. This is incredible. The Fates have their hands in all of this." She was pacing in the lab doorway and he bounced from foot to foot suddenly very nervous.

"But what does it mean? Am I possessed or something?" He asked her frantically.

"What? No. Of course not. You have what me and Donatello have." She told him, waving her hand around dismissively.

Leo gave her a confused look and she rolled her eyes heavenward.

"She's your soul mate." She supplied in exasperation.

"What?!" Leo exclaimed again and she clamped her hand over his mouth again.

"Soul. Mate. Not hard to understand." She said.

"But ..she.... she's...." He stammered.

"A demon. Half in fact. But she is also half werewolf and her feelings are far more fragile than she lets on so if you hurt her I will break you in half." Her eyes flashed red with her threat and he nodded vigorously.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him through the doorway and back out to the main living area.
She smiled at Don who was seated on a large sectional couch that faced a projector screen on the wall.

He gave her a worried look but she just moved around the couch and sat next to him, pulling her legs up under her and leaning into him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Her tails and horns were hidden so she was able to rest her head on his shoulder.

Michelangelo was currently rambling about something to Draconia who was perched on the back of the couch listening to him intently and grinning at him. Her wings had been retracted so they wouldn't be in the way.

Leo watched as she nodded to something Mikey said and looked at him like she thought he was the cutest toddler at the birthday party as he talked animatedly with his hands.

Draconia glanced in his direction and her smile faltered for a moment before Mikey caught her attention again. Leo approached slowly and listened to Mikey telling Draconia all about his newest mural.

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒆? 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒔. 𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. He thought to himself as he glanced at her again.
The microwave dinging from the kitchen caught Mikey's attention and he scrambled from the room causing Drake to chuckle at his franticness.

She then turned her gaze to him and regarded him with a sultry grin.
"Yes, handsome?" She said, her tail tip flicking back and forth as it hung over the back of the couch beside her.

"Ahhh, at least someone notices I'm the face man around here." He reigned in his nerves and projected his usual carefree attitude with ease again as he leaned against the back of the couch next to her.

Her smile grew and he saw her canines lengthen and her golden eyes glowed.

"You arree quite pretty." She purred as she leaned toward him, he gave her his easy going smirk as he stretched his arms up and behind his head.

"You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself." He told her, he watched her eyes blaze brighter and his own eyes widened but he didn't let it phase him.

"Soooooooo, Hell huh? Hehe.. everyone's dying to get in I bet."
Drake's grin fell for a second and then she barked a loud laugh that startled even Lux and Donatello.

"Hey! Could you two stop flirting so we can watch a movie already?" Don asked with a big grin at Drake who narrowed her eyes at him.
Leo gave her another rakish grin and hopped over the back of the sectional couch.

He was wholly unprepared for Drake to turn around on the back of the couch and place a leg over each of his shoulders, her tail sliding to lay across his lap. He tilted his head back to look up at her and she smiled down at him as she twirled one of his bandana tails around her finger.

𝑯𝒐𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍...𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒚? 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒐𝒕.

𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕. He jumped slightly at the sound of her voice in his head.

𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒊𝒕! 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆!

She tugged on his bandana tail lightly in response.

"Micheal if you are not out here in point two seconds I will get the laser vacuums back out!" Donatello yelled.

"Noooo! Mikey, get out here!" Leo lurched forward so he could yell towards the kitchen.

Mikey scampered out into the room carrying a tray with all manner of snacks overflowing from it.

"I didn't know what you'd like!" He smiled at Lux and then Draconia who both regarded the assortment in shock.

"Well aren't you the sweetest thing!?" Drake cooed as she climbed down from the back of the couch, much to Leonardo's relief as he expelled a deep breath and leaned back into the couch cushions, eyeing Drake warily as she inspected the contents of the tray of snacks.

"You really went all out didn't you Michelangelo?" Lux said as she unfolded her legs from under her so she could lean forward and rest her elbows on her knees.

"You can totally call me Mikey." He smiled at her. She smiled back at him.

"You four and your aversion to being called your full names." She shook her head with a grin.

"They just sound so.....formal." Leo said just as Raphael joined them with a hesitant wave at the two women.

Lux smiled at him. "Hello again, Raphael. Or do you prefer your name shortened as well?" She asked as she tore open a bag of skittles and started fishing for the lime ones while Don watched her in abject curiosity.

Raph smiled and shrugged. "I don't mind either really." The massive snapper said as he sat next to Mikey who was fiddling with the remote.

Drake snatched a piece of cherry licorice and sat back again, peeling the pieces apart as if it was the most fun thing she had ever done.

"What are we watching?" Leo asked as he watched Drake.

"Evil Dead marathon." Mikey said as he pressed play.

"Heehee. I love watching this crap." Drake grinned at Lux.

"Yea. It's funny to see what humans think comes outta Hell."

"So it doesn't come from Hell?" Leo asked Lux in curiosity.

"Evil is born from the misdeeds of humanity. It is Darkness incarnate. Every malignant thought. Every deed done in cold blood is the result of the free choice of Humanity itself. These things are what we pull into Hell to punish...or simply to entrap it. Some stuff slips out and we have to go get it. Like, Ch'rell for example, if we had had any record that he had managed to escape Hell. We would have stopped him well before five f*cking hundred years had passed. But....." She trailed off and Draconia grinned a feral smile full of sharp teeth.

"Baal was Ch'rell's warden. He was responsible. He knowingly fudged records. He will be dealt with. Don't worry about it right now Lux." She tossed a piece of popcorn at her best friend who gave her a lopsided grin that made her facial features appear far more girlish and cute.

As the movies played on, there were several moments where Donatello expressed disgust to the point of covering his eyes or even gagging, which amused Lux. Leo and Mikey were the two that exclaimed in fear the most, much to everyones amusem*nt but theirs. When the second movie had ended Lux was laughing.

"Mikey. Why did you choose these if they freak you out?" She asked. Mikey smiled and shrugged.

"They are good. Even if they are really solid jump scare movies."

"Jump scare is an understatement when it comes to this one." Drake jerked her thumb at Leo who scowled at her.

"I was NOT scared." He exclaimed indignantly.

"You hid behind the couch at one point!" Drake laughed.

"I was startled. There is a difference." Leo said snootily.

Drake grinned at him.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from the big scary Evil Dead." She leaned into him and batted her long dark eye lashes at him which had him blushing.

"Hey is Raph sleeping?" Lux tilted her head to the side.

Sure enough, the red banded turtle was in fact sleeping with his head lolled back on the back of the couch.

"Well....it is late." Mikey smiled at his oldest brother before pressing play on the third installment.

"Didn't they just make another of these? Evil Dead Rise?" Drake asked.

"Yup!" Mikey chirped from his spot as he shoved popcorn in his mouth.
Drake leaned back against the back of the couch. Truth be told she was exhausted as well, she had felt her eyelids droop a few times during the last movie. She glanced to her left at Leonardo who was giving the movie screen a look that was a cross between morbid curiosity as well as fear. She watched as his hands clamped into fists during each jump scare and she suppressed the urge to giggle at him.

She then glanced up towards the other part of the sectional couch. Don was tucked into the corner with one leg stretched out along the length of the couch, the other bent off the side, Lux was seated against his plastron between said legs, munching on Skittles as she watched the movie, giggling at particularly gruesome parts.
Don had one arm on the back of the couch while the other wrapped lazily around Lux's midsection and it appeared he was also falling asleep too as occasionally his head would start to loll back and then would snap back up with him attempting to blink the sleepiness from his eyes.

Drake honestly thought they were the cutest.

𝑰𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒆? Drake looked over and up at Leo who was jerking his thumb at Lux.

Draconia nodded. 𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅'𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚.

𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉. He replied before grinning at her and then feigning a yawn while he brought his arm around her shoulders. Draconia snigg*red at him.

𝑺𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉. She heard him laugh quietly in response.

She shivered internally at the immediate feeling of peace that settled over her like a warm blanket when Leo's arm rested around her shoulders.

Drake bit her bottom lip in a rare beat of nervousness but quickly smacked that feeling away and tucked herself against his side.
It didn't take long for her eyelids to grow heavy and slip closed and she felt the tentative brush of Leo within her mind, his curiosity and attraction to her were the forfront of his thoughts while a sliver of nervous fear nagged behind them.
She sighed and allowed herself to slip into a deep sleep.

***

Donatello had woken up to Luciana passed out against his plastron. He smiled at the sight of her and slowly extracted himself from under her, placing a couch pillow under her head for her.

He glanced around and noticed Draconia sleeping tucked into his brother's side while Leo's cheek rested against the top of her head which he had noticed no longer sported her kudu horns and his right arm was draped around her.

Mikey was passed out on the floor and Raphael must have gotten up and gone to his room to sleep because he was no longer there but he could hear his snoring exhoing from his room.

He made his way up to his lab where he checked on a few things, including S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N who had just finished an update and was coming out of hibernation mode.
"Hiya, Donnie!" Donatello sat down in his gaming chair and waved tiredly at the drone.

"You didn't come home last night. Where were yooouuu?" Shelldon hovered in front of the purple bandanaed turtle who rested his chin in his palm, elbow propped on an armrest.

"Not here." He deadpanned, spinning the chair around to face his computer desk. Shelldon simply moved in front of him again.

"Doooonnniieeee."

"Shelldon. Do you insist on badgering me with questions of which you know the answers too?"

"Well duh." Donatello sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

He decided to ignore the drone as he leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes.

He could feel Lux was still sleeping, when she slept her side of the bond was open but sporadic in its emotions. Unless she was in Hell. Then it was always silent and still. He could also literally see what her mind was creating in her dream state.

He remembered she said she didn't dream in Hell but clearly she did in the mortal realm.

Her dreaming mind was currently replaying their activities yesterday in vivid detail and he smiled in self satisfaction. The knowledge that he was in her dreaming mind was a boost to his male ego for sure.
Don couldn't help but stay there, viewing her dream as an outsider until something happened.

Lux pulled back from him and backed away nearly falling off the bed as she scrambled to get away from him.

Don was confused for a moment and it was reflected in the dream image of himself as well.

The dream-him suddenly smiled and it was cold and mocking as the image of himself wavered and morphed into a man he didn't recognize.

Lux seemed to though as she threw herself off the bed and scooted closer to the wall as the man, a large burly man at that with close cropped black hair and blue eyes the color of a cold winter sky, climbed off the bed and approached her.

Don watched in horror as the man reached down and grasped her forearm, hauling her upright. She cried out in pain as he threw her roughly against the wall of her bedroom and pinned her there with a large hand wrapped around her slender throat.

He couldn't hear what the man was saying to her as she whimpered in fear, tears streaking down her face, but it didn't matter because his subconscious yanked him back and his eyes flew open.

Immediately all he could feel from the bond was her terror and he bolted from his lab, down the stone steps to the main level of the lair again where she was on the couch.

Drake was awake again and was attempting to wake Lux as she lay in a tight fetal position, hugging her legs to her chest as she trembled uncontrollably.

"Lux. Hunny. Wake up. He can't hurt you anymore. Wake up." Drake was trying to pry her arms away from her legs.

Leo, who had woken up when Drake had moved was watching his apparent mate struggle to help her best friend.

Donatello moved around the couch and Drake looked up at him.

"She won't wake up."

"Who is he?" He asked as he gently pulled Luciana upright and slipped his hand under the back of her hoodie, splaying it wide against the bare skin of her back in an attempt to provide some sort of comfort.

Drake hesitated a moment as she watched Lux. Don felt wave after wave of terror and pain radiating through the bond.

"Drake. Who is he?" He pressed again.

"His name...was...Abrahm. He was...he was Lux's mother's...I don't even know what to call him...they weren't true matrs." Drakr shook her head side to sidr, her braids waving with the movement.

"Her...mother...what?" Donatello looked up from Lux to stare in shock at Draconia who winced and nodded.

"He attempted to claim her mother as his mate. She was, of course, not his mate and he....he went mad..."

"Feral." Don remembered Lux telling him that was what happened when the male's of the species didn't find their light in the dark.

Drake sighed and nodded. "Yes...feral." she bit her lip and then looked up at him, her golden eyes were sad and haunted.

"I used to wonder why she always had bruises when she would come out to play..." Her voice wavered slightly.

"How old was she?" Don asked softly as he rubbed gently at Lux's back.

"It started when she was fourteen. Lasted until the day she met her father and found out she was half angel and decided she wanted to go with Lucifer. Abrahm....he....didn't just hit Lux....he did other things to her...he..." Drake felt the couch shift behind her and tensed up waiting for the next movement.

Don watched the slider behind her lift his hand and use it to pull the long braids in front of her shoulders back so he could run them through his fingers. He also noticed the way Drake relaxed when Leo's hands would brush against the back of her neck.

"He wasn't even the only one ....her mother also allowed an older wolf, Dorin, to claim Lux as his when she was only fifteen. He....he raped Lux....as well... and attemptrd to force her to perform the Blood Rites." Don noticed the cement stone floor under Drake's feet had started to frost over as she spoke. Interesting.

He also felt an inrush of blind fury at what she said.

"He...he...." He suddenly realized something horrible and almost gagged on the thought. "Drake?"

"Yes?" She looked up from wringing her hands in her lap.

"Has Lux....ever been with anyone after she went to Hell?" He asked slowly. He almost didn't want to hear the answer.

Drake furrowed her brow but shook her head. "No. No one. She couldn't stomach the idea for the first hundred or so years....then she just threw herself into her role as Princess of Hell and relationships became unimportant." She told him.

"Oh gods..." Don could literally feel the blood run cold in his veins as he recalled the conversation they had had only yesterday.

"𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶....𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘯𝘦𝘸?"
"𝘉𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦."
"𝘋𝘰𝘯."
"𝘠𝘦𝘢?"
"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝟤𝟤𝟣 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦."
"𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵."

She hadn't been meaning she had had flings or even relationships in her 221 years. But she had implied it so she wouldn't have to tell him- 'hey yea i was abused as a young girl by not only my not real step father but also some other psycho wolf. No biggie'.

He looked back down at Lux. "I could kill him...them..."

"Lucifer already beat you to it...and I came back later and killed Abrahm....her mother died...cause unknown but I suspect Shay and Gem had something to do with it. Shay is good with poison. And it was shortly after her mother died that these two arrived, dead, in Hell. Lux always assumed her mother had died of substance abuse. " Drake sighed and Lux whimpered again.

Don growled lowly in frustration and moved to lift her in his arms, cradling her to him gently as he moved them to his room and made sure to push the button near the doorway so that the large steel doors closed behind him.

He carried Lux to his bed, that he thankfully had swapped for a lower queen size as he got older...and taller....he wasn't even sure if any of them would fit on a twin mattress anymore.

Sighing he set her down and tried again to get her to let go of her legs and lay flat.

"Lux...Luciana?" He shook her shoulder gently but she just shivered and grimaced as tears streaked down her face.

𝑺𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒑. 𝑷𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆. I'𝒎 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆. 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. Don watched her nails dig into the backs of her calves through her sweatpants. Don was horrified to see that red and purple bruising was starting to form on her throat.

𝑫𝒐𝒏............𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑.............𝒎𝒆......

A frantic kind of urgency took over him as he lifted his hands to cup her face and pressed his forehead to hers as best as he could. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth as he focused on pushing back into her mind. Into her subconscious.

𝑯𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒎𝒐𝒆 𝑳𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒂.

Purple crackles of lightning sizzled over hus skin and hers as he focused even more, tapping into his mystic powers as he did so.

𝑫𝒐𝒏.............𝒉𝒆'𝒔..........𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍....................𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒖𝒃𝒖𝒔

The electric bolts increased until they were both surrounded in a glowing purple aura of light that crackled with violet bolts.

He shoved through a barrier of darkness into an expanse of nothingness. The twinkling star lights were not present. He simply floated in nothing. The only thing illuminating anything was the silver tether that wrapped around his wrist. He could see that it traveled into the nothingness until it was as if the darkness suffocated its light and he couldn't see it anymore.

He grabbed onto it and pulled himself forward by it, propelling himself by sheer force of will. Determined to find her. He could feel the almost suffocating fear crashing over him over and over.

He could literally hear her heart beating. A frantic fluttering sound that paralleled a flicker from the silver glowing tether.

𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆......𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆.....

He gritted his teeth and pulled himself faster until he was sure he was flying. Flying into nothing. There was so much nothing!

𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐.....

The tether flickered again...dimming..

There. Right at the end of the tether. There was a small light. He surged forward again, noticing that the light was shaped like a doorway.

The doorway to her bedroom, back at her place.

He landed feet first on the carpeted floor within the doorway and looked around. It was so lifelike. The carpet underfoot. The bed looked the same way they had left it...rumpled and unmade. The peonies still sat in a vase, magically suspended in time by the window. The tether led him around the bed and he strained to hear any noise.

A faint almost imperceptible gurgling gasping noise was coming from the other side.

The tether flickered again and dimmed more and suddenly he realized something.

If the tether disappeared....she would be dead.

He didn't understand how that was possible. It was unexplainable to him. But he knew that was what would happen.

His legs started pulling him forward as if in slow motion. He moved around the massive bed and came around to the other side.

His blood ran cold in his veins, like someone had poured ice water into them.

She was there.

But so was Abrahm. And his hands were wrapped firmly around her throat, squeezing tightly.

A small moment resurfaced in his mind from their first date...months ago...where she had been telling him about how male werewolves would go feral....a suffocating feeling had snaked through the bond to him.... like someone squeezing the life out of him.

Don wasn't particularly familiar with intense emotions.

But the rage that blazed to life in his chest seemed to be familiar with him as it caught fire and blossomed into a fury that he had never experienced before.

He stepped forward and grasped Abrahm by the back of his throat, hauling him backwards and across the room with such force that he could hear the plaster crumble and the demon's head crack against the wall.

He couldn't let him get up though.

If he got up. He would live.

He didn't want him to live.

Abrahm shook his head, blood trickled down his nose. But before he could register what had happened Donnie was already in front of him with his own hand wrapped around his throat.

The massive softshell lifted the incubus demon up, pressing him against the cracked plaster as he kicked and clawed at Don's hand leaving deep scratches as he struggled, his breath gurgling in his throat.

"You don't deserve to keep breathing, Abrahm." He snarled, flashing sharp canine teeth. The demon gurgled in response, its blue eyes flaring red.

"The question is...should I strangle you like you attempted to do to my mate? Or should I simply break your neck?" He clamped his hand down harder, not caring that the demon kicked at his legs and even managed one weak kick to his plastron.

"Don..."

He hesitated, his eyes scanning Anrahm's face, analyzing every feature, committing it to memory.

"Donnie.."

Her voice cracked and sounded scratchy. He felt her hand gently rest on his shoulder and he pulled his gaze away from the incubus to glance at her.

"Take me back....he won't come back...if he does...well.."

Her throat had dark bruising hand marks around it and her cheek sported a bright red welt, her lip was split and leaked ichor.

"Please just..."

He let Abrahm drop unceremoniously to the floor and apun around to pull Luciana into his arms tightly. He didn't realize he was shaking as he pressed her to his plastron.

His eyes flicked to Abrahm but the demon was gone.

He snarled softly but was brought out of his anger by Lux's shaking body as sobs had her doubling over. He pulled her back into his arms and carried her to the bed, sitting down he simply held her.

"Time to wake up, sugar." He whispered against her hair.

He squeezed his eyes shut and felt her stop shaking for a moment.

Suddenly he was hyperaware of everything.

The cool damp air of the lair. The worn feeling of his mattress and blanket. The steady hum and whir of computers and electrical currents.

He opened his eyes.

His forehead was still pressed to her's and he still cupped her face in his hands but the purple aura was gone now and her eyes were open.

Her throat was still bruised and she still had a red welt on her face and a split lip.

Abrahm really had been real.

Lux sucked in a shaky breath and let it out on a small sob.

"He....he....he." Don shook his head and brushed his thumb over her unmarked cheek.

"Shh. Breathe." He said softly.

Lux sucked in more air and tried to maintain some deep breathing even while she shook violently.

"He's...an....incubus...." She managed to say.

"I'm going to pretend I know what that is." Don said as he pushed some sweat covered strands of hair out of her face.

"He...can...enter...dreams...feeds on pain....sex....lust...anger." she swallowed roughly, wincing at the pain in her throat.

"Is....that why you stopped me? He was feeding on my anger?" Don asked her. She nodded silently.

Don sighed and stood up. He pulled off his own hoodie and sweatpants and then his arm and leg wraps and mask. Then he pulled her up to her feet and lifted the bottom hem of her hoodie, glancing up at her in a silent question.

Lux looked at him in shock but nodded, so he lifted it all the way over her head and tossed it with his own clothing. He reached down and untied her sweatpants that simply fell off of her since she always bought two sizes up so they would be extra large on her. She stepped out of them and he kicked them aside as well. He could still feel her shock.

"Why are you surprised?" He asked her.

"Well last night you panicked because I was essentially naked in bed with you and now you are stripping me?" She managed a smirk even while looking a little worse for wear.

"Oh. I'm still panicking. Make no mistake about that. I'm simply choosing to ignore it because you need this. Touch is important for werewolves? Correct?" He asked her.

She nodded.

"Okay. And skin to skin is best?" He asked again and she nodded again.

"Excellent. See. I'm learning. I love learning you know." He grinned down at her and she nodded a third time.

He reached up to lightly brush his fingertips over the ugly bruising around her throat and he sighed.

"C'mom, sugar." He pulled her back down onto the mattress and lifted the blanket for her so she could crawl under it and press herself against him.

"Thank you..." He heard her say quietly.

"For?" He asked around a huge yawn.

"Bringing me back..." She replied. He wrapped his arm around her and nuzzled into her silky hair.

"I'll always bring you back." He said softly.

***

"That wretched imp." Drake snarled as she paced the living room of the Lair while Leonardo watched her.
It had taken a bit of convincing but after Donatello had carried Lux off to his room the previous night Drake had immediately tried to leave to find Abrahm in Hell.

Leo had convinced her that she was too tired from her hunt for Baal and when she had refuted this he had had to use the bond as his reasoning.

She couldn't argue with the bond. She knew that. He now knew that. It had irritated her to no end but she had allowed him to pull her across the main chamber of the Lair to his curtained off room made of a subway car where he had gotten her to lay down in his bed while he laid on the floor.

"Why are you on the floor?" She had asked him.

"Because, unlike my poor hermanos, I am not so innocent and you are very tempting chiquita." He had told her.

She had rolled over to look over the edge of the bed at him as he laid on his carapace on a blanket with his arms folded under his head on top of a pillow. His eyes were closed. She had noticed he seemed strained and almost in pain.

Golden eyes had roved his lean physique that was still covered in lots of well toned corded muscle. And his interesting colored stripes.

"Too true mi cielo." She had responded softly causing him to open his eyes. Light hazel had regarded gold with trepidation.

"Okay so I say certain words in Spanish but .. I'm not familiar with that one." He had turned on his side and propped his head up in his hand.

Drake had smiled at him serenely.
"It roughly translates to my sky or my heaven." She told him.

Leo had blinked at her and then sat up. "You just met me?" He questioned.

"A werewolf soul bond is powerful." Drake had shrugged.

"It's also kind of freaky." Leo had muttered.

Drake had rolled over and sighed.

"I didn't mean you are freaky....just...you being like...all in my mind. Like...ohhh is it like a ninja mind meld? Oh oh or a Vulkan mind meld?!" She had grinned.

"So you have ADD or ADHD?" She questioned.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh.."

"Attention Deficit Disorder. Or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?"

"Deficit?" He questioned. Drake snickered as she faced the wall.

"You lack an attention span." She had told him.

"Ohhhh. Yes." He had responded.

"Leonardo?"

"Draconia?" Drake had patted the bed behind her.

"I don't want to be alone anymore." She had said quietly.

It had taken a few heartbeats longer than she had thought it would but finally she felt the mattress shift with his weight and one of his strong arms wrapped around her middle and under her own arm. She felt him pull in a deep breath and then expel it as he nuzzled into the nape of her neck. They had both drifted off to sleep shortly after.

Now she was pacing a hole in the stone floor, tail lashing, and her lips pulled back in a snarl full of sharp teeth.

"So how did he get in here if Lux warded this place over six months ago now?" Leo asked her.

"Incubi are tricksters." She stopped and stared at him. "He didn't technically enter the Lair. He entered Lux's mind."

"Ok run it back. I don't even know what an incubi is."

"Incubi is plural. Incubus is the single usage word." Drake said in a deadpan voice. Leo blinked at her.

"I am a sucubus." She pointed to herself.

"Okay ..I read comics and the only knowledge I have of a sucubus is a female demon that invades dreams?" Leo offered, suddenly very proud of the one track conversation he was having.

"That is vague but generally correct. Sucubi are female hellborn that enter the dreams of mortals and feed on sex and pain to gain power." She told him. He eyed her warily.

"Leonardo you are my mate. That means far more to me than power." She glared at him. He nodded, relieved slightly.

"Okayyyy. So. Incubi?"

"Incubi are male demons. Mortal souls that died and arrive in Hell as demons. They are not hell born and they are usually the souls of men who died in the mortal realm that committed sexual crimes. So ..a male rapist would arrive in Hell as an incubus."

"What about if it was a female..." He refused to say the word.

"Imps. Trickster demons. Nasty things."

"Okay...so .. this guy is an Incubus. Because he...." Leo grimaced thinking of what she had said last night regarding what Abrahm and that other guy had done to Lux. "And then he died and then spawned in Hell as one?"

Drake nodded. "Now you've got it."

"So like....you...he can enter dreams...feeds on...sex...and pain.....and that's how he gets power?"

"Yes. All of that. Even anger and lust could feed him enough." Drake began pacing again.

"So..........do you..."

"No, Leonardo. I do not. I gained my power from feeding from other demons' pain. Not mortals. Not to mention I inherited the majority of it from my mother." She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Your mother?" He blinked.

"Jahi. First sucubus. She fed from my father, a werewolf, because she was driven to jealousy seeing Lucifer conceive a child with a werewolf. She of course used the power to create her own child..." She gave a mock courtesy.

"Oh boy." Leo cringed.

"Yea. But my father found out about me through Lucifer. He allowed my father to take me so that I wouldn't be raised by my mother. So instead I was raised by my dad. In the same pack as Lux." She glanced at the metal doors of Donatello's room.

"So.....what are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to find that disgusting little sh*t stain and pummel him into the brimstone." She snarled.

"That sounds...fuunnn. But.......and hear me out on this. Why don't you take a breather. You are still tired from hunting that other demon guy. I can feel it." Leo said in a rare moment of maturity.

"Then who will protect her? It's my job as the head of the royal guard!"

"Donnie?" Leo suggested. Drake seemed to deflate as she considered this, Donatello and his brothers were uniquely powerful among mortals and the bond he shared with Lux was only growing stronger. Surely Leo was correct. Donatello could protect Lux just as well as she could now. And, eventually, probably better than she could.

"I.... you're right.....she has her mate now." She wrapped her arms around herself.

Leo stood up from the couch and reached for her. He held her at arms length and looked down at her.

"She still needs you. To be her friend. But she doesn't need you to fight every battle for her." Leonardo told her gently.

Drake sighed and looked down at her feet that were currently bare. She felt him gently grasp her chin between his thumb and a knuckle and tilt her head up to look at him.

"You're exhausted." He told her. She blinked up at him silently.

"C'mon, chiquita." He grasped one of her arms and pulled her to follow him.

She sighed and followed him back to his room where he sat on his bed then pulled her down so he could wrap his arms around her again like he had the night before.

***

Leo sighed as he nuzzled into her hair. It smelled like chocolate and coffee and she was warm and soft in his arms. Even though her hair was in tight braids it was still soft.

Okay sure she had been incredibly terrifying when he had first met her. Truth be told he was still terrified of her. She was a sucubus after all.

But now he understood what Donnie had been talking about when he had told Leo he could literally feel Lux and knew she wasn't evil.

He could feel Draconia. He felt her anger for the demons that were vexing her. He felt her steadfast determination to protect Lux as well as her love for her friend.

But it was that small feeling underneath it all that he knew was still forming from this bond between them that drew him in. It was warm and bright and he could tell it scared her.

"I've only ever known lust...greed...power." she said quietly. He knew exactly what she meant, unfortunately.

"Hell?" He responded against the nape of her neck.

"Yes." She sighed when he pressed his lips against her skin.

"You don't have to know that alone anymore." He told her, wishing he could say the same for himself.

"Love is.... terrifying." She shivered and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Says the scary demon with dragon wings and a tail and horns that could probably eat me alive!"

"I could. You would like it." She mused, much to his delight.

"I always knew I was a whole snack." He pulled her closer to him as she laughed. He liked her laugh.

"So are you still afraid of me?" She asked him after a few minutes of silence.

"Yes and no." He told her truthfully.

"What is it you are afraid of? Because if it's the state of your soul you have nothing to worry about. Your soul is pure." She told him.

"It is?"

"Yes, you and all your brothers. It's beautiful." She told him. He could hear the sleepiness in her voice and he smiled as he kissed the back of her neck again.

"There's something wrapped around it though..." she said in a drowsy voice. He could feel when her breathing evened out again and he nuzzled back into her hair so he was surrounded in the scent of chocolate and coffee while his mind screamed in agony over what she had just said. He knew it was there. It was like a vice that constantly squeezed the breath from his lungs.
He knew what it meant now. He hadn't known when he signed his name two years ago. He still didn't know enough. It was his burden to carry though. He was the one that made the deal.

Chapter 8: Chapter 7 : Not God's Angel

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕾𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖓 : 𝕹𝖔𝖙 𝕲𝖔𝖉'𝖘 𝕬𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖑

Luciana sighed as she slowly came back to the land of the living. She smiled softly when she felt Donatello's fingers knead at her hip bone and his thumb massage into the back of her hip. She gasped when she felt him kiss the back of her neck.

"There you go being bold again." She said drowsily. He hummed in response as he pulled her hip back so she had to roll onto her back.

She smiled even as he pressed his lips to hers, his hand moving from her hip to caress up her toned middle and over her ribs until he stopped just shy of her chest.

"If you stop I will bite you." She said against his lips. He pulled back just a small bit and gave her a devious grin, still not continuing.

She snickered at him and snapped her teeth which now showed her long fangs.

"Oooo spicy." He chuckled. His gaze drifted down to her throat though and held there. The black and blue bruising in the perfect shape of hands was a horrible contrast to the pale opalescent tone of her skin. Her split lip and the small red welt over her cheekbone had healed already but apparently the bruising wanted to hang around a little longer.

His hand, apparently with a mind of its own, reached up and as gently as he could brushed against the bruises. She winced slightly, causing him to freeze and look back up at her.

"It'll heal..." She said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner....I....I could have.." her finger was suddenly pressed against his lips.

"No. None of that. What's done is done. You got to me. That's all that matters." She sighed and let her hand drop, resting against her stomach, her head turned to look around his room.

"Could he have....killed you?" He asked her slowly. He waited while he watched her continue looking around before she finally turned her gaze back to his.

"Yes. But he wouldn't have Destroyed my soul. My body would be dead but my soul would have returned to Hell." She told him. He processed this for a moment before he flopped back onto his carapace and sighed.

"If I ever see that filthy motherf*cking mongrel again-"

"Donatello, you can kill him, but you'll have to wait." She cut him off and he scowled at the ceiling.

"Why wait? I have so many ideas to implement on him. Starting with a very slow, very painful appendage removal." He heard her laugh softly and he glanced to his left at her.

He couldn't help but notice the bruises every time he looked at her and it made his blood boil.

He rolled back onto his side and frowned as he rested his hand just under where they began. She closed her eyes and he could tell she was forcing herself to remain calm. He could feel her panic fluttering around at the end of the bond like a caged bird. He could feel her usually extremely slow heartbeat fluttering unnaturally fast in her chest where his hand rested, her eyes were squeezed shut, her nostrils flared and her bottom lip quivered.

"Hey.." he reached his hand up to gently tilt her face towards him.

She opened her eyes, tears pooled at the edges and her hands had started shaking.

"C'mere." He held his arm up and moved his other one under her so she could bury herself against his plastron and he could wrap his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head.

He could feel her shaking begin to ease as he held her close to him. It was stupid but he felt himself wishing he could do something, anything to remove her pain.

He wished he could take every bad memory, every thought of that monster from her and replace it with something better. But that was illogical anx impossible of course.

"I'll be okay... I've had like two hundred and nineteen or so years to get over it..." She told him. He stiffened slightly and pulled himself back so he could look down at her.

"Luciana. No one, myself included, would ever believe you should simply "get over" being the victim of abuse from what... essentially would have equated to a family member for you. As well as a stranger. They took from you. They took things that didn't belong to them. None of that is right. And you have to heal....not get over it." He told her firmly. He watched her squirm a bit under his gaze and his eyes once again drifted to the bruising around her delicate throat.

"You ...can ..make it go away." She told him hesitantly. He furrowed his brow ridge in confusion.

"With..ice perhaps the bruising will subside faster? Otherwise I'm not sure what you mean?" He watched as she bit at her bottom lip nervously.

"You don't get nervous. What's wrong?" He tapped her nose gently with his finger and she blinked at him.

"Um...mates...uhhh...you know how you healed me before? I absorbed energy from you while you used your Ninpo?" She asked him. He nodded slowly.

"Well that's a more instantaneous way to heal but its far more taxing on you....ugh ..dammit..." He was mildly amused when she got flustered and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"True mates, werewolves, can absorb energy and heal each other." She said. He quirked one brow ridge at her. "By....feedingoffeachother'sblood." she finished in a rush.

Don blinked slowly at her and she squirmed again.

"So....if you bite me...and drink my blood. It will heal you?" He asked. She bit her lip and nodded.

Don stared at her a moment. She wasn't human. He wasn't either. But she was a werewolf and a Fallen. It made sense she would have some strange abilities. He had his own.

She was his. Tethered to his soul by some weird ass powers that be. But he wouldn't complain...how could he?

He loved her. Didn't he? He still wasn't certain on how someone knew that. But he definitely felt very strong feelings about her. He had almost killed Abrahm the Incubus for her. He wasn't particularly murderous but that had been a blind rage that he wasn't entirely familiar with.

Was the thought of her literally consuming his blood a little... nauseating....yes. Did he want her to heal? Also yes.

"Does it hurt?" He finally asked her and she glanced back up at him.

"Um...as far as I'm aware ..only for a second." She told him. He considered this and then brought his free hand up to brush his knuckles against her soft cheek. He watched as they bloomed with her blush and he couldn't help but smirk at her.

"Well then go ahead." He told her. Her green eyes widened and her mouth gaped slightly in shock.

"What you thought I would just say no?" He asked her.

"Well...you could have. I wouldn't have blamed you." She said in reaponse.

"Are you stalling now?" He said. She gaped again at him and he lifted one eye ridge at her again.

Two things happened that he thought he was prepared for but... honestly there wouldn't have been much that could have prepared him.

The first was when he rolled over onto his carapace again. He had pulled her with him so she could lay on top of him and wouldn't strain her bruised neck. She sat up, straddling his hips which would have distracted him if he had had any time to think about it. All he had done was tilt his head to the side and bare his throat to her.

He watched her eyes begin to glow until they were a bright peridot green and her canines lengthened. He heard a soft growl rumble from her throat before she surged back down toward him. He braced himself but only felt her warm breath on his skin and then her lips brushed there softly, again and again.

Don shuddered in pleasure as Luciana kissed and nipped and sucked gently at the skin of his neck where it met his shoulder. He relaxed slowly as she showered her attention there.

He felt her tongue rasp against his skin and then another soft kiss. He shivered when he felt her whisper "Take a deep breath in."

He did, sucking in as much air as he could, his shaking hands kneaded small circles into the small of her back. He hadn't even remembered moving his hands there.

"Deep breath out.." she murmured against his neck. He released the breath and as he did so he felt a sharp sting at his throat.

Then the second thing he hadn't been prepared for happened...

He gasped in slight pain but almost as soon as it registered it burned and blossomed into a wave of pleasure so intense it had him gripping her hips roughly and arching his back with a soundless open mouthed cry. He was sure she would bruise from the grip he had on her skin but at the moment he could barely register anything other than wave after wave of exquisite heat that coursed through his veins as she fed from him.

He heard her moan against his neck and he groaned in response as he bucked his hips against hers, relishing the feeling of her grinding against him. He could feel the heat that was pooling between her legs as it pressed against him, he wondered briefly what that heat would feel like.

He knew she had heard his internal thoughts because she teasingly rocked her hips against him again and his eyelids fluttered, his eyes rolling back as another wave of pleasure rocked through him and the bond between them.

This was what it felt like for her to feed from him? This wasn't at all what he had imagined. He had imagined pain. A lot of pain.

There was no pain here. He couldn't even figure out who was moaning, but someone was. Loudly.

Good thing his room was sound proofed.

Very abruptly the intense pleasure stopped and it was like someone pulled a mask off his eyes as a haze lifted and he could feel more than just them and their combined pleasure again.

He was breathing heavily as if he had just run up several flights of stairs and he blinked his eyes open.

Gods she was beautiful.

"Are you sure you fell?" He asked reverently as he lifted one of his hands from her hips and brushed the now completely healed alabaster skin of her throat.

He suddenly felt the caress of not one but both of her tails against his legs and when he looked up from examining her healed neck the expanse of the air above him was nothing but soft ebony feathers that glimmered with hues of violet and blue and green. And curling black horns protruded from her head syrrounded by her long softly curling wine red hair.

She took his breath away.

Her skin glowed with and refracted every light that touched it from the myriad of LEDs around his room, pinks, blues, greens, oranges. All danced around her shinmering skin.

Her petal pink lips tilted up in a smirk and held the faint stain of crimson from his blood. One of her long canines flashed dangerously and her eyes had bled to scarlet.

"Do I really look like an angel to you?" She asked softly.

"I personally don't see how you could be anything but. You may not be what people conventionally think of. You may even terrify demons or mortals alike. But believe me when I say you look like an angel to me. Maybe you're just my angel..." He watched her eyes widen as she listened to him speak. As if she had never once known kindness beyond that of her father's unconditional love and her friends. Which he supposed she hadn't if her upbringing with her mother was any indication and then living in Hell.

"You really mean that?" She furrowed her brow in deep frustration. "Don I've.....killed people.... I've Destroyed demons...angels. I.. I'm a monster...not an angel." She was still straddling his lap but he easily lifted himself up, propping himself upright with his hands behind him.

"Since when do monsters shed tears over old scars? Since when do monsters express joy and kindness in the multitude of ways you do? Since when do monsters bring others that same joy?.....Luciana Morningstar....if you are a monster then you are the most exquisite monster I have ever known. And I have truly seen monsters at this point in my life..." He scooted back some so he could sit up, causing her to now be straddling his thighs as she gazed at him with a mixture of shock...or maybe it was gratitude and something else. She seemed joyous to hear such words from him.

"Gods have you only known horrors? Has kindness been so far out of reach for you?" He brushed some hair from her cheek and she reached up and grasped his hand in both of hers, pressing it against her cheek. A soft rumble that reminded him of a purr came from her chest and he felt his lips tilt up in a lopsided smile.

"I have lived twenty one mortal years....and two hundred Hell years...waiting for you. Perhaps it is you that was meant to be the light in my darkness?" She kissed his palm and he watched the red that had bled into her eyes fade back to dark, deep green.

"I'm sure you will get your chance to shed your own light. I have my own demons you know. Pun definitely intended. Haha." She giggled and leaned forward to press her forehead to his. She heard a soft answering rumble from him that ended in a light chuffing noise. She blinked at him and grinned.

"I didn't know that turtles chuffed?" She tilted her head.

Don felt his cheeks heat up slightly.

"It's not typical for regular turtles actually. But we ended up with our own vocalizations as we have grown up. It's obviously not typical for four different species to cohabitate as we do either so we developed communicatory vocalizations that were universal for us." He explained. She smiled and then her gaze flicked down to his neck and she tilted her head as he continued talking about the various sounds they made in comparison to regular turtles. He stuttered to a stop with a gasp when she leaned forward and her tongue flicked out to lick at the bite mark there. She leaned back again and then registered his shocked expression.

"Oh...sorry...uh there was some...blood there..but I uh....got it." She blushed and he did as well.

"Does it...uh....taste...........good?" He asked hesitantly, not entirely sure that he wanted to know the answer to that question now that he had voiced it out loud.

She smiled and suddenly giggled.

"What?! It's a reasonable question for me to ask!" He couldn't help but smile at her laughter.

"Yes. It does. You're yummy." Her smile turned devious for a moment and he shuddered.

"Well sh*t. April was right all along when she said you looked at me like you thought I would taste good. Turns out I do. Yaaayyy." He shook his head with a smile even with his deadpanned tone.

She leaned forward and his attention snapped back to her.

"You are mine." She told him softly, but the way her eyes flared red again and her tone held a closely controlled power was anything but gentle. She reached up to caress her fingers against his cheek, her long sharp nails grazing against his skin lightly. Some part of him realized there was a side of her he had yet to see, something more wild, animalistic. The werewolf part that, as he recalled, was apparently eager to meet him. He also knew he had to answer her in a way that would appease said wolf because he was pretty sure that's who was looking at him right now.

"You are mine." He responded just as softly. She closed the small distance between them, pressing her lips to his, gently at first but he didn't leave it that way as he slid one hand around the nape of her neck and the other arm wrapped around her to pull her closer to him.

She broke the kiss, gently nipping at his lip before she sighed and started to climb off of him.

"We should probably get up and show our faces." She said.

He groaned and let himself flop down onto the mattress again.

"But it's far more cozy in here...and fun." He turned his head and gave her a rakish grin.

"Oh no, I've created a deviant within you." She shook her head at him as she turned to throw her legs over the side of the bed.

"Sugar, I was already devious. It was just a different kind. I like to think of it as...leveling up." He turned onto his side and gave her another heated look.

"You are insatiable." She laughed.

"Don't I know it- hey where're you going!" Lux giggled as she sprung up away from him as he lunged to grab her and missed.

"We have to get out of bed, Donatello!" She laughed.

"Uh, noooooo. We do not. It is Saturday. Saturday is for sleeping in." He said with his arm dangling off the bed.

"You aren't trying to sleep." She said with a grin. He sighed and rolled back onto his carapace, draping a forearm over his face.

"Ugh. Fiiiinnneeee-OOF" she launched herself up to land on top of him, knocking the air out of his lungs.

"I can make breakfast?" She offered.

"Done!" He surged upward, carrying her with him and causing her to squeal in alarm.

He set her down, her tail, wings and horns poofing away in black glittery smoke, so she could pull her hoodie and sweatpants back on then he opened the door for her and she left him to put on a pair of black joggers and his tech shell and mask while she moved through the main area of the lair. She noticed right away, Drake, perched on the back of the couch while Leo sat between her bent legs, showing her his favorite comic. Drake was grinning for all she was worth and her gray and black dragon tail waved languidly behind her, off the couch. Her black membranous wings and her black kudu horns were also on display. Drake never liked hiding herself. She had had to hide for the first sixteen years of her life, so if she didn't need to look human, she didn't.

"Babydoll, you have a bit of..." Lux indicated that Drake was drooling over Leo and the dark skinned girl stuck her tongue out.

"Oh please! You smell like a whor* house! I can ogle my own mate all I want." Drake sassed.

"Damn! Someone is cranky!" Lux giggled as her friend's wings flapped once...twice and she landed in front of Lux with a maniacal grin.

"I'm always cranky!" Lux laughed some more.

"You really do smell like a whor* house. I would know." Lux peaked over Drake's shoulder at Leo who was still looking at his comic.

"You've been to a what now?" Drake and Lux looked at Donatello who was coming out of his room looking at Leo like he had grown a second head.

"What?" Leo looked up at him.

"Nardo..........nevermind." Don grimaced.

Drake smiled at Don who side stepped her to get to Lux who simply grinned up at him. Drake smirked.

"Angelcakes.... you've got a bit of .." she copied Lux from earlier, indicating she was drooling over her mate.

"I can drool all I want." Lux sassed as she was enveloped in his arms.

"He's yummy., in more ways than just eye candy." She flashed sharp canines at Drake.

"Ohhhh I'm not disagreeing with you there, he is eye candy." Draconia said with a coy smile up at the purple masked turtle who looked like he would rather hide under a rock.

"I thought you wanted your own turtle to play with. He's right there. Go on! Go get em ....shoo." Donnie waved at Leo and Drake snapped her teeth at his outstretched hand causing him to yelp and pull away.

"Drake? Are you trying to eat my brother?" Leo called from the couch.

"Noooo mi cielo. Of course not." Drake snarled at Donatello who shoved a grinning Luciana in front of him as a shield.

"Ookkaayy don't get any blood on the rug."

"Si, papi guapo." Drake's tail lashed the air with her sweet reply.

"Nice kitty." Don shrunk behind Lux.
The four occupants of the room all jumped when Draconia's phone started ringing with the mashup of A Day To Remember's The Downfall of Us All and the voice clip of Cindy Lou Who meeting the Grinch.

Don peered out from behind Lux who tilted her head to the side as Drake answered her phone.

"Boise sperm bank. You spank it, we bank it. How can I direct your call?"
Lux felt Don double over behind her with a loud laugh and saw Leo snicker into his comic.

Drake suddenly looked both angry and excited at the same time and Lux perked up at that.

"Where?........When?........Well is he alive?........ Because I want to kill him....Demetri I don't care! Good.....even better. We will be there in two shakes of a dead cat's tail." Drake hung up her phone.

"What a gross saying. Anyway. Demetri, huh?"

"Who's Demetri?" Leo suddenly popped up behind Drake, with a narrowed eyed look.

"Just one of the guardsmen." Drake waved him off.

"Yea. That has a huuugggeee crush on you." Lux clasped her hands together and batted her eyelashes at Drake who shoved her away by her face.

"Luciana, I know it's hard to focus after your man f*cks your brains out. But they found Baal."

"I did not-" Don started to protest.

"They found Baal?" Lux's eyes blazed red, her horns, wings and tails reappearing immediately along with strange black fire that licked at her arms and Drake nodded.

"Well what the f*ck are we waiting for then?!" Lux snarled, the fire disappeared but she looked no less angry.

"Way to go D!" Leo cheered from behind Drake.

Don rolled his eyes. "We didn't-"

"Wait if he's found why didn't-" Luciana could barely hear it but her phone was ringing back in Donatello's room.

"I got it!" Don exclaimed, seemingly trying to escape the approving look of Leo and the implication that Drake had painted. He scrambled back to his room and fished for her phone that had fallen between his bed and the wall.

"Beyonce. Not at all what I would have assumed her ringtone would be." He finally wrapped his fingers around the device that was wrapped in a thick heavily bejeweled phone case and pulled it out answering without really thinking of looking at the caller I.D.

"You are conversing with Donatwllo." He answered smoothly.

"Oh! Hello! Well this is unexpected!" Don furrowed bis brow at the booming male voice on the other end.

"Whooooooooooo am I speaking with?" He asked, a small tingle of possessiveness reared up for a moment.

"Oh! Apologies! Although I was expecting my daughter to answer. I'm Lucifer, Morningstar of course!" Don had been walking out of his room as he spoke and his face blanched.

Luciana grimaced and held out her hand for her phone.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......hiiiii...here's Lux." He handed her the phone and pantomimed shooting himself in the head.

"Hiiii daddy." She said sweetly as she gave Don an apologetic look.

Don mimicked her greeting dramatically batting his eyes and she smacked at his chest.

"Yes, of course.........yes I can do that...........he is, yes....Also yes. Okay. See you soon! I love you too." She hung up and Don continued to mimic her silently and she pinched his arm. Hard.

"Oww! What the f*ck?!" He rubbed at the now sore spot on his bicep.

"Get ready. You're testifying against Ch'rell." She said to him.

"Right now??" He squeaked.

"Yes." She nodded.

"So ... I'm going to Hell?" Don tilted his head to the side.

"I always knew this day would come..." Leo said from beside Drake.

"Hush. You are too." Drake gave him a feral grin and he blanched as well.

"Ward him. If he's touched by your magic he can pass through the realm without issue. The Rift will allow them to pass through as long as they are warded." Lux said to her friend.

Drake nodded and began dragging her hands through the air to create her ward from the shining golden mist that followed her fingers and formed sigils in the air.

Lux made sure the silver chain that was still around Donatello's neck was still able to protect him while Drake was casting her spell.

Don watched the dark skinned girl pull a deep breath into her lungs, the golden mist being sucked into her mouth and then she reached up and pulled his brother down to capture his lips in a deep open mouthed kiss, blowing the spell into his body as she did so, causing him to stumble back, a massive grin on his face.

A golden chain necklace materialized around Leo's neck similar to his own silver one. Leo glanced up and met his twin's gaze and Don could do nothing but smirk knowingly.

"Don?" He looked down at his mate who was giving him a concerned look.

"Leo. Go get Raph and Mikey." Don lifted his hand to caress Lux's cheek, admiring for the millionth time the way the lights glimmered off of her skin like a dew dusted spiderweb in the sun.

"Are you okay?" She asked him softly.

Was he?

He was about to go to Hell. Actual Hell. Probably meet Lucifer. The actual devil himself.

He was about to face the demon that had tried to kill them. Sure it was years ago now but he still had nightmares. Especially of Raph falling out of a tree off a cliff and plummeting to his demise below because they couldn't save him, and of his ridiculously great grandmother being crushed to death under rubble.

The Krang nightmares were worse....he had to sound proof his room because he couldn't handle the sound of the subway train horn anymore....but....still.

Ch'rell was a demon.

He wasn't even sure what to expect him to look like now.

He shivered involuntarily, causing Lux to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling herself up to hug him, which left her feet dangling over the ground since she was much shorter than him.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around her as well, careful not to hit his face on her horns as he nuzzled into her soft hair.

"Yea ..I... I'm fine." He said finally, releasing her.

She gave him a sad smile, knowing full well he was lying and that he was terrible at it.

"Drake. Bring them with you. Me and Don are going to go ahead." She said, never breaking eye contact with him. He could see now, as he paid closer attention to her eyes, that within the dark green depths there were refractions of deep indigo and violet and speckles of bright peridot and gold around her pupils.

How could something so bright, so lovely, be from Hell?

"You got it." Drake said.

***

Luciana stepped away from her mate and turned around, dragging her arms through the air as a black fire licked against her clothed arms again. A golden sliver of light sliced the air and she grasped it in both hands to pull it apart.

She turned to Donatello who was watching her silently.

"Ready?" She asked him, holding both hands out to him, her wings ruffled in a strange hot breeze coming through the golden light portal that suddenly had him remembering the portal Mikey had made to save Leo from the prison dimension the Krang had come from. He couldn't look away from it as memories flashed through his mind.

She stepped forward and grasped his hands in her own and the flashbacks stopped. Everything was still and quiet until there was only peace radiating over his body like the warmth of the sun.

"Lead the way, sugar." He smiled down at her and she grinned and pulled him to her forcefully.

"Good. Hold on tight." She whispered, giggling at his shocked expression as she let them fall back into the portal.

She laughed loudly as she flipped them as they fell, holding him under his arms now as the rest of his body dangled freely which was terrifying. He was screaming, he knew he was acting like a child but he didn't care and she giggled again.

Suddenly her wings caught on the hot current of air and she leveled out, soaring through the air at a leisurely speed now.

"A little warning would have helped!" Don scowled up at her and she grinned down at him.

"Where's the fun in that!?" She answered.

"The fun is not making me sick before I meet your father. That'd be just great. Hey there Mr. Morningstar put er' there-BARF. Yea. Real classy."

Luciana grinned as she flew them over the Pride ring listening to her mate ramble on about vomiting on the devil's shoes.

He stopped talking and looked down as they got closer to the ground.

"It really is hot here...but not...unbearable..." He looked down at the massive palace they were approaching and what surrounded it.

"So that's where the tree came from..." She heard him mutter as he watched an expanse of dark green foliage and slick black bark pass under them, dark red spined fruit winking out at them. After the trees there was a long expanse of whispy gray grass and then the ground came up to meet them as she set him down gently, massive sets of wings displacing enough air to ruffle his short bandana tails.

She landed next to him and he looked up ..and up ..and up ..

"That's a big ass castle." He said.

"Yes. Quite big. Dad wanted it opulent. He's rather eccentric. When this is settled I would love to show you the grounds." She told him with a small smile. "Actually, truth be told you could do wonders for this place. We are a little ...stuck in the dark ages. Not completely. We have cell towers....we have radio...we have T.V. it's not the best though."

He brought his gaze back down to her and smiled. "Are you saying you want to set me loose in Hell?"

"They'll never know what hit em." She said, pulling him towards a large set of ornate double doors.
She pushed them open and led him down a long corridor with various open doors into various rooms until she stopped at another set of double doors. They were black and carved with wolves, dragons, flowers, vines and in the center of each was a thin crescent moon that faced an elongated eight pointed star.

He whistled. "Fancy. Who's your architect?"

Lux snickered at him and pushed the doors open. Her room was massive, consisting of a sitting room with a large oversized couch and matching chair that faced a wall mounted T.V., dark wood coffee table and a fireplace which was currently lit with a low red flame. The walls were painted black along with the ornate woodwork all around the room. Her bed was on the other end of the room against a wall that was painted to look like a foggy pine forest. Two nightstands on each side held very little aside from a cordless phone charger plate and a framed picture of her, Drake, Shay and Gem all squished into the selfie photo. The bed was covered in black satin everything aside from the singular white and gray faux fur blanket that draped over it. It was also massive, definitely bigger than a California king bed.

"How much space do you need?" He arched a brow at her and she smirked.

"I like to move around." She told him with a wry smile.

"Noted." She watched him continue to look around, moving into her bathroom to the left and past the bed, where she heard him exclaim.

"Oh come on! Here too?!"

"What?" She called out as she moved to follow him and found him laying on her white and silver veined tile bathroom floor.

"Oh...the heated floors?" She tilted her head.

"I'm sleeping here. Right here." She stepped over him and walked to her massive shower and flipped it on and then turned to him.

"Well I guess I can't stop ya. But I'm gonna shower." She spun back around and proceeded to lift her hoodie up over her head, tossing it over her shoulder where it landed on Don's head which had him sputtering. She did the same with her sweatpants but squealed when he was suddenly behind her and wrapping his arms around her to lift her up and carry her into the shower. She was set down on the warm tiled floor, now covered in water from the many shower heads that spilled soft warm water over them.

Lux turned in his arms to see he had stripped faster than she imagined he could and he smirked at her inner thoughts.

"You were certainly eager to get in here." She said, placing her hands against his plastron while his rested on her hips.

"Can you blame me?" He asked as he let his gaze wander down her body, following the torrents of water as they cascaded down her exposed flesh.

"I suppose not." She shrugged, gasping when he leaned down and began to trail kisses down her neck and across her collar bone.

"I'm not sure how much time we have.." she breathed out, her back arching slightly when his teeth grazed where her neck and shoulder met.

"Make time." He murmured against her, continuing to kiss and nip as he moved down to her chest. His hands moved from her hips to cup her breasts firmly, his tongue and teeth doing torturous things, causing her to gasp in pleasure.

Every time his teeth grazed her soft skin, every time he sucked enticingly at her now hardened nipples, it sent an electric jolt straight to her core where she was sure she was already dripping wet with want for him.

She wasn't sure what had come over him all of a sudden. But she had to assume it was due to his rut because he wasn't hesitating right now. He acted as if he was starving and she was his first real meal in days.

She gasped when his hands were suddenly lifting her up, her legs automatically wrapping around his waist, and she was grateful he was a softshell because otherwise she assumed the edges of his carapace would have dug into her skin.

He carried her over to a stone seat at the back of the massive shower and set her down there. There were two shower heads that sprayed soft warm water towards her back there and she sighed as the soft jets of water eased the slight tension in the muscles of her back, but her gaze remained fixed on Don.

He wasted no time as he trailed kisses from her knees, up her thighs and to her hip bones where he nipped gently, causing her to moan.

Lux relished the rakish grin he gave her as he looked back up at her.

"You know you made me miss breakfast." He told her.

"Oh noooo, I'm so sorry. Whatever will you do now?" She batted her eye lashes at him in mock innocence and he moved so he could place a hand on each side of her where she sat, leaning in so that he was only a mere inch from her face.

She watched image after image pass through his mind on what exactly he wanted to devour at this present moment and she nearly gasped out loud.

He leaned closer, capturing her lips in a searing kiss that had her head spinning even as he broke away, pulling her bottom lip between his teeth gently. He grinned at her again before he moved back down to kiss her thighs again.

Okay so maybe he was more confident then he let on before? She wondered to heraelf as he moved his hands back to her hips, squeezing softly before he slid them to her knees and slowly pushed them apart.

She watched his nostrils flare as he was probably breathing in the scent of her want even through her panties that she had never gotten off before he had carried her into the shower.

Her breath hitched when his hands moved back up to her hips and rested there, a finger hooked into each side of her thin lacy dark green panties. A silent question in his gaze.

𝒀𝒆𝒔. She told him through the bond.

He pulled the thin fabric away, down and off her legs before tossing it aside. She shivered at the way his eyes seemed to darken, even while a hint of nervousness invaded.

"Don't be nervous. I'm yours. You are mine, dragă." She told him. He seemed to accept her words as he leaned back down, taking his time as he kissed at the sensitive skin of her thighs again. She could hear his breathing become more erratic but he kept himself in check, moving slowly as if he intended to worship her.

"That is exactly my intention." He said against her skin. His voice gravelly as he strained to remain calm and not give in to his more animalistic instincts.

She sighed, letting her head fall back against the shower wall. She was completely unprepared for his hand to gently caress her warm center and she gasped, her legs tensing up involuntarily.

"You're so f*cking wet.." he said against her thigh.

She groaned in response as he pushed his finger within slowly. It was torture. Exquisite, torture.

She breathed out with a moan as he slowly worked his finger within her, seemingly trying to memorize which way made her gasp and which speed made her moan louder.
She shouldn't have been surprised though since she knew he prided himself on his ability to learn quickly and even more so on the quality of his work.

It wouldn't be a shock that he would take that pride and zest for knowledge into learning how best to worship her body.

She grasped at the edge of the seat with a breathy moan when she felt his other finger join the first just as slowly, allowing her body to adjust before he moved his hand anymore.

"F-f-f*ck....Don.." she groaned, her hips involuntarily bucking into his hand.

He increased his speed before pulling out completely and replaced his fingers with his tongue.

She cried out as he lapped slowly at her slick core, her nails scraping at the stone under them.

He purposefully flicked the end of his tongue against her cl*t before plunging back in again, humming in approval when her hands moved to the back of his head. This seemed to give him more confidence because he moved her legs so they draped over his shoulders, his tongue then focusing its attention on her cl*t for a moment as he pushed his fingers back inside of her.

"Donnie!" She cried out, bucking her hips into him. His free hand moved to lift her ass and bring her as close as possible to him as he worked his fingers in and out of her and devoured her at the same time.

"Sonofabitch if I didn't think you'd freeze up I'd jump you right now.." she hissed through gritted teeth as he sucked on her cl*t and picked up the speed of his hand.

"f*ck...Don...Donatello." Each left her mouth on a heavy breath as he brought her closer to delirium.

𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚.
He suddenly pulled his hand free and plunged his tongue as deep as he could. She cried out as waves of pleasure rocked her body, her thighs involuntarily clamping around his head, which he didn't seem to mind as he just gripped her thighs in both hands and squeezed as she bucked from her org*sm.

Luciana shuddered as the last few waves coursed through her and she watched Don lean back on his heels and lick his lips, his eyes dark with undisguised desire.

Well she couldn't just leave him hanging.

With a slightly feral growl she stood up and pushed him back under one of the large rain shower heads. She felt him shiver when the hot water cascaded down his slightly chilled body from having been out of the water.

Luciana wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him down to her so she could place a blazing hot kiss against his lips which he returned enthusiastically.

She broke the kiss to mimic what he had done to her. Trailing feathery kisses down his neck, across his clavicle. When she reached his plastron she smiled, her eyes flashing red, and then dropped to her knees before him.

He gave her a look of utter confusion which turned to desire veiled in shock when she reached up and tapped her fingers against the lower edge of his plastron.

"Drop down, Donatello." She said as she leaned forward to trail her tongue up his inner thigh, causing him to suck in air in a hiss of pleasure. When he hesitated though she tilted her head to the side. He had his half of the bond clamped shut and she quirked an eyebrow at him as she stood back up.

Her eyes bled red again and her pupils slitted until they seemed non-existent. Slowly she reached up and wrapped her delicate hand around his throat as much as she could just under his jaw and pulled his head down to meet her gaze.

"Now, dragă." She purred, tongue rolling the 'r' of the word, he shivered in response but finally did as she told him.

She nipped at his bottom lip before sliding back down to her knees. Twin copper scaled tails moved languidly against the wet tile floor. Wings had remained retracted but her horns had made a reappearance.

She grinned up at him, eyes flashing back to green for a moment, before she wrapped her fingers around his now throbbing erection and stroked him.

"Good boy." She said sweetly, dialing up her power a bit as her voice dripped honey and sex and her skin seemed to be lit from within.

She felt him shudder through the bond and she caressed her other hand up his thigh, loving how taut with muscle it was.

She wasn't sure what she had expected really. He was a mutant turtle-human hybrid.

He clearly retained some of the reproductive qualities of the turtle as she noticed that even though he had been tucked up within his shell his member was still within his tail but not completely as a normal turtle would be. He was far too large for that, she suspected even flacid he would still be too big since his tail seemed like it was smaller than it would be if he were a normal turtle.

The similarities to normal turtles pretty much died there. He was not green as some would have expected, and he honestly just resembled an uncircumcised human male.

He squirmed a little under her scrutiny and she looked back up at him. He had let his head fall back his eyes closed as water fell on his face.

She leaned forward and ran the tip of her tongue up his shaft and he sucked in air loudly through his teeth.

"Am I hurting you?" She asked him.
His head fell forward again and she giggled at his deadpan expression of 'you're kidding, right?'

She stroked him again and he moaned, his hands fisting at his sides. She waggled her eyebrows at him and lifted her hands to grasp his and place them on her horns.
He gaped at her for a moment, too stunned to speak and she giggled again.

"You're gonna want something to hold on to." She said as she leaned forward again and this time twirled her tongue over the tip of him.

"M-motherF-f-f-f*ck!" His hands spasmed but held tight to her horns. She gave him another feral grin before she took him into her mouth as far as she could, which wasn't much.

Don's head fell back again as a gutteral groan was torn from his throat, his end of the bond finally opened back up and flooded her with his immense pleasure as she licked and sucked at him, her hand assisting since she couldn't fit all of him in her mouth.

𝑰𝒕𝒊 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂? 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒂 𝒎𝒆𝒂, 𝒆ș𝒕𝒊 𝒂𝒕â𝒕 𝒅𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒖 𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒖 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆. (𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕? 𝑴𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆.)

"Ohhh f-f-f*ck, I don't even know what you're saying but I like it." He groaned, his hands gripping her horns tightly.

She could feel his legs were starting to shake and she picked up her pace, pumping her hand faster as she continued to suck and lick and nip him until he plunged over the edge of ecstasy with a choked whisper of her name and then a shuddering groan, spilling himself over her chest as she continued to stroke him with her hand and nip at his inner thigh.

His legs finally gave out and he ended up falling to his own knees, trying desperately to get his breathing under control again.

Lux leaned forward and cupped his face in her hands so she could kiss him tenderly.

"Well now we need to actually shower." She murmured against his lips.

"Regrettably." He agreed.

***

"Oh sh*t! What the f*ck is that?!" Don jumped back as a massive black beast surged down the corridor at them and then immediately stopped to sit in front of Luciana.

"Hello my big tupid heifer! Oh what a sweet girl you are!" Lux was baby talking the massive black mastiff looking dog that was the size of a horse.

"That. Is a hellhound." Drake grinned at Donatello as she emerged from another room with Leonardo sticking close to her as he looked around at the castle. Don looked up at the massive dog in slight disgust as a line of drool dripped from its jowls onto the ground. Its nub tail thumped the ground behind it as Lux cooed at it, scratching its massive chest.

"This is my baby girl, Raksha!" Lux tip toed so she could wrap her arms around the beast's thick neck and dangle there.

"That's a lot of drool...." Don commented.

"She can't help it. Look at those big squishy jowls! They just hide it all in there!" She reached up and pulled at the dog's lips as if it were not the size of a bear.

"Aww c'mon. She's a big softy!" Raph emerged from the room Leo and Draconia had been in and cooed at the beast as well which earned him the smallest lick from the hound.

"She's just a baby. Biiiiiggg tupid baby. She has a smoooooth brain, all ideas, slide right off, like a water slide." Luciana said as she climbed up Raksha's back to hug her neck again.

Donatello chuckled as he tentatively reached up to scratch the hellhound's massive chest.

"How's she gonna protect us with her smoooooth brain?!" Mikey exclaimed from behind Leo, who startled because he had no idea his little brother was back there.

"Hellhounds are incredibly protective of their owners." Drake said.

Lux slid back down to the ground and pulled Mikey towards her. She placed the turtle in front of her and smiled at him as he looked over his shoulder at her.

"Are you going to feed me to her?" He shivered.

Lux giggled and shook her head.

"Raksha-" the hound's head snapped to attention from giving Raphael tiny baby kisses. She gazed down at Luciana, her hellfire filled eyes blazing.

"Proteja." Lux shoved Mikey towards the beast and Raksha leaned down to sniff him then yipped like a pup and gave him a massive slobbery kiss.

"Ohh! You are a big softy! C'mere!" Mikey gushed as he hugged the hound's massive head.

"Raph, we should totally get one for the Lair!" Leo was hugging Raksha's neck, doing pull ups from it.

"So she's protecting us?" Don asked as he turned to Lux.

Luciana frowned a little and shook her head.

"She is protecting your brothers. You will be on the dias with me, Drake and my father." She told him.
Don's expression flattened out and he swallowed loudly.

"Drake..." Lux turned to the dark skinned demon who nodded and strode towards Donatello.

"Come with me." She said before she turned and began heading down the corridor. Don glanced at Luciana who gave him an encouraging smile before she turned and headed back to her room, for what he had no clue.

Donatello sighed and met Raphael's gaze.

"You got this, bro." Raph said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Then why do I feel like I'm gonna throw up?" He muttered as he turned away from his brothers to follow Drake.

She led him down the hall and then turned to her left down another corridor which dead ended into a massive room that was only lit with torches and sconces of flickering red fire.

The smell of coal smoke and soot burned a little and was laced with the acrid scent of cold cut steel. The clang of metal being worked and the roar of massive flames caught his attention.

"A forge?" He glanced at Drake. She nodded.

"Yes. My forge. I am the head of the Royal Guard but also the lead blacksmith as well. You need hellforged armor." She told him.

"Why would I need armor?" He asked her.

"Trials with demons can be.....hectic....if Ch'rell manages to get loose...you need protection. And I apologize but your battle shell would easily be pierced by demon steel." She turned to him and waved someone over from behind him.

"Vayil. This is Donatello. He needs to be fitted in armor. Preferably Foc de mândrie forged please. And your discretion is heavily advised." She eyed the demon that approached.

Don turned towards him, Vayil, who turned out to be a tall lanky gray skinned humaneque looking creature with long pointed ears and long angular facial features. Short curved black horns protruded from his head which was bald and a long serpentine-like tail trailed behind him. His hands were clawed and his legs were dragon-like. He wore a brown leather apron, brown leather tassets and a large leather black belt hung from his hips where a large sword hilt could be seen from a scabbard there.

His cold blue eyes regarded Donatello with distaste but he nodded nonetheless.

"Thank you. If you need me. I will be just over there. And again ....Vayil-"

"My discretion is one of the many reasons you hired me, remember my lady?" Vayil cut Drake off with a fang-toothed grin.

Drake growled lowly, her tail lashing.

"I remember well." She conceded before turning and moving towards the other side of the forge where Don could see a weapon was being made that she clearly wanted to observe.

Don glanced at Vayil as the demon moved around him, examining him as he stood there.

"Ya know, if you take a picture .. it'll last longer." Don quipped. Vayil's eyes snapped up to meet his.

"You have a sharp tongue. No wonder the princess enjoys you." Vayil waved for him to follow as he led him into another room off the side which held an immense amount of armor of all different types and sizes.

"How do you know anything about me and the princess?" Don asked, feigning nonchalance.

"I have eyes and ears everywhere, as any self respecting demon does." Vayil responded as he began plucking items off of racks from around the large room.

"And yet I distinctly recall Draconia talking about discretion." Don crossed his arms over his plastron.

"Yes. And I am obligated to keep that promise. I am not a fool, I know when to lay low. Draconia is a fierce overlord. No one trifles with her." Vayil said, sounding reverent but also annoyed at the same time.

"Overlord?" Don watched the demon as he set everything out on a long wooden table in the center of the room.

"She holds dominion over certain mortal souls that have made deals with her. I am one of those souls."

"So you made a deal with her? Interesting." Donatello let his arms fall back down to his sides as Vayil approached him.

"Yesss. Interesting indeed. Now. Shut up and hold still. The trail is within the hour and I will not have you be tardy and face the wrath of not only Draconia but your little princess." He snarled. Don rolled his eyes but kept his mouth shut.
Rude ass demon.

Chapter 9: Chapter 8 : Follow You

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕰𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙 : 𝕱𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖔𝖜 𝖄𝖔𝖚

Donatello felt heavy, but not completely uncomfortable, as he followed Draconia down yet another corridor.

"This place is like a maze isn't it?" He asked.

"It can feel that way at first." Drake said, giving him a small smile over her shoulder.

The doors they approached were enormous and he wasn't sure how anyone could push them open with their immense size. They were just as ornate as the rest of the castle. Carved in what looked to be a battle scene involving several winged creatures. They stood looking up at it for what felt like hours but was really only a few moments.

"It's a depiction of the battle Lucifer fought....the one that landed him here." Drake said softly. Don grimaced at the carving.

"Okay. Are you ready?" Drake turned to face him and he mimicked her.

"Uh...as much as I can be?" He shrugged his heavy shoulders and squirmed under her piercing golden gaze as she seemed to inspect Vayil's handiwork one more time.

He had never worn this much armor. In fact the only armor he ever truly wore was his tech or battle shells. Now he stood in front of Draconia, who was back in her normal black steel armor that he had never seen her in of course. She looked battle ready.

Her black, skin tight, leggings and burnt orange cropped tank top were covered in a silver chainmail skirt that reached mid thigh on her along with a silver scalemail loin cloth held draped over her hips by a black steel chain. Black steel spiked tassets that looked like keeled dragon scales adorned her hips and black steel guards covered her legs from her knees to her steel toe booted feet. A layer of more scalemail draped her shoulders and was cut in jagged points that dangled out from under massive black steel shoulder guards and a breast plate that had a silver slim crescent moon and an eight point star emblazoned on it. A double scabbard was strapped to her hips with her two sabre hilts resting there and her black kudu horns were draped in silver chains that jingled with sigil charms. Black makeup decorated her eyes and overlayed silver warpaint that was more sigils.

She scared the f*ck out of him.
Even as he stood fully armored in front of her.

He had gotten to keep his black arm and leg wraps and stay barefoot. Shoes could honestly give him sensory overload and he had all but chucked them off and thrown them at Vayil, much to the demon's irritation.

He now sported, however, a black tunic that was cut like a loin cloth at the hips. It sported a silver crescent and a silver and gold eight pointed star on its chest. Black leather tassets with gold rivets covered his hips and were held in place by another gold chain.
Silver chainmail protected his chest and shell under the tunic and the heaviest part of it all sat on his shoulders. He had not been able to keep on his tech shell. Which was also annoying but he was still sufficiently protected.

The shoulder guards, similar to Draconia's but wider to accommodate his larger shoulders, were black steel and they joined in the back to cover his shell, tapering down the entire shell and then past it to a point like a keeled dragon tail that ended just past the back of his knees and silver chains held it firm against his shell and wrapped around his torso, one connected the guards at his clavicle. He still wore his silver chain necklace that was his ward from Lux. And his bo staff was strapped to his back with a black cross body belt.

"When you enter the chamber do not speak to any demon that addresses you. No matter what they say. Keep looking forward. When you stand before the seer you just close your eyes and allow her to anoint you. Then you will move to stand next to Luciana's throne. Do not look at any demons directly, understand?"

He blinked at her and swallowed roughly, his throat felt dry all of a sudden and he was feeling like he had just run through the Sahara.

"Y-yes." He nodded briskly.

Draconia gave him a nod as well and then turned and simply touched the giant doors. They opened with what sounded like a sigh and together they strode into a dark corridor lit only by a few sconces of red flames with a bit of light at the end of the way.

As they moved he realized they were moving downward, the floor sloping away from them and as they got closer to the light he could hear the roaring buzz of many voices.

The end of the tunnel opened to a massive room, that looked almost like a model of what a Shakespeareian Theater House would have looked like, opening at the ceiling to a sky of black, lit by its two suns one of orange and one of blue. Stars twinkled like colorful fireflies within the endless inky void.

They entered the room through what reminded him of the tunnel entrance players used to get to a football field, this one spit them out directly at the head of the room to the left of a large black marble stone dias.

He did as Draconia had instructed and kept his gaze locked on the back of her head as she passed a spindly looking purple cloaked demon. He could not see her eyes, just her mouth that had tusk-like teeth protruding from her bottom jaw past blue lips. Her skin was the same gray as Vayil's. She was about as tall as him too with the same dragonesque legs and black clawed hands. If she had horns her hood covered them.

She held a small bowl in her hands and as he stepped in front of her she dipped her index finger into the bowl that he could see now held golden metallic liquid.

He immediately knew what it was and suppressed the nausea that reared up as he closed his eyes and allowed her to paint sigils over his face, across his eyes.

"Fiat stella matutina inluminet viam tuam. Vespertina stella det te consolari. Sic dico, sic fiat fiat." (May the Morning Star light your path. May the Evening Star grant you comfort. So I say it, so mote it be.) Her voice was a multilayered whisper but her lips never moved as she anointed him with the golden ichor.

He opened his eyes and Draconia indicated with a tilt of her head for him to step around the seer and up the marble steps of the dias.

Draconia stood behind and in-between the two thrones and he stopped and turned to stand next to the one she subtly pointed to which was large and ornately carved in the same symbols as Lux's bedroom doors. The wood of the high backed throne was painted black and the upholstery was blood red velvet.

The one next to hers was gold and black and slightly larger. The raised stands of seating all along the high walls were filled with all manner of creatures. Some gruesome to look upon, others extremely humanoid in appearance.

His eyes wandered around briskly, never maintaining focus on any of the beings as they filled the room with their voices.

He glanced to his left at a set of stands at the lower portion of the wall and spotted three familiar faces. That entire section of seats was empty aside from his brothers and the massive hellhound that lounged on a bench all by herself behind them.

They were talking amongst themselves until Leonardo happened to glance up and meet his gaze, really driving home that twin telepathy he was always on about. Raphael and Michelangelo both stopped talking as well as they turned to look at him.

They each smiled at him and gave him a, what he assumed they thought, was a reassuring thumbs up. Instead he just felt nauseated all over again. He gave them a subtle nod in return before he lifted his gaze upward again. The sky was probably safer to look at anyway.

A hush fell over the room as another being entered.

"Hail the Morning Star, Lord of Hell, Prince of Darkness! Ave stella matutina, dominus inferni, princeps tenebrarum!" Someone shouted, causing the entire room to repeat the words, but only the Latin part.

He glanced to his left as Lucifer ascended the steps of the dias.

"I have been eager to meet you, Donatello."

Well he hadn't expected him to look so....bright. But then again that was probably a stupid assumption on his part. He was literally referred to as the Morning Star and the brightest of the angels until he fell.

Apparently he had retained that light.

And had passed some of it onto his daughter.

Don was awestruck at the resemblance. He had the same opalescent shimmer to his skin, the same green eyes though Lucifer's were decidedly a little brighter.

His wings ruffled behind him, three sets just like Lux, only her father's were golden like sunlight. They both had black ram horns as well, but Lucifer's curled twice. His hair was long and a silvery white and half of it was pulled back in an intricate braid. They had the same cheekbones, the same petite nose. She really was the spitting image of him, which had him wondering briefly what she had inherited from her mother.

"I suppose it was inevitable that we would meet." Don responded with a tight smile.

"Please, be welcome here in my home. When this is over I hope we can reconvene under much better circ*mstances." Lucifer dipped his head slightly and Don did the same before the Lord of Hell moved to sit on his throne. Imagine that.

Be welcome.

In Hell.

What he should have said was 'Hi, I was told there would be a special place here for me?'

Really drive home his sense of humor right off the bat.

He was snapped out of his internal musings by another shout, which Don could see now, was coming from a guardsman to the right of the dias.

"Hail the Evening Star, Granter of Wishes, Storm bringer, Enchantress of Dragons, Daughter of the Moon! Ave vespertina stella, votorum largitrix, tempestatis lator, incantatrix draconum, lunae filia!"

Again the titles in Latin were repeated and Don's eyes wandered to his left again as Luciana swept in.

She never ceased to strike him speechless.

Every inch of her was covered in armor that was black steel like his and Draconia's. Any open spaces or cut outs in the breast plate and torso were covered by silver chainmail, underneath of which he could tell she wore some sort of long sleeve fitted black dress if the long slitted segments that fluttered from under the tassets on her hips were any indication. The fabric of the dress was a black so dark it seemed to absorb light. The shoulder guards had curved spikes from the center of each segment. Even her legs were covered in the black steel segments of protective armor down to cover her black steel toed boots. Her sword was strapped to her hip while that staff that he knew turned into an angel killing scythe was held in her hand.

Her wine red hair was intricately braided into a clean updo and she wore a very simple black steel crown that sat low and curved over her horns to a point that dipped just between her brows. A single blood red teardrop stone in the center of that dip glimmered in the light of the two suns overhead. Her tails swept the stone below her feet, black steel spiked the ends making them weapons of their own.

Ichor painted sigils were painted over her eyes and a strip of black warpaint crossed them horizontally. Eyes that blazed red. The same red that her usually petal pink lips were painted.

She strode past him and stopped in front of her throne, turning towards the crowded room she very distinctly leveled a fury filled gaze towards the countless occupants of the room. The hush seemed to grow even more silent than when her father had entered.

She held her staff out to her right, which Draconia took from her and then she sat. She leaned on the armrest and languidly crossed one leg over the other.

An ear splitting roar sounded overhead from the open ceiling.
Donatello's eyes were drug from his mate upward and they widened as he spotted the creature that had made such a noise.

A real life dragon was landing on the open edge of the roof of the room, two legs and supported by large claws from its wings.

𝑨 𝒘𝒚𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏? He thought. Then his brain really caught up and he nearly shook his head in shock at seeing a massive dragon above him, and it was being joined by two more.

The first was a shimmering white and had black spines all over its head and down its neck and back to the very end of its tail. Two massive horns protruded from its head as well, also black and its eyes blazed orange.

The one that had landed next, blowing gray smoke through its nostrils, was the dark red of spilt blood and silver spines covered it, its horns and eyes gleamed gold. It was a little smaller than the first one.

The third was a dark gray with golden spines and horns and bright blue eyes it was the smallest of the three and as it landed the white one snapped its massive jaws at it, causing it to screech in alarm and flutter to the other side of the opening in the roof.

𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒎. 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒚𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒔. He startled slightly when he heard Luciana respond to his earlier thoughts.

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉.

He glanced down at her quickly but she was staring at the white draheim intently before her gaze snapped straight ahead to the set of double doors there, much smaller than the ones he and Drake had gone through.

Donatello nearly backed away in shock at the creature that was being led, caged, into the room.
It was a red skinned Kraang alien with gleaming green eyes that looked upon him with hatred and malice.

𝑩𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒆𝒂𝒓.

He forced himself to stay completely still and even gritted his teeth as the thing began laughing.

"Puny turtle!! And here I believed I would never see you again!"

"Silence." The word was spoken in a calm manner by Lucifer but when Don looked over at him his green eyes blazed in anger.

"My Lord, what are you playing at? Bringing this puny mortal turtle creature into your palace? Is it because it worships your daughter perhaps?" Donatello glared at the thing, no longer paralyzed by fear.

From his right he heard a low rumbling growl that only got louder as the creature continued its taunts.

"Or is it her pet? That's rather beneath her is it not? Taking this creature into her bed? Seems a pity, though I suppose no one would want it. Disgusting little thing."

Twin copper scaled tails drug sharp steel blades across the marble, emitting a loud noise that reminded him of nails on a chalkboard. Sonething shot past the throne Luciana sat on and flew forward, slipping through the bars of the cage and embedding itself into the Kraang who screamed in anger and pain. It was a dagger, the hilt was made of carved bone.

Don leaned back a bit to glance at Draconia from around Lux's throne as she snarled at the demon.

"Your King told you to be quiet, insignificant slug." The dark skinned demon lashed her own tail. Don leaned back forward and suppressed the urge to smirk, maintaining his blank expression.

"Ch'rell. You are accused of infiltrating the mortal realm by way of possession of the soul of Oroku Saki, corrupting his Pure Soul, and laying waste to his people, his daughter's people, the Hamato Clan of Japan. You are also accused of attacking the true mate of the Evening Star and his family. You will stand witness as the events of that attack are played out for the overlords to view. You will not speak. You will have no chance to plead your case, whatever that may be, you will submit to your fate as I see fit." Lucifer had stood to address the snarling alien creature who simply grinned, even with the dagger still sticking out of its squishy red body.

"Evening Star. Daughter." He turned to Luciana who gave one last menacing snarl at Ch'rell before she stood and turned to him.

As Leo would have said.

Oh boy.

"Hamato Donatello, you have been brought here by your own volition to testify against Ch'rell for the crimes, the atrocities, he committed against you, your family and your ancestors. Do you submit your memories of this event for the overlords to view?" She asked him, her voice carrying through the room with an undercurrent of power, multilayered with many different tones.

𝑨𝒅𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒕. He heard her tell him. He met her gaze steadily and she gave him the smallest upturn of her blood red lips.

"Yes, my Evening Star." He bowed his head to her.

"Sit." She told him softly, waving her outstretched hand to her throne. He pulled his bo free, handing it to Draconia as she reached for it and he had to flip the tail like segments of the armor over his shell, back, so he could sit.

He sat heavily in the large chair. His gaze sought out his brothers' again. They were watching him with steadfast confidence. Mikey was even throwing daggered looks at Ch'rell.

"Donatello, dragă. I apologize if this causes you pain. Know that I feel it with you." He furrowed his brow at the foreign word she addressed him with for the third time that day but nodded to her nonetheless to continue.

"Seer. Make for me a scrying pool." Luciana commanded the cloaked demon who still stood at the bottom of the left side of the dias. The demon bowed deeply to her and stepped into the center of the room where she began to chant softly while weaving a spell through the air.

His attention was brought back to Luciana though as he felt her fingertips rest gently on his temples.

"Are you ready?" She asked him softly.

"If I say no, can I go home?" He laughed nervously and she gave him a sad smile. He sucked in a shaky breath and shook himself.

"Okay, okay. Yes. I'm ready." He nodded to her.

"Bring the memory to the forefront of your mind." She instructed.
He closed his eyes and forced himself to recall the battle they fought against the Shredder.
Every detail he had witnessed.

Karai's death.

His father's almost death.

Everything, and as the memories played a violent dance within his mind he felt pinpricks of pain in his temples where Luciana's clawed nails had pierced his flesh.

Trickles of blood ran down his face and a blinding pain speared his head, causing him to have to grit his teeth so he wouldn't cry out. So he wouldn't show weakness in front of the legions of Hell before him.

It was the strangest sensation.

Maybe not as strange as when he had basically been fused with the Kraang ship, but a close second, to feel a tug within his mind as the memories were physically pulled from him.

It was as if he was watching the end of a movie as the memories faded to black as they were taken and finally the pain dulled and he was able to open his eyes again.

He was shocked to see blood trickled from his mate's nose and ears, golden ichor, dripping down her face and off her chin. She winced, the only outward sign that she felt anything, before pulling her clawed fingers away from his head,his crimson blood dripped down her fingers and trailing from them were tendrils of silver light that snaked around her hands as she carried them away and down the dias to the thing that had materialized in the center of the floor. It was a massive pool of black water. Well it looked like water he supposed. He wasn't sure what it was, it rippled in a non-existent breeze like water.

Luciana bent to dip her hands into the pool where the silver light and his blood was absorbed, the surface of the pool stilled completely and his memories started to play out.

Murmuring began to sound from the crowds of demons as they watched the events from his and his brothers battle.

Ch'rell simply viewed it all with a sick grin on his face.

"How was this demon allowed to wreak this much havoc in the mortal realm unchecked?" Don glanced upward to where the voice had come from and spotted a creature that looked more like he would have expected. Similar to a minataur, but it did not have fur, instead it had dark red skin and a more humesque face, even with tusks, and large curling bone colored horns. He suspected it probably had cloven hoofed feet as well but he couldn't see.

"Mammon, unfortunately, Baal failed in his duty to keep his charge in line. As well as in Hell. For five hundred years, mortal realm time." Lucifer addressed the demon.

"Baal?!" Another demon snarled in shock. It looked and sounded almost female, and was serpentine in appearance.

"Yes, Beelzebub." Lucifer nodded to her.

"Has he been charged as well, your grace?" To his left another demon spoke up, it sounded more female than the last and had a feline appearance.

"He will be, Belphagore. He has more crimes to answer for." The feline demon bowed her head.

"I have seen enough. Ch'rell." Lucifer addressed the caged creature.

"By my right as ruler of this plane, I sentence you to Destruction."

Lucifer's voice was cold as he gave his order. The crowds murmured their shock. He could pick up some of the words though barely. Apparently Lucifer didn't typically sentence anyone to Destruction, or at least he hadn't in a long time.

"What?! You think to destroy me?!" Ch'rell screeched in fury.

"I do not think it. I command it."

Lucifer's lips lifted in his own snarl.

"You cannot destroy me! I am Kraang! I am superior to you and your pathetic lot, you pompous fool! And you, wretched things! You disgusting turtles! I shall rip you limb from limb! I will devour your flesh and bones and revel in your screams!"

Donatello grimaced at the gruesome picture the Kraang creature painted but he felt anger flare up, white hot, and he took one step forward.

Luciana looked over her shoulder at him and gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

He gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at Ch'rell who was now laughing, crazed with his own fury.

Luciana reached for Draconia to bring her the black staff and the sucubus moved to do so.

Another head splitting roar shook the throne room.

Several demons cried out in horror and fear and Donatello pulled his glare from Ch'rell to look up as a massive black scaled draheim landed on the open roof, it was double the size of the gray and red ones and was only slightly larger than the white one and it's roar was terrible to behold.

No other color adorned its many spines and two horns. It was solid and black as pitch. The only contrast; its blazing eyes that glowed a bright pink.

He had never thought pink would be scary until the Kraang had invaded. He was wrong then. It was still a wrong assumption as the draheim's pink eyes met his.

It roared again and leapt down into the room, causing more demons to scream in terror.

He would have screamed but he was frozen in fear as the massive beast locked gazes with him and approached.

𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒔, 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆! 𝑫𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓!

𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆?! 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝑰 𝒅𝒐?! His mind frantically screamed as the beast loomed over him, casting him in its enormous shadow.

"Donnie!!" He could hear his brothers yell for him.

"No!" Drake yelled from behind him as she moved to keep them back.

Its long neck arched as it brought its head down, level with him, he was pretty sure he would fit in its mouth in one bite.

Its large pink colored eye blinked, he could see the third eyelid that protected its eye move, it was so close to him.

A low rumbling noise came from its throat and massive chest and it ever so gently butted its nose against his chest.

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖.

He could feel Luciana behind him now as she gazed in wonder at the massive creature. It rumbled again.

"Seal the bond with your draheim, Donatello." Luciana grasped his hand in hers and lifted it towards the dragon's face.

"Wh-wh-what?!" He stammered out attempting to pull his hand away.

Lux was stronger than him though and she simply leveled him with a deadpan look and pulled his hand forward again, pressing his palm flat against the scaled skin of the dragon's face, just under her eye.

Purple sparks of electricity scattered away from his hand and rolled over the body of the dragon, growing in numbers as it cascaded over scales and spines. It lifted its head with another roar before it opened its impossibly large maw and spewed violet flames at the caged Ch'rell, who screeched in agony as he was burnt alive, wood split and crackled, metal shackles and locks melted, flesh was broiled into nothing, the stench was almost unbearable.

"She sensed your anger. She enacted retribution for you. You are her rider. The first living mortal to be bonded to a draheim." Luciana told him from over his shoulder.

"Why did they all scream when she showed up but not those other ones?" Don asked as his gaze was drawn to the burning demon.

"Because she is the biggest...and she has killed many demons...draheim usually do not kill unless provoked. They call her the Destroyer for a reason. There are those that claim seeing her shadow overhead is bad luck, they also claim she kills indiscriminately. They call me Enchantress of Dragons because I can interact with all the draheim without fear of death. She has always avoided me though." Luciana turned to move off the dias again towards the now dying violet flames.

Meanwhile the draheim had brought her head down to his level again. She was rumbling at him and he didn't know what it meant but he reached out to her and she brought her massive snout to his hand. She was so close he could probably count her teeth.

This had to be an elaborate nightmare...

***

Luciana stepped closer to the cage that was burnt to nothing now. The only thing that remained was smoldering cinders that glowed violet, melted steel and a bright glowing red ball of light.

She plucked the light from the air and lifted it.

"This trial was not just for the overlords to witness. It is a warning to all that think they can f*ck with me and what is mine." She roared at the demons surrounding her, her fangs glinting in the waning sunlight from above.

Her hand ignited in black flames as she slowly crushed the ball of red light within her palm. The ground shook, power pulsed from the ball as it cracked beneath her own power before finally it was crushed to nothing but dust.

Destroyed.

The white draheim above gave a roar of triumph that the black one mimicked.

Lux's wings materialized and she took to the air so she could address the throngs of demons who now gazed at her, the black draheim and the three above in mixtures of awe and terror.

"See what becomes of those who wish harm upon what is mine. That yokai is to be your Prince Consort. If any of you step even a toe out of line regarding him or his family. You will meet the same fate as Ch'rell. So I say it, so mote it be." Her voice had taken on that multilayered quality again as she pushed her power out over the room bringing the occupants to their knees. All except her father, Draconia, Donatello and his brothers.

Draconia took to one knee out of respect. Her father bowed his head and she watched as Don did the same as Draconia as well as his brothers.

"This trial is ended. We meet in a weeks time to bring forth Baal." Lucifer announced.

Luciana descended back to the ground and strode back up the dias to Donatello who was now gazing at his draheim in abstract wonder.

"What is her name?" She asked him.

He blinked at her and furrowed his brow.

"I .. don't know?" He said haltingly.

"You will find you have a similar connection to her as you do with me. Draheim bond with the souls of their riders but it is weaker than the soul bond between true mates, therefore it won't kill you if she perishes.and it won't kill her if you do." She told him. "Now. Reach with your mind and let her tell you her name."

"How do you know it's a girl?" Don asked her.

"If a draheim's rider is male, then the draheim is female. And vice versa. Balance between two energies." She smiled at him. "You are of course male. Therefore, your draheim is a beautiful girl."

Donatello looked back to the beast who blinked her massive eye at him and rumbled softly. Luciana watched him gaze intently into her eye for a few heartbeats until he smiled broadly and looked back at her.

"Her name is Tal'Rasha. And you were right...it is like our bond. But different. I can literally feel her. Every muscle, every expansion and contraction of her lungs when she breaths, every movement of a muscle." He pressed both hands to Tal'Rasha's head now and she closed her eyes, continuing her rumbling noise.

"She is clearly smitten with you. And I don't blame her." Lux grinned up at him.

"This is incredible....is this even real? Am I dreaming right now?" He shook his head.

"You could be. But I'm not sure why you would dream of Hell." She shrugged and winked at him.

"I have a dragon." He said in awe which caused her to giggle.

"Do you have one?" He turned to her and she nodded and pointed up. Don looked up to where she pointed at the three other draheim.

"Mephisto is the white one. He is mine. Agonix is the gray one, he is Draconia's and Andara is my father's, the red one." She pointed to each one in turn.

She watched Don gaze at Tal'Rasha again and brush his hand against the scaled skin under her eye.

"She doesn't think like us. She thinks in broken sentences and images. She's been here so long .... she's never taken a rider....until me."

Luciana nodded and smiled at him.

"No draheim has ever bonded to a living mortal. They can bond to mortal souls but it is rare." She smiled. "They mostly bond to fallen."

"My lady. The others have been escorted to your wing." Luciana turned as Draconia addressed her.

"Good. Let's join them then shall we?" She held out her hand to Donatello who gave Tal'Rasha one last brush of his hand before he took hers and let her lead him from the throne room. The beat of the draheim's massive wings could be heard as she herself took to the skies with the other three.

***

"Donnie! Holy sh*t that was insane!" Donatello was immediately greeted by Leonardo who hung on his shoulder as he entered the room, avoiding the spiked parts of the armor that still covered him.

"You have a dragon! That is so epically beyond awesome!" Mikey cheered from his spot on the floor leaning against Raksha's side as she lay at the foot of the massive bed behind her.

They were in a room like Luciana's but this one was decorated in a lot of burgundy as well as the black woodwork. The bed was just as huge but was on a four poster frame with a draping canopy of sheer black fabric.

"Donnie. Ya did good, bro. And you look majorly badass in that armor." Raphael clapped a large hand against Don's back.

"Yea you do. It's giving, badass ninja barbarian." Leo pulled away from him and gave him a grin.

"It's f*cking heavy." Don commented as he unclasped the chain at his clavicle and then each one that wrapped around his torso that was keeping the armor firmly against his carapace. He felt Raph lift the heavy piece of metal off his shoulders and he sighed in relief as he rubbed at his now sore shoulders.

"Boys. There is dinner in the room across the hall if you are hungry. Please, feel free." Luciana said as she headed towards the double doors of the room.

"Raphael, Michelangelo, you two have rooms to the right of this one....Leonardo-" she paused and addressed the blue masked terrapin who gave her a lazy smile.

"I stay with Drake." He told her.

Luciana smiked at him and nodded before she disappeared out the doors.

"I'm starving. Let's go see what this food is like." Mikey said as he pushed himself up, Raksha following him, clearly taking her protection detail very seriously since she had yet to leave Mikey's side.

Raphael and Leonardo grinned at each other and then turned to Don who shrugged and followed them.

"Dudes! Pizza!" Mikey exclaimed as the other three entered the large dinning room.

"Oh hell yeah!" Leo shouted as they descended on the table.

Don grinned as he joined his brothers in their animated conversation.

He had given them a confident grin when they had commented on how badass he looked standing up on the dias and how insane it was that he had a dragon. Which he quickly corrected them on, telling them it was a draheim.

He could barely eat though. He could feel that Luciana was either keeping herself shielded from him or she was sleeping. He wasn't sure which. He remembered the ichor that had been flowing from her nose and ears. That had still stained her face as they had walked back to the corridor where the rooms were.

"Guys I'm gonna go find Lux." He announced as he stood up from the chair he was sitting in.

"Ooo lala." Mikey teased, causing the other two to snicker and for Don to throw a piece of crust at him with a smirk.

"Catch ya later, D!" Leo called to his back as he waved and left through the double doors of the room.

He looked up and down the hall for a moment before he was pretty sure he spotted her black double doors.

Striding down the corridor he stopped at them and raised his hand to knock.

He then realized he didn't need to because the doors opened on their own for him and even shut on their own for him as he entered.

He looked around the room that was growing darker as the suns set in the eastern sky. He finally spotted a lump under the satin sheets on the humongous bed and he made his way over.

She looked peaceful. She had washed her face free of the ichor and warpaint, her soft lips were once again petal pink. Her hair was unbraided and cascaded over her pillow and because she had the sheet pulled up under her arm he could tell she wasn't wearing anything..at least on her upper body.

She was also dead to the world asleep and he smiled softly at her and was relieved no more ichor was spilling from her nose or ears.

He proceeded to pull off the rest of his armor; the tassets, the tunic, the chainmail and then his black arm and leg wraps and his mask before he crawled into the bed and slipped under the cool satin sheet, pulling her close to him so he could wrap his arm around her bare middle and bury his face into her soft hair, surrounding himself in her scent of peonies and strawberries.

"I was so worried I had hurt you." He opened his eyes as he heard her voice out loud.

"I thought you were sleeping, sugar." He said as she turned within the circle of his arm to face him.

"I was. Until I felt you." She lifted her hand to rest it on his neck over her mark she had left there, scars of her bite marks, still healing.

"What do you mean you were worried you had hurt me?" He asked her.

"When I pulled the memory from you." She told him.

"Oh it hurt. A lot. But I've been hurt worse." He leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead before he asked his own question.

"Why were you bleeding?" She gazed at him for a moment before answering.

"There is always a price for magic. We both paid the price in blood and pain."

"I see." He nodded and then rested his forehead against hers as her eyes closed.

"Luciana?" He whispered. She hummed in response.

"I......I....." He sighed, not sure how to get the words out.

"What is it?" She asked him, her eyes opening again.

"I'm not sure how to say it." He blinked.

She smiled at him and rolled over to grab her phone from the nightstand, unlocking it and handing it to him.

"Show me?" She asked.

He smiled down at her and opened Youtube so he could find an adequate song.

He remembered one from when he was listening to a random playlist that had started with Sleep Token.
He selected it and scrolled through the list to the song and poked the screen to select it.

"Who is this? I don't know this one." She asked him, peering at the screen.

"Bring Me The Horizon. It's called Follow You." He said as he set the phone between them on the mattress.
𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭
𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞
𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

He watched her close her eyes as she listened to the song and he closed his as well.

𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞
𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐈'𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭
𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞
𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

He felt her soft finger brush his neck and the mattress shift as she moved toward him so she could press her lips to his in a soft sweet kiss.

'𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝
𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞
'𝐂𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝
𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞

He rolled her onto her back, propping himself over her as he deepened the kiss.

𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐈𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮

Her hands caressed his neck and shoulders as they remained liplocked and he kept himself upright on one arm while his other caressed the bare skin of her ribs and down to her hip which was also bare.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧
𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐱𝐲𝐠𝐞𝐧
𝐒𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐢𝐞
𝐈 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞

He felt one of her legs wrap around his hip and hold him against her. Her tongue brushed his lip, requesting entrance that he freely gave.

𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐈𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥

Tongues warred for dominance, teeth nipped, and hands caressed.

𝐈𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮
𝐒𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐈𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 '𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮r 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬
𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮

He broke the kiss so they could both breath again and she caressed the mark on his neck as she met his dark brown gaze.

"I love you too, Donatello." Sbe whispered a hair's breath from his lips. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in her scent and resting his forehead against hers.

"I didn't know if that's....what it is...if I was just ..falling or if I was already there." He whispered, his free hand moving up to cup her face, reverently brushing his thumb over her cheekbone before he pressed his lips to hers again several times in little chaste kisses.

"I already knew." She gave him a devious smile and he nipped her bottom lip.

"Of course you did, little minx." She giggled when he nipped at her neck, leaving a trail of kisses there, up and across her jaw and then her lips again before resuming resting this forehead against hers.

"I love you, Luciana." He whispered against her lips.

"I love you, Donatello." She whispered back, rising up just that little bit so she could kiss him again, this time she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him flush against her so she could tangle her legs with his and let love lull them both to sleep.

Chapter 10: Chapter 9 : Dulcea mea țestoasă

Chapter Text

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝕹𝖎𝖓𝖊 : 𝕯𝖚𝖑𝖈𝖊𝖆 𝖒𝖊𝖆 ț𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖆𝖘ă.

Donatello awoke to the strange orange and blue sunlight that filtered into the bedroom through the large leaded glass windows

Stretching his arms above his head he yawned and glanced to his right where he noticed the bed was empty.

"Either I sleep too much or she wakes up too early." He muttered as he sat up and slid himself across the huge bed, swinging his legs off of it and walking over to the chase lounge by the windows where he had left all his gear.

He pulled on his mask and arm and leg wraps, including his tech gauntlet and then eyed the other items. He sighed and pulled the tunic on and then the cross body belt that held his bo in place on his back, forgoing the chainmail and leather tassets.

"It's too early to wear full body armor. If I die, I die." He grumped as he made his way out of the room. He looked up and down the hallway and started heading to his left. That direction he knew led to the double doors that would lead outside. Something told him she was outside.

He briskly walked the rest of the way down the corridor and pushed the wooden doors open. The air outside was still hot, stifling and dry but it just wasn't as unbearable as he thought Hell would be.

Though she did say there were levels....this one clearly wasn't as bad.

He looked around and peered out over the field of tall gray grass towards those strange trees. He couldn't see her out that way so he decided to move to the right, around the wall of the castle.

On the other side, tucked into a large alcove of the castle was a garden.

He passed under an archway, heavily draped in wisteria and as he walked a cobblestone path he was surrounded by-

"Peonies." He muttered to himself as he reached out to brush his fingertips against one of the big fluffy blooms.

"They're my favorite flower." He knew she was there so he wasn't startled when he heard her voice from his left.

She was moving toward him from within the expanse of different colored blooms, clothed in a lilac colored dress that hugged her body until it reached her hips where it became more flowy, it was slit up to her hip on the left side showing nearly her full serpent tattoo and had thin straps holding it up. No wings, no tails, just her black ram horns. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders and down her back and in the strange sunlight he could see that it wasn't just a dark rich wine red but it had streaks of black within it.

"They remind me of you." He told her as she approached. She furrowed her brow in question.

"You smell like them." He clarified as she reached him, holding a pair of small pruning shears and a few stemmed blooms. She smiled up at him.

"I do?" She tilted her head.

"You didn't know?" He asked her.

She furrowed her brow again. He decided he thoroughly enjoyed watching her think.

"No. I didn't."

"Peonies and strawberries." He told her as he moved around behind her and slid an arm around her waist, pulling her back against him.

"That's interesting. That must be the scent that they talk about." She said.

"Who?"

"Other werewolves. True mates apparently develop certain scents that only each other can smell." She told him.

"Hmmmm. What do I smell like?" He asked, nuzzling into her hair.

"Pine. Specifically after it rains, which reminds me of home...in a good way. And lightning." She turned her head to look up at him.

"Lightning has a smell?" He smirked at her.

"It does when you are part werewolf and your sense of smell trumps that of a spiny soft shell turtle." She quipped.

"Uhhhh, scoff. I have a fantastic sense of smell, thank you." He feigned indifference as he turned from her and proceeded into the garden. She simply smiled and trailed behind him.

"So. Peonies grow in Hell?" He asked. "Who would have thought?"

"No. Not really. I brought them here. They are constantly pushing out new growth and blooms....but that may have to do with my magic keeping them that way." She looked heavenward in innocence.

"Like the ones in your room?" He asked her. She nodded.

"I was honestly shocked when you presented them to me. I don't remember telling you anything about what flowers I like." She wandered towards the sound of trickling water and he followed her.

"You didn't. A little bird may have hinted that I should try giving you flowers that make me think of you. It was mere coincidence that they also happened to be your favorite. And, convenient too." He told her as she led him through the lush garden.

They passed under two trees that had more wisteria dangling from their boughs and into a small secluded area surrounded by peonies that looked exactly like the kind he had given her as well as clematis, and honeysuckle vines climbing the walls. In the back of the little grotto was a small pond with a waterfall trickling into it, lotus flowers floated lazily on top of the water and when he looked down into the pond shimmering white and blue fish with flowing fins circled around each other. They looked like giant betta fish with their long elegant fins and tails floating around in the water.

He turned to see she had taken a seat on the ground near the pond and had her feet dangling in the water. He sat next to her and she leaned against him, allowing him to wrap his arm around her waist and lean over to press a kiss to her temple.

"For Hell....this is really nice." He said. She smiled and nodded.

"Father never wanted me to want for anything. He said I could bring anything here I so wished. I had a garden in the mortal realm. It was where I went when I needed to feel..safe." she trailed off.

"What happened?.... Between you and your mother... obviously I know what she allowed to happen to you. I suppose I have trouble understanding why she would allow that? " He had never had a mother. The concept was quite foreign to him since he had only ever known masculine guidance, what with Splinter and then Draxum briefly. No wonder they had jumped at the chance to interact with Karai, not only had she been an outside familial bond, but she had also been the first maternal like figure they had known. And it had been cut so short. Part of him wondered if he would have grown to understand emotions and feelings more accurately if he had had more of a maternal figure in his life.

"Your lack of maternal guidance didn't hinder you. You have been doing just fine." She said as she picked up on his thoughts.

"With you and it's entirely different with you. Because I can actually feel you. You help me understand better because I am forced to experience the emotion with you instead of being an outsider looking in, unaffected. I think... I've always lacked a sort of...empathy. Or sympathy...or both. Basic emotions are easy. Happy. Sad. Angry. But once you start getting into the nitty gritty stuff...my brain just would rather rationalize and find a solution rather than focus on emotion. Or avoid it all together and run away." He looked down at the fish as he talked.

"Well, maybe that's a good thing sometimes. Emotions can lead people to do irrational things." She shrugged.

"Like stalling about talking about your estranged mother?" He deadpanned at her.

She rolled her eyes at him and leaned over to bite his shoulder.

"Ow! What?!"

"It's not an easy story to tell." She told him.

"Beccaauusseee?"

"Emotions, Don." She deadpanned back at him. He blinked at her.

"Riiight." He avoided her gaze.

"My mother and father were together for about two years before she found out she was pregnant with me.....and then she revealed to my father that she had never loved him. She had used him. For a child. Since werewolves have one true mate and she hadn't found her mate yet she...took it upon herself to seduce a man and conceive the child she wanted so desperately. She had no idea who my father really was. And that he had really loved her." She looked down at the fish as well and sighed.

"For years she was an...okay mother. In fact we were very close for a long time. But when my father found out about me he tried to see me. He revealed who he was to her alone, hoping that it would maybe scare her into allowing him to spend time with me. The threat of the devil's wrath and all that. It never worked, she just locked me away on the pack grounds instead. I was only allowed in my garden and that's where me and Drake and Shay and Gem would all spend our time when they were allowed over. I think she had a Fae ward the garden against my father too." She frowned in thought and Don looked down at her.

"Your mother lovked you away from your father?" He asked her. She nodded slowly.

"Then....Abrahm petitioned our Alpha to claim my mother. She had actually refused at first. She knew how males could be without their true mate. But our Alpha was..careless. He allowed it. Abrahm claimed my mother, completing the Bonding Ceremony and then forcing her to complete the Blood Rites, when no bond formed he took out his .. frustrations...on my mother...and then me when I was around fourteen." She clenched her hands into fists, her nails leaving gouges that bled gold.

Don leaned closer to her, his arm still around her middle. He could feel her beginning to shake as she spoke and he wondered if maybe he had pushed her too much.

"Fifteen wasn't much better since that was the year Dorin staked a claim for me....far too early for even true mates...and of course, he was not mine anyway. My mother did not seem to care at that point." He watched her squeeze her eyes shut.

"Abrahm was....cruel...cold....Dorin was.." her eyes opened again, red now instead of green. "he was like a fire that demanded to be fed. He was manipulative..sad*stic in a way...whatever he wanted...he got."

"Lux it's okay...you don't have to tell me this if it's hurting you. Please.." Donnie nuzzled into her hair.

"It's....okay. I realized something the other day. You need to know...how are you supposed to help....supposed to protect me...if you have no idea what has happened. If you have no idea what my boundaries are..or are not, because I do not want you to assume anything either." She sucked in a shaky breath again and let it out slowly.

"When I turned sixteen I managed to sneak out. I almost thought I was going to run away....I ran deep into the forest outside the grounds. Pine...." She paused and looked up at him. "I felt safe in the deep pine forest...it was dark and cool. I think ... that's why you smell like pine to me..
.it was one small comfort I stole for myself the day my life changed forever. I had no idea who I really was. I knew I was a werewolf of course..." She looked back at the pond, the ichor on her hands dripped into the water like paint dispersing from a paint brush dipped into a cup.

"My father found me sleeping in the shadow of a hollowed out tree in a nest of pine needles. It was the day I learned who he was ..who I was ..and I chose to leave. I fell, became a fallen, for him because he was the one person I prayed to meet every day. I don't regret that...I love him. He loves me. What I regret is not leaving sooner." She winced at the memories of Abrahm and avoided all memories of Dorin. She felt Don's knuckle under her chin, tilting her head up.

"He will never touch you again. Neither of them." He said lowly.

She sighed. "He's here in Hell. He very well could attack me again., not to mention I have no idea where Dorin ended up..."

"Over my dead body, Luciana." Don growled in response. She snapped her gaze back to his.

"I believe my mother has a control problem. She died of course...Abrahm was killed by my father for what he had done to me, Dorin by Drake...but...my mother died some time after. Substance abuse I believe it was....she should have ended up here. Neither me nor my father understand how she ended up in Heaven." She snarled, her teeth flashing in the bright sunlight above.

Don avoided her gaze momentarily since he recalled Drake telling him how she believed her mother had perished.

"She believes she can drag me back into her life. To control me again." Her eyes blazed red.

"She's the one that sent those angels?" Don asked.

"I believe so. I also believe she is the one who holds dominion over Baal which would explain his attempt to deceive my father. Baal has always been loyal. Not much can sway the loyalty of a high prince of Hell." A low rumbling noise seemed to vibrate the very bones in his body and had him gritting bis teeth with the strange sensation.

Lux looked up and smiled broadly and he followed her gaze.

"So that is your draheim?" He asked her as the huge white beast landed on one of the castle spires. Orange eyes scanned his surroundings.

"Yes, Mephisto." She answered him without taking her eyes off of the white and black wyvern.

"Draheim bond to the souls of their riders you said. How long have you been bonded to Mephisto?" Don watched the orange eyes flick to him as the dragon observed them from atop the castle.

"I have been bonded to my draheim for about one hundred and fifty three years. Hell time of course."

"Wow. That's....I keep forgetting how long you have existed in this place. While time moves so slowly in the mortal realm." A loud roar sounded a bit higher than the castle as a black shadow moved over them.

"I'm still in shock about her to be honest." He said as he watched his draheim glide over the castle and turn about to come back as if she were keeping an eye on him.

"I am as well. Draheim have existed in Hell for....far longer than I have of course but...I have yet to see any records of them bonding to a living, mortal soul. Though perhaps it has something to do with you having a Pure Soul." She looked away from the two dragons to look at him instead.

Don lifted a brow. "A Pure Soul?"

"Your soul has not been tainted by Darkness." She told him.

"You say Darkness as if it is an entity." Donnie said as he leaned backwards to lay on his carapace on the soft gray grass under him. He had to fold his arms under his head to keep it propped up though. His shell wasn't as curved and thick as those of his brothers but it would still leave his neck and head a little unsupported.

"In a way. It can be." She told him as she leaned back on one hand, looking down at him.

"So Pure Souls don't exist here?" He asked her.

"No. For obvious reasons. You and your brothers are all Pure Souls. And are of a very small group of living beings, traditionally speaking, to enter this realm." He reached up to twist a long lock of her hair around one of his fingers as she spoke.

"So you think that because of the fact that I am a Pure Soul and a living one that it perhaps drew Tal'Rasha in?" He mused aloud.

"It's what makes the most sense to me. Especially when I think of the few riders we have. They are nearly all Fallen, aside from Draconia and I believe two others, Fallen souls are the closest to Pure Souls we get down here." She explained. Don lightly tugged on the lock of hair he was playing with.

"C'mere." He watched her quirk a brow up at him and smile in confusion before she laid down next to him, using his shoulder as a head rest.

"How long do you intend to lay here?" She asked him as they both watched Tal'Rasha continue her overhead circle with Mephisto actIng as sentry over them.

Don sighed in contentment. "I don't know. It's nice in here." He shrugged lightly and turned his head toward her so he could kiss her forehead.

"You don't want to go find your brothers?" She asked him with a small smile. He frowned.

"No. Not at this moment. Actually, I have a far better idea." He said, waggling the drawn on eyebrows of his mask, causing her to giggle, which turned into a hum of approval when he rolled so he was partially overtop of her and pressed his lips to hers.

He broke away for a small moment, nuzzling his snout against her nose.

"I love you." He told her softly and he couldn't help but smile when he saw her green eyes brighten.

"I love you too." She nuzzled her nose against his snout in return and then closed the distance between their lips again in a tender kiss. He let his free hand roam up her body until he was plunging it into the soft tresses of her hair, deepening the kiss until they were both lost in each other and their love.

***

"Donatello!"

Don groaned in annoyance, looking up from the screen of his tech gauntlet as Leo burst through the double doors of Luciana's room.
He was seated, lounging on the oversized black couch in the sitting area of the room.

"Firat of all...rewind back like six seconds." Don paused to see if he had Leo's attention, when his slider brother just blinked at him he knew he did. "DO NOT...call me Donatello. It sounds wrong coming out of your mouth." He sassed.

Leo just grinned in response and launched himself at the couch and his seated brother. "DOONNNIIEEE!"

"Oh please get off-"

"Dude have you seen the rest of this place? I've been wandering around for hours." Leo asked as he lay draped over the back of the couch upside down now.

Don sighed and went back to typing something into his gauntlet screen.

"I haven't had the opportunity yet, no." He responded.

"Well what are you going to do? Sit in here all day?" Leonardo asked him. Don looked up with a serious expression.

"I would love to. Peace and quiet would be a blessing right now." He said.

Leo groaned loudly in return. "THAT'S BORING!"

"Leon, is there something you need? I'm busy." Donatello continued fiddling with his gauntlet and Leo huffed in annoyance and kicked his feet as they hung over the back of the couch.

Instead of answering he just started humming to himself.

Don paused and looked up at his twin and blinked slowly as he tried to assess whether or not Leo was purposely trying to irritate him or if he was actually just being himself.

He immediately recognized what song Leo was humming and smirked before looking back down at the gauntlet screen.

When his brother actually started rapping the words his grin only widened.

"Stomp a lil' puss* ho with some shell toes." Leo rapped, glancing at his twin with a grin.
"Yeah glo." Don picked up the lyrics immediately.
"Slappin' rap bitches and makin' bail, ho"
"Yeah glo!"
"Two-tone Cartier match the nails, ho" now they both rapped all the lyrics together, gradually getting louder and more hyped into the song.
"Yeah glo!!"
"No competition, these bitches stale, ho"
"Yeah glo!!"
"Cuban on Cuban, my sh*t in layers, ho"
"Yeah glo!"
"Say they get money, but I can't tell, ho"
"Yeah glo!!"
"Keep runnin' circles around these snail hoes"
"Yeah glo!!"
"And my sh*t bumpin' up in the jail, ho!"

They both stopped, slightly out of breath.

"That was good." Leo said.
"Yeah, felt good." Don nodded.

"I think diet co*ke has crack in it.." Leo said suddenly. Don lifted his hands in a gesture of exasperation.

"Okay...no more for you then." He shook his head just as the double doors opened again.

"And I was, like, listening to that one song. Hey Baby-" Drake and Luciana walked through the doors and Don glanced up again, admiring his love who was still in the pretty lilac dress from earlier while Drake was in a more relaxed version of her armor with her orange cropped top and black leggings, black leather tassets, cross body straps, holding a plethora of throwing knives, a black chain belt that held her two sabre scabbards to her hips, black leather shoulder guards and black leather arm gauntlets and shin guards.

"Oh yeah, Pitbull!" Lux said as she and Drake made their way to the closet, which, Don knew was as big as his bedroom at home. Massive. How much clothes did one girl need?

Okay so he could admit that she was a princess and princesses needed lots of different outfits, he was sure. Mikey had told him.

"Yeah! But you know the part that says we can pump this jam however you want?" Drake continued on.

"Pump it from the side?" Lux answered with the lyrics. "Pump it upside down?"

"THAT! That right there! Upside down?! What are we, bats?!" Drake threw her hands into the air in exasperation while Luciana doubled over in laughter.

"Yeah, no, nothing upside down. The f*ck?" Lux agreed through her laughter. Drake was leaning in the doorway of the closet, her gray dragon tail tip tapped the ground.

"Yeah. Actually the only thing I can do upside down is let my head hang off the side of the bed while he throat fu-"

"DRACONIA!" Lux screamed in laughter.
"While he does what?!" Donatello gave Drake a horrified look from over the back of the couch.
"Kiinnkkyy." Leo sang, still upside down.

"What?! I'm a pillow princess and I am not ashamed of that!" Draconia crossed her arms over her chest.

"Jesus Christ superstar, Drake! You're gonna give Donnie an aneurysm!" Lux swatted at her best friend as she emerged from the closet in a comfy pair of black sweatpants and a black cropped Rob Zombie hoodie.

"Oh please. Is he really that prudish?" Drake turned as her friend passed by her.

Lux blushed as she walked towards the sitting area, Don met her gaze and blushed as well.

Unfortunately the two others in the room noticed.

"Ooohhh ho ho! D! Why are you blushing?!" Leo scrambled to sit up straight, failing completely as he ended up falling to the floor.

"Yeaaaa, what have you two been up to? I mean I could practically cut the sexual tension in the air the other day in the lair with my sabre-" Drake began as Lux sat in the oversized chair beside the couch.

"And let's not forget the smell. The pheromones coming off those two could have suffocated someone." Leo mimed choking and then dying, falling to the floor in front of the couch.

"Be cool if you really did choke and pass out." Donnie grumbled.

"What?"
"What?!" Don avoided Leo's narrowed eyed gaze.

"Anyway! Back to the important stuff!" Drake grinned as she leaned over the back of the chair behind Lux.

"You really think me and Don are going to tell either of you slu*ts anything about our sex life?" Lux said as she sat hugging her ankles.

"Uh, I'm your best friend." Drake countered.

"And I'm your best friend's mate!" Leo added.

"Funny that neither of you denied being a slu*t." Don deadpanned.

"Ummm I'm not a slu*t. I'm... what's the word?" Leo tapped his chin in thought.

Drake was just grinning at him as they all watched the wheals turn.

"Bodacious...nooo that's not it." Leo furrowed his brow ridge in thought.

Donnie sighed and propped an elbow on the armrest of the couch and rested his head in his hand.

"Polyoicous?"

"What? No Nardo-"

"Synoicous?"

"That's a genus of quail..." Don's voice was monotone.

"Heteroicous?"

"That...that's a botany term ..How do you even know these words?!" Don exclaimed.

"I don't. Drake keeps saying random words in my head." Leo grinned.

"Good lord it's like there's two of you now." Don pinched between his eyes.

"Leo, hunny, are you thinking of promiscuous?" Lux smiled sweetly at Leo who gave her a broad grin in return and snapped his fingers.

"Yessss! That one. I'm that." He nodded.

Lux giggled. "That's just a fancy word for slu*t." Leo frowned and Drake snickered.

"Anywhizzle." Leo narrowed his eyes at Donnie and pointed at him. "You better be using protection!"

"Nardo, one more crack about my sex life or lack there of and I will shove my bo-"

"We haven't had sex Leo. Leave your brother alone." Lux tossed a pillow at both Leo and Donnie, hitting them both in the head.

"So all that tension and y'all haven't even fu-"

"Draconia." Lux narrowed her green eyes at the dark skinned girl.

"Sheesh. What are y'all waiting for? An invitation?" Drake rolled her eyes.

"Maybe. Maybe not. Can we talk about something else because again, not talking to you about our sex life." Lux said with a scowl at Drake.

"Fine. Fine." Drake put her hands up in surrender but pushed herself away from the back of the chair and moved around the back of the couch, crooking a finger at Leonardo.

"C'mon mi cielo. Let's leave the puritans to their boring evening." She quipped, flashing a fang filled grin at the blue masked slider before sauntering towards the doors.

"What's a puritan?" He asked her as he followed behind her like a moth drawn to a light.

When the two had left Lux expelled a breath and slumped in the chair.

"I love them. But they are exhausting now that they are together. And here we thought she would have just eaten Leo." She shook her head.

"Oh I'm sure she will." Don remarked dryly as he went back to his gauntlet.

"Do you mind if I watch T.V. while you....what are you doing?" She asked him.

He looked up at her. "Oh! I've been working on a schematic for a security system for this place." He said.

Lux tilted her head. "Oh?"

"Yea. Starting with your room needing a damn lock so Leo can't just barge in here when he wants." Don said. Lux giggled and shook her head.

"Couldn't he just portal in?" She asked. Donnie looked back to her again and in a very serious tone he answered her.

"Not when I'm done with it."

She giggled again and shook her head.

"To answer your other question, no I don't mind. I'm pretty good at tuning things out." He said with a wave toward the T.V. Lux grabbed the remote off the coffee table in front of the couch and flipped on the T.V. to Netflix, scrolling through.

"Ooooo new season of Bridgerton? Yes please." She selected the show and curled up in the massive chair.

After a few minutes of sitting there Don lost focus and looked up at her. She was intently watching her show, hugging a pillow to her chest.

Without much thought behind it he stood up, walked over to the chair, scooped her up and brought her back over to the couch with him where he sat her down and then he moved back to where he had been sitting making sure she was squished into his side.

He felt her mirth through their bond as he went back to tapping at his gauntlet.

Every now and then he would look up when she would giggle at the show or gasp but other than that he was content to sit and work while she sat and vegged.

***

"Do you just enjoy making them squirm?" Leo asked Draconia as they walked side by side down the corridor.

Drake smiled. "It is fun." She said.

"But in reality I'm just making sure Lux is okay." She stopped in front of the double set of doors to her room, large dark wood doors with carvings of dragons all over them.

"How is pestering her about sex making sure she's okay?" Leo tilted his head.

"She's never been with anyone since....Abrahm or Dorin. So if she's not freezing up and is actually giving me sass, I know she's okay. She used to...if a man or male touched her even just her shoulder, her hand ..she would tense up and it was like she was stuck. It took years for her to be okay with most physical touch from anyone...including Lucifer. Which was hard on their new relationship for the first several years." She pushed her doors open and he followed her within.

"That's.... terrible..." He said as he glanced around her room. He had of course already slept in there the night prior, but it seemed better than looking her in the eye at this point.

"Mhmmm. Now. Are you going to talk to me about what you did to your soul or were you thinking I'd never notice or that'd I would forget?" Leo blanched at her comment and rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me, Leonardo." She flicked her fingers at her own fireplace where golden flames burst to life, casting the room in a warm glow.

"I....I don't know." He admitted. "I just know it's there. I signed....a contract...two years ago."

"For what?" She moved to her own closet and began pulling off her armor and clothing.

"It was supposed to be...um...d-do we have to talk about this right now?" He asked her, fighting a stutter, his hands had started to shake with his anxiety.

Drake's closet was dark so all he could see of her were her glowing golden eyes before she emerged in a dark blue silky pajama set of shorts and a tank top.

"I suppose we do not. If it is upsetting you that much. But I hope you know if you made a deal with someone I can break it." She said before she climbed into her own massive bed that was covered in white satin linens and a fluffy white comforter. She waved him over.

"I don't see how." He muttered as he stood next to the bed.

"I am an overlord of Hell, Leonardo. The head of the royal guard as well as the head blacksmith. I can forge a weapon that will melt the skin off of someone's bones." She gave him a deadpan look that sorta reminded him of Donnie.

"Would you please stop standing there like you have leprosy and get over here?" She frowned at him.

Leo sighed and climbed up into the bed with her, laying on his carapace with lots of pillow under his head so he could look up at the black sheer fabric that was draped above them.

"Who's the rabbit?" She asked him suddenly. Leo jumped and winced, of course she had a direct link to his mind so he knew she could hear and see everything if he wasn't shutting her out.

"Usagi is......was ....a friend." He told her.

"You normally kiss your friends?" She asked.

He frowned. "Would you get out of my head?"

"Yea, sure." She rolled her eyes and turned away from him, her side of their bond suddenly went dark. He clenched his teeth in frustration before sucking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

Leo turned to his left side and reached out to wrap his arm around her middle and pull her against him. He felt her physically relax from her previously tense state.

"He...was ...the first person I loved. We were together...for a while. But...then I signed that godsforsaken contract and it cost me....." Leo murmured into her hair.

Drake seemed to mull this over.

"I'm sorry." She told him, he could feel the sincerity through the bond and he nuzzled closer to her.

"I'll be okay." He told her.

"Leo?" He hummed in response.

"Nevermind. Just go to sleep." She told him. He frowned and pulled her by her hip to turn over and face him.

"No, tell me." He said. Drake blinked at him slowly.

"I'll just show you."

He gave her a questioning look which quickly dissipated as she moved forward to gently press her lips to his.

The truth was he still loved Usagi.

He would always love Usagi.

But he would never see Usagi again.

And he was linked to Drake by his soul.

He could literally feel her. Her mind, her body, her own soul blazed brightly.

He wanted desperately to bask in that light.

He wanted it more than anything.

Then why couldn't he stop thinking about Usagi?

Because....maybe....that would really make it final....he would finally have moved on ...finally have let go and he was choosing to stay broken.

He brought his hand up to rest on the nape of her neck as he deepened the kiss. It was as if all of a sudden he was dying of thirst and she was his first drink of water. He felt her leg hook around his leg and his hand moved from her neck to the back of her head, he didn't want to risk tugging on her braids, as he held her against him.

When she pulled back he wasn't even aware of the tears streaming down his face until he felt her thumb brush them away.

"Shh. You aren't alone anymore. Whatever happened isn't your fault." She was whispering to him as she brushed her hands over his face.

"I-i-It is m-my f-f-fault." He stammered out as he reached up to angrily wipe at his face. Drake grabbed his wrist in her delicate looking hand and pulled it away from his face and placed it on her hip. She then rested her hand on his shoulder and scooted closer to him so she could pepper his face with little kisses that had him simultaneously laughing and choking on a sob at the same time.

"Mi cielo. It will be okay. I will make it okay. No one will hurt you anymore. You are mine. Mine to me." She told him firmly. He blinked the last tears from his eyes.

"I... you're my soul mate...but...I still love someone else. Is that wrong?" He asked her in a hushed whisper.

"Ohh, dulcea mea țestoasă. No, of course not. Love isn't a black and white thing. Love is shades of every color, it is bright and beautiful and messy and you got to experience it. That is a treasure." She kissed his lips softly and he pressed his forehead against hers.

***

"I miss him..." He choked out.

"I know, dragul meu. I know." She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and gently rubbed the muscles there, hoping to knead away some of the pain.

She whispered to him softly as he curled around her, crushing her to him in a desperation that left her breathless.

When she was certain his breathing had evened out and he had fallen into a fitful but deep sleep she slowly, carefully, extracted herself from him, slipped out of the bed and clamped down on her side of the bond firmly like a wolf guarding a bone. She hurried down the corridor and almost just walked into Lux's room but hesitated this time remembering at the last second that Lux would not be alone.

"Gods be damned." She hissed in her growing agitation as she pushed the doors open.

Don was still where they had left him, sitting on the oversized couch as he messed with that tech thing on his arm.

He looked up when she entered.

"She's in the bathroom." He said automatically.

"What do you know of a rabbit yokai that your brother was seeing?" She demanded.

"Hi, Donnie. I see you're busy. No, no, that's okay Drake please just yell at me about rabbits and yokai." He snarked back at her.

"Not rabbits and yokai. A rabbit yokai." Draconia snarled.

"Take it easy, would you?........I don't know any rabbit yokai. If Leo was seeing her he kept it secret." Don crossed his arms over his plastron but avoided her gaze which narrowed on him.

"Him " Drake muttered. Don's brows shot upward.

"He told you about him?" He whispered.

"You just lied to me about him?!" Drake screeched the accusation.

"I didn't know how much you knew about him?! I wouldn't compromise my brother in that way!" Don exclaimed back.

"Him, who?" Luciana asked as she padded back over to the couch so she could curl back up with Donnie.

"Ugh. You two are useless." Drake huffed.

"Draconia Georgette Nicolescu!" Drake winced at the usage of her entire name.

"Oh sh*t. Government named." Donnie whispered.

"I'm...sorry...." Drake said haltingly.

"What is wrong? You look like you're ready to decapitate my mate-a horrible decision on your part-" Lux snapped fanged teeth at her.

Drake snarled in response and Don shrunk into the couch looking back and forth between the two women.

"I....Leo ..he ..told me something. And-" Draconia cut herself off, her eyes glossing over, seemingly frozen in place.

"f*ck." Lux spat as she got up and stepped towards her friend.

"What? Why f*ck? What's wrong with her?" Don popped back up to look over the back of the couch.

"Unfortunately demons have ties to each other when they create other demons." Lux answered him as she stepped around Drake, assessing how in tune with this particular demon she was at the moment.

"Luciana. Elaborate further, please. What does that mean?" Don unfolded himself from the couch and stood up.

"Example; I have ties to Shay and Gem. I'm the one that created their bodies after they died and came here. I created them through my magic. Our ties are not at all strong but I can sense them. Draconia is a demon through conception. She is hellspawned. Therefore her mother has a tie to her. And she can sense her whereabouts." Lux explained.

".....so....if you are explaining this am I to assume that that means her mother is here somewhere?" Donatello was approaching slowly and Lux put a hand up to stop him.

"You assume correctly....but stay over there. Drake hates her mother....she will likely phase." She said.

"So I finally get to witness the infamous 'phasing.' How exciting." He backed up towards the bed.

Drake's eyes blinked back into focus and she looked over her shoulder at Luciana.

"Jahi is here in this f*cking castle." She hissed through clenched teeth.

"Well then we better roll out the welcome mat." Lux smiled venomously.

Drake's answer was a low growl that intensified as her body shifted forms. It was quick and fluid how her body reshaped itself and where the demoness once stood now stood a massive solid gray wolf with black agouti hairs that made it look even darker. Black spines still adorned the body of the wolf, two small ones running up the muzzle, two small ones on the back of each ear and multiple flexible looking spines, that were much larger at the shoulders, ran down the spine of the wolf's body. The gray dragon tail had remained the same.

Golden eyes flashed brightly as the wolf snapped its massive jaws and took off through the double doors of the room and down the corridor.

***

"If you're coming you better get your cardio legs on!" Lux called as she spun on her heel and took off after Drake.

Don sputtered but chased after her as they ran.

Drake stopped abruptly and lifted her muzzle to the air in front of her room. Lux moved forward and pushed the doors open.

"Leo?" She called out as she turned. She gasped.

Jahi was exactly what you'd think of when you thought of what a sucubus demon would look like.

Dark gray skin stretched over tautly muscled limbs and body, black membranous wings stretched out behind her and an identical tail to Draconia's. Her legs however were bent the opposite way and sported clawed feet. Like a fictional harpy.

Her hair was long and black and stayed slicked back behind her with spiralling kudu horns jutting out of her head. Her eyes were pupilless and silver and a large mouth filled with razor sharp teeth grinned at them as she moved away from hovering over Leo who seemed to still be in a deep slumber.

"Get out." Luciana snarled.

"I just came to see the prize my daughter has won. Such a pity she wastes her powers. This one has much to offer. That's probably what my mate saw. How interesting." Jahi laughed.

Drake snapped her massive jaws again, saliva dripped from her maw of sharp teeth.

"That is no way to address your mother." Jahi pouted.

"You are not welcome here." Lux snapped again as the demon crept closer towards the door. Towards the other turtle currently standing within the threshold, holding his bo staff defensively in front of him as it crackled purple bolts and radiated a purple aura.

"You have one too? How marvelous, princess! Is this one as filled with power? I'd love to taste, he looks absolutely-" her words were cut off abruptly by a screech of pain as Jahi's attention was now fixated on the small hilt of a dagger, that looked to be made out of purple light, embedded in her shoulder.

Lux gaped in shock and looked back at Donnie who had, quicker than Jahi could comprehend, materialized the dagger using his Ninpo and had expertly thrown the blade at the demon.

"The only one who has that right is Luciana." He snarled, earning him a roar of fury from Jahi as she surged forward.

"Donnie, run!" Lux yelled as Drake's jaws just missed clamping down on her mother's leg as she passed by trying to get to Donatello.

Don's eyes widened but he spun around anyway and bolted out of the room back down the corridor.

He passed by Lux's room, trying to reach the doors that led outside. If he could just make it outside. Tal'Rasha would be there. He knew it.

Something sharp dug into his shoulders though and he felt blood spew from the deep wounds as he was lifted and spun back the otherway by Jahi's clawed feet. She tossed him back down the corridor and he felt all the breath leave his lungs when his carapace thudded agonizingly against a wall. He shook the black spots from his vision and tried to suck air back into his lungs. His head lolled back against the wall as pain rocketed through his back.

Jahi loomed over him, her teeth bared in a disgusting grin.

"Now. Where was I? Just a taste little reptile. I promise it won't hurt you..... too much." She cackled a raspy laugh and Don groaned in pain as the demoness dipped a sharp long nail into one of the puncture wounds in his shoulders, he could feel it within his muscle and he gritted his teeth when it scrapped against the bone within.

As suddenly as the pain blazed in his shoulder it spiked and then fizzled away as a scream was wrenched from Jahi's mouth, massive jaws clamped around her arm and she was flung away from him. Her body smashed against the wall, the sound of bones splintering in her wings was grotesque and crimson blood seeped from teeth marks in her arm.

Donnie blinked his vision clear and watched as another massive wolf, this one more of a silvery white with small areas that had undertones of darker gray, placed itself between him and Jahi while the wolf he knew was Drake lunged forward to sink her teeth into the sucubus' leg, shaking her head violently.

The silver gray wolf followed suit, snapping her jaws into soft flesh, tearing muscle and sinew from bone and then bounding back out of reach of Jahi's sharp talon-like claws.

Don struggled to keep his vision clear through the haze of pain that was currently beating against his senses, he managed to finally even his breathing back out and he started trying to pull himself to stand with his bo as an anchor.

The silver wolf turned and snapped her jaws at him in an open mouthed snarl.

𝑵𝒐! 𝑺𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏, 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆! 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅.

Somehow he knew, even though it was her voice, that Lux was not currently in the driver's seat. And then, backwards, he realized that the wolf was Lux.

"So....you're....the wolf." He choked out with a small smirk. She tilted her head and spun back around as Drake yelped in pain. Jahi had managed to rake her claws across her face, blood dripped into her blazing golden eyes and she lifted a paw to try and get it out.

Don's eyes drifted shut as the pain enveloped him and throbbed in his shoulders and his carapace.

***

Lux lunged after Jahi as the demon pulled herself to her feet to sprint down the corridor but stopped and looked back at Draconia, struggling to get the blood out of her eyes and Don, struggling to remain conscious as his own blood dripped down his shoulders and seeped into the fabric of the tunic he still wore.

Then there was the potential state of Leonardo who Lux had to assume had been held prisoner in his dreamstate by Jahi and that's why he hadn't woken up.

She huffed air through her teeth and stepped around Drake towards Donnie. A low whimper had him opening his eyes weakly and smiling up at her.

"You're.......a....pretty.......wolf." he managed to slur as she gazed down at him and his eyes shut again.

Lux phased back and lifted her hands to cup both his cheeks.

"Donnie? Stay awake." She patted one of his cheeks a little roughly. His eyes opened again but only a little and he shook his head.

"Can't....gotta....rest.." he said.

"No. No resting. Hey!" She patted his cheek a little more forcefully and shook his head for him.

"Stop ...rattling...my brain ......still need it " he slurred again and she sighed.

"Donnie please stay awake." She pleaded. His eyes opened a little wider and he seemed to take in his surroundings a little more. She smiled wryly when she noticed that he had noticed she had phased back and that meant she was completely naked in front of him.

"If me being naked keeps your eyes open. So be it, handsome. I'm going to lift you under your arm. It's going to hurt, okay?" No use trying to sugar coat that. His eyes roamed her body but he seemed to have been listening because he nodded.

Lux stooped lower and slipped her arm around him, under his left arm and she heard his jaw clench, his teeth groaned in protest. His breathing hitched as she lifted him up. He was so much taller than her but he was also so weak that he was pretty much hunched over her as she helped him.

Drake had phased back so she could get the blood out of her eyes. The claw marks raked through her face and Lux winced when her friend looked up at her.

"You good?" She asked Drake who waved her off and proceeded towards her own room.

"Well it would seem you were correct. This place needs some added security. But I wonder how you plan to do that to help keep demons and sucubi out." Lux was saying to Donnie as she helped him hobble to her room.

She kicked the doors shut behind her and helped him over to the bed. He started to protest by halting the movement of his feet.

"Donnie. I don't care if you get blood on my bed. Knock it off." She easily pulled him forward and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to not laugh as he huffed in response.

She stopped at the edge and had him hold himself up with a hand propped against the surface of the mattress. Then she reached up and grasped the neckline of the tunic and tore it in half, off of his body. She slipped his dangling arm through the arm hole on that side and then supported him so the other side could fall off his other arm.

She grimaced at the angry puncture wounds in his shoulders but was thankful it hadn't been his exposed carapace. Not that that had escaped harm as she moved behind him to see a dark bruise forming over the ridges of his vertebrae that were sort of visible.

"Can you sit without falling over?" She asked him.

He nodded and she realized he had stopped talking. She helped him to sit on the edge of the bed and then crouched in front of him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him. He took a moment but finally gave her a thumbs up.

"Is it the pain?' she asked him. He nodded again and she accepted this answer and moved into her bathroom. She came back with a handful of cotton pads and alcohol and set the items on the bed next to him.

"May I clean those?" She asked him. He nodded and she opened the alcohol and pressed a pad to the opening, tipping it over and letting it soak the cotton. She moved slowly as she lifted the pad to one of the gouges. She watched him tense up before she swiped the alcohol soaked pad over the wound, flinching back.

"I know. It hurts....." She said as pain radiated in her own shoulder, not as intense, but she could feel it nonetheless.

She wrapped her left hand around the nape of his neck to hold him still as she cleaned the wounds and wiped away the blood that had dripped down his shoulders and his plastron. She had to repeat all of this on the other side as well as two larger punctures in the back of his shoulders.

Lux cleaned up the bloody cotton pads and took them to the bathroom to throw away. When she came back she saw Don had crawled into the bed and was curled onto his side facing the windows.

"Îmi pare atât de rău, iubito. Urăsc că te doare." She whispered as she crawled up behind him. She winced again seeing the massive bruise on his carapace.

"Donnie?" She hesitantly reached out, her hand hovering over his elbow.

"Donnie...baby?" She tried again and this time he lifted himself on unsteady arms so he could lay on his other side, facing her, he couldn't roll on his carapace.

Lux's heart broke when she saw blood had started to try and seep from the wounds again and tears welled in his eyes that he squeezed shut. She could feel the pain still radiating in her own shoulders. The echo of his own pain that she knew was worse.

"I'm going to help make the pain go away. You are not going to like it at first...but I can't stand to see you in pain. Please let me help you in the one way I know I can?" She brushed some of the stray tears from his cheek and he gritted his teeth, she knew he abhorred crying in front of others.

"Dragă, te rog." She murmured to him. He nodded briakly and she pulled herself to a sitting position.

"Come here, love." She tugged on his hand and he struggled back into a sitting position as well. She smiled sadly at him. He looked exhausted.

"Remember....This will help." She told him. He rolled his eyes and nodded. Snarky turtle.

Lux lifted her left arm up and then drug one of her sharp nails down her wrist. She watched his eyes widen and he started to shake his head with a grimace of disgust.

"Hamato Donatello." She scolded gently. He gave her another look and she lifted a brow at him as she offered him her now bleeding wrist.

He looked at her wrist, then at her, then her wrist again.

𝑫𝒐 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐?

𝑾𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏, 𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇?

He hesitated and she rolled her eyes at him.

Very slowly Don reached up and grasped the back of her hand. She maneuvered it so his thumb was held by her fingers.

𝑶𝒉 𝒈𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆.

𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘.

𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕.

He sucked in a deep breath, lifting her wrist closer to his face slowly. He breathed out again and then sucked in another deep breath. This time his eyes snapped open and he looked at her, shocked.

She knew it would happen. But she didn't want to tell him and freak him out. It was just the way it was between mates. The scent of her blood was supposed to draw him in.

She hadn't expected the brown of his irises to bleed red like her own would have, nor the low growl that rumbled in his plastron as he circled the small cut on her wrist with his mouth.

The moment his tongue brushed against the cut, it bled faster into his mouth and the connection between them seemed to sizzle and expand. She had to bite her lip to keep from crying out as pain, white hot, burned from her shoulders and a steady throbbing ached in her back.

He nearly let go, worried he was hurting her but she shook her head.

"I can feel what you feel. It will pass." She said through her teeth. With a small moan he swallowed and she could feel him pull energy from the bond through her.

The pain dulled with every swallow of her blood he took and eventually a different burn began to slowly build between them. She watched the puncture wounds knit back together slowly and she imagined the bruising on his carapace would be mostly healed as well. She felt her breathing hitch as the pain was completely burnt away by waves of scorching pleasure now, causing her head to fall back with a moan.

He pulled her wrist away, breathing heavily like she was.

"You... didn't tell me...." He gasped out.

"That you would react to my blood that way? Well for starters I didn't actually know. But it was a possibility." She shrugged slightly.

"It didn't taste like blood. Is it because it's ichor?" He was still fighting to control his breathing again.

"No. It's because I am yours." She lifted her wrist to see the small cut had already healed over to a pink line. She glanced at his shoulders and reached out, giving him time to move away if he wanted.

He allowed her to inspect the healed over wounds, her long hair brushed against his bare plastron as she leaned over him to look at the other shoulder.

"How do you feel?" She asked him.

"Better.....a little uh..." He blushed slightly and she smiled.

"Hot and bothered?" She offered.

"Accurate." He nodded briskly.

She smiled softly at him. "You'll likely be healed by morning. I'm not sure if it will scar or-" she was cut off by him leaning towards her and gently pulling her with him further onto the bed and under the satin sheet so he could wrap around her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked him.

"Yea...I think so.." he answered softly into her hair breathing in her scent deeply. "I'm trying to be a gentleman right now so shhh." He said.

Lux smiled deviously as she adjusted herself to lay with her back towards him so that he was spooning her, and then she arched her back with a stretch.

"You knock that off, I'm warning you, I'm barely in control as it is." He grumbled with a small smirk.

"Maybe I'm just waiting for your resolve to break." She said, settling against him with a smirk of her own.

She felt his breath, warm against her neck and his teeth grazed her earlobe.

"Keep pushing it and it will." He murmured, nipping gently at the soft skin of her neck below her ear and chuckling softly when she shivered in response.

"Go to sleep." She hissed in mock annoyance.

***

"Leo?" Drake strode back into her room and turned towards the bed where she noticed not just Leonardo curled up on the bed but his two brothers as well.

Michelangelo looked up and then hastily looked away when he noticed she was completely exposed.

Raphael was hugging Leonardo to him while the blue masked slider wept openly into his older brother's plastron.

"Hey, bro, Drake is here. You...you want her?" Raph asked him gently.

Leo sniffled and looked up and then over towards the door where she stood.

He nodded vigorously and it nearly broke Drake's heart to see him so distraught. Raphael extracted himself from his brother's embrace and Mikey gently laid his hand on Leo's shoulder.

"We are just down the hall. But you're in good hands now." Mikey said with a small sad smile. Leo sniffled again in response as he watched them leave the room.

"They heard the fighting?" Drake asked. Leo nodded and she watched as he looked at the blanket that covered his legs and squeezed hia eyes shut.

"Oh mi cielo. What happened? What is wrong?" She hastily made her way to the bed and crawled over to him, grasping his hands in hers.

"She....was in my head. It was torture. Did you know she uses your fears to create pain? He does too...." Leo shivered.

"Who does?" Drake asked him softly as she pushed him to lay down again and she remained above the blanket, laying facing him as he stared over her shoulder.

"N-n-no one." He stammered.

"Leo I cannot help you if you do not tell me-"

"You can't help me! No one can!" He surged back up to a sitting position. Drake's tail lashed, smacking into the mattress roughly.

"I'm...sorry." Leo frowned, looking down at bis hands as they bunched into the blanket.

"Please lay down, mi amor." She said quietly, her golden eyes blazed and she watched as he seemed to finally notice the claw marks that stretched across her face and the red blood that stained the white of her left eye.

"What happened?!" He surged forward, his hands fluttering nervously around her face.

"My mother left a parting gift." She growled, her lips lifting in a snarl, making the edges of the cuts crinkle.

"That........ THAT'S YOUR MOTHER?!" He drug his hands down his face as his expression shifted to panic.

"Yes. Jahi is my mother." She furrowed her brow at him.

"Who...who is your father?" He asked frantically.

"A werewolf from the mortal realm named Darius Nicolesecu." She answered slowly.

Leo seemed to deflate from his panic and slumped back down into the bed.

"Why?" She asked him carefully.

"I ...please... don't ask me to explain..." He asked her softly. She sighed and rested a hand on his arm, squeezing gently.

"I won't ask again ...tonight. I make no promises about tomorrow or the next day." She told him. Leo frowned at her and she smiled serenely at him in return.

"Why are you naked?" He asked her, finally.

"I phased. Into my wolf form. Clothes don't exactly fit when that happens." She said with a small shrug. He seemed to process this answer for a minute.

"Are ...you staying like that?"

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" She asked him with a lifted brow.

"Not in the way you are thinking." He told her honestly.

"Hm. Then I think I will." She grinned deviously and he rolled his eyes but smiled, finally.

"Just go to sleep....I will be right here. I will not be so inclined to leave you again." She brushed her fingers affectionately over his face, tracing the red steipe over his right eye and cheek which made him smile softly.

He reached out from under the blanket and lifted it up, indicating he wanted her to join him under it, Drake lifted a brow but did as he asked, sighing when she felt him wrap his arm around her waist and pull her against him so her face was tucked against his neck.

"Night..." He murmured.

"Goodnight, mi cielo." She kissed softly at his neck, nuzzling closer as sleep washed over them both.