"Wait, wait, wait," Mikey held up his hands as the group of five sat in a circle in the pit, Echo and the orange-masked turtle taking the two bean bags while the other three sat on the floor with their legs crossed. "Let me get this straight. So you're saying that your uncle... from Wisconsin... is actually the head-honcho of Antonio's Pizza?"

Although the turtles knew they needed to rest for whatever challenges the next night may hold, once they started talking to Echo, none of them ever really wanted to stop. It could've been her sense of humor, the way she tried not to visibly laugh at all of Raphael's sarcastic remarks and failed, how she understood the terms Donnie used when talking about science-related topics and seemed genuinely interested in conversing about the advancements in technology over the past decade, or her sheer excitement when Leo asked why she and her friend were out so late anyway and her response was to gush and swoon over the newest Space Heroes movie.

It could've been because she was the first human they'd ever really interacted with that hadn't ran away from them screaming for help, too. But the moment Mikey asked about pizza and the blonde began to talk of her relative being the creator of his newest favorite food, it was official; she had to be his best friend.

"Well, the CEO, to be more precise," She replied with a nod. "But yeah, he and a buddy of his from Italy started the business over in Madison around fifteen years ago."

"So that's why the cheese is so good," Donnie realized and tapped his chin with his finger absentmindedly as he thought out loud. "They took the basic properties of pizza and added their own spin on how typical topping-cheese is made, developing their own secret cheese recipe and substituting the majority of the usual ingredients with more pure, healthier options. Brilliant thinking on their part."

"This is off the chain," Mikey squealed from his seat. "Best day ever! First it's our mutation day, then we got to go outside, discovered pizza, and rescued the coolest girl ever!"

"But the most important part from all of this," Raph gestured widely to the group, referring to their conversation. "Is that by some magical twist of fate, we ended up saving the frickin' heir to Antonio's Pizza."

"Who gets a free pizza of her choosing every Friday and Saturday." Donnie pointed out as well, a fact that sent the three other boys to let loose a round of triumphant cheers and Echo couldn't help but chuckle at their reactions.

"And I would love to share them with you, if you guys would still want to-" She stopped herself short, catching the mistake in her words and the girl let out a sigh. "I guess I actually...can't share them with you..." Their eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in disappointment as they assumed her actual meaning was less than open towards the idea of spending time with them again.

"No, no, no, its not what you think," She quickly tried to back-track. A lightning bolt of pain stabbed her in the chest when she saw the sadness and offended looks in their eyes, especially from Mikey who looked like he was on the verge of tears. "I'm moving in a couple days. That's the whole reason we went to the movies tonight." Echo tried to explain. "My mom left ahead of me to make sure the house was ready a few days early...and I wanted to have one last fun weekend with my best friend."

"Ouch, that sucks," Raphael said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt. Just his luck, the first decent human he'd met and was starting to like would be leaving the state in less than forty-eight hours. He knew this day was had gone too well without there being some sort of catch- besides witnessing a girl and her father be kidnapped.

"Who knows, though," Echo tried to turn this depressing moment into something hopeful and playfully tapped her boot against Mikey's leg. "Maybe after we get April and her dad back, she'll let me stay for the rest of the semester as emotional support. It's already half way to Christmas, then we'd be able to spend the holidays here and I'd get to see you guys again."

"You really want to hang out with us more?" Mikey gasped in awe. "You mean it?"

"She kinda has to, doofus," Raphael chimed in with a smirk in her direction. "We rescued her, after all. She kinda owes us at this point." Echo rolled her eyes with a smirk of her own at his teasing and folded her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes with a sly grin on her lips at the red-masked turtle.

"From what I recall, I did a pretty good job kicking butt myself."

"Yeah, after I loosened up that one guy with a punch to the face." He retorted and Echo laughed out loud, though she didn't get a chance to respond before Donnie's voice entered the conversation once again.

"Seriously speaking, though," The brainiac began. "Now forgive me if this offends you, but you're taking this a lot better than we thought you would. Y'know, the whole 'giant, talking turtles living in the sewers' thing. I don't think you even screamed or anything when you first saw us by the theater." Echo listened to his words, then shrugged and the three others turned to listen to her answer.

"I've been into conspiracies and studying urban legends for a long time. Aliens, lizard-people running the government, Bigfoot, all that jazz. And I've heard stories of people seeing things in the sewers, so I can't say I was too surprised." She responded simply. "Plus it's New York. After living in the city for nearly a decade, you're bound to see something strange sooner or later."

"You're totally right, dudette," Michelangelo nodded and stretched his arm to reach around her shoulders, pulling her close with wide, scarred eyes as he stared off into the distance like an old soldier recalling terrible images of war. "You don't know the crazy things we've seen down here. It would make your mind explode!"

"Crazier than us, doofus?" Raph grabbed a pillow and lobbed it with excellent precision at his little brother, hitting him so hard that Mikey flopped out of his bean-bag chair with an unceremonious splat. Although throwing things at Mikey was a tradition after fifteen years, the fact that the action knocked his little brother's arm off of Echo's shoulders was a bonus.

"I don't doubt it," Echo chuckled as Mikey glared at Raph from across the pit, but couldn't stifle the yawn that escaped her lips. It was enough to remind the guys that they had a future fight they needed to rest for and looked at the clock.

"It's getting late, guys," Just like before, Leo was the one to point out the time. And just like before, the three other brothers all groaned in reply. "Raph, Donnie, Mikey, we need to get some sleep if we want the best chances of rescuing Echo's friend and her father."

"You're totally right, I'm sorry I kept you guys up so late," She apologized and got to her feet, this time with a little more balance than she'd had in the previous hours. "I think I'm okay to walk now, I should probably head back to April's apart-"

"No, no, no," Donnie stood as well and waved his hands for emphasis. "If Leo's theory is anywhere even close to what's really going on, it would probably be best to stay here. At least til we have this situation under control."

He had a point: going anywhere alone at this point was probably a bad idea. And although they all saw her beat the crap out of that one guy with her metal pipe earlier, she was still recovering from her injuries and it would've been harder to keep track of her if she was a few miles from the lair. To put it simply, spending the night was the smartest move and they all knew it, despite Echo not wanting too much to admit it out loud.

"I don't want to intrude or anything-"

"No, we insist," Raph stated and got up from his criss-crossed position on the floor beside Leo, who still seemed to be enjoying this recently-discovered kindness from Raphael with a smirk on the leader's face. "Seriously, it wouldn't be a bother at all." Echo nodded appreciatively, tucking a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"O-M-Gosh!" Mikey shrieked with joy and leaped into the air. "Yes! Sleepover party! This is going to be-"

"Not tonight, shell-head," Donnie scowled and grabbed Michelangelo by the back of his shell before he could go into an excited frenzy. "We need sleep, remember?"

"Don't worry, dude. If everything goes well, I'm sure we'll get another chance to have a fun sleepover sometime." Echo tried to assure him, though the little detail of her moving to another state sort of messed with that possibility. With a sigh of defeat, the orange-masked turtle began to sluggishly put one foot in front of the other, headed for a hallway on the upper area of the living room lined with four doors.

"Alright, fine," Mikey groaned dramatically over his shoulder. "I guess I'll just have to save my super awesome party-skills for next time."

"Can't wait for it. Goodnight, Mikey." Echo called ahead before the youngest of the turtles closed his bedroom door for the night, leaving Echo, Leo, Donnie and Raph. "So...uh, where do you guys want me to sleep tonight?" The girl asked, holding her hands behind her back and glancing from turtle to turtle in an almost sheepish manner.

"I can sleep on the floor-" Both Donnie and Raph spoke simultaneously, then turned to send each other a subtle glare, knowing exactly what the other was up to. Despite Raph having called 'dibs', it appeared that his purple-masked brother didn't seem to care.

"Don't you have a couch in your lab, Donnie?" Leo questioned. It wasn't uncommon for the blue-masked leader to use misdirection and distraction to de-escalate a situation, and based on the small smile he received from Echo, it looked like she knew what he had up his non-existent sleeves and was thankful for it. "The one we dug out of that underground sewage treatment facility a few years back?"

"The one that took me six months to get the rotten-egg stench out of?" Donnie questioned a bit repulsed, but then thought for a moment. "It is the most comfortable piece of furniture we have, though. And probably the cleanest. Not a bad idea, Leo."

"Thank you, Donnie. And now that that's settled," the leader stretched with a yawn. "I think I'll be heading off to bed. Goodnight, everyone." The remaining three all replied with a chorus of 'Goodnight's as they watched the turtle retreat to his bedroom just as Mikey had done, leaving the two turtles and the human in a somewhat awkward silence.

"Well, if you'll follow me, Echo, I'll take you back to the lab-" Donnie began.

"Actually, could I get a minute with Raph?"

It was a request that caught both turtles off guard, one that caused Raph to stop in his tracks before he could head towards his own room for the night and Donnie nodded. "Of course, I'll go and get your bed- I mean couch, I'll get your couch- I mean my couch," Donnie chuckled bashfully with each step he took towards the lab. "I'll get the couch ready for you." He stumbled over his words, but didn't wipe the awkwardly nervous smile that dawned his face, though it did seem to lose a bit of enthusiasm at the end of his sentence.

Once he was gone, Raph could feel the pounding in his heart and the nervous sweat starting to secrete from his palms. He'd never been alone with a girl before, and what did she even want from him? The red-masked turtle couldn't tell whether he felt happy about this situation or if he would rather vomit from his sudden nerves.

"I wouldn't worry too much about him," Echo broke the silence, an act that nearly made Raph jump straight out of his anxious shell, with a small smirk on her lips. "His crush, I mean. It won't last. Something tells me he and April are going to hit it off pretty well when she gets to know him."

"Uh...why would I need to worry?" He asked and folded his arms, trying to look cooler than he felt. Maybe it was his tone, or maybe him folding his arms seemed like a hostile act- these would be the kind of thoughts that would plague his mind when the smirk fell from her face and Echo scratched the back of her head, clearing her throat and averting her eyes.

"I...I guess I just wanted to thank you personally for saving me today. Y'know, for getting that guy off me," Echo said, then gently grabbed his wrist and placed the wad of cash in his palm. Her skin was soft to the touch, as if a cloud had wrapped itself around the base of his hand, and he glanced from her to the money. "Here, this should get you guys pizza for a while. And don't try to give it back, because April and I would've spent it on dumb stuff anyway. At least this way, some people can make use of it."

Before he could come up with something cool to say in response, she released her hold on him and retired to the laboratory.