People in this world can be predictable.

When a person stubs their toe, it's common for the sound of curses to follow close behind. When a team loses a game, it's likely that they'll receive some words of criticism from their coach. A drought runs through farmland; farmers get angry because their crops are dying and their profits plummet. At such a basic level as this, it isn't very difficult to assume how a certain person would respond to these incidents.

But after spending her entire life with her mother, Echo never would've predicted she'd leave her daughter behind.

'What do I do? What do I do?' She thought to herself over and over as she clutched her cellphone in her hands, so tight that her knuckles turned white. The struggle to breathe was growing more and more intense with each passing second. Yeah, she'd wanted to stay in New York with April but not like this, definitely not like this.

'Inhale... Exhale... Inhale... Exhale...'

It took a minute to calm herself down, but she knew there was no turning back. Despite the circumstances, Amanda always did things for a reason; she brought them all the way across the Pacific when she was five for a reason. Was this a curve-ball? Definitely, but her mother had kept her alive for this long; there was no reason not to trust her now.

Get rid of your phone as soon as you can...

That really sucked, considering she'd only had this new smart-phone for a month. It had been her mom's way of softening the blow when she told Echo they'd be moving. "This way it'll be easier to keep in touch with April. It's always good to have an upgrade," Amanda had told her. Guess she technically didn't need the upgrade anymore.

Scanning the lab for something solid, she caught sight of a hammer on Donnie's work-table and deemed it worthy of this task: destroying her cell. With sweaty palms, Echo grabbed the handle and set her phone on the floor, then glanced over at the doorway to make sure it was fully sealed before demolishing the communication device.

Don't go back to school...

That would be a bigger issue; there was no way Kirby was going to let that happen when they rescued him. Which was something Echo was happy about since she'd go stir-crazy if she was locked up twenty-four seven with nothing to do but worry about her mom. But if the danger was as serious as her mother said...

There wasn't much she could recall about her years in Japan; everything before her time in New York was a blurry haze of fragmented memories. Some of the good were the sensation of a sparring mat beneath her bare feet as she trained, the smell of steamed rice and a man's cologne, pleasant evenings in front of a fireplace on her mother's lap. But then there was the sound of muffled shouting, the aches of her head and bones as her father continued to push her to her limits in the dojo, the wondering of what she'd done wrong as the man she looked up to gradually grew colder and colder toward his child, and a single sentence:

"You're an abomination."

Years later, those words still struck a chord in her heart that sent a shock of agony from her core to the rest of her body.

Echo couldn't remember her exact age when he watched her spar that fateful day. Her mom always said she was a late bloomer when it came to her training, always being a step behind her older sister. But it was that final fight against her sibling that hammered the last nail in the coffin. She couldn't have been more than five years old.

It was less than twelve hours later that Echo was pulled from her tear-filled sleep and whisked away by her mother, never to see her father again.

At least that's what she hoped for. Now that he was in the States, there was no telling if that dream would hold steady for much longer.

Echo sat down on the floor and pressed her back against the wall, her eyes finding the broken shards of her phone and staying there, mesmerized numbly by the carnage she'd created. She didn't know how much time had passed as she sat there with her knees pulled up to her chest, focused on nothing but her steady breaths and the pieces of glass scattered across the smooth pavement. But it felt like mere seconds before the lab door slid open and a curious Michelangelo peeked his head into the room.

"Heeeeey dudette, are you ready to-" The smile on his face was replaced by an expression of confusion at the sight. His pupils flitted from Echo to the phone, then back at Echo as he began to realize things weren't okay right then. "What happened?" He asked. Echo couldn't respond, just closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to her knees.

A moment later, she felt his presence as he slid down and took a seat beside her on the cold laboratory floor. He didn't say anything more, didn't try to pry or hug her in any way either; Echo didn't know if she was thankful for that. She was a hugger after all.

"I..." That little word broke the silence like a sledge hammer. A sigh escaped her lips and she leaned her head back against the wall, though kept her eyes closed. There was no way she was going to keep herself together if she opened them.

It was in this moment that something inside her shifted, something switched in her head and Echo knew exactly what she needed to say- or not say, in this case.

"I think the aliens hacked my phone," She told him with a small smile. Nothing too exciting, just enough of a grin to show that she was fine, followed with a layer of certainty to convince him that she indeed was telling the truth. "I was having a conversation and I could hear some weird noises in the background. Sounded kinda like those spaceships in Space Heroes."

"Then that was a smart move," He nodded towards the destroyed phone. "Who were you talking to? Your mom?" Though she was struggling to keep her cool, Echo managed a nod and stood up, keeping her eyes away from Mikey.

"The..uh...house caught on fire. Something happened with the wiring and things sorta spiraled out of control from there." She didn't like lying to people, but there was no way in hell she was going to burden this precious cinnamon roll with her jacked-up family problems. "I guess I'll be staying in New York a little while longer-"

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

***

It was the loudest shriek the brothers had ever heard, causing Donnie, Leo and Raph to all exchange surprised glances before bolting after Mikey into the lab. Thanks to Donnie's long legs, he was the first to enter the scene, followed closely by their leader and then the hothead of the bunch. Donnie practically threw the door to the side, sending a loud BANG through the rest of the lair.

"What happened? Is everyone-"

"Is everyone alright?" Raph plowed past Donatello with an unapologetic shove. Though the three had fear the worst, the scene before them was a little less concerning than they'd originally assumed. 

Although the room itself was in the same shape as it had been before, save for Echo's crushed phone, there was no sense of peace and quiet like a laboratory was supposed to possess thanks to the youngest of the turtles screaming and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Echo stood in the eye of the hurricane; though she didn't appear quite as enthused as Michelangelo, there was still a small grin on her lips and her shoulders shook slightly as she chuckled to herself. Her gaze was locked on the excited turtle; there was no concern for the damaged phone on the floor.

"What the hell is going on?" Leo questioned. Donnie reached out and snagged Mikey by the back of his shell when he was taking his tenth lap around the room, bringing the chaos to a screeching halt. "Mikey, did you break Echo's phone? I'm so sorry, Echo, we'll..uh... we can't exactly fix it but-"

"No worries, I did it myself." The three new arrivals to the scenario stared at her like she'd grown a second head. "Turns out those kidnappers were listening in on my call with my mom," She began to explain and folded her arms over her chest. "She could hear them in the background and told me to get rid of it as soon as possible."

"But that isn't the best part!" Mikey giggled like a maniac as Donnie held him two feet off the ground, still gripping his shell to keep him from wreaking more havoc on the scientist's work space. "Tell them what happened! Tell them what happened!"

"Well, the reason my mom called in the first place-"

"Her new house burned down so now she gets to stay in New York til her mom finds a new one!"

Raph was about to smack Mikey upside the head for interrupting but immediately paused mid-hit when his brother's words fully processed in his brain. 

"That's awesome! I mean..." Donnie let out an embarrassed laugh and rubbed the back of his neck as his cheeks began to turn red. "Sorry about your house, that must really suck." In honesty they were all thinking the same thing- yeah it was terrible that her new home was destroyed, but that meant their new friend would still be around for a little longer. As if fate itself had stepped in on the boys' behalf and magically lit a fuse. Echo laughed.

"You don't need to be sorry on my account, trust me. I'm glad I've won some extra time in town too." They could tell she was being genuine with her words, though there was still a slight glint of sadness behind her eyes. Understandable- they would've been a little bummed too if their belongings had been lost to a blaze of inferno. But it was Leo who caught on to her inner grief first and decided to lift the mood.

"Well, now we can get back to hide and seek."

***

Since it was Echo's first time playing hide and seek in the lair, Leo would count for sixty seconds before beginning his search, giving them all plenty of time to find places to disappear from sight. 

"You guys should just give up now, we all know who's going to win this thing," Mikey smirked as the four of them stepped out of the lab. "There's a reason I've almost never been 'it'."

"And that reason is because you get frustrated and give up twenty seconds after counting," Donnie retorted, to which Raph and Echo chuckled while Mikey just rolled his eyes.

"We'll see about that," was all the youngest said. With a cocky grin, he sprinted in the opposite direction, leaving the trio to themselves as the timer continued to tick on. Donnie turned to Echo with just as much confidence.

"Follow me, I'll show you the best spots-"

"Nope," The teenage girl silenced him with a wave of her hand just as Raph was about to protest his brother's statement. "Nope, nope, nope. I appreciate the thought but I want to win this fair and square. There's no glory in winning if you don't do it by yourself." She smiled smugly, pushed up her glasses and cracked her knuckles. "You guys are going down."

"In your dreams, blondie," Donnie grinned, then headed for the pit that served as their living room. And then it was just them, Raph and Echo once more.

"You sure you don't need any help?"

Echo scoffed and started walking towards the kitchen, Raphael keeping pace beside her.

"What the heck are you talking about?" She questioned as they walked past the fridge and stove. Without hesitation, she knelt down to the floor and opened the cabinets, assessing what items lay inside that she could possible squeeze between. Pots and pans, just as she thought, but not as many as she was expecting. The best part was that there was no way any of the turtles could fit their shells inside, making this the last spot Leo would check for his brothers. Yes, the cabinet would do nicely.

"I mean, you might need someone to shut the door behind you." He leaned against the island and stretched in a relaxing manner, as if he had all the time in the world. Echo continued to shuffle the dishes around til there was enough of a spot for her to squeeze her frame into. "Unless you really have this all handled-"

"Raph, I'm flattered that you want to hide with me in this very small, confining space," She teased and began to scoot herself into the little nook. "Believe me, I'm sure we'd have a great time. But I'd get a move-on if I were you. Wouldn't want to lose to me, I'd never let you live it down." And with a playful wink, she stuck the rest of her body inside and swung the small door closed behind her.