Destiny doesn't take her eyes off the building behind her. The shadows have eyes, every glint of passing light is a lurking enemy. She swallows, running a hand over her arm in an attempt to calm the goosebumps that have risen there.

The rest of the night goes smoothly for the mutant team. They don't run into anything that tries to kill them, which the turtles insist is a plus although Destiny disagrees; she wanted to use her new weapon. Leonardo remains unnecessarily anxious, constantly keeping a lookout and generally being as much fun as a stubbed toe.

Destiny removes her uchigatana and belt from her jeans as they enter the lair.

Splinter greets them as he usually does. "You have returned," he states, watching his sons flop into various seats around the living room. All except Leonardo, that is.

Destiny hands off her weapon, although the longing in her eyes isn't something Splinter misses.

"Yo, where'd the remote go?" Michelangelo asks, searching for the device on his hands and knees.

Donatello picks the remote up from the spot next to him and chucks it to his younger brother. The orange-masked turtle lets out a happy squeal and gives the remote a kiss before plopping down in front of the TV.

"We've got a problem, Sensei," Leonardo mentions, instantly causing Raphael to roll his eyes and exhale heavily from his nose. "Destiny didn't just get attacked weeks ago, Karai tried to recruit her to the Foot Clan."

Splinter's wise gaze switches to Destiny. She crosses her arms over her chest, her lips pushing outwards as her frown deepens.

"Oh, and when she refused, Diaval tried to manipulate her," the turtle continues, sweeping his arm out to her.

"Diaval...the Foot Clan archer?" Splinter questions. "Did you boys not tell me that he has never gone far from Foot Headquarters without Shredder?"

"Maybe the tin can loosened his leash," Raphael says, throwing his two cents in. "But yeah, Sensei, turns out the guy is some kind of wizard."

"A wizard who is only now using his abilities, and he's using them to get to Des," Leonardo says, effectively diverting the conversation back on track. "Karai said that Destiny is perfect for Shredder's next plan."

Splinter eyes the silent wolf girl. She doesn't budge, her jaw clenched, her hair windswept and messy, and her eyes stark with the look of a wild animal. The rat lowers his head and sighs.

"Destiny, is this true?" he asks.

She lowers her head, her black-streaked bangs falling over one eye. "Yes."

"Then it may be best for you to stay down here," Splinter advises, lifting a hand to his thin beard. "I will give you more training while my sons investigate this matter."

Something snaps in her. "What?! Sensei, I can't stay down here again! I'll go crazy!" she exclaims, throwing her hands out to the sides and shaking them. "I literally just got my freedom back!"

"I know I'm going to sound like a broken record," Donatello starts, swivelling around to look back at her, "but we want you to be safe."

"Do you have any idea what Shredder could do if he gets his filthy hands on you?" Raphael asks, cracking his knuckles and shooting the floor a wrathful glare overflowing with disgust.

"Sensei told me about the whole backstory," she says, a note of exhaustion invading her tone. "But safe shmafe, I don't give a crap anymore. I just want to get back to the way things were."

"Unfortunately, the way things were has disappeared," Splinter says, stepping closer to the distraught teen and lifting a hand towards her. "It will not be like this forever. This too shall pass."

"I don't want to think about what could happen," Michelangelo whispers, shutting off the TV that he had hardly paid attention to anyways. "It'll be bad, dudette...really bad."

Destiny doesn't respond to him, her ears flattening against her hair as her tail lashes. "So that's it? I'm trapped again?" she asks. The turtles fidget and do not meet her gaze. She scoffs. "Oh, but sure, Shredder wants to kill you guys but it's fine if you go out," she snaps.

"It's not like that," Leonardo insists.

"Then what is it?" she demands.

"We've been training longer," Raphael says.

"I've been up there fighting off muggers and creeps for just as long, if not longer!" she nearly screams, gesturing a hand to the surface as the fingers curl into her palm. "I've been up there my whole life! You can't ask me to stay down here and live like you. News flash, I'm. Not. Like. You."

"But you're not a kunoichi," Donatello points out.

Destiny stiffens as her arm snaps to her side, her bottom lip starting to tremble as heat floods her senses. Donatello's brown eyes widen as he gets to his feet, shaking his head and his hands back and forth desperately.

"I didn't mean it like that, I just—"

"No, I get it. It's perfectly clear," Destiny hisses.

She spins on her heel, storming off to her room. They call after her but she ignores them. Her inner voice screams at her, assaulting her with every stupid little fear that she has, fears that Donatello has confirmed. She's nothing to them. They don't think of her as an equal, she's just a homeless wolf girl: a naïve, stupid child with more determination than she knows what to do with.

She's not a ninja, and therefore what she does know is useless in their eyes, and that's what she always hoped wasn't true.

She locks the door to the bedroom and starts busying herself with unpacking one of the bags April left for her. She sets them all in open spots, hardly stopping to realize that she doesn't even know how to use most of the items. The mindless activities do little to cease her frustration in the end, making her shove the bag aside and flop onto her bed to start playing with her t-phone.

A soft knock sounds at her door.

"Go away," she growls.

"Des...I'm sorry," Leonardo says from behind the barrier.

"You're sorry?" she calls over her shoulder, incredulous. "Do you even understand why I'm upset?"

"I don't know exactly, but I can guess."

She exhales heavily and places the phone down with a rather forceful slam before striding across the room and opening the door a crack. Leonardo's dark blue eye comes into view along with half his apologetic face.

"Alright, surprise me," she challenges.

"You don't want to be trapped. Simple as that," he says.

A hollow laugh escapes her. "It's much deeper than that."

"In that case...I don't know."

"Exactly."

She goes to close the door again and he stops it, wedging himself into the crack and forcing her to keep talking to him. She takes a step or two back into the room, swallowing the lump in her throat as her hand tightens around the doorknob. Leonardo gives her a look that she can easily describe as that of a saddened puppy.

"I know it's my fault, that's why I'm sorry."

She exhales so fast that it comes out as a breathy laugh. "Leo, you always act like everything is your fault, so just stop it!" she orders, lifting her free hand to rake her claws through her hair. "Is it your fault that Shredder is coming after me, that he's making the surface seem like such a scary place?" she asks.

"W-Well...no, but—"

"I don't want to suddenly live in fear because of him just because all of you do," she continues, her eyes starting to itch and her voice starting to get louder. "I know that you all think I'm just some stupid mutant that got her ass kicked and needed to be saved. Well, I-I'm not! I'm strong, and even strong people get knocked down sometimes, so maybe you can stop treating me like I'm some innocent, sheltered little child and realize that I can survive on my own!" she nearly screams.

He visibly flinches at the volume change. She takes heaving breaths, an audibly rush of air escaping and entering her nostrils as she drops her head towards the floor and tries to stop her shoulders from shaking.

"This is why I nearly left all those other times," she croaks.

His face softens. "Des..."

"Goodnight, Leo."

She shoves him back out and shuts the door, leaving him alone with his thoughts.