Destiny doesn't hesitate to sneak out of her room that night. The turtles remain asleep, although she has no doubt that Leonardo will be up soon enough. It's like he has a sixth sense that tells him when she's leaving the lair.

She keeps going, pushing past the turnstiles and stealing away down the subway rails. She's not running away or anything of that sort, she just wants to go back outside, breathe in some fresh air, and sing to the moon again. After all, she doesn't know when the next time will be, and now she has a new song in mind that she learned thanks to the music library on her t-phone.

She reaches the familiar upwards tunnel that leads to her freedom and climbs up, shoving open the heavy manhole cover with everything in her, and shimmying out onto the road. She stands and does a quick scent scan before moving to the wall of nearest building and hurrying up the fire escape.

When she reaches the roof, she inhales deeply and stares up at the sky, where moon is shining brightly above her. She closes her eyes as the cool night wind rustles her hair, sending goosebumps up her arms.

She breathes, the lyrics of a moonlit lullaby rolling through her head as she starts to sing.

"And don't go to bed yet love, I think it's too early,
And we just need a little time to ourselves.
If my wall clock tells me that it's four in the morning, I'll give it hell."

Her voice is soft and lacks fullness, the words wobbling every now and then, but she doesn't care because she doesn't have an audience. It's only for her, a song for her soul.

"Cause I've been trying way too long
To try and be the perfect song.
When our hearts are heavy burdens
We shouldn't have to bear alone.

"So goodnight moon and goodnight you.
When you're all that I think about.
All that I dream about.
How'd I ever breathe without,
A goodnight kiss from goodnight you?

"The kind of hope they all talk about.
The kind of feeling we sing about.
Sit in our bedroom and read aloud.
Like a passage from goodnight moon."

She closes her eyes and howls, sending the haunting tune floating over the sleepy city and curling into the cool night air. She trails off with a soft sigh, lifting a hand to her throat and coughing once. She stays for a moment, gazing up at the brilliant orb in the sky as she imagines sprouting pure white wings and taking off into the sky with no more strings tying her down.

She feels a soft tug at the back of her brain, and for a split second she doesn't just imagine the wings as her vision goes slightly hazy. She can feel them, like if she took a few steps off the edge of this building, she could take flight.

She shakes her head and presses a hand to the nape of her neck as the tugging disappears and her sight clears. Destiny frowns and turns in place, sniffing the air as her intense eyes examine every hiding spot in direct sight, but nothing comes to her and nothing appears.

Unnerved, she heads for the fire escape and climbs down the building side. Reaching the sewer entrance, she slips inside and jerks the heavy lid back overtop with the grating sound of concrete and metal clashing.

Above her, a figure appears at the edge of the same building. He tilts his head and leans forwards slightly, adjusting his footing against the thin slab of brick keeping him from the ground below. It does little to help him, seeing as his boot slips on some loose pebbles and that sends him tipping off the ledge. He gasps and latches his hand onto the fire escape railing, his feet clanging against the metal and making a ringing noise emanate through the quiet night.

He curses to himself under his breath as he hauls himself back up onto flat ground, opting to stay sitting as he clutches his now sore shoulder joint. He stares down at the manhole cover, then glances at his hand as it tingles with magic. He makes a fist and shuts his eyes.

"Sorry, Master, still not ready," he mumbles.

----------

Destiny gets back inside the lair after sprinting the whole way back, her chest heaving with effort and her limbs trembling from adrenaline.

She makes a move in the direction of the bedrooms, but then her eyes fall on a figure on the couch with his katanas in hand. She sighs heavily, rerouting herself.

"Leo," she says as she closes some distance between them.

Leonardo turns to face her, a tired smile instantly brightening his face. A second later, it falls in lieu of guilt. "Oh...hey."

"Couldn't sleep?" she asks, monotone.

"I was waiting up in case you got in trouble."

"I appreciate the concern."

She takes a few steps closer, crossing her arms as she almost yawns. She blinks a few times and feigns interest in the blank TV set, forcing herself not to show any signs of fatigue. Leonardo keeps watching her, placing his katanas on the couch as he scoots over and gingerly pats the spot next to him.

She shrugs and hops down, settling in beside him without a fight.

They sit in silence, listening to the noises of the lair at night. The quiet isn't uncomfortable, Destiny finds. It's like when they went out on the rooftop together, where the silences they shared were just peaceful and not at all awkward.

"Des, you know that I—or rather, we...we don't think you're weak," Leonardo whispers, lowering his head towards his lap.

Destiny's ears flatten against her curls. "You guys act like it."

"We know, and we have our reasons. We've known a lot of good people who have gotten mixed up in the Foot Clan or have been in trouble," he says. "We just don't want to see something bad happen to you."

She purses her lips. "I've told you, I can survive on my own."

"Sure, but can't you let us help you?" he murmurs. She doesn't answer, turning her face from him. A heavy sigh passes his lips. "I just wanted you to know that we don't think you're weak, we just know that you can't fight against Shredder on your own. We have a hard time doing that when it's all four of us. So...yeah..."

"Yeah."

Silence.

Destiny yawns and stretches her arms backwards, which causes him to yawn soon after.

"We should get some sleep," he suggests, starting to get up.

Destiny grabs his hand instantly, stopping him in place. His fingers tighten gently around her hand, making her want to keep holding on to it for as long as she can. He looks back at her, not pulling away as he arches an eye-ridge.

"Do you want to watch something with me?" she asks.

He laughs lightly as he sits back down, slowly releasing her hand. "Space Heroes or something else?"

She places a finger on her chin, her tail starting to wag. She perks up and pushes herself off the bench, crawling over to the milk crate so VCRs that Michelangelo recently found—where he found it is the true mystery. She digs through it before pulling out a tape and holding it up.

"This one. It's got sci-fi, aliens, time travel, friendship, and romance all in one go, kinda like Space Heroes, but more modern," she states. "This is one of the only shows I remember watching as a kid."

Leonardo takes the VHS and squints at it, trying to read the fading label. "Nurse...What?"

"Yup. Trust me, I think you'll like it," she says. "We'll start with Nurse I, okay? I don't know if you guys even have Nurse A in here..."

His lips pucker slightly, forehead creased with wrinkles. "Um...I think that'll make more sense once we watch it."

"It will," she promises as she pops the VHS tape into the VCR.

She settles in next to him again. The first bit of the show starts up, showing some exposition and introducing characters, and eventually transitioning to the theme song. As soon as the music starts playing, Leonardo's eyes widen and an awed smile flickers across his face.

"Ooo...how can that telephone box fly?" he asks.

"It's a time machine, that's just how it works," she whispers back to him.

The turtle stares at the screen for a few more seconds. "I like this theme song."

"Doo wee doo..." Destiny whispers, making him smirk lightly.

Even as the show continues on, showing a British boy named Ross meeting Nurse H for the first time, Destiny finds herself looking at Leonardo more often than the screen. She's never seen his reaction to a new show, but she finds the results incredibly satisfactory. He's making the cutest faces as he watches, his eyes widening and his lips puckering as he smiles or frowns with the different scenes passing by.

After an episode or two, she feels her eyes starting to droop. The wolf girl slowly glances over at Leonardo, noticing his silence. His head is tilted back, his eyes closed and his breaths even as he sleeps.

Destiny looks along his face and jawline, lingering on the spot on his chin where there had been a light bruise before, her heart fluttering when she remembers the events that led to it being there.

She doesn't stop to think, leaning over and giving his cheek a quick kiss. He smiles lightly in his sleep, mumbling something as he slumps over and rests his head on top of hers.

Her entire body warms up and she wraps her arms around her chest in a folly attempt to contain the barrage of hypothetical butterflies growing inside her. She tries to keep watching the TV, but instead finds herself drifting off to the sounds of whooshing and the soothing voices of the actors on screen.