Destiny still feels like a shell of someone she used to be. She doesn't think she's acting all that different save for being a little more on edge and aware of what's going on around her, and yet, she still notices that which has indeed changed. She can't watch some of the TV shows that the turtles watch, even though she too used to enjoy them, because the blasts and the bursts of light send her to a place where she doesn't want to be. She avoids knives in the kitchen and eats food that doesn't require cutting. She jumps whenever someone lets out a scream, a common occurrence when living around Raphael and Michelangelo.

She spends more time in the dojo with Splinter, distracting herself with training. The distractions work in the daytime, but memories of her torture come back every night when her dream world is saturated with nightmares. It's always the same. She's alone, the turtles and Splinter arrive, Shredder destroys them and she's forced to watch, April and Casey demand to know why she didn't do anything, and once she's been abandoned again, Diaval asks her to join the Foot.

She keeps saying no, but it gets harder with every night that passes. Leonardo starts staying in her room, holding her close and helping to calm her down as she cries and trembles against his plastron, hardly able to get a solid breath in. When she jolts awake, he's the first reminder that her dream was just a dream.

She gets more comfortable with being close to him as the nights go on. The safety of his arms trumps any awkwardness she once had and is replaced with complete and utter relief. He's alive, his family is alive, nobody is coming for her.

Aside from her new habits, life in the lair is familiar. Leonardo told his brothers about his success at asking Destiny out. That subsequently caused Destiny to wander into the kitchen one morning to find three of the turtle brothers waiting for her, where she endured a good five minutes or more of good-natured teasing, complete with Donatello and Raphael arguing over paying off bets and Michelangelo singing, "Leo and Destiny, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

On this particular afternoon, a week or so after her rescue, Destiny is taking out her anger at the world—or just the Foot Clan—on the punching dummy that hangs in the main living area of the lair, near where April and Casey are watching a hockey game. She doesn't avert her eyes from the bag as her fists fly: one punch, two punch, three, four, kick, repeat. Her knuckles are starting to ache but she grits her teeth and bears it. She lands another hit, her nose wrinkles and her forehead creases, but she doesn't stop.

Raphael watches her from nearby, a glint in his bright green eyes and his lips quirked upwards. "Put more power in your shoulders, not your fist," he says. Destiny freezes mid-punch. "That way it won't hurt."

She looks back at him, her eyes widened and her fists still raised. "There's a proper way to punch?" she asks, glancing down at her clenched hand as the gears in her mind start whirring.

Raphael wanders forwards, motioning for her to turn towards him. She obeys, watching as he lifts his hand and taps his palm.

"Hit this," he states. She does it. He nods once and steps closer. "See, you're not using your shoulders or your back or your hips. Your arms alone won't give you enough power." He adjusts his position towards the bag, lifting his arms and making loose fists. He eyes Destiny, giving her time to copy his positioning. "Swing your hips and use those shoulder muscles to help you punch, okay? You weren't even moving before aside from your arms. Momentum is important."

"I didn't know you had to move," she mumbles.

He chuckles. "Well, now you do."

In a straight, fluid movement, his muscled arm snaps forwards and his fist makes impact with the bag, sending it swinging. He nods to Destiny, then steps back and motions for her to give it her own try.

She stares at the bag, bunching her muscles and flicking her fluffy tail. She inhales through her nose, exhales through her mouth, and swings.

A large, pale hand grips her forearm mid-punch, freezing her in place. The Shredder stands where the bag once was, his evil eyes glaring into the wild ones of the mutant.

"It's almost time," he says, his low voice vibrating in her ears and making her entire chest seize up.

She can't move, she can hardly think. He can't be here, he can't, it's not possible!

"No...no..." she whimpers, her knees starting to buckle as his grip tightens around her arm.

"Des? What's wrong?" Raphael asks.

She can't bring herself to look away, yet her inner self wants to shriek, "HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE HIM?!"

Shredder shoves her down roughly and her knees hit the floor, sending resonating pain through the nerves that makes her wince noticeably. She growls and swings her free fist towards him but he moves like lightning. His hand encases her fist, twisting it and causing her to let loose a mangled scream. He pins her down in an instant, his foot braced against her leg and her knuckles starting to ache as he applies pressure.

"They're gone. You can't be alone much longer, dog."

"They're not dead!" she insists, trying to throw him off but finding every attempt to be futile. "They're not!"

"Please...stop," a softer voice comes in as Diaval appears behind Shredder, staring down at Destiny with a sort of pity in his pinkish eyes. "It's stupid to fight this."

She squeezes her eyes shut as her head starts to pound, as if her brain is trying to break through her skull and escape. She feels Diaval's rough fingers touch her forehead. Maybe they're right, perhaps it's time for her to listen. But...

She shakes her head forcefully from side to side. No, she won't listen. She absolutely refuses to ever obey.

Her eyes snap open and both the Foot Clan members are gone. The punching dummy swings harmlessly near her as she lays on her back. She stares at the ceiling, eyes wide and vision slightly blurred, tail spiked and claws unsheathed and digging into the floor as much as they can.

Leonardo and Raphael stare down at her, their expressions revealing their utter confusion and worry. Destiny faintly wonders when Leonardo even showed up as their hands gently push her up into sitting position and she tries to remember how to function properly. She blinks a few more times and the haziness disappears as she becomes aware of the fact that Casey and April have paused the TV and come closer to them.

"Des, what happened?" Leonardo asks. "What do you mean, 'they're not dead'?"

"Shredder...was here..." she whispers, her wolf ears flattening against her head as she presses the heels of her hands against her eyes. "Diaval..."

"What?" April asks.

Leonardo's brow furrows as he looks to his brother. "Raph? Did you see them?"

Raphael snorts, lifting his hands slightly as he shakes his head. "I would've done something if I had, Leo. She was just doing her thing when she froze up and started spazzing out."

"Dude..." Casey whispers.

Destiny tangles her fingers in her slightly multicoloured hair, taking in slow breaths. Two more pairs of footsteps approach, making her ears swivel in that direction.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Donatello asks.

"Is Desti-bear okay?" Michelangelo adds.

Destiny's wide-eyed stare remains latched to the floor. Leonardo's hand rests just below her neck, patting gently as her back lifts and falls. His hand drops to her tail and he smooths down the fluffed fur, making her feel just a little bit better.

"They...they were right there..." she whispers. "Just like...like..."

"It was probably just a daymare," Donatello interrupts, settling down in front of her. She casts a brief glance to his soft brown eyes, eyes full of gentleness. "You can get those when you're sleep deprived, plus if you've been dreaming about Diaval and Shredder lately—"

"I did...or, I have," she admits. "Almost...every night."

Donatello casts a quick glance to Leonardo. The blue-masked brother gives an assertive nod to confirm that what she said is true. As they pass along the look, Destiny gets to her feet and tries to stop her hands from shaking.

"Maybe you should relax a bit, dudette," Michelangelo suggests, reaching out to rest his hand on her shoulder. She tries not to flinch at the action.

"Yeah...I'll do that."

"How about some laboratory time? That's relaxing," Donatello offers. "I've got a project going that you could observe."

Destiny gives a dazed nod and follows the intelligent turtle in an equally dazed fashion. Leonardo motions to his remaining two brothers, April, and Casey. They begin murmuring to one another, not one look even remotely pleased, but Destiny doesn't turn back to listen in. She's occupied with other things.

Inside Donatello's lab, he immediately becomes occupied with a vial of mutagen and other chemicals, making frustrated noises every now and then. Destiny sits at a distance from him, her eyes lazily travelling his way every now and then to check on his progress, yet she doesn't ask any questions. His concentration is not something she wants to break.

Unfortunately, remaining silent becomes far too difficult for her to handle. "What exactly are you making?"

Donatello doesn't even look at her as he measures out an unknown liquid—at least, unknown to Destiny—into a vial. "I took a break from trying to make retromutagen, since I'm getting nowhere, so I started fiddling with..." he speaks slowly, as if speaking will ruin his chances of doing his measurements perfectly, "creams and medications that could help your scars heal. The sooner they do that, the sooner you'll stop looking at yourself as if your face is a piece of shredded meat."

Destiny's hand flies to her hair, combing through the curls even though they're already situated across her face. He doesn't notice her reaction due to the fact that he's more focused on his project than a cat perched outside a mouse hole.

She scuffs her foot against the ground. "Right, shredded meat," she repeats.

Her tone gets his attention this time. He looks up as a panicked yet apologetic smile adorns his lips. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I've just seen how you look at yourself, and I want to change that," he explains. "They're healing, but hopefully this serum would speed it up."

She shuts her eyes. "Could you make them go away?" she murmurs despite knowing at her chances are slim. He would have to reconstruct and replace all the skin that Emery got under her claws.

His hands cease in movement. He slowly looks up at her, his eyes already revealing his answer.

"I don't think so, Des," he states, tone gentle in every way. "The chances that something could work..."

"Slim," she says, finishing his thought before slumping back into the chair and tilting her face to the ceiling. "It's okay. I'll still try it."

"Glad to hear it."

----------

"Okay...moment of truth."

Destiny shuts her eyes as Donatello reaches over and gently applies a layer of his makeshift ointment onto her scars. She winces as a burning, tingling sensation spreads through her face.

She waits patiently until the burning fades away to cool relief, opening her eyes once it's completely gone. Her face doesn't have that stretched feeling anymore and that makes her smile just a little bit. She reaches up and touches the marks, finding that the skin is rather smooth to the touch although she can still feel where each mark is.

"Well? Did they go away?" she asks, only then directing her attention to Donatello.

Donatello doesn't say a word, his face twisting slightly as he steps back. A groan leaves him as he collapses into his chair. He smacks his head on his desk, gripping his mask tails in disappointment.

"No...they didn't go away," he mumbles.

"Can I see them?"

He points for a nearby mirror and she grasps it, lifting it up before her. She stares, unable to look away as a sick feeling curls in her stomach. The scars definitely didn't fade. They got darker. Instead of being pale or even slightly red, they're nearly black in colour and very, very noticeable.

"I'm sorry, Des. I tried, but..." Donatello says, his shoulders starting to quake. "I thought it would work! The mutagen must've done something, the cells—"

"It's alright," Destiny interrupts, putting the mirror back hastily and causing it to clatter against the tabletop. "It's fine if they're dark. I'll...get used to it."

He lifts his head and gives her a saddened look. "But...I wanted to make them go away. Are you sure—"

"There's nothing that you can do now," she says, swallowing past the tightness in her throat. As he purses his lips, she changes the subject. "Hey, do you still have my t-phone? I haven't seen it or heard anything about it since..."

"Oh. That." He rubs the back of his neck. "See, when you were kidnapped, Karai took your phone. We didn't manage to get it back when we rescued you, so I had to activate a self-destruct sequence," he says with a nervous chuckle. "But, I backed up all of your files and I built you a new one! I'll go grab it!"

He leaps up and bounds over to one of his workstations, rifling through various bits and pieces of who-knows-what before picking up a shell-shaped item. He heads back to Destiny and hands it over.

"Thanks Donnie," she says quietly, a tiny smile softening her mutilated face.

"You're welcome, Des."