It was nearing midnight when Mona Lisa entered into the sewers of New York. Still adjusting to her new home on Earth, she would often struggle with finding her way through the city's underground tunnels but eventually she made her way to the Turtles' lair. She has always been impressed with her boyfriend and his family's place of living. Despite the revolting smell (one that April has assured to her that she will get used to), the lair was very spacious and strangely cozy. From the natural light of the surface coming in from an unknown source, to the worn out but still comfy furniture, it gives a welcoming feeling anytime you enter.

Making her way through the entrance of the lair, Mona Lisa looked around. It was quiet. Strange. The place appeared empty. Often when she visits the Turtles home the place is roaring with life. Her beloved Raphael, she would find punching the training dummy, Michelangelo would be playing his video games begging for her to join him, an explosion would then suddenly erupt from Donatello's lab followed by a lecture from Leonardo, but tonight was different. No one was home.

Except...

"Oh, hi Mona,'' a gentle voice says, surprised by the appearance of the Salamandrian lieutenant.

Turning, Mona Lisa spots Raphael's brother and leader of the Hamato Clan, Leonardo. She could assume he had just come from the kitchen, for he held a plate of reheated pizza. The blue turtle gave Mona Lisa a friendly smile as he followed his greeting with a question, "What brings you here?"

"Hello Leonardo. Is Raphael here? We have a training session planned for tonight. I promised him that I would teach him a few fighting moves from my planet."

"Sorry, Mona, but Raph's not here," Leo tells her, "He went out with the others for a nightly patrol, he won't be back for a few hours."

"I see..."

"You're welcome to hang out here until he gets back."

Mona smiles, appreciating his offer. Making her way inside the Turtles' lair, Mona sits down on the couch in the main room. Nearby, Leo sits on the singular bean bag chair in the room, multitasking by munching on his pizza while reading a magazine he hand rolled up and tucked into his belt to carry.

The Salamndrian looked on at Leonardo, studying him. She found it odd that he of all people was staying home instead of being out with his team. Isn't he the leader? Mona knew that this action is out of character for the blue turtle. A mystery, and the only way to get answers is to ask.

"Why aren't you out on patrol as well?"

Leo swallowed his bite, taking a napkin to clean the grease off his face before explaining, "My brothers said I've been working too hard and need to relax, so they forced me to stay home while they handle the patrol for tonight."

"That's very kind of them."

Leo softly smiles, "Yeah, I guess it was."

The two then fell into an awkward silence, hearing nothing but the faint sound of a far off subway train racing by on its tracks. It was the uncomfortable silence that made Leonardo and Mona Lisa realize one thing. They had nothing to truly say to each other. They had nothing to talk about. No similar interests or things in common (that they know of). They don't even recall ever being alone together in the same room before like they are now. It felt strange to them both. They've known each other for a while and yet they never truly spoke to each other until this very moment. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to make up for those missed opportunities.

"You know," Leo said awkwardly, breaking the long silence, "Raph won't be back for a while. Maybe we could kill some time."

"What are you suggesting?" Mona asked curiously.

"We could maybe... get to know each other a little bit?" Leo sits up from the bean bag chair, joining Mona on the couch, "You are dating my brother after all."

"Huh, I suppose you are right."

It grew quiet again. They didn't know how to start this conversation with each other. They both can't truly blame themselves however. Mona Lisa usually only spends time with Raphael, and Leonardo never put in much effort to really talk to Mona until now. Of course, when he first met her, he completely dismissed the idea of teaming up with her and her commander to get off the ice planet, and even after they became allies, Leo and Mona never had a chance to talk. Anytime Leo does see Mona it is either just a quick greeting and they go about their lives or they're in the middle of an intense battle fighting a common enemy where there is no time for friendly chit chat. But now, it is different.

"So, uh, you like living on Earth?" Leo started.

"Oh yes, I like it very much." Mona says, "Slash and his comrades have been very kind to me and making me feel right at home."

"That's good."

"Are you enjoying your evening of relaxation?"

"Y-Yeah, it has been pleasant to say the least."

"That is good to hear."

The awkward silence returned once again. Leo didn't know how or what to talk to her about. Why was this so hard? Common ice breakers aren't doing this conversation justice. Leonardo knew he had to try a different approach.

"Umm, you know, Mona," Leo begins again, trying to keep the conversation alive, "I think you and I have more in common than we think."

"Really?" her interest was piqued, "How so?"

"Well, umm..." he begins to think, he didn't expect her to ask, "We both... fight with a sword and... wear blue?"

"That's not really a logical answer."

"Okay, but still. I'm sure there's something we have in common and..." He gets awkward again as he adds, "We could possibly become friends over it."

"Like...?"

"Like..." Leo begins to think again. There must be something he and Mona have in common, or at least something for them to bond over. He doesn't want to be just a stranger to her. This is his brother's girlfriend after all! Who knows? She could become a part of the family some day if Raph decides he wants to settle down with her. Ironically she would fit right in with the renaissance naming theme in the family.

That's when an idea came to him.

"Oh! Our names!"

Mona looked at him confused, "What about our names?"

"Well, on Earth it kind of has a history behind it. Your name comes from the famous painting 'The Mona Lisa' by Leonardo Da Vinci, the artist that I am named after. We're the Da Vinci duo!" He laughs, hoping that will lighten the mood, but Mona Lisa's face of confusion was not helping.

"Are you suggesting that you and I should form a close association all because our names have a historical connection on your planet?"

"Uhh, well, that doesn't have to be our main reason..."

"And you are aware that 'Mona Lisa' isn't my real name?" she adds, "It is my nickname Raphael gave to me when we first met."

Leo sighs, accepting defeat, "Nevermind. This isn't working out."

"Leonardo, I'm sorry," Mona tells him as she watches him get up from his seat, "I didn't mean to come off as harsh."

"It's fine," Leo assures her, "You can hang out here while you wait for Raph. I'm just going to watch my show."

Leo went to sit in front of the TV in the main room of the lair. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. In a flash, the screen began playing the blue turtles all time favorite show, Spaceheroes.

Mona Lisa sat alone on the couch, feeling ashamed for the failure that was bonding with Leonardo. She did appreciate his attempts to befriend her but they were not sensible. Using a name similarity or a choice of color in their clothing to bond over can't automatically mean close friendship. No. Mona prefers true connections to be formed with each of Raphael's siblings. For Michelangelo, she bonded with him over cooking, with him making her different cuisines from Earth (mostly trying different pizza toppings to help determine her favorite kind of pizza), along with always enjoying hearing his crazy made up stories. For Donatello, it was science, with Mona Lisa assisting him in his work, thanks to her knowledge in intergalactic engineering, that have truly helped his inventions. For Karai, though the two often butt heads, Mona enjoys the occasional sparring matches with the Foot Clan leader and exchanging stories of battles they took part in. But for Leonardo? Nothing. There must be something they can bond over. But what?

Suddenly the sound of a blaster from the television caught Mona Lisa's attention. Looking up, Mona saw an intense animated battle going on in an intergalactic setting she was all too familiar with on the television. The colorful action, unique character designs and outdated but still entertaining animation piqued her interest as she got up from where she sat and approached Leonardo.

"What are you watching?" she asked curiously.

"Spaceheroes," Leo smiles just from saying the title alone, "The greatest TV show in the entire universe!"

"The universe you say?" Mona carefully sits down on the floor next to Leo, even more intrigued now, "What is it about?"

A spark shines in Leo's eyes, no one's ever truly asked him that question before. When he mentions Spaceheroes he gets the common response of an eye roll followed by an annoyed scoff, but Mona, she seemed to truly be interested.

"It's about the fearless leader Captain Ryan and his team traveling the galaxy and fighting all kinds of intergalactic threats! It has a lot of cool sci-fi action scenes and futuristic tech, along with a very cool and well thought out plot! Not to mention Captain Ryan himself!" he lovingly sighs, "He's my idol..."

Mona giggles from Leo's excitement, she's never seen him act like that before. It was delightful to witness, "That sounds very interesting. I've never seen entertainment like this on my planet before. May I watch with you?"

Leo's eyes widened. No one's ever wanted to willingly watch Spaceheroes with him before, let alone be interested in it. He smiles at Mona, nodding excitedly, "Of course!"

As the clock neared close to striking four in the morning, Raphael burst into the lair panting. While on patrol he remembered that he stupidly forgot that he made plans with his girlfriend that night. Raph panicked when he realized he was nearly four hours late for his training date with Mona Lisa that he left his two brothers to finish the patrol alone and ran back home as quickly as he could.

As he entered the lair, Raph was out of breath, exhausted from running. Inside he spotted Mona Lisa still in the lair. He couldn't imagine how furious she must be with him for being so late. Being punctual has always been very important to her.

"Mona, babe, I am so sorry I'm late," Raph quickly says, approaching her, "I know we had a training session planned for today, but I got side track and the guys and I wanted to-"

"SHHHHHHH!!" Mona shushes, before turning back around to face the TV screen.

"Uhh... What's going on here?"

"Captain Ryan is about to save Dr Mind-Strong from the Thrygons!" Mona quickly explains excitedly.

"Don't forget that Crankshaw is possessed by the Emperor of the Grinix Tribe and has taken over their spaceship and has the rest of the crew held hostage!" Leo adds, his eyes sparkling from the thrilling knowledge.

"Oh yes! How is Captain Ryan going to get his team out of this mess?!"

Raph was utterly confused from what he was witnessing, "Did... Did I miss something?"

"You were running late so I invited Mona to watch some Spaceheroes with me."

"It's a very entertaining show, Raphael," Mona tells him, her eyes glued to the screen, "I'm surprised you always dismiss it."

"But Mona, what about our training date? You were gonna teach me some moves, one on one, remember?"

"We can do it another day. We are soon about to finish the 5th season and Leonardo promised we'd watch Spaceheroes: The Next Generation next!"

"And don't forget the prequel movie that came out prior!" Leo adds.

"Yes! We can not forget about that!

"Leo!" Raph shouts, finally realizing what has happened, "You turned my girlfriend into a Spaceheroes geek?!"

"Correction;" Mona smiles proudly, "I'm a Space-Nick!"

With a happy prideful cheer, the blue turtle and Salamandrian high five one another before returning back to watching their show.

Raph face palms himself in defeat as he watches the two locked in a trance to the television screen. He was annoyed but he couldn't bring himself to be mad. Mona Lisa did seem to be enjoying herself and Leo finally had someone to share his passions with. Raph couldn't help but smile at the thought. An unlikely friendship blossomed that night for the new found Da Vinci Duo, with Raph watching on as his brother and girlfriend bonded over their favorite TV show.