just the way you are

be okay without me

-----Notes------

So... here we are. Chapter three.

I'm unsure how to feel about this one, it's a little bit interesting, a lot of lore for this au and information offload. So yeah. If you have any questions about Kayla in particular and wtf is going on with her, just ask and I'll provide a sort of summary that doesn't involve piecing together clues.

Sadly there will be no Kaylatello yet, only like random hints most likely. Just wait until next chapter.

Also I was listening to some songs. "Wonder if she loves me" by JVKE really fits the first chapter in my opinion, and just Donnie's crush on April in general. I imagined the climatic bit near the end being when he got molecularly scattered and I got sad... And then I listened to "Wrecked" by Imagine Dragons, and imagined that's how the brothers (Raph especially) would feel about losing Donnie. I'm sad now. It's going to a rollercoaster with what I have planned. This entire fic is going to be worse than a black hole waterslide with a 50 metre straight drop, but hey, that's what i'm here for.

Anyway shellheads, enjoy!

_________________________________

Kayla Hoshito stood, hidden on the rooftop, her eyes travelling down to the quiet night-time streets of New York below.

Well, not her New York anyway, but the second version of it she'd come to call her second home. It was complicated, how it all worked, but she had a particular feeling she was looking for something- someone- in particular. As long as the damn turtles stayed out of the way, she would be good.

"Jones! Get your ass out here!"

She lived a fairly normal life back home. Well, she used to, until one day she discovered she could slip through the void between realms. It was a nice thing, because she had a life here that felt so much closer to who she was.

But that didn't make it safe.

"Jeez, I'm coming!"

And she was one of the only things stopping this New York from falling to Shredder. Compared to her normal life as an Eastside High student, this realm spiced things up a bit. Made her feel alive.

Even if fucking Donatello nearly blew her to shreds a few nights ago.

She gritted her teeth, a hand on her blade.

"Yes?" asked Casey. "What is it?"

"Have you seen Hamato Yoshi recently?"

"Yes," Casey Jones replied, his mask slightly muffling his voice. "He's with O'Neil."

Kayla sighed. Even at the best of times, April and Kayla clashed. They were both his Kunoichi, after all. And both of them were determined to free the city. The redhead was ruthless and slightly nuts... and Kayla considered herself more rational. She cared about the consequences, and who got hurt. Casey was a perfect balance, the vigilante morally grey in every way possible.

"Is... that an issue?"

"No, Casey. I had a vision from home. I need to find somebody, but I can't remember who..."

He laughed. "I'll never get over how weird it is that you hop between two realms."

Kayla grunted in annoyance. "Shut up, I'm trying to remember."

"Calm down, smurfette." He said, using the nickname he gave her for her midnight blue hair, so dark it was almost purple. Casey stood on the edge, looking across at her. "How about we go for a run? It might come to you."

"We're supposed to be on guard," Kayla said, looking Casey in the eyes disapprovingly. "We're supposed to be making sure that the freaking shell freaks don't attack Splinter."