Chapter Text
“You're not watching ya feet,” Raphael said, sweeping toward her and executing a perfect and gentle takedown. Or, it would've been, if Venus didn't instinctively charge into him instead of lean back and away like she should've. He tried to adjust, but he was too far into the move to actually pull back. His elbow connected in the soft spot of her shoulder and she yelped.
“OW! Bubba-” Venus' insulted shout quickly unfurled into a feral snarl following the very solid thump of a much heavier body hitting the floor. Raphael's 'oof' was almost as loud and had Michelangelo laughing himself stupid further inside the dojo.
Leonardo smiled quietly to himself from where he was seated beside their father, each of them enjoying a hot cup of tea. They looked on fondly while Venus took full retribution on their brother, dropping all of the grace of her ninja training to climb up to his plastron and wail on him with clenched fists like a true bruiser. There was nothing in it but anger, no finesse whatsoever.
“Get him, Vee!” Mike shouted, hands cupped over his mouth for volume even though his was already the loudest voice in the room, “use the chair!”
Raphael got over his shock in time to cover his face from a particularly nasty looking punch, his body shaking with laughter even though his ass was on the floor and he was essentially getting beat into submission by a seven and a half year old girl.
“Unbelievable,” Donnie said from Mike's side, chin propped in his hand. He'd been working on and off on a small project, but now the tech lay forgotten at his knee. “thirty minutes ago she was all focus and delicate hands while she soldered circuits.”
“She was reading classic literature before breakfast,” Leo pointed out thinking back on waking up to a little sister crawling into bed with him, book in hand, and the peaceful rest he found listening to her read to him. Leo himself only spoke up once or twice to help her through a difficult word, or explain a passage in the story so she understood it better.
Leo went back to watching as Raphael caged his arms around Venus and rolled. She wouldn't release him, not even when he pinned her to the mats and tried to pull himself free. Her swinging fists opened into a vice like grip around his mask tails.
“That hurt!” She said irritably, brown eyes alight with fire.
“It wouldn't have if ya had instincts to match your size,” Raphael, realizing that he wouldn't be getting away from her, leaned down instead to nuzzle her in an attempt to comfort. “Cripes, Vee. You're not supposed to charge at somethin' dangerous and ten times ya size. You're supposed to be smart and run from it.”
“None of you run,” She pointed out, but loosened her claws on him and turned her face into his mask.
Raphael pulled away enough to raise a brow at her, “Yeah, because we ain't snack sized like you.” He flicked her gently on the nose, to which she screwed her face up in irritation, “list ya strengths.”
“I'm fast,” Venus said with confidence, “I'm smart. I'm quiet. I know the best hiding places. I can disappear.”
“Right,” This time he tapped her on the temple, “notice that 'bullet proof' and 'big' aren't on that list?”
“I can be tough,” Venus argued. “I'm your sister. I can be as strong as I need to be, it just takes time.” There was so much feeling, so much belief and pride in her claim that it made their hearts squeeze.
Raphael's face softened, “You're the toughest of us, no doubt about it,” he agreed, and it meant something important to him and Venus both, “but the whole point of us being here is that you don't have to be that strong.”
Venus didn't like that at all and it was clear in her expression. She crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest, managing to perfectly balance on the curve of her carapace so she stayed facing up and staring in disagreement at him.
Rolling his eyes, Raphael settled more firmly over his arms, redistributing his weight and properly enclosing her in his embrace to cover her from the outside world. A guardian protecting his charge from any and every danger, even the ones that couldn't be seen. Venus calmed in his shadow, old, animal instincts telling her she was covered and safe. Her mutant ones reacted to the smell of a trusted sibling and most of the fight slid right out of her.
Whether she intended to or not, she was giving clear signals that she trusted him to keep her safe, just like she trusted Leo, Don, Mike, Splinter, April and Casey, but none more than her brothers and father. And that. That was special the same way she was. Raphael remembered climbing metaphorical mountains way back at the beginning, when Venus was the size of a turkey and terrified of anyone that so much as breathed in her direction, to make her feel this safe.
“Stay little for as long as you can,” He said quietly, looking into her big brown eyes, “let us keep you safe. Don't worry about gettin' big and bad just yet.”
Venus huffed dramatically and Raphael huffed back even more so just to aggravate her. Then, apparently forgiving him, she reached for his face and pulled him back down to nuzzle and scent him and released. Raphael got to his feet, scooping her up in his arm as he went and plopping her back down on her feet.
Little Venus made a show of wiping her palms off on her leggings then backtracked a few steps and slipped back into a low stance, feet apart and solid on the ground. Raphael eyed her for a moment and took his place again to try once more. This time, however, he came directly at her rather than simply do the katas with her. He wanted to see if anything he'd said had stuck, or if she was going to be hardheaded.
Venus focused in an instant, and just like he'd harped on her, she twisted and fled the opposite direction to put some space between them.
“Venus-” Leo's aborted shout went unheard as she deftly tucked around him before Raph could stop. Splinter lifted Leo's cup from his hand the same moment Raph collided with him and sent the two of them tumbling and wildly flailing at each other.
Mikey lost it, howling with laughter and stretching his entire body out to offer a high five to Venus. She took it, the light smack of their palms swallowed in the angry roars of their elder brothers as their turtle tumble weed shuddered with thrown punches and lashing kicks.
Then she settled on the seat Leo had just vacated and took his tea cup from their father's hand. She drank quietly from it and watched, prim and proper again while Splinter shook his head in fond exasperation at their antics.
*-*-*-*
Casey was exhausted down to the marrow of his bones, but damned if he didn't feel good after a night of running with the boys, kicking ass and making the streets of their city a little safer crook by crook. He stomped tiredly up to his apartment, shaking his still-tingly arms out while he peeled his gloves off and stuffed them into his jacket alongside his mask. Funny how a few minor wardrobe changes could make him look less like a hockey mask wearing horror to an every day joe on his way home from a long day at work.
He flipped his phone out to fire off a few texts- one to April for the sake of bugging her, another to Raph to let him know he made it back safe. He stepped into the elevator and punched for the fifth floor. He turned about in time to see a scrawny ass kid coming barreling down the hallway, bag over her shoulder and teeth grit like she had hell hounds on her ass.
“Hold the door!” She shouted, voice kinda high and kinda rough, girly but tough in a way.
Casey didn't even question it, either her being in a rush or some little kid being out by themselves at all. He swung his arm out to block the doors from closing and said, “Well come on, kid!”
She sped into the little suspended box with a heave and leaned right into his personal space to see the buttons. She tracked a dirty finger down to the lit one he'd already hit, nodded to herself, then leaned back.
Casey looked around one last time before he let the doors shut. He glanced down at the kid for a moment, caught her eying him up the way only girls or women did when they had enough experience to be leery of a man. It set his teeth on edge- this punk was just that. A punk. Way too damn young to have been harrassed.
She looked less than thirteen years old, coltish and soft under all of the street grime. Her skin was brown, eyes dark and hair that was thick and black. She had features, as young as they were, that were soft and sharp at the same time. Her clothes were ratty and torn, too thin to be wearing outside this time of year- and she had been outside, he could feel the cold radiating off of her and smell it- with a hoody on that was too baggy to be anything but intentional.
He took one look at her and instinctively knew she was tough as nails.
“What's with the golf bag,” She said suddenly, “and why so much stuff?”
Casey made a show of eying her the same way she'd done him, but was careful to keep his hands in sight and on his hips so he never looked like he was about to draw or grab for her. “Duffle bag sure is noisy,” He said, “what's with all of that clinking?”
She went stiff, leaned back on her heels and cut him a look that said he'd get his ass beat if he didn't straighten up. Huh. He hadn't gotten one of those since the last time he pissed April off.
“You didn't see or hear anything, you got me?” The kid said, giving him her best laser eyes.
Casey snorted. He was pretty sure he'd eaten hamburgers bigger than this girl. “How 'bout we cut a deal, kid?”
“I'm not a kid,” She snapped.
“Alright,” Casey nodded, like he was genuinely considering not giving her a hard time, “alright, princess,” Oh, if looks could kill, he'd be ten feet under and buried face down, “you don't say nothing else about my accessories, and I won't say nothing else about yours. You got me?”
“I got you,” She muttered angrily, face all twisted up and serious and for a moment Casey was thinking about another little kid. A little green one that was sneaky and quick and had attitude in spades.
God, he missed that little brat. Casey had been collecting some odds and ends since their last visit to trade with her. Venus, though she was rarely allowed out of anyone's sight and was only allowed to venture out of the lair with a full lineup of armed bodyguards and a pre-planned, cleared path, found some neat shit sometimes. She was always up for a trade, which was cool. Every once and a while he found some little treasures, too. It was their thing.
Casey coughed into his hand to hide the grin on his face, then returned it to it's proper always-in-sight place at his hip.
The elevator creaked to a stop and they waited for the doors to open. The kid waited until he started to step ahead before barging ahead of him, all but shoving him back. She beat feet down the hall, head turned and counting doors until she slowed down to a sneaky tip toe all the way up to what he assumed was her apartment. Casey lagged behind, hands shoved down in his pockets now and eyes focused on her.
Before she even opened the door it slammed open and The Grandma emerged, dressed in a comfy house dress and practical slippers, completely offsetting the stony look on her face. “Angel!” She said, “Where have you been, child?!”
Casey smirked at the name and the way the kid instantly bowed down. Also like Venus, whenever she was getting sternly lectured by her brothers.
A heated exchange of mixed languages filled the hallway, rapid-fire up until the point Casey walked past with a casual wave at Grandma, who stopped her tirade to lift bright eyes to him.
“Casey!” She said, voice warm.
“Good evening, Mrs. Gonzalez,” Casey greeted, tone just as warm. He knew the elder woman well, had swung by to help her with the odd favor now and then, as he had done for many of the people living in the building. He'd been aware for a while that she had children and grandchildren, though they'd never come to stay with her. Or, not since he'd moved in, at least.
Angel turned hellfire eyes on him, managing to look betrayed even though they were still strangers. He sent her a cheeky grin.
“You've met Angel? I'm looking after her, now.” The woman said, eying her grandchild with narrow brown eyes, “she's a handful, this one.” She muttered under her breath, then nodded toward him, “Casey is a police officer and he lives right down the hall. If you find anymore trouble, I'll send him after you, understand?”
Angel's head snapped around to stare at her grandmother in disbelief, “Him?!”
“Me,” Casey said, nudging her with an elbow as he moved past, “don't worry, Mrs. Gonzalez! I'll keep an eye on her!”
“I don't need you!” Angel snapped at him, swinging a bony elbow back at him.
Casey let it land even though he could have easily sidestepped it, faking a wince to make her feel better. “Ouch, princess.”
“I am not a princess!”
“Hush!” Grandma huffed, “Inside, now! Your brother and I have been worried sick about you!” And just like that, Angel was hustled inside.
Casey whistled as soon as the door closed behind them, “Shit,” He said with feeling, sincerely hoping that there would never be a day when Angel and Venus crossed paths. Between their attitudes, Angel's toughness and Venus' hardheadedness, the entire city would be up in flames. Talk about a super villain team up, they'd be unstoppable.
He'd have to get April to film every second of it.