Chapter Text
Was is bad that she could tell things were getting bad again?
Whenever she came home from school or her Foot Clan duties, her mom was usually in bed. And when she was awake, she’d go and give her daughter some depressing “life lessons” or talk about her strange past. She’d rant about how stressed out she was or how she hated living. All the while, Casey tried to listen the best she could and stay quiet. There was no point in giving her mother any extra stress.
Sometimes her old lady would talk about moving and achieving a better life. Cassandra Jones quietly knew that wasn’t possible.
It was weird. Casey almost preferred grunt work and algebra more than being around her mom. Was that bad? It wasn’t like her mother was abusive! She was just… sad.
And with all the constant night shifts, trying to keep the rent coming and food on the table, didn’t she deserve to be sad? Maybe she deserved to constantly ask if she was a good parent, and for Casey to constantly reassure that she was. Maybe she deserved someone to talk to about all her problems, since she couldn’t afford a therapist while supporting a child in New York City.
Still, she knew how this went. The night shifts were taking their toll. Her mom would be breaking soon. Casey knew this as a fact. She kept her backpack packed with enough clothes for two weeks for the inevitable crash. Sometimes her mother decided she couldn’t take it anymore and would kick her out of the house for a week or so. It wasn’t as bad as it sounded, really. Her mom loved her and she loved her mom. Casey just had too many things wrong with her for her mom to keep her head above water when things got bad.
Relationships were hard, as she constantly reminded herself. She would never bring this stuff up with her mom, though. She didn’t want to make her any more sad because that would only make Casey herself more angry and she hated being angry she hated it why couldn’t she just be normal this was unfair she was pissed she wanted to scream and bite and
But it was okay. She wouldn’t make any waves. She would do good in school. She would bring in some money to help with the rent. She’d be quiet at home and let her mom sleep. She could get the lead out in her grunt work. Her lieutenant knew she had spunk. She got put on a lot of combat missions. Fighting let her get all that energy out. Broken nose, shmoken nose. It made her feel alive.
True to form, when she came home from school, her mom was sitting at the kitchen table with an empty look on her face. The teenager sighed and searched through the cabinets. She heated up some water in the microwave and ripped open a tea bag’s packaging with her teeth.
Casey dunked the bag in her mother’s favorite green mug. She slid the mug across a messed up wood table. Her mom took it with shaky hands and started to stir. The brown-haired girl rested her head in crossed arms, watching the older woman take a trembling sip.
“I need you to pack enough clothes for a week or so.”
She’d already packed.
“You’ll be with your dad for a while.”
No, she wouldn’t.
But she wouldn’t tell her mom that. She had too much on her mind as it was.
Cassandra Jones stood on the roof of her apartment complex, wrapping up her arms in red gauze. She took in a deep breath and pulled back, ruffling her short, choppy hair, and screamed into the sky. It felt nice to scream until your throat hurt. It got rid of all the pressure in her head, expelling itself outward in a violent display.
She panted for a moment, trying to regain her lost balance. Then she slapped herself in the face and roared. Now was not the time to be weak. It was time to be Foot Recruit. She took a small step back before throwing herself off the roof.
She ran from roof to roof, an exhilarated smile on her face. Wind bit at her face. Lights blared in her eyes. Distorted chatter rang in her ears. Her feet slapped against concrete. She wasn’t even aware of where she was going. It felt nice to just RUN. Adrenaline pumped through her body. A flash of green caught her eye. TURTLE.
She dropped in a roll against the roof. “FOOT CLAN!!”
“What?”
She swept a kick into his face, sending the turtle stumbling back. It was the red one. Good. She liked a challenge.
The red one was very large, with spikes all over her body and a large tail. And don’t think she didn’t notice her powerful, sharp-toothed jaws. She faintly wondered what her bite force would measure up to.
She launched herself in the air, looking to get a melee in to his torso. The large mutant narrowly evaded her, grabbed her by the backpack and tossing her away. She hit the stairwell, but quickly recovered into a boxing stance.
“What the hell are you doing?”
She proudly threw her fists in the air. “I AM TAKING OUT THE ENEMIES OF MY CLAN!” She stood straight suddenly, looking around. She only saw one turtle. Weren’t there supposed to be four of them? “Why are you alone? Are your brothers getting turtle food or something?” She looked her up and down. “It certainly seems like you eat a lot of it.”
“Hey!” He snapped, face lighting up with blush, “I thought you were taking out your enemies! What’s up with all this personal stuff?”
“I am simply checking if my enemy has reinforcements, red one.”
“My name is Raphael,” She clicked, rolling her eyes. “And what about you? You’re all alone. Should I expect any reinforcements from you?”
She pursed her lips and dropped her fists to her side. “No.”
“Guess we’re both alone tonight,” She bit. Casey finally took in a few details as reality got sharper. Tear streaks dripped from Raphael’s red mask down to his green skin. There was a small bruise forming on her jaw. It was a tad too old for Casey to have given it to him. He’d gotten into a fight.
“Did you get kicked out too?”
“What?”
She regretted the words as soon as they fell out of her mouth. That was really stupid, Cassandra. She dragged a hand down her blushing face. “Nothing.”
The snapper sighed. “You mind if we have a truce for a bit? I don’t know if I can deal with this tonight.”
Weirdly enough, she found herself agreeing with the sentiment. As the adrenaline of the run began to fade away, so did her energy. She was tired. “Okay.” She heaved herself on top of the building’s AC unit and crossed her legs.
“Really?” She sounded surprised. The giant turtle gave a sigh of relief and sat back down on the ledge.
Casey sagged her shoulders and pulled out a water bottle. She took a small swig before re-screwing the cap and turning to the green behemoth. “So, why are you alone?”
“Looking for weaknesses in the Foot Clan,” He said with an eyeroll.
“Ah. So, that’s why you are crying. You couldn’t find any.”
She stared at her incredulously. Casey didn’t particularly get why. “No, I was joking. I just had a fight my one of my brothers and came up here to hide,” Raphael looked up at her, “So why’d you get kicked out?”
“I didn’t say that,” She protested.
“Yes, you did.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“Did not.”
“Did too.”
“IT JUST HAPPENS SOMETIMES, OKAY?!” She burst, hands clawing the air in frustration, “It’s not like it’s a big deal or anything, okay? It- It’s just that sometimes I’m too much for my mom to handle so she tells me to get the fuck out for a week. It’s perfectly fine! And… And it’s not like she kicked me out to the streets! She thinks I’m at my dad’s right now!! It’s not like she hates me or anything we love each other a lot it just gets really hard sometimes but all relationships are hard right it’s okay it’s fine I’m just too goddamn stubborn to fucking-” Casey finally realized exactly what she was saying. She ripped through the air. “-CAN WE GET BACK TO FIGHTING NOW?!”
She was panting heavily. She didn’t get why. Raphael was staring at her now. She hated that look in his eyes. Pity. She was so goddamn tired of pity.
“My dad used to get like that too.”
Okay. She certainly hadn’t been expecting that.
The snapper traced a claw along the ground. “When I was little, sometimes he’d get super depressed and lash out. We’d have to sleep on the surface for a day or two. He’s gotten better, though,” She said quietly, “Kind of.”
Casey tucked her knees into her chest, avoiding the turtle’s eyes. She tugged at the fabric of her pants. This wasn’t fair. “Can we just get back to fighting now?”
“Sure. I could use an energy release.” To be perfectly honest, she hadn’t expected an answer. But the turtle was rising to her full height, rolling her shoulders and popping her neck.
Cassandra shrugged off her backpack and slid off the AC unit. She walked until she was just a few feet away from the behemoth. She pulled her fists in front of her face, getting into a hard boxing stance. The turtle got into a much more rugged stance. A growl rumbled in the snapper’s throat.
Casey roared and lept at him.
Raphael lifted his arms, blocking her kicks to his face. She propelled herself back before running back at her. She struck quickly, going for her stomach. She didn’t move quick enough on the retreat. Raphael punched her in the face. Her lip was busted. Casey grabbed Raphael’s fist as he went for another strike. She flipped over it, pulling him off balance. She kicked him in the snout. She felt something crack.
The giant turtle let out a guttural roar as she dove away from his fists. They were both grinning like absolute maniacs. She spat blood from her mouth and charged again. She kicked him squarely in the chest and dove between his legs. Her giant tail wacked her to the side. Shit. She’d forgotten about that. She screamed and jumped, going for his head with a punch. He blocked it, taking the hits with his giant arms instead.
“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!” Casey roared, blood dripping from her mouth.
“BASICALLY, YEAH!”
She jumped off his arms, shooting into the air and ready to kick him straight in the face. Raphael grabbed onto her ankle and slammed her into the ground. The air left her body for a second. The turtle moved the strike her when she was down. Casey flipped back, extending her legs to knock him in the jaw as she went.
“Too slow!”
Raphael smirked. “You know, if you keep being so mean to me, I’m going to end up falling in love with you or something!”
Casey laughed and ran back at him. She jumped into the air, giving multiple strikes to Raphael’s shielding arms. The last one sent her skidding back a bit. She dodged a punch from the snapper. A fist hit her abdomen. The air left her body. Her back hit concrete. She bounced back, running to attack. Casey got her in the stomach with a punch or two. Raphael stumbled back. A knee made contact with her gut. She was shot into the air. She rolled against the ground, her skin scraping.
It was like a dance. Fighting with Raphael, that is. It was a tiny, quick rat versus a behemoth cat. It felt amazing. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, even as she got hit or thrown away. People always held back on her, thinking she was all bark and no bite. Right now, she was being taken seriously. It was the best feeling in the world.
The human ran at Raphael. She got in the air, wrapping her thighs around his neck. She used the momentum to slam him into the ground. She promptly threw herself onto his torso. The air seemed to completely escape her. Raphael was wheezing and… laughing? She was laughing too.
“Do… Do you wanna crash at my place since you’re kicked out and everything?”
“Nah, man,” She replied, wiping away the blood on her lip, “My bosses will have a heart attack if I don’t get there by ten. Already told them I’d be coming.”
“Ah. I getcha,” Raphael said, panting, “Can you get offa me, pretty please? Raph’s having a hard time breathing.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Despite saying she wouldn’t get off of her, Casey proceeded to get off the snapper and go for her backpack. She pulled out her eyeliner pen and gestured for Raphael to give her her hand. The turtle sat up and gave her access to his hand. She hastily scrawled her number on the turtle’s bloody wrappings.
“Erm. Call me if you ever want to fight again. You are a worthy opponent,” She hated the heat in her face. This was so embarrassing.
Raphael quickly snatched the pen and returned the gesture, writing her number on Casey’s palm. “It’d be my honor. And you call me if you ever get kicked out again and you don’t got nowhere to go. You’ve got yourself a sparring buddy.”
Her eyes lingered on the digits for a moment. Casey was kind of a weird kid. She didn’t have too many friends and, for once, it seemed her olive branch had worked. “Okay.”