Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I, Michelle Williams was born on a farmhouse in North Hampton, Upstate New York in 1971. I grew up in the farmhouse. I was homeschooled in the farmhouse. Truly, I never left the area the farmhouse was in. I never saw the point in it and my parents never encouraged me to. If anything, they ensured I never strayed too far.

I should have recognised that it was a red flag. I should have questioned where our extended family was. I should have realised that the weird identical doctors who visited every 2 months were not there with good intentions; that they weren’t even human. But why would I if it was all I had ever known?

Then when I was 18 I finally could go out and meet people. However, it was only under the condition that I would try to find a husband to continue our bloodline. I never saw any issue with my parents request as it was something always expected of the women in our family. 

While I was on a walk in a town nearby, I was overwhelmed by the amount of people around me. And then I accidentally bumped into a Japanese man who introduced himself as Nakahara Koji. He was visiting America for a few months. He ended up inviting me for coffee multiple times. 

We hit it off instantly. He was so sweet and interesting. Koji shared many stories about his travels and, as someone who was sheltered my whole life, I was completely enamoured with him. However, once I told him how I was raised, he looked disturbed. Conversation turned into questioning, and thanks to him, I realised that something wasn't right.

So I tried to find out what was wrong. Late at night, I looked through my parents' documents, trying to find anything. To my frustration, I found nothing. So I started heading back to bed. Before I even got to the stairs I tripped over the rug. Curiosity got the better of me and I moved it. And there it was, a basement. And so I went down. 

…

Sometimes I wish I never did. Ignorance is bliss after all. But I did, and I saw something that was seemingly impossible to me.

There was an actual alien spaceship. It sounds crazy I know it does. But it was real. And those weird identical doctors were there. 

One of them had its skin peeled off and underneath was a robot. A robot with a pink brain in its stomach that had a mouth and eyes. It was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen. 

Our family doctors were not human. They were aliens. 

And so I ran. I found a payphone and called Koji; Begging him to come get me. 

Once I was in his temporary apartment, I told him everything, though he looked sceptical. It's not like I expected him to believe me anyway. But he still held me. Reassured me that I was safe, that he would protect me.

He ended up offering me to come to Japan with him. While I was terrified of living in a whole new place (especially since all I knew was the farmhouse for 18 years of my life), he promised to teach me Japanese and that we would be together. That he wanted to be together. 

So I did.

I became Michelle Nakahara, and I ended up pregnant when I was 20. On the 29th of April 1991, my son was born. My sweet little Chuuya. He had strawberry red hair like me, and had heterochromia, one blue eye from me and one brown eye from my wonderful husband Koji. From the moment I first laid my eyes on him, I swore to myself that I would protect him. 

Unfortunately that wouldn’t last.

When Chuuya was 4, we noticed that he was unusually strong. So Koji contacted a friend. He was a scientist that specialised in genetics from what I understood. He introduced himself to me as Professor N. 

He took a sample of Chuuya's blood and he found something odd. His blood had DNA from something not human nor animal. He took a sample of mine and Koji’s too and found that the DNA came from me.

…

I didn't know what to say I..

..I wasn’t human? Not fully anyway from what I understood. 

I heard Koji and Professor N discussing it, Koji mentioning what I found in my family home's basement but the rest was static. 

I... I had cursed my baby.

I’m a curse, I'm not human.

I was putting Chuuya to bed when I heard the gunshot. Chuuya cried out in fear and I picked him up and held him in my arms. When I heard professor N's voice instead of Koji's I bolted out of the house and into the woods. 

I could hear men chasing after us in the forest. Chuuya was crying, my footsteps too loud.

Then there was another gunshot. Pain bloomed in my stomach and I tripped.

I told my baby to run.

...

The last thing I saw was men grabbing my baby. His begging and screaming stuck in my head like a broken record.

I had broken my promise. 

I failed him.

I was Michelle Nakahara Williams, now Michelle O’Neil. I am 25 years old and I am pregnant with my second first baby with my wonderful husband Kirby O’Neil. We live in my family's farmhouse. I met him after waking up from a 6 year coma. We had quickly fallen in love and he moved in with me since my parents  were killed moved out.

I gave birth to a beautiful daughter with my hair and eyes. I gave her the name April, like the month my son was born in like the month. I feel no need to leave my home, I’m exactly where I belong and so is my daughter. The family alien doctors that checked on me growing up checked on my daughter. They told me that she was healthy, perfect actually. 

Though I can’t help but feel like I’m forgetting something…

My daughter is 6 years old. My son would be 11 years old now. I forgot him. 

No, they made me forget him. Altered my memory.

Those doctors, they are aliens, I know that now. I know they want my daughter. That my daughter was perfect, exactly how they wanted her to be. 

But I won’t fail another one of my children.

…

I can’t.

…

I sat Kirby down and told him everything. My life in Japan, my first child (my son). Why I ran away in the first place (though leaving out the part where the doctors were aliens, instead saying they were scientists experimenting on my families bloodline). And he believed me.

So we packed, took April and ran.

Still, those creatures are smart, they knew this would happen one day. That I would remember.

Now They’re after us.

…

But I won’t let them take her.

Not again. 

…

As we raced through the woods surrounding the farmhouse, I felt one of those things grab me. Before Kirby even had the chance to turn back, I yelled to him to keep going because in the end, April was the number 1 priority.

And so they took me back.

They didn't need me anymore.

Just like they didn't need my parents anymore. 

...

I wish things turned out differently.

…

I’m sorry, my children.

I have cursed you.

Chapter Text

Chuuya was exhausted after hours of work. Unfortunately, it wasn’t from fighting; it was from paperwork. Goddamn paperwork, the bane of Chuuya’s existence. He was even given others paperwork, as he was the only executive who was working on Christmas eve, which only aggravated him more. 

While he now wished he had taken the day off, he didn’t take it because Christmas wasn’t something he really cared about. All it did was remind him how he didn’t have a family to celebrate it with.

But now it was the end of the day and so he left his office, locking it behind him and ignoring the subordinates he walked past as he headed down to the entrance (he did not want to interact with anyone else today). He left the Port Mafia headquarters and strolled through the city as he headed home. He decided to take a walk instead of hurrying back home to cool off after the day.

The sounds of joy from kids with their parents were loud, as if purposefully taunting him. Especially since recently, his mind has been filled with thoughts of his family. More so than usual. He wonders if his parents are still together, if they had another kid. If they are still mourning him or are even alive. He won’t ever know though. He knows that if he tried to find out, he wouldn't be able to leave it alone. And they don’t deserve to be pulled into his mess of a life. 

Before he knew it, he had reached his apartment building. He walked in, headed into the elevator and pressed the floor number to his penthouse. 

Finally, he will be able to open a bottle of wine, sit on his couch and relax after a long, tiring day of work and pretend like the universe does not hate him. 

… 

The universe hates him. 

Of course, as soon as he entered his place he was greeted with Osamu's stupid face. “Chuuuyaaaa!” He called out, clinging onto him. “Get the fuck of me you stupid Mackerel.” Chuuya gritted out, pushing Osamu away leaving him pouting. 

“Oh you wound me Chuuya. After all the hard work I just put in to make you happy this is how you thank me?” Osamu teased. 
“The hell are you on about?” Chuuya muttered as he stomped into the living room. 

To his surprise, a moderate sized Christmas tree was standing near the living room window, decorated with lights and ornaments (how the hell did he find slug and mackerel ornaments?). Then, he noticed one present sitting underneath it, wrapped and all with ‘slug’ written in kanji. “...You did this?” Chuuya was stunned that Osamu put actual effort into something. The brown haired man huffed playfully, “Wow, you really have no faith in me.” The red haired man rolled his eyes and walked over to the tree, picking up the present frowning.

“I really don’t trust this…” He mumbled, tearing the wrapping to find a folder with what looked like… paperwork. “Of fucking course, I spend all day doing paperwork and you have to make an elaborate joke of it,” He snarled. Osamu rolled his eyes and for once, the annoying smirk on his face was gone, “Read it, Chuuya.”

And so, he sat down and read the content. He quickly realised that these were documents about his family. While he usually would have cursed out Osamu for putting his nose where it doesn’t belong, he ended up staying silent as he continued reading. 

From what Osamu found, the day he was taken away by professor N, his father was murdered. While his mother, Michelle (Who was apparently American), had seemingly fled back to America where she remarried to a man named Kirby O’Neil and had another child- a daughter named April O’Neil. However, his mother disappeared 6 years later. 

“…Why did you do this?” The shorter man questioned. 

Osamu tilted his head, looking at Chuuya as if it was obvious, “Because you wouldn't do it yourself even though it’s eating you alive.”

For a moment, the ginger man glared at him. He was always able to read Chuuya like a book. And while it pissed him off… It was nice to know that his husband (he questions sometimes why he ever said yes to that) did care to some extent. 

He looked back at the documents and sighed, “and what exactly am I supposed to do with this information?”

“Whatever you want, you could bury it in your closet to never see the light of day again, or… You could go find her, maybe you’ll be able to get some answers.”

Osamu got up, and strolled towards the bathroom but stopped at the door. “By the way, you’re cooking tonight!” He exclaimed with his voice annoyingly cheerful and locked himself in. 

Chuuya let out an even louder sigh. He carefully put the documents back into the folder and got up. He steered towards the kitchen, and took out the ingredients for dinner (totally not with a smile on his face); the most important ingredient being crab. The least he can do for Osamu for the gift and silly decorations, even if he is too nosy for his own good.

Once food was ready, they sat at the table eating their dinner as Chuuya complained about work. Though one thought kept running through his head.

It Turns out he does have someone to celebrate Christmas with after all.

He stared at the address belonging to April O’Neil as he boarded his private jet. He still didn’t believe he was actually doing this. Going to America to meet his half-sibling. 

It wasn’t too hard to get a vacation, it’s not like he took days off often. But even then, he had a feeling that Boss somehow knew what he was doing, or maybe he didn’t. His enigmatic smile always threw him off. Fucking geniuses always messing with him. But he won’t think about it too much or he’ll talk himself out of going.

And so, he sat down in one of the luxurious chairs with a glass of wine. When the jet’s bathroom door burst open, he wasn’t surprised to see the bandaged man with his irritating smirk wandering out. He simply looked out the window as his husband lay his head in his lap. 

Chuuya took a deep breath as his mind became quiet with Osamu’s touch. He forgot how much Arahabaki influenced his thoughts. Reminds him he’s just a vessel, a weapon.

He mindlessly ran his fingers through Osamu’s hair. “Couldn’t let me go alone could you?” Chuuya stated. The other man shook his head slightly, “Nope, someone’s gotta keep my dog in check.” The blue-brown eyed man scoffed, but was too wired to argue, “Keep telling yourself that.”

Osamu ended up getting some whiskey and spent the rest of the ride purposefully bugging Chuuya. And if they held hands the whole time, the plane crew valued their lives enough not to say anything. 

Chapter Text

The sun rose at 5 in the morning. And with no blinds covering the windows, the bright sunlight shone into April’s eyes waking her with a groan. She got up, long used to being woken up at 5 in the morning for training. 

She groggily walked down the newly installed stairs that stayed silent under her feet. She entered the kitchen and reached for the kettle, filling it up with water and leaving it to boil; then she prepared 2 mugs with tea.

Meanwhile, she put her lighter in her pocket and placed the box of the new Sakura incense sticks she bought last week onto the counter. She filled up the mugs with water and picked them up while she used her powers to lift the box of incense sticks and a jug to follow close behind. Truly, her psychic abilities have made multitasking much easier. 

She left through the front door and moved towards the tree marking the placement of Master Splinter's grave. She bowed in respect before using her telekinesis to wipe off the leaves that fell on the grave overnight. Other than the leaves, the grave was clean as she took meticulous care of it. Then gently, she set down the mugs of tea on the stone. 

Next, she carefully grabbed the box floating in the air and unwrapped it, placing the sticks into the incense holder. Simultaneously, she filled the jug with fresh water from the stream nearby (at this point it was muscle memory), which she willed back to her and used it to water the flowers growing around the grave. It has been a dry week and she doesn't want them dying. 

Once done, she took out the lighter and kneeled in front of the grave, lighting the incense before blowing it out. She allowed the scent of the smoke to fill her with a quiet that she only felt when she was in the lair, watching some old show in a pile of pillows and blankets with her brothers by her side. Or when being taught to ice skate by Casey. 

She raised her mug of tea to her lips and took a sip, closing her eyes. Moments like this, it’s easy to pretend that she is 16 again. Stuck in the sewers because she was being hunted by aliens and training every morning one-on-one. Sharing tea with Master Splinter afterwards. Being involved in the chaos of breakfast with the turtles. 

It’s easy to pretend, yet so hard to accept that things have changed. That she lost another father. 

She opened her eyes, and gazed at the photos framed on the grave. One of them was of the turtles and Splinter, another of her and Splinter, and the last one was of him when he was human with his wife and daughter. 

She took a small sip of her tea and took a deep breath. “Good morning Sensei. The renovations are going well, all I have left to do is get new furniture.”

“...The boys are doing well, things have been quiet in Manhattan from what they’ve told me. Donnie has found antipsychotics for Leo which we hope will help him. It’s been really hard for him since you died over a year ago.”

She went silent for a moment. 

“I tried to help as much as I could. I know how hard it is to lose your father so I’ve tried to support him.” 

April lets out a humourless laugh, “and yet here I am, focused on renovating the farmhouse instead of being there with them.”

The blue-eyed woman took another drink of her tea. “I know they told me to come out here, take some time for myself. Yet… I feel guilty when I spend time resting. It’s probably why I chose to start renovating the place.”

She sighed, “though the place definitely needed it. Getting rid of the kraang scout ship was a pain but Donnie took the parts for personal use, which is not a surprise,” Her lips curled into a small smile.

“Raph has been working on his anger issues and Mikey has been teaching himself how to cook proper meals. He would be a great chef honestly, as long as he keeps the gummy worms away from his cooking.”

She tilted her head in thought, “Karai has been doing well as the leader of the foot clan, also she’s been dating her witch right hand for months now which we had no idea about until recently. You should have seen the turtles faces when they found out.”

…

“I..”

… 

“I miss you Splinter.”

…

“The worst thing is, you knew it was going to happen. Maybe not how, but you knew you were going to die that day.”

Her eyes welled up, “If you had just told us maybe..” She wiped her eyes taking in a shaky breath. 

“Sorry Sensei. I know I can't change the past. I just hope that wherever you are, you got to reunite with Tang Shen. And that you’re happy and maybe, you still watch over us.”

Finishing her tea, April picked up the other mug and stood up. She bowed goodbye and headed back inside of the farmhouse where she still had work to do. 

April had planned to have the farmhouse as a sort of summer home for her and her family. She had already planned who would be in what room. The 2 bedrooms on the second floor would have 2 of the couples. In one would be Casey and Donnie and the other would have Raph and Mona. 

The basement and attic were both transformed into rooms with the basement being Mikey and Leo’s while the attic was April’s, though also Karai and Shini’s if they decide to join. To make this possible, stairs were installed that lead to the rooms. 

Now all that was left was decorating and furniture which she spent hours online shopping for. 

You may be questioning where April got all this money from. Well to afford it: Donnie has created online courses and offers online tutoring, April used Kirby’s net worth that went to her and her savings from part time jobs she had from the past 4 years and Casey’s career in ice hockey has been doing pretty well the past year. Therefore, with everyone chipping in it wasn't too hard to afford the renovations. 

Now that it was nearly done, the farmhouse was truly starting to look like theirs. 

And so, April decided to get out food for the chickens and went outside to feed them while humming under her breath. Dr Cluckingsworth MD greeted her and April smiled at her, “Hey Doctor, I'm sorry that we haven't had the chance to talk, I’ve been busy.” She clucked and April could sense her understanding so she simply nodded and headed back inside. 

Finally, she had a moment to look through her mothers things. She had been putting it off for a while but she can't avoid it forever. So she took out the box and found photo albums inside. There were photos of April when she was 1-6 years old. She forgot how similar she is to her mother appearance wise. 

She looked further inside the cardboard box and spotted a diary. She ended up looking through it. It seemed normal enough, her talking about her hopes for April, her love for Kirby and her fears. 

Though, April thought it was odd that the first entry was only after she met Kirby. Usually, people have diaries in their teens but there was no sign of one. Furthermore, there was no sign of her mothers parents which is even more strange since they owned the farmhouse before her mother. 

But April knew there was no point on dwelling on it. Especially since it involves the Kraang and honestly? April doesn't want to even think about them. It brings too many unwanted memories. And well her life has finally become stable enough and she doesn't want to ruin that by searching for more answers. 

Little does she know that a man from Japan is about to barge into her life and rattle her world once again.