"Come on in," April greeted. "Make yourself at home."
"Okay... thanks," Momo answered.
The young woman stepped through the front door and removed the shoes. When April extended an invitation for her to come over for lunch, the thief partly wondered if this was a joke of some kind. Yet the young woman voiced that a day out would give them a chance to get to know one another. Especially since both would be working alongside the turtles.
The place looked cozy. The walls in the living room were painted a light blue and had a gray couch to match the color. Pictures hung on the walls, two tall windows on the far side of the space, and a kitchen just off the entrance area.
"I like your place," Momo complimented. There was a small hallway to the left that led towards the bedrooms and bathroom.
"Thanks! It feels a lot bigger now that Taylor moved out."
"Why did she move?"
The reporter shrugged. "Said she was home sick. But it all works out. I now have extra space and the brothers can drop by anytime without me worrying about her seeing them."
"I can imagine what her reaction might have been if four six-foot tall mutant turtles came by for a visit."
"Not good." April reappeared from the bedroom carrying a purse. "Ready?"
Confusion spread across the thief's features. "I thought we were eating here?"
"No, I wanted to bring you to my favorite place a few blocks away. Unless you want a home cooked meal, I can probably fix something together."
"Going out is just fine. Lead the way."
April's go-to spot turned out to be a family run diner. The owners knew her by name when the two walked in and were even given a free appetizer. "Vern and I drop in a lot between shoots," the reporter said. "If you like burgers you should get one here. Best I've ever had."
"Better than those five-star celebrity restaurants?" the thief teased.
"Way better than those. Seriously, how can anyone pay that much for a burger that has so many weird flavors it gets lost in translation on your taste buds?"
"Glad to see we're on the same page. I think I'll take the recommendation."
The two put a pin in their conversation when a waiter came by to take their order. "I like the pieces you do for the Channel 6 News," Momo said. "I can tell you're passionate."
"Even the ones where I used to cover weird work out crazies in Central Park?"
The young woman laughed. "Even those."
April then had to wonder, "How much do you actually know about me?"
"Well, I've watched all of your reports recently. Usually I keep an eye on the crime desk to see if any of my missions made headlines. But after what happened on the roof of Stacks Tower, I thought it'd be a good idea to look into you since it seemed we'd cross paths more often."
"In case I couldn't be trusted?"
"Can you blame me for being wary of you? Or the brothers?"
"No," she answered honestly. "We've been looking into you too. Or at least tried. It's like you don't have a footprint here. Like you just appeared out of nowhere."
"I made sure of that."
"To protect yourself?"
Momo nodded. "Most people I work with aren't good. And those that are thieves like me are even worse. I keep everyone at a distance for good reason."
"Even those with good intentions."
"Sometimes those are the most dangerous. They may be a wolf in sheep's clothing."
"Pull a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"
"Exactly."
"I'm not sure if this will change your mind about us... but we're not like that. Leo may be a bit wary, but that's because he's the leader and is just looking out for the team. In fact, the two of you are alike in that sense. Still, we'd never intentionally hurt someone brought into our circle. Why would we? It's small and private as it is. Anyone that we'd trust enough to include in this secret is important in some way."
"I've noticed. You have Donatello to thank for vetting all of you."
"Mikey says the two of you spend a lot of time together."
"We seem to run into each other a lot out there by accident. But I like Michelangelo just the same. Both of them... didn't judge me based on my profession right out of the gate. They wanted to know more about me as a person, not a thief. It's easy to be around them even with my walls up. But yes, I am around Donatello more because of shared interests."
"You're probably the only one out of all of us that understands what he says half the time."
"Inventor minds think alike, I guess. Though there are some things that are beyond my understanding. Much like there are things I know that are beyond his understanding."
"What have the two of you been up to in the garage?"
A coy grin came to the young woman's lips, "That's a secret." The food arrived at the table. "So what made you jump into journalism?"
"I've always been interested in a story. My parents gifted me a handheld video camera for my seventh birthday and I recorded everything. From playdates to school activities to what my father did at work. I'd 'interview' all the scientists on the team like I was a big-time reporter."
"Sounds like there are a lot of fun memories that come with that 8mm film."
"Yeah. It's nice to look back on it every now and again. It's the only thing I have left of my father talking. Which is better than a picture sometimes."
"What about your Mom?"
"Retired school teacher. She left the city once I went to college. Traded the city for the country and she loves it." April took a sip of her drink. "What about your parents? What did they do?"
"That's a question I can't answer."
Immediately, the reporter wondered if she'd crossed a line. "I'm sorry. If you don't–"
"April, don't worry, it's nothing like that... My parents have never been in my life. Which is why I can't answer a question when I don't know the answer."
"I understand." She tried to think of a way to get off the subject. "Well, what do you like to do then? Outside of running across rooftops and making gadgets with Donnie?"
"Volunteer sometimes. But when it's just myself I love to go to a parkour gym."
"Really?" April asked in interest. "That's how you have all those crazy moves?"
"It definitely took my self-defense knowledge to the next level. And a good way to stay in shape."
"I bet." Momo didn't have a muscular frame like the turtles. She was still feminine, muscles toned in all the right ways. In a way the young woman acted like a wolf in sheep's clothing. No one knew that what lurked underneath her outer beauty was an intimidating, intelligent, very capable fighter.
"What kind of exercise do you do?" Momo asked.
"Yoga and palates for the most part."
"If I invited you to my gym... would you be game?"
"Really?" April asked, a bit of disbelief in her voice. To the reporter this was a big deal for the thief to welcome her into her inner circle.
"Yeah. I go a few times a week. How about this weekend?"
"I'm free."
Momo smiled. "I'll send you the details later then on where to meet up. You'll need to bring lots of water. And a sweat towel."
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It turned into another late night in the lair. Leonardo organized a group patrol, which meant Momo had the garage to herself for a few hours. This quiet time allowed her to wrap up a few surfaces they needed to finish in blacklight paint. All designs came from street art Michelangelo picked out a few nights ago. Though he had no idea what he was selecting them for. The wet surfaces were left to dry. Time to change her attention to welding and she pulled on the protective jumpsuit to withstand the sparks. A belt wrapped around the waist to hook the portable device in place to easily climb to the roof. Then there were the thick gloves, fire retardant cap, and hood that'd also provide protection.
The tarp pulled away just as the young woman began to tuck her hair under the cap. "How was the run?" Momo asked.
"Uneventful," Donatello answered. "Not all of us needed to be there. I've been dying to work on the back hydraulics since we left."
"Well, you never know. What if the Foot Clan decided to cause some havoc tonight and you weren't there for support?" The mutant was still skeptical. "Just because something doesn't happen doesn't mean that it won't. Besides," her knuckles knocked against the outside, "this baby isn't going anywhere anytime soon." The strap to the welder's hood wrapped around the forehead. "I'm gonna work up top above the front compartment. I won't be in your way?"
"Not at all." The mutant noticed the human struggling with the headband. "Need a hand?"
"Please." She turned for him to strap the device into place.
"Good?"
Her head shook back and forth, unable to move it. "Perfect. Thanks, Donatello." The gloves were tucked under an arm for her to scale the side ladder.
The turtle stared up at the human, brows pinched. He battled with himself back and forth on whether or not to ask the question on his mind for quite some time.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot."
"Why do you call me Donatello?"
She raised a brow at the mutant. "It's your name, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but everyone calls me Donnie. And you call us all by first name like Master Splinter."
"Your names are different. Interesting. Based off of the Italian artists that everyone learns about one way or another. I like them." Huh, Donatello never thought about it in that way. "Does it bother you?"
"N-No. It's just different. But you're our friend now, so don't feel weird by calling us by our nicknames."
Friend? It wasn't a word Momo threw around lightly to anyone outside the orphanage. Yet a part of her felt weird, in a good way, when the purple turtle announced it. "Noted."
"Is Momo short for anything?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Really? It's not a codename or a nickname of any sorts?"
"Nope."
That perplexed him. "You know, I thought that thief's or others that work outside the law usually have an alias of some kind. Or something that isn't their name."
"You're not wrong there. I considered it at first when I started. But nothing really stuck and I hated being someone else. Besides, like I've said. My firewalls in place prevent anyone from finding me if they try to look me up."
Donatello hummed in agreement. "True. One name also makes it hard to find anyone. Especially without a last name." He went to duck inside.
"Cheong." His movements froze to backtrack and give her a quizzical look. "My name is Momo Cheong." Without another word, the helmet flipped down for her to start welding.
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Donatello collapsed heavily into the chair in front of the computers. It was late. Really late. The purple turtle had been debating on whether to keep going or pass out in his room. The latter option seemed to be winning, even if his brain continued to run rampant from new ideas and add-ons he wanted to finish up. Knuckles rubbed at tired eyes. No way he could keep going at this rate. Otherwise a mistake was bound to be made and he'd have to backtrack to fix it.
My name is Momo Cheong.
The sentence rattled around his brain. It seemed like an open invitation for Donatello to dive into the system for a final time. To crack open the mystery of the thief. He pulled up the program needed on screen. He typed her name into the search bar, finger hovering over the enter button. Just because the purple turtle knew her full name now didn't mean those firewalls weren't there. Though it'd be somewhat easier to crack it. Probably. Momo's tech skills were a challenge in general.
One click. That's all it took.
A sigh escaped Donatello. The search was deleted from the bar before the computer shut down for the night. It didn't feel right anymore. To look into the young woman's background like this. Not after the progress they made or the fact that she now trusted him with a few secrets of her own. She presented no danger to them. The purple turtle was content learning more about the thief at her pace. As a friend. Not as a hacker. Only sleep mattered now. There was always tomorrow to continue his work.