ℂ𝕠𝕓𝕒𝕝𝕥 & ℂ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕤𝕠𝕟 || 𝔸 𝕋𝕄ℕ𝕋 𝔽𝕒𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕔

09 || 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐒

𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞.

****

Casey persuaded Afina-Jade to speak with him again and listen to him when it came to the Brothers and Splinter early the next morning. He recognized that it was all too much for her to comprehend, but she needed to keep an open mind about these individuals. She and Casey spoke about this top-secret subject in her apartment, sitting on the couch as they ate some simple breakfast to fill their bellies. Casey scooped up the remainder of the eggs on his plate, and Jade chewed on a piece of bacon. They sat in silence, but about every thirty seconds, the silence would break. "Thanks for breakfast," Casey said to her, setting his plate in his lap.

"Sure." Jade nodded, hardly making any facial expressions toward him. "So," She replied to Casey, taking a break from her morning meal and leaning the side of her head into her hand that rested on the couch's arm. "These... green guys. The turtles. How did they-- they become... them?"

Casey leaned back onto the couch and searched for the correct words without confusing Afina-Jade. "They... Well, they were part of an old experiment in 1999. This mutagen-- whatever it is was supposed to be an antidote, I guess you could say. That mutagen ended up making the turtles and Splinter into... mutants." He said as simple as possible.

Afina-Jade narrowed her eyes at the story, thinking it was logically impossible for anything so extraordinary as that to happen. The dark spots under her eyes revealed the stress and lack of sleep she was getting, and the crazy bedhead she displayed also showed she hadn't gotten herself together hygiene-wise... today, at least. Casey sees Jade is overwhelmed by the thought of these mutants existing, and he understands that the Brothers wanted to help her from what they said to him earlier this morning before arriving at her apartment. Casey must get Jade comfortable with the idea of meeting the Brothers again, yet he doesn't know how to do so just yet.

According to Leonardo, he informed Casey Jones about Jade's unfortunate past, which had devastated him. How could someone so cruel hurt and damage someone as wonderful as Jade? Jones couldn't imagine the chaos Jade had been through, what she thought about, and how she lived... just knowing her old abusive relationship explained a few things to Casey. He knows he must keep his trap shut about this, or else he'd be in deep trouble with this situation.

Jade looks at Casey with her soft blue eyes, dark hair, arched eyebrows, and a faint smirk. "They seem interesting." She shrugged.

Casey sees this as a great sign. Maybe she'll end up meeting the mutants sooner than he thought. He smiled at her, praising her. "I appreciate you not completely running from them." He scoffed.

She guessed she could give a bright smile to that. Afina-Jade took in a deep breath to let out a mega sigh and readjust herself on the couch. Maybe these brothers and the rat won't be so bad. They might be just what she needs to carry on with her new life.

****

Texas

Back in the Lone Star State of Texas, barking at a private hacker over the phone, Damien is determined to locate the love of his life. He was unable to chase her down the night of her escape from the house and since then, he can't find her in Texas. Since he needed to remain on a low profile for his awful behavior, he did what he could to find Afina Baird and that was to hire a highly skilled hacker to search the history of bank accounts, bus routes, and much more. Damien is speaking with this man over the phone in his house, the lights dimmed, the carpet filthy, and old garbage lying around. There is nothing or no one that can stop him from finding his girlfriend. "Have you found her?" He asked the hacker in a very aggressive tone.