"For the last time. No means no! Understood?"

Your father said with that firm tone he always used when he wasn't going to change his mind. Especially when it concerned you and your safety.

Leonardo was your father. Not by blood, but he was the one who raised you when he found you when you were just a baby. You had been abandoned in an alley next to a manhole cover, and he heard your cries. Needless to say, he didn't hesitate to pull you out and put you in the safety of the guard.

From then on, he became a single father. His brothers had their partners and their children, and he was the only one without a partner. That wasn't a problem; he was fine on his own. Besides, now he had you.

You grew up among mutants and hybrids, so weirdness was part of your everyday life. Aunt April and Uncle Casey were human too, so there were things they taught you. Otherwise, you spent all your time with your cousins and training in martial arts with your father.

Everything was going well until you hit adolescence and... well, the changes began. Leo expected that; he was once a teenager too. But when you told him you wanted to go to the surface for your fifteenth birthday, that seemed to touch a nerve with him.

It was almost karma. And now he understood how Master Splinter felt when, years ago, he and his brothers asked him the same thing. But the difference was: one, the four of them were mutant turtles. You, on the other hand, were human. And you weren't going to have any trouble blending in with the crowd.

Still... He felt you weren't ready for that. In his eyes, you were still his baby! Besides, you didn't know the city. Well, he didn't know the city at your age either... But that's not the point!

What if something happened to you and he wasn't around? Yes, he trained you, and so did your uncles, but you weren't ready to leave the nest yet. Or maybe Leo wasn't ready to see you grow up.

"The surface is dangerous." He used the same words his father had once said to him, Raph, Mikey, and Donnie. It was ironic that he was now in that position. "You're not ready to go out yet. Your cousins aren't ready yet either. Why don't you ask me for something different?"