This is a one-shot sequel to Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. Karai attacks the lair, except Leo is around this time. Will anything be different?

I don't own tmnt. Some of this content comes from Scion of the Shredder and Prodigal Son.

Two months and a week after Leo's brothers had managed to break past the anger and pain that had afflicted their brother for so long, the entire family was enjoying some well deserved down time. Leo was off on a training run.

He'd made significant progress in both his mental and emotional health in the last couple months, along with increased ninja skills. With his newfound peace, his moves were quicker, smoother, and harder than before. He'd always been the most skilled among his brothers, and now he was even more deadly.

Currently, Mikey was building a card tower, Raph was at his punching bag, and Don was fixing the Shell Sub. Master Splinter watched Mikey. Once Leo returned, Mikey planned on challenging him to a rematch to that game. He'd been planning this for months.

"That is an…impressive edifice, Michelangelo. Dare I ask how many hours you have spent building it?" Splinter eyed the tower.

Mikey paused. "Good question Sensei." He turned toward his hot-headed brother. "Hey Raph, what time is it?"

Raph looked annoyed. "Like I wear a watch. How should I know? Hey Donnie, what time is it?" he called to the turtle in the welding goggles.

"Beats me. Ask Leo." Then he remembered Leo wasn't in the lair. "Sorry. I forgot Leo's still on his run."

"When's he getting back?" asked Raph.

"Soon, my son." Splinter replied.

"He'd better get back soon," said Mikey. "He owes me a rematch on that videogame!"

The rest of the family smiled. Ever since Leo had beaten Mikey with videogame skills nobody knew he possessed, Mikey had been practicing on the game as much as he could. He'd never be able to live that day down.

"What's the matter Mikey? The 'king of video games' feeling a bit humbled?" teased Don.

"Yeah, keep up the practice and you might beat him. In ten years." Raph smirked.

"Hey, I've been practicing!"

"As has your brother."

Mikey gaped. "What are you talking about Sensei?"

"About a month ago, Leonardo returned to his old habit of playing videogames in the early hours of the morning. I believe he knew of your intention to challenge him again and wished to be prepared." Splinter grinned. "His high score is now double that which it was when he first played against you."

Mikey blanched. The others stared, then burst out laughing, which didn't cease until their sides hurt and they were leaning on the couch for support.

Elsewhere in the sewers,

Leo raced through the tunnels, pushing his body harder as he strove to increase his speed. As he covered more and more distance before looping back, his thoughts drifted to the day he sparred with Master Splinter.

That had been the day he'd lost his temper worse than ever. Had Raph not stepped up, Leo was sure he would've hurt his sensei somehow, and then who knows what would've happened. He knew he would never forgive himself, at the very least. He felt grateful to Raph, and wondered if that was the reason Raph had come forward, because he knew Leo had been perilously close to losing control and hurting someone. Even though Raph never actually said it outright, Leo knew Raph still hated himself for nearly hurting Mikey. Had Raph stepped forward to save Leo from what he suffered himself?

The two weeks following had been two of the toughest in his life. First being strapped down a bed so he wouldn't kill himself, then not being allowed to be the leader for a week, under a wrong set of assumptions, he'd rarely felt more depressed and angry with himself. The talks with his brothers at the beach and with Splinter afterwards would remain with him forever. Especially the first two.

As he rounded a corner, he suddenly fell to his knees, his vision going black.

What's going on?

As he blindly reached for his shell cell, the blackness resolved in an armored arm with two hand claws on the end, descending toward him.

His vision blacked again, then flickered to normal. What was that?

Leo immediately began racing back, even though he wasn't finished with his run. He didn't know what'd he'd seen or what it meant, but one thing burned in his mind. His family was in danger. He had to get back, now.

He increased his speed while reaching for his shell cell, only to find he'd lost it when he fell.

Back at the lair,

With his entire family watching, Mikey placed the final cards on the top of his tower. But before he could claim the praises he felt were his, alarms started blaring.

Even as the turtles turned to listen, Leo raced into the room. Moments after he reached his brothers, the alarms stopped.

"That shouldn't happen. If something triggers the perimeter alarm, it should keep ringing until I turn it off. It's not supposed to turn off by itself. Unless someone just deactivated our hour alarm system." Donnie expression revealed confusion and worry.

"Leo, what happened?" Mikey noticed Leo's face was pale and his expression fearful. "You meet something out there?"

Leo shook his head. "No. Guys, listen! I had a vision of an armored arm and hand spikes descending. I don't know what it is, but we're all in danger!"

Everyone's eyes widened. Raph stepped forward.

"You su-"

Huge footsteps reverberated through the tunnels and the lair started shaking. "Um, what is that?!" asked Mikey as the turtles drew their weapons. Leo was glad he hadn't arrived any later.

"Whatever it is, it's coming through the front door!" said Raph. They could only wait and see what busted through.

Mikey whimpered.

The card tower crumbled.

As the door began to fall, the family gathered, ready to fight whoever threatened them in their own home.

Before the wall surrounding the door completely crumbled.

Two huge robot machines entered, the kind of which the turtles had never seen before. Foot ninja, in newer garb, leaped out from in between the robots' legs.

"What the-" Mikey couldn't believe it. "The Foot!" The turtles hadn't had any encounters with the Foot since that last fight with Shredder.

"But how? How did they find us?!" Don exclaimed.

"Don't matter how they found us. They found us. Now let's kick the shell out of 'em!" replied Raph as they charged into battle.

Leo hadn't said anything yet, but as they battled, he wondered the same thing as Donnie. How had the Foot found them? None had been seen exploring the tunnels and they hadn't been able to follow the turtles. Even when Leo had been angry, he'd never been so careless that a Foot ninja could have followed him home.

It became apparent that the Foot ninja were stronger. Even as the turtles kicked their butts, one usually seemed to sneak up and catch them from behind.

"I don't remember the Foot being this fast," said Mikey as he recovered from a kick in the back, "or this powerful. Everybody watch your backs!"

"It's hard enough watching our fronts!" Raph replied as he kicked away a few only to come face to face with one of the bots.

"Raph, there are too many of them! We have to back off." Donnie called.

Leo would've said the same thing, but he was occupied with another set of ugly goons. He leaped onto the second floor, but the Foot followed, cornering him in his bedroom upstairs. He was holding back at the moment, not going all out until he could determine who was behind this.

"Back off? This is our home!" Raph growled.

As Leo tangled with the Foot upstairs, he could only watch as the rest of his family was surrounded. Just before he decided to go all out and send the Foot into the pool, the ninjas on the ground parted.

Through the haze of dust, a figure began to emerge. A figure covered in spikes. Leo felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, shell!" Raph exclaimed.

"No way," gasped Don, "it can't be him!"

"Master Splinter, any chance this is just another mystical attack?" asked Mikey.

"No, my son. This is real." Splinter replied. "All too real."

"The Shredder? But the Utroms sentenced him to exile!" protested Don.

"Yeah, well it didn't take." replied Raph.

Leo was too stunned to move.

Then a familiar voice echoed from the armor. But not the voice they were expecting.

"Oroku Saki is gone. Thanks to you. But the Shredder lives on!" The helmet was removed. It all made sense now.

"Karai!" exclaimed Don.

"So, the daughter of Oroku Saki has become the Shredder." Splinter's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"Honor demands it, Splinter-san." Leo was honestly surprised she used the suffix 'san.' "After you helped the vile Utrom exile my father, I vowed to avenge my father's honor."

Her father's honor! Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing, but Splinter beat him to the punch. "You dare speak of honor! Your father murdered my Master Yoshi! Your father had no honor!"

"You will pay for your lie! All of you!" she paused. "Where is Leonardo?"

A dozen Foot ninja fell to the ground. From the balcony, Leo called out. "You know Karai, if you waited just a couple minutes to make your 'dramatic' entrance, I might've been on the first floor." His voice dripped with sarcasm. Karai's face jerked and fell upon him. "Heck, if I'd known you were so eager to see me, I would've stayed on the first floor."

Her eyes narrowed. "You mock me. The fact you still live mocks me." She replaced her helmet. "That all ends now. Destroy them! Leave no one alive!" she ordered. "But Leonardo is mine."

The attack resumed stronger than ever. Leo leaped down to face Karai.

"Should I feel honored that you singled me out, Karai?" Leo asked as he raised his blades.

"It is you that is responsible the most for my father's exile, Leonardo. Do you not remember? I pleaded with you to let him leave. Our feud could have ended with his departure. But you refused to listen to reason. You chose to stop him, to attempt to destroy him. And as the Utroms passed judgment upon him, you did nothing! I will avenge him!" With that, she sprung toward him, left arm raised as she attempted to sink her claws into his neck.

Leo's blades intercepted her claws as they struggled against each other, each attempting to gain the upper hand. "Your father was nothing but a murderer Karai! You knew even then that he had no honor. I thought you did, though. I thought you were different." Leo stayed calm even as they struggled against each other. "But I was wrong. You're exactly like him. You understand nothing of honor!"

Karai attacked more fiercely. Her skills had improved drastically, but so had his.

Mikey glanced around as ugly Foot goons surrounded him. Please, if they thought they could take him down, they had another thing coming! And he owed the Foot for wrecking his Battle Nexus trophy!

Even as the Foot charged, Mikey was already swinging his nunchuks faster than even his eyes could follow, knocking out Foot after Foot. As he finished off the last of the group, he remembered the trick they'd used last time and leapt, barely avoiding a roundhouse to his jaw. And his family said he never paid attention.

But even as he savored the sweet feeling of outsmarting his enemies, he noticed one of those huge robots moving in to fire on Donnie.

"Uh-oh," he muttered even as an idea came to him. Using the head of an unsuspecting Foot ninja facing Raph as a lift off, he leaped atop the robot, brought his hands to the side of his head and taunted the guy inside. "Booga, booga, booga!"

Well, it distracted the robot from Donnie, but now he found himself the turtle used for practice dummy as he leapt off to avoid the robotic hands, only to come face to face with the Elite.

Aw, shell!

"You would have allowed him to murder millions!" Leo reprimanded Karai even as he dodged a flying front kick and countered with turning side, sending her to the wall. As she rose, he lowered one sword and pointed the other at her. "You could never see the truth about him. He lied to you, and I believe you know it. You just can't bring yourself to accept it. You think destroying us is going to change the fact that he never truly loved you and is nothing but a killer? That it'll change anything?"

"Silence!" she yelled as she brought her hand claws straight down, as if to cleave his head in two. He blocked it with ease.

Luckily for Mikey, Donnie had noticed when he leapt atop the robot and had an idea who the robot's original target was. As another set of Foot cronies attempted to surround him, he had an idea how to repay the favor. Using his bo staff, he pole vaulted over the Foot and leaped to join Mikey, who was about to square off with the Elite plus a rampaging robot.

"Mikey, I have an idea!"

"I'm open for suggestions! And make it fast here! These guys are even uglier than normal Foot ninjas!"

"When I say jump..." Hoping the Elite wouldn't realize what he was planning, Don tensed as he heard the familiar whirling from the robot.

"JUMP!" As Don and Mikey leaped aside, the robot fired. The explosion sent them tumbling, but did worse to the Elite, who were slammed against the wall and crumpled, unconscious.

"Donnie, you're a genius!" Mikey clapped his brother on the back. Unfortunately, the turtles smiles disappeared as more Foot goons surrounded them, followed by an even angrier robot.

Leo and Karai continued to fight, no battle existing beyond theirs. "You just can't realize he lied and move past it. You think by destroying us, he'll suddenly change into the man you thought he was? That this will make him honorable?"He paused as he ducked her claws and knocked her legs out from under her. "It won't. And I think you know it. But you can't accept it, so you're willingly blinding yourself to reason."

Karai snarled and leaped upward, attempting to jam her claws into his throat. Leo blocked and struck back, actually cutting one of the claws right off and sending her flying into a column.

She rose, panting, but straightened again. "Since you took away my father, perhaps I should repay you in kind." She leaped away.

Leo stared for one second before pursuing. She thought taking away his father would change anything? He snarled; should she try that, he might just kill her.

Splinter stood surrounded by Foot, standing calmly with his eyes narrowed. As one, the Foot leaped at him with arms outstretched, attempting to grab and restrain him so another could run him through.

They were no match for the old rat though, as he leaped and spun in midair, taking down each one with a flying backspin.

Even as Splinter landed however, Karai landed a side kick to his ribs, effectively knocking the old ninja master to the ground. "Let us see how your sons enjoy losing their father." She raised her remaining claw, but before she could land another blow, Leo tackled her from behind, sending them both tumbling across the floor before facing off yet again.

Raph snarled as he took out thirteen ugly Foot goons surrounding him, then grabbing one of the unconscious bodies and hurling it into another two of the creeps approaching him before leaping into the middle of another group. As he took them out, he glanced to his right and his heart nearly stopped.

Master Splinter was struggling to stand, holding his side as if it pained him. Foot soldiers were starting to surround him. And from his expression, Raph wasn't sure if Splinter could defend himself. As Splinter faced them, one landed a circulating kick to his side, knocking him to the ground. Then the Foot raised their swords, as if to stab him all at once.

Raph's vision reddened. He was barely aware of finishing the last of his most recent group. He didn't remember knocking Foot soldiers aside as if they were bowling pins as he raced toward his sensei. He never recalled kicking back all the foot surrounding Splinter, leaving them all with broken ribs. He only became aware of his surroundings again when he distantly heard Splinter assuring him that he was alright.

Karai and Leo battled more intensely than ever. Leo wasn't going to let her near his family. But Karai seemed oddly self-assured despite her rising fury. "Attack me as you will, you will not win this battle." Leo glanced around and realized she was right. The Foot kept coming, and would eventually overwhelm them. Add the two robots in the equation-the situation seemed hopeless.

Unless…

Leo barely blocked a strike from Karai's renewed attack. What he planned would require quick action to accomplish, as well as a good sense of timing. He could only hope this would work.

With a quick strike, he destroyed the remaining claw on Karai's left hand, causing two mechanisms to emerge from her back. Hidden weapons; a sword on a chain and a chain that could be twirled and thrown.

He leapt upward; she threw the chain, which he intercepted and destroyed with his swords. As Karai stumbled back and tried to recover, he aimed several strikes at her head.

Her helmet crumbled to pieces. As she was distracted, he used the butt end of his sword to knock her out.

Now let's hope I'm right and that the Foot ninja are as loyal to her as they were to Shredder.

His brothers had just regrouped and Splinter was with them. The Foot surrounded them. He threw Karai's unconscious body in the middle of them and landed above her, holding his sword to her throat. "Drop your weapons and back off! Now!" he barked at the Foot.

"Leo, how did-" Mikey asked before Splinter cut him off. Now was not the time for questions; it was the time for action and awareness. Nevertheless, his brothers seemed impressed.

The Foot glanced at each other, then slowly began to back off.

A whirling sound came from the robots. Leo glared at them. "Try anything, and you're going to be looking for a new leader." His tone didn't allow anyone to disbelieve him.

"Stay right there." Once he was sure the Foot wouldn't make any move to attack them (at least, not at the moment), Leo glanced at his family and began issuing orders. "Guys, you need to leave."

"What? Leo, there ain't no way we're leaving you behind!"

"Trust me Raph, I know what I'm doing. I'll meet up with you guys at our new spot." The beach was the last place the Foot would think to look for them.

While the others protested, Splinter studied his eldest. "Be careful, my son."

"Sensei, you're not serious?" replied Don.

"Leonardo knows what he is doing. I trust him."

Raph shook his head. "He'd better know what he's doing!"

With that, Don scooped up Splinter and he, Raph and Mikey leapt past the Foot soldiers and disappeared into the nearby tunnels. The Foot didn't dare follow, not while Leo still held his sword less than an inch from Karai's throat.

Leo waited there for over an hour, giving his family enough time to reach the beach. Hopefully, they hadn't been followed.

As he eyed the robots, an idea came to him. He would have to act fast, but it would work. He hoped.

As Karai began to stir, he leapt up, startling the Foot, who immediately leapt to protect Karai while Leo jumped atop one of the robots and swiped at what he guessed were their weak spots. The robot tumbled.

He reached in and pressed many random buttons. Hopefully, he could find a way to destroy it. From what he knew of the Foot, there was likely a self-destruct button in there somewhere.

As the robot began to shake, he knew he had succeeded. The explosion scattered and disoriented the Foot, and Leo made his escape.

As Leo raced down the tunnel, the dust settled and he heard Karai order the Foot ninja to stop him. A quick glance back showed them close behind and gaining rapidly. He couldn't hope to stay ahead of them for long.

Then he saw the robots' jets.

Oh shell!

The robots fired. Missiles missed him by inches. The tunnel shook with repeated impacts. Up ahead, a section of walls and ceiling crumbled and started to cave in. Leo would be cornered.

Unless, he thought, I get past it before it caves. Then the Foot would be trapped on the other side. At least, long enough for me to escape. He increased his pace as the cracks widened and small pieces began to fall.

Just as he reached the crumbling section, the robots were almost upon him and the ceiling crumbled and fell. With a last burst of energy, Leo threw himself forward as chunks of concrete fell all around him. One landed on his left shoulder and he heard a sickening Pop!

He made it though. He could hear enraged shouts on the other side from Karai and the robots attempting to break through. Knowing the wall wouldn't last long, he darted down several side tunnels and surfaced. Though it was a dangerous move, the Foot would likely expect him to stay in the sewers and try to find his brothers, so topside was his best bet.

It was going to take at least a half hour to reach his brothers at best, so he knew he had to get moving. He hoped none of his brothers decided to try going back and helping him.

But first he had something he needed to do. And it was as good a way as any to evade the Foot.

Forty five minutes later,

Raph paced impatiently, slamming his knuckle in his fist. Don absently twirled his bo staff while Mikey fidgeted. Splinter meditated, searching for answers about his eldest, while trying to not to move much. Karai had cracked two of his ribs.

"Don, it's been almost two hours. We gotta go search for him!" Raph said, for the fiftieth time the last half hour.

"We must stay put. Going back would only make it more difficult for your brother to escape. We remain." Splinter admonished, though he too was worried about Leo

"But what if the Foot got him?" Mikey asked.

Everyone's stomach twisted.

"They do not have him. Had Karai defeated him, she would have killed him already. I sense that your brother is still alive. We must have faith that Leonardo will return to us safely." Splinter replied.

Footsteps echoed in the tunnel. The three turtles leaped to their feet and drew their weapons; Raph in particular looked ready to attack with no mercy.

"Guys, chill! It's me!" Leo stepped out of the shadows with his palms out in the surrender position.

Everyone relaxed.

"Leo, you made it!" Don had never felt more relieved in his life, except for when Leo had woken up at the farmhouse after the battle with the Foot, maybe.

Raph glared. "Don't ever do that again, you hear me."

Leo smiled wearily. "Can't promise that Raph."

Mikey smiled and grabbed Leo in a hug. He let go when Leo sucked in a breath. "Dude, you okay?"

"Your shoulder." Splinter had risen to his feet and his eyes focused on Leo's left shoulder as Don stepped forward for a closer look. "What happened?"

"I don't think it's broken Sensei. Just sprained or dislocated. I'll be fine."

Master Splinter wasn't swayed. "Donatello will determine that. And you must tell us how it happened."

Leo was in no shape or mood to resist. At Don's orders, he sat down and began to tell his family how he had escaped while his genius brother poked and prodded and examined his shoulder.

After he finished, everyone was silent. "You know," Raph said, frowning, "we didn't need a whole hour. A half hour would've been enough."

"Sorry. But I wanted to be sure you guys escaped."

"Yeah, we know. But still bro, you had us worried sick," Mikey admonished. "Ten more minutes and I'm sure we would've cracked and gone back looking for you. We know you're protective, but you gotta remember, we're protective too. And Raph's not patient." Mikey grinned.

"Zip it Mikey," Raph grumbled.

"You know I'm right."

Raph just grunted.

"You know, Mikey actually has a point." Don glared at Leo. "Think about it Leo."

Leo looked slightly abashed. "Yeah, okay."

After a short silence, Donnie paused and glanced at Leo. "You know what I don't get?"

"What?"

"It should have only taken you a half hour to get here."

Leo developed an interest in the ground.

"Leo," Don's voice took on a warning tone. His family wore suspicious expressions.

"Well I..." Leo glanced at them, then at the ground again. "I kinda snuck into Foot Headquarters."

Dead silence.

"You what?" Don's voice was low and extremely dangerous.

"That's what I was doing."

"Care to tell us why?" asked Raph.

"Well, partly to evade the Foot goons that would be keeping an eye out for me. I mean, that's the last place they'd look, right." His face turned serious. "But really, it was to send Karai a message."

"And that message was?" prompted Mikey

"I left her a note explaining that I'd let her live because I was giving her one last chance to do the right thing, warning her not to waste it, and warning her to stay away from you guys."

"You really think she'll pay attention to that?" Raph's voice positively oozed with sarcasm while he glared at Leo like he was an idiot.

"Oh, it'll definitely get her attention. Seeing as I cut off the head of the statue of her father in the library, placed the note on top of it, and left it on the sword table."

His brothers stared, their eyes about to pop out of their sockets. "You did not!" Mikey exclaimed.

"I did."

His family couldn't believe it. A couple of them didn't know whether scold Leo, or laugh and clap him the back.

Don sighed and went back into 'doctor mode,' deciding to let the matter drop for the moment. "We'll talk about this later. Okay Leo, your shoulder's dislocated. I need to pop it back into place. Raph, Mikey, I need you to hold him still."

Recovering from their shock, Mikey plopped himself on Leo's upper legs while Raph gripped Leo's right arm in an arm lock. Leo braced himself. With a quick and precise movement, Don jabbed Leo's shoulder and pushed the arm back into place. Leo didn't cry out, but he did suck in a huge breath of air. Don produced bandages, which they'd procured and left money for when they stopped at a clinic Raph had found, and wrapped up Leo's shoulder.

"I don't want you using that shoulder for at least a week, Leo." said Don as he finished.

"Alright." Flexing his lower arm and placing a hand on his bandages, he asked "How's everyone else?"

"Karai cracked two of Splinter's ribs, which I've already bandaged. They should heal in about a month. The rest of us just have an assortment of scrapes and bruises. Nothing too bad. I put antibiotic on the cuts that stood a risk of infection, but luckily, there was nothing really serious."

Silence reigned.

"So what now?" asked Mikey.

"Yeah, thanks to Karai and her Foot goons, we got no home!" Raph punched the side of the tunnel.

"I think I might know a place," replied Leo. As four sets of eyes turned to him, he elaborated, "I found it on a training run years ago. It's an old pumping station, near Central Park. Best part is, it's far away from the old lair."

"It sounds like a good idea. We're going to need supplies though. And I think it might be too dangerous to go to Casey or April." Don replied.

"What about Angel? I don't think the Foot know she's friends with us. And she could get messages to April and Casey."

The others nodded.

A few hours later,

Four tired turtles and rat made their way to the pumping station that night, laden down with blankets and other supplies Angel and the Professor had given them. Master Splinter carried none, however, and Leo carried a bag with one strap to save him using his left shoulder.

"It's here." He announced as he pulled off the boards blocking the door and entered.

"Very nice," commented Don.

"It'll work. Of course, room assignments and the TV are our first priority." Mikey said.

The others glared. "What?"

"Not tonight Mikey," said Don, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, let's worry about that tomorrow." Leo agreed.

Nobody argued. Deciding to sleep near each other the first night, they spread their blankets across the walkway and attempted to sleep.

"Leo?"

"Yeah Donnie?"

"I agree with Raph and Mikey."

"About what?"

"Don't do it again. When it took you almost two hours to join us, we thought the Foot had gotten you. Next time, don't take your time, just join us quick as you can and trust that we can get away."

"No kidding," said Mikey.

Leo looked at his family's concerned faces and immediately felt guilty for worrying them. "I'm sorry." And he meant it.

"It's okay. Just don't do it again." replied Raph, gently thwapping him upside the head.

"No promises."

The family smiled as they drifted off to sleep.

"And no more sneaking into Foot Headquarters without the rest of us!"

"Yeah!" Two other voices chorused.

Leo smiled. Still safe. Still together. Still a family.

So, what do you think? Did I do okay with writing the battle? If you didn't like it, tell me why, but please, no flames. Reviews are appreciated.