A/N: I don't own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, obviously, because if I did there would be more Karai. As it is, read below for more Karai! I'll be updating daily (or as close to as possible) until there are 24 chapters ("hours"), leading up to the finale of "Vengeance is Mine". Enjoy!


Hour One - Ichi Jikan


They break her out of Shredder's prison, but the words are too thick, too wrapped up in the bloody bandages of their combative history, for her to tear them free from her throat.

Karai still isn't good at saying thank-you.


Leonardo fidgets outside of April's apartment window. His brothers stand there with him, watching her and the dark streets in turn. "We really appreciate this, April," he says. "I know it's kind of last minute."

"It's okay. Not every day you pull off a prison break." She smiles despite her obvious discomfort, and places her care package in Donatello's outstretched arms. His tall brother worries his tooth gap with his tongue as he thanks her, and Leo watches her expression falter with concern.

As much as he hates to admit it, they all must have some lingering doubts about Karai after the last time they'd brought her into their home. When she'd used his trust, his hope, to trap them—again.

He shakes his head, deciding that she'd more than made up for it by standing against Tigerclaw. She'd also had the chance to tell Shredder where they lived, but even after he'd thrown her into that cell, she hadn't given them up.

Leonardo was sure they'd made the right decision, no matter what happened from here.

April reaches out to pat Donnie's knuckles, and they exchange reassuring smiles. Then she gestures to the collection of items in his brother's grip. "I got Karai a toothbrush, and extra clothes. Shampoo and a hairbrush, too, since... well, you guys wouldn't have either of those at the Lair."

"That's where you're wrong, April," Mikey says, with his usual cheek. "I brush my hair every day! That's how I get this boy band shine." He grins, slicks his hand back across his scalp, and April bites her lip to keep from laughing at the sudden startled horror on his face. "Holy chalupa, I've gone bald!"

Raphael elbows him. "We've always been bald, dingus."

Don starts to speak—probably to explain why it would be impossible for any of them to grow full and flowing locks—when suddenly Karai drops down onto the railing behind them, and they all jump like popping corn.

She's already made herself comfortable when Leo turns towards her. She leans back against the bars with ease, owning every space she occupies, and he's silenced by one confident smile. "I know, right?" she teases. "It's so easy to find you guys when the moonlight makes your heads glow like hato-no-hi mushroom caps."

"And to think we get to take her home with us." Donnie's tone is dry as sandpaper.

Leo laughs, sheepish and floundering in front of the others. It was so much easier to talk when he couldn't feel his brothers' eyes on him, analyzing his interaction with her. "Hey, Karai," he says, rubbing his neck and trying to block the moon with his elbow so it didn't reflect off of his smooth head. "I thought you were going to wait in the Shellraiser? Footbots could still be out looking for you. It's not safe."

As soon as he says it, he knows it had been the wrong point to make. Her eyes darken, and he braces himself for her rebuttal.

"Leo, I've been locked up in a cage for weeks," she snaps. He concedes to her point, his face twisting in reluctant understanding. "Safe or not, I'm getting some air. Deal with it."

"We'll all be dealing with it if you're not careful," Raphael interjects, his shoulders stiff with tension.

Leonardo didn't have to have April's sixth sense to see that his brother was two strikes away from binding and gagging their Sensei's daughter. He puts a hand on his younger brother's shoulder, presses down, to remind him to keep his cool. Or at least preparing to hold him back.

Karai ignores Raph's rumbling, and lifts the toothbrush from Donnie's bundle, undeterred. "So, these are for me?" she asks. "Aww, you shouldn't have. Especially when Raphael's oral hygiene needs are so much greater."

Leo feels the control snap, a shift in the air, as his brother's muscles jump beneath his hand like a bow releasing a fisted arrow, and Raphael shouts, "What I need is for you to eat my-!"

"Raph!" he interrupts, quieting him as their voices echo down the alleyways. At least he had Mikey's help in trying to stop their brother from cold-blooded murder, the two of them barring him from Karai who only looks more amused, if anything.

She slips around them and approaches April's window, the redhead stiffening in response. Leonardo wonders if April senses hostility, or whether it's just the history between them—either way, he hopes it doesn't get any worse from here. From the corner of his eye he sees Donatello move closer to the two, cautious, his hand hovering over his bo.

"Hey, O'Neil," Karai greets her. So far so good. "Guess I'll be beating you up in the dojo from now on instead of just on the street."

Okay, Leo had to admit that binding and gagging her was looking better and better.

"Bring it, Karai," April says, before anyone else can come to her defence. Her confidence speaks volumes—she can handle this. He would have been proud if he wasn't so worried about this escalating. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I got a couple good hits in. Or didn't you end up at the bottom of a flight of stairs once?"

She actually manages to shock Karai into silence for all of two seconds before she laughs, sharp at the edges in a way that suits her, before she sticks her gloved hand into the window. Unfortunately April's auto-response is to block what turns out to be just a handshake, and her proud glow turns into a full burn of embarrassment as she course-corrects and takes the offered hand.

Karai's smirk is in her voice as she says, "See you at the rematch, princess."

April is equally smug, rising to the challenge. "Can't wait."

They shake on it, and Leonardo makes a mental note to pick up extra medical supplies.