The following evening was another quiet one around the lair. After the boys' usual pizza dinner, April came over to study with Donnie. He was helping her with calculus, which wasn't her strongest subject and she had an exam the next day. With the two of them settled into their books, Leo focused on yet another episode of Space Heroes and Mikey plugged into his new T-Pod, Raphael took advantage of everyone's distractions to slip out of the lair and up to the surface.

The air wasn't quite as bitterly cold as it had been the night before. Because of this, Raphael's reflexes were a bit quicker and he traversed the urban landscape with ease. The second he landed on the rooftop upon which he had come across Karai the previous evening, she stepped out of the shadows and cocked her head to the side, observing him. This time she was alone. He stood up out of his crouched position, making himself as tall as his stocky form would allow.

"I figured you'd show up tonight," she said smugly.

Raphael narrowed his eyes and cautiously took a step toward her. Despite what had happened between them the night before and the attraction he was feeling for her, she was still the enemy. "And you're out here waiting for me," he countered.

She put up her hand and he stopped cold. "Wait. As…" she paused to find the right word, "…intriguing as last night was, it was a mistake. We're mortal enemies. I'm lucky that it was Leo who found me last night. If one of your other brothers had seen me in your home, they may not have been so easily swayed by my appeal for a truce. We need to stop this now before it gets any more dangerous."

Raphael took another step forward. "I like danger," he said. Karai didn't move and she didn't reply. She also didn't stop him when he grabbed her around the waist, pressing her body against his plastron. She placed her hand gently over the chipped corner of his shell and looked into his eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Taking what I want," he replied. "I thought you liked that about me."

She sighed. "Look Raphael, this is a bad idea. You can see that, right?"

"Of course I know it's a bad idea. The thing is, I don't care." Raphael was surprised by his own determination. "But if you really don't want to do this, then I'll leave you alone."

Karai responded by placing her other hand on the side of his face and kissing him deeply. "Fine. But how are we going to do this? Are we going to just continue to have secret meetings on this roof and just never tell anyone where we're going or what we're doing?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Raph admitted. Then a thought struck him. "Wait! This isn't a long-term solution, but since the lair is clearly not an option and we can't go to your place, I think I know somewhere we can go at least for tonight. Follow me."

Raph dropped his arms from her waist and took a running leap. He easily cleared the gap between their building and the next. He turned back to check on Karai and found the she was at his heel, keeping pace. When they arrived at their destination, Raphael climbed down the fire escape and jimmied open the window. He clambered inside and Karai gracefully hopped in after him and closed the window behind her. She surveyed the room and gave an expression of confusion and slight disgust.

"We're in a girl's bedroom. Why are we in a girl's bedroom?"

"It's my friend April's room," Raphael explained. "She's studying with my brother Donnie tonight and I heard her talking about pulling an all-nighter. She lives with her aunt, who is out of town visiting relatives, so the apartment is going to be empty all night."

"Except for us," Karai grinned slyly.

"Except for us," Raph confirmed.

Karai gently pushed him until the backs of his knees hit the side of April's bed, and he fell backwards onto it, pulling her down with him. Raph felt something lumpy underneath his shoulder. He reached up and extracted a teddy bear, then tossed it across the room.

Karai dropped her blade onto the floor next to the bed. She then removed the metal plates of her armour and added them to the pile.

"I'm defenseless," she said.

"Does that scare you?" Raphael asked her.

She shook her head vigorously. "No."

Karai placed her hands on either side of Raphael's face and hooked her fingers under his mask. She pulled it down so that it hung uselessly around his neck. The face of a turtle looked back at her and for a brief moment she panicked. But then she looked into his vibrant green eyes and saw in them more humanity than in most of the people she knew.

She relaxed into him and he kissed her. His hand made its way up her arm, over her shoulder and around to the back of her head. His thumb brushed against her ear and he felt the split in the cartilage.

"How did that happen?" he asked her.

"Training accident," she replied. "My earring got caught on my opponent's weapon and half an inch of skin and cartilage wasn't enough to stop it." She traced the lightning bolt cut-out at the top of his plastron. "How did you get this?" she asked him.

"Also an accident," he told her. "A rogue katana got away from Leo. Luckily it didn't slice deep enough to cut my skin."

"We're both a little broken," she observed.

They lay side by side with their arms around each other, kissing lazily until they both drifted off to sleep.

A while later they awoke to a scream. Raphael tried to sit up, but his arm was pinned to the bed. Karai rolled over, freeing his arm and he looked toward the door to see April standing in the doorway looking at them with both shock and relief. Before Raphael was able to introduce them, Karai had already grabbed her weapon and her armour and was out the window.

"I don't even know what to ask first," April said. "What are you doing in my room? Why were you with her? How long has this been going on? Does Leo know?"

Raph stood up and put his hands on April's shoulders. "Slow down," he begged her. "I'll explain everything." He guided her over to the bed and they sat down side by side.

"It only started last night," he told her. "I'm not even sure how it happened. One minute we were fighting and the next I was kissing her."

"So you kissed her?" April asked.

Raph grinned, part out of sheepishness and part from pride. "Yeah."

"But what about Leo? He doesn't know about this development, does he?"

"No, Leo has no idea. And don't you tell him either! He'll kill me! Especially after I convinced him to get over Karai."

"What is it about this girl? Do I have to smack you around too? She. Is. Your. Enemy! Not to mention your brother is practically in love with her. Isn't there some kind of guy code that covers situations like this?"

"How would I know! I mean, look at me. My brothers and I are giant humanoid turtles, April. It's not like I've ever been in this kind of situation before."

April sighed. "You have to end this, Raph. She can't be trusted."

"I know," Raphael hung his head.

April put her arm around Raph's shoulder and gave him a comforting squeeze.