Author notes- I do not own the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or any of their compadres.

-Please excuse me if I completely messed up on the Japanese later on in the chapter. Please feel free to correct me if I've got it wrong. & for the record "imouto" is "younger sister" & "ani" is "older brother"… or at least I think!-

Karma.

I sit on the sofa, nursing a cup of sweet coffee, whilst watching Mikey and Donatello compete in a video game. I giggle to myself as Mikey, without taking his eyes from the multiple TV screens, punches Donatello in the arm to distract him. With quick reflexes, Donatello smacks Mikey around the back of the head. His lapse in full concentration on the game gives Mikey the chance to beat him. The energetic young turtle jumps up, and starts to dance and whoop.

"I beat you! I beat your ass good Donny!" The grin stretches across Mikey's face as he looks down on his older brother. Donatello gives him an unimpressed look, and gets up, Mikey following him, joking and teasing at 'how much you completely suck'. I look down into my cup grinning.

"Hey Leo, guess who's ass I completely kicked, it was Donny's, Donny's ass got completely kicked Raph, it was-… what's up with you?" Mikey's voice goes from mocking to deadly serious. I place my coffee down on the table in front of me and turn around to see both Leonardo and Raphael looking stony-faced, the only difference being Leonardo is the only one to give me eye contact.

"Did you find anything Leo?" Donatello asks. Leonardo breaks his eye contact to look at Donatello, then back to me.

"Just this." He takes off his rucksack, and rustles in it to pull out a long chain, with a tag hanging from it. He walks over to me and puts it in my hand, then looks down to the floor. I look at the metal coiled in my hand, then look at the tag. Engraved on the one side, "Female, 12/08/92, experiment 126." and as I flip it over, the other side is engraved with a single word, "Karma."

"Karma?… My name…" I mutter softly, more to myself than the guys. I close my eyes, and a memory flashes back to me...

"Here you go, my precious." Stockman says, putting a long chain with a tag hanging from it around my neck. He guides me over to a mirror and strokes my dark hair. "You have a name, you're one of us now that you're useful to us. You will be my pride and joy, Karma…"

My eyes fly open and Leonardo looks at me concerned. I sit heavily on the sofa.

"I'm goin' in the shower." I hear Raphael mutter gruffly behind me, and then the patter of his feet on the metal stairs. I pick up the necklace and put it around my neck.

"I guess it's all I've got, hey?" I force a smile to try and ease Leonardo's worries. He nods sullenly.

"Karma, not as much as a mouthful as Michelangelo!" Mikey grins, trying to lighten the mood. His bright grin fails to do the job.

"I'll be in my lab if anybody wants me." Donatello says quietly.

"Okay Don." Leonardo says equally as quiet.

"I'm gunna, uh… I'll be in my room." Mikey makes his excuses, and I hear the rattle of the metal staircase again, but instead of walking up it like his brother, Mikey climbs it.

"Are you okay?" Leonardo touches my shoulder, and I flinch violently at his soft touch. He draws his hand back.

"Sorry!" I look up at him worriedly but he smiles kindly back, slightly forcefully.

"Bad memories?"

I look down at my bandaged wrist and start to pick at some of the lose threads from the dressing.

"I wouldn't know… just… when you gave me the necklace, it just brought back the first time I was given it." I push my hair back, but it falls across my face. I feel Leonardo's body shudder as he exhales heavily.

"I wish we knew how to help, but not even Donny, the brains of the family, seems to know how to."

"Just… keep me safe Leonardo, that's all I ask."

"What do you mean?" He questions. I look up at him, and look into his brown eyes. I can only bare it for a few seconds, and look back down.

"Keep me safe from Stockman… I know I can't remember, but my senses are telling me he was bad news."

"We will Karma, our whole family promise that with our honour, and that's as strong of a promise you can get from us." I nod, my heart feeling as heavy as lead, thumping at my chest slowly. "I'll get Donny and Mikey to help me clear out the spare room so you can have your own privacy. For now, you can go in my room if you like, I won't disturb you and I'll make sure nobody else does either."

"Thank you Leonardo."

"Call me Leo."

I look up at him and smile, feebly.

"Thank you… Leo."

"What's with calling us by our full names anyway?"

"I dunno, just seems more polite. The nicknames seem like more of a… private thing."

Leo smiles, "trust me, call us by our nicknames, you'll get sick of the mouthful of 'Leonardo' before long... What about Mikey though? You don't call him by his full name."

"He's just too cute for 'Michelangelo'. 'Mikey' is cute, it suits him, I can't really help it."

He smiles in thought, "If you say so." He gets up. "I'll see you later, imouto."

"See you later…" I frown in thought, "ani?"

Leo looks at me surprised, then makes his way upstairs.

'Wow, I know Japanese.' I think to myself