Just a little reminder: This story is canon up to "The Manhattan Project / Wormquake" but takes a different direction from there. So Karai still doesn't know that Splinter is her true father.

Chapter 10: Time to Heal

Running through the sewers' tunnels, Leonardo could feel how Karai's body in his arms went limper with every step he took. When they had finally reached her, fighting through the lines of Foot soldiers and Purple Dragons, hampering their sight – and Rahzar's olfactory sense – with smoke bombs, she had already lost consciousness.

She was just lying there, bleeding from a very big wound on her side. However, when he had picked her up, it had seemed to him as if she had been smiling. He had been looking at her, only for a split second, though, before they had taken flight.

He could feel the warm thick liquid from Karai's body dripping down his hands, tracing a path of blood, marking their escape route for anyone who could pick the metalic, heavy smell of blood out of all the smells in the sewers. Something a bloodhound could do without any difficulty, something Rahzar could do.

When he realized that, Leo thought for a moment of leading Rahzar to a place where he could easily enter the sewers despite his size, a place where they could use their knowledge of the sewers as a benefit, where they could take advantage of the fact that Rahzar had entered their territory. And then finally put an end to this.

But then he decided against it. Karai needed help and fast! And although they maybe would stand a chance against Rahzar alone, there was no way they could cope with all of Rahzar's henchmen.

But he also knew that he couldn't bring Karai right to the lair, not with the all too obvious trace she was accidentally leaving for Rahzar.

I am sorry, Karai, Leo thought. You have to hang on a little longer. But you can handle it. You're strong. Just hang on a little longer, will you?

"Mikey," he called his youngest brother. "You go back to the lair. Help April and Donnie with the shipment, and tell them that we need the medical equipment ready when we get there. We're taking an indirect way back home to make sure we haven't been followed."

Mikey just nodded and quickened his pace.

Raph and Leo turned to the left the next tunnel and ran to a broader and deeper tunnel from which Leo knew that it usually carried water, and today was no exception. One smooth jump and he was knee-deep in sewage water.

"I need your help, Raph," he said as he stopped, and his brother was by his side in no time.

"We need to bind up her wound as good as we can," Leo explained. "Cut some of the fabric of her jumpsuit off and use it as a bandage."

Raph just nodded and reached for his knife, quickly removing one pant leg.

Leo watched his brother's movements closely. Raph sure wasn't being very careful or gentle, but somehow he managed not to scratch Karai's skin. Well, Raph could be careful without looking like he was.

He cut the fabric into shape, and Leo moved Karai in his arms a little so that his brother could patch her up provisorily.

When he was finished, they both waded through the sewage until they reached a smaller tunnel a little bit superior to their right. Raph jumped up to it and waited for Leo.

Leo had one more look at Karai's wound. The fabric of her makeshift bandage was already damp, but at least there wasn't any blood dripping down. Looked like this was the best they could get, and with a determined nod he followed Raph.

Rahzar slowly walked down the street. There was no need to rush. Yes, the Turtles had stolen the Shark Tooth-shipment, yes, they had rescued Karai, yes, they had gotten away, and yes they were in advance of him for at least half an hour, the time it had taken him to gather his men and find their trace, but oh, it was so easy now!

He would never have been able to pick out their smell among all that stench coming from the manhole cover if hadn't been for the sweet, sweet smell of fresh blood. It was the smell, the taste he adored the most now. And he thanked fate for letting his animal instincts grow stronger over the years.

The smell of blood let him tremble in anticipation, it made his mouth water, it tickled his nose with every breath he took.

He was a bloodhound, through and through.

He now guided his men from manhole cover to manhole cover, following the route the Turtles had taken underground by following the manhole covers that spread this promising sweetness.

He chuckled slightly over the Turtles' dumbness of not going deeper underground where he wouldn't have been able to smell the blood. But their loss was his gain.

He took one more deep breath over this one manhole cover, inhaling his favorite smell deeply before he went to the next one down the street.

He sniffed the air when he approached. Something was wrong. Where had the sweet smell gone? He couldn't pick out blood any longer. He bent down to the manhole cover, sniffing deeply, but there was only this terrible stench.

He snarled and lifted the manhole cover, tossing it away as if it was made of papier-mâché, sending it crashing into the wall of a nearby building.

Rahzar knelt down, and poked his big snout inside the tunnel, sniffing and sniffing and sniffing, only to find – nothing.

With another growl he jumped back to his feet, grabbing one of the Foot soldiers standing in his arm's reach and tossed the man down.

"Look where they are!" he barked.

Then he heard the splashing of water, his henchman coughing and spouting.

Water… That would explain why he couldn't pick up the smell of blood any longer.

"T-there's no one here, M-master!" the man replied, still coughing.

"Then look where they have gone to, idiot!"

"I-I don't know! All looks just the same down here!"

Rahzar threw back his head, letting out a frustrated, warning howl.

"Come back up here and say that to my face!" he ordered, but the Foot soldier was too smart to do that, and instead decided to slip off.

Rahzar snarled once more when he realized that his orders were simply ignored.

He turned around and his men were backing away, but not fast enough, because he managed to grab two of them and tossed them into the wall of a building like he had just done with the manhole cover.

He let out another growl. Not only had he lost tonight's shipment of Shark Tooth, no, he had been robbed of his prey as well, and someone had to pay for it right now!

He went after his fleeing men, grabbing one of them by the neck, lifting him up until he was dangling from his hand like a ragdoll. And then he compressed his fingers around the man's neck, tighter and tighter and tighter until…

Splinter was sitting on the couch, staring at the entrance, waiting. He was waiting for his daughter. He knew in what condition she was. Michelangelo had told them, but she was alive, and as long as she was alive, there was hope – hope that he could tell her the truth, that he could make her understand, that he would be reunited with her.

He was prepared, yes, but still, the sight of Leonardo carrying an unconscious, battered, bleeding Karai in his arms gave Splinter's heart a twinge, and he flinched uneasily.

He watched as Leonardo ran into the lab, followed by Raph, Donnie issuing instructions before he literally kicked all except for April, out of the lab and told them that he would get them when they were finished.

Mikey and Raph just shrugged and left for the bathroom to wash tonight's dirt and smell off, and Leo was about to follow them when he set eyes on his father.

"Sensei…"

"It is alright, Leonardo," Splinter replied. "You don't have to tell me anything now. Go, clean yourself, rest. I will wait here and watch over Karai once Donatello and April are done."

Leo opened his mouth to counter, but then shut it again, nodded, and left.

When he had entered the corridor that led to the bathroom, Raph was already waiting for him.

"Mind telling me why we had to save her?" Raph asked.

Leo blinked back at him, startled. But then he took a deep breath.

"You know we had to save her," he replied.

"Oh, did we?" Raph retorted. "Well, last time I checked she was still our enemy. She would have left us to die on that rooftop, you know. So why did we have to save her!?"

"If you have objections against it, Raph, why haven't you told me beforehand?" Leo asked. "I mean, before we saved her."

"Like that would have stopped you!" Raph replied. "And like sensei has said yesterday, you are my leader, I owe you respect and submission. And you owe me an answer."

"You know the answer, Raph," Leo said. "She is our sensei's daughter. We had to save her."

"Really? And it has nothing to do with your feelings for her?"

"I don't have any feelings for Karai." Leo looked at his brother with serious eyes.

Raph just snorted. "You know what, Leo? Maybe, one day, if you keep this up, you'll actually believe yourself."

"I know I do," Leo replied gravely, turned away and left his brother standing.

He was so angry, so angry! Raph couldn't even think! The anger had taken over all his thoughts! Karai was back, she was alive, and still, Leo refused to admit that he had feelings for her. But it was so obvious!

Raph had seen it in his brother's eyes when they had watched Karai fighting Rahzar, when they had brought Karai to safety, he had simply seen it, and Leo just couldn't bring himself to voice it!

Instead, they had risked their lives to save her, they had brought her to the lair, leaving it to Donnie and April to save her life.

True, she was Splinter's daughter, but that didn't make her any less an enemy in Raph's eyes than Rahzar. She had been raised by the Shredder, she had been raised with lies and fairy tales, but for her, this was all true. She had been told from the first day Shredder had held her in his arms that Splinter was the enemy, that one day, they were going to have their revenge, that one day, they would wipe out Splinter and all that had remained of him – in other words, Raph and his brothers.

For Karai, this was what this was about. She was going to strike as soon as she got the chance.

How could Leo not see this?

He was blinded, blinded by his feelings, a love's fool!

By the time he thought that, he had reached the door, the door to his haven. He took a deep breath and reached for the key, trying to insert it into the lock, but it didn't fit any longer.

"Curse you, Donnie!" Raph yelled, realizing that his brother must have changed the locks after he had found him in there yesterday. That had been quick! Raph had counted on something like this tomorrow the earliest. But when it came to work, Donnie had never been known for wasting time.

Raph banged against the door with his hand and let out a frustrated growl.

Yes, it was true, he only needed Shark Tooth every now and then when the burden on his shoulders got too heavy. And it so wasn't his fault that it got too heavy two days in a row! It just wasn't his fault!

He kicked the door in a last attempt to get it open, but the door remained shut.

"Brilliant!" he called out.

He knew they had stashed today's shipment in Donnie's lab, but it was just as much out of his reach as the Shark Tooth behind this door with Splinter or one of his brother's watching over Karai.

Karai!

A new wave of red anger washed over him and Raph kicked the door once more just to somehow make this all a little bit more bearable for him.

No, it was of no use. He needed Shark Tooth! Now!

And if he couldn't get any of the Shark Tooth in their possession, he would have to get it somewhere else.

And with that thought, he took off.

Booyakasha!

The word still rang in her ears as Karai drifted into darkness. This stupid, stupid word! Nearly as stupid as the mutant who loved to use it as a battle cry. And it didn't even have a meaning.

Booyakasha!

Like that would make any opponent tremble in fear! He could yell "Peanut butter!" instead and it would have the same effect.

Karai felt a laugh built inside her, rumbling in her chest. She tried to let it out – and it hurt.

It hurt? How could it hurt? She was dying! No, she was already dead, so how could anything hurt?

She tried to open her eyes, blink away the heavy black curtains that were covering her eyes. And guess what? Even that hurt. But she continued, fighting her way through the darkness.

If this was heaven, she sure had to inform some people that it wasn't all that good if you still were hurting here. Thinking of it, that probably meant she wasn't in heaven. What about hell? But no, she wasn't hurting enough to be there either.

But she had to be dead. Rahzar had been about to land his final blow, sending her right into the afterlife, but something must have gone terribly wrong, because if she wasn't hurting enough to be in hell and hurting too much to be in heaven, there was only one possibility left – she was still alive.

And with that she finally managed to open her eyes which sent a jolt of pain through her body and she winced. Why did being alive have to hurt so much?

She just stared into the darkness until it slowly faded away and was replaced by shadows, black and gray ones, and the shadows turned into colors and shapes and she realized that she was in a room, lying on a bed. Her whole body was aching, but the one side more than the rest of it. She looked around her, searching for something that would help her to put this puzzle together, the puzzle of what-had-happened and which pieces were scattered all around in her brain.

And then she saw him. Now that her brain was starting to work again, she would have counted on Leonardo or one of his treacherous brothers, but she sure hadn't thought he would be there, leaning against the wall and looking at her.

Fury washed over her, red and hot, and if her body wouldn't have been aching this much, hurting and complaining about each possible movement beforehand, she sure would have tried to attack him.

After all, he had taken everything from her. He had killed her mother, he had tried to kill her father, herself, and still he was standing there, looking at her, breathing.

She wanted him to hurt as much as she had hurt, she wanted him to feel all this pain, but there was nothing she could do. Not now.

So she just returned his look, staring into his eyes, but the fury, the anger was burning in her eyes, showing all the bad she wished on him almost too clearly, at least for someone who was able to read eyes.

And Splinter wasn't illiterate when it came to that.

He just gave her the tiniest nod, a welcoming gesture, a gesture to show her that he didn't mean her any harm.

Karai let her eyes wander over him, his brown fur, the hands with claw-like fingers, the big ears, the ridiculous beard, the eyes that seemed to hold the remains of humanity although their color was far from what it once had been when he had been human.

At least fate seemed to have had an understanding, taking away his humanity and leaving him as this hideous beast. It was just fair, Karai thought, after all what he had done.

But it so wasn't enough. Even though fate had taken away his human form, it still had rewarded him with four sons, green and just as ridiculous as he was, but still, sons, a family.

And it made Karai's heart twinge with envy when she thought about it. She was far from having a family, she was alone.

Splinter on the other hand had four sons and this stupid April O'Neil as his "adopted" daughter. He still had so much after all what he had done, and she had nothing!

Another wave of anger washed over her, and she winced once more as she tried to move.

It was of no use. She couldn't move. She had to wait.

But there was something in Splinter's features, she realized now, that was different from what she remembered from that night on the roof top all these years ago. He looked scrubbier and there was some gray on his snout.

She smirked, ignoring the pain this sent through her, easing it out with satisfaction.

"You've grown old, rat," she said.

Splinter just looked at her for another moment, then gave another one of his slight nods.

"I am going to tell Donatello that you have awoken," he said.

And with that he pushed off the wall and turned around to leave the room.

Karai watched his every move closely. Ha! He was even moving slower than she remembered.

This is going to be easy, she thought. The rat has grown old! I won't have to wait that long!

Once Splinter had left the lab and closed the door, he leaned on his staff heavily, letting out a deep, shaky breath.

Sure, he had known that the Shredder had contaminated his daughter with lots and lots of lies, but the anger and the fury in her eyes after all these years, after the joy he had felt when he had heard that Miwa, no, Karai was still alive, was just too much to take right now. He took another shaky breath, fighting to not lose the control over his body to sadness and despair, fighting to not break down here and now.

"Sensei!" Leonardo called out suddenly from the couch where had been trying to get a little rest and rushed over to Splinter. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," Splinter replied. "Get your brother, tell Donatello that Karai is awake and needs medical treatment."

"But sensei…"

Splinter finally looked up and into his son's concerned face.

"Everything is going to be alright, Leonardo," he assured him, forcing himself to smile. "Karai and I…we both just need some time to heal."