Chapter 11

"Donnie, is Leo gonna be okay?"

The resident genius sighed and readjusted the IV drip that was inserted into Leo's arm. "Honestly, Mike...I don't know. He's severely dehydrated, not to mention malnourished."

"Why would he do this to himself?" the orange-masked turtle asked, touching Leo's shoulder.

"Because he blamed himself."

The words were spoken so softly that they barely heard her. But Kayla raised her head and looked at the three brothers, revealing red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes and a tearstained face. The pain in her expression was unmistakable.

"When I went in there, he kept saying that it was all his fault. But it isn't. It's...it's mine."

"You got that right," Raph replied harshly. A scowl contorted his features, and he crossed his arms.

"Raph!"

"No, Donnie. It's okay." The brunette took a deep breath to steady herself. "None of this would've happened if it weren't for me." If I had told them who I really was.

"You can't blame yourself, dudette." Mikey slipped an arm around Kayla's slim frame. "We don't."

"Speak for yourself," the red-banded turtle snarled. On the way out of the lab, he called over his shoulder. "Let me know when he wakes up. If he wakes up."

Kayla's shoulders sagged. "I really screwed up, didn't I?" she asked Donnie.

He shook his head. "No," he said firmly. "Raph is just being...well, Raph."

The brunette stood up, trying to ignore the unconscious turtle nearby - and the guilt that had settled onto her shoulders. "I'm...I'm going to go get some air."

"Did you want company?" Mikey asked hopefully.

Kayla stared at him for a moment, trying to gauge his emotional state. She realized that he probably needed a break too. He seemed cheerful, but underneath the happiness was a definite tension.

"Sure," she replied.

Mikey grinned and scooped her up, heading out of the lab. "Later, D!" he called. The genius gave them a nod of acknowledgement and turned back to monitor the blue-banded leader.

"So where to?" Mikey asked once they were out of the Lair.

"Anywhere," was all that she said, but the youngest turtle knew what she meant. Anywhere but the lab, the Lair, the sewers. Anywhere except near the comatose eldest.

Anywhere except near the reminder of her failure.

The freckled ninja chose not to comment on that. "Close your eyes," he told her instead.

"What?"

"Just trust me."

So it was that fifteen minutes later, Kayla opened her eyes and found herself looking out at the city from her perch atop the glowing torch of the Statue of Liberty. She gasped, awed.

"Mikey, it's...it's..."

"Amazing, right?" His voice was quiet. Sad, almost. "I come up here sometimes when I need some time by myself. Ever since the Triceratons...Well, my bros don't come up here anymore."

Kayla was silent for a minute. She remembered when the Triceratons had invaded, tearing up Central Park in the process. It had to have been far worse for Mikey and his brothers, knowing how close they had come to losing everything.

She laid her head on his shoulder, trying to offer him a little comfort. He put an arm around her and pulled her close. They stared out at the city, the blazing lights a stark contrast against the night sky.

An hour later, Mikey's phone buzzed with an incoming call. The orange-banded turtle answered. "What up, D?" Mikey's eyes widened. "What? Dude, really? Okay, okay. We're on our way."

"What's going on?" Kayla asked curiously.

"Leo's awake."

The female turtle stood outside Leo's door, dread curling in her stomach. She didn't want to go and see Leo, but she knew she had to do it. Earlier, she'd had an excuse. The others had been in his room with him, celebrating the fact that he was alive, that he was conscious.

But now the only one in there was Donnie. Kayla glanced at Mikey again, who nodded encouragement. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open and stepped through.

Donnie looked up from his seat beside Leo. His expression changed too quickly for her to decipher, but the genius left the bedroom, giving the brunette space to talk.

Sweat slicked Kayla's palms, and she wiped them on her thighs as she sat down in the chair Donnie had just vacated. Leo's eyes were closed in a light sleep, and a faint smile graced his lips. "Um...hey, Leo," Kayla whispered. When this delivered no response from the leader, she dared to speak a little louder. "I just...I just want you to know that I don't blame you for anything. You might, but I don't.

"And I'm scared, I guess, because that means that I'm taking responsibility for everything. And responsibility is a hard master. Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for screwing up your lives and making this all about me - that's how Raph views it, anyway - and I'm sorry for hurting you like this." Hesitating for only a second, Kayla pressed a kiss to his forehead, then moved for the door.

"Mikey better not have just kissed me..."

Kayla whipped around. "Leo?" she asked hesitantly.

The blue-masked turtle opened his eyes. He saw Kayla standing by the door and his face went slack with shock. "K-Kayla? You...you're..."

She bit her lip, looking unsure. Given what had happened last time in the leader's room, she suddenly wasn't convinced that it was the best thing for her to be there. "Hi," she murmured.

"I don't...wait. What happened?" A look of clarity overtook Leo's face, and his eyes filled with horror. "Holy shell...I hurt you," he whispered.

"No, you didn't," Kayla replied. "You didn't do anything." Except scare the absolute shell out of her, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Exactly. I didn't do anything. I could've...I should've protected you. I should've stopped Karai, and-"

The female mutant put a finger on his lips. "Shh. It's okay. We've both made some mistakes."

Leo took a deep breath. "Do you...do you hate me?"

Kayla blinked, taken aback by the question. "Why would I...No, Leo. No. I don't hate you."

"Are you sure?" He searched her face for some indication of lies or disgust, but all he found was confusion...and maybe a little relief.

"I'm sure." She touched his forehead where there was a recent scar, and frowned. "What happened?"

The leader looked away. "Nothing," he replied. "I...um...I ran into a wall."

"No he didn't," Mikey contradicted, joining the two turtles. "He got hit by one of the Kraang when he was looking for you. Leo fought his way through, like, fifty Kraang all by himself! They were all, 'The one called the turtle who is also known as Leonardo shall not reach the room used for what are called the experimental purposed where the one known as Kayla Brent who is also known as the mate of the one called Leonardo is being held for experimental purposes,' and he was all like, 'Get out of my way, Kraang!'"

"Okay, we get it. Thank you, Michelangelo," Leo cut in.

Mikey grinned. "You're welcome, bro."

Kayla laughed. "Mikey, can you give us a minute? We need to talk."

The youngest gave a mock salute. "Yes sir, Captain Kayla, sir." With that, he left the room, closing the door as he left.

Leo's shoulders sagged. "Kayla...about that day in my room. If I made you feel uncomfortable...I didn't mean..."

The brunette sighed, closing her eyes. "I was confused. I needed to sort out my thoughts. When you kissed me, I...well, I was confused. But later...I understood. I understood what you were going through...what you needed. What I needed. And then I realized that I feel safe with you."

"Me?" he repeated, his face registering shock.

"You." Kayla opened her eyes, cocking her head slightly. "So...fifty Kraang, huh?"

Leo flushed. "Well...it' wasn't fifty."

"YES IT WAS!" Mikey yelled from the other side of the door.

The eldest turtle groaned. Then he grew serious. "Kayla, I want you to know... I mean... What I'm trying to say is...you've made me really happy, being here. Well, not about the mutating part, or when you got kidnapped, but-"

A thought registered in Kayla's mind, a fact that completely obliterated everything else. She sat bolt upright as fear flooded her system. "Kidnapped." The Kraang had said something about a controlling serum, about how when she woke up... "Oh, no."

Leo tensed. "What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to Donnie. Now." She stood, but too fast. Her vision darkened around the edges and she put her hand on the wall for support.

The blue-clad leader leapt out of bed, ignoring the nausea that swept through him, and caught Kayla before she fell. He picked her up and threw open his door.

Mikey fell backwards. "What's going on? Why are you out of bed?"

"Kayla has to talk to Don."

"Let me help," Mikey offered. Sighing inwardly and cursing his weakness, Leo allowed his youngest sibling to carry the female mutant. They walked quickly across the living room and Leo pounded on the lab door.

"Donnie!"

The door opened. Donnie looked annoyed. But his expression changed when he saw his eldest brother standing in the doorway - and the panic on Kayla's face. "What's wrong?"

Kayla slipped out of Mikey's grip and walked over to the table. "Donnie, you know how the Kraang experimented on me?" she asked, trying to keep the dread out of her voice.

"Yeah," Donnie replied slowly. "What about it?"

The brunette swallowed hard. "They said something about injecting me with a controlling serum. That when I woke up...I would be under their control."

Donnie's eyes widened. "And you think that since you're awake..."

"It could happen any minute," she finished unsteadily, hands shaking. Leo looked furious. He slammed his fist into the wall beside him, and Kayla inhaled. "Leo, it's okay."

"No, it's not."

"I'll need to run some tests to see if the serum will be successful in maintaining a hold on her mind," Donnie said, picking up a syringe. Kayla shrank back at the sight of the needle.

Leo frowned. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, trying to banish images of the Kraang from her mind. "I just...needles..."

The genius understood immediately and set the syringe down. "I can try and do it another way if you want."

Kayla smiled weakly. "It's okay. Just be careful." She shivered as he wiped her neck with an antiseptic cloth. Her knuckles turned white on the edge of the table.

Donnie stuck the syringe into her neck and drew the plunger back, filling the barrel with her blood. When he was finished, he placed a bandage over the puncture, then took the blood over to his work station. "I can analyze this and see exactly when you'll react to the serum in your blood."

"How long until you have the results?" Leo asked, slipping an arm around Kayla's shoulders.

"A couple hours at most," Donnie replied.

"Hours?" Kayla repeated. "Don, I might not have hours."

The purple-banded turtle stuck his tongue through his teeth, concentrating. "Don't worry. It'll be fine. You'll see."

The female mutant swallowed back the taste of bile. "I hope so, Donnie. I don't want-" The rest of her sentence went unsaid as a sudden, blinding pain crippled her mind. Images of destruction flashed before her eyes. The turtles were on the floor, bleeding. Unconscious, or worse? Master Splinter was caged. The Lair was trashed. Kayla stood over Leo, a katana raised, ready for the kill.

Kayla's eyes flew open and she screamed, darting away. Away from Leo, away from Donnie, out of the lab. She didn't care how badly her side throbbed; she just had to get away from them before she did something that she'd regret for the rest of her life.

Leo called after her, yelling at her to stop, but she ran on into the sewers. Pretty soon she was lost.

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