A/N: Well, now that comic con is over, I can get back to business here. I made a costume of Mira. You can see it on Deviantart or on tumblr.
The first thing Ona was aware of was that her head really hurt. She blinked her eyes to see a dingy thread bare carpet. The taste of a dirty rag clogged her mouth and the sticky feel of duct tape held her wrists behind her. Lifting her head, the room swam in and out of focus for a moment. When it finally settled back to normal, she determined she was in a ratty old motel. The wallpaper was peeling, the ceiling was covered in stains, and the room stank of smoke and other unpleasant smells.
She tried to move, only to find her hands were taped to a pipe sticking out of the wall behind her. She tugged with no success until the door opened. Wikoli glared at her as he shut the door behind him. She glared back as he approached her, subconsciously pulling her body into a small ball. The action seemed to amuse her captor. He smirked as he squatted down in front of her.
"I don't know what happened to make you forget our special time together, but it doesn't matter. Because we're gonna make some new memories." He licked his lips as he dragged a dirty finger down her cheek. "You remind me of your mother – so pretty."
Ona felt her skin crawl where he touched her. She jerked her head away from him. He frowned, giving her a slap. He yanked her head back around to face him. "You think you're too good for me? You're nothing! I broke you once. I can do it again! You're gonna want me to touch you when I'm done with you." He sneered and she wanted to retch but couldn't because of her gag.
Wikoli stood and walked back to the bed where he'd left a paper bag. She watched in horror as he pulled out several pairs of handcuffs. Her guts twisted tighter as she watched him hook them onto the bed railings. No! Tears stung the backs of her eyes. Kazzey!
Star watched Cat stare out the window near the front door from her place on one of the couches. Beside her, Katsu sat playing a small handheld video game. Although he didn't like it when his parents left, he understood why and so he did what he often did when left on his own, distract himself. If he didn't his overly active intelligent mind would start forming terrible scenarios. Unlike his mother, he'd never been able to sense other's emotions, but he was extremely perceptive for a child his age. And he knew right now that everyone was upset and tense. He could tell something bad was happening, he just hoped no one was hurt.
Across from them Jamie sat twirling the gold band around her finger. She was worried about Ona. If she'd known that Leo had yet to release Kaz and Ona from their temporary grounding, she would've rushed out to stop her. Sighing, she remembered something Leo had said long ago. "Assumptions can be dangerous." She frowned feeling her own guilt swell inside her. It would be her fault if something happened to Ona. She'd let her leave without a second thought. Now all she could do was pray that their lost family member would come home safely.
The intercom sounded. "Hey, did you guys forget to bring me my lunch?"
Cat turned away from the window allowing the thick curtain to fall back into place. She strolled to the box on the wall. "Sorry, April. Things just got a little nuts around here."
April chuckled softly. "It's alright. I've come to expect it."
Cat sighed. "I'll get it up to you."
"Thanks."
Cat released the button and entered the kitchen. Star sighed and followed after her. She'd been thinking about what Yoshi had said the night before the others had left for Neutrino. There were still things she didn't understand and she needed to, so she could fully be there for him. Stopping in the doorway of the large kitchen, she watched Cat place a sandwich and chips on a plate. A sudden rush of nervousness overtook her. She'd never really had any kind of true family and Yoshi's had somehow become hers over the past year. She didn't want to disappoint them or lose them.
"What is it?"
Star looked up to find Cat watching her. "I, well, uh… Yoshi and I have been talking, and he wanted me to talk to you."
Cat frowned. "Oh, what have you been talking about?"
"Getting married."
Cat nearly dropped the tray she'd just loaded down. She slowly settled it back on the counter. "Are you sure that's what you want?" She turned to look at the younger girl, who shifted from foot to foot. "You have only known each other a year."
"Yoshi said you and Raph only knew each other a few months." Star pointed out.
Cat nodded. "That's true, but that was also different. We were older than you two. Marriage isn't something to enter into lightly and especially not in this family."
Star frowned. "He said something like that too. But I don't understand what the big deal is. If we love each other, isn't that all that matters. I mean most of the foster homes I lived in the couples weren't married or anything. People just don't do that anymore."
Cat's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry if that has been your experience in the past, but that's not how this family does things. The idea of honor, loyalty, and devotion is instilled in them from a very young age. Bushido demands they behave honorably. Which means every member of the family is expected to behave that way. So being a member of this family is a very serious commitment. We are forced to live apart from the outside world because of their differences. We have our own traditions and ceremonies."
She leaned back against the counter, folding her arms and watching the young woman before her. "So just to say you want to be part of this family, but not truly give an act of commitment isn't enough. That's why we hold the marriage ceremony. It may never be written on paper in some courthouse, but it is written into the clan's history – into our hearts." She sighed, not certain she was getting her point across. "Look, being the spouse of a mutant turtle has its definite perks, but it also means you have to be willing to sacrifice – everything. And I do mean everything, even your own life to keep their secret and keep them safe. When you say your vows, it won't just be to him, it is to the entire family. You are promising to lay down your life to protect them. Do you understand?"
Star continued to frown. "I do, but most people don't bother with marriage vows anymore."
"Think about it this way. If you don't give that promise and you just have a relationship, it means you can walk away whenever you want. But if you truly love someone, you should be more than willing to give that vow of devotion to one another. You can't just give up whenever you want, you have to work at it. And that's how real relationships are – they're work." Cat smirked. "Oh, there are the good parts, but there can be the tough parts too. But having that promise to one another gives you more reason to come together and overcome those obstacles."
"I've heard you and Raph fight before."
Cat couldn't help the chuckle. "Yeah, we fight. And believe me, if you and my son marry you'll fight too. It's just who they are – stubborn and hardheaded." She turned to pick up the tray of food. "But there can be an upside to that too."
Star blinked. "There can?"
Cat grinned as she started past her. "Oh, yes. The making up can be a lot of fun."
Star gaped at her, which only made Cat's laughter increase. She watched the older woman head up the staircase and mulled over what she'd been told. Star was beginning to understand now. To marry into the Hamato clan held great significance to them. She wasn't just marrying the turtle she'd come to love, but swearing fealty to his family as well. The question was, was she willing to sacrifice anything and everything to be with Yoshi? She gave a firm nod without hesitation. Yes. Yes, I am.
Ona struggled as her captor moved her from the wall to the bed. She screamed and kicked, and generally thrashed her body about. Wikoli grunted, tossing her onto the bed. Ona immediately tried to scramble away from him. He slapped her hard, making the room spin. Now considerably more docile, he yanked her around to handcuff her to the bed rail. "Mmm! Mmm!" Ona pleaded with her eyes for him to take the rag from her mouth.
"You want to say something to me, kaʻu pua?" He leaned close, his hot breath dancing across her face. She swallowed hard and nodded. "If you scream, you will regret it."
He pulled the gag from her mouth and she gasped for air for a moment. "Listen to me, if you let me go now, I can talk to him – convince him to let you live."
Wikoli snorted. "You mean that scrawny husband of yours? I'm not scared of him."
Ona frowned. Wikoli had only seen Kaz's holo image which was of a rather slender human. He hadn't seen the muscular turtle that she knew was there. "You don't understand. If you hurt me, he will come after you, our whole family will! They will kill you!"
The man's eyes narrowed into a vicious glare as he pulled something from his pocket. He brought it up so she could see the black barrel. She gasped as he pressed the cold mussel of the pistol against her cheek. "Let them come."
"No!" Ona screamed as he tucked the gag back into her mouth. "Mmm! Mmm!" She twisted and tossed as he cuffed her ankles to the bed.
He smirked down at her as he removed his belt. "But before they come, I'm going to teach you a lesson for running away from me." He reached out and caught her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Na'u `oe, Malani. And I'm going to make sure you never forget it again."
Kaz paced back and forth like a caged lion as Mira tapped into the cameras along the street. They'd done an initial sweep of the area but had come up empty. "What's taking so long! We need to find her now!" He growled at Mira and K-three inside the van. K-three and Leo frowned at him but refrained from comment.
Yoshi caught his cousin's arm. "You gotta calm down, bro. We're not gonna leave her out there."
Kaz shook his head, a wild look in his eyes. "You don't know what he did to her!" He clenched his hands into white knuckled fists. "If he so much as touches a hair on her head-!"
"Kaz!" Leo stepped around and took the younger turtle's shoulders. "We will find her, I swear. Now just take a deep breath." Kaz stared at his calm collected uncle and sensei, trying to draw strength from his steady confidence. He drew in one deep breath.
"Found him!" Mira announced. Everyone turned to stare at her as a dozen camera images flashed across the screen. "He entered a hotel about two blocks north of us."
K-three jumped into the driver's seat. "Where?"
"Jackson between twenty-first and twenty-second streets." Mira directed. The others were already inside the van as it peeled out from the curb.
Leo sat in the passenger's seat. "Take it easy, K-three. We don't need to get pulled over."
The Turtleoid bit his lip to prevent a sharp retort and only eased up on the gas slightly. The van was still whipping in and out of traffic. In less than two minutes they came to an abrupt stop outside a seedy hotel. A sign with half broken bulbs flashed in the window declaring by the hour rates. Before they'd even come to a full stop, Kaz was jumping out the back doors, Yoshi hot on his heels. The others followed mere seconds behind them.
Kaz threw open the front door and before the manager could react, had pulled him straight over the counter and slammed him against a wall. "Where is she!" The balding man trembled and blubbered for a moment, which only served to infuriated the turtle further. "Do not make me ask twice!"
"I don't know who you're talking about!" The man cringed as Kaz snarled. He reached into his pocket for his cell and shoved the image of Ona into the man's face.
"Her! We know she's here! Where!"
The man's eyes widened slightly. "Room 16." Kaz threw him to the ground with another snarl and turned to race up the staircase. The manager coward as the six large men and one woman charged up the stairs. "I didn't know!" He protested. "He said she was his daughter!"
Leo caught up with Kaz just as he reached the door. "Wait!" He hissed, stopping his nephew. His well-honed ninja instincts told him there was an ambush on the other side of that door. What he didn't know was what kind of ambush.
Kaz glared at him. "That is my wife in there, Uncle Leo!"
Leo frowned. He knew he wasn't going to be able to contain Kaz for long. He looked at the large group in the hall. "Holos off." This guy might be expecting them, but he wasn't expecting seven giant turtles. Kaz started for the door again, but Leo stopped him. "Be careful. He knows we're here."
Kaz gave a sharp nod and kicked in the door. The sight before him was nothing short of a nightmare. Ona was handcuffed to the filthy hotel bed, a gag in her mouth, her shirt front half ripped, and tears poured down her cheeks. She let out a muffled scream and Kaz felt his heart bottom out. And for a split second he froze, unable to move from the shock. The metallic click of a safety was his only warning.
In the milliseconds that followed Kaz spotted the man crouched behind the bed, the pistol in his hand, and he spun away from the door just as a bullet was released from the chamber. The hot metal slid across the top of his shoulder, grazing him and embedded itself in the hallway wall.
"Shit!" Raph cursed as everyone ducked.
Leo grabbed Kaz and pulled him further away from the door. "Are you alright?"
Kaz pressed a hand to his shoulder. "It's just a scratch." He shoved away his uncle's probing hands and stood up again. "He has her in there!"
"What did you see?" Leo prompted.
"He's got an semi-automatic. He's on the other side of the room, behind the bed." Kaz said flatly.
Leo frowned. That wasn't good. It put Ona in potential danger, which was probably why the guy had chosen the position. He was using her as a human shield. "Did you see another way in? Was there a window?"
Kaz blinked, trying to recall the few seconds of a glance he'd gotten. Finally, he nodded. "Yeah, behind him."
Leo glanced at the younger team leader. "K-three."
"I'm on it. Yoshi, Shinta you're with me." The Turtleoid turned and headed back up the stairs, his two charges following.
"Now what?" Raph watched Leo move a little closer to the door. He used the reflection on his katana to get a glimpse inside the room. A bullet whizzed past him breaking part of the doorframe and once again embedding itself in the opposite wall.
Leo ducked back down the hall a few paces. "Let her go and we'll show you mercy!"
"I'll show you mercy too. Just stick your ugly heads out a little further!" Wikoli called back.
Leo moved back to the others. "A frontal assault isn't going to work, we're too confined in here."
Mira eyed the door behind them. "How about one from the side?" The three remaining turtles looked at her skeptically. "The walls here are paper thin." She demonstrated by elbowing a hole in the wall beside her with little effort. "They don't make these kinds of places to code."
Raph raised an eye ridge. "You wanna go through the wall?"
"Fine." Leo nodded. "Raph go with her."
Raph blinked. "Seriously?"
Leo frowned at him. "Yes, seriously. If nothing else it'll serve as a distraction to our lone gunman in there." He allowed a small smile. "I thought you liked breaking things?"
Raph smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Yeah, I do." Without further hesitation, he kicked in the adjacent door. Luckily no one was occupying the room at the time or he might have walked in on an awkward scene. He glanced down at Mira and offered her a hand up where she was crouched along the hallway. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go bust a hole through a wall." Mira grinned taking her uncle's hand.
As they disappeared into the vacant room, Kaz frowned at Leo. "And what are we gonna do?"
"We're going to keep his attention on us, until everyone is in position."
Kaz growled. "Then I get to break his teeth?"
Leo's eyes narrowed. That was one of his clan in there tied to that bed. He knew the rage his nephew felt, because he was feeling it too. "Then we're going to break more than his teeth."
A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews! I'm glad you guys are still with me out there! It gives me motivation to keep writing!
