The walk back to the lair was laborious, long, and silent. Leonardo was fading fast as he tried not to have his brothers or Asha help him too much or carry him. He was losing that battle as Asha bore more and more of his weight. Raphael wasn't doing much better. The venom or whatever it was that Fishface transmitted through that bite was finally wearing down the large turtle. Mikey tried to use his skateboard but found it very difficult to keep his balance on it. Only Donnie and Asha were in a little better shape. The drug they had given her had worn off for the most part, and she was thankful for that. At least one side effect was the slow decrease of adrenaline. It allowed her to sustain Leo's weight without completely collapsing under it. Donnie was helping Raph, who was holding his forearm where he was bitten. The area was covered in a dark bruise and swollen.

Donatello kept his eyes downcast, watching his feet to make sure he didn't trip and fall or jostle Raph unnecessarily. Usually one to refuse help, Raph was taking advantage of the extra support from his brother. Tears were running down Donnie's face as he tried to hide the fact that he was crying, by adjusting his glasses and wiping his eyes on the sly. No one noticed his tears. Everyone was focusing all their energy on simply making it back to a safe haven. He was more hurt over the loss of his gear than even his own injuries. So much of that had taken him months of scavenging for parts and scrapping together odds and ends. How would he ever recover any of it? He didn't know, and was trying not to think about it too much.

Asha was guilt-ridden. This was her fault. She was the one running around killing foot soldiers wantonly, not caring about the consequences and foolishly believing that whatever they were would fall squarely on her shoulders and not to those she had come to care for. Only Leo had grasped the full gravity of her actions. Not even Donatello was completely privy to her actions or line of reasoning for doing what she was doing. In fact, they did not even know. All they knew was that she was placing herself in a risky situation as far as essentially working in the hornets' nest. They also knew she had sort of vowed revenge against the Foot Clan, but they hadn't realized how far she had taken that vow. Lions hunt during the day, so while the turtles were confined to their underground lair during daylight hours, she was working. Up until now she hadn't cared about anyone noticing the wake of destruction and dead bodies she was piling up behind her. The only one's she didn't want to catch on besides the turtles, were the police. There wouldn't have been anything like a murder conviction and a life prison sentence to put a halt to that vow of hers. She wrapped her tail tighter around her waist, kept her head down, and kept walking.

After what seemed like forever, they had all made it back to the lair. As soon as they got to the turnstiles, Splinter and April rushed towards them. Splinter took Leo from Asha's arms, and April immediately went to Mikey's aid. It was a mad dash to the lab. Every one of them needed medical attention including Donnie, but he neglected himself in deference to his brother's injuries. It was obvious Leo was in the worst shape. Splinter laid him gently on the table as Donnie rummaged through his makeshift medical kit. He was looking for strong painkillers, and antibiotics.

"My sons," Splinter was saying softly to no one in particular. He looked over his son and helped Donatello get him prepared for surgery. The bullet was still in his thigh, and they would later see a small knife left intentionally in his side to help aggravate the wound. On another table Mikey was laid on his plastron. His shell had a crack in it, although it wasn't as bad as he had first thought. Raphael had accepted Asha to quickly wrap his arm in gauze as he looked over Mikey's shell. Having had a few cracks of his own, he surmised that it wasn't too bad.

"Asha, get me that big bottle of hydrogen peroxide, the penicillin, some gauze, and those makeshift chuck pads," Donnie instructed. Silently Asha obeyed. She didn't see any penicillin. She showed Donnie the amoxicillin and he accepted that with a small frown. She took out a few capsules and gave them to Raph with a cup of water.

Asha left the lab area and took the time to change into her human form once again. For the second time in her life, she'd had quite enough of the lion today. She was in the very small space they had allotted her while she was staying with them. Since then she had always kept some emergency clothes. Coming back in a t-shirt and sweatpants, she looked in on Leo. Donnie had already started with Splinter as his assistant. Mikey had fallen asleep for the moment after taking a couple of pain pills. April and Raph sat in the common area with worried expressions on their faces. Slowly Asha melted down into a seat. She tented her hands and rested her chin on her fingertips, rocking back and forth slowly. She tried in vain to erase the images that assaulted her. How she had literally shredded that mutant to small pieces. In her drug induced state it appeared to her as a real bird, not a mutant. Not something that had maybe at one time been a human, who may have had human awareness. She shook her head, trying not to break down. She had enough to think about. She had a confession to make to all of them. Raph was pacing the floor every once in a while swaying on his feet.

"Raph please sit down." April said to him as she got up and tried to physically guide him to the couch. He reluctantly allowed it. She sat with him rubbing his arm to console him. Eventually he let himself sink into her embrace as she rocked with him. It was a tender moment, one that Asha didn't think she would ever see Raphael engaged in. He was fighting the urge to do what he usually did in these situations, break things. Asha decided that he probably couldn't physically go on the rampage he might have wanted to go on. The fury behind his green eyes bore witness to the truth of that thought.

After perhaps an hour or so, Donnie emerged from the lab wiping his hands on a towel and tossing it haphazardly to the floor. He was more than weary. Behind his glasses his brown eyes were completely bloodshot. He removed his glasses, rubbed the heels of his hands in his eyes for a while and then placed his spectacles back on his tired face. He plopped down on the couch without any of his usual grace. Raph jumped up and walked towards Donnie looking at him expectantly.

"He'll be fine Raph. He just needs to sleep for now. Dad wanted to be in there by himself for a few minutes. He'll be out in a few." Donnie said, not able to even lift his eyes to meet his brother's gaze.

Raph let out an audible sigh of relief. Just then Splinter came to join everyone else. He took a seat and then leveled his gaze directly at Asha.

"How did this happen? What happened that my sons have come back to me in this condition?" Splinter asked in a calm even tone, his eyes unwavering. Asha swallowed thickly as she recounted the events leading to their capture. Splinter, Raph, April, and Donnie listened attentively never once interrupting her. After she was finished no one spoke for a while. April was the first to break the silence.

"From the looks of Leo and Mikey specifically it appears they could have been killed. Would that be an accurate assumption?" The accusatory venom in her voice was unmistakable.

"Yeah, I would say we all could have been killed." Asha said. Under other circumstances she would have immediately gotten on the defensive, but decided that karma was at work here.

"So because you wanted to play detective, my boyfriend and his brother are laid up in the other room? Right?! Or maybe you weren't playing detective. Maybe you were just living out some sick whore ass fantasy by hanging around those damn creeps!" April had gotten up. In her anger she had forgotten her respect for Splinter. She was marching towards Asha.

"I didn't mean for this to happen. I-I just w-wanted to help." Asha stammered. There was no way to explain her reckless behavior and bad decisions.

"Help who?! Yourself because you can't get over a wrong done to you? Because you sure as hell aren't helping out the good people of this city. For damn sure not helping out Leonardo who could have died because you think this is a fucking joke! How could you not have thought that stripping in the heart of Foot Clan country would backfire in your stupid face?!" April was on fire. Her anger making her tremble, as her eyes blinked rapidly but never leaving Asha's face.

"April, that's enough!" Splinter demanded. April stopped but she pinned Asha with a look of pure hatred and hurt.

"It wasn't because I worked at the club that made me a target," Asha began. "It was because I've been hunting them down in the day, and gathering information on their whereabouts at the club. I didn't mean to drag any of them into this. I thought they would only come after me, not Leo, not Mikey, not any of you!" Asha said, tears and guilt making her voice shake.

"I can't freaking believe this shit. It was bad enough you bein' at that fuckin' club, but to go so far as killing 'em, and then not even so much as givin' us a heads up about it! Ya know? 'Hey guys, I been killin' foot soldiers left and right. Might wanna watch ya backs!' We walked into this shit blind because of you!" Raphael was almost screaming now, and edging closer and closer to Asha.

"Raphael…" Splinter warned, but Raph didn't stop.

"Leo….Mikey. They fuckin' trust you, they love you and you betrayed that. Betrayed us!"

The blow left her ears ringing, and had flipped her over the back of the couch. Raph had closed the distance before anyone had even noticed, and smacked her hard across the face.

"Raphael!" Splinter yelled, making his way to intercept Raph before he could attack Asha again. He hit two pressure points and Raph stumbled backwards, seeming to almost fall asleep on his feet. Asha's eyes were wide as saucers and a large purple bruise spread across her cheek as it swelled. It hurt to the touch as she winced while trying to soothe the spot. She staggered to her feet, tears in her eyes. Donnie was looking at her with a mix of anger and sadness, April with hatred, and even master Splinter gave her a sorrowful and reproachful look.

"It should be you laying there instead of them. You should have been the only one to be tortured in that place. Leo is too good for you, he always was, and he always will be. If you loved him like you claim, you would have never done anything to bring him harm, ever." April said, her tone flat and harsh. Even Splinter was stunned at the harshness of April's words.

Asha looked towards the room where Leo was, not wanting to leave his side, but obviously not welcomed to stay any longer.

"Asha, I believe it would be best for you to leave for now." Splinter stated not even fully turning around as he spoke. He was holding April back who looked as if she was about ready to finish what Raph started.

Suppressing a wail that threatened to erupt from her throat, Asha ran as fast as she could through the sewer and back to her apartment. The tears flowed freely as she ran, the sharp edge of April and Raph's words twisting in her gut as they played over again in her mind. For the second time in her miserable life Asha's rash actions had cost her a family. Like before, she had been exiled. The trust she had gained with them demolished in the wake of a string of ill-advised moves and misguided motives.

She burst through the door of her rickety apartment, falling to her knees and letting out the wail she had been keeping at bay. She had forfeited her friendship with the turtles and maybe even Splinter, and most of all her relationship with Leo that had only recently gotten back on track. Asha collapsed onto her face and lay there crying until she couldn't anymore. After she stopped crying her mind was blank. The moment of clarity she'd thought she had with a vision of her uncle was a distant memory. Now more than ever, she had nothing to live for, no reason to be careful. She would drown her sorrows in violence. Bloody, disemboweling, dismembering violence. For the moment though, she needed to sleep. Not bothering to find the comfort of her bed, she curled up on the cold hardwood floor and rocked herself to sleep. The morning would bring a reign of terror for the purple dragons and the foot that they had never seen before.


Back at the lair April wasn't feeling good about what she had said to Asha in her anger, but didn't quite feel like retracting it either. In fact, as messed up as she felt about it, she did wish that it was Asha that was hurt instead of her Mikey. The look of reproach that Splinter had given her was enough to cool her anger a little, and bring a modicum of shame about it. Raphael was just now coming out of his slumber.

"I would send you to the Ha'shi had you not already been through enough Raphael. However, I will never allow the attack of innocents ever, let alone in the sanctity of our home. So for your actions, you are assigned on duty to assist Donatello in whatever he may need. In fact, you take your medicine and then take first watch over your brothers while I attend to Donatello." Splinter said, regaining his calm demeanor.

"Hai sensei," Raphael had better sense than to argue this point with his father.

"As for you Ms. O'Neil, while I may not be able to send you to the Ha'shi, you should feel ashamed over the words you have spoken to Asha. I was also not happy about her revelations this evening, but that was not a reason to speak hard words born of anger. Many times she has proven an ally to this family, and a friend to my sons. She acted out of ignorance yes, but not for a moment do I believe that it was with malicious intent. Words are like arrows shot from a bow April. Once they have been shot, they cannot be called back. I will not send you away due to your love for Michelangelo, but I do wish that you ponder over what I have said." Splinter said, his shoulders slumping under the invisible weight of worry and fatherly concern. April hung her head in her hands as she flopped back down onto the couch.

"I will retire for the night Donatello after I have seen to your injuries. If there are any new developments, please do not hesitate to come and get me. I'm going to retrieve some medications for you and something to clean your cuts." Splinter said patting Donnie's shell and making his way to the lab. Under the strain of the past couple days, he looked old and worn out. Donnie noticed the more pronounced limp as Splinter walked, and made mental not to find out what medication best helped arthritis.

"Hai sensei, but I don't need…" he wanted to continue but the look in his father's eyes brooked no argument. Donnie swallowed the rest of his sentence and cast his eyes down respectfully. Raphael grumbled something under his breath, and then went into the lab to sit with Leo and Mikey as they slept.

Donnie had taken a lot of strikes to his carapace. Where it had once been relatively smooth around the edges, his nuchal scutes as well as the marginal scutes around the top edge were all split and dinged up. It was uncomfortable to say the least. The impact from bullets and the strike of swords and knives on their shells actually hurt quite a bit, and Donnie was no exception. The gashes weren't very deep, but Splinter took the precaution of disinfecting them nonetheless. After he was done, Splinter gathered up all the supplies and headed off to put them back. Before he could leave however Donnie gently grabbed his father's hand. Splinter turned a sympathetic eye to his son.

"Do you think she will come back after tonight? I'm worried about her, and about how Leo's gonna react to her being gone." Donnie admitted. Splinter thought for a moment.

"Honestly I do not know. I am worried over her state of mind. She is young and has been through many perils, and situations where she has lost much," Splinter said rubbing Donnie's shoulder. "I do not know what she may do, but I think it would be best for now to leave her alone. Sometimes, one needs to face their own fears and demons without the aid of others. This is a war she may well have to wage alone." Donnie thought about his father's words then shook his head.

"I think someone needs to talk to her. Leo isn't gonna be able to do it, so I think I should dad. It's too dangerous and she shouldn't be out there alone with the Shredder planning who knows what…" Donnie said, his voice becoming higher pitched the more concerned he grew. Splinter rubbed his shoulder once more.

"Donatello, go and get some rest. In the morning I would like for you to meditate with me to clear your mind. If after that you still believe you should speak with Asha, you have my permission to do so, but only on the further condition that the health of your brothers doesn't deteriorate."

"Hai sensei." Donnie said simply, standing to go back into the lab himself, and gently relieving his father of the supplies.

"You go and get some rest too dad, and sorry we had you worried. We'll be more careful next time." Donnie said trying to smile. Splinter returned it weakly and retired to his room to sleep.


A/N: I would love to sincerely thank basecannon, TheLadyOfSouls, Joyeaux5-10, and Leetah1999 for their much appreciated reviews and for reading. That goes for all my readers and those who favorite or follow my stories. *smooches*