Author's notes- I don't own the TMNT, just my two turtles and Lia.

Sorry, I forgot I said i'd put this one up. Thanks for all your reviews, I WILL get back to you, i'm just doing an essay right now and remembered about this. Once i'm done, i'll be back, buried in my inbox. Oh, and, um, this chapter might have a bit of an extreme ending. I have my reasons for doing it, all will become clear.

Sleeping with the enemy

For a few seconds, everybody stands still. As those two words slowly sink in, everybody stays still, everybody stays calm.

And then an emotional time bomb explodes.

"What?!"

Leo roars. Karai stands still whilst Raph stands shaking. Mikey stands open mouthed while Don closes his eyes, his mind ticking away. I gulp hard, waiting for the next words.

"Leonardo, I only knew of this after my father's death-"

Her last words are a choke as a strong green hand constricts her throat.

"Leo!"

The second eldest grapples with our oldest brother, trying desperately to snatch the choking hand away from the Japanese woman's throat.

"Raph!" I shout again.

"Let go." Leo snarls, never taking his hard eyes from Karai's terrified gaze. "She deserves to die."

"Ya can't blame her fer this!"

"Why the fuck not?! She-"

"This is yer fault, not hers. Ya never stuck by me; you were the one to tear this family apart. Ya could'a been my big bro', instead ya took the leader approach; like y'always do, an' did 'what was best'. Ya got a choice right now, ya do what's best, ya do the leader thing, or ya let her go, an' do the humane thing."

Mikey's hand grasps at mine, his watery, baby blue eyes intently watching his two big brothers. I tighten my grip in return and also watch intently.

Karai falls to the floor, gulping down air. She coughs and splutters whilst Lia falls to her feet next to her, frantically checking her mother.

"Your family has done enough to hurt ours. Karai, I mean this, you stay the hell away from us from now on, otherwise…" Leo sends an icy stare in Lia's direction, and then turns his shell to her.

"Wait, dad… you can't mean that…" Yoshi steps forward tentatively.

"Yes Yoshi, I do. We're going home, all of us, to put things right."

I find myself gazing at the red-banded turtle before me. He clenches then unclenches his gloved hands, mouth pulled into a tight line, as his eyes seem to stare right through to his bones. His plastron lightly rises and falls, almost as if he isn't breathing at all. It's as though the world has stopped, yet his past is racing towards him and steered for a head on collision.

"But dad-"

"But nothing, we're going home, we have no business here."

"Raph?"

He looks up as I walk towards him and heaves a heavy sigh.

"What?"

"Are you… are you okay?"

Gently, I place a hand on his shoulder. He merely nods then joins Leo heading for the door.

With a sigh, I glance at Yoshi, standing just behind the desk, looking extremely lost and unsure what to do.

"Yoshi, come on." Don says whilst ushering Mikey out.

"No."

Leo halts.

"Yoshi, I've told you, we're going home."

"We can't."

"Yes we can."

"No dad, we can't… There's something I need to tell you…"

Slowly, his father turns back towards him, his uncle's following suit.

"What…"

"Do you wanna know something? This was all set up; you were supposed to come here. Uncle Mike, uncle Don and mom wanted you and uncle Raph to be brothers again, they were sick of you being such a hothead, so they set this up. Karai never captured them, she doesn't even have the Foot ninja to do so, they came here of their own accord, so we could trick you into teaming up with uncle Raph…"

"Is this… true?"

"Yeah it is, because, and I think I speak for everybody here, we were sick of your attitude." I fold my arms across my chest.

"There's something else you should know, all of you should know…" The green banded turtle hesitates a moment, before continuing, "I'm the one who broke the deal… I found Karai, I wanted to know what really went on, since no one would tell me. Well, I didn't exactly find Karai first…"

"He found me." Lia stands, supporting her mother. "It was a shock at first, but when I came to, mother was there to explain it to me."

"This was near six months ago…"

"You hid this for six months?" Leo's voice is cold.

"No, he didn't." Mikey speaks up. "He told me, and Don, a few months ago… he said he wanted us to be a family again. We trusted his judgement."

"And you wonder why I was chosen to be leader…?" He laughs sharply. "This is why I was chosen, I'm the responsible one, the rational one, if it wasn't for me, you'd be-"

"We'd be a family." Don also speaks out.

"We wouldn't have to keep secrets if you were more reasonable dad…"

"…There's something else, isn't there, Yoshi?"

My son dips his head, unable to hide it any longer.

"Mom, dad, uncle Mike, Don and Raph, Karai… I'd like you to meet my girlfriend…"

Lia shyly glances at him, whilst the rest of us stare open-mouthed.