Leo closed his eyes and drew a breath to brace himself.

It was still five days since they'd tried to re-mutate Donnie. After Karai had come to see Leo in the lab, the two of them had worked out a potential plan for infiltrating the building. Then, they had all agreed to meet at Mei's apartment for dinner and then discussing the plan. They were all full – probably uncomfortably full, since Mei had ordered enough pizza to feed several small elephants…or a few hungry teenagers.

"All right, everybody," Leo said, wishing that he'd had one less slice of pizza. "Now that we've all eaten, it's time to talk business."

Kirby, Splinter, Raphael, April, Karai, and Aunt Mei all looked at him, their faces solemn. The empty pizza boxes on the table had a few lone crumbs in them, and Michelangelo was busying himself with the task of picking up and eating the crumbs.

"Mikey, are you paying attention?" Leo put his hands on his hips.

"Uh-huh."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh!"

Leo shook his head. "Okay. So, here's the deal. A team – me, Mikey, Raph, and Karai – is going to break into TCRI tomorrow at sundown. Meanwhile, we'll have a ground team – that's April and Master Splinter – keeping the Shellraiser warm and providing us with backup if we need it. Aunt Mei, you and Kirby will need to be on standby here by your phones, in case we have any computer questions for you."

"Wait, you're doing this tomorrow at sundown?" Aunt Mei said.

"Yeah. Karai and I decided it's not safe to wait anymore."

"No. This is perfect. The doctor moved up my cast removal – I'm getting my pelvic cast off tomorrow, and all of my other casts are already removed. I won't be of any use to you remotely – but let me come in with you and I'll see what I can do to short out their computers."

"Obasan, do you have any idea how dangerous that will be?"

"I do, and I will still do it."

"Absolutely not," Splinter said. "You will be too weak, Mei."

"That is why you will stay with me, Yoshi," Aunt Mei said. "If we are going to do this, we must completely sabotage their computers, or we may as well not do it at all."

Splinter frowned.

"If we were dealing with non-alien computers, I could walk you through the steps to wiping them without being there. But I'll have to hack these from scratch. I cannot tell somebody how to do that."

Leo bit his lip. He really did not like the idea of Mei being on site, but she had a point. Why even bother with this if they weren't going to be sure that the computers were totally wiped? "Well…okay…but Sensei, you'll have to be with her at all times."

Splinter looked at Aunt Mei. "Are you sure about this? You do not even know how well you will be able to walk."

"Yeah, your legs are going to be really weak from disuse," Kirby said. "They might even put you on a walker to get started."

"Do you see another option?" Aunt Mei folded her arms.

Kirby shuddered. "I – I could go…I'm not as good with computers…but I spent enough time with the Kraang…"

"No offense, Mr. O'Neil," Leo said, trying to decide what to say next. No offense, but, you'll probably have a nervous breakdown? But we need someone with Donnie levels of genius, and you don't come close? But Aunt Mei is the next best thing to Donnie? "But I'm thinking Aunt Mei is a better candidate for the job."

"Better candidate? Leo, she won't be able to run if there's trouble!"

"That's why Master Splinter will stay with her. Sensei can handle anything the Kraang can throw at him."

Splinter closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Leonardo…"

"Hey, it was her idea, Sensei. I can't help it that she's right."

"Very well. But this leaves April alone on the ground."

"I can go with April," Kirby volunteered.

Leo gave Kirby a long, evaluating look. Kirby was sweaty and pale just thinking about this. There was no way he would hold up under pressure. The Kraang were clearly too much of a trigger for him. Leo, after watching April's response to being captured by Shredder, was starting to understand just how irrationally PTSD could affect its victims. April had mentioned that Kirby had alien abduction nightmares. "Sensei…can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Use my room if you need somewhere quiet," Aunt Mei said.

Splinter and Leo went down the short hall into Aunt Mei's room. Leo had never been inside it before. He had expected a lot more decorations, but the walls were rather bare. The only furniture was the bed, a vanity, and a dresser. "Okay, Sensei…I don't know how to say this, exactly, but…"

"Kirby is not psychologically fit for the role he volunteers to play," Splinter said.

Leo sighed in relief. "So it's not just me."

"No."

"Okay, but how do I tell him that?"

"I suggest that you be honest."

"How do I do that without…being a jerk?"

Splinter ran his hand down the length of his beard. "Hmm. Something you must learn as a leader is to balance both honesty and tact. Chances are that Kirby himself does not truly wish to be involved in this mission. Appeal to his reason and his background as a psychologist. His own fear of the mission will do the rest for you."

"Okay, but what do I say?"

Splinter smiled slightly. "That is for you, as the leader, to decide. They are waiting for us."

Leo drew a deep breath. "All right. Let's go then, I guess."

"Never guess, Leonardo. Even when you yourself doubt, you must be sure."

"Thanks."

Leo and Splinter returned to the dining area, where Karai had pulled out a diagram of the area and was showing it to the infiltration team.

"Sorry, Leo," Karai said. "I thought that this way we wouldn't waste any time."

"Good idea," Leo said. "Mr. O'Neil, I appreciate your willingness to come on the mission, but I'm concerned that…I'm concerned that being around the Kraang might be a…um…a trigger event? A thing that could set off your bad memories from your first capture by the Kraang. We need everyone to be sharp, and I'm afraid that you wouldn't be…well…sharp."

Oh, great job, Leo. Way to appeal to reason and be tactful and all of that.

Kirby sighed. "You're right."

Leo started. "Um, well, I mean, I really appreciate that you volunteered anyway. It was really noble."

"So who's going to be with April?"

Leo frowned. It would be best if they had two on the ground, but the only alternative would be to pull, say, Mikey or Raph from the infiltration team. Leo couldn't do without either of them. April could hold her own all right…but still…

"I know somebody," April said. She stared at the table. "But no one's going to like the idea."

Leo racked his brain. There wasn't anyone else that knew about them that could possibly be considered an ally. Except…

Except…

"You mean Casey? You're kidding, right?" Leo said.

"Mikey said he's a good fighter. And he's changed. He's really turned it around."

Raph folded his arms and glared at her. "And you know this how?"

April stared at the table. "He came to me asking for help with homework, and I've been helping him out. I told him a little about what's going on, and he said he was willing to help…"

"You did what?" Leo threw his hands up in the air. "April, are you crazy? If there's anyone we can't trust, it's Casey!"

"Well, maybe we can't totally trust him, but we can't totally trust Karai either!" April hastily glanced at Karai. "No offense."

Karai smirked. "None taken."

"Yeah, but Karai won't instantly flip because somebody waves booze in her face."

"What Casey did was my fault," Karai said. She sighed.

Leo suddenly felt a pang of remorse for what he said. "Karai…I didn't mean…I just mean, he's a liability."

"And so am I," Karai said. "You know it, Leo."

"It's not like we'll be giving Casey the location of the lair, Leo," April said. "Besides, he's known where my apartment is for months, and he never gave that up to the Foot." April glanced at Karai again. "Did he?"

"No. He just gave up your location that specific night. Of course…that was really all we were looking for."

"We can trust him, Leo."

"Are you loopy?" Raph said. "Casey is a traitor!"

"But you're willing to work with traitors," Karai said. "You've proven as much by working with me. And the things I've done were a lot more personal than what Casey did."

Raph scoffed. "Well, maybe so. But two traitors on one team sounds like we're just asking for it."

"I think we should trust Casey," Mikey said. "'Sides, we need the help."

Leo sighed. He remembered back to the rooftop when they'd enlisted Casey's help in contacting Karai. Mikey had forgiven Casey so easily. He'd even said…what was it? Shredder only stabbed me. He got you way worse.

Casey was a victim of Shredder, just like the rest of them.

"Okay. We'll take Casey as ground support."

Raph's mouth fell open. "Leo – "

"I said, we'll take Casey as ground support, Raph. That's final. Unless you want April to be alone on the ground."

Raph grumbled unintelligibly.

"All right, then. We have our plan. We'll meet in the alley behind Meatburger just as the sun is going down tomorrow. Let's get a good night's rest, okay?"

Everyone agreed and decided to call it a night. Just as Leo, Karai, and the other turtles were ready to leave, Splinter declared that he was going to stay behind and talk to Aunt Mei for a while.

Leo realized that Splinter stayed behind to talk to Aunt Mei with increasing frequency. Yeah, it had only happened a few times, but then there was that one time that Splinter had gone by himself to make dinner for her.

Maybe it was just that Splinter liked having another adult to talk to. It had occurred to Leo on some small level that Splinter probably tired of being around teenagers all the time.

But Leo had a funny feeling that there was more to it than that. He'd noticed the discernible difference in his Sensei's behavior since Aunt Mei had become a part of their lives. Sure, maybe it was just that he was happy to be reunited with a friend from his past…but then there were all those glances that the two of them exchanged…and Sensei seemed so happy when Aunt Mei was around…

Well, Leo thought, whatever it was, it was Sensei's business, not his.

The rest of them climbed out onto the fire escape and headed back to the lair.

Splinter paced until everyone else was gone, then he sat down opposite Mei. "Mei, I wish you would not do this."

"You and I both know it has to be this way, Yoshi." Mei brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Besides, you support Karai's presence there."

"Yes, and if you were fully healthy – agile and capable of fighting, I would not only support your presence, I would insist upon it. But Mei…please. I cannot – " He took her slender hand in his. "I cannot bear even to think of losing you."

Mei was silent for a moment. Then she drew his hand to her lips and kissed it. "Yoshi, if this fails, then we do not even know how many people will die. My life would be small payment if it were to keep them safe. If it were to keep Miwa safe. You safe."

Splinter's heart wrenched. Shen had died to keep him safe, too – when he had had no way to defend himself and she took the Shredder's blow that had been meant for him. And then…she had disappeared beneath the burning rubble of the house that had become her pyre.

Mei shared the same selflessness as her sister. That selflessness had killed Shen and had grievously injured and scarred Mei.

Both times, Splinter had been able to do nothing.

"No, Mei. I must keep you safe. I would sooner die – "

"Yoshi." Mei's voice was soft and soothing, and for a moment, it sounded like Shen's. "You will be there to keep me safe. But we both know that this is a risk worth taking."

Splinter choked back a sob. "The last time you took a risk, Mei…"

"I took that risk willingly, too. And it was worth it."

"Iē! I can't lose you! Not you too!"

"If you are the man that I know you are, I will be safer than anyone else in that building."

"And if I am not?"

"Then we will die together, surrounded by sacrificial love. There are worse ways to die, Yoshi."

Splinter rose from his side of the table and came around to Mei. Her threw his arms around her and held her tightly. "I swear I will let nothing happen to you."