Author's Note: It's so wonderful to know that people are enjoying this thing, and your thoughts are always fascinating...but I'm being lazy and tired, and thus reclusive this time around about PMing. *cough* I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Chapter Twenty-Six: Unintended Consequences

"I don't know about leaving Karai alone in the lair, Mikey."

Raphael's voice was colored by the slight echo of the curving concrete walls, and came from behind. They were taking a subterranean route to Murakami's, running in the semi-dark. Since Leo still wasn't picking up his T-Phone, Mikey had enlisted Raph to come with him to pick up the food. The alternative was to take April, and leave his hot headed brother with Donnie and Karai...

And even if Mikey didn't know better than that – which he totally did – Raph's first comment since leaving the lair totally proved he'd made the right choice.

Mikey kept his voice lighthearted as he called Raphael on the obvious mistake. "Dude, she's not alone. Donnie and April are there- not to mention Master Splinter, even if he is meditating. And you know he has crazy-good ears."

Raph went from sounding worried to aggravated. "Yeah? A lot of good that does when you tune out the obvious, Mikey! April's the only one there who seems to realize that Karai's still a threat. And I think we all know how that fight would go down."

Mikey frowned as he leaped over a piece of debris in his path. "Donnie trusts her, so I trust her. Besides, you don't know she's a threat, bro." You're just afraid.

Mikey definitely knew better than to say that out loud.

Raphael raised his voice slightly. "I know better than to assume! Sensei taught us that- he'd know better too, if she wasn't his daughter. It's the perfect trap."

Mikey shook his head as he kept running. "What trap, Raph? I mean, even I know she could've called the Foot last night."

Raphael didn't reply for several seconds, and Mikey's thoughts turned to pizza giyoza. He was hungry, and this conversation was lame.

When Raphael spoke again, he sounded like he was talking to himself more than to Michelangelo. "I don't know...maybe she's after something else..."

A moment later, Raphael let out an audible gasp, and skidded to a stop.

Mikey reluctantly circled back, coming to a stop to face Raphael a few feet away, concerned but impatient at the same time. "Raph...?"

Raphael sounded shocked. "The retro-mutagen. Mikey. It is a trap. She's here to figure out the formula! That's got to be it! They figured out the other stuff was fake- that kunoichi on the roof could probably smell it! Geeze...it was diesel." He crossed his arms, voice dropping to a growl. "I knew that was a stupid idea..."

Raphael dropped off, shaking his head in the gloom bitterly, looking as though he had half a mind to turn right back around and confront Karai then and there. When he did start to turn, Michelangelo jumped forward, reaching out to catch Raphael by the elbow.

Mikey didn't want to have this conversation, but...Raph was Raph. They were having this conversation, now, and he'd better take it seriously, or his brother would be in the doghouse for...ever, probably.

Mikey's voice dropped low, all silliness gone. "Raph...I think she's on the level." Raphael's theory did make him kind of uncomfortable, but...it was also wrong. Mikey knew it. And sometimes you had to trust your instincts.

Raphael snorted, still half turned away, and Mikey continued before he could say something. "No, listen. I think her heart's in the right place, bro. I think...she felt bad. She wanted to get Donnie out of there. And remember, Donnie knocked her out- she didn't ask to come here."

Raphael shrugged off Mikey's hand and turned to face him fully again, tone condescending and exasperated. "Oh, come on, Mikey! She felt bad? That's ridiculous! You are the most naive...!"

Mikey's temper flared. He raised his voice to a yell, cutting Raphael off. "Yeah, Raph, she felt bad! And you know what, it's not ridiculous! It makes total sense, because people don't like to watch other people getting tortured!"

Raphael stiffened, and then Mikey was backing up, twisting and ducking to avoid Raphael's attempts to tackle him.

"Mikey...! You tell me what was in that video!" Raphael's voice was an outraged howl, the pent up worry and pain from the last few days fueling his movements, making him too fast for Mikey to avoid.

Raphael dove forward into a pouncing leap, and they both tumbled to the dirty concrete, rolling over one another as Mikey struggled to break away again. They both growled at each other, as they grappled.

"Raph, get off...!" Raphael only doubled down, and in a few furious movements, Mikey was on his stomach with an arm twisted behind his back. "Oww...ow, ow, Raph, get off of me!"

"No! Tell me what you saw!" This wasn't Raphael getting back at him for playing a prank, or being annoying. He was upset and dead serious, voice raised in something between a yell and a scream of rage.

"What's under that shirt, Mikey? You think I can't tell that you know?!"

Mikey's lower lip trembled, tears gathering in his eyes. The truth was he didn't want to tell Raphael, because it just hurt to think about it so much, and he knew Raph would be so furious. Who knew what he'd end up doing? It was bad enough that Donnie was hurt - they didn't need Raphael running off!

Raphael pressed down, tightening the arm lock, his outraged voice ringing in Mikey's ear.

"The way you and Leo just pretend like it's not there...you think- you think we should just let Donnie pretend?! Just let him go through this alone, Mikey? Is that what you think? Just...just let him wear that STUPID shirt for, hey, maybe forever!? And act like nothing happened?! Just- just 'cause it's easier for you?!" Raph shook him slightly. "What if it was you, Mikey?" Shock and hurt overtook Raphael's anger, leaving his voice weak. "What if it was you." He fell silent for a few seconds. Mikey could feel his brother's hands trembling.

"I can't believe..." Raphael dropped off, and his grip went completely slack. For a few moments, the only sound was their own breathing, harsh from the brief struggle.

Michelangelo gently pulled his arm forward, out of Raphael's limp hands, and when he moved to get up, Raphael let him, falling back to sit in the gloom, huddled against one of the curving walls. Mikey watched his brother, crouched a few feet away.

Raphael moved his hands as if he didn't know what to do with them, the motions filled with frenetic energy. In quick succession, he braced them against the ground, then against his thighs, then his knee pads, gripping them for an instant, and then crossed his arms in front of his chest. The movements were panicked; a person trying to deny their overwhelming emotions. Raphael finally drew up one knee and resting an arm on it, bent at the elbow, with the hand against his temple, hiding his face.

Mikey slowly crawled over, and sat right next to him, knowing better than to allow the barricade Raphael's arm formed to get in the way. Mikey reached an arm over Raphael's shell, then pulled him closer, until their foreheads touched. Raphael allowed the contact, his hand falling away slightly from his face. Mikey listened to his brother's shuddering breaths, as he tried so hard not to cry.

Mikey exhaled slowly through his nose, brow furrowing in pain as he struggled to keep his voice low and calm. "There's no way, Raph...no way we'd ever do that." He felt a twinge of guilt, because there had been some truth in Raphael's words. Mikey would never really let Donnie pretend...not forever, anyway. But it just felt too soon.

"It's just that he's hurting so bad right now, and it's not just...physical, bro. It's deeper than that."

When Raphael replied, the anger from before was completely missing. His voice was thin and pleading, making him sound like the kid he really was. "How? What'd they do to 'im, Mikey?"

"...guys?" Raphael and Michelangelo both started, and a second later Raphael was pushing Mikey away, gaining distance, hurriedly scrubbing an arm over his face.

"Leo?" Raphael's voice was gruff, and still a little too thin, as they both stared into the dark.

Leonardo came forward, his form taking shape in the tunnel. He walked up to stop a few feet away, his expression impossible to make out in the gloom. He had both katana drawn. "I heard yelling."

Raphael sprang up, crossing his arms. "Oh, that- that was just me and Mikey rough housing- right, Mikey?" He nudged Michelangelo with his toe where he still sat, and Mikey slowly got up too, putting a hand to the back of his head, smiling.

Raphael went on, voice a little too tight, and artificially upbeat. "Where'd you take off to, anyway? Donnie's surgery is over - we're actually on our way over to Murakami-san's to get food to celebrate."

Raphael's words sat in the air, sounding unnatural and wrong. The word celebrate left a bitter aftertaste, as if they'd all just taken a bite of a favorite candy to realize it was a poor substitute, disguised under a pretty wrapper.

Leonardo sheathed his blades in a single motion. "That's...great." The comment felt forced, insincere.

Mikey broke the unhappy mood, walking forward as he talked, and grabbed each sibling by the arm.

"Yeah, it totally is! Come on, I'm starving...Leo, come with, I kind of ordered a lot. We can use another set of arms, bro!"

Leonardo and Raphael silently followed as Mikey took off at a sprint.

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"How do you even have cable down here? We are in the sewer, right?" Karai raised an eyebrow as she watched Donnie flip through channels on the television. She sat to his left on the couch, while April sat to his right.

Immediately after Raphael and Mikey took off, Donatello had picked up the remote, searching for something to watch. He looked like he was about to crash, slumping down far enough for his head to rest against the back of the couch, eyes half lidded.

Donatello replied, sounding amused. "Yep. And the answer is: because I'm a genius." He stated it as fact, not even bothering to sound smug.

Karai snorted. "Oh. That explains everything."

Unfortunately, Donnie's slumping posture gave April a clear view of Karai, who sat perfectly straight, with one leg drawn up under her. She looked totally comfortable in her skin, with an elbow propped on the back of the couch.

Did she always look so superior?

Donnie smiled slightly. "Actually, it does." He flipped the channel again, quickly moving past a music video with pop stars wearing way too little clothing, to land on a cartoon with talking ponies.

He paused there, and April almost said something. She had watched this show as a little girl. If she was honest with herself, she still watched it sometimes.

"Your American cartoons are insipid, Donatello."

Donnie shrugged, and changed channels again. "I'm Japanese-American, which means, by that logic, you may as well give me credit for all anime, too."

Karai grinned. "I never said all anime was good."

"Super Robot Mecha Force Five is pretty good."

Karai looked genuinely surprised. "Hah! You've heard of Smurf?"

Donnie's eyes cut to the side, giving her an amused glance. "Is that what true fans call it? And shouldn't it be Surmf?"

She snorted again, smirking lopsidedly. "Smurf is easier. And I watched that show when I was about five years old." She raised an eyebrow. "What's your excuse?"

As the conversation continued, April sat with her hands in her lap. She felt like an awkward outsider. They were...were bantering. Donnie and Karai.

Two weeks ago, Donnie had been her best friend in the world, and now she might as well not be sitting there. The hurt April felt slowly snowballed with every comment they exchanged, but she couldn't think of a thing to do or say, not after what happened in the lab earlier. She was terrified of seeing that damaged, shell shocked look on Donnie's face again.

Or maybe almost as bad...indifference.

The conversation took a pause as Donatello's channel flipping brought them to an image of a burnt out husk of a building. As April's eyes widened, recognizing the image, he turned up the volume, the narrator's voice becoming audible.

"...ve been found, buried under the rubble. I repeat, we now have two confirmed fatalities, in relation to the Yoshida laboratory explosion. Officials believe that both victims may have died from smoke inhalation, rather than from the initial explosion itself, and were then buried later in the night as the heat from the fire brought down more of the building's structure."

On the TV, Carlos Chiang O'Brian Gambe appeared front and center, frowning at the camera. "Now, here's where it gets truly bizarre. Police have gone mum in sharing additional detail, but a reliable source has confirmed for Channel 6 News that these two individuals were tied - that's right - tied, hand and foot, which may explain why they didn't flee the premises after the initial explosion."

Gambe raised an eyebrow dramatically, his expression serious. "If any doubt remains as to whether there was foul play, at least in this reporter's mind, this fact alone stands to confirm something darker at work here. Additionally, as we shared earlier today, we believe this facility may actually have been in use after all, which raises additional questions. Why would all personnel have been changed out a few weeks ago, and is the timing merely coincidence? We've invited a few specialists to the show, to discuss what might have been..."

April practically fell out of her seat as Gambe's face was replaced by Captain Ryan and Dr. Mindstrong grappling in an arena, while a distraught Ensign Crankshaw looked on from the sidelines.

"Much better. I hate the news." Karai had taken the remote from Donnie, and sat with her arms crossed, conveniently putting it out of his reach. She pursed her lips, eyes still on the TV. "This episode's a classic. You ever watch Space Heroes, Donatello?" Her voice was tight, her words mechanical and forced. She glanced to the side, eyes not quite reaching his face.

Donnie was still staring at the TV, unblinking. When he replied, he spoke so quietly his words were hard to pick up. "Yeah, Leo...Leonardo's a big fan." April watched his profile, seeing the shock there. Her hand clenched to her chest, heart in her throat.

He didn't have to say a thing, because the incredible tension radiating off of Donatello left no doubt. They had all guessed it anyway- that he had blown up that building. But even so, after all they had been through with the Kraang and the Foot, the Turtles had never used lethal tactics, and it was obvious it hadn't been his intention this time, either.

Oh, Donnie...

Karai stood abruptly, catching April by surprise. She didn't move for several seconds, her posture ramrod straight. Then she turned her head, just slightly, toward Donatello.

The two spoke simultaneously.

"You know this wasn't..."

"Karai, it's not your..."

Donnie went on first. "...Your fault. It's not." His voice caught, and when April looked back to him, Donnie's expression was pleading. But his eyes wouldn't quite meet Karai's face, either.

Karai crossed her arms, her face a scowling mask. "That's ridiculous. Of course it is." Her voice was cutting, harsh, but buried under the scoffing tone, April heard a tremor.

For the first time, April felt herself soften a little toward the other girl.

Donatello replied, his voice a gentle counterpoint as he tried to comfort, desperation making his tone thin. "You didn't blow up that building. This is on m..."

He dropped off as Karai abruptly started away from them, the television remote still clenched in one hand. Her movements were just as harsh as her voice had been, shutting out the conversation. As she headed toward the bedrooms, Donnie didn't try to say anything else.

The struggle between Captain Ryan and Dr. Mindstrong continued to play on the screen, the sound somehow more prominent after Karai left. The melodrama coming from the television was out of place, belonging to a reality with pizza giyoza and late night skateboarding, and Mikey snoring during group meditation. As the seconds ticked by and April tried to think of something to say, Donnie gradually slumped even further, as if the conversation with Karai had taken every ounce of remaining energy he had. His eyes had returned to the television, but it was clear he wasn't actually watching. As he stared, his lips slowly twisted into a miserable, bitter smile, a muscle in his cheek jumping as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

April reached out a hand, hating that she hesitated at all, but his reaction in the lab was still so fresh, and she didn't want to make this even worse...but he needed a hug, and to be reminded that he had been beaten and desperate and hurting, and it didn't matter that there were two dead people, not if it meant that he wasn't one of them...

"Donnie..."

Donatello talked over her, and his voice barely maintaining control. "Guess we're stuck watching Space Heroes. M-must've seen this episode ten times by now." Donatello abruptly reached an arm up to grip the back of his neck, his forearm resting against the side of his head, and the motion brushed her frozen hand just slightly, pushing it away. The baggy material of his sweatshirt hid Donnie's face entirely from her view, cutting her out just as surely as Karai had by leaving.

April let her hand drop, and turned to watch Captain Ryan's struggle, feeling just as helpless as Crankshaw.

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Karai locked the door, and strode to the bed Hamato Yoshi had told her last night was hers to use. She sat down and, as if only just noticing the television remote still clenched in one hand, finally set it aside. She looked around her at the sparsely furnished room, and her gaze landed on a pink dresser. It was sized for a ten year old girl, full of little twists and twirls to the carved wood. It had little dings here and there that had been carefully covered over with a new coat of paint. The imperfections were hardly visible, and she might not have noticed them if she weren't studying it so intently.

Karai wondered where they'd dredged this silly, feminine thing up from, and realized belatedly that it probably came from a thrift shop, or even the dump.

Most of the stuff here looked second-hand. Donatello's laptop took it a step further - it was pieces of a dozen other used computers, somehow made to work as a unit. Karai wondered how many other things he had cobbled together that way. Despite everything he'd been put through, he had made a supreme effort to bring her here, cobbling together his family too, retrieving her from the Lost and Found of the Foot clan.

This was her home. Her family had been here her entire life, under the streets of New York city, so far away from Japan and their roots.

There was an ornate little mirror set into the top of the dresser, and Karai was caught briefly by her own reflection in it. Her face was drawn, making her look older, and she seemed plain and colorless, still lacking the make-up she had grown so accustomed to. She looked like a stranger.

Karai put a hand to her face, covering her eyes, as the shock she had tried to repress tore through her mind, coiling in her stomach. She wanted to hate those two nin, wanted to hate all of the Foot! They had no honor! But instead, she was left with a surreal horror at the fact that they had died. Guilt twisted around the feeling, causing her heart to clench, as she fought against tears.

Karai always thought that if she took a life, it would be because she was righting a long standing wrong. It would be righteous; vengeance and justice rolled into one. And she had been prepared to kill for those reasons. When Leonardo and his brothers had schemed behind her back to kill the Shredder - the man she had thought was her only family left in the world - she had decided it was time to put an end to it. She was going to have her vengeance, before Hamato Yoshi and his clan could steal her other parent away, too.

Karai snorted quietly, her free arm hugging her waist, aware of the bitter irony there. Silent tears ran down her face, the hand still pressed to her face a flimsy barrier against her emotions.

These deaths were a...a joke. A mistake!

Her mind conjured an image of the two nin tied on the ground, awake and terrified at the inevitably approaching smoke crept across the ground toward them. Had they woken up, before the fumes killed them? Had they struggled to escape their bonds, desperate not to die?

How...long had it taken?

Karai wiped at her face, hunching forward as more tears spilled, her mouth pulling into a bitter grimace. The truth was, she hadn't thought of them at all, focused solely on getting Donatello out of there.

Donatello didn't want her to blame herself. But...she realized that it didn't matter if it was her fault, or his. Their actions had consequences, and she hadn't foreseen the results. And it wouldn't stop with these two deaths. They had set off a chain reaction.

The Foot would be out for blood.

Fear added to the mix in Karai's stomach, as her mind's eye summoned the scowling face of the man who had raised her. Even in dealing with her as a daughter, his tolerance had always been limited. If he realized she was behind this, would he have any left at all? And if he realized she had discovered the truth of her ancestry, would whatever he felt for her endure?

Karai's eyes went wide in horror. Had he...ever loved her? Or was it a fantasy - a gullible assumption she made as a child, long ago..?

Utterly overwhelmed, Karai fell slowly onto her side. She drew her legs up, curling into herself, and cradled her head in her arms as she cried.

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AN: This feels like a longer chapter in which nothing much happens lol! Hope you guys enjoyed. Thanks for reading!