You guys left awesome, awesome reviews for the last chapter. Seriously, each one made me absolutely glow with pride. I can't even express how much your enthusiasm for this story means to me, so thank you!

Ah but this next chapter has been a killer. It is wrought with emotion which has made it pretty hard to write. I've been agonising over it for far too long (4 weeks, seriously?) so I just want to post it and see what you guys think. Also my beta is in France having the time of her life (love you Kathy, you lucky duck) so she hasn't given me her thoughts or even read a lot of the chapter. I'm passing this on to you guys pretty raw!

Oh and there is a language warning for this chapter, haven't had one of those for a while! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Previously in Scarverse...

Leo eyed his little brother sternly. "You saw what she can do, we can't risk her attacking us again."

"But look at her," Mikey used his chin to motion to the girl in his arms "she's so peaceful looking." With twin incredulous looks Donny and Leo glanced at each other then dutifully followed Mikey's gaze to Scarlett's face which was all that was visible from underneath the now dirty bed sheet. Even unconscious her brow was furrowed into a frown. Added to that was the blood and bruises. Her head lolled on the youngest turtle's bicep, mouth hanging partially open as she drooled slightly, one wickedly sharp canine on display. She looked like a murder victim...or the murderer.

...flash...

My eyes glazed over as I thought back to everything that had happened in the last few days and led me to here. "There was a girl, I called her sensei, she controlled me using the thing in my neck. I waited until she left me in my cell and I ripped it out." My voice was starting to break again as the memories began dragging me back out of that emotionless void I'd been safe inside. "There was another boy called Kin, I tried to get him out too but I had to leave him there when the black robots c-came." Tears gathered in my eyes again.

"Black robots? That sounds an awful lot like Foot Bots were chasing you."

...flash...

"And you young lady, you need to learn to control yourself."

Clawed feet entered my field of vision, prompting me to finally lift my head. I sat up slowly onto my heels and scanned the room. My gaze tracked up and up, taking in the rust red robe and impressive height, until I meet the narrowed eyes of the mutant rat. I narrow mine back as I awkwardly climb to my feet. Even standing I had to crane my neck to meet his gaze. I crossed my arms protectively over my chest and tried not to shiver.

...flash...

"My involvement?" Anger contorted the girls face as she glared at him, her fists clenching on either side of the small cup as her temper rose at a startling rate. "The Purple Dragons are the ones who started this whole nightmare. The Krang and the..the Foot, whoever they are, fall into the same category. They kidnapped me, mutated me, brainwashed me, used me. I see them and I'm gonna kill them..."

"Yamate." Splinter issued the command strongly. Immediately Scarlett blinked and took a deep breath. She looked down at her clenched fists and uncurled them with a wince, deep grooves were carved into her palms from her nails, not bleeding but close to it. "I believe you." Her eyes met his again, this time shimmering a little with unshed tears. "I believe you have no wish to associate with our enemies. However they have left their mark upon you. If you do not learn control then you are a danger to yourself and those around you."

Now...

Karai leaned heavily against Leo's side and he shifted a little to balance her weight, keeping his arm around her shoulders to steady her as he took in the facade of the Foot headquarters. Light shone softly through the windows of the old church. The multicoloured stain glass was beautiful, a beacon that the devout would find comforting but filled him with foreboding instead. Although churches held no appeal to him personally it still seemed so unnatural that a once sacred space now housed such twisted evil. Everything in him rebelled against the idea of returning her here where the Shredder crouched like a spider in a web. All he wanted was to take her back to the lair where her true father waited.

That was in no way an option though. To do so would not only go against his father's express wishes - not to mention the havoc it would wreck amongst his brothers - but the impact on Scarlett would be devastating. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment as he thought of the other girl he'd also come to think of as a sister. The look of fury and hate, of fear, as she'd pressed down on Karai's neck, her fingers squeezing the life out of the one who'd been responsible for upending her very existence. How could he blame Scarlett for a second for what she'd done? If it had been his own hands around the Shredder's throat what would he have done to the one responsible for causing their family so much anguish?

Yet, despite his sympathy, Leo was helplessly angry. He understood himself well enough to admit it deep down, even if he would never say it out loud. Left unchecked Scarlett would have killed Karai, he knew it with a certainty that chilled him to the bone. And, if she'd succeeded tonight, she would have broken Splinter's heart beyond all repair. How would his father ever recover if his lost daughter was snatched away yet again? Leo knew that fate was cruel enough to give Miwa back only to rip her away again before they could convince her of the truth and restore her to the Hamato clan where she belonged.

Then there was the impact it would have had on Scarlett herself, taking a life had dire consequences. How could Scarlett live with herself if she killed Karai in the heat of the moment only to realise later that the act would leave a stain on her very soul? All his life Leo had been trained as a warrior, but his training had been balanced with compassion even for those who seemed undeserving. Life was precious regardless if they were your enemy, killing must be kept as a last resort. No matter how much you wished to permanently rid yourself of an adversary honour dictated mercy must be shown, especially if your opponent was helpless in the moment.

Leo was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a low, feline growl. The sound skimmed over the back of his neck, instantly turning every muscle in his body rigid with fear. The rumble drew nearer, closing in from his left, yet he felt frozen in place. Unable to even glance over his shoulder. His left hand clenched into a fist, fingers itching for the weight of his katana, but he knew without a doubt that to reach for the weapon would be a costly mistake. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he heard soft, padding footsteps approaching.

Karai stirred against his side, letting out another rough wheeze which prompted the growl to rise another notch. There was a brush of soft fur against his bicep and Leo felt his head lighten as the blood rushed from it. He tightened his arm around Karai reflexively and she grunted in protest just as Kin stalked into Leo's peripheral vision. Immediately he was captivated by the lion's golden eyes. They fairly glowed in the darkness, unwaveringly fixated on the smaller turtle as he prowled further into view. By the time the much larger mutant came to a halt, placed firmly between Leo and the Foot building, the blue banded leader was visibly trembling. Scar was big in her mutated form, Kin was a veritable mountain. A mountain with teeth and claws and lots of heavy muscle.

The smell of iron invaded Leo's nostrils, carried by the breeze that drifted across the rooftop they stood upon. For a moment he failed to make the connection but then his focus zeroed in on the darker stains on the lion's muzzle. Whose blood was that? A strong twinge of fear lanced through him as he wondered what had happened after he'd whisked Karai away out of Scarlett's reach. Without being conscious of it he took a faltering step backward and straight away the mutant's growl rose warningly.

"Yameru." Karai's voice was unrecognisable as she croaked the work yet immediately Kin stood down, lowering his belly to the rooftop and switching his gaze to his mistress. Released from the pinning glare Leo's chest loosened enough for him to draw a small, shaky breath.

Karai wheezed, pushing against Leo's plastron with one hand even while the other still clung to his belt. Slowly he acceded to her demand, sliding his arm from around her while she found her balance. Her spine stiffened as she shoved away from him weakly so she could take a few shuffling steps towards her pet, pride lifting her chin even as she half fell against the feline mutant who rose once more to support her. As soon as she had her fingers twisted in his fur she turned to face Leo, eyes hooded in the dark.

The bruises around the ninja's neck and face stood out starkly in the darkness. Her right eye was swollen shut, dried blood staining her lips and chin. Again in his mind's eye he saw Scarlett, teeth bared in fury as she throttled the life from Karai. It was as if the shifter's rage had transferred into Karai's flesh, a physical manifestation of the fury and pain that had driven her to the edge of murder. Some of that same anger stiffened Leo's spine, lowered his brow as pity mixed with a low burning anger. "Why?" The word slipped from his mouth before he realised it had been bouncing around in his head. He shot a glance at Kin, frustration mounting alongside a crushing disappointment, he let it colour his voice. "They were just kids, they're still just kids. Why would you do something like this to them?"

Something flashed across her face and he saw her hands tighten possessively on Kin's fur. The look she sent him with her good eye was hot enough to burn his bones to ashes yet no actual response was forthcoming. Instead she gave him one last glare before turning, Kin moving with her to provide support as she limped away from him.

"It doesn't have to be like this Karai, you were meant for better."

Leo didn't bother to raise his voice, knowing that his words would carry on the night air. Sure enough, even though she didn't turn, her shoulders stiffened and her steps faltered, telling him that she was listening.

"I told you once to stay away from my brother's, now I'm warning you that the same goes for Scarlett. You come after her again, try to recapture her, and next time..." he paused, hardened his heart along with his voice, "...next time I won't intervene. Even if you are my...Splinter's daughter."

She resumed her slow, painful walking. He could feel her slipping further away with each step.

"I want to help you Karai but this...this might have been too much."

Still she didn't answer. He waited until she vanished over the lip of the rooftop then rushed forward to watch her until she was swallowed up by the dark recesses of the church. All the time Kin stayed close by her side, steadying her until she was back in the arms of the Foot and the man who had stolen her, twisted her into a likeness of his own image.

Moments ticked away but still his feet didn't move and he realised he was waiting for her to miraculously reappear, admit she believed him and beg him to take her with him. Stupid. Anger melted away until only sadness remained. He turned for home, not knowing what was awaiting him at the lair but certain that tonight, no matter what, he would press his father to tell everyone the truth. It was past time the other's knew the whole story.

Crying wasn't something Raph had much experience with. Growing up as a ninja in a lair full of brothers ensured it was relatively unfamiliar territory. The closest he'd gotten since they were kids were Mikey's continued bouts of melodrama, but they were nothing like this. Not even close.

Scarlett sat on the edge of the medical table while Donnie patched her up and, if it weren't for the tears that tracked down her cheeks in a slow but steady stream, Raph would've thought she was in some kind of waking coma. The longer he watched her the less sure he was that she was actually crying. Didn't the process involve something...more? An expression of emotion or something?

Instead she just stared ahead, barely blinking while Donatello cleaned and taped the slashes in her skin back together with an excessive amount of surgical tape, then wrapped her in bandages like a mummy. There had been some conversation about stitches but there seemed to still be a question of how long it would be until Scarlett shifted and healed herself. Bandages would do for now.

Her dark hair hung limp where it had been brushed to one side while Donnie could tend to the deep puncture marks Kin had left. The blanket Mikey had found for her when they got back to the lair was draped around her torso, baring one mauled shoulder and splotched with far too much red. She held the material close to her chest in a white knuckled grip, fingers clenching and releasing rhythmically in the material. Other than that she completely motionless as she gazed into the space ahead of her. Raph found himself desperately wanting her to do something, anything. Sob, scream, throw things. Even throw one of her rare-but-violent tantrums where she smashed stuff up. Anything but just sit there like a rag doll. She had completely shut down and seeing her like this was heartbreaking. He hated it.

Raph whirled abruptly, paced away from the medical table and tried to distract himself by sifting through the crap on one of Donnie's work bench, poking at the different tools there in the hope one would distract him. It didn't work. His hands gradually stilled while his thoughts turned inward, tugging themselves back to the image of Scarlett on the rooftop, bloodied and broken in the aftermath of the fight with Kin. He'd had no idea what to do for her after driving the mutant lion away, his skill set depleted once the physical work was done. How did you handle a naked, physically injured and emotionally traumatised girl? He certainly had no idea.

Before he could give in to the panic that was starting to crawl up his spine his two younger brother's had stepped in. Mikey had immediately started with trying to convince Scarlett to shift, visibly freaked out by her injuries but mostly holding himself together. Crouching beside her huddled form he'd asked her, then begged, then ordered her to turn back into the leopard. All the while she'd kept bleeding, staining the rooftop as she shivered underneath the stars, seemingly oblivious to anything going on around her. Only Donnie's intervention, which came in the form of a restraining hand and a firm shake of the head, had convinced the youngest turtle to lay off. Try a different tact. Mikey had started to argue but then quickly caved in the face of full blown 'Doctor Don'. The purple banded turtle's exterior was calm and collected as he explained in a low voice that it was pointless trying to reach her right then, that she'd completely retreated in on herself and the best thing they could do for her was get her back to the lair as quickly as possible. But Raph knew his brainy brother well enough to spot the signs that he too was deeply concerned as well as pretty pissed. Heard it in the waver behind his clipped tone, saw it in his subtly clenched jaw.

Mikey's expression had remained tight as he'd gently slipped his arms around Scarlett and lifted her in a tightly curled ball against his chest before heading for home. Donnie had taken point so he could check the coast was clear while Raph had remained at the rear of the small group. The entire way back to the lab worry and confusion gnawed at him. What the hell had happened? How had everything gone to shit so quickly?

Behind him Raph heard Donnie ask in a low voice for Mikey to go get Scarlett some clothes. As the lab door rolled open on it's tracks he blinked a few times then rubbed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets until starbursts appeared on the backs of his eyelids. He had to get his thoughts in order and doing that right now felt like a physical chore.

Karai, Scarlett and Kin. They were like three pieces of a puzzle slotting together in his brain and the heavy feeling in his stomach was one he was starting to realise was an awful understanding. Scarlett hadn't gotten into a sparring match with Karai by accident, she'd run her down over the rooftops with purpose. And it wasn't random chance that Kin had turned up to save Karai's skin at the last second, he'd been waiting on a neighbouring rooftop. Karai was being protected by Kin, she was his master...his sensei. Which meant she was Scarlett's sensei.

As soon as the thought formed in his mind he knew it was true and the knowledge had him squeezing his eyes shut on a low curse. Karai was Sensei. How had he not joined the dots together before now?

Scar had always been pretty sketchy about the details surrounding her mutation and Raph had put it down to her simply not remembering much of it. He figured it was a blessing considering what she'd been through. When any of the other's had tried to dig a deeper into exactly what she remembered Scar would go quiet and sullen, defensive almost. And why not? He wouldn't have wanted to talk about that shit either, better to move on right? All this meant was that what little Raph knew about Scar's capture had been gleaned over many months and could be summed up in just a few points. Scarlett had been captured by the Purple Dragons, given to the Kraang for mutation then handed to the Foot to be trained as a weapon. Kin had been a fellow captive and both of them had been under the control of someone she'd simply referred to as 'Sensei'.

Sensei. Or, as they knew her, Karai. The daughter of their enemy who'd just had her ass handed to her by her own former pet. Raph didn't know much about poetic justice but he figured that had to come pretty close. If it weren't for how messed up Scar was right now he'd probably be grinning over it. But she was messed up and it was all because of that sly, manipulative bitch who right now was getting a personal escort home from Leonardo.

Leo. His brother's face formed in his mind's eye and he latched onto it with something that felt a lot like relief. He may not be able to do anything for Scarlett right now, and Karai was out of his reach - luckily for her - but Leo? There was a target he could take aim at. As soon as the shell-for-brains got back to the lair anyway.

Maybe there was something he could do to speed the process up.

Raph fished in his belt for his t-phone, turning so he could prop his shell on the desk as he pressed the device to his ear. As soon as he faced the medical table again he found Donnie watching him. Something in his expression must have transmitted his thoughts because Donnie's eyes squinted for just a second, shoulders tensing as his eyes flicked from the phone to Raph's scowl, then the genius nodded once and turned back to his patient.

The phone rang once, twice, a third time. By the fourth Raph had lowered it and was cocking his ear towards the lounge pit. With one last glance at Don he shoved off the bench and stalked towards the sound of his brother's ring tone.

Numb. Everything on the outside was numb while on the inside I was reeling without an anchor. The world around me swirled with colour and sound but I was shut off from it as my brain ran on an endless loop, flashing through memories but not lingering as each one proved too painful to dwell on. The unprepared horror of seeing Sensei again. Kin's soulless eyes as he bore down on me without a hint of recognition. The hot burn of his fangs as they sank into my shoulder. Sensei's face twisted and mottled as I choked the life from her. Mikey shouting my name. The stomach twisting fall. The feel of my fingers sinking into her flesh, hooked deep and cramped until I thought I'd never be able to loosen them. My muscles zinging with adrenalin, driving me forward in an uncontrollable frenzy. Impotent rage as Sensei escaped. Despair when Kin also slipped from my grasp. Self disgust. Shame. Betrayal. Fear.

My feelings flipped back and forth so quickly they made me feel sick.

One second fury rose in my chest, although only a mere fraction of the strength I'd experienced earlier. I'd nearly killed her. I'd failed. She was still alive, out there walking around instead of cold and dead like she needed to be. I wanted her dead. Dead. Dead so she could never hurt me again. What if she had succeeded in recapturing me tonight? It was an unbearable thought.

Quickly my fury would become laced with horror as I realised that it was more than just wanting to kill her, I'd been more than capable of actually ending her life. I'd tried my best to do just that, I would have succeeded if left unchecked. This was no hypothetical event, it had very nearly happened. What was wrong with me? Was I a monster like I'd always feared? Did I kill people? Humans?

Human. Despair and sadness were next. I wasn't human, just an animal. The dangerous animal everyone had been afraid I'd turn out to be. Oh god, what would Master Splinter say when he found out? What would he do? I hadn't stopped for a single second tonight to think about the situation or remember my training. The leopard had risen to control me and I'd let it, the animal in me had wanted to kill and I'd agreed. I'd started the chase unprovoked, never checked my impulse to run her down. I remembered the horror in Leo's voice as he'd called my name, his eyes wide with shock after I'd loosed the arrow right at the back of her head. Did he hate me now? Or would he understand...

Leo...he'd been talking to her. Not fighting, talking. Confusion was almost worse than the despair. Why? Did he know her? Of course he knew her. She was Karai. I'd heard him call her by name when he'd warned her about the arrow. It was a name the brothers had mentioned before when talking about the Foot Clan. She was some kind of highly ranked ninja, a kunoichi? But wasn't she their enemy? So why would Leo be standing around on a rooftop with her? Did it mean something more, was there a connection I wasn't aware of? Questions swirled and tripped over each other. Doubt and awful suspicion had them multiplying at an alarming rate until I sought escape within my anger again.

She was evil, she'd kidnapped me, kidnapped Kin. He was her slave, her bodyguard, a mindless puppet who was actually protecting her instead of helping me get rid of her. The fury burned bright again, I wanted to kill her...

Over and over in an endless loop my thoughts kept me off balance. I was vaguely aware of being spoken to, lifted, carried. Cool air brushed my skin, then warm hands. Voices called my name, mumbled questions and gave gentle orders, but the numbness prevailed and it all felt like it was happening to someone else. My limbs were moved for me, someone else took control of my body and I let them without a second thought. Every now and then a lance of pain went through my shoulder or my side and I fumbled for it, grasped at it, tried to focus on it rather than the maelstrom in my mind. But it always faded too quickly and left me numb and reeling again.

My thoughts shifted once again to Kin and this time they stuck. "I want to take you with me." I'd said those words to Kin so long ago during my escape from the Foot, but months and months had passed since then. Had he been waiting for me to come back? Had his waiting turned to hate? Guilt ripped at me and vaguely I felt more hot tears pool in my eyes before tracking down my cheeks. I'd waited for rescue too, wished harder for it than anything else in my life in a dark cold Kraang cell, thinking that surely any minute someone would find me and set me free. I remembered the crushing disappointment I'd felt when I'd come so close to escaping the Kraang facility, how hard I'd fought to get to Donnie but failed. Is that how Kin was feeling right now?

"Scarlett."

Why hadn't I gone back? At least tried to get him out, get him away from Sensei. I'd known this whole time were he was but I'd done nothing. I hadn't even asked Splinter or Leo to help me rescue him. Instead I'd left Kin trapped, pushed way back into the recess of his own mind while she controlled him, used him like a puppet. Had he been aware this whole time? Or was he too far under? Washed out memories from my own time under mind control skimmed through my head to torture me. Fear, blood, her hand on my head, her voice commanding my limbs. All this time. And what had I been doing? Hiding, cowering down here with the turtles to protect me. Feed me. Care about me. Who had cared about him? Not me, I'd practically forgotten all about him along with all the other things I hadn't wanted to think about. Sensei, my brother, the Foot, the Kraang. I was safe down here away from all of them while Kin was stuck in the middle of it all. Self loathing rushed to strengthen the guilt until it was physically painful.

"Scarlett!"

I blinked. One, twice. Soft brown eyes came into focus and I latched onto them desperately.

"Scarlett, look at me. Look at me. You're alright, you're safe."

Safe? I blinked again, eyes never leaving Donnie's. I was safe? The swirling in my mind receded a little and the outside world became clearer starting with the dark chocolate ring of his iris and moving outward to the faint freckles on his cheeks.

"That's it, just focus on me. Everything will be okay. Scarlett, are you with me?"

His voice was soft but the line of his mouth was tight, my gaze dropped there and I watched as his mouth moved. He was worried, there were creases around his eyes.

I shifted a little, hands tightening around the blanket I held clutched to my chest. The pain I'd been suppressing suddenly sharpened into distinct throbbing points on my shoulder and along my sides. I looked down and saw the blood, so much blood staining the cloth.

"I'm..."

I started to answer but cut off when a voice filtered through the lab door.

"Back off!"

Leo? He sounded angry. Worry and guilt stabbed at me, stronger than the physical pain. Who was he talking to? Where were the others? Where was Mikey?

"I do not put her first!"

My gaze flew back to Donnie's, my worry only intensifying when I saw the stress deepening around his eyes. Had I caused this? Was Leo mad about what I'd done? I had to know, I had to apologise, I had to fix this. Fix everything.

"Scarlett wait, hang on! Don't..."

Donnie grabbed at me as I slid off the table but I somehow dodged his attempts to hold me, staggering on weak legs that tangled in the cloth and slowed me down when I scrambled around his gripping hands. The distance to the doorway felt like miles, spots were dancing in front of my eyes by the time I reached the doorway and my chest heaved with each breath. My ribs burned, my neck ached, but I had to know...

When the ring of his t-phone cut through the quiet lair Leo closed his eyes briefly and cursed his luck. He'd been hoping to make it to Splinter's quarters without being detected. Cowardly? Maybe a little he admitted to himself with an uncomfortable twinge, but if I can just talk to Splinter before...

"Where the hell have you been?"

...before this happened. He finished the thought on an inward sigh and turned to face his brother. Raph was stalking towards him with a face like thunder.

"I was just..."

"Just what?" Raph sneered as he got closer, closing the distance between them so fast Leo almost took a step back. "Walking your girlfriend home, making sure she got there safe and sound while the rest of us had to clean up her mess?"

The last word was punctuated by a thick finger poking into to Leo's plastron and the eldest turtle felt something inside Him snap as it connected. So this is how it was, he wasn't even going to get a chance to try to explain. Fear, frustration and anger reached a quiet boiling point. He pushed Raph away. Hard.

"Back off." It came out as a shouted snarl and he caught himself on the precipice, shaking his head once in denial as he desperately tried to reel in his temper. This wasn't the way to straighten things out, if he could just get past Raph and talk to his father some of this load could be shared, lifted even...

Raph had stumbled a little under the force of Leo's push, a flash of surprise crossing his face as he righted himself but quickly replaced by anger again. "No," he growled, "not until you admit what's really going on here because something is. What is it with you and Karai? Why the fuck do you keep putting that bitch first?"

The crude language had Leo grinding his teeth, but rather than follow his instinct to defend Karai he instead latched onto the one thing he could deny in truth. The suggestion that anyone came before his family had his blood whipping up into a hot swirl, even more infuriating for the sting of guilt that laced the anger.

"I do not put her first."

Raph scoffed loudly, "please, you left us in the middle of a fight to go be with her. Again. Then Scarlett get's torn up by her pet lion and instead of helping us you swoop in and carry the Foot princess home like some god damn knight in shining armour. What about Scar, did you at least stop for one second during your rescue mission to think about her? Do you even care how badly injured she is right now after the fight tonight? Or are you too wrapped up in poor little Karai to see past the end of your..."

"Scarlett nearly killed her!" The shout that had been building finally tore free, cutting Raph's rant off as effectively as a punch to the mouth. "She was going to choke Karai to death, after all the work we put in trying to teach her about controlling her mutation! She was going to kill an unarmed human!"

Silence fell over the lair again, deafeningly thick as the heated words congealed the air, hanging overhead like cobwebs. He stared into Raph's narrowed eyes, jaw clenched to the point of pain. When his brother remained silent he slowly realised that he'd drawn the other turtle close, one hand gripping the top edge of his carapace in a tight fist while his other hand clenched rhythmically by his side. Raph met his stare unwaveringly, almost daring him to go ahead and throw the punch.

Unbidden, the angry words that had spilled from his mouth filtered back through his brain and he cringed hard as he heard them again. Abruptly he let go of Raph, uncurling cramped fingers and stepping back on unsteady legs. "I didn't...that's not what I..." A movement behind Raph's shoulder caught his eye and he felt his stomach bottom out when he saw Mikey standing just a few yards away, expression tight with disappointment and what looked like Scarlett's red flannel shirt hanging from loose fingers.

"How could you say that Leo?" His little brother's tone was low and reproachful, "after everything that Karai did to Scarlett how could you make this her fault?"

"Mikey, you guys don't understand..." the words became desperate, tripping around his tongue and getting tangled there.

"What Leo? Understand what?" Raph was back in his face, crowding in on him. "Understand what?!"

He shook his head, eyes flicking towards the dojo. "I can't..."

"Bullshit!" Raph was yelling again, "just tell us!"

Desperately he gathered himself, Trying to pull the mantle of leadership around his shoulders in a last ditch effort to do the right thing. "I have to report to Master Splinter." He turned to go but Raph ripped him back around by the shell.

"Cut the shit Fearless and tell us now. What the fuck is going on?!"

Images from the night flashed through his head and abruptly the dam burst. "She's Miwa, Master Splinter's daughter!" Leo felt horror at himself but couldn't stop the admission from breaking free. "Karai is our sister!"

"Leonardo!"

There was the sharp crack of a jade staff on stone and the blood rushed from Leo's head while a roll of nausea gripped his stomach. Drawn out by the angry yelling his father was now standing at the stairs above the lounge pit, glaring down at him with hard onyx eyes. All of a sudden he was five years old again, shame brought heat to his cheeks as he felt his father's ire roll over him in a wave.

"Dad...I..."

A low groan that ended on a sob had his head whipping around - past his brother's whose faces were slack with shock - until his gaze locked on the source of the painful noise. Donnie was standing in the doorway of the lab, mouth an open 'o' of surprise. Scarlett was beside him, wide eyes fixed squarely on his and filled with anguish. She was almost as grey as the blanket she was wrapped in, red blood contrasting with the white bandages around her shoulder and neck. One hand gripped the doorframe beside her while the other trembled where it clutched the sheet to her chest. She looked like she was about to vomit and that made two of them.

"Scarlett." Her name was as far as he got, anything else he might have said sticking in his throat at the way her face crumpled. She closed her eyes and shook her head, letting go of the door and sliding slowly to the floor in a heap. Donnie sank down next to her, rubbing her back as she curled into a ball. She ignored him, her fists coming to press at her temples as she keened. The sound of her distress sent goosebumps up his arms.

Before he could move or even think of something to say to fix the mess he'd made she was shifting. Vaguely he was aware of Mikey shouting something, racing across the room to her as the sound of bones cracking and popping echoed in the large space. But by the time he reached her she was the leopard, slumped and still on the hard concrete floor. His little brother fell beside Scarlett and reached out to shake her, fingers threading through the dark fur on her massive shoulder as he continued calling her name.

Donnie looked up to scan the room, meeting each of their eyes in turn before settling on Leo and staying there. His fingers fell away from where they'd been pressed against Scar's neck, his face and voice were both expressionless as he addressed his oldest brother.

"She's out cold."

Aaaaaand my brain is fried. Like an egg. Blarg...

I honestly thought it would take at least another week for me to get this done but that would mean way too long between updates. I hope I didn't rush it. I hope you all liked it. I hope it wasn't too melodramatic and I kept everyone in character, oh keeping he character is hard (especially Leo - he was under an enormous amount of pressure in this chapter).

More cups of tea are needed...please let me know what you thought!