Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews last time! My energy is at a low ebb and my goal is to just get this chapter out. Sometimes a mood takes me where everything I do seems wrong or inadequate, so at this point I'm throwing my hands up and pressing forward. *grits teeth* I can always edit more later lol. Hope you guys enjoy!

.

.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Liar, Liar

.

"What's going on?"

Leo leaped in place at the quiet voice, doing an impromptu mid-air pirouette. He landed facing Karai with raised hands, then lowered them slowly, when he saw who it was.

Karai tilted her head slightly, her arms still crossed, as she considered his reaction. She was surprised, too. She'd caught Leo completely off guard, and hadn't even been trying. Normally, sneaking up on him took a lot of effort.

In fact, Karai had just gotten up, groggy from a too-long nap, planning to sneak a glass of water from the kitchen. Now that she had Leo's attention, she regretted her slightly messy hair and overall frumpy appearance.

She came to stand next to him, and was secretly pleased when Leo didn't seem to know if he should step out of her space or stay where he was, awkwardly fidgeting in her peripheral vision. She narrowed her eyes, ignoring him for the moment to focus on whatever conversation he'd obviously been listening in on.

Donatello's voice caught her ear first, and she raised an eyebrow in surprise. He was out there being social..?

Karai frowned as the conversation unfolded. He was asking a series of questions about...an attack that April O'Neil had witnessed. Given how the day had begun, with Donatello barricading himself in his lab and all the rest, he sounded remarkably calm and focused as he spoke. But then, it sounded like he had something important to focus on.

Karai's eyes widened as she gleaned more details. So the Foot had used a knock out drug on Raphael...

"Karai..."

Leo's voice had a strange edge to it, pulling all of her attention back to him suddenly. Even so, she didn't move, and didn't turn to him, years of training preventing her from broadcasting her thoughts. Instead, she pretended to stay focused on the conversation in the pit, as she waited for him to continue.

But despite saying her name, Leo wasn't in a rush to continue. Instead, an uncomfortable tension stretched out, as Karai became aware that his reaction from a moment back had much more to it than getting caught eavesdropping in the hall...

Leo finally continued in a low, strained voice, hardly audible. "Karai...why did you rescue Donatello? You...never really said. What was it that..."

Leonardo dropped off. He was so close by that Karai was hard put not to react to the stress pouring off him. The fighter in her wanted to move, because Leo was a very dangerous person, even if he seemed to forget it half the time. He was in a frighteningly emotional space, the energy coming from him a silent battle cry.

Karai slipped forward suddenly without a word, and when Leo reached out to stop her, she used every bit of her skill as a kunoichi to dance out of the way. Then she was safe, past the hallway and into open space, where the others could see. She strolled forward, relieved that Leo hadn't followed further.

Joining the conversation in the pit was surely better than dealing with him, and that question, right now.

.

.

An unwelcome voice broke into April's thoughts, refocusing her attention on the speaker.

"What happened?"

Karai stood about ten feet away, at the edge of the pit, looking down at everyone from her higher vantage point. Despite her slightly mussed hair and high-water pajamas; a pair April recognized as her own; the older girl held herself as gracefully as ever. Karai was poised and in command, with a carefully neutral expression on her face.

At that moment, April hated her.

She found her voice before the others. "The Foot happened." As she spoke, April stood up suddenly, unsure of what she was going to say or do - only that she was furious. Her fists were clenched by her sides, despite the pain in her arm, and her voice was just shy of a yell. Part of her felt out of control as she spoke, but she didn't care. "Two...psychos happened. Two kunoichi."

April didn't try to disguise her bitterness as she stared up at Karai, whose eyes widened slightly at the last word. The subtle change in expression galvanized April, because she wanted to see Karai react. April couldn't stand how indifferent Karai looked, when this was supposed to be her family! "They tried to kidnap Raphael to use as a bargaining chip to get Donnie back."

When Karai uncrossed her arms, eyes widening further, April took a step forward, adrenaline making her fatigue temporarily disappear as the stress from that night rose up in her all at once. Suddenly she was yelling, her throat straining as the words tumbled out.

"And you know what else?! If the dart had hit home, Karai, I'd be dead right now and Raphael would be stuck having the word freak carved into his chest by your BEST FEMALE FRIEND!"

Karai moved instantly, leaping forward into the Pit, to place herself right in April's face, hands gripping her shirt, lifting her slightly off the ground. The older girl's eyes flashed with fury and hurt, her lips twisted down into a scowl. April gave her the same glare, right back, ready to fight...

Then Michelangelo was right next to them, too. "Hey...hey, c'mon guys, take a step back." He was using his gentlest tone, a hand placed on Karai's forearm, his other hand on April's shoulder. "It's been a really rough evening. Karai...April didn't mean...that." Mikey's voice wavered for an instant, and April could hear the pain her words had caused. She felt Mikey's focus turn to her. "Right, April?"

But April couldn't calm down, not when Karai still gripped her shirt, not when the choice was to fight, or break down in tears...and she was sick of crying! She wanted to fight! She wanted to hurt the people who had hurt Donnie...

April's glare faltered, and her eyes leaped to the side as her heart plummeted, leaving her with a sick feeling in her stomach. Donnie..!

He was staring up at her from where he sat on the ground, a beaker still held in one hand.

April hardly noticed as Karai's grip slackened and fell away. Everything that had happened that day seemed to orbit around this instant, as she stared down.

Donnie's eyes were coldly furious. It wasn't like a few days back, where he had looked through her, into something else. She had his full attention this time, and he was looking at her like...like...

April shook her head just the tiniest bit, but words wouldn't form.

Donnie broke off the stare long enough to set the beaker aside, and reached for his crutches. He carefully pulled himself up to a standing position, and then those cold eyes were on April again, as he stared down at her.

April flinched when he spoke, even though his voice was still soft.

"Karai, or Hamato Miwa, which is her given name - a name that was stolen from her as a baby - is a good. Person."

April tore her eyes away from his, as tears that had been waiting to fall started making silent trails down her cheeks. Donnie quietly went on, in a distant, controlled voice.

"I'll say this just one time, since it clearly needs to be heard. Fishface cut me. Rahzar held me down, while Fishface used a butterfly knife."

Donnie's words hovered in the air, changing the energy in the room. April put a hand to her mouth. It was one thing to know it had been done...another to be able to picture...

Donnie went on, into the shocked silence. "If those kunoichi took credit, they lied in an obvious distraction tactic to get Raph fighting harder so that their tranquilizer, in turn, would take effect faster." Donnie snorted softly, and his voice took on a derisive edge. "I've never even met them. I know you haven't had much training, April, but you should really try to think more like a ninja."

Donnie adjusted the crutches slightly, tone turning dismissive. "Please excuse me. I need something from the lab."

April stepped out of his path as he started forward, keeping her eyes to the floor. Even now, no one said a thing, as if the shock from his words forbade it. The quiet, methodical tapping of his crutches filled the space.

But with every passing instant, April felt her hands clench harder and her heart beat faster, rebelling against Donnie's claim that he didn't know those kunoichi, and just as the lab door opened, April finally found her voice. It came out strangled and wobbling and distraught with hurt, but she couldn't stop the words.

"Donnie...y-you're...lying." April finally found the courage to force her eyes up, as her lungs quaked in uneven breathes, still working through tears.

She had stopped him in the doorway.

Seconds ticked by, as Donatello stood still as stone. The grip on his crutches hardened until the green of his skin turned white at the knuckles. Slowly, his head turned to the side, showing a scowling profile, and April felt her breath stop dead.

Donatello snorted, and shook his head slightly. When he finally spoke, his voice held disgust, and quiet fury. "I don't really care what you believe, April."

April couldn't say a thing to that, dumbstruck by the venom pouring from him. She could only shake her head slightly, as all the threads scattered in her mind – the threads telling her that he was lying about those kunoichi. It suddenly didn't matter, not when Donnie had that much hate, and all of it was aimed at her...

Donatello continued, through April's fear struck thoughts.

"Do yourself a favor, and listen to what I'm about to say. Get your dad, and get out of town, fast. Before dawn. The Foot are out for blood, April. Go somewhere safe, and stay gone. This isn't your fight."

For an instant, Donnie seemed finished. He looked toward the lab again, and took a decisive step...

Then stopped, in the threshold of the lab door. Seconds ticked by. April couldn't look away, trapped, waiting for anything, some hint that he didn't really mean what he'd said, he didn't really want her to leave...

Slowly, slowly, Donatello bowed his head, slumping just slightly, as if he had lost some internal battle. When he spoke again, a bitter, almost desperate edge permeated his words – as if he hated himself for what he was saying.

"If...if...you're too stubborn to do that, then...since you just moved to a new apartment...dye your hair, change how you dress, and change schools. I..." Donnie's head bowed further, defeat in his voice, "I can set up a new identity for you and your dad. But you should leave town, instead." Donatello's entire form had slumped as he spoke, shoulders hunching as if all the energy sustaining him had just gone.

He paused again, and a sigh escaped. He turned his head just slightly, his back still to them, voice softer than a moment before.

"Mikey...please escort April home, before it gets any later." An edge of warning crept in. "But you don't go above ground for even a minute."

Then Donnie was through the lab door, and April couldn't bring herself to look at anyone else in the room with her.

.

.

.

AN: Thanks again for reading, and I apologize for type-os or logic errors (etc) in this chapter. If you do spot something that bugs you, I'd appreciate a comment on it, and I will fix it. Your comments last chapter were wonderful and I actually re-read them to boost my spirits. Thank you!