Cat was meditating rather soundly in Master Splinter's room, the only 'safe' room to do so in the whole lair, as Leatherhead and Master Splinter had tea.
She opened an eye in irritation as her brothers came in, asking Leatherhead for help or to do something with them.
Leatherhead seemed ready to stand, and accidentally broke the fragile tea cup he was holding.
Cat was there in a moment.
"Are you okay? These shards are a pain to get out…"
Leatherhead turned to pick up the pieces, seeming apologetic and embarrassed, when his tail, unbidden, broke the tea pot.
"Oh! I-I am sorry! I-I didn't mean to-!"
Cat nodded, accepting the apology easily, and started to pick them up.
"Just like a giant croc in a China shop." Raph joked.
Cat looked up, glaring at the red-banded turtle, when she saw Leatherhead's pupils turn to slits.
"Leatherhead…"
"That is not funny! I did not mean to break it!"
Leatherhead stood, pushing Raph back.
"Whoa! Leatherhead, I was just jokin'!"
"Everything is not a joke! I am not a joke! I AM NOT A JOKE!"
He busted through the slightly open door.
"…Is it just me, or did Leatherhead overreact just a little bit?" Don asked.
Cat ignored her brothers, jumping over them and following their crocodilian friend.
"Leatherhead…"
She stepped towards him a bit cautiously, unsure if he had calmed down.
"You know, Raph didn't mean anything by it…He's a bit insensitive sometimes…"
She heard a snort behind her, and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, LH…I'm sorry…" Raph added.
"No, it is I who should apologize. My temper has become so much worse…since the tortures I endured in Agent Bishop's laboratory."
"It's okay. I understand. Ya know, some guys think I have a problem keepin' my cool."
"Because you do." Cat muttered under her breath.
"Not that I don't sometimes have troubles with it, too…" She added.
"I seem to have no control over it…whatever Bishop did to me in his genetics laboratory, it is as though a part of me is separated from my body…my animal side grows stronger…"
Leatherhead put the last piece together to show a cracked tea cup.
"I am sorry…I do not know what to do…"
Cat sighed, kneeling beside him.
"Sometimes…neither do I…"
She made eye contact.
"This is hard…I understand that…If you ever need any help, I'll do what I can…I promise…"
"Yeah. We'll work through this, Leatherhead." Leo added.
"You'll see. Everything will be just fine." Don stated, putting a comforting hand on the crocodile's broad shoulder.
"Except for that tea pot…"
SMACK!!
SMACK!!
PUSH!!
"OW!! Why are you all ganging up on me!?"
"Keep your mouth shut, Mikey." Cat advised.
--
Cat was sleeping so peacefully…
Her heightened hearing could catch every snore or soft breath from all of her brothers…
She even heard Mikey talking in his sleep about the 'Turtle Titan'…
Only the soft, unhurried noises of peaceful sleep successfully put the white-banded turtle to sleep every time…
Suddenly, the sounds of a fitful sleep reached her, and violet eyes opened blearily.
'Who's having a nightmare?'
Sitting up, Yuki meowed in reply, curling up on the warm spot on the turtle's pillow.
"Thanks, Yuki…I see how much you care…"
Sliding from the featherbed hammock she'd constructed a couple years previously, she headed out the door.
'Now who's in trouble tonight?'
She saw Leatherhead seemed to be fitful, and jumped down to his side.
"Leatherhead, wake up. You're having a nightmare." She whispered, lightly touching his shoulder.
Mikey came up behind her, having heard the commotion Leatherhead had begun to make.
"Leatherhead, buddy…wake up…" Cat urged, giving a soft shake.
He growled, his eyes snapping open to reveal angry slits.
"Leatherhead-?"
He reached up to grab Mikey, but Cat pushed him out of the way, and she was pulled by her wrist and smacked shell-first into a wall.
She bit back a cry of pain as she was lifted into the air.
"Leatherhead, stop! I don't want to hurt you!"
She was thrown onto the bricks, rolling.
"Kitty!"
"Mikey, don't!" She growled, standing up.
"H-He's still scared…"
She turned to Leatherhead.
"Please, Leatherhead…Don't do this…you're my friend…"
His roar rang in her ears, and her heightened hearing made her fall to her knees in pain, hands over her ears.
Suddenly, he seemed to come back to his senses.
"What have I done?"
Cat smiled slightly.
"I'm glad…you're back, Leatherhead…"
She fell forward, eyes closed.
"NO!!"
She faintly felt someone turn her over, try to revive her.
With all the training she'd done with what her father now called 'chakra', she couldn't find the strength to reply.
She was put back down, and she faintly recognized Leatherhead's voice as he ran.
'L-Leatherhead…'
Someone lifted her up gently.
"Come on, Kitten…ya can't leave us…not like this…"
She heard Raph's voice echo softly in her head.
"Kitty, please be okay…I don't want to have to give you mouth-to-mouth…"
Her hand shot out, smacking Mikey upside the head.
Opening her eyes slowly, she smiled softly.
"Sorry…it's a reflex…"
The relief in Raph's eyes made her smile widen, and she was helped to her feet.
"My daughter, what happened here?"
Cat rubbed her head.
"Well…I was sleeping when I noticed someone was having a nightmare…I came out to check it out, and Leatherhead seemed pretty into it…I woke him up, but whatever happened in there, it made him go berserk. He tried to get Mikey, but I got him out of the way…"
She looked concerned.
"Where is he? Is he okay?"
"He ran out…" Leo admitted.
"I think he thinks he killed you…" Don added.
"…It's my fault…I should've been able to do something…I need to find him!"
Raph looked unsure.
"But…"
"He needs to know I'm okay. I can't leave him by himself to fight his demons!"
'Not like me…'
Splinter nodded.
"But be careful, my children. There are parts of his nature he can no longer control."
Cat nodded, grabbing her weapons and heading for the door.
"You'd better be careful, Kitten. That was some beatin'."
"…I didn't want to hurt him…" She stated, walking into the sewers.
Her brothers followed, and she followed his tracks through the tunnels.
'I hope he's okay…'
Cat stopped when she saw other tracks.
"He's not alone." She noted.
"He's being followed." Mikey agreed.
"Who'd be down here?" Leo asked.
"I don't like this…" Don admitted.
"We'd better stick to the shadows." Cat stated.
"We can do that. We're ninja, remember?" Mikey stated, jumping into the shadows.
Cat rolled her eyes, following him.
She thought she heard something beep, and she tensed.
'I'm just paranoid…then again, the last time I thought that, something bad happened…'
"This guy is too easy to track…" Cat muttered, looking around warily as Raph headed down one branch of a tunnel that was somewhat blocked off.
He seemed to activate some strange devices on accident.
"…Raph…"
Lasers started blasting.
"RAPH!"
Blocking the lasers, it seemed a couple were planted behind them.
"We need to take these things out!" Leo ordered.
"I'm on it!"
Cat slammed her palms on the floor, and her electricity coursed through the ground and made the little laser-shooters blow.
"What WERE those things?" Mikey asked.
"More importantly, what were they doing there?" Don added.
They started walking through the sewer water.
"Whoever's tracking Leatherhead is playing for keeps…" Leo stated.
Cat sighed, looking down.
"Guys, watch out! These tunnels are loaded with-!"
Leo stepped on something that beeped.
"…Mines…"
"Stupid-Stupid-Stupid! I can't BELIEVE I stepped on a mine!"
"Me neither. You were the last one I expected to do that…" Cat admitted.
"Don, you have to disarm it!" Mikey stated.
"Okay, this is going to take a steady hand, perfect timing…"
Don handed Mikey his Bo and pulled out a shuriken.
"And a whole lot of luck…"
Don put the shuriken under the water next to Leo's foot.
"Mikey, the Bo staff…"
Mikey went over, holding it steady.
"Okay, Leo. Step off after three."
The Bo was put on top of the shuriken in the water.
"One…two…three!"
It seemed the it worked, and Cat released a breath, letting go of Raph's hand.
"Mikey, keep constant pressure on that Bo staff." Don ordered as him and Leo backed off.
"Okay…now what?" Mikey asked.
"Now…we'll all go get some lunch…"
"Guys, don't leave me here! GUYS! IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Cat sighed.
"I'll get him…"
She grabbed the Bo staff.
"Go on, Mikey…I'll be right behind you, bro…"
Mikey nodded, running to the others.
With a tricky move, she pole-vaulted, ripping the explosive out of the ground and throwing it.
It exploded soundly, as did the others, as Cat started running.
Jumping behind some debris, she ducked as smoke and wind moved overhead.
"Next time, Leo, watch where yer puttin' those big feet 'a yers." Raph stated.
"What kind of whack bag would put mines in the sewers?!" Mikey asked.
"The kind of whack bag that knows he's being followed…" Don answered.
They continued on, wary of where they put there feet and what they passed, when they saw a tunnel covered in red sensor lasers.
Don threw a rock at them, and it disintegrated.
Cat bit her tongue, shuddering.
"Let's be sure we don't touch anything…"
"Just one wrong move…" Don started.
"And it's turtle's flambé!" Mikey finished.
"Couldn't be any worse than Big Feet Leo of the Land Mines." Raph stated.
Leo glared at his brother, who elbowed him.
"Just kiddin', bro. You go first."
"My pleasure."
With the skill of a trained ninja, he jumped through the lasers without a problem.
The boys clapped, and Cat rolled her eyes before following her oldest brother.
"Move it, guys! We've got a friend to find!"
The three turtles copied them, and Cat clapped her hands sarcastically.
"Show-offs…"
Finding an unconscious Leatherhead tied upside down under a walkway and over a raging whirlpool below them did NOTHING to calm the white-banded turtle's worries…
"Leatherhead?" Don asked, disbelieving.
"Come on. We've gotta get 'im down from 'here!" Raph stated.
Jumping down onto the walkway, they headed for where the rope was tied.
Cat stopped, sensing danger.
Looking up, she saw a glint on metal.
"MIKEY!"
Pulling him back, a yellow laser missed his head.
She growled, looking back up.
"Whoever this guy is…he's mine…"
Her brothers jumped up, dodging lasers and kicking the 'bounty hunter'.
The robot he was with was destroyed, and the rope holding Leatherhead was cut.
"LEATHERHEAD!"
Cat jumped in after him without a second thought, and saw him heading for a fan.
She pulled him away with all her strength, ripping the bonds holding him and swimming for the service.
Don, Raph, and Mikey jumped in to help her out, then Leo.
Don, using his Bo staff, stopped the fan, causing the whirlpool to calm and stop.
They broke through to the surface, and Cat pulled Leatherhead onto the bricks.
"Leatherhead! Wake up!"
She looked at him worriedly.
"Are you okay, buddy?"
His eyes opened blearily, and he coughed.
"Caterina? Is it you? You're alright!"
She was hugged tight, and Cat nearly laughed.
"I have pretty thick skin. I've been thrown around worse."
Leatherhead stood up.
"You must be careful! There is a hunter and-!"
"We know. Let's just get you out of here." Leo interrupted.
"We'll deal with him." Cat added, looking up at the walkway.
Nothing was there, and they went up to see only the bounty hunter's hat.
"Hey! Looks like the great white hunter up and skedaddled!" Mikey stated.
"Then let's get the shell out of here!" Don added.
Heading for the tunnel, Cat saw a spark.
"Don't move! I've finally got you!"
Cat moved in front of the group, growling.
"Put down the gun before I hurt you…" She warned, feeling pressure on the inside of her shell.
"I don't think so! She's taking us all down with her!"
Cat heard Leatherhead's roar, and him and the man fell into the water.
"LEATHERHEAD!!"
Sprouting wings through her shell, she jumped down, ready to save him, when there was an explosion.
The water and force sent her flying back, but she stabilized, barely able to fly.
"LEATHERHEAD!!"
Swooping down, she looked around for him.
'Where is he? Where is he?!'
"He gave his life to save ours…" Don stated.
"Actually, that statement would be inerrant, Donatello…"
Cat's heart jumped.
"You're okay!"
Using her wings to help lift Leatherhead onto the walkway, Cat landed and hugged him.
"Don't worry me like that! I have enough heart attacks with these four!"
"HEY…" Four turtles whined.
They headed through the tunnels, ready to head home.
"I can not. I simply will not risk staying with you. My temper…My anger…What if I can't control it? What if I had really hurt Caterina? Or worse…"
"We'll be right here for you, Leatherhead. Once a part of this family, you're ALWAYS a part of this family."
Cat smiled comfortingly.
"And once you're in this family, you're under my care. Got it?"
"I want to stay with you…but I can not risk it…"
Leatherhead turned around.
"Actually…I think I have a solution…" Don stated.
Following the purple-banded turtle through the sewers, they came upon an entrance covered in bars.
"Leatherhead, if you would do the honors."
Leatherhead ripped it off, and threw it aside.
"Follow me."
Walking inside, they were soon in an abandoned station.
"Whoa…nice…" Cat muttered, looking around.
"Here, you'll be three minutes away from the lair." Don stated.
"And it'll give ya the space to work things out." Raph added.
"…I don't know how to thank you…" The crocodile managed to say.
"You don't have to thank us, Leatherhead." Leo stated.
"Yeah! Us mutants have to stick together!" Mikey added.
Cat smiled slightly, her wings receding.
"Family helps family, remember?"
"Yes…family…"
