I had my eyes closed, and was slowly letting out a deep breath as my limbs slowly moved in a circular motion, palms up, before I turned my entire body in another direction. It had been another few days, and I had realized a few days ago that if I didn't keep training in something, I'd get rusty. And I couldn't afford to get rusty. Not here. And since I couldn't spar, I worked on my form. Jogging in place sucked, but it at least kept my cardio endurance up. Not much more I could do besides push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks (or side straddle hop as the army dubs it) and a few other simple things. But at least it was something.
The nightly meditation sessions also kept going. We still couldn't actually talk, but lord just sensing him there in my head was an enormous comfort. Other than that...nothing really changed. I was still a captive, Leo was still...out there, somewhere, and the two bozo's still held a somewhat friendly, but firm watch over me.
Another new fact was, I finally realized that I have no control over this situation and had to completely trust in everyone else.
But when the time came to kick someone's ass, I would be fucking ready.
Was looking forward to it actually.
.
.
Leo had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he answered the late night summons. And it grew with every step he took to her private chambers, her bedroom. But, if he were completely honest with himself, it was expected.
Karai was living a life of delusions. She refused to accept the fact that Shredder had forced the death Leo had given him. She refused to see that Leo wasn't the same, naive, young lover. She was blind with her status and power. And she was confusing him with some kind of trophy. Leo deeply suspected that the only reason she was doing what she was doing was because she was consumed with the desire to elevate herself somehow by having him by her side.
There was definitely more to it, yes. Karai had always been controlling and jealous, even back then. The large turtle suspected that part of her flared up to life again once she found out about Vicky. Even all these years later, Karai refused to let him completely go. As long as he was single, maybe one day he would return to her.
That, never would have happened. Leo understood that the night he gave her Shredder's bloodied and dented helmet. After a very long, tedious fight. He sighed as he remembered. Raph screaming in rage as he struggled to fight off another rush of foot soldiers. Mikey doing his best with his board to distract the ones already there. Donnie once more focused on dismantling Shredder's newest toy...and Leo himself trying to hold the man off, by himself.
Leo had been much wiser, even though still naive when it came to love, about the armor used. It was a last resort measure to stand up to the turtles and save his plan. It was when Shredder tried the tactic of attacking Donnie directly, and sending a blade down Donnie's side, that Leo finally woke up. In an act of desperation to save his seriously wounded brother, Leo had been forced to kill the man.
In some way, he had held back from killing the man so many times because, for one, it wasn't something he did lightly. He really detested killing and tried his hardest to avoid that option. And the other reason was, He had meant something to Karai. He was special to her and he didn't want to take that from her.
Because he thought he had loved her.
Maybe he could have, if she could have let this go. But she didn't. He had hoped that once this wall between them had been removed, that something could blossom more deeply between them. She had been his first lover, and at the time, he wanted her to be his only lover.
It wasn't meant to be. When he saw her eyes harden with anger, he knew then and there that what he was chasing could never exist. It was then that he knew and fully understand that he was just something to enjoy, something to play with, and now, he was supposed to be the driving force on her regrouping the clan.
Now he wondered. Wondered if she was now finally going to try and reclaim more than just her clan. He was willing to bet a hefty sum that she was ready to reclaim her lover.
And he had to be very, very careful here.
Finally, he found himself in her apartments, in the living room where he had broken it off with her years prior. He stoically crossed the room, and knocked on her bedroom door while completely ignoring her two smirking guards.
"Enter." Came the feminine voice within.
Leo took in a calming breath, and opened the door.
Damn, he hated it when he was right sometimes...
Karai lounged on the bed, nothing but a soft, thin, and probably expensive black silk robe almost negligently covered her lithe frame. "Leonardo." She greeted him with a purr. as she sat up. "Come in, and close the door behind you."
He did as he was told, then just stood there, with his arms crossed, as she got to her feet and glided over to him. He could see the hunger in her eyes, and knew exactly what it meant. Wasn't the first time he'd seen it after all.
"So stern." She murmured as she walked closer to him. It was very hard to notice that she had neglected to close her robe, since the only thing remotely attempting to hold it closed was the swell of her breasts that kept at least that part covered. Everything else was bare, and open for his inspection. The fabric swirled around her ankles as she stepped to stop in front of him, her sultry eyes meeting his. "You have always been a hard one to bend." She smirked a little at her own pun, but he didn't even react.
"Tell me, Leonardo, did you miss me?"
"Not really." He said flatly. "I was the one who called it off after all."
"True enough. But I refuse to believe that you were completely unscathed emotionally by our separation."
He almost, almost, rolled his eyes at her. Somehow unable to believe she still didn't understand a damn thing between them. "I wised up and figured out that I am worth much more than a bed warmer." He uncrossed his arms and moved over to the window, and pulled the soft curtains aside so he could look out. "I figured out that you never did really love me, just the potential benefits I could give you."
Her eyes flashed a moment in anger that he walked away from her, not that he would have cared if he caught it. She then followed him. "Gains we could have both benefited from." He felt her hand on his arm, slowly caressing it. His jaw clenched, but otherwise he didn't move. "All you had to do was conform."
"And be what." He flatly looked at her, light anger now in his own eyes. "Like you and your mentor? A terror to everyone who crosses your path? No, Karai, I could have never have lived such a life, just as you could never leave it behind." She opened her mouth to speak, but he abruptly cut her off. "And I tried to show you a better way. So many times I tried to open your eyes to a life far different than murdering, mobbing, stealing and attempting world domination. I cared for you enough to keep trying, and you cared about your clan and status more than you could have ever loved me. Karai, it was bound to fail eventually between us."
"I don't think it would have." She purred again, she reached out a hand and traced a red lacquered finger down the middle of his plastron, ignoring the hard look that suddenly crossed his features. "You just needed to learn your place. Which is by my side." With a shrug she let the robe fall, and now she stood completely naked in front of him. "And in my bed."
Leo didn't change his expression as he casually looked her up and down. Once more, nothing new to him here. She mistook his gaze for interest and a slow smile was forming on her lips. "This, mutation has more benefits than strengthening. Thanks to it, I look like I did the last time we laid together. Did you know it reverses the effects of aging?"
"As a matter of fact, I did." He let his eyes wander again. "And, I admit, you do look like how I remember you."
"Does this please you?" She moved in closer, biting her bottom lip while her finger traced the edges of his plastron. She probably remembered a lot of things that had gotten him in the mood, and was more than likely going to try using them.
"It does." He murmured softly, and her grin widened. "It pleases me very much because it reminds me that I now have something a lot better than a pretty body with toned muscles." He slid his foot under her fallen robe and kicked it up into his hand.
Her eyes widened as his gaze snapped back up to hers. Before she could fully register what he was saying, he continued on. "You don't turn me on anymore, Karai. Because I don't love you, and never will love you. The body I love is scarred, because of everything she sacrificed to be by my side, the heart in it is kind even if her words are sharp. And loud, definitely loud. She has integrity, is honest to a fault, and is nowhere near perfect, but she keeps trying anyway. This woman has earned my love by being loving in her own way, and you, Karai, are nowhere in her league and never will be. She is above you, will always be above you. Even if you are the better warrior, she is the better person. And honestly, because of my love for her, I will always be impotent towards you. You may have a hold on me for now because of her, but my dick will never jump to your commands ever again."
He then threw her robe back at her, right into her face, turned, and firmly left the room.
He got about halfway out of her apartment before he heard the first enraged scream. The sound of a vase shattering against the closed behind him door sounded out about a half a second later.
Leo just hid a grin as he kept going. He wasn't sure how this would all end, but this moment right here, listening to her scream and throw things, was worth every bit of hassle she has put him through so far.
And just think, there was still one more person he was sure who would like another shot at her. Karai definitely had more coming to her. All he had to do was bide his time. Leo knew Karai wouldn't kill Vicky because of this, because if she did then she had no hold over her favorite general. And, hopefully, he managed to get it into her thick skull that he would never lay with her again.
Though, knowing Karai, she would keep trying.
She was to proud to admit she had forever lost him.
He now completely ignored Karai as she kept screaming, and went to find Michi. He had more important matters to attend to than listen to his unwanted mistress throw a temper tantrum.