I usually try to write things so that you don't have to have read anything else in Falling, but this interlude is something of a sequel to Caduceus, and won't make that much sense if you haven't read it. It takes place post-"Slash and Destroy."

Panacea (an interlude)

There was a chill in the air that bit into him as he moved across the rooftops. Good. The pain would keep him moving. Keep him sharp. He had a lot of work ahead of him if he was going to put things right.

He'd been sloppy. That was the problem. He'd underestimated just how deep those other three had their hooks into Raph. Dragging him down. Making him weak. He should never have let Raph see when he dealt with them. Raph couldn't take it. They'd made him too soft. Which ruled out going back to the lair to finish them off - not yet, anyway. If the brothers were bad, the rat was even worse. But there were other things that he could take care of. Other loose ends that would be easier to tie off. Leaving Raph unburdened. Making him free.

And a lesson about how friends didn't throw friends off of buildings couldn't hurt, either.

Slash raised his head, scenting the wind. Still there. Still ridiculously easy to track. The scent wasn't as strong as one of the canisters, but she still stank of Kraang. Skidding to a halt, he peered over the edge of the rooftop; a small smile of victory crept across his face as he spotted the girl, red hair bright against the darkness.

Gotcha.

He swung down from the roof, dropping to the concealing gloom of the back alleys as he maneuvered into position. One of the streetlights down the road was out. The timing couldn't be better. Grab her, knock her senseless, but don't do too much damage. No, the damage would be done when he brought her back downtown and threw her from the nearest rooftop onto the grate above the dojo. Message delivered.

Shadows slid around him like smoke as he made his way toward her, a low growl rumbling in the back of his throat. She had this coming. Always hanging around, taking up Raph's attention with her stupid computer, getting Raph into trouble. This whole situation was her fault. Raph would never have gotten involved with the Kraang and mutagen if she hadn't been there.

His eyes narrowed behind the black mask, and as the darkness at the mouth of the alley swallowed her, he struck.

She was fast, he gave her that much. He'd meant to take her by surprise, but she was already moving by the time he reached her, drawing that stupid fan out from wherever it was that she kept it. Before she could flick it open, his hand was around hers, engulfing it and half her arm in the process. Stupid tiny weak human. He could rip her arm clean offwithout even thinking twice about it. She was so frail. So weak. But no, that would be too much. She'd never make it back to the lair alive if he did that. So he settled for yanking her off her feet and tossing her into the nearest wall.

The rising wind swallowed her cry, and the impact of her head against the wall cut it short. She crumpled to the ground, groaning and dazed, and he smiled as he moved toward her. Too easy. Curling his fingers slowly into a fist, relishing the sensation of power that ran through him as his claws dug into his palm, he raised his fist above her head. The wind shifted again, carrying her scent to him, and he breathed deeply of his victim, drinking in the stink of the weakness that he was about to eliminate from the world.

But there was something else beneath the stench. Something soft. Sweet. Familiar...

Fear. Fear, and pain, and the panic in big brother's eyes. Big brother is afraid. Big brother is never afraid. Big brother is giving him away NO! Why? Brother, WHY? But then soft hands, and warmth, wrapping him against the cold. Movement, and white walls, and a steel table, COLD, and more hands, and prodding, and pain, it HURTS, but then the gentle hands are back, and a quiet voice, and the warmth, and a strong heartbeat pounding beneath him as the sweetly-scented warmth surrounds him and shelters him against the cold.

"There you go, buddy. You're gonna be just fine. Now let's get you back to Raph so we can get you all patched up, huh?"

The brush of lips, soft and sweet against his head, and he curls up against the warmth, knowing that he is safe, and loved, and will come to no further harm so long as he remains in her arms.

His fist trembled, frozen in the air, but it wouldn't fall. Slash stared down at the limp form at his feet, the tendrils of her scent coiling around him, and for a moment, just a moment, he no longer felt the cold.

It didn't take her long after that to wake up, groggy and disoriented, and of course she called for the turtles as soon as she could make her fingers work the phone. Typical. From the concealment of the shadows on the roof across the street, he watched as they swarmed over her, comical in their panic. That's what attachments did. They made you a fool. Pathetic.

It was Raph who lifted her into his arms, and as her head lolled against his shoulder, Raph looked up, those green eyes searching the darkness where Slash hid. Despite himself, Slash shrank back. Raphael couldn't possibly know - the girl had barely seen him, and even if she had, she was too out of it to say much anyway. But the rage in Raph's eyes burned through the cold, and for an instant, Slash was afraid.

Then Raph looked away and followed his brothers back into the sewers, carrying the girl with him. More dead weight dragging him down. Shaking his head in disgust, Slash moved off, striking back out across the city.

He'd do it eventually. Prune back the deadfall, bit by bit, strengthening Raphael in the process like a blade forged by fire. The pain would temper him. Eliminate the softness. Then Raph would be strong enough to accept Slash as his partner, the way it was meant to be.

But, he thought as he leaped to another rooftop, shivering as the cold sought out the chinks in his shell, there was no reason he had to do it alone. No reason why he had to waste his time on weaklings who weren't worth his attention. There were plenty of mutants running around the city by now who had a beef against the turtles. He'd find one of them. Get them riled up. And then he could let them take care of the girl.

The winter wind dragged against him, washing over his skin, until the last traces of that sickly-sweet warmth were gone.