A/N.
Oh my goodness… It's been way too long.

I have just been the busiest person in the time since April! I want to apologize for the lack of updates in the last ten months. It's been crazy, mostly with theatre stuff in my town. I was in two shows (Shrek the Musical and this old Neil Simon play called Fools), and am gearing up for a third (Cinderella), and saw a lot of Broadway by luck, meeting one of my idols, Mark Ballas, in the process. But as I know from the comments, you are all waiting very patiently for the next chapter, and I thank you for sticking around. I'll try to update faster from now on.

Now, I actually had to switch gears a little bit this chapter. I was originally planning on doing an entirely different POV this chapter, but I'm not really ready to do that just yet. It's very difficult trying to perfectly lay out a diagram. I've gotten to a slightly calmer point in the story, and I need a little filler to figure out how I am going to make my next move. So instead of what I did have planned, after I said what I said, I'm gonna keep my focus on Donnie and Karai right now before going back to what's happening in the city. Big things are still coming though, and that will be interesting (which I've hinted at in this chapter). And of course, I have not lost faith in this story. It'll go until the end is in sight (which is still a ways away).

Alright! Let's get this show on the road! As always, once you're done, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Enjoy!

Chapter Six
Storms Are Brewing.
(Karai's POV).
Snow.

We woke up to snow of all things.

The day after our little bit of communication back to the city, I woke up at five in the morning to the feeling of something squirming next to me. It took me a second to remember Donnie was right next to me, and when I was a bit more aware, I realized how cold I was. It turns out, I had no blankets on. Donnie was still sleeping, but had basically stolen them all, and he was lying on his right side, not facing me, wrapped like a spring-roll.

Of course. Donnie was cold-blooded. Being a turtle, that would mean he needed to constantly be kept warm, otherwise he would basically freeze. And now that some snake DNA had been added to the mixture, it would be even harder for him to keep warm.

So, when I got up to get more blankets from somewhere else in the house, if there were more, I wasn't happy when I looked out of the bedroom window to see snow covering everything. So we weren't just stranded, we were stranded and freezing now, too. Well, not entirely. I decided walking would make due until I got my hands on a better means of transportation.

Still, I had to figure out a way that we would make it through the winter, so that we didn't end up wasting away in the cold.

And these were the times in which I thanked my training in the Foot that I knew what to do, and how to do it.

I rushed into the bathroom and turned both taps in the sink all the way on. Then, I started running the bath water, with the drain unplugged, and raced downstairs to do the same with the kitchen sink. If it get's too cold, the water might freeze at night, so every few hours, you have to get up and run it just to make sure it doesn't freeze. It's a tiring process, but I wasn't about to get tricked out of having water. Whenever the water flowed as I checked up on it, I heaved a sigh of relief. We were gonna keep ourselves hydrated after all!

Second step, extra blankets. I looked up and down throughout the house for some sort of closet that might contain more supplies. When I did find more blankets, they were kind of thin, but any blanket was better than none. As I was carrying them up the stairs, I heard a hiss and rushed the rest of the way to find the third and hardest step waiting for me; keeping Donnie resting.

Of course he would wake up and want to help! Already when I arrived, he was attempting to slide over the side of the bed and assist me.

"No, no, no! Donnie!" I said, putting down the blankets, rushing over and hoisting him back up. "You shouldn't be trying to get out of bed, you have broken bones!" All I got in response was a disappointed hiss. I sighed, then stated, "If Father knew you had broken something, he would have made you stay in bed too, you know." The look he gave me seemed to say, "That is true…", but he still wanted to protest.

"Look, just leave this to me. I can handle it!" I said. After a few more minutes of coaxing him to stay in bed, he finally agreed.

I spent the next hour keeping the house warm. By the time the sun was up, I had a fire going in the fireplace, and we had a good amount of extra blankets to keep us both warm. The snow outside was persistent, and might stay for a few days before starting to melt. I turned on the small T.V. and turned to the local station, but they said we should be expecting heavy amounts of snow for an unknown amount of time! I groaned in frustration.

Just my luck. What I wouldn't give to just be home, with the rest of our family. They would know what to do. But right now, I had to know what to do. All I had was my brother. We were cut off from the rest of the world, him especially.

"I doubt we have any cell service either." I muttered as I reentered the bedroom I was sharing with Donnie. "The snow looked heavy on the lines outside." Donnie cocked his head to the side as he was listening to me talk, nodding occasionally.

I noticed how his head was dropping onto his shoulder, and how his eyes would flicker shut for a few seconds at a time, then quickly open again. He was exhausted. "You didn't have much sleep, did you?" I asked, cutting myself off from the conversation. He tried to shake his head, but ended up swaying instead. I caught him before any more damage could be done. "Donnie, I don't want you sitting up, something's clearly wrong." I said. With more coaxing, he agreed to rest.

And that's when I heard him sneeze.

Once.

Twice…

I prayed that he wouldn't a third time, but there it was.

I couldn't even groan in frustration. I simply hung my head and sighed. Of course. First the snow, and now Donnie's caught something. He looked rather sheepish, and I could only conclude that he had tried to hide it.

This was gonna be a long couple of days.

(Casey's POV).
"Whatcha watching for?"

I yelped in surprise, nearly tumbling from the fire escape. When I looked up, there was my little sister Chloe. "Chloe, you can't go around scaring people like that! I almost fell!" I sat back down, frowning. "And it's frankly not anyone's business what I'm watching for."

All Chloe did was giggle. I sighed. Of course that's what she would do, she was six! Everything was a game to her!

"Is April coming over?" she asked. "Her hair looks like mine."

I looked at my little sister. Her red hair had an orange tinge to it, not like the firey red that April sported, but she insisted she looked like April every time I brought her up. "No, April can't come today. She's with another friend who needs her." April had gone back to the lair to keep the others company. I couldn't help but imagine her cooped up on the couch with no one but Mikey for company, no matter how hard I wished otherwise that they wouldn't be alone. Raph would either be storming the sewers or punching the daylights out of that punching bag he's always at. And Leo and Sensei have both found solitude tucked away in the dark corners of their rooms.

I can't help but think about how stupid they are acting right now. Of course, I mean no disrespect, because they're the best and most epic thing that's ever happened to my life… but nothing will be fixed with them wallowing in their own sorrow. Someone's gotta make a change, and Karai's just the person to do that.

"You look sad." Chloe muttered.

"Some people have to be sad sometimes." I answered, my thoughts miles away, hidden within the cloudy sky. "Even Casey Jones." My sister frowned, casting her brown eyes to her shoes. "How come? You never tell us when something's wrong."

"It's complicated Chloe." I said. "Something happened to one of my friends, he… got really hurt, then went missing, and it drove his family bonkers. They're either blaming themselves, or my friend's sister, who wasn't really at fault, but did play a role in it. Now she's out of the city, trying to find her brother, and April and I are trying to keep the others in check. They haven't been doing so well the past few days since it happened." I sighed. "I probably only made it worse anyways. You remember our little secret, right?"

Chloe nodded, brown eyes alert and serious. "You said you may have to do bad things for a good reason, and to not tell Daddy." I had to tell her this after she caught me sneaking out one night. "I thought going after the guys that hurt my friend and getting some answers would help… I was wrong. I got caught, then lectured. Now I'm just watching… waiting for something to happen that might help us." I explained. It felt good to explain this to someone who would understand and listen.

"Why does there have to be so much anger in the city?"

I was shocked. "What?" I asked.

She turned to me. "People don't think I notice things, I do. I'm only six, but I see things. And hear things at night, through my window. People yelling and shouting at each other." I continued to stare, dumbfounded by her knowledge of the topic, but I talked anyways. "I guess it's human nature. There are some people who just don't like other people, for many different reasons. But when they try and do something about it, there's always gonna be drama. More and more stuff builds up, and it ends badly."

Images of Shredder and the Foot Clan, and hate, filled my mind. Even to Chloe, hate wasn't escapeable. I thought of Splinter's story, a product of hate and revenge. Karai's upbringing, birthed from hate and revenge. Donnie's mutation was just the icing on the cake of hate and revenge. All of it was from hate. So much hate in this world. And we were only exposed to so little.

Without knowing why, I felt my eyes begin to sting. "But again, that's human nature. For some reason, without hate, we can't live. And some things are just beyond our control, so we can't change it."

"Didn't Mom used to say some things are just beyond our control?"

Mom. My beautiful mother. It was all out of our control. She didn't expect to get cancer. And we certainly didn't expect it to take her from us.

"She did say that. She said it all the time."

It was the wisest thing I had ever heard from anyone, and I've met some pretty smart people. "Mom knew the way of the world like I never will. And she came to terms with that long before it was time for her to go."

I look down at Chloe, who was twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger. The same hair she inherited from our mother. "I don't remember her." she said. "But if I did, I would remember all the tea parties we could have thrown together."

"Casey! Chloe! Dinner's ready!"

"Thank you, Chloe." I said as I helped her climb back in. "I really needed that."

"You're welcome!" she said, resting her arms on the windowsill, looking up into my eyes. Just as I was about to climb in, my phone rang. "Sorry sis, I gotta take this." She nodded, and said, "I'll tell dad you're coming." Then she closed the window. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket, then looked at who was calling.

I almost dropped the phone. It was Leo.

Why would Leo be calling me? As far as I knew, he was busy sulking in his room, alone, mourning for Donnie. So this came as a huge surprise. Unless… something had to have happened, there was no other explanation. I hit the button to answer, held the phone to my ear, and asked hesitantly, "Leo, what's wrong?"

Silence. Then, the next sentence that the hoarse voice said made chills run up my spine, almost as many as when I had gotten the call about Donnie's mutation.

"Get to the Lair right now, Casey. Shredder's made his move."

A/N.
Argggggggggghhhhhhh! CURSE YOU WRITER'S BLOCK!

I will admit, I'm kind of embarrassed at how little this chapter has of Donnie and Karai. I literally had no idea what I was doing, and I'm sorry if it's not as impressive as past chapters. I liked the part with Casey and his sister though, and I will make up for the first part, because indeed, Shredder has made his move. Unfortunately, the good luck is gonna do another 180 on the Hamatos.

Little disclaimer; my sister and I have a little headcanon that the little girl who appeared in the episode 'Slash and Destroy' was Casey's sister Chloe, and that Leo meeting her was a coincidence. She will appear again in this story, and I have no ownership claim on her. She belongs to Viacom, I think, but you can correct me if I'm wrong.

Anyways, that's it for this time, and next time will be better, I promise! Once you're done, leave a review, favorite, follow, and as always…

Stay tuned! ;)