DISCUSSIONS

December 22, 1995

LEONARDO:

"Leonardo?"

"Mmm?"

"You okay?"

I didn't answer for a few seconds, staring out the window at the bright lights of the city. "Yeah, I'm alright, Anna."

She handed me a glass of water and pulled a barstool, the only piece of furniture in the room, near where I was sitting, on the windowsill. "You sure?"

I glanced at her and saw the concerned expression on her face. I forced a smile. "Yeah."

"What's bothering you?"

I sighed and looked away again, raising the water to my lips. "Nothing. Just... don't want to go home right now."

Her warm hand rested on my leg. "Well, I don't mind having you here," she informed me. I smiled. "But what's wrong at home?"

I sighed. "Raph is... really edgy right now and we'll rip each other's heads off if we're together for too long."

"Why?" she asked. "What happened?"

"Not entirely sure," I mumbled. "He's not pissed at me or I'd know it."

"Maybe it's about Clarisse?" she offered.

I sighed. "Maybe. I know one thing: Clarisse probably isn't going to be back."

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged. "Well, you can't expect her to stay with us forever. We gave her money a while ago, but she didn't want to leave." I glanced over at Anna. "But I think she's ready to leave now. Honeymoon's over and she's realizing that there's a downside to staying with us."

She smiled faintly. She had her feet up on one of the rungs of the stool, rather than on the floor. She was leaning on her arms, her shoulders hunched. "Where do you guys get all this money, anyway?" she finally asked.

I took another long drink. "Drug deals," I answered without thinking.

She nearly fell out of her chair, and it took me a minute to figure out why. "You sell drugs?"

I laughed. "No, we bust the deals. And we take what we need. Rest goes to the cops."

She thought about that for a minute. "That's kind of like stealing," she observed.

"Kind of," I agreed. "But it's really the only logical way we have of surviving." I sighed deeply and leaned back against the window frame. "You gotta understand, Anna. It's not that we're lazy. We'd go out and work if we could, you know? But we can't. So we... take care of the city. Kind of an unofficial job. And we have to survive off of whatever it gives us. Frankly, I'd rather steal from a drug dealer than from a grocery store."

She thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, but insurance might cover the store owner. The drug dealer could be killed for not delivering the money."

I shrugged. "Nah, he'll be in jail."

"And when he gets out?"

I laughed quietly. "Anna, who's the bad guy here? It doesn't really make a difference whether we bust him or the police do; if he's off the street, good has been done. We don't want the drugs in the city any more than the cops. We call them, they come and arrest the dealer, guy goes to jail, everything's confiscated... Successful drug bust and the police are heroes."

She chuckled. "Yeah, but the odds are a little more fair with the police, don'tcha think?" she grinned.

I smiled and shrugged. "Shouldn't be selling drugs on our streets," I answered simply. "I've never run into a criminal who didn't realize that what he was doing was wrong."

She considered that, and it was quiet. "What about insanity?" she asked after a long pause.

I sighed. "I think it's an overused defense and it's not valid nine times out of ten." I glanced at her. "I read something once, by a criminal profiler for the FBI. He said anyone who rapes and mutilates and murders a child is obviously sick in the head, but that doesn't mean they're insane. If they knew that it was wrong to do what they were doing, regardless of what compelled them or why, they're guilty of the crime."

"You're not particularly merciful toward criminals, are you?" she questioned.

I looked down on the street, considering that for a minute. "It depends," I finally answered. "Depends on who they're hurting. Prostitutes, drug addicts... they only hurt themselves, and I leave them alone. But rapists and dealers who sell drugs to kids... no, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them."

"Do you kill them?"

I glanced at her, a little shocked by the question. "What?"

She shrugged. "Well I... don't know a lot about ninjutsu, but I do know it's pretty deadly."

I studied her for a minute, then looked away again. "I try not to," I mumbled. "Sometimes it can't be helped. If it's a matter of killing the offender or endangering the victim..." I considered that for a moment, and sighed. "It really depends on the crime, the criminal... a lot of things."

"You ever just... know they did something wrong, but they'll get off free?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"You ever just want to... take care of it yourself?"

I sighed and looked back at her. "I won't lie to you, Anna. It's not easy to watch a killer walk free. But whenever we take the law into our own hands, intentionally or otherwise, it damages our alliance with the police. It's not like they smile upon vigilantes in the first place."

"Has there ever been an exception?" she questioned.

"Shredder is an exception," I answered coldly. "When we catch him, we're not handing him over to the police."

"Why not?" she asked. "Personal vengeance?"

I shook my head. "That's not the reason. It's true, but it's not the reason."

"What is the reason?"

"I have a lot of faith in our justice system, but I also know Oroku Saki. And I refuse to take the risk of having him end up on the streets again if we can shut him down."

"You don't think they'd convict him?" she asked, surprised.

I sighed. "It's not that, Anna. But in the first place I don't think they'll be able to handcuff him and get him all the way to the jail. Even if they are armed with guns. And if they convict him, what are they gonna do? Deport him back to Japan so he can kill people over there?" I shook my head. "I won't take that risk, Anna. I can't. I know him too well."

Her eyes fell and a look of sadness came over her face. "Why does he do it?" she asked quietly. "Why does human life mean so little to him?"

"He's got a massive superiority complex. He doesn't care who he hurts."

She sighed deeply and I glanced at her. She was cradeling her head in her hands. "You look tired," I observed. "You should go to bed."

"I am tired," she mumbled. She looked up at me and smiled faintly. "But I like talking to you."

I smiled and stood to my feet, pulling her to hers. "Tell you what," I mumbled, bringing our lips together. "How about I stay and go to bed with you?"

She kissed me back, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing hard to me. "I'd like that," she smiled pulling away slightly.

"Yeah?"

"Mmm hmm."

"We can talk some more, huh?" I joked.

"Right," she laughed as I slipped my hands under her shirt to press against her back. "Just talk."

I held her tightly as I kissed her again.