MADONNA:
"You're not Kiara," he whispered, shock written clearly on his face.
I smiled faintly. "I never said I was," I reminded him.
"Kat."
I sighed and looked away. "Oroku Kiara Katarina," I sighed. "Our mother gave her the name 'Katarina'. That's probably why she chooses to use it now. Only her father calls her Kiara."
"Our mother?" he choked.
"She is my half sister," I mumbled. I chuckled cynically at the irony. "And my step-daughter, too. Sick, isn't it? Especially since she's a year older than me."
He stared, speechless. "How...?"
"My mother and Oroku Saki dated. She was living in Japan with her business exec, American father, and he threw her out when Kat was conceived. Saki took care of her for a while, before he fell in love with a woman named Tang Shin. My mother began seeing his closest friend, and I was born. The friendship between our fathers was strong enough that when Saki came to America, in pursuit of Tang Shin, my family came with him. During the time that I was growing up, I became acquainted with Saki. And he took an interest in me. When I became of age, long after my mother died, he and I were married. My father was the one to oversee it."
"Oh my god," he whispered.
I sighed. "So now you know. The truth about me. About what I am." I looked back at him. "And about Katarina."
He was still shocked into silence. "Katarina," he managed to choke. "She..."
I heard a noise and spun around. There was no one in the room, but I heard voices. Panic crept over me. I knew I couldn't be caught here. "I have to go," I whispered, regretting the words.
"Wait!" Leo cried, reflexively. "I..."
"I'm sorry," I gasped. I gave one last look at him before I hurried from the room, leaving so much unsaid.
RAPHAEL:
I stared at her, not comprehending her words. She'd lied about her name? Why?
"And my father sent me here to kill you," she whispered, turning her head. "I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you."
Suddenly, it hit me. Oruku Kiara. Oruku Saki. Oh god. Every muscle in my body tensed all at once and I pulled away from her slowly. "Holy crap," I whispered, more to myself than to her. "You have got to be kidding me." I avoided my gaze, staring down at the floor. I felt the air squeezed from my lungs. "Tell me you're kidding me!"
She said nothing. A million thoughts flowed through my mind. Shredder's daughter, sent to kill me. I stared at her in disbelief. I should've seen it. I'd suspected a trap. When did I stop suspecting her? The talks, the touching, the moments of silence. Somewhere along the line, I'd let down my guard.
Suddenly, I felt anger flood through me. Not for my own sake, but for my brothers'. I knew she'd used me, but that was the least of my pain at the moment. I spun away from her. Mike.
"He's not here," she choked, reading my thoughts.
I turned and stared at her. Not here? My god, she was killing us off one by one! Fire raged in my chest as I returned her and grabbed her wrists, gripping her hard. She gasped as her back hit the wall.
"Where is he?" I demanded. "Is he alive?"
"Yes," she whispered.
I wanted to hit her. I wanted so badly to slap her. "You set us up! Set us all up! Played us like it was some game to you!"
"Yes," she admitted, turning her head again.
"And you handed them over to him! When they trusted you!"
Tears streamed from her eyes. She cringed. "Raphael, you're hurting me."
Hurting her? I wanted to kill her! "And then you... Oh my God," I whispered, the anger giving way to desperation.
I backed away from her, letting go of her wrists as I retreated and buried my face in my hands. Instinct told me to raise my guard, to not take my eyes off her. Shredder's daughter. Oruku Kiara. But if she'd wanted to kill me, she would've already done it. She was harmless now, with her secret exposed.
"Why?" I pleaded.
"I'm sorry," she whispered faintly.
The anger and sadness mingled inside of me, leaving me in a whirlwind of emotion like I'd never felt before. I couldn't tell where one feeling stopped and another began. I ran from the room as quickly as I could. Behind me, I heard her crying.
APRIL:
I heard knocking on my door and opened my eyes slowly. The glowing green numbers on my alarm clock told me that it was two thirty in the morning. The knocking came again and I sat up. I could think of five people it could be. One was Casey, but he had a key. The other possibilities wouldn't be here unless something was wrong.
I swung my legs over the side of the bed and grabbed my robe. "I'm coming," I called. The knocking stopped. I tied the robe and unlocked the deadbolt. Then I cracked the door and peeked out. Raphael stood just outside of my apartment, hidden in a hat and trenchcoat. He looked up and our eyes locked. Pain was etched in his face. I opened the door wider and let him in.
"Are you okay?" I asked, shutting the door behind him. He was dripping wet and I realized it must be raining outside. It rained constantly, lately.
He was shivering. "Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?"
"Beer," he answered.
I studied him carefully. "Are you sure? You look like something hot might be..."
"Beer, April," he interrupted. "Please."
"I don't have beer."
"Something alcoholic, then. I don't care. Whatever you have."
I walked to the fridge and looked inside. I wasn't big on alcohol, and I wasn't sure I had anything to offer. I closed the door and turned to him. He was sitting on the couch, his back to me. "I have wine. That's all I've got."
He waved over his shoulder and I turned back, pulling the half-empty bottle of wine out of the fridge. I found a glass and poured the rose-tinted liquid. I grabbed a towel out of the closet before I returned and handed both to him. Under the jacket, he wasn't really wet; but he dried his face and set the towel next to him before taking the wine glass. "Thanks," he whispered.
I sat down next to him on the couch, curling my leg underneath me. "So what happened?" I asked. "Don't tell me Leo kicked you out for good this time."
I smiled, but he turned and shot me a pathetic look. Not exactly the response I was hoping for. I leaned against the back of the couch. He said nothing. "Okay, so spill it. I mean, it's not every night you come here with your problems."
"The bars close at two," he mumbled.
I studied him for a moment. "Well, no offense, but aren't you usually smashed enough by that time to go back home?"
He sipped the wine and laughed cynically, under his breath. He hadn't been at the bar. He didn't smell like alcohol, and he wasn't drunk. I decided not to press the issue. Something was terribly wrong for him to show up here. Raph wasn't one to come to me to talk about his problems. "Okay, let me put it this way: Why did you come here instead of going home?"
He leaned forward and buried his face in his hand, balancing the glass between his fingers. "April..." he started hesitantly. "Katarina..."
I stared at him, immediately concerned. "Is she okay?" I asked nervously.
He looked up and his eyes met mine. "She's Shredder's daughter, April," he whispered. The look in his eyes told me he was completely serious. I stared at him, shocked. "And I'm in love with her."
KATARINA:
I stood at the counter, separating scripts. The clock on the wall read 4:00. In a way, I was glad when my cell phone rang, asking me to come in and help with the morning show. It forced me out of the lair, away from lonely rooms he'd left me in. Here, my mind was blank. I was glad this part of the job took no concentration.
I closed my eyes as I tossed the papers in their appropriate piles. Somebody approached me from the side and I opened my eyes to see April O'Neil leaning against the counter. I would've been surprised to see her, but that took too much effort. "You don't look so hot," she told me.
"Neither do you," I pointed out. She was wearing jeans and an oversized sweatshirt. Her wet hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck. She wore no makeup and had dark rings under her eyes. I had never seen her like that. She always had to look professional, since she was an on-air personality.
"It's the middle of the night for me," she reminded me. "What's your excuse?"
I turned my attention back to the scripts for a moment. "What are you doing here?" I finally questioned. "You get called in to anchor the morning show or something?"
"No, actually, I'm doing a friend a favor."
I nodded slowly. "Emory forget to cut a package again?"
She didn't answer for a few minutes. I continued to toss the papers where they belonged. April watched me, her arms crossed over her chest. "There's someone in editing who wants to talk to you," she informed me.
I froze and glanced up. "Raphael?" I questioned quietly.
She nodded slightly. "Bay four. I'll finish up here if you want to go talk to him."
I glanced over my shoulder at the newsroom. They couldn't care less who did the scripts as long as they got done. Nobody would ask questions. But I wasn't sure if I did want to talk to Raphael.
"Is he angry?" I asked.
"No," she assured me. "I don't think he ever really was. Not angry, just... frustrated."
I glanced at her. She hadn't seen the fire in his eyes like I had. "Did he tell you?" I asked.
"Why he was upset?" she questioned. I nodded. "He told me... enough."
I looked away again, still tossing the papers into piles. "I think you should go talk to him," she mumbled. "If for no other reason than because you kind of owe him."
I stopped, setting the stack of papers on the table. I rested my hands on them for a moment, trying to gather my nerve. "I'm not sure I can," I whispered.
I felt her hand on my shoulder. "Look at it this way, Kat," she sighed. "If he didn't really want to talk to you, do you really think he could've hauled my ass out of bed and across the city to come find you?"
I glanced up at her. Concern was written all over her face. She smiled faintly as she pushed my hands aside and took over the scripts. I stepped back as she began separating them. Finally, I turned and left the room.
The door to the edit bay was closed. I opened it slowly and saw Raphael leaning against the cabinet of VTR decks. I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. The bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling illuminated the room. No, he wasn't angry. The look on his face was tired, sad. I looked away and heard him take a deep breath.
"Are they alive?"
I hesitated, not sure of my voice. There was a long silence. "Just tell me, Kat," he sighed. "And tell me the truth. I can handle it, okay?"
I nodded silently, unable to speak. They were alive. I knew that for a fact.
"I just want to know why," Raphael mumbled after another long break. "Why did you tell me? And why now?" He was quiet. I waited for him to explain. I had been expecting him to ask why I didn't tell him, not why I did. "If you were going to say something, you could've at least had a little mercy on me and done it before I fell for you!" I cringed, looking away. "And if you really wanted to use me like that, couldn't you at least have given me a few days to... I don't know... enjoy it? Before you slapped me in the face?"
I leaned back against the closed door, crossing my arms over my chest. "I didn't tell you a few days ago because up until last night, I had no intention of telling you," I answered honestly. "I just..."
"So what, what was the plan?" he snapped, cutting me off. "Sleep with me and then slit my throat?"
I felt as if he'd just run me through. I cringed at the anger in his voice. He didn't know how close to being right he was, and that fact alone made me feel sick. "I mean, you'll have to forgive me here, but I'd like to know just how badly I've been used," he continued. The anger was mingled with pain. I felt tears sting the backs of my eyes.
"It wasn't supposed to hapen like it did," I choked. I forced myself to look at him. "I just never expected..." My voice trailed off as I searched for words to put to the confusion I felt inside. "You've got to understand, Raphael," I finally whispered. "I've never loved anyone like that before. I didn't know how... powerful it was." I stared into his eyes, feeling the pain hidden there. "I knew what was happening, but I never expected it to be so..."
I struggled for a way to explain. My whole life, I'd been lectured about women's weaknesses. And I had made a vow, to never let it rule me. But Raphael had been at the right place, at the right time. And I'd fallen in love with him. I just hadn't realized how deeply in love. And I'd never expected to find that he felt anything more for me than purely sexual attraction. When I realized that it was more...
"Raph, I... I just didn't realize..." I stammered. "I never expected to find that you loved me too."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he cried, throwing his hands up. I was glad the editors were on their break or they would've heard him. "It took you that long to figure out that I loved you?"
I looked away, unable to continue watching him. "You could've stopped me at any time, Kat, why did you wait until...?"
His voice was cracking. I swallowed hard, tears stinging my eyes again. "I tried to stop you," I whispered. "And I tried to stop myself." I looked up at him again. "I told you, Raph. I told you to stop, that I didn't want to fall in love with you."
"You never told me you were planning to kill me!" he shot at me.
"No, Raph, I didn't. Because if I had, I wouldn't have been able to."
He turned away and leaned against the wall behind him. "Even..." I started, choking on my own voice. "Even when we were dancing... and when I realized what was happening... I thought you were just using me. It wasn't until you kissed me when I..."
"Why?" he demanded, turning back to me. "Why would you think that?"
"I've been used my whole life, Raphael," I told him, the tears overflowing. "Used and manipulated into doing things I didn't want to do. You weren't supposed to be any different, but you were."
"And you used me," he accused.
"Yes, Raph," I confessed. "I used you from the start. But I expected you to use me, too. And when I realized you weren't, I had to tell you." I looked up at him. Pain was etched in his features. "Because I had to make a choice, and I couldn't kill you."
He stared down at the floor beneath his feet. There was a long silence. Finally, he looked back up at me. "You know where they are."
I knew exactly what he was talking about, and it wasn't a question. I looked away. "Do you realize what you're asking me to do?" I whispered.
"What? Betray Shredder? Yeah, I realize that."
"He's my father, Raphael," I defended.
"And what the hell am I?" he yelled.
I looked away, wishing I could melt into the floor. I owed it to him, but I also knew what it would mean. Betraying my father was a suicide attempt. I was already trying his patience. Even if he didn't kill me, he would at the very least disown me. I had no one else. "I don't know what you are," I whispered.
"Well, maybe I can fill in the blank," he snapped. "I'm that guy that you used and screwed over with every intent to kill him. And you have my brothers locked up somewhere if they're alive like you say they are. If you're not gonna tell me where they're at then you might as well have killed me last night!"
I couldn't take any more. I spun and threw the door open. He reached me in a flash and slammed it closed again. Acting on instinct, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, spinning to kick him across the small room. He hadn't been expecting it and he crashed to the floor. I gave one last look at his confused face and sprinted from the room.
