Death and Dishonor Part 2

KATARINA:

"What if he closes the door?" Mike whispered. "That's reinforced steel, we'll never..."

"Quiet!" I snapped.

I listened to the sound of my own breathing as I looked through the cracks in the ceiling at my father. He stepped over the fallen bodies and inspected the ropes that had held the feet of his captives. Then he spun and walked out of the room. I let out the breath I had been holding, and sat up, pressed against the metal beam that supported the structure. That was too close for comfort.

"You guys okay?" I asked.

Leo and Donny nodded stiffly. Even in their pain, they were still more capable than a dozen of my father's trained soldiers. "So how do we get out of here?" Mike asked. "I don't want to stick around any longer than I have to, if you know what I mean."

"We should wait until nightfall," I suggested.

Leo looked at me. "Is it safe to wait that long?"

I stared back at him. "It's safer than trying to fight off an army of foot soldiers while you're half dead."

"We're okay," he assured me. But he cringed even as he said it.

I sighed. "It'll be dark in a few hours," I told them. "We have a better chance with darkness on our side."

"Mmm," Donny moaned. "And here I was thinking it was the mid morning."

"There's a vent over there," I pointed, "if you want to look outside."

He shook his head slowly. A noise beneath us silenced us all. One of the dark figures stirred, and sat up. He looked around, mumbled a few profanities, and slowly stood to his feet. "Master Shredder's gonna kill me."

He was right about that.

MADONNA:

He slammed me to the wall, pinning me by my wrists. "What do you know about this?"

"I know nothing!" I cried.

"Did she speak with you?"

"Yes," I admitted.

"And what did she say?"

Oh, god, Kat, you dug your own grave this time... "She said nothing about freeing them, I swear it!"

"What did she say?" he demanded.

I felt tears streaming down my face as his grip cut off the circulation to my fingers. I wouldn't lie to him. I had known that when she had first opened her mouth. It was why I didn't want to hear her plan. I knew he would ask me. But could I lie about what she had said? What difference does it make, Madonna? She's as good as dead already when he gets his hands on her.

"She said that she was in love with one of them," I sobbed.

"In love with him?" he yelled, throwing me aside. I fell to the floor, catching myself on the palms of my hands. "How the hell do you fall in love with a mutant freak?"

I kept my eyes down and didn't answer. He grabbed my hair and I cried out as he yanked my head up. The pain was excruciating. "Tell me, Madonna," he growled. "You would know, wouldn't you?"

"Please," I gasped. What did he want from me? It was not as if I could undo the past, even if I wanted to!

He threw me down again and I hugged the floor, wishing for this nightmare to end. I couldn't live like this anymore. I wouldn't.

LEONARDO:

Don and Mike were both asleep. They slept lightly, I was sure. I couldn't sleep if I'd wanted to. I hurt all over. I raised my arm across my chest and tried to massage the muscles in my shoulder. But I didn't even have the strength to do that. "Leo?" Kat's voice whispered. I looked toward her in the dim light shining up through the cracks in the ceiling tiles. She held out her hand. "Come here."

I glanced down at the thin metal beams that were supporting us. There was no way the tiles would hold my weight. I'd have to walk along the beams. "I don't think I can," I answered quietly. "I'm not feeling very acrobatic right now."

She smiled and pushed off of the beam she was resting against. She maneuvered her way around easily and came to rest at the post behind me. "Move forward," she instructed. I did, and she slipped behind me, her hands on my shoulders. She began massaging gently.

"Try to relax," she encouraged me.

I sighed deeply feeling the soreness ebb slowly away. I closed my eyes. "You have no idea how good that feels," I told her.

"I can imagine," she replied as she prodded at the thick cords. I melted into her touch, breathing deeply.

She continued for a few minutes without saying a word. "Hey Leo," she finally mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"If I don't make it out of this," she whispered, "and you do, I want you to promise me that you'll do something for me."

"What?" I managed as she dug deeper into the tense muscles.

"Promise me you'll tell Raph that I'm sorry."

I considered her words for a moment, and wondered where Raphael was right now. Somehow, for once, I doubted he was at the bar. He was somewhere else, but I couldn't imagine where. "Promise me?" Kat pleaded.

I breathed deep. "I promise."

She sighed and continued to massage at my shoulders and neck. All hell was breaking loose around us. The village, as Kat had described it, was in havoc. They were looking for us. Desperately.

"And Leo?"

"Hmm?"

She hesitated. "I am sorry."

Her words echoed with the voice of someone else, but I pushed the painful thought out of my mind. Madonna had chosen her side, and I had to respect that. I couldn't think about it. It was too painful, and I knew it.

I sighed deeply as I felt the strength slowly return to my arms. "I know," I whispered back.

She dug at the base of my neck and I moaned quietly at the relief. I felt better than I thought I should, all things considered. She ran her hands lightly over my skin, feeling for any muscles that were still tense. There were none. Her touch had worked magic over my body. "Kat?" I asked quietly.

"Yes?"

I turned carefully so that I could face her. She leaned back against the metal post and crossed her arms over her chest, her dark hair falling in her eyes. "Do you love him?"

Pain stabbed at her chest. I could see it flood her eyes, seeking release. She swallowed hard and nodded, her gaze steady on mine. "Yes, Leo, I do."

"And do you want me to tell him that, too?"

She looked away. "No," she whispered. "If he doesn't know that by the time this is over, he doesn't need to know."

MICHAELANGELO:

The village was swarming with dark figures. "There's no way in hell we're gonna get out of here," I mumbled. I didn't like being negative, but at the moment, there wasn't much else to say. "And we're sitting ducks up here."

Kat slid the tiles aside and I backed away from the vent where I'd been watching the commotion outside. "We're gonna take on the entire foot clan?" I challenged.

Leo turned and shot me a glare. "You got a better idea, Mikey?" he questioned.

I stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "Alrighty then, let's go," I gave in.

Getting down from the ceiling was actually harder than getting up. We had to balance on top of the fence, with nothing to hold on to, while we knelt down to grab it. Then we could climb the rest of the way to the floor.

Kat led the way out of the brightly lit room and into the dark hallways. "There's only one entrance," she whispered. "And there'll be at least four guards there."

"Four, we can handle," Donny assured.

"Quietly," she added. "We don't want to attract attention if we can avoid it."

When we got to the door, Leo stepped forward and held his hand out to stop us. We backed up, knowing his plan without having to hear a word.

I gripped my weapons tightly and waited in the shadows as Leo turned the doorknob and cracked the door open. It squeaked quietly and he jumped back into the safety of the darkness. I heard talking, but couldn't make out what they were saying. Then the door opened and closed again. A dark figure holding a flashlight stepped into the room. Without warning, Kat sprang, dragging him backward with a hand over his mouth and a knife to his throat. She stopped next to me and I grabbed the flashlight out of his hand. "Don't. Make. A sound," she whispered menacingly.

I heard more conversation outside. The door opened again. "Adam?"

The figure in the doorway backed away. When he returned, there were four others with him. They stepped into the darkness, waving flashlights. We avoided the beams with practiced accuracy. They walked into the shadows, and didn't seem to notice the door that was slowly closing behind them. "Hey!"

One of them realized it. Taking the invisible cue, I sprang from the darkness. Quickly and near silently, they all fell. Kat let go of the man she was holding, allowing him to attack, and us to knock him out. She was already at the door by the time we were through. She pressed her back to the wall and looked out through the thin crack. We all listened hard. There was no sound outside the door. We were in the clear.

"There's a ten foot electrified razor fence around the camp, except for the opening at the end of the street," Kat informed us.

"Geez, you gotta be kidding me!" I mumbled. There was no way we would make it all the way down the street without being seen. Stop it, Mike. Just stop thinking like that. There is a way out of this.

"This place was built with containment in mind," Kat sighed. "It's getting you here that's been hard. Keeping you is easy."

"We can't run that far," Leo observed, looking down the street. It was at least a hundred and fifty yards away. "We'd never make it."

"No," she agreed. "We wouldn't. But all these... dorms are connected. We could move from building to building if we can get to them."

I looked at the living quarters lining the street. "Hey Kat?" Donatello asked.

"Yeah?"

"Just how many people live in those buildings?"

"Probably, uh, I don't know, two thousand?"

"Damn!" I mumbled.

"But there are more than two thousand foot soldiers altogether," Kat continued. "Many of them choose not to live here. These are mostly runaways. And people with family ties."

"These buildings run all the way to the entrance?" Leo questioned.

"No," Kat answered quietly. "But it's a start."

"Okay, I'm not real sure I want to know but..." I stared at her. "What's between the apartments and the entrance?"

She glanced at me. "My father's house is on the right. His second-in-command, Satsugai, is on the left. I recommend avoiding my father."

"I second that," I agreed.

"So we go to the left," Leo mumbled. "Question is..." He stared out at the hundred feet between us and the building. "How the hell do we get there?"

Kat looked back at the fallen soldiers. "I have an idea," she mumbled.

DONATELLO:

"Are you sure about this?"

"Do it, Leo," she mumbled. "It's too hard to hide."

The katana sliced easily through her hair, cropping it short. I cringed. She wasn't satisfied. He cut a few more times, closer to her skull, and finally, she slipped the mask over her face.

"If we get split up," she mumbled, "at any time through this, there's a little graveyard just outside of the compound, in the trees a little ways. You wouldn't even see it except there's a statue there. That's where we'll meet."

She tied the red bandana with her father's symbol around her forehead and turned to us. Her breasts bound tightly with a strip of fabric, she had almost managed to flatten her chest. As long as she didn't allow anyone to look at her too closely, she would be fine.

"Anyone not there by sunrise, we assume they're dead, we move on. Nobody comes back in here once they're out."

We all knew she was speaking about herself. It wasn't likely that the three of us would get split up like that, but she was walking away from the group. "We all clear?" she asked.

I nodded slowly and she turned to Leo. "I want your word," she demanded. "Promise me you won't come back here for me."

He looked away. "Kat..."

She raised her hands to the sides of his face. "Give me your word," she demanded, turning his face to hers. "On your honor. You will not come back here for me."

He hesitated and breathed deep. His eyes closed slowly, and I wondered if she realized what she was asking him to do. "You have my word," he breathed.

God, I prayed it didn't come to that.

"I want you guys to stay away from the door," Kat directed, backing away from Leo. "Because I'm going to attract attention to this place, so that they'll come in here and see them," she motioned to the fallen foot soldiers, "and think you're already gone."

"Kind of like staying one step behind the enemy, isn't it?" I smiled.

She nodded. "Exactly like it. And when you get into the buildings, move along the top floor. I'll distract their attention to the bottom."

She slipped a handful of small weapons into her belt, and picked up the sai she'd had on her black jeans. She pulled the cell phone off of her jeans and handed it to Leo. He took it slowly, his eyes fixed on her covered face. "Take this," she urged. "You can use it to call April. It's a long drive from the city, so you might want to call her now. Here's directions."

She pulled a folded piece of paper out of the pocket of her jeans and pressed it into his hand. "She could take a plane, but then I don't know how you'd get back. You probably don't want to stick around too long, and I don't know of any car rental places that are going to be open at this hour."

She spun around and started to the door, but Leo stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. She hung her head, her back still toward him, and breathed deep. "Chui suru," he advised. (AN: "be careful")

She nodded slightly. "Hai," she promised. "Shitte imasu." (AN: "I know")

She didn't move, and his hand dropped. "And Kat?" Mike called after her as her hand rested on the door. She paused, but didn't turn around. "Thanks."

She never looked back.

SHREDDER:

For four hours, they had searched. I was beginning to wonder if we were looking for something that was no longer here. Madonna stood at the window, gripping a glass filled with wine. "What are you looking for?" I demanded.

She hung her head. "Nothing, Master."

"Hoping he'll come rescue you?" I shot at her.

"Not at all, Master," she protested.

She lied. I could see it written in her downcast eyes. The thought struck me. I remembered the way he had glared at me when I touched her in his presence. I'd been determining how deep his feelings for her went, and I had done it successfully. But I hadn't really considered the thought of him returning for her until it had escaped my lips. She was being truthful; she did not want him to come back. Because to do that would be certain death.

Suddenly, a cry from somewhere inside the camp interrupted my thoughts. I hurried to the window. Smoke poured from one of the windows in the living quarters. Sounds of a battle echoed on the night air. I spun to Satsugai. "Go and see what is happening," I ordered. He bowed and hurried from the room.

KIARA:

They let me in, unsuspecting. And I allowed them to live for long enough to attract some attention. The room quickly flooded with soldiers, and I dispensed a few of them before retrieving a few tiny pellets from my belt. They hit the ground and exploded into a cloud of smoke. And I was gone, into the ventilation system, before they realized that I was making an escape. I closed the vent behind me, so as not to betray my escape method. I knew I could only use it for a short time. But that would be all I needed.

LEONARDO:

"Nice," Mike mumbled, watching every living soul flock to the end of the building on the right.

"Come on," I directed. "Stay along the wall."

We slipped out the door and stayed as deep in the shadows as we could. We reached the end of the left building without being seen. I could see the fence, a few meters behind the building. "I wonder if we could go behind it," I mumbled.

The three of us exchanged glances and edged toward the back of the building. Several fences ran across the passage. Six feet, and razor wire. "Smart," Donny mumbled. "He didn't want the building so close to the fence that we could jump out the window and get over it. But he blocked off the space between with more electrified wire."

I sighed and pressed against the brick wall. "I guess we go in," Mike assumed.

"Yeah," I agreed. "And as quickly as possible."

There was a window on the back of the building. The room behind it was empty. Donny inspected it carefully before prying it open. It wasn't even locked. Genius.

We slipped into the room and headed for the only door. Opening it slowly, we found that it opened directly into a hallway that ran all the way down the building. "We're not gonna try to run that, are we?" Mike mumbled.

"If we're seen, they could have plenty of time to call for help."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We go room to room. One at a time."

SATSUGAI:

It did not take long for me to reach the room. The crowd of dark figures parted as I approached. Four foot soldiers lay on the floor, bleeding. I heard a battle cry from another room, and spun. They were still here. They had not yet escaped. "Increase the security at the gate," I ordered harshly. "If they are here, they will not escape."

Soldiers hurried to those who were unaware, to warn them as the silent enemy slipped in and out of the rooms. I considered the pattern, and my eyes fell to the ventilation system at the ceiling.

KIARA:

I hit four rooms before I knew I couldn't use the vents anymore. Sure enough, they began to flood with tear gas. They were trying to flush me out. It didn't matter. I stepped up onto the windowsill, on the second floor, and grabbed hold of the drain pipe and climbed easily to the next floor. I entered a room with two soldiers, and decided to implement stage two of my plan. "Did they come through here?" I demanded, disguising my voice.

"Did who?"

"The freaks!" I yelled, turning away. I didn't want them to look at me for too long. "For Christ's sake, are you deaf up here? They're in this building!"

"Are you sure?" one of the boys asked. I guessed he was sixteen.

"I've seen them!" I shot. "I was following them. I thought they came in here."

It got the rumors going, and they spread like wildfire.

SHREDDER:

"Are you sure?"

"They have been sighted by multiple members of the foot," Satsugai affirmed.

"Where?"

He was pleased at being able to report some measure of success. I could see his pleasure, though he tried to hide it. "They are inside of building one," he told me. "Moving toward the gate."

"I want more soldiers stationed there, to block their escape."

He nodded. "Yes, Master. I have already sent them."

I afforded another glance at Madonna, who was staring out the window with her face hidden by her hair. Would the freak come for her? I had a feeling he would. And that being the case, I did not want to leave. "How are they moving through the building?" I demanded.

"They first moved through the ventilation. But now we are not sure how they are moving."

I turned and stared at him. Was he serious? He was. I breathed deep, to control my anger. "Satsugai, did it ever occur to you that they would not fit in the ventilation system?" I questioned calmly.

A shocked look crossed his face. No, he had not thought of that. Damn his stupidity! "It is Kiara," I growled. "Bring her to me! And find them!"

DONATELLO:

We were seen twice. Both times, we managed to eliminate the threat before he could alert anyone else. It was surprisingly easy. "Boy, Kat sure has done a good job keeping their attention away from us," Mike mumbled as we reached the end of the hall. I kicked the door in to one of the rooms and we slipped inside. Luckily, it was empty.

"Yeah," I mumbled. "And on herself."

I walked to the window and watched the commotion outside. Not everyone was inside the building, but I figured that was probably because everyone wouldn't fit. I wondered how she intended to get out of there.

She doesn't.

The thought hit hard and I closed my eyes. It was a sacrifice. Literally, a suicide. For our sakes. I watched the building. She was in there somewhere. Maybe fighting. Maybe running. Definitely dying. I wanted to help her, but I knew I was helpless.

KIARA:

I sprinted down the hallway, mingling with the crowd. So much confusion, and no plan. They ran blindly after invisible opponents. I hid my laugher. It would be so easy to slip out of here.

The paranoia spread as quickly as the rumors of their presence. They were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I'd be out of here before they knew what had happened. Easy. Happily ever after. I ducked into one of the rooms and looked down on the street. I wondered if they were out yet. They'd have to sprint to the gate. And I had to be right behind them if I wanted to get out. That was going to be the hardest part. I looked down on the dirt road.

Come on guys, I prayed silently. I knew they hadn't gotten out yet. If they had, they would've surely been seen. And all of this madness would move outside. I could see it now- my father would be furious. How could an entire camp full of "trained" ninjas allow three freaks to escape. Oh yeah, and one woman. Ha! Well, there you go, jackass. Seems this woman has outdone you.

Suddenly, the door behind me flew open. I spun, startled. Satsugai stood in the door. I bowed instinctively, grateful that the action gave me a moment to figure out what I was going to say to him. I hadn't expected anyone to come in here. "Master Satsugai," I greeted, trying again to disguise my voice. This time was harder, because I was nervous. I hadn't been prepared for this.

He eyed me carefully and I tensed. I knew immediately that there was going to be a fight. I blended with the other black figures, and could hide my identity among those who were unsuspecting. But I sensed, without proof, that he knew exactly what he was looking for. And he would see it if he looked hard enough. My muscles tensed as I prepared, mentally and physically.

LEONARDO:

"We have to sprint that," Donatello observed. "There's really nowhere to hide."

"Think we'd make it?" Mike questioned, staring out the window. It was about a fifty feet to the entrance, where twelve foot soldiers stood. We'd be out in the open, between Shredder's house and Satsugai's. That was incredibly dangerous. But we had no choice.

"We made it this far," Donny reminded us.

I glanced across the street at the large house that loomed next to the dorms. Shredder was in there, somewhere. I hated running from him. The thought made my blood boil. I was more than ready to have it out with him. But this was not the time or place. I was still weak and sore. I was up to an escape, but I knew I wasn't feeling my best. I wasn't sure I could handle a confrontation with my mortal enemy. And certainly not on his turf.

My eyes ran over the building, and came to rest on one of the windows on the upper floor. A woman with blond hair and a white gown covering her sat staring down at the street. My heart broke instantly. The fact that she'd walked away from me, that she was the wife of my enemy, that she had done nothing to help us... none of that mattered when I saw her there. The only thing that I could recall was the way she'd laid in my arms. How she'd kissed me, and laughed as I struggled with new emotions that I didn't know how to express. Her sparkling eyes and gorgeous smile.

Tears stung my eyes. I saw her laughing and shrieking as I held her down and tickled her. The look in her eyes, the taste, the smell, the feel of her. We'd clung to each other when life got stressful. She could always make it better. One touch. One kiss. She could heal me.

"Leo?"

I realized the tears had overflowed and hid my face from my brothers, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. Why? Damn it, why! I'd never loved anyone before. Why did she have to be the one person I was so damn in love with? The one person I could never have.

Donatello's eyes shifted to the window where Madonna sat, lost in another world. "Do you want to try it?" he asked, his voice calm and serious.

I knew what he was talking about without hearing him explain. I shook my head and turned away. "She made her choice," I whispered. Besides, that was suicide. We couldn't just walk into Shredder's house and take her away. There was no way in hell we'd get away with that. I knew better than to try.

I glanced back up. She moved her hair out of her face and rested her head on the window frame. Why?

I couldn't think about it. I had to just go. To run and not look back.

KIARA:

I ducked and leaped at the same time as something no larger than the size of a marble cut through the air. It clicked once on the floor before exploding in a blast of heat and light. The sais I'd reached for were torn from my hands as the room shuddered. A table that had been standing in the room was little more than splinters.

Still reeling from the concussion of the explosion, I felt Satsugai approach. Without thinking, I pushed off the floor with every ounce of strength in my arms and shoulders. Twisting in mid-air, I went for his wrist, the only thing I could get to in such limited time. He jerked back, and I had a split second to get to my feet. I struck at his spleen, but was unable to connect.

I ignored the serpent-strike to my clavicle, biting back the pain, and he forced me into a four-hands-lock. I broke free and sprang back. I was reaching the extreme end of my time limit. He was going to attract attention that I could not deal with. I tossed a handful of caltrops and a significant dose of smokescreen to the floor as I sprinted toward the window.

I never made it that far. Pain stopped me. I fell, suddenly oblivious to the world around me.

DONATELLO:

We ran. We attracted plenty of attention, but no one could come close to catching us. The biggest problem was the soldiers at the gate. They would slow us down. Hopefully not too much. They braced as we approached. Just make a path through them and get the hell out.

I spun and hit one of the soldiers as we met each other. Weapons clashed and in final burst of energy, the three of us darted out of the compound. We ran deep into the woods, knowing full well that we were being followed. But darkness was on our side, and there was no way they would catch us. We were out of danger. Now all we could do was pray that Kat would join us.