KATARINA:

"Okay, they're going to have about forty seconds coming back to do the kicker and a quick weather hit, so Dave's gonna have to keep it tight. We're out at 58:56, right Ken?"

I waited a moment, until I heard the voice come back over the headset. "That's affirmative," he answered. "Back in fifteen."

"Standby in the studio," I ordered. "Ready to fade up on ME2, camera 2, ready to mic and cue Tess. Kicker is in VTR 10?" There were color bars on the monitor for VTR 10.

"Ten, nine..."

I waited for the reply. I couldn't wait too much longer. "Robin?" I asked the tape operator.

"It's coming," she answered. "It wasn't cued up."

"Let me know if you don't have it," I prodded.

"Three, two, one..."

"Fade up, mic, cue Tess," I directed quickly.

"Finally from us," she began from out in the studio. "They're perhaps an unusual couple..."

"Talk to me Robin..." I pleaded.

"Got it!"

"But if opposites attract..." Tess continued, "they're the perfect pair!"

I breathed a sigh of relief at the close call. "Roll VT10, ta-" I glanced up at the monitor and bolted out of my seat, the word catching. "Don't take that!"

The technical director's fingers touched down on the switcher panel and I vaulted over the leaf of the table between us, over his lap, knocking him back as I hit any button but the one he was trying to press. "What the...?" Robin's voice came over the headset.

I'd hit a camera button. It took me a minute to figure out which one. "Three!" I cried. "Three! Get her to camera three!"

Tess turned. The TD stared at me with a shocked, confused look on his face. His eyes drifted to the monitor and his jaw dropped. The producer looked up and screamed. Damn it! "Everyting okay in there?" one of the camera ops asked.

I glanced to the clock. Fifteen seconds. We could fill that. "Hard wrap!" I cried.

Thank god Tess understood that signal. She finished speaking in about ten words and the people in the audience were none-the-wiser. I got off of Jeremy's lap, handing him control of the switcher. "Go to tower cam," I ordered. "Out in ten, roll when we're out."

That wasn't a proper command, but I figured the master control operator would know what I meant. I looked up at the monitor, cringed at the X-rated video of me and a giant turtle, and wanted to crawl under the table and die. "Robin, please stop that tape!" I begged. Tess appeared in the doorway before it was shut off and followed everyone's line of vision until she saw what they did. She gasped.

My chair was toppled over behind me. I wished it wasn't, because I felt a lot like I was going to pass out right now. I hid my face in my hands and slid down the wall, wishing the floor would swallow me whole. I dared a quick glance up and saw it still rolling. Anger welled up inside of me. "Stop the goddamn tape!" I yelled.

The tape stopped. It was a little late for that now, with the entire morning crew staring at the now-blank monitors. I hid my face in my hands, and wished I could die right there.

LEONARDO:

He stepped back quickly and braced in some variation of jizuri gedan no kame, his arms crossed slightly, the blade of the sword parallel with the floor and facing me, coming out diagonally from his waist. He was in a cat stance, braced on his right leg. I watched his eyes carefully. His frustration was my advantage point, and it was building steadily. He was impatient for contact.

I raised my weapon up, over my head and instantly brought it back down, my feet sliding forward. The bladed katanas clashed loudly and the force of the blow shook his arms. Big mistake. He spun away to regain his stance and recover, but I was already on him. I brought my tip of my weapon to his throat, less than a centimeter away, and held it. He froze and dropped his sword to the blue mat and I lowered mine.

"The sword is for cutting, Raphael," I reminded him. "Not for blocking."

He shot me a sarcastic look. "Thank you, sensei, I guess I just forgot."

I grinned. "You didn't forget. You took the risk, because you're being impatient." I knelt and swept his sword up, handing him the hilt. "Try again?"

I saw Katarina enter the dojo. Her head lowered and she glared at Raphael. In less than a second, she was on top of him. He barely had time to turn. I barely had time to duck out of the way with the two swords.

She tackled him and he fell onto his back, gripping her shoulders the same way she was holding his. He pushed up on her, rolling her onto her back, but she used the momentum and they spent a moment wrestling for control on the floor. I grinned slightly. He was a lot stronger than her, and we all knew it. But he was also probably enjoying the rough housing immensely.

Finally, he gave in and let her pin him down. "Hi, baby," he smiled up at her. "Nice to see you too."

"I'm going to kill you, you know that?" she threatened. Her voice held a definate edge to it, but she wasn't serious enough for me to get involved.

"Mmm," he acknowledged. "Don't I get a trial or something?"

"There was a tape," she shot. "And, as if that isn't bad enough in and of itself, they rolled it during the newscast!"

Raphael's eyes widened as big as saucers. "Holy shit!"

I tensed. "A tape of what?" I questioned, uneasy about the reaction from my brother.

Kat climbed off him, glanced up at me and smiled wickedly, then looked back down at Raph. He didn't get up for a moment. "Go ahead and tell him, Raph," she prodded. "Or better yet, maybe we could get him a copy! My boss saw it, why not your brother?"

Finally, he sat up. He was blushing. My eyes widened slightly. It had been a long time since I'd seen Raphael blush. "Your boss and who else?" he questioned. "And don't tell me it went on the air. If it did, I don't think I want to know."

"No, it didn't make it to air," she shot at him. "It just rolled and caught the attention of the control booth, tape, master, half the newsroom... my boss..."

He swallowed hard. She pulled herself up to her feet and offered him a hand. He just stared for a moment, then took it, pulling himself up. "What did he say?" he finally managed. I was beginning to think I didn't want to know what was on this tape.

"You'd better thank god I've got a cool boss," she smirked at him. "And that none of the higher ups were in yet when it happened. I'm on probation. He's not going to be able to let it slide next time."

"Let what slide?" I tried again.

They chose to ignore me. She shoved him hard, hitting his shoulder. "I could fucking kill you, Raphael, you know that?" she yelled, half-laughing. "Do you have any idea how humiliating...?"

She hit him again and he grabbed her wrist. They struggled for another moment until he pinned her against the wall. "Yeah, okay, I get the idea," he informed.

She glared at him. "Sometimes I really wonder why I love you."

He laughed quietly. "Mmm. Maybe because it was worth it?"

She struggled to push him back, unsuccessfully. "It was so not worth it!" she defended, a smile creeping across her face.

He leaned in close to her and I turned away as they kissed, returning the weapons to the rack. His whisper just barely reached my ears as he nuzzled his face in her hair. "Liar."