June 8, 2012

Karai snuck back into the Foot Headquarters through the broken window at the front of the church instead of the secret tunnels that ran beneath the building. She slunk through the hallways, only breathing when she reached her door. All she wanted to do was get cleaned up and go to bed. Closing her door, she flicked the light switch. Nothing happened. Karai frowned, toggling it again. Still, the overhead light wouldn't turn on.

"Welcome back, Karai."

As the bedside lamp blazed to life, the girl froze. Sitting within the confines of her room were Rahzar, Fishface, and the Shredder reclining in her desk chair.

"F-father!" She stammered. Her father never came into her room. What was going on?

"Did you have a nice little trip this evening?"

"I-I don't know-"

"I know you met with April O'Neil."

Karai's blood ran cold. How could her father know that? She had been so careful sneaking out and dressing in disguise… Her racing thoughts ceased as she caught the smirk on Rahzar's face.

"Bradford." She hissed. The word was barely out of her mouth before pain blossomed across her cheek and she was knocked to the floor. The shock of Shredder striking kept her on the ground where she'd fallen.

"First it was letting Splinter's turtle pupils escape multiple times, and now it is not retrieving the Kraang's asset when given the opportunity." Shredder towered menacingly over his daughter. "You have failed me for the last time, daughter."

"NO, Father," Karai spat. "You've failed me! Your hatred for Splinter has poisoned everything you touch - even us! Your soldiers have shown more compassion for your own flesh and blood than you ever have. And what if you're wrong about Splinter? What if he didn't kill Moth-" The rest of her thought trailed off as Shredder lifted Karai into the air by her throat. She could tell he was seething under his mask.

"Hamato Yoshi," He ground out. "Murdered your mother, Tang Shen. Make no mistake about that. And… if you are ungrateful for all I have done for you, daughter… perhaps a grounding is in order." Shredder threw Karai onto her bed, her back smacking against the wall. "Bradford will make certain you remain here to… reflect on all of what you have been blessed with."

Rahzar and Fishface, having been standing awkwardly in the corner until now, rushed to follow their master out of the door.

"Let's see your protector get you out of this one, Tiger Cub." Rahzar's gravelly voice cackled as he shut and locked the door from the outside.

Karai didn't hear him leave over the sound of her sorrow.

xXx

Once Donnie had returned from walking April to work, the guys settled into their usual afternoon routine.

Donnie sat on the portion of the giant sofa closest to the turnstiles browsing the internet. As of late, he had been scrolling through various university programs he would attend if it weren't for his… whole situation. Would he study molecular biology? Particle physics?

April once asked him why he didn't enroll in an online course if he wanted into the programs so badly. The boy had explained that while he loved the knowledge side of education, he craved the social aspect of it too; the thrill of discovering something alongside his fellow scientists in real time.

Donnie enjoyed his current lot in life. It didn't hurt to have dreams, though.

Mikey laid in front of the TV in the pit with Leo watching an episode of Space Heroes. It wasn't the orange turtle's favorite, but he still enjoyed hanging out with his oldest brother. If it meant watching an outdated cartoon that made his brother smile, then so be it.

Mikey glanced out of the corner of his eye to see the gleam in Leo's eye as he softly quoted the script along with Captain Ryan. Since his brother looked up to the fictional hero so much, it might be a cool gift inspiration for Christmas.

If I get started now, I could probably whip up a fairly large canvas of Leo as Captain Ryan… Mikey thought with a grin.

Leo was aware of all of his brothers sitting around him, but was most grateful for Mikey actively watching his favorite show with him. He appreciated at least one brother who didn't rag on him for his interest in the space epic. Leo knew that it wasn't exactly up Mikey's alley, but it meant so much to have someone just sit and veg with him.

True, Space Heroes was a show from his childhood that he had never grown out of, but he had genuinely learned a lot from the program about being a leader. There were times when he was younger that Leo and Splinter would stay up long past the others to discuss those leadership principles in the show and how to apply them to everyday life. Those conversations were some of Leo's most cherished memories with his father.

Raph tried his best to tune out the drabble of Space Heroes while feeding lettuce to his new pet turtle he'd dubbed Spike. The red-clad turtle had found the small creature lying in a puddle of filth one night two months ago when he'd been running laps around the sewers. Donnie's best guess was that it had been flushed down a drain by its previous owners. Raph declared the box turtle under his protection from that day on.

Everyone was absorbed in their own world when April came crashing through the turnstiles in a huff.

"LEONARDO!" She shouted, grabbing an old magazine next to a startled Donnie and rolling it up. "Care to tell me why your GIRLFRIEND just told me to go underground because the Shredder AND the Kraang are after me?" The girl proceeded to whack her brother with the rolled up paper.

"ACK!" Leo tried his best to fend off the magazine, but the kunoichi was relentless. "What're you talking about, woman?" He finally grabbed hold of the magazine and yanked it from her grasp.

April huffed, hands on her hips. "I'm talking about Karai! I ran into her at the thrift store before my shift and we got to talking. I invited her to the shop for lunch - I didn't know who she was at the time - but it came out that she was YOUR Karai and that she KNEW MY BIRTH NAME!" She thrust her finger in Leo's startled face.

"Wait, she knows that you're an O'Neil?" Donnie leapt from his seat to place a comforting hand on April's shoulder. "How is that possible?"

"Apparently," April wrapped her arms around herself. "Shredder and the Kraang are working together to find me. Remember when I escaped their compound? I overheard them needing me for some big plan to change the Earth. Guess they got impatient and outsourced finding me. They're making Shredder a mutant army!"

Donnie guided the distraught girl to the couch, pulling her into his chest. "It's gonna be okay, April." He looked up to Mikey. "Would you go make her some-"

"Cup of mint tea, coming up!" Mikey sauntered into the kitchen.

Raph sighed, feeding another leaf of lettuce to Spike. That's when he noticed that there was someone missing -Leo. He followed the sound of Leo's voice to the subway tunnels just outside the turnstiles. Raph frowned. Who would Leo be on the phone with this late?

"He what? Kar-Karai! You're talking too fast I can't-" Leo sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I can get away for a bit. Where do you want to meet? Yeah. I know where that is. I'll see you soon." Leo hung up. He turned to face his brother, knowing he was there all along. "I gotta go, Raph."

"And what? Comfort your girlfriend who attacked our sister?"

"April never said Karai attacked her. She told her to stay safe!"

"This whole thing is probably a trap!" Raph growled.

Leo ran a hand over his eyes. He was tired. "Regardless, I'm going." He gave his brother a hard look. "I know that you're going to go tell Dad where I'm going," Leo stopped the turtle's protest by placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't blame you. I would do the same thing. I gotta go get something out of the kitchen before heading out, but all I ask is that you give me thirty minutes before telling him where I went. Let him know I'll come back with whatever information I can share."

Raph shook his head. "She's playing ya, man."

Leo shrugged. "I trust her. The question is… do you trust me?

Raph grimaced, groaning before shoving his brother towards the kitchen. "30 minutes and COUNTING before I go tell Pop."