Excursion

Present

Raphael restrained himself from shouting at the empty living room. Sure, he had taken maybe fifteen seconds instead of one - but was it really too much to ask for?

Apparently, for Karai and Leo, it was.

Raphael didn't know what Karai had in mind, but he was rather pessimistic. She would put Leo in danger - not because she wanted to harm him, but rather because it was her definition of having fun.

With a frustrated groan, he jumped the turnstiles at the entrance of the lair. Hopefully it wasn't too late to catch up with them.

He wasn't even ten feet in the sewers when he realized that he had neglected a crucial point. Where was he supposed to go? Neither Leo nor Karai were in sight, which wasn't surprising as they were both experts in stealth.

It still got on his nerves.

Raphael tried to remember what Karai had said. She needed Leo's help for an emergency of some kind… She had also talked about an armory. Where were the Foot headquarters these days? Had Karai returned to Shredder's former lair?

The turtle shivered at that thought. If Karai brought Leo to that place, she wouldn't be able to hide Shredder's absence from him. Leo was going to be suspicious, and what would she tell him?

Hopefully not the truth. Raphael tried to convince himself that Karai wasn't that stupid.

Unluckily, he had no better idea. With a deep cleansing breath - they just wait until he got hold of them - he decided to start there.

When he arrived at the wretched building that Shredder had chosen for himself and his army, Raphael observed with the greatest relief that it was deserted. No Foot, no armory, no Karai and definitely no Leo.

Raphael was back to the beginning.

He decided to look at the problem from another angle. Why did Karay need help?

Maybe the friends he had made in the mutant community could help him answer this question.

Leo was following Karai, not believing his luck. He didn't know how and he didn't know why, but he had the opportunity to go on a mission with the kunoichi that he… really liked.

It was a comforting thought to know that in the future, she was going to turn away from her father, Shredder, to join them. He was eager to see it happen in his present.

In the meantime, he intended to make the most of this outing.

Karai turned to smile at him. "We're almost there."

He nodded and grinned at his partner-in-crime.

One minute later, she stopped in front of a shop that didn't look much. She pushed the door and entered it.

Leo only hesitated for a second before following her. It would have made a perfect trap, but Raphael had told him that she was her ally, and he trusted his brother.

To Leo's amazement, the backroom was filled to the brim with weapons of all kinds, including katana. He took one on a shelf and watched it closely before whistling his appreciation. It was beautiful craftsmanship.

Karai watched him with a very self-satisfied expression. "Go on, choose what you want."

Leo grimaced and put the katana back on its shelf. "I can't. I'm not a thief."

Karai crossed her arms behind her head as she leaned against the wall. "Who says it's stealing? Everything you see there is mine."

Leo gaped. "Seriously?"

Karai nodded. "I had an inheritance. From a… distant relative."

Leo nibbled his lip. "In that case…"

Having made his decision, he took the katana he had just examined along with its twin, and tied both to his back.

"And now, are you going to tell me where we're going?"

Karai didn't answer immediately. Leo followed her out of the shop and on the rooftops.

"I have to retrieve an artefact. Shini…" Karai noticed Leo's curious glance and shrugged. "She's a friend. She should have come with me, but she had to go to Japan in emergency."

"Retrieve an artefact?" Leo stopped dead in his tracks and crossed his arms. "Now that's stealing."

Karai shook her head. "This artefact is mine by right. It was stolen from the Foot decades ago, and I've managed to track it down. Tonight, it's in New York City for a special conference on Japanese armors. It's a unique opportunity." She pointed at a skyscraper a few blocks away from them.

Leo tried to guess whether she was telling the truth, but Karai's expression was blank.

"Why do you want to get it back? To challenge Shredder? Karai, it's way too dangerous! What are you going to do if he realizes what you've done?"

He didn't understand the half-amused and half-sad look Karai gave him.

"Don't worry about Shredder." She shrugged. "If you're afraid to come with me, you can still keep watch."

Her tone was so disappointed that Leo couldn't help feeling ashamed. Nevertheless, he had a few reservations about this particular mission, as well as a whole lot of questions.

Karai didn't give him time to ask them.

"Maybe Raphael was right. Maybe I shouldn't have taken you with me, you're too young. Your future self would have understood. We've done so many things together…"

She glanced at Leo, waiting for his reaction.

It didn't take long. Leo had no idea about what he and Karai had done - or would do? The situation was beginning to give him a headache - together, but he wasn't going to ditch her. It was a matter of honor. It would always be time to prevent her from doing something stupid later.

Maybe Leo would have been more suspicious if he had known that his adventures with Karai involved blowing up chemical factories and feeding bonfires with bills, but in his blissful ignorance, he nodded with determination.

"Let's go."

Past

In the center of the familial dojo, four turtles were standing in front of a giant rat. Three of these turtles glanced regularly at the fourth, who was pretending not to notice.

Master Splinter had decided to go on with his usual schedule, and therefore his four sons were going to train together.

Leonardo couldn't help feeling tense. He wanted his father to be proud of the ninja he had become, so much that it was almost painful. At the same time, demonstrating his talents was going to involve bring his brothers down in no time, which wouldn't be a very interesting training for them - not to mention the egos he would bruise in the process.

Especially Raph's, in fact.

Splinter gave the signal for the beginning of their warm-up. It was a series of postures to do to the rhythm of their choosing. Leonardo closed his eyes, focusing on the slow rhythm he liked best. He could feel his father's attentive gaze upon him.

He had missed it.

He opened his eyes to Raph's mocking attitude.

"Always the slow one, I see."

Leonardo narrowed his eyes and felt his resolution not to bruise any egos melt like snow under the sun.

As it happened, Splinter was announcing the next exercise. "You'll fight one-to-one. Donatello and Michelangelo first, then Leonardo and Raphael. Take your weapons."

"Hai, Sensei," the four turtles chorused.

As he went to the place where his old katana were waiting to be picked, Leonardo felt a twinge in his heart. He took them and weighted them up, playing with the edge of the swords. They felt so familiar, and still they belonged to a bygone era of his life.

He tried to pay attention to the fight between Mikey and Donnie - Mikey won after an honorable resistance from Donnie - but he was more focused on his future fight with Raph. At that time in his life, his brother had never lost against him. Leonardo would have to take it slow.

Of course, he could always let Raph win. But it wouldn't be honorable - and if Leonardo was entirely honest, it wouldn't be satisfying either.

Raph was already standing up and smirking, certain that he was going to win. Leonardo almost rolled his eyes. Raph really could have been more suspicious. After all, he had no way of knowing Leonardo's current level of skill. Loosing must really be unconceivable for him.

Leonardo stood up and bowed to his opponent, who bowed back.

"Hajime!" Splinter shouted.

And the fight began.

Raph was always 100% invested in his fights, Leonardo had to give him that. His brother was as focused as he was. However, Leonardo had more years of training and real-fight experience, and it became quickly obvious that the fight was unbalanced, even when Leonardo wasn't as offensive as he could have been.

Even Raph realized it. Leonardo saw the incredulity on his face, and decided to end the fight before it could become anger. He adroitly tripped his brother at the same time he was tilting his weapons to make Raph let go of his sai. As a result, Raph fell to the ground.

Leonardo bowed in front of his father, keeping a vigilant eye for the defeated turtle. He knew all too well how good Raph could impersonate a tank.

"Yame! Excellent work, Leonardo." Splinter nodded. "As you can see," he added for his other sons' benefit, "experience is an invaluable asset in a fight."

In his corner of the dojo, Raph was picking himself up, murder in his eyes. Leonardo was preparing himself to avoid his charge when a piercing sound interrupted the red-masked turtle's vengeful trance.

The sound was coming from Donnie's laboratory. Donnie hurried out of the dojo after an apologizing glance at Splinter and came back a few seconds later with the Kraang communication orb.

"I've received a signal!" Donnie was beaming. " The Kraang are gathering around a factory, we have to check what they're doing!"

Leonardo frowned and searched his memory for this particular mission. He found nothing.

Mikey swirled his nunchaku with a grin. "The factory that is the factory that Kraang wants must be protected by the turtles that are the turtles that Kraang wants too," he said with a mechanical voice mimicking the aliens' one.

Raph didn't say anything and picked his sai with a closed expression.

Leonardo stifled a sigh of relief. This emergency came along at just the right time. It was undoubtedly best that his brother take his frustration out on robots.

Leonardo almost pitied said robots.

"Be careful, my sons." Splinter sighed discreetly.

Leonardo's brothers, including Raph, turned towards him. Leonardo realized that they were going to follow him without a second thought, even if he wasn't technically their Leo. It was strangely comforting.

On the other hand, he couldn't help worrying. He remembered all too well what their missions looked like at the time - Mikey triggering every alarm in his path, Raph ploughing into everything that moved, Donnie getting distracted by shiny alien gadgets… and he, Leonardo, who was more or less coordinating them.

When he wasn't falling for Karai, that was.

Come on, you were managing it four years ago, he chided himself. Of course you can still do it.