"Dad, I'll be fine! I promise!"

April O'Neil smiled at her father as she hugged him goodbye. "I'm just visiting the guys; I'll be perfectly safe."

"I'm just worried after what happened with those Kraang aliens, April, sweetie." He stroked her head. "Are you sure they're defeated? They came back last time."

"They're gone, Dad," she assured him. "The guys beat them for good this time, we're sure of it."

He sighed. "Okay, I trust you, dear. Just... be safe."

"Of course." April embraced him again before snatching her jacket and dashing out of the door.

She hadn't been allowed down to the lair in ages because of her father's paranoia and PTSD, and she was missing her friends deeply, especially considering the months she'd spent living with them during the invasion. Being separated from them felt bizarre, but it had taken this long to convince her father that it was safe to leave the house without him.

The teenager wove her way through the crowds on the street, until she felt it was safe to climb down into the sewers. Taking care not to step in the sewerage surrounding her, April made her way through the dark tunnels she knew so well. It didn't take her long to find the entrance to the familiar lair, and happiness flooded her.

"Hey, guys!" she greeted merrily, waving.

"April!" cheered Mikey, dashing over to envelope her in his arms. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

She chuckled. "It's been about three weeks, Mikey." But she hugged him tightly regardless.

"So," April leaned back, but let the turtle keep his arms around her frame, "where is everyone?"

"Uhm..." Mikey let go of April to count out his points on his fingers. "Don's blowing stuff up in the lab, Splinter's meditating, Raph's practising in the dojo, and Leo's sulking in his room."

"Is he still upset about her?" asked April.

Mikey sighed. "Who, Sensei or Leo?"

April swallowed. "...Oh."

"Yeah..." The orange-clad turtle forced himself to smile again. "But we'll find her soon, I'm sure of it. And Donnie's been trying and trying to find a cure for her, so it'll be fine eventually."

She patted his shoulder. "Nice optimism, Mikey."

He grinned. "Thanks!"

April followed Mikey to the couch, settling herself beside him to watch the Super Robo Mecha Force Five VHS currently playing. They sat together for the length of the episode, Mikey excitedly narrating everything that happened on-screen as if April didn't understand it. She presumed he was just enjoying having someone to chill with that wasn't brooding or obsessing over anything.

By the end of the episode, Raph had emerged, his skin sticky with sweat from his work-out. "What're you guys doing?"

"Watching SRMFF!" chimed Mikey eagerly.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Mikey, that show's terrible. And you've already seen every episode about ten times."

"Yeah, but Crognard isn't on," the turtle whined, pouting.

The older turtle smirked fondly at his younger brother as he wiped sweat off his brow. "Have fun with that, April." He disappeared soon after, presumably to wash off.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there watching the show with Mikey, but it was nice to take a bit of a break from all the stress and worry that had been plaguing them lately. They laughed for far too long at jokes that weren't really very funny, simply because it was relaxing just to laugh with a friend.

After a while, Mikey ejected the VHS tape and dragged her by the wrist to the kitchen. She laughed and questioned him, but merely leaned casually against the counter as he opened the freezer.

"Hello, Ice Cream Kitty," he cooed to the mutated cat. She purred and batted at him, dabbing ice-cream on his face. "Can I have an ice-pop, please?"

April giggled at the turtle's antics, before spying another turtle lurking in the doorway and adopting a gentler smile. "Hey, Leo. Feeling okay?"

The blue-clad turtle cracked a half-smile. "Yeah, I'm... fine. Just a little tired."

"You gotta stop with the all-nighters, bro," Mikey advised him gently.

Leo nodded tiredly. "I know, I know." He sighed. "I'm just... concerned. She could be anywhere, guys, and she needs us."

"Leo." April gripped his shoulders. "She'll be fine. Karai's a tough girl; there's nothing out there that could take her down."

He took a deep breath. "I really hope so..."

Out of the corner of her eye, April noticed several minute little slits in Leo's fingers that his hand-wraps weren't quite covering. She didn't need to be a genius to work out how he got them, but he awkwardly elaborated anyway, "I, uhm... I've kinda had her sword out a lot lately. Thought it would be... I don't know, lucky? Whatever. It hasn't worked. It just..."

"Comforts you. I get it." The girl smiled as kindly as possible. "When my dad got mutated, I found that sometimes just looking at his old watch or notebook helped make me feel a bit better. Like they're there with you, right?"

Another sigh and nod. "Right. But she's not, April. And... She needs to be. She deserves to be. From what she told me and what I can assume... April, there isn't anyone I'd wish that life on, least of all someone who was forced into it their whole life."

April hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not going to pretend to know anything about Karai or her life, but... I can imagine the Shredder wasn't the best parent. It's so unfair - I'm sorry, that was the stupidest thing I could say."

"No," Leo shook his head, "it wasn't, because the whole thing's incredibly unfair. I mean, she could've had a wonderful life with Master Splinter and Tang Shen but Shredder ruined it all." He shrugged half-heartedly. "There's nothing I can do about that, but... I want to fix things for her, I want to give her some semblance of the life she should have had."

"And we will, Leo," she promised. "We're not giving up. Right, Mikey?"

"Right, dude." The younger turtle's smile reached right up to his hopeful eyes. "We're bringing Miwa home."


Water filled the bath quickly, the Shredder watching from a stool beside it. Karai was nestled on his lap, her jumpsuit and underwear folded neatly on the floor. The mutation appeared to have halted most of her human bodily functions, hence why her make-up was still present and her hair was still styled, though he had decided that a warm bath wouldn't harm her nonetheless.

"Do not worry," he breathed into her ear, despite the fact she was unconscious still. "You are safe with me, my beloved."

Her body was the soft, beautifully-formed shape he had always imagined Tang Shen's would have been, and while his mind knew the difference between the two women, the void in his heart was almost satisfied. An advantage of the sedative's effects on the girl was that it removed the fight Hamato Yoshi had wrongly instilled in her, allowing him to appreciate the girl again.

When the bath finally filled, Karai began to murmur sleepily, wriggling slightly in his arms. He soothed her by stroking a hand down her spine, and Karai was so out of it that she lay back against him again. The man lowered her body into the water and gently washed her, massaging shampoo and later conditioner into her short hair and rinsing it out. He wiped the remnants of her make-up from her face with a flannel, the young girl mumbling in her sleep all the while.

He scooped her into his arms and wrapped a large towel around her as he emptied the bath. After arranging Karai comfortably against the wall, he donned his armour once more and brought her back to her bedroom. The sedative still had the girl limp and unconscious, despite having been introduced to her system just under twelve hours ago. She didn't stir even as he treated and bandaged the wounds she had inflicted upon herself.

Karai's bedroom was sparse and dark, mostly consisting of black walls and crimson carpet. She had a plain black bed with a bedside table next to it, the torn picture of Tang Shen that she always used to carry around resting atop it. An equally nondescript little bookshelf stood across the room, stocked with martial arts training material and some erotica novels, both to be used for "learning purposes". The chest of drawers opposite matched perfectly, and contained many copies of her uniform and armour, along with the few civilian clothes she actually owned. The only things that could be considered decoration were the spare weapons mounted on one wall.

Shredder observed proudly, unable to understand how Karai could have left the life he had built for her willingly.

"No matter, child," he crooned softly, kissing down the edge of her jaw to her lips. "You are home now, and that is what is most important."

He dried her off and slipped her into her black-lace nightgown before tucking her into bed. He bid her goodbye and held a firm kiss with her, stroking the side of her face as he exited.

His armour clicked frighteningly as he walked through the hallways of the converted chapel, any subordinates he happened to pass ducking their heads respectfully and walking past speedily. It gave him a pleasant feeling of power.

Images of Karai flashed through his brain. The young and obedient child he could shape in his likeness. The cocky, confident young woman he flew into New York City. The angry, vengeful look on her face when she learnt the truth about her parentage. The slow fall into the mutagen vat. The frantic, crazy mutant delivered to him in a cage. And lastly, the slumbering girl in her bedroom, who he considered a blank canvas, a clean slate, just as malleable as that innocent little child.

Your actions have been forgiven, Karai. Now we may work together to ensure that Hamato Yoshi pays for the pain he has caused us.


"You're so weird, Leonardo."

The turtle turned to her, smiling warmly. "Well, yeah. Mutant turtles tend to be."

She laughed accidentally, and his blue eyes seemed to light up at the sound. "I suppose that makes sense."

She'd found the blue-clad leader out on a rooftop during one of his nightly patrols, and he had been all too willing to stop and spar. Once they had both tired of the back-and-forth, they had sat on the edge of the roof together to catch their breath.

"Hey, Karai?"

The kunoichi glanced over at him. "Yeah?"

"Are you, like... allowed to do this?"

A quiet chuckle. "Yes, Leo. Shredder tells me every time I leave that he wants me to sit and talk to his arch-enemy's student."

Leo huffed. "I guess I asked for that." He looked back at her. "But, I... It's just, my brother Raph - that other turtle you saw, with the red mask - told me not to talk to you 'cause you'd kill me...?"

"He's not wrong," she admitted. "I will do, eventually. But..." Karai smirked at him. "I'm not going to now, if that's what you were asking."

He nodded once. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"You should do." She winked at him. "The only reason I haven't already done it is because you guys are the most interesting thing in this city so far."

"So, what I'm hearing is..." Leo said teasingly, "you're interested in me?"

"Currently." In a split second, her blade was pressed to his throat. He blinked in surprise. "But that could change at any moment, so don't push your luck."

Leo closed his eyes and smiled fondly. "Message received and understood." When he opened them again, she was gone.


I hope I made everyone else as thoroughly uncomfortable with the Shredder scene as I made myself writing it ;) Though believe me, while I'm not sure how much is actually going to be written, implications will get worse... but, y'know, there'll be fluff too. Because, fluff ^^

Also, I was trying to get this across but I don't think I managed to, but Shredder's OOC affection towards Karai was supposed to be because he saw her as a little Tang Shen, who he's still in love with. He doesn't actually love Karai, but he loved her mother and she's the closest thing he has. Okay? Okay :)

Thank you for reading and, if I haven't creeped you out too much, please leave a review xx