A/N: This one is a LOOONG one, and I nearly cried several times whilst writing it! Also, you guys are awesome with your comments! They're great, and so are you!

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

...and have some tissues ready.

Chapter 11

"A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you."

― Elbert Hubbard

Tiger Claw had to admit, after so long of staying in one place, it was odd to be traveling on the open seas again. He used to do that before he had Leonard to care for, and he had actually enjoyed it somewhat. He never resented having Leo though, but it was just nice to be out on the open oceans traveling again.

As he stood leaning against the side of the ship, he looked out onto the horizon, with nothing before them but endless ocean, and the peaks of tall buildings in the very distance. It seemed that they were finally getting closer to their destination, after seemingly endless hours on this ship. He took a deep breath through his nose, inhaling the salty scent of the water that although messed with his feline senses and made his nose twitch uncomfortably, seemed almost refreshing. The Shredder had his own private ship for him and his dozens of other Foot Soldiers to board on whilst he and his daughter Karai took a jet to New York instead. Tiger Claw had to admit, even though he was a cold hearted man, he had been gracious enough to at least give them such a fine ship as this. Well, he supposed he still had a bit of humanity left in him after all. His nose twitched again, and Tiger Claw had to stifle a sneeze as he sniffed. Even though the he had always somewhat enjoyed the smell of the ocean, being a large cat, it always tended to irritate that damned nose of his. Not only that, but there was also the issue of getting wet; he didn't mind water though, in fact, tiger loved the water. It was just how much water that was his main concern…

Though he knew a certain turtle didn't mind the water whatsoever. A smirk grew on his features at the memory of how many times he had to stop Leonardo after he had almost dived overboard to swim with the dolphins that swam alongside the ship.

"Master Tiger Claw?"

Straightening up, Tiger Claw turned around to find a Foot Soldier standing to attention behind him. "We're approaching the docks of New York very soon, sir," the soldier explained, "And I need to ask, where is Leonardo? Please don't tell me he jumped out of the ship this time…"

Tiger Claw huffed a laugh, and he cocked his head upwards. "Up there, on the lookout," he said, folding his arms across his chest as he gazed up at. The soldier tilted his head in confusion at first, and then looked up to find that the turtle was indeed sitting on top of the lookout, his legs dangling over the edge as he stared out into the distance.

The soldier chuckled at the sight. "Huh, and here I thought he couldn't be any weirder," he smirked fondly, shaking his head as he looked back to Tiger Claw. "Well, whenever you can get him down from there, please inform him that we need to prepare for when we arrive, sir."

Tiger Claw nodded his understanding, and after a short bow, the soldier left to go and attend to other matters. Looking back up to where his son was sitting contentedly above their heads (and was now playing with a seagull that had decided that the strange turtle looked interesting) Tiger Claw smiled and shook his head. Despite his earlier protest in leaving Japan to begin with, which proved to be harder for the boy than he had thought would be, Leo seemed to become quite excited once he was on the boat, exploring all the cabins, and even going in the engine room, which had almost gotten him in trouble. Also, he never stopped climbing to high places as if they were trees, but as much as he loved to climb, the lookout was as high as he was going to get, but he seemed content just being up there, simply seeing what lay beyond the oceans and inhaling the salty smell. After he had gotten passed the reason why they had to leave, Leo seemed quite content now, which made Tiger Claw glad. Maybe he was starting to see the brighter side to all of this. "Leonardo," he called up to him, and Leo immediately ceased his play session with the bird and looked down. "Come down from there. I need to speak with you."

Leo nodded, giving the seagull one last pat on the head before letting it fly away as he stood up, and with a jump, he flipped backwards off the lookout, letting himself free-fall until he flipped himself upright again, landing soundly on his feet in a low crouch right in front of Tiger Claw. The tiger didn't even flinch, and instead watched with a small smile as the boy straightened up from his crouch, and looked expectantly up at his father as he folded his arms. "Hai, Sensei?" he asked.

Tiger Claw cocked his head ahead of them with a knowing smile. "We are almost there, Leonardo," he explained, looking back out into the distance, where the buildings were now clearly visible on the horizon. He watched as Leo followed his gaze, and the turtle began to walk to the edge of the ship, staring in curiosity and wonder at the island that seemed just within reach, though in reality was still very far away.

Without averting his gaze from the city beyond, watching as the glowing sun began to set behind the shadows of the skeletal buildings, Leo asked, "Is that really America? All of it on that single Island?"

Tiger Claw chuckled, "No, Leonardo. America is far bigger than a single city."

Leo let out a gasp, his eyes growing. "Seriously?! That's just one city?! It looks like an entire world, Sensei!" he exclaimed excitedly, and then he turned back to look up at his father curiously. "It kinda looks like Tokyo…is it anything like Tokyo?" he asked.

In response, Tiger Claw shrugged as he folded his arms over his chest. "I don't know," he admitted, "I've only ever been to the lesser known parts of America, but I do know that there are many more cultures all mixed together in this city than in Tokyo alone. They mostly speak English there, but I'm sure there are other languages spoken there that you and I might recognize as well. So yes, I believe things are very different."

"Huh," Leo breathed in wonder as he continued to gaze put ahead of them, his mind buzzing with millions of possibilities based on what his father told him. It was then that another thought came to him, though this one was…less probable. But it wouldn't hurt to ask, would it? "…Sensei…" he began, almost hesitantly, "I wonder what those other ninjas are gonna be like. Are they just as skilled as we are? Are they…are they like me?"

Tiger Claw's brows knitted together in thought at that as he looked down at his turtle son. Come to think of it, he had never thought of the possibility that these so-called 'warriors' could be mutants like him and Leonardo. After all these years, he had forgotten that the Kraang creatures were everywhere, possibly all over the world. In fact, Leo had believed that they were the only mutants in existence aside from his previous family, but in reality, there could be all kinds of mutants, some like him and Leonardo, others…well, not all experiments were lucky enough to retain their humanity, if any were human at all to begin with. Tiger Claw and that rat man had been lucky enough that they hadn't lost their minds after their mutation. As for Leonardo, he only gained his sense of humanity from living with him for all these years, learning how to walk, talk, and convey emotions like a human, even though he wasn't one himself. Tiger Claw placed a paw on his son's shoulder. "I don't know, Leonardo," he spoke honestly, "Perhaps we shall see once we arrive what this new land has in store for us."

Bringing up his hand to rest it over the larger paw squeezing his shoulder in a reassuring manner, Leonardo nodded as he continued to stare out at the sunset, and the grand city that lay just head of them, growing closer within his reach. He would always miss the forests of Japan, but to be able to travel to another world, to experience new things and witness new sights…

He smiled excitedly. It was going to be worth it.

He just knew it.

"…Um, Sensei, aren't you hungry?"

Sat in the center of the pit that was their living room, the two eldest turtles, Donatello and Raphael turned from their pizza dinner to where their father and master was sat a few meters away. He sat on the side of the bench that served as their couch, stroking his beard as he closed his eyes, seemingly deep in thought. This was bad, this was very, very bad. He knew not how he found out, or in fact when he had found out, but that didn't matter. He opened his eyes again, and turned to his two curious sons. "I feel that we are celebrating too soon," he said, standing up and folding his hands behind his back as he looked down at his sons, who shared a confused gaze.

"Too soon?" Raph repeated, grinning as he sat back against the bench with his pizza slice in hand. "The bad guys were swept away in a river of raw sewage. On my watch, that makes it the perfect time."

Next to him, Donnie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I have to agree. I mean, sure it was kinda hard with only the three of us against guys that strong, but hey, I'd say we kicked butt!" he laughed, sharing a 'high-three' with Raph.

However, Splinter only shook his head. "You are mistaken, my sons," he spoke, "You may have defeated them for now, but The Shredder knows I'm alive. And worse…he knows about the three of you." He turned away, folding his hands behind his back in order to hide the anxious twitching in them. "…it's my worst nightmare come true."

Upon seeing their fathers' nervousness, Raph and Donnie shared a concerned gaze, which then turned to one of realization. How could they have forgotten? Chris Bradford and that other man were under Shredder's command, so of course they were eventually going to hunt them down again. Or better yet, if they ever found out where they lived, they would hunt down Splinter. "…so, it's not over?" Donnie asked, already knowing the answer, and already dreading it.

"Oh no," Splinter alleged gravely, "…it's just beginning. And I fear that if we do not put an end to this quickly…the worst will befall us."

Raph and Donnie then looked down at the floor, frowns now replacing their once confident smiles of victory. Splinter was right; it was far too early to celebrate. Soon, The Shredder would be out on the hunt for them again, and when that day came, it would undoubtedly be a disaster.

It seemed that in the space of a few hours, things had gone from bad to worse.

Just then, Raph heard a familiar 'plink', and he looked over to his right, to find that their youngest brother, Michelangelo, was using Donnie's laptop again, staring forlornly at the screen. He was on that 'Friend Book' page, the one that April showed him, and Chris Bradford's profile picture was on there. The red clad turtle frowned.

Mikey stared at the picture with a mixture of sadness and anger. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known that Chris was no good after all the questions he asked about his sensei. Something in the back of his mind had told him that something was up, but he had been to ignorant to listen to it, too blind to see the signs before it was too late…but he was just so happy to have a human friend to call his own, someone to go to when he just wanted to get away from his brothers and hang out. But instead, he had just messed everything up, for both himself, his older brothers, and his own father. Mikey tended to mess up sometimes, more so than Donnie or Raph ever did, but he had always found a way to fix it in the end. This time though, was a whole new low for the young freckled turtle…and what was worse, there was no way he could possibly fix it.

Raph watched as his little brother continued to stare sadly at the screen, and he let out a sigh. Poor little guy. All he wanted was a friend. That's all he ever wanted, ever since they were kids. Leo had been that friend, but then he was taken away from them. So now Mikey was near desperate to find a way to fill the hole that Leo left behind, and after meeting Chris Bradford, he thought he had finally found someone to fulfill that role. However, even before they met that nut job, Raph had been the one to continuously doubt him, telling him that there was no chance on earth that he could make a human friend that would accept him. In the end, he was right…but even so, he felt no pride at all in watching his usual happy brother in such a state as this. Raph's frown deepened. It was time to do something about that. After making sure that no one was looking (in fact Donnie had asked to speak with Splinter alone, so they had gone off into the dojo) Raph got up and sat next to Mikey, who barely glanced at him. Raph crossed his arms, thinking about how exactly he should go about this. Should he apologize? No, what did he need to say sorry for? He had been right all along…nope, rubbing it in his face would only make it worse. Guess there's only one thing to do.

"…How ya doing, Mikey?" he decided to start off with. It was a little weak, but better than gloating.

Mikey finally looked at him with baby blue eyes full of remorse, a look that Raph was quickly starting to hate. "This is all my fault," he said sadly, "I should've never thought I could be friends with a human…" He then shook his head and buried his face into his crossed arms.

Raph unfolded his arms and despite himself, he leaned closer to Mikey so that their shoulders were touching. "Don't be so hard on yourself," he said.

At that, Mikey raised his head from his arms. "So it's not my fault?" he asked hopefully.

"Of course it's your fault," Raph scoffed. Then when Mikey sighed and looked back at the screen, he regretted it.

Great, nice going, Raph, he mentally kicked himself. He frowned again as he looked around in case anyone was listening, and then he leaned in closer and said in a loud whisper, "If you ever tell Donnie or Sensei, I'll beat the green off you…but…" he then reached out and patted Mikey's shell. "…you're an awesome guy."

Mikey's eyes widened as if he were saying 'Oh my god did you really just say that?' before turning back to the screen. "…Bradford didn't think so…" he mumbled.

Raph sat back again, staring at the picture of the maniac that had dared to hurt his brother, in more ways than one. What he would give just to reach into the screen and slap that smug smile clean off of that pretty bearded face of his. "Well…he's a psychotic killing machine," he said, "And you deserve way better friends than him." And so much more, he added silently, but due to pride, he would never be able to say it out loud.

Mikey looked down, his brows furrowing as he thought over what Raph had told him. Yeah, Raph was right. In fact, he did have a better friend than Bradford, and that was April. She was the one that actually wanted to help him make friends in the first place, and on top of that, the fact that had actually been there, the fact that she had accepted them for who and what they were from the very start, made her the best friend they could ever ask for. And if he didn't have April…he still had his older brothers to go to whenever he needed to, with right now with him and Raph being an example. And if not Raph or Donnie, then he could always go to Splinter for advice. And if not Splinter, then there was always…

"…you know what? You're right! Thanks, Raph!" Mikey piped up, finally looking up at his brother and smiling for the first time since they had gotten back from the lair.

Rap smiled back. That's what he liked to see. A frown on Mikey's face was just wrong. He reached out and rubbed Mikey's head affectionately, "Anytime," he said simply, and with that, he got up and made his way to the kitchen to get his pet turtle, Spike, a lettuce leaf. Once he was inside, he could hear Mikey yell something along the lines of, "Un-Friend! Haha! Revenge!" Raph just shook his head and smiled.

It would take more than a martial arts 'superstar' like Bradford to knock the wind out of Mikey's sails, not whilst Raph was still standing.

Later that night, everyone retreated to their bedrooms for a good night's rest, recharging themselves for the next day. Well, all apart from a certain freckled turtle, who used every single stealth skill he picked out from his 'mental ninja handbook' to sneak out of his room and into the dojo. Once there, he wasted no time in reaching the shrine, where the picture of Tang Shen and Miwa stood, as well as the old teddy bear. Bowing once in respect to his mother and sister, Mikey reached out and carefully plucked the bear from its perch, and then tiptoed his way over to sit underneath tree in the center of the dojo, placing the bear in front of him as he folded his legs. He gazed down at the bear and smiled.

"Hi, Leo," he whispered.

The bear of course didn't respond, but Mikey didn't expect it to. He knew he could hear him through the bear, so he continued. "So, today was…kinda bogus. Remember that Chris Bradford dude I told you about, and how we were best buds and stuff?" Mikey scratched the back of his head nervously, and then he sighed. "Well…Raph was right. Turned out that he was one of Shredder's baddies, and he was…just using me to get to the guys and Splinter…"

A frown formed once again on his features as he gazed down at the bear. "…I really messed up today, Leo. I mean, I do that all the time, and I hate it, but I don't know what's wrong with me," he said, putting out his hand as he began to count the number of reasons on his fingertips, "I guess it's because I don't focus all that much, but I've been trying, just like I promised you and Splinter. Or maybe it's because I think too much about pizza, video games, pranking Raph or how much I miss you –"

He stopped short, his eyes widening. He looked back at the bear, staring into his button eyes. Mikey gritted his teeth together as tears began to cascade down his freckled cheeks, dripping down and landing of the bears' head. With trembling hands, Mikey reached out and plucked the bear off the floor, hugging it tightly to his chest and burying his face into the top of his head as the tears fell. Mikey messed up a lot, he admitted that much…but his biggest mistake was letting Leo take the fall instead of him. Mikey should have died that night all those years ago, not him. He sniffed as he tightened his hold on the stuffed animal, which was as close as he would ever get to hugging his big brother.

Leo was his best friend. He was more than he could ever ask for, even better than he thought Bradford had been. He was everything to him, to all of them…if only he could turn back time, find a way to change everything…find a way to fix his mistake…

"…I-I'm sorry, Leo," he hiccuped as his tears continued to fall, "I-I'm s-so sorry…I could n-never replace you. I c-could never ask for a better best friend than you, big brother…"

From behind the screens of his bedroom, a father watched with an aching heart as his youngest son held what remain of his older brother to his heart. He had overheard everything, with him being both a rat and a ninja master. In fact, Michelangelo did this every single night without fail; he would sneak into the dojo and sit right underneath the tree and talk to the bear as if it were Leonardo himself and talk about the day's events. But this was the first time he had cried like this, and it broke the old rat's heart to watch his youngest and happiest son in such a state. Deciding that he could no longer stand this, he left his room and crossed over to where Michelangelo sat, silently crying into the bear. He knelt down beside him, and without a word, he wrapped his arms around him, holding him close to his heart, rubbing his shell comfortingly.

"Hush now, my son," he soothed, "You are not blamed. You were never blamed for what happened. And Leonardo will continue to love you no matter what you do…"

Still clutching the bear, Mikey buried his face into his father's chest as he continued to cry.

And within the walls of the dojo, even as two other pairs of eyes watched them from the shadows, Splinter allowed him to.

Leonardo had been to many different lairs and enemy headquarters in his short lifetime. Some were more impressive than others, and some were just downright overkill, but he had to admit, Shredder's new base in Manhattan was actually…quite inconspicuous. It was just an old church building with stain glass windows, a clock tower…pretty much like any other church building he had ever seen. Though of course, it was going to be very different once they were inside. Though on the outside, it seemed quite subtle, Leonardo knew how much Shredder seemed to love to appear as threatening and powerful as possible (as well as dramatic, which he and Karai (and at times even Tiger Claw) often joked about behind his back).

As soon as they had pulled the ship up to the docks earlier that evening, he and Tiger Claw had followed the Foot soldiers from there and across the rooftops of the city. During that time, Leo managed to get a good look at his new surroundings. It wasn't nearly as beautiful as Tokyo had been, but good god was it bigger than he could have imagined. There were lights and people everywhere, not even noticing them as they traveled over the rooftops. The streets were filled with cars, buses, trucks, bikers, all sorts; it was just as busy and crowded as Tokyo. Though it was quite noisy (for he could hear police sirens and car horns wherever he went), it was still just as amazing. And the size of the buildings…they looked as big as Mt. Fuji!

New York City was incredible!

Even though he had only little time to sight-see, he was satisfied for the time being as they approached Shredder's lair. And as soon as he and Tiger Claw entered the building, Leo's hunch had been proved to be correct when they entered the main throne room. It was a long metal walkway, with a water tank underneath, and all around them were see-through glass windows that showed a decent view of the city. At the very end of the walkway and up a small staircase sat Shredder at his throne, waiting for them patiently and silently. Leo frowned as he and Tiger Claw drew closer, and they both bowed down on one knee before their master.

Shredder was the first to break the silence as he spoke, "I see your journey here went without any issues. This is where you will be staying from now on, until our mission is complete."

Leo looked off to the side with a flat expression. I wonder when that will be, he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Karai will quickly show Leonardo around the complex," he said, standing up and walking down the steps until he was standing just in front of the two of them, "Tiger Claw, I must speak with you privately."

Tiger Claw stood up, and Leo quickly did the same and they both bowed to him in respect. "Understood, Master Shredder," said Tiger Claw. Leo sent him a questioning look, and Tiger Claw gave him the smallest of shrugs in response. They turned around just as the double doors behind them opened to reveal the young woman herself, dressed in her usual Shōzoku as she leaned against the doorway. She sent Leo a smirk. Leo smiled back. Besides the city, she was the best thing he had seen all day, with Shredder being by far the worst.

Karai cocked her head behind her. "Follow me; I'll give you the 'grand tour'. Don't get lost, got it?" she teased, and then turned to walk out again. Leo rolled his eyes with a faint smile, and after sending Tiger Claw one last look, he followed Karai out of the room, sticking close to her side. As soon as the doors shut behind them, they stopped and turned to each other. Neither of them spoke for several seconds, before Leo finally said;

"Hey."

Karai smiled. "…hey, hey."

Then the two of them broke out into muffled laughter, covering their mouths so that no one could hear them, though it helped but little. Oh, how good it was to see his best friend and sister again. Just knowing that he was going to stay here with her and Tiger Claw made this trip even remotely bearable. After a moment or two, they managed to calm down enough so that they could actually speak. "…so, you got here first? How've you been?" Leo asked first.

Karai folded her arms, shifting her weight onto one side as she smiled at her turtle brother. "Well, it's been a little quiet and boring ever since I got here, but then again, dad's been keeping me locked inside until he gives me the 'get go'. What about you, three-toes? Have a nice trip?" she asked with her usual teasing tone that Leo both loved and hated at the same time.

He rolled his eyes at that. "I have to admit…New York is pretty amazing. Not as beautiful as Tokyo, and I didn't see a single forest anywhere, but…the views are great," he said with a smile, "I read in that book you let me borrow back when I was ten that there used to be these two huge buildings that –"

"Hey! How did you get in here?!"

Both teens spun around, both startled and confused to find one bearded muscular man, dressed in a red Shōzoku, followed by a thinner, dark skinned man with a stylish afro were running towards them, both of them soaking wet (and neither of them smelling very nice at all) and bearing very angry faces.

Leo raised a brow. What was their problem? Who were they talking to? Were they talking to him? Well, due to the fact that they stopped just in front of him and were actually about to attack him, he presumed so. Leo narrowed his eyes dangerously, and just as the larger man was about to land a blow to his head, Leo grabbed his arm, twisted it enough so that he could get closer and then launched his knee into his stomach, before planting his elbow onto his back to take him to the ground. He then flipped over the man and was just about to unsheathe his katana to face off the other one, who had just taken out several knives from his pockets, but then Karai leapt between them, her own short sword pointed at the dark skinned man threateningly.

"Enough! All of you!" she shouted, her face creased with a scowl as she glared down the two men, "what the heck do you guys think you're doing?!"

Taking Leo's distraction as an opportunity, the larger man leapt up and grabbed the turtle, locking his arms around him and trapping him in his grip despite his struggles. "HEY! Let me go!" Leo cried angrily as his writhed in the mans' hold. He was a lot stronger than Leo thought…and a lot smellier. Where had they been, the sewers?

"He's one of them, Karai!" the man snarled, tightening his hold on Leo as he his struggles became stronger, "He must have snuck away to find Shredder's lair whilst we ambushed the other three! Sneaky little bugger, thought you could get away from us, did you?!"

Karai whirled around to the man who had Leo trapped, and she glared daggers at him. "You let him go, Bradford, right now!" she ordered harshly, "He's Leonardo, you idiot! Tiger Claw's son!"

Bradford stared at her with an expression that would have made Leo laugh as he looked back down at the turtle trapped in his arms. "…what?" he barked, "Are you kidding me?! He's a turtle, if you hadn't noticed!"

Karai rolled her eyes skyward. "Obviously. Tiger Claw took him in as his own when he was abandon – I-I mean, lost as a child back in Japan years ago," she said, stumbling slightly and sending Leo an apologetic look, but by that point the damage had been done, and Leo was looking down at the ground with that look on his face again that she had come to hate so much, but she couldn't think about that right now as she turned her glare back to Bradford. "Shredder told you and Xever that they were going to be mutants, unless you weren't listening. Now, I'm going to give you two seconds to let him go, before I slice your arms off myself," she warned lowly.

After glancing one last time at the turtle, who seemed to have lost the fight in him already as he kept his eyes on the ground, Bradford finally released him with a little grunt. "My…apologies," he said reluctantly with a short bow, "my 'comrade' and I had mistaken you for another." He cast a disapproving glance at Xever, who only shrugged, shoving his knives back to wherever he had pulled them out from. He wasn't sorry in the least.

Leonardo merely turned to him and nodded once, not bothering to say another word. Karai's shoulders slumped at that. Oh great, nice going Karai, she scolded herself. She just had to go and say that, didn't she?

Suddenly, the doors behind them opened to reveal Shredder, his dark eyes glaring at the four of them. "What is going on out here?" he probed lowly, eying Leonardo in particular. His gaze then shot to Bradford and Xever, who had their heads lowered in respect (and slight humiliation).

"I see your mission to capture Hamato's disciples has failed," he growled, turning away from them with a swish of his black cape. "I have already sent Tiger Claw out on a solo mission. There are few…'incidents' that need attending to elsewhere. Xever, Bradford, report to me now," he ordered, and then he strode back into the room.

Bradford followed him inside, but Xever stopped just beside Leonardo. "You'd better hope the tiger doesn't like turtle soup," he said with a glare, flicking out his knife with a swift jerk of his wrist, "because I know I do. You'd better watch your back, turtle."

Leo only glared up at him and scoffed, completely unfazed by his so-called 'threat'. "I should say the same to you, Skinny-Legs," he growled back. Xever snorted, and then made his way inside the room as the doors shut behind them.

Losing his glare, Leo looked back at Karai, his former expression returning as they stared at each other. Neither of them said a word as the air between them suddenly grew thick with an awkward silence. Despite how close the two of them were, there were certain boundaries that were never to be crossed by either of them, such as how Leo would never share the same bed with her (for obvious reasons) and always knock before entering the bathroom. For Karai, Leo was pretty much an open book about everything, but she knew never to ask about his previous family, or whatever it was that he saw whenever he was forced to kill someone. Then there was a certain word that was never spoken between them, and that was 'abandoned'. She knew very well of the hatred the younger turtle held for his old family for what they did to him, just as Karai hated Hamato Yoshi for what he did to her mother. He had only ever really mentioned that they had left him to die…that they never cared about him…

Karai sighed, walking towards him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, holding him close. Hugs from Karai were not rare, but not so freely given either, due to the distant relationship she and her father had. It would usually be Leo who would initiate the hugging, and Karai would eventually return it. It was only because of how long she had been around Leo that she had grown more and more confident with hugging. But he made no move to return the embrace, but he did rest his head on her shoulder. She rested her cheek atop his head. "…Leo, I'm sorry," she said quietly, "it…it just slipped out, I didn't mean it, and you know I didn't…"

Against her shoulder, Leo nodded once. "…it's okay," he mumbled at last, "It happens. I forgive you." He lifted a hand and placed it on her other shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly before easing off of her so that he could look up at her, and give her smile. She smiled back, happy that all was good between them once again. It was hard to break the two of them apart, and she was glad for that. Besides her father, he was all she had. And the same went for him too.

They were best friends, brother and sister. Losing each other meant losing pretty much everything.

Karai finally released him, and instead took his large green hand in his as she began to walk with him down the dark hallway. "Come on, three-toes. I'll show you were the dojo is first, then I'll take you to your five star hotel," she joked.

Leo smirked, tightening his hold around her hand. "Whatever you say, princess," he jabbed right back, "but I'll wait for Tiger Claw to come back from his solo once we reach the rooms. I wonder what they're talking about in there."

Karai waved it off. "Probably just some mission junk that we don't wanna hear about, don't worry about it. Hey, why don't you and I have another match? See if you can actually beat me this time?"

The blue clad turtle grinned at her. "You're so on!"

Shredder could hardly believe what he had just heard. Was Bradford begging for him to slice off his head where he stood? The fact that he had failed his mission to destroy Yoshi and his minions was already aggravating enough, but to then hear that his minions were…not even human? "…Hamato Yoshi's disciples are…turtles?" he barked disbelievingly, "and yet they managed to defeat you?!"

From where he and Xever were bowed before their master, Bradford tried to elaborate. "Not just turtles. Man-sized turtles! Trained in ninjitsu! Just like the other one out there…" he shared a look with Xever, who seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, before he turned back to Shredder. "Sensei, do you really think you can trust that turtle out there? He looks exactly like the turtles that we fought in the sewers. Maybe he could be deceiving us all…"

Shredder turned to them both, stepping down the stairs until he was standing just in front of their bowed forms. "No, that's not possible. I've known Leonardo since he was a child. I sent him on his first assassination mission when he was of eight years old…" he put a finger to his chin, humming to himself in thought. "…Tiger Claw did mention that he had been abandoned in the forests when he was an infant. It could be that his former family are here…"

Xever looked up, his brows creased together. "So he and those three freaks had been raised by Hamato? Huh. Why would any man take in freaks like them?" he scoffed.

Shredder ignored Xever for the time being as a plan suddenly sparked. "Bradford, Xever, rise," he ordered, and they did as they were asked. "Though you did fail in destroying those turtles that you spoke of…in a sense, it is a good thing you did. Perhaps we can use this new development to our advantage. The next time you see those turtles, report to me immediately. I know that Leonardo also has a vendetta of his own that he has to fulfill…"

Shocked, Bradford and Xever shared another look. What? Leonardo has a hatred for his own family? But he is only so young…well, they have seen worse in others his age anyways. An example of such madness, though they would never dare say it out loud, was standing right in front of them. "Sensei, are you suggesting that we have Leonardo kill Hamato's disciples?" Bradford asked.

Shredder nodded once to his student. "In due time. Eventually, they will want to take their dear long lost brother to wherever they're hiding, and when that happens…all that will be left will be to destroy Hamato Yoshi himself…

"…once and for all."

A/N: I. FREAKING. Hate you, Shredder.