This chapter takes place the day after "The Alien Agenda."

Searing Hurt Pt. 1

Ara

Ara stared at the news segment that was airing on the television, not knowing and honestly not really caring about what Carlos Chiang O'Brien was babbling about this time. His words had no value. In fact, only two words in the whole universe seemed to have weight to her, and they were two words that never should have been put together. Leo. Karai. Leo. Karai. LEO. KARAI. They ran through her head like a broken record.

She tried to go over last night's events in her head, hoping that maybe she had missed something or that some of the events hadn't happened as she'd originally thought they had. Leo and Raph had been acting weird all day. Then they'd gone to check out the World Wide Genome Project, and had come across Karai. Raph was the first to spot her, and he'd attacked. Leo had tried to separate them, setting off an alarm in the progress. And then…

Raph glared at Leo as red lights flashed through the room. "Way to go, Leo! You're protecting her?! What is WRONG with you?! She is bad n…"

Ara stepped between Raph and Leo, eyeing Karai uneasily. Where did she know her from?... Oh, of course. She was Shredhead's daughter who had come for a little visit when she was being held captive. And somehow Leo and Raph knew her? She turned to Leo. "How?..."

"Uhh…" Leo's eyes widened in panic, and he glanced at Ara, then Karai, then back again.

"Ara, right?" Karai asked casually. "Pleasure seeing you again, this time under slightly more pleasant circumstances."

Leo blinked. "You guys know each other?"

"Yeah." Ara tightened her grip on her sword. "We've… met." Just then doors all over the room slid open, and Kraangdroids started marching into the room. Ara tore her gaze from Karai. She had bigger problems.

Ara let her thoughts shift to a couple hours later, when Leo was explaining the whole Karai situation. She had listened numbly along with everyone else, but nothing quite prepared her for Leo's last statement.

"I should've told you guys about Karai sooner, but I really thought there was a chance she could be good. And…" Leo turned pink as he glanced at Ara, then cleared his throat hesitantly. "I guess… I sorta…" He stared down at his feet. "Liked her. Go ahead. Laugh."

Ara sat quietly as everyone expressed their disappointment, trying and failing to fully process what he had just said.

"Ara?"

Ara glanced up to find Leo in front of her, looking embarrassed. "Ara, I…" Ara didn't wait for him to finish. She silently rose and turned, heading for her room. "Ara! Just listen…" Leo grabbed her hand, but she wrenched it from his grasp and stumbled blindly towards the only place she could be alone, somehow managing to hold back her tears until she was safely behind the door of her room and huddled miserably on her bed.

Hot tears spilled from her eyes, and Ara had to bite back sobs so no one would hear. She. Was. SO. STUPID! Stupid, stupid, stupid. Of course Leo didn't like her. Why would he? That time watching the meteor shower must have just been a show of friendly affection. And all those other times, those little moments when Leo blushed and stuttered out an unintelligible comment after Ara thanked him for doing something or gave him a compliment must have been her imagination. She'd MADE herself believe that he might like her like the stupid, idiotic fool that she was. And now she was crying here like some big baby and…

Ara pushed the memory away as Leo sat down beside her. She stiffened, then made herself relax.

"Ara?"

"Yeah?" Ara stared at Carlos, trying to make herself look interested in the show.

"About Karai…"

"Hold on a sec, Leo." Ara picked up some aloe vera cream she had found in Donnie's medicine box a few minutes previous. When she'd wrenched her hand from his, Leo had let out a little yelp, and Ara had remembered how Leo killed Justin. All that electricity had been coursing through his swords… and his fists.

Ara outstretched her fingers. "Hand." Leo hesitantly slipped his hand in hers, and Ara bit her lip with frustration as her hand tingled happily at his touch. He. Didn't. Like. Her. The sooner she learned that, the better.

She carefully unwrapped the tape from his scorched fingers. Using her first two fingers to scoop up some ointment, Ara gently spread it across his palm. Leo flinched at first, then relaxed as the Aloe Vera did it's work. After wrapping it with some fresh bandages, Ara started on the next hand.

"So, about Karai…" Leo ventured.

Ara forced a fake smile onto her face and let out a little laugh that she hoped didn't sound forced. "Yeah, I've been wanting to talk to you about that."

"You have?"

"Yup." Ara took a deep breath. Leo liked Karai, not her, so she might as well try to make this as un-awkward as possible. Maybe after a while she could start seeing him as a brother, or at least a platonic friend. She doubted it, but maybe. "I'm really sorry that I stormed out of the room without listening to you. I guess I was just frustrated that you would talk to someone from the foot without telling us. They work for Shredder, and since Shredder killed my dad, I'm a little touchy when it comes to anyone in the foot clan. But storming away was totally uncalled for, and I'm really sorry." Ara arranged her mouth into a smile and tried to grin at Leo. "Forgive me?"

"That's—that's why you were mad?" Leo asked, slowly withdrawing his now-bandaged hand and rubbing it confusedly.

"Well, yeah. Why else would I be angry?"

Leo opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. Ara thought he looked almost… crestfallen? for a second, but she must have imagined it, because a moment later he was smiling. "Yeah. Why else?" He echoed, letting out a weak-sounding laugh.

There was a little gasp in front of them, and they both turned to find Raph sitting wide-eyed in front of the television. He snatched up the remote and turned up the volume, then called, "Splinter! Donnie! Mikey! Get in here!"

"What is it, Raph?" Ara asked as everyone entered the room. Raph put a finger to his lips and nodded franticly to the television. Ara turned to Carlos and listened.

"…was saying, there's really nothing to get excited about. All the rats miraculously retreated to the sewers a couple weeks ago, leaving nothing but footprints and bad memories. But we have come up with a solution. To you, Joan."

The screen flashed to a woman in a light purple suit, her short blond hair swept behind one ear. "Thank you, Carlos. A couple weeks ago, waves of filthy rats engulfed the city, and people left New York in droves trying to avoid contact with the harmful pests. Though all the rats disappeared to the sewers for unknown reasons, citizens of New York are worried that there may be another 'rat attack.' That's where the respected Oroku Saki comes into the picture. Oroku is from Japan and is only on an extended business trip to the U.S., but he expressed his concern for our situation and presented a solution."

There were gasps from around the room, and if anyone wasn't giving the show their complete attention, they were now.

"Though I wasn't able to meet with him today, I do have here with me one of his lawyers, Jake Lansing. Jake, would you mind explaining to us what Oroku plans to do about the situation?"

Joan passed the mike to a tall, muscular man in a too-tight suit who looked more like a bodybuilder than a lawyer. "Not at all, Joan. Oroku got together a team of scientists and worked on a new gas called Kilovine. The gas was invented a couple years ago for pest control, but was pronounced too dangerous for common household and farmyard use, which is what it was originally made for. The scientists did many tests and perfected the gas. Tomorrow a group of workers will place 'Kilovine bombs' all over the sewers, then seal off the manholes as a safety measure. The 'bombs' will start leaking gas about an hour after they are installed. After a week, when the gas has completely worn off, the sewer openings will become functional again. The gas will go through the entire sewer, killing off every last rat, mouse, bug, reptile… anything in it's way." Jake passed the microphone back to Joan, smiling cheerfully.

"Oh, uh, wow," Joan stammered nervously. "Are you completely sure that this is… err… safe?"

"Oh, yes!" Jake replied, snatching up the mike again. "The gas doesn't rise, so it will stay safely confined to the sewers. A normal-sized humanoid would have to remain in the gas for hours before it would kill them, and I assure you, the openings to the sewers will be sealed off so securely, even a… crazed mutant couldn't open them. Several groups of animal rights activists are protesting to the gas cleansing of the sewers, but overall, most agree that peoples' safety comes first, so it WILL commence tomorrow. Plus, the rats were the ones who-"

Raph tapped a button on the remote, snapping off the television. There was a few moments of silence, then Donnie gasped, "What are we going to DO?!"

The room erupted. Raph started shouting out curses, pacing up and down the floor. Leo stood and hollered for him to stop, he was trying to think. Mikey ran around the room in circles, and Ara tried and failed to get everyone to calm down.

"ENOUGH!" Splinter finally roared, sending everyone into shocked silence. "We must CALMLY find a SOLUTION to our PROBLEM," Splinter stated slowly. "We have made it through worse situations." Ara could tell that he was trying to keep calm for their sake, but even so, his voice was tight and worried. "Now, does anyone have an idea they would like to share?"

Raph nodded. "I say we take out the work crew. Problem solved."

"No, Raph!" Leo rolled his eyes. "They'll be planting bombs all over the sewer. We have no clue where, and if they're planning to clean out the entire system, I'm guessing there will be a lot more bombs than we can possibly take care of. Plus, I'm not 'taking out' a worker who is just trying to do their job and keep their city safe. Anyone got a plan B?"

"Our best bet is to just move out of the sewer for a while. A week, maybe, until the gas wears off," Donnie piped up.

"Yeah, but where?" Ara asked nervously. "What are we going to do, go talk to a landlord and rent an apartment?"

"Ara has a point," Splinter agreed gravely. "And because Shredder is behind this, I have no doubt he will be searching the city high and low for us, knowing that we have left the sewers and are now in the open. We need a good, safe place to stay."

"How about Murakami-san?"

"No, no, we can't ask him to risk it."

"Yeah, he's poor as it is; I doubt he has a place for us to stay."

"Not to mention what would happen to him if the foot found us."

"Darn it. Pizza gyoza every day would be epic."

"Be quiet, Mikey, this is serious." Leo looked worriedly around the room. "Alright, where else?"

"April's house!" Donnie suggested. Everyone stared at him.

"April lives with her aunt," Ara reminded him.

"Oh, right. Her basement?" Donnie asked weakly.

"It's an apartment!" Ara scoffed.

"Her bedroom?" Mikey suggested helpfully.

"Okay, okay, April's apartment is OUT," Raph growled, glaring around the room in case anyone challenged his statement.

Ara snapped her fingers. "Of course!" She turned to the mutants surrounding her. "I think I know where we might be able to go."