13

"Without self-knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave."

- G. I. Gurdjieff -

"Remember, this is not how I wanted," he added before he pulled out a transmitter, lifted it up to his mouth, and simply said, "Your turn."

"Who did you call for?" Tequila gritted his teeth as he stormed towards Michelangelo.

"Just a friend," he answered calmly, taking a step back. Leonardo's anger still scared him. He wasn't like Raph. Raphael angriness had become too normal for him. This is how the red-banded turtle worked. But not Leonardo.

Tequila grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him towards himself. Michelangelo's blood froze for a moment and started to question if this plan was really a good idea when someone broke the window and jumped in with a few Foot Soldiers. Tequila turned towards the noise but could not tell who disturbed them.

"You!" he heard April's hissed and sensed as everybody tensed in the room. Even Michelangelo.

"Karai..." he breathed as the realization hit him. Of course. Karai and her father won't rest until they caught all of them. Her presence wasn't a surprise... but Michelangelo's betrayal was. No matter how much hatred they had towards each other, he would have never believed that any of them worked for the Shredder.

"Alright, here's my deal," she started as she walked towards Leo and landed a hand on his shoulder. The young turtle froze under her touch but made no sound, "You give me the boy and later you may visit him."

"What? I will never give him to you," he spitted. "He has no use for you anyway."

"He has a greater use than you would believe."

"Isn't your goal to catch me? Then come on, catch me! Why would you take an unnecessary move?"

"My goal is not that simple. But don't worry, you will understand it in time."

After she nodded, two soldiers jumped at the young turtle and forced him out of his chair.

"Wait, no!" Tequila desperately reached out towards the kid, but Michelangelo grabbed his wrist. "Let me go!" He tried to free his hand out of his brother's grasp, but Michelangelo was tightening his fingers so hard that his knuckles whitened out. It would have hurt Tequila if his mind was clear. However, the worry was choking him, making his strength leave his body. He only had one chance; he grabbed Michelangelo by his collar with his free hand and pressed a pressure point causing his brother to collapse.

Tequila grabbed one of the Foot Soldiers and tore him away from Leo. He reached towards the other one too when Karai jumped between them.

"Leonardo, you don't have to worry. We will have a chance to spar with each other soon enough. Until then, I will take care of your son," she spoke slowly and calmly, staring into her own reflection displayed on Leonardo's glasses. She placed a hand on his cheek and gently caressed it with her thumb. She leaned closer, so close that their lips almost met. Leonardo's breath hitched as he remembered the old times. Peace was never part of their life, not even in the old, fading past... yet he would have done anything to go back. For a minute, he even forgot where he was and what was happening. But only for a minute, before a sharp pain brought him back into reality.

Karai stabbed a small blade into his neck. It was a retractable hook-like blade of a ring, filled with poison.

Leonardo clapped his hand to the wound, slowly losing balance. He groaned as he fell on his knees, fighting to keep his eyes open. He could hear April's and Baxter's worried voices but couldn't understand what they said. He used all of his energy to focus on the kid. He was calling for him. He sounded scared. For him, or himself, he did not know, but he needed to help. He tried to get up but fell back at once.

Michelangelo started to get the control back over his body and slowly rose to his feet. He sent a questioning glare to Karai, not appreciating this unplanned move.

"What did you do to him?" April demanded while she and Stockman were holding Leonardo up. She gently tapped Leonardo's cheek to keep him awake. Her fingers were trembling with worry as she kept her furious gaze on Karai.

"Don't worry too much," she smirked and took a little bottle out of her pocket, "Here's the antidote. If you want it, then you let us leave with the boy in peace and Leonardo survives."

Breathing became harder and harder with each passing second for Leonardo. He gritted his teeth in pain as he tried to shake his head as a 'no'. He didn't trust his voice anymore, but he couldn't let April agree to this.

April and Stockman looked at each other, both expecting the other one to come up with a good idea.

Karai knew that they wouldn't let Leonardo die for a kid they barely know. She knew how well Leonardo had hidden from everyone in the past decades and was sure that he hadn't told anyone about the boy. At least, not until they needed something from April.

She didn't dwell on it too long; she would eventually learn everything once she has the boy.

After a minute of silence, Michelangelo grabbed the boy and dragged him out of the lab. Leo just let him pull him away. He kept his eyes on his old counterpart and quietly walked next to Michelangelo. It was over, he knew it. They had no choice but to go along with Karai's plan. He just hoped that she would really give Tequila the antidote.

Karai threw the bottle towards April, then ordered her soldiers to destroy the lab.

"No!" Stockman desperately tried to defend his supplies and machines, but only chaos and slivers remained.

Leo shuddered at the shrill noises of destruction. His heart ached as he realized that they probably destroyed the portal too. He looked away and closed his eyes. Soon he felt himself fly back to the dojo, sitting across from his father with a cup of tea and enjoying his comfort while listening to his wise words. He felt the warmth of the dojo and the relaxing scent of the incense.

A tug on his arm tore him out of the memory and the sudden cold and fear hit him again. Oh, how he wished Splinter had been there!

ScribeofHeores: Mikey may dislike Leonardo but he wouldn't hurt him on his own. However, he has a goal and now he thinks that the end justifies the means.

It's okay, I'm just glad whenever you have time to review :)

Happy New Year even in February :P