What We Could Have Been

by calliopechild

The feud between the Turtles and the Foot has been long and violent, and Karai is determined to end it. But at what cost? By giving up 'what we could have been'.

4. Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em. As we've seen by what I've written so far, the TMNT show would probably be a lot less kid-friendly if I did. XD

Special thanks to Aurora Musis Amica, Deana, Veriandise, Pi90katana, Sewer Slider, BubblyShell22, and Swallowraven for reviewing Chapter 3!! You guys are amazing, and you make my day!!!!

Alrighty, on to the next chapter! Just so it's clear, this first part (with Karai) and the next part (with the Turtles) take place the same day, about the same time. And…yeah. All the other notes are at the bottom of this, so with no ado at all, here's the chapter. :D

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Karai stormed into her chambers, slamming the door behind her and throwing herself onto the bed. Glaring at the ceiling angrily, she blew out a sigh.

Two hours. Two hours, completely wasted.

She had just returned from the daily rounds with her ninja and was bitter about what had happened. The first hour had been spent watching the various regiments training, the second in a meeting with the most loyal of the Foot Elite. And she was not happy with what she had seen and heard.

The training session was dismal. Karai couldn't remember exactly when it had started, but her Foot ninjas' skills had deteriorated drastically. In nearly every sparring match, in almost each ninja's movements, glaring and novice mistakes stuck out like sore thumbs. A weak block countered an equally feeble strike; a perfect opening for a throw or disarm went unnoticed; and several ninja were actually knocked out of their stances, their weight unbalanced, their postures shoddy.

Karai's lip curled at the memory of their disgraceful performances. Pathetic.

The whisper of a harsh voice crept into her mind. As well as disgusting and shameful. A warrior is a reflection of their master; the disgrace falls on you as well. And with your failure, you dishonor your master as well.

Her heart sunk into her stomach, settling there with an icy splash. More and more lately she had found herself trying to ignore that small voice and the truth that its words carried. When her father left, she had been uncertain and apprehensive about taking up leadership of the Foot. Her father assured her of his faith in her abilities, however, so she had taken her pride in his words and turned it into confidence. Unfortunately, lately it seemed more and more that her master's faith was misplaced. The abilities of the Foot ninja were declining and more seemed to go wrong every day.

How did it come to this? she wondered, thinking back on how well things had begun. Karai's first months of leadership were flawless; all members of the Foot were shaken by their leader's departure, as well as by the news of his banishment. After she returned to the headquarters, Karai forced her own turbulent emotions aside and capitalized on those of her followers, easily gaining their faith and loyalty by portraying herself as the hard, powerful leader they craved. They needed and wanted leadership, having spent too much of their lives as followers to lead themselves. Her façade of confidence and power had made it easy to cow them; it helped, too, that many respected her for the favor she had found in the Shredder's eyes. All of these aided in the transition, making it smoother than Karai could have dreamed. But, as the saying went, the honeymoon was soon over.

As the months went by the forces of the Foot regained their confidence and nerve, flourishing under Karai's leadership; she ruled them like the Shredder had, with respect gained through fear, and the similarities had comforted them. However, they soon began to become disgruntled. Nothing had happened for many months, and the inactivity chafed them. Karai's most loyal followers had come to her many times, bringing tidings of dissatisfaction and discontentment, as well as warnings. 'The men are restless', they said. 'They wonder why my lady Shredder has not acted against the cursed Turtles yet.'

'They wonder at your ability to lead.'

That had been the final straw. Karai doubted herself and knew full well that it was acceptable to do so; she had little leadership background to draw on, and she knew that her doubt would keep her from getting cocky and making mistakes.

But others doubting her? Her subordinates, the weaklings she led, doubting her? And worse effrontery, they were even daring to voice these beliefs of weakness aloud? That could not be tolerated. If she had learned anything from her father, it was that insubordination, disloyalty and doubt could not be allowed to exist amongst one's followers; if it did, one ran the risk of the doubt growing into revolt, so it must be eliminated swiftly—and by any means necessary.

So the situation was handled; the doubters were taken care of. Karai ordered the Elite to seek out the dissenters, and had them executed. And at that, the tone of the forces had changed marvelously fast. Suddenly, all the ninja were falling over themselves to assure Karai of their loyalty and love for her, and she was pleased. Her father had had the right of it; ruling through fear is stunningly productive. However, she had known better than to get overconfident and comfortable again; these men were weak of character and flighty, and this—gentle reminder—of who was leader would not last for long. Unless she acted soon, the warning would be forgotten, and the next time, a handful of executions might not be enough to quell the problem. She needed to act quickly in order to assure all the Foot that this caution against doubting her abilities wasn't merely an empty threat. So Karai let no time pass her by. Calling together the most loyal, she voiced her plan: a full-scale assault on the Turtles, on their own turf.

The results were instantaneous. Though already devoted to her, her favorites' loyalties were further ensured; they highly approved of the plan, and with her approval, spread the news to all forces. The headquarters were soon buzzing with activity, even more after Karai made another announcement: only the best ninja would be given the honor of being part of the attack. Every ninja wanted a chance to be on that assignment; after countless humiliations by the Turtles, every Foot member was practically drooling for the opportunity.

Everyone was trying to show their best. Training sessions took on a fervor they hadn't had since her father died; sparring was worth watching for anyone wanting a thrill. The Foot technicians were equally amazing, turning out beautiful robots and amazing enhancements. After a few more weeks, when Karai judged it was time, she gave the announcement and chose her ninja. There were a few more days of preparation…

And then they struck, bursting into the Turtles' lair and bringing the assault right to their doorstep. Karai shook her head when she remembered the pride, the confidence she felt when she first saw the Turtles' faces, saw their fear and anger and hate, and ordered the attack. She frowned. And that's where it fell apart.

The first blow was that Leonardo was not there. Karai could have truly cared less about his brothers; they were not the real prizes. She cared only about destroying Leonardo and his rat master, Splinter; Leonardo for herself, and Splinter for her father. The others would merely be bonuses. But no, Leonardo was gone, so she would just have to leave a welcome home present behind. But the second blow came when her forces could not even give her that; all of the freaks escaped, even the old rat, though he had to be carried out.

Even then, I was sure I would be triumphant, Karai sneered to herself. She had done her research carefully, and knew of all of the Turtles' machines and exits; she had her ninja positioned and ready on land, in the river, and even in the sky. And then those three wonderful calls…possibly the loveliest things she had ever heard in her life…

"Mistress Karai, the rat and the one called Donatello have been destroyed."

"Mistress Karai, the one called Michelangelo has been destroyed."

"Mistress Karai, the one called Raphael has been eliminated."

And suddenly, it was over; the Turtles were no more. Celebration ran rampant through the halls of the Foot headquarters, especially among those chosen to go on the mission. Karai too was filled emotion; joy, satisfaction, and pride. It was even enough to ease the blow of Leonardo's absence; upon finding his home destroyed and his family killed, he would be weak and easy to break. Everything had fallen into place. She had done what even her father had not done: she had destroyed the Turtles and their master. Surely this would appease her father's spirit.

She had dressed completely in her father's old armor, the armor of the Shredder, and went to present the news to his statue; with her father gone, this makeshift shrine was all she had left of him. And then the third blow fell.

Leonardo was there, alive and in her sanctuary. The familiar hatred had filled her at that point, and she had reveled in his anger at her attack on his family.

And yet…even then I knew that something was wrong, she mused. He was calm and collected; he showed no pain over the loss of his family when it should have crushed him.

But she had ignored that small warning bell in her mind, attacking him as ferociously as she could. This was what she had truly wanted, to kill Leonardo with her own hands. He was the cause for everything that had gone wrong, and only his death would fix things. But yet again, things got worse. Leonardo was different; there was a level of calmness in him that almost disturbed her, and his skills were better than ever…better than hers.

She was defeated. Defeated and dishonored, because even when he beat her, he still wouldn't kill her. He had warned her, in a voice that had given her chills, and he had defaced her father's statue…but he still didn't kill her.

Things fell apart after that. A few days later she learned from several of her ninja that the attack had been a failure; all of the freaks had lived, including the rat. Her failure, combined with the confusion and turmoil over Leonardo's mercy, drove her into herself…and she had only recently come out of it enough to realize that the Foot were falling apart.

The failure had hit her ninja hard as well. Those who hadn't been chosen for the attack were still jealous of those who had, regardless of whether they had been victorious. Dissension spread among the ranks, and fights broke out constantly. The men were in a shambles, and that disorder was now shown clearly, now that she was willing to open her eyes and see it.

Karai groaned, trying to tame the thoughts and worries crowding her mind. Days like this…days when the world is crumbling down and everything is going wrong…I hate these days. They should not even occur. With the amount of power I have, the amount of control…the world ought to tremble, not crumble. She snorted at her own folly and stood, striding to her father's old throne room—the Shredder's quarters.

Her quarters.

She sighed, kneeling in front of the small table and spreading out the papers stacked there. One paper in particular was staring her in the face, covered with the second ugly truth that she had been forced to face in the second half of her dismal afternoon.

The meeting with the Foot Elite had been nearly as disturbing as the training session. The leader of the quartet, her most loyal soldier, had immediately started the meeting by handing her the paper she now looked at, letting her realize what she couldn't believe she had missed:

Her army had shrunk drastically.

At first she had been unwilling to believe it, but then she remembered the training session from earlier; now that she thought about it, looking past the sad performance, the forces that had once filled the room near to bursting only filled a bit more than half of the space. Once she had actually been able to process the information, she'd turned on the Elite, demanding an explanation; however, she soon found herself wishing that she hadn't even asked.

The first contributor, she found out, was the executions and the attack; they had lost a good deal of ninja because of their disloyalty, and there were also casualties from the attack on the Turtles' home. But even those could not fully account for the amount of ninja missing. That was when Karai discovered the second and even worse cause for the loss of size in her army:

Deserters.

Deserters…cowards…disgusting weaklings, Karai snarled to herself, her blood boiling even now at the thought of it. Would that I could find every single one…I would make them truly understand the price of disloyalty, and that no one leaves the Foot.

That had to be the most infuriating part; she longed for nothing more than to destroy each deserter for turning their backs on the Foot, and yet she could not. It turned out that more than leadership had changed with the loss of her father; camaraderie had as well. Very few ninja actually knew each other's names now, and no one could name for her which ninja had deserted. And her father's records, the meticulous lists and tallies of all the ninja in his service, had been conveniently lost or destroyed, furthering removing the deserters from her wrath.

It was infuriating, and embarrassing beyond belief. When she had finally understood the situation, it was all she could do not to cringe in front of the Elite; she felt like a green novice, and shuddered at the thought of what her father would say.

So now I must see if it is too late to rectify this mistake, Karai thought to herself, shifting through the papers in front of her. With the help of several, she had managed to find the remaining lists of names, and studied them now in disbelief.

All that was left of her forces was a paltry one hundred and twenty men, ridiculous considering the full two hundred ninja that her father had ruled.

Eighty men…eighty of them, gone. Thirty lost in the attack, twenty executed, and thirty deserters. If only I could find them.

Karai sighed, racking her brain. She was out of ideas, and quickly running out of time; if thirty had deserted already, then drastic measures needed to be taken. Threats on men's lives or the lives of their families would only keep them loyal for so long. A smirk grew on her face. Eventually, even the most cowardly rat will abandon the sinking ship, even if they do not know how to swim.

She shook her head and took a deep breath. Enough of this. I must step back. I must look at this as simply as possible. My ninja are deserting, so I must give them cause to stay. What do men want? Money, power, security, and satisfaction. Money…all ninja are well-provided for. Power…power is not an option; if they doubt my rule, I will not do anything to risk any more problems. Security…they have all of the Foot to turn to for protection, as do their families. Satisfaction…all men find satisfaction in victory. So to solve that problem…

Her eyes narrowed. "We must destroy the Turtles." Karai's memory flicked back through the past few months, easily recalling how well things had gone before the attack on the Turtles. If only we had truly succeeded, this would not be an issue. If we tried again, and the Turtles were killed, everything would essentially be solved. They are they biggest obstacle standing between us and full control of the city. But how to bring them down?

Karai stared at her desk without really seeing in, sinking deeply into her thoughts. Another assault on their stronghold will not work; the men are unlikely to have faith in such an attack again, and even if they were willing to try it once more, we do not have the Turtles' location. They are hiding…so we must draw them out. But what to use for the bait? We could capture one, and the others would naturally come running right into the palm of my hand, but none of them have been seen for days; hunted prey is always twice as cautious as soon as it becomes aware of the hunter's presence. What else is precious to them? Or rather, who else?

The answer suddenly clicked in her mind. Her. That O'Neil woman who worked for Stockman. They are obviously attached to her, and she would be easy prey. The thoughts started coming faster, linking together. Yes…she could be found again easily, and a message left for the Turtles. And then, they come running, and I kill them all, one by one.

A dreamy smile grew on Karai's face as she picked up her father's clawed gauntlet, running a finger along one edge. Perhaps I could rip each one of them apart, piece by piece. Or I could give them to my men, and let them share in the fun…except for Leonardo.

He is mine to destroy.

A sudden voice cut into her thoughts. Had you actually been loyal to your father, Leonardo would already be dead. Your father was going to destroy him, but you stopped him. All of this is your fault.

The smile fell off of her face as she remembered the fateful events on her father's spaceship. Seeing him lift Leonardo's limp, battered body, watching him lift the claws, about to kill him—and then her interference as she saved Leonardo.

And for what? For what? She sighed tiredly. I still do not even know.

Part of her had wanted to let her master do it. Part of her had wanted to let him kill Leonardo, to make it easier on her. With Leonardo gone, there would be no more pain. No more indecision, no more confusion...before she had met Leonardo, she had never questioned what she did. She never thought twice about anything her master ordered; there was only acknowledgement and obedience. And then he came into her life, and nothing was the same again. Yet despite the chaos he brought to her life, she couldn't seem to bring herself to kill him. There was an attraction, an undeniable connection between them that she couldn't seem to shake. But the battle between their families demanded that they remained enemies, hence the uneasy animosity between her and Leonardo. She had been so torn that by the time her father nearly killed Leonardo…she almost didn't stop him. It would be so much easier if he was killed, because then she wouldn't have to choose; the choice would be made for her. It was only at the last moment that a small voice had whispered in her head, telling her that her father would disgrace himself if he did this. Later, she realized with a sinking feeling that the voice had sounded unnervingly like Leonardo.

And that was just like something he would say, wasn't it? That was Leonardo, a true ninja, right down to his thrice-cursed honor. Karai was an excellent warrior; no one could argue that. She had been trained by one of the best in the ways of Ninjitsu, and had surpassed countless other fighters. Leonardo, too, was nearly peerless; even his brothers could not fully match up to his level of skill. But that was where their similarities ended. Because for her, bushido carried no serious meaning for her beyond its provision of "honor your master". But for Leonardo, bushido was life. For Leonardo, honor was all, and living in honor meant always doing what was right.

Even if it went against your master's wishes.

We are enemies. We are so different from each other. So why? Why does his opinion mean so much to me?

Leonardo had somehow become her conscience, and the presence of such a thing unnerved her. She was her master's greatest weapon, often acting as guard and assassin, and in such professions, a conscience only got in the way. But that fact was beginning to tear her apart; if she had lacked a conscience, or merely ignored it before, then had she actually listened to it, would she have felt remorse? Looking back at some of the things she had done, she did feel remorse. And if she felt remorse…that meant that what she had done was wrong.

That was just one of the many things she hated him for: the fact that he was making her feel guilty for things she'd never regretted before.

She also hated him for the faith he had in her, for the nearly endless, unwavering belief that there was some good in her, that she was honorable and trustworthy. The look of faith and trust that he always turned towards her had quickly turned to one of shock and betrayal when she stabbed him…the expression on his face had haunted her nightmares ever since that experience on her master's ship. She hated that he thought her trustworthy, because she did not. Karai admired Leonardo for his values, for his truthfulness and honor; but she also hated him for it. Those morals were what were tearing her apart.

How things have changed, she mused to herself as she stared out her window at the streets below. Before, I did not wish him harm. I could not bring myself to harm him. She glanced at the desk beside her, her eyes narrowing as she stroked a gentle finger down the blade of the Shredder's gauntlet. And now…now I wish to kill him. Now I think only of finding him and inflicting upon him and his loved ones the pain I have felt. Now, all I can think about is him…and making him suffer as I have suffered. Her thoughts circled and circled, anger building on pain, until finally she cried out, whirling and slicing open a nearby tapestry with the claws.

"Why?! In the name of all the gods, why?" The words poured out of her furiously, her voice sharpening nearly to a shriek. "Why is this happening? Why did I meet him? Why does he affect me like this? Why can't I kill him?"

"Why do I love him?!"

Karai froze, one hand flying up to her mouth. She began to panic, her breath coming faster and faster as her eyes darted around the room. No…oh no, this cannot happen…I did not just say that. Father—he will be so angry!!!

That thought immediately snapped her out of her frenzy. Father would be angry…if he was even here. Her eyes narrowed. But he isn't. Father cannot hear me…because of Leonardo. It's because of him that my father is gone. Anger and panic battled in her chest, fanning each other to a blaze. She breathed deeply, calming herself and tamping the fire down until she could think again. I cannot have such thoughts. There is nothing between us, and even if—even if I wanted there to be, there never could be; there is too much blood to be washed away. Karai once again shoved aside her emotions, lining up the facts carefully. A leader has no room for doubts and insecurities. Leonardo causes me to doubt myself, my master, and my cause; therefore, he must be eliminated. It will start with April O'Neil. And then—

Wait. The rat. Karai sneered. How could I have forgotten him? As much as I hate Leonardo, my father hates his father. A wry smirk crossed her lips at the irony. Like fathers, like son and daughter; hatred fueling a feud that spans two generations.

A quiet voice, the one that often sounded like Leonardo, suddenly spoke up. A feud that you could end, if only you were willing.

No, Karai snarled, furiously silencing that voice. Leonardo must lose his master as I have lost mine. I will finish my father's work and kill him. She calmed again, stumped by another problem. But how to draw the rat out of its hole? Wait…perhaps I could let the Turtles lead me to him…let them think they have "rescued" Miss O'Neil, and follow them back…no. Leonardo, at least, will sense something and know they are being followed. Perhaps tracking devices…?

The idea stuck in her thoughts, prodding her to dial a quick number on the intercom resting on her desk. A few seconds of static passed, and then a bright voice came over the speaker.

"No, no, no, no! I said I needed three sheets of the synthetic alloy per robot, not total! Oh man, this is gonna set me way back! I can't believe—"

"Dr. Chaplin."

"Whoa! What the—oh, right the intercom! Hey, Mistress Karai, what's up?"

"I need your assistance. Do you have any sorts of tracking devices?"

"Do I?! You better believe it! I've got heat-seeking guidance, I've got motion sensors, I've got—"

Karai interrupted, cutting off his enthusiastic rambling. "I meant in the way of portable tracking, Chaplin. Bugs, if you will."

"Oh, you betcha! I've got bugs that you attach only on the surface, I've got ones custom-made for surgical implantation, what's your poison?"

"I believe the surface bugs will suffice."

"No problem!" A moment of rustling was heard, and then Chaplin's boyish voice sounded through the speaker again, his tone colored with concern. "Hey, you sound kinda upset, Mistress. Anything I can help with?"

"No, I don't think—" She closed her mouth, quickly changing her mind. "Yes, Chaplin, I believe there is. I would like your opinion on something."

"Fire away!"

Karai smothered a small smile. She sincerely enjoyed the young doctor's personality for the life it brought to the building; it was even enough to balance out the embarrassing crush he still had for her. It was refreshing to see someone so energetic, naïve though he may be. "Very well. I plan to lure the Turtles out by threatening their friend, Miss O'Neil, but I need them to lead me back to their rat master as well. All but one of them, that is; I will handle Leonardo. But I need some way to plant these bugs of yours on his brothers."

"Boy, are you in luck, Mistress! I just whipped up something the other day, a new kind of sedative for those stars you guys like throwing! I'd love to be able to test it!"

"That sounds excellent, Chaplin."

"Really?" Karai could almost hear the young man's smile over the phone. "Thanks, Karai! I mean, Mistress Karai. Hey, if you don't mind, I've got an idea I could suggest to really make this plan work out awesome."

"Certainly. I'd love to hear it."

"Great! Okay, so here's what we'd do. We get those guys out like you said, and then when they come up, we'll have them meet us somewhere to get that lady back. And then pow! We can hit 'em with a couple darts tipped in this new stuff I've got, and they're out for half an hour easy. Then you can take that one guy—what's his name?"

Karai's eyes narrowed. "Leonardo," she bit out.

"Right, that's the one. Anyways, you'll take him off and show him who's boss, and then we can get these bugs you wanted tagged onto his brothers."

She tilted her head to the side, quickly thinking over the plan and catching a flaw. "But they will go looking for him; they operate almost flawlessly as a team, and if their brother is taken, they will not return to their stronghold without him."

"Oh, really? Bummer. Alright, gimme a second, I'll think of something."

Karai could hear a chorus of rustling and muttering, smiling slightly as she heard the young man talking to himself.

"I've got it! Here's what I'm thinking—it's really cool, and I'm totally sure it'll work; I saw it on this wicked cool movie one time. Okay, so that rat guy's kinda like their dad, right?"

"Yes, he is."

"Great. Okay, so we get everyone knocked out and bugged, and then you take that Leo guy off. Now for the rest of them, I know those guys carry around this super-cool version of a cell phone—I'd love to figure out how they got the frequency set on those, it's really pretty ingenious—"

"Chaplin."

"Right, sorry! Anyways, we use one of those to call their dad—I'm totally sure I can figure out how to use one, so no sweat about that—and we tell him that we've got his sons and that he has to come meet us. And we'll also tell him that we've got that one turtle-guy, Leo, in another place, and that if the rat guy, Sliver—"

"Splinter," Karai corrected.

"Is that what it is? Weird name. So like I was saying, we'll tell him that if he doesn't take the other three guys and leave, we'll kill the Leo guy. Like having a hostage, that's what they did in that movie I was talking about. That way, you'll be free from having his brothers interfere in your fight, and they'll lead us right to their hideout! And bingo, game over!"

Karai stared at the intercom, her mind buzzing with pleasant shock. "Chaplin, that is brilliant."

"Seriously?! Great, I'm glad I could help! I'll get to work on that stuff right away, Mistress! Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes?"

"I just wanna wish you luck with that Leo guy. I know he's why things didn't work out for the big guy; that really sucked. So good luck! Not that you need it, but—"

"Thank you, Chaplin," Karai interrupted, a sad smile tugging at her lips. "You have been of immeasurable assistance."

"No problem, my lady. You just call anytime you need anything. See ya!"

Karai ended the connection, carefully thinking about Chaplin's plan, expecting more problems to appear; and yet, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed flawless.

The Turtles will not risk their friend's safety, so they will assuredly come. And the rat will not risk three of his sons' lives for one, especially when they are helpless, so he will take them back to their home. This will fall together, and they will be destroyed, all because of their own actions. This plan cannot fail.

All that is left is to put this into motion.

With a swift, graceful motion, Karai lunged to her feet, firmly gripping the claws on her wrist. A few strides later she was at the entrance to her chambers, throwing aside the door and revealing the startled Foot ninja there.

"You!" She snapped out, pointing at him with the claws.

The eye holes in the ninja's uniform widened even further, fear emanating off of him. "Y…yes, Mistress Karai?"

"Summon everyone. I want all Foot members to meet me in the usual place, in my father's chamber. Everyone is to be there, do you understand? You have ten minutes."

"Yes, Mistress," the ninja replied, bowing low. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "Mistress, if I may be so bold, what are we gathering for?"

Karai snarled and struck out with the claws on her hand, raking two shallow cuts along the Foot ninja's chest. Blood immediately began trickling along the fabric.

"You may not be so bold as to question me," she hissed, gripping the man's uniform and jerking him closer. "It is not your place."

"Yes, M-Mistress Karai. O…of course. I was wrong, it was not my place. Please f-forgive me," the man stammered, attempting to bow with his shirt still in Karai's grip.

"Silence! Go now, and do as you were told!"

"Hai!"

The man was off like a shot as soon as Karai released him. He had scarcely made it down the hall before she stopped him.

"Wait!"

He cringed and slowly turned around. "Yes, Mistress?" he asked carefully.

Karai stood silently in the doorway, fingering the bloody claws on her hand. "You were wrong to question me, but I will answer you nonetheless." She raised her eyes, anger smoldering in their depths.

"We are going on the hunt. The feud between us and the Turtles ends now."

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The men were quickly assembled, and the announcement delivered. And to Karai's surprise, the men openly accepted the plan; the inactivity was once again bothering them, and they were far too prideful to consider this plan failing like the last one had. Karai ended her speech and sent the men off to train again, then called two of the Foot Tech ninjas to her.

The pair knelt before her. "Yes, Mistress Karai?"

"I wish to have any footage of past fights with the Turtles delivered to my chambers, as well as the footage from when Leonardo invaded the library. I expect it immediately."

Another pair of bows, and they were gone.

Karai dismissed the Elite and headed back to her chambers, thinking the plan over again and working out the last details.

We shall collect the woman tomorrow evening, and deliver a note for the Turtles to find. And then the night after that…they will all come running right to me. I shall have Chaplin and the Foot Techs determine the location of the Turtles' hiding spot once their rat master has collected them, and I shall deal with Leonardo…

A frown found its way onto her face as a tiny flicker of doubt flitted across her mind.

What if you lose?

I will not.

You lost last time. He defeated you and could have killed you. There is no way he will give you such a chance this time; he will kill you. What is there to stop him?

Things will be different this time, Karai assured herself. She remembered Leonardo's words well; she would not go into this battle consumed by rage. Let him be the one at a disadvantage, as he raged over his family's capture. And she would make good use of the tapes the Techs were bringing her; she would spend her time well, watching the footage and learning the new techniques Leonardo was using. She would not be caught unaware again.

Satisfied that she had dealt with the possible flaws, Karai allowed herself a small smile. Reaching her desk, she sat down and reverently fixed the bladed gauntlet onto her hand. Her eyes lost their focus as she continued going over her plan, and her thoughts turned to her enemies. She could all but taste the satisfaction of destroying Leonardo, then forcing him to watch his family die.

"The end is coming, Leonardo. Can you sense it? Can you sense that I am coming for you?" Karai smiled and gently stroked the blades on her wrist. "Because I am, Leonardo. I am coming for you, and when I find you, I will kill you. But before I do, I will make sure you know that I will slaughter your family." Anger and pain darkened her face. "I will see you die with the knowledge that you will no longer be able to protect your family ever again. In your last moments, I will make sure that you suffer as I have suffered."

"The end is coming, Leonardo; can you feel it?"

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"Back-fist strike, again! And hajime!"

Almost done. Raph inhaled deeply, concentrating as he froze in the current position of the last kata they were practicing. Evening training was nearly done, and he'd done well today. He and his brothers held their poses as Splinter scrutinized their forms, making small adjustments here and there.

"Michelangelo, mind the angle of your right arm…" Splinter said, nodding as the orange-banded turtle made the correction. "Good, Raphael…you as well, Donatello. Leonardo, your left leg…Leonardo?"

Raph turned his head slightly to the side, watching Leo like his other brothers. Leo had been slightly off today, not performing up to his normal standards. It ain't like 'im, Raph mused. Normally Sensei never has to correct him, an' this is like what, the third time?

Leo looked up abruptly, obviously distracted. "Yes, Sensei?"

Splinter inclined his head slightly at Leo's feet. "This is the fourth series defensive kata, my son, and the stance…" he trailed off suggestively.

A slight hint of blush darkened Leo's cheeks as he shifted his leg. "The stance is a zenkutsu dachi, not a kiba dachi. Sorry, Master Splinter."

The master nodded, accepting the apology. "Now, all of you, once more. First stance, ichi!"

Raph pulled his concentration back to the kata, moving into a front stance and whipping his fist down in a low strike, thinking through the movements.

"Ni!"

Back flip, high block, split kick.

"San!"

Forward roll, surge up to a deep front stance, roundhouse kick.

"Shi!"

Drop to the floor on both hands, spin kick, leap back up, and hammer fist.

"Go!"

Back flip once more, low block and high strike.

"And yame."

Stand at attention, bow…and collapse on the floor.

Raph groaned and flopped backward onto his shell, wiping sweat off his face. The training session had been exhausting, and all four turtles were breathing hard. None of them had said anything, even after Splinter announced that they would be training for an additional half an hour; they all knew why he had stepped up the intensity. Leo's dream had concerned Splinter, especially considering the safety of his sons, and he was determined to prepare them as much as possible.

Splinter shook his head at his sons' reactions, but smiled slightly. "This was a good practice, my sons. I will see you again tomorrow morning."

A quiet groan crept out of Raph's throat. Great, he growled to himself. More katas.

The old master raised an eyebrow, his expression humored. "And for those who are concerned," he said, glancing at Raph pointedly, "there will not be any more katas; tomorrow's sessions shall be largely sparring."

Raph grinned, the expression slightly guilty. "Sounds good to me, Sensei."

Mikey's head lifted off the floor marginally. "Aw, no more katas? Bummer."

"Yes, I can sense your disappointment, Michelangelo," Splinter said wryly. "You are dismissed, my sons. I suggest dinner before you break into your own activities."

"Woo!" Mikey flipped to his feet in a flash, dashing out of the kitchen. "Spaghetti, here I come!"

Splinter sighed and shook his head. "That boy makes me tired." Walking out of the dojo, he called back over his shoulder to the three teens behind him. "Please inform your brother that practice tomorrow will start precisely at 7." Unintelligible grunts were his only answer, and he nodded, satisfied. "I will see you all then."

A few minutes passed before any of the turtles made any attempt to move. Don hauled himself to his feet first, groaning as he walked out of the dojo. "There is a couch and an icepack with my name on them. I'll see you guys in the kitchen."

Raph grunted and stood as well. "I'm right behind ya, Don. Save me a couch cushion." Flexing his sore arms and shoulders, he followed Don out. Halfway to the kitchen he stopped. "Hey, where's Leo?"

Don shrugged. "Still in there, isn't he?"

"I dunno. I guess he must be. Gimme a sec, I'll go get him." Raph headed back to the dojo. A few steps from the door he heard the familiar sound of metal slicing through the air, and shook his head in disbelief. "You have got to be kiddin' me," he muttered, pushing open the door. It opened slowly, revealing Leo working through yet another kata.

"Bro, you have got some serious issues," Raph announced. "Didja miss the part where Sensei said 'practice is over'?"

"I know it's over, Raph," Leo replied tersely, turning his back to his brother as he moved through the kata.

"Great. Then why're ya still in here?"

"I needed some time to—I just needed some time."

Raph sighed and walked over to his brother. Moving quickly, he snatched Leo's swords from his grip, then swept his legs out from underneath him, sending him to the floor.

Leo's breath flew out of him as he landed on his back. He coughed, trying to get his wind back and glaring at his brother as Raph sat down beside him. "What—the shell—was that for?" he demanded.

"That was for yer own good, shell-fer-brains. I don't care how good'a shape yer in; we've been practicin' for almost two hours. Even you could use a break."

"I don't want a break."

"Well, ya look like shell, so obviously you need one," Raph drawled, glancing at the bags under Leo's eyes. "When was the last time you slept, bro?"

"…Yesterday morning."

Raph just stared at his brother. "You've had two hours of sleep in two days? That's it?!"

"Sleeping hasn't exactly been restful for me lately, if you hadn't noticed," Leo snapped.

"So ya just decided to give up on it all together?"

"What else am I supposed to do?!" Leo shouted, his temper snapping. "You want me to go to sleep? Go and be trapped in that stupid premonition again? Why? I already know what happens! April gets captured because of us, we go to find her, we get ambushed, I fight Karai, and someone dies. And there's nothing I can do about any of that! It's a premonition; it can't be avoided. It's going to happen soon anyway, right? Tell me why I need to go through that again any earlier than I have to!"

Raph gaped at his brother, speechless. Leo was shaking with emotion and fatigue, angry tears gathering in his eyes. "Leo—"

Leo looked away, blinking quickly. "Just—just go, Raph. Just get out of here," he said quietly, picking up his swords.

"I—" Raph faltered, watching as Leo turned his back on him, beginning another kata. He nodded slowly, standing and walking out of the room. "Yeah. Okay."

He made it to the kitchen before he collapsed in a chair, burying his head in his hands. A soft voice reached his ears.

"What was that all about?"

Raph glanced up to see Mikey standing beside him, holding two plates of spaghetti. The red-banded turtle smiled slightly and pushed out a chair for his brother, accepting the offered plate. He stared at the spaghetti, then sighed. "It's Leo."

"Turtle of the hour," Mikey joked gently.

"Yer tellin' me." Another sigh escaped Raph's lips. "He's gonna lose it completely before this shit even hits the fan."

Mikey frowned, his brow etched with concern. "What are you talking about, Raph?"

"I'm talkin' about what just happened," Raph said, pushing his spaghetti around on his plate before meeting Mikey's eyes. "This premonition thing is drivin' Leo nuts. Instead'a takin' a break after two hours of practice he's still in there goin' at it 'cause "he needs some time"."

"That's how Leo deals with things," a new voice pointed out quietly.

Raph turned to see Don come into the kitchen and join them at the table. Mikey stood wordlessly and grabbed another plate, sliding the food over to his purple-clad brother.

"You and Leo both handle things that way," Don continued as the three of them dug into their dinner, "working things out physically if meditation doesn't work."

"Except I still believe in sleep," Raph retorted.

Don's brows dropped rapidly. "Excuse me?"

Raph jerked his thumb in the direction of the dojo. "Turns out Fearless hasn't slept since the two hours he got yesterday mornin' before comin' down here and, surprise surprise, workin' out. And I get the sinking feelin' that he ain't plannin' on hittin' the hay tonight either."

"Geez…" Don held his face in one hand. "He's refusing to sleep because of his premonition, isn't he," he muttered, the phrase more statement than question.

"You got it."

Don sighed in exasperation. "He's going to burn out before anything even happens. The moon won't be full for another two days, and he's essentially gone three days already. A body can only go so long without sleeping. There's no way he can make it with no sleep and still expect to face—whatever it is that's coming."

"Doesn't mean he won't try it," Raph snorted.

The purple-banded turtle groaned. "Isn't he supposed to be the sensible, responsible one?"

Raph smirked slightly. "Depends on the day of the week for the sensible part."

"So what're we gonna do?" Mikey asked.

Don shrugged. "Find a heavy, blunt object and beat him over the head with it?"

A grin crept onto Mikey's face. "What, you mean like Raph?"

Smack!

"Oww!" Mikey complained, rubbing the back of his head. "Fine, I was just trying to help."

Silence took over the kitchen again as the three turtles tried to figure out a way to help their brother.

"Should we try Master Splinter?" Don suggested.

Raph shook his head. "Nah. I don't think Leo would even listen to Sensei fer somethin' like this. Plus Sensei's prob'ly not gonna make Leo go to sleep."

"We could drug him," Mikey joked, covering his head with a grin as he waited for another swat.

Raph and Don were silent, considering looks on their faces as they glanced at each other.

Mikey gulped nervously. "Guys…I was joking…"

Don sighed. "I know you were, Mikey. It's just that…this isn't healthy. This—what's going to happen…we're all going to need to be ready. And if Leo won't let this go—"

"How am I supposed to let this go?"

All three turtles' heads whipped around at the quietly angry words, guilt gnawing at them as they saw their oldest brother.

Leo was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, his expression tired and angry. His hands shook slightly, though he didn't seem to notice.

"How am I supposed to let this go?" he repeated, a note of desperation coloring his voice. "How do I ignore something like this? How am I supposed to handle this, knowing that we're going to be attacked and that someone is going to be killed? Knowing that there's nothing I can do about it? Would you like to tell me exactly how I'm supposed to let that go?"

Don made an attempt to stand. "Leo—"

"No." Leo slashed his hand downwards, cutting off his brother. "I know what you're going to tell me. "Calm down, Leo. Just try and forget about it, Leo." Don't you think I want to? Do you think I want to remember this?" Leo's voice trembled. "Do you think I honestly want to see those images every single time I close my eyes? The premonition doesn't even come anymore, but I still can't stop seeing these things. Do you think I want to be afraid to sleep, or even just meditate? I don't, but I am, because I know that vision will be there every single time."

His brothers were silent, unsure of what to say, while Leo stood in the doorway, shaking.

Don stood and walked over to his oldest brother, placing a gentle hand on Leo's shoulder and turning him around. He walked Leo out of the kitchen and into his lab. Raph and Mikey could hear quiet murmuring, and Don and Leo emerged after a couple minutes. They walked up the stairs and disappeared into Leo's room, and after another few minutes Don came back downstairs alone.

No one spoke as Don walked into the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. He spoke quietly, not looking at his brothers.

"I gave Leo some sleeping pills. He ought to be out until sometime tomorrow morning."

There was silence as this was processed, and then Raph glanced up at his brother.

"Will he have any dreams?"

Don shook his head. "Hopefully not. Sleeping pills induce a deeper sleep than that of the REM cycle, which is the level at which dreams normally occur."

"But this isn't a dream," Mikey protested, confused.

"You're right, it's not," Don agreed tiredly. "But Leo said he hasn't had the actual premonition since he told us about it."

Raph frowned. "Then what's been messin' him up this bad?"

"A form of mental reruns, probably," the purple-banded turtle replied. "Do you guys remember how things were for all of us after what happened in the Volpehart building? We all had nightmares for a while because of what we saw. Really disturbing images or experiences like that are hard for a mind to get over, so it kind of keeps replaying them in order to try and deal with the memory or situation. And for Leo, especially with the over-protectiveness he's got…this is just really difficult for him."

"So what do we do now?" Raph asked.

"Now we plan as much as we can while we have the time," Don answered, meeting his brother's eyes. "Given what Leo told us, Mikey and I managed to narrow down the location to about five or six buildings. Once Leo wakes up tomorrow we're going to take him out and get a positive confirmation of the location. In the meantime, I'm working on a couple different things."

Mikey's eyes lit up. "What kind of things?"

Don narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Nothing for you to play with. We know that April's going to be involved in this, so I'm developing some smoke bombs that can be activated via remote. We can set them up on the roof when we figure out where everything is going to be taking place, and that way we can hopefully buy a few seconds in order to get April the shell out of there."

Raph smirked. "And what about us?"

The purple-banded turtle snorted. "Yeah. And hopefully us too. But knowing our history with luck…I wouldn't bet on anything."

All three turtles fell silent, until Mikey spoke up.

"Guys…are we going to die?"

Don looked at his brother his expression solemn. "I hope not, Mikey. Leo said that in his premonition…someone does die. He just…doesn't know who."

Raph cleared his throat in discomfort, unwilling to linger on the question. "Alright. Don, you said yer gonna work on those smoke bombs, right? What do you want us ta do?"

"Mikey, I need you to call April. Fill her in; let her know about everything that's going on. I'd rather she wasn't involved in this at all, but since she is, she needs the warning. Raph, I want you to get a hold of Casey. We could definitely use his help in getting April out of there."

The two turtles nodded. "You got it, Don."

Don headed to his lab while Mikey made a beeline for the couch and the phone, still carrying his plate of spaghetti. Raph quickly went upstairs, heading for his room in search of his Shell Cell. On his way, he passed Leo's room and halted suddenly; the door was slightly ajar. Raph carefully pushed it open a few inches further and leaned against the doorjamb, checking on his brother.

Leo was lying on his side, facing the door, arms and legs curled inwards slightly. Raph grinned slightly; normally he'd take the opportunity to make fun of Leo for sleeping in the fetal position, but at the moment he was just glad Leo was sleeping at all.

Raph studied his brother. Leo's face still bore signs of exhaustion, both in the paleness of his skin and the tightness of the worry lines along his brow. The hothead sighed, the smile replaced by a contemplative frown.

I dunno why, bro, but it always seems ta be you, doesn't it? The one ta get hurt, the one that has to figure out what to do when crap like this comes up. You always seem ta be standin' alone against that kinda thing, and I don't think I've ever heard ya complain about it till now, and that's only 'cause yer at the end of yer rope. Raph shook his head and backed silently out of the room, closing the door gently behind him. He laid a hand on the door, his thoughts on his brother.

Maybe one of these days you'll finally realize that we're all right here, and that ya ain't always gotta face everythin' alone. That's what yer always tellin' us, 'cept you seem to think that the support doesn't apply to you, just everyone else. We're all in this together, bro. That's what a team is.

That's what a family is.

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Leo woke slowly, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. He rolled over to face his bedside table and looked at the clock.

11:48.

"What?!"

Leo flailed and all but fell out of bed, grabbing the clock again and rubbing his eyes, trying to see if he'd just read the time wrong. But no, the little green numbers still displayed the same time.

The blue-banded turtle groaned. Why…no, how the shell did I sleep this late? Especially without any dreams—

Without any dreams.

The realization suddenly hit him that he hadn't suffered through his premonition last night, and for a moment that fact eased the dismay of sleeping through breakfast, morning practice, and nearly lunch.

Only for a moment, though; then he was up and hurriedly climbing into his gear.

Shell, this'll be fun to explain to Sensei. Not to mention the crap I'm gonna get from Raph, Mikey and Don. If it's not one thing, it's—

The scenes of the past day suddenly clicked into his head. Yesterday evening, staying after practice.

Raph getting on his case, the two of them yelling at each other again.

Hearing his brothers in the kitchen, walking in to find them talking about him.

Don taking him to his lab, and giving him—

Sleeping pills.

Leo shook his head as the fog fully cleared out of his memory. How on earth did I forget that?

After he'd blown up at his brothers last night, an event that now brought heat to his face, Don had pulled him into the lab and quietly asked him if he'd like some help sleeping. Leo had been at the end of his rope and agreed.

Of course, he never said anything about sleeping for twelve hours straight, Leo grumbled to himself. Tying his bandana on firmly, he reached for the door and paused. Part of him wanted to just stay in his room, to just ignore what was going on and hide in bed until it went away. If only it was that easy…

Shaking his thoughts aside, he opened the door and padded out into the main part of the Lair, intending to look for his family in the dojo or the TV room. Hearing a series of bangs and arguing from the kitchen, he changed course, grinning at what sounded like a war over lunch.

He paused in the doorway, seeing his brothers all hunched over and peering in the refrigerator.

"Mikey, there's no way we're having that for lunch."

"Aw, c'mon, Don, why not?"

"'Cause you always put the freakiest, nastiest crap on pizza when ya get a hold of it, an' 'cause none of us remember how old it is."

"Don't be such a sissy, Raph. It's just pizza with marshmallows and chocolate sauce. It can't be that bad."

"With how loud you guys are, it's no wonder I need drugs just to sleep," Leo interjected mildly, his tone joking.

Three heads shot up at his sudden words, all of them slamming on the top shelf of the fridge with a chorus of swearing.

"Leo!" Mikey grinned, wincing as he rubbed his head. "Feelin' better?"

"Much," Leo smiled back. He glanced over at Don. "Thanks."

Don smiled, holding a small lump on his forehead. "Anytime."

"Hey, Leo, get over here," Raph called, motioning to the refrigerator.

"What?"

"D'you remember how old this pizza is?" Raph asked, gesturing at the slices sitting on a plate. "We're tryin' ta figure out if it's still safe ta eat."

Leo stared at his brother. "You can't remember and yet you're still actually considering it?"

"Yeah, so?"

The blue-banded turtle shook his head. "Alright, let me see it." Raph moved aside, and Leo peered into the fridge. A couple seconds later he pulled back, looking rather disturbed. "Guys, that pizza is from about a week and a half ago."

Raph and Mikey glanced at each other. "That doesn't sound that bad," Mikey commented, shrugging. "Besides, marshmallows and chocolate sauce don't exactly go bad really fast."

"Except that a week and a half ago the toppings were barbeque sauce and jalapenos."

All three of the younger turtles turned even greener than usual.

"Alright, now that's just nasty," Raph muttered, backing away from the fridge.

Don shook his head and grabbed a trash bag and an oven mitt. Keeping his distance as much as possible, he carefully threw the pizza away, then washed his hands off furiously. "That is just sad. I've grown less revolting things in Petri dishes than the stuff that somehow manages to mutate in our refrigerator."

"Well, how about sandwiches instead?" Leo suggested. "They ought to be fairly safe."

All four glanced at the contents of the lunchmeat drawer.

"So it's time to play 'guess that lunchmeat'?" Mikey asked.

The turtles fell silent, then looked over at the elevator as the doors suddenly opened.

Casey stepped out with his arms full of pizza boxes and cans of pop. "Hey guys, Raph told me to come over, so I figured I'd bring some chow too. Didn't think ya'd mind."

Mikey cheered and ran for the proffered food. "We're saved!"

Don was right on his heels. "Michelangelo, you aren't touching any of that until we get at least one box of normal pizza."

Leo shook his head as he and Raph followed their brothers. "What'd you tell Casey to come over for?" he asked.

Raph glanced at his brother. "War council," he said, his tone joking. "We're fillin' him in on what's goin' on, an' then we're all goin' out tonight to scope things out."

"And then tomorrow night the moon is full," Leo said softly.

The red-banded turtle nodded seriously.

"And then it's show time."

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"Casey, will you please try to keep up?" Don asked, looking behind him.

The man threw a dirty look at the turtle speaking. "'scuse me fer not…runnin' around rooftops in my spare time."

"How else would you get around?" Mikey joked. "Only losers drive cars."

The five of them traveled quickly, making their way to the area that Don and Mikey had marked off.

"Alright, we've got it narrowed down to there few rooftops," Don said. "Keep an eye—aw shell. Hold up guys, these smoke bombs are rattling around too much, I need to rearrange them." He slowed to a stop, unzipping the bag he carried.

"Geez, Don, weren't ya th'one who packed 'em?" Casey asked wryly. "Yer holdin' everybody up."

"Shut it, Casey." Don rummaged through the bag, trying to settle the contents. He turned his head slightly, talking over his shoulder. "Hey Leo, let me know if you see your rooftop, okay? These ones coming up ought to be—"

Raph's voice suddenly rang out. "Leo! Hey, Leo, what the hell?!"

Don's head jerked up to see Leo suddenly take off across the rooftops again. He hurriedly finished rearranging the contents of his bag, standing with his brothers. "Where's he going?"

"I think he found his rooftop," Mikey replied as the four of them chased after Leo.

By the time they caught up with Leo, he was frozen in place on top of a building, staring at the rooftop around him.

Don stuck his arms out, keeping his brothers and Casey back. He then pulled out his bo staff and carefully approached Leo.

"Leo? Leo, it's Don. Are you okay bro?"

Leo didn't respond. His eyes darted around the rooftop, his breathing accelerating.

Don reached into a small pouch on his belt and pulled out a handful of powder. He then walked closer to Leo, shifting his bo into an attack-ready position.

"Don," Raph hissed from behind him. "Bro, you sure this is a good idea?"

"No," Don admitted, still walking nearer to his silent, still brother. "But we knew he'd probably freeze up from being out here, and you've already expressed your opinion of being thrown anymore. Someone's got to do it, Raph." He glanced back, half his mouth lifting in a wry grin. "If he throws me off the building, keep Mikey out of my lab."

With that, he whipped his bo at Leo, aiming low at his brother's legs. Leo snapped around in an instant, grabbing the staff and yanking Don closer. As soon as the distance between them had been cut in half, Don threw his handful of powder full in Leo's face.

Leo dropped the staff, coughing furiously and rubbing his eyes. He blinked rapidly, looking around himself in a daze. "What…what's going on?"

Don sheathed his bo with a small smile and carefully tugged Leo back to the rest of the group. "We found your rooftop, and you kind of froze."

"I did?" Leo groaned and palmed his face. "Did I hit Raph again?"

"Not this time," Don chuckled. "That's what those smelling salts were for. Sorry about getting them in your eyes, though."

"That's okay. Thanks for…just thanks, Don."

"It's not a problem, bro. Go with everyone else and wait on that building," Don said, pointing to the building beside them. "I'm going to get these smoke bombs set up and coordinated with the remote and then we'll head back. Just talk to Mikey and try not to worry about anything."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, sounds good." He quickly cleared the space between the two buildings.

Don pulled out his equipment and quickly got to work, positioning the six smoke bombs around the perimeter of the rooftop and programming each one to a different key on the remote for a timed detonation. Ten minutes later he secured the last bomb and stowed his tools. He then stood and made one final check of each bomb.

"Doonn—ieee…" Mikey's whine floated across the rooftops. "Can we go already?"

The purple-banded turtle rolled his eyes and leaped over to join his brothers and Casey. "Patience is a virtue, you know," he informed his younger brother.

"That's nice."

Don shook his head and walked off. "Alright, let's get out of here. We're going to be back here soon enough already."

The five of them quickly set off across the rooftops, and Don found himself shooting a last glance back at the building they'd just left behind. Shutting his eyes for a second, he made a quick wish.

Please let all of us leave here alive next time, too…

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Leo sighed, trying to keep his frustration under control. After a couple of days of vigorous physical training, Master Splinter was now working with them on meditation, seeking to prepare them mentally and spiritually as well. They were working with water meditation; each one of them had a bowl, and would seek to calm their bodies and minds together. As their bodies' tenseness stopped shaking the bowl and causing the water to ripple, their minds would relax as well. Unfortunately, Leo was finding it nearly impossible to clear his mind. Instead of each thought and worry disappearing like the water ripples, they seemed to keep multiplying. Tonight was the first night of the full moon, and Leo had been on edge all day. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't seem to calm himself, and he could easily tell that his brothers were almost as tense as he was; he'd felt their eyes on him all day long.

He shook his head again and took another deep breath, determined to get himself to focus.

Calmness…serenity…tranquility… Leo thought to himself. Take these qualities from the water into your own being. Send each thought, care and worry away on the lessening ripples…

Leo tried again to push all thought away when a sudden force flared up in his mind, the taste of a warning ricocheting around his consciousness. His eyes shot open, the bowl slipping from his fingers, water spilling over the sides.

"April…" he whispered. He turned and bolted out of the dojo, making it halfway to door of the Lair before his bowl even hit the ground.

He could hear his brothers scrambling behind him, shouting for him to wait, but he couldn't stop. The warning in his mind was like electricity; it spat along every nerve and mixed with the anxiety still lingering from his premonitions, pushing him even faster. He could feel guilt begin to churn with the worry sitting heavily in his gut, both increasing at the thought of April.

I guess my premonition was right…April's in trouble. I can't believe I never even considered it coming to this before now, he thought to himself angrily. Our lifestyle, our enemies…we don't have room for friends. I should have expected that our problems would eventually endanger them.

Leo pushed the thoughts aside as he flew up the nearest ladder, trying to put all of his energy into moving faster. In a second he was out on the street; another breath saw him leaping up a fire escape, and then he was on the roofs and flying again. Three flickers gently brushed his mind, and suddenly his brothers were right there, soaring across the rooftops right along with him.

Raph pulled alongside him, breathing furiously. "Damn, bro, you been drinkin' jet fuel or somethin'?"

"She's in trouble, Raph," Leo said tightly, worry constricting his throat.

"I know, bro. That's why we're all out here."

"It's my fault. I should have realized before now that we were a threat to her safety. The Foot found out where she lived once before; I should have known they'd probably still be watching her."

Raph shook his head. "It ain't yer fault, Leo. They haven't gone after April or Case before; we didn't have a reason ta think that they ever would."

"We still should have—"

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda, bro; none'a that helps us now."

"I know," Leo replied, his breath tight in his lungs. "I just hope we get the chance to correct that mistake."

The four of them flew along at the breakneck speed Leo had set, making the ten minute trip to April's apartment in merely six. Leo halted at last, then jumped down to the fire escape landing that lay right below April's kitchen window, swearing when he saw the window already open. He crept into the apartment quietly, landing inside with hardly a sound. A split second later he drew his katana, the hissing, shivery ring of the metal failing to comfort him. A series of small noises behind him alerted him to his brothers' entrances. Leo shot a glance back at them, then carefully proceeded into the apartment. No more than three steps into the living room, the glimmer of light on steel grabbed his attention. A small knife was planted in the wall, firmly securing a leaf of paper that fluttered in the breezy room.

Dammit…Leo sheathed his katana angrily. The lone note and the sheer silence of the apartment easily confirmed what he feared…

"We're too late," Raph said lowly, coming up to stand beside Leo. "Those pieces of shit—"

Leo didn't answer, but moved forward and pulled the knife out of the wall, catching the freed paper. He glanced down at the hilt of the knife and glared at the Foot insignia, as well as the kanji carved beneath it.

Don stepped up beside his brothers, narrowing his eyes at the blade. "That's Hun's, isn't it?"

Mikey peered over Leo's shoulder and shuddered, rubbing at a slight scar on his left bicep. "Yeah, that's the one, trust me; me and my arm recognize it."

Leo nodded and carefully stowed the weapon in his belt. He remembered the blade as well. Hun had surprised all of them by started to carry the weapon with him since the behemoth normally fought with his bare hands; it ended up giving Hun another advantage that, in the Turtles' opinion, the man didn't need. "We'll make sure we return it to him," Leo said darkly.

"What's the note say?" Raph asked.

"Nothing we don't already know," Leo murmured softly before he read the note out loud.

Turtles,

Miss O'Neil is in our possession. If you wish to see her again, you will come to the top of the abandoned apartment building on Fifth Street tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock. All four of you, and only the four of you, will be there, or she dies.

Oroku Karai

Silence filled the apartment, worry pressing hard on all of them.

"Well, that's it, then," Leo said impassively, stowing the letter in his belt and making his way back to the window. "Let's go."

Don's face was full of confusion. "What? Leo, what about April? We can't just—"

"We're not going to." Leo's voice was steely. "Nothing is going to happen to anyone in this family. We will get her back."

"But—"

A dark green hand landed on Don's shoulder, cutting off his protest. Raph met his younger brother's gaze and shook his head slightly. "Let it go, Don," he murmured, his voice low.

"Let it go? Raph—"

"I know, bro," Raph said quietly. "We're all worried 'bout Ape, but this is hard enough fer Leo as it is. We've got a plan, an' we'll get her back tomorrow. Just…let 'im be fer now."

Don opened his mouth to object again, then sighed and nodded, following his brothers out of the apartment.

The four of them were soon making their way back home, Leo and Raph running side by side again.

Raph glanced at his brother and sighed. The silence was getting to him, and he needed to hear Leo say something, anything, to let him know that his big brother wasn't about to snap. "I guess we know yer vision was definitely right, huh?" A moment later he cringed. That. Was. REALLY STUPID, he berated himself.

"Yeah…and now we're out of time," Leo said softly. The past and present moments of their actions were shifting back and forth, from premonition to reality, and they were starting to disorient him.

"We've done all we could, bro; we've got a plan fer gettin' April outta there, an' we're as ready as we're ever gonna be. 'Sides, time don't wait."

"I know," Leo replied tiredly. "Ko-in ya no gotoshi."

Raph furrowed his brow. "What's that one mean again? I know Sensei likes that sayin', just can't remember what it means."

"'Time flies like an arrow'," Leo translated. He sighed, troubled by the truth of the proverb.

"Now we just have to see who the arrow is going to hit."

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A/N: OMFG, it's done!! Once again, I have been absolutely terrible and taken 3 weeks to update. . I honestly don't know how you guys put up with me. But hopefully, this 31 page monstrosity will make up for the length of time between updates. This was another chapter that sort of went haywire; I totally wasn't expecting how it came out. But it's here now, so yay for that. XD I tried to make everything as clear as possible time-wise, so I hope there's no confusion about that. If there is, just PM me or something and I can try to clear things up. And…yeah. Again, I am really sorry about the delay for this. I've had a majorly huge speech that's been taking up my time, and with how long this turned out, it just kind of took forever to get this up here.

I do hope that everyone's in character in this chapter; Chaplin is one I've never really written before, so I hope I did alright with him and his mannerisms. As for Leo and Karai…I really, REALLY hope they're not OOC. I've been trying really hard to keep Leo in character while still showing how this premonition has been affecting him. And with Karai, I think I did alright with her; this was my whole "get-inside-her-head" chapter, like how I interpret things to be for her and how everything has and is affecting her. Please, please, PLEASE tell me how I did with those guys; even if it's "omg, you totally killed all these characters, wtf did you do to them" some feedback would be really appreciated. :D Domo arigato.

As you can probably guess, this is the last of the calm, expository chapters; after this all shell breaks loose. :D Things will be really crazy for nearly the rest of the story, but I think you guys will enjoy this. I've put a lot of thought into this story, trying to get inside the characters' (mainly Leo and Karai's) heads, and I hope it pays off. And as you can tell with the scene with Karai, there will be just as much emotional focus as there will be physical focus. So thank you guys SO much for reading, and for putting up with my updating schedule (or really, the lack thereof). So please enjoy this chapter, and please read and review! Thanks and take care. :D