Just wanted to say thank you, thank you Liz for the reveiw, it really means a lot. This is sort of a short chapter. It was one of those things where there was not an easy split between this chapter and the next which is longer. *Sigh*

Also just an author's note, my stories are soooo long! I apologize in advance, but hopefully everyone will stick with reading this and there will be a few twists and turns along the way. Enjoy!

Also will be posting the next chapter within the next couple of days.=)

Chapter 13

Leonardo walked out of Donatello's room. Donatello had still been asleep when he had woken up so he was trying to be as quiet as he could be. He looked down the hall. He saw a chair sitting outside Katherine's room. He frowned. "That's a little extreme." He said to himself. He knew Raphael had been angry with him, knew that he was still angry with himself. If he were honest he felt more ashamed than anything. He walked to her door. Either Raphael was in there with her right now, or Raphael had abandoned his post which meant she was alone, and still sleeping. If she was still sleeping then she needed her rest. He walked past her door and walked down the hall to the stairs. He was going to get some breakfast, then go back and talk to Donatello to find out how long they would have to stay here until he was able to be moved back home.

Michelangelo was sitting at the table eating cereal. "Morning Mikey, anyone else up?" He asked.

Michelangelo shrugged. "I think Raph is in the training room and I think Kitten is still sleeping."

Leonardo nodded. "Go get Raph, tell him to meet me in Donny's room."

Michelangelo finished his cereal, stood and went to go get Raphael.

Leonardo ate some toast and walked back to Donatello's room bringing some toast with him. He hoped Donatello was in the mood to eat. If he was then it was a good sign that he was recovering.

When he entered Donatello's room Raphael and Michelangelo were already there. Michelangelo was sitting in the chair by Donatello's bed, while Raphael was leaning against the antique dark wood dresser, arms crossed, looking pale and tired.

"What's goin on Leo?" Raphael asked him.

Leonardo clenched his teeth together. He was going to have a hard time convincing his brothers that leaving Katherine's as soon as possible was the best thing for all of them. After all, nothing had changed, in fact things had gotten worse.

"Humph, still want to go Fearless?" Raphael asked him the anger beginning to burn in Raphael's eyes.

"Of course I want to go. We can't stay here." He insisted.

"Yeah, why's that? Kitten doesn't seem to be in any rush to kick us out." Raphael said in a low angry voice.

"That isn't the point Raph. The point is that Kitten is leaving soon. It is a little over three weeks until Christmas and she will be going home to see her family. After Christmas she is going to England remember?" He growled "Besides we were supposed to be out of her life so she wouldn't be put in any danger from our enemies, so she wouldn't get hurt, and look what we've done to her!" Leonardo yelled at Raphael. "You nearly killed her, and because of what she did to Donny, she's probably lost decades off of her life at the very least! Her hair is now completely white! We did that to her! The sooner we are out of her life, the sooner she will be able to move on with it! She's better off without us!" He managed to finish.

"Well I am so glad you have my entire life worked out for me Leonardo. After all I had no idea what I wanted out of it. I am glad you are here to make all of my decisions and tell me how I should live my life." Katherine's husky voice was harsh and full of mockery.

Leonardo closed his eyes and slowly turned around. He opened his eyes ready to talk some sense into Katherine. She strode up to him angrily. He blinked in shock. She hadn't sounded mad, but Katherine was furious. Actually she was in a towering rage. He had never seen Katherine so angry. She was always calm, always exuded total and complete control of her emotions. He watched the anger roll around in her eyes. He took a step back. He had faced down Raphael's anger numerous times and it had never bothered him. But Katherine's anger was far different than Raphael's. Whereas Raphael's anger burned brightly and hotly, Katherine's anger was as cold and merciless as a winter wasteland.

He swallowed. "Katherine..." He began.

"Don't you dare 'Katherine' me Leonardo." She said harshly, narrowing her eyes. "Don't pretend to protect me when the only one you are protecting is yourself." She said ruthlessly. Leonardo blinked at her in shock, he felt himself pale slightly. His eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "You don't get to decided my future or my fate, I do. I chose to save Donatello, whatever the cost. It was my choice, not yours and I don't regret it. If I lost a good twenty, thirty, forty years or more off my life, so be it. I will pay that price for Donatello's life, it was worth it. Did Raphael nearly kill me, yes, but so what? So did that car when I was walking across the street on Halloween. So did the bullet that was fired at me when I ran from the Red Dragons. It could have struck me instead of just hitting the arm of my coat. I could have been killed when my SUV hit a patch of black ice and slid into the path of a semi. I could die tomorrow and I am not going to sit around and wonder when my number is going to be up. If I become a target because of who and what you are, then I will take that chance." She said evenly.

He had paled slightly and he felt as if the room was beginning to waver slightly. He had saved her from the car on Halloween, but he hadn't known that the Red Dragons had shot at her, hadn't known about her brush with death on the treacherous back roads around the property.

"And where do you get off telling me what my future plans are?" She said to him in a voice so cold and emotionless he could practically feel the ice forming on each word she spoke. He would have preferred it if she had yelled at him then, at least yelling he understood. When someone was yelling they were beyond being rational, but as she coolly ripped a strip off him with words as sharp as the blade of a knife, he knew he could not argue with her because she was completely rational. "I am not going home for Christmas. I have already told my family this and though they were disappointed they understood my need to stay here. I have also given up my position as part of the archaeological dig team that is going to England in the spring, not in January. Who would dig in the middle of January?" She asked him.

"But...Kitten you were so excited to go on that trip, it was going to be a great experience for you and it was going to help you out with your Master's thesis." Donatello said in shock.

Katherine did not look away from Leonardo's eyes. "I called both my family and the University the day after I arrived here." She said impatiently. "There will always be other digs, some things are more important." Her eyes narrowed again. "So Leonardo putting aside all of the bullshit you are trying to feed to your brothers, tell me honestly, if you wish to leave because you dislike me so much? If this is the reason you want to leave so quickly let me assure you, you do not have to suffer my company. You are free to leave at any time. If you do not trust that I can take care of Donatello, then this is a very large house, I am sure we can find a way to avoid each other quite easily, otherwise you are all welcome to stay as long as you wish."

Leonardo swallowed. A lump had formed in his throat. The thought that she believed he hated her made him feel ill. "I ...I don't hate you, I just..." He began his words rough with emotion.

"You can't shoulder the responsibility of everyone's life upon yourself Leonardo. We have free will, it's what makes us human. It means we can make our own choices and then we have to live with the consequences of those choices." She said mercilessly. With that last parting shot she strode angrily from the room.

Leonardo watched as the door closed softly behind her.

"I think that's the scariest thing I've ever seen." Michelangelo said, his voice full of shock. The problem was Leonardo absolutely agreed with him. "I think I would rather face all of the Shredder's elite foot ninjas plus the Shredder himself than ever have Kitten that angry with me." Michelangelo continued.

Raphael and Donatello were nodding and looking at the closed door to the room. All of his brothers looked at him. "We still don't live here." He managed to grumble out.

"Two weeks." Donatello said. "I should be able to leave in about two weeks."

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I ain't hanging around here for the next two weeks with only one pair of underwear and the clothes I'm wearing on my back, and Donny doesn't even have a shirt or a coat. I vote we get back to the lair, grab some of our stuff, and just leave Leo there." Raphael said with a malicious grin.

"Funny." Leonardo said to him.

Raphael narrowed his eyes. "I'm still pissed at you Leo, but it looks like Kitten can take care of herself. I told you Kitten had claws. We'd better get going if we want to make it back at a decent hour today." Raphael said leaving the room, probably to go have a conversation with Katherine.

Leonardo nodded as Katherine walked back into the room followed closely by Raphael. Leonardo stopped and took a few steps back. Katherine's cool gaze travelled over him. She held a laptop under her arm.

"Hey Donatello, Raphael says everyone is heading to the lair to pick up some stuff. I thought you might want to have a little something to do to keep yourself occupied." She said with a smile. She crawled onto the bed and plopped the laptop in Donatello's lap. "I thought that maybe you could help me set this thing up. I mean it works I suppose, but I don't know anything about computers."

Donatello looked at the laptop and gave a half smile. Leonardo felt jealousy rip through him. He stamped it down. It was Donatello. Donatello opened the laptop, a frown crossing his face. He pulled out a card. Katherine paled and then sighed. She took the card from his fingers.

"How many of these do you have laying around." Donatello asked.

"Only the one." She said softly.

"Your Uncle was into Tarot cards?" Donatello asked her.

Katherine shook her head. "I'm not sure. It fell out of the envelope containing all of the legal documents. And it has been following me around ever since."

Donatello frowned.

"You mean you've been carrying it around." Michelangelo said to her.

She shook her head. "No it literally follows me around. The last time I saw this card it was in this room."

"But who...?" Donatello asked.

She shrugged.

Raphael had a strange look on his face. He looked as if he was going to say something then changed his mind and said something else. "What's the card mean Kitten?"

She frowned. "I'm not sure." She said. "I mean I know it's a Tarot card and that it is one of the Major Arcana, or face card, but other than that I don't really get it. I know each card has a specific meaning, but usually when you use the Tarot to tell fortunes and things you need the whole deck, or at least a question you are asking the deck." She said with a shrug.

"So why don't you just find out what the card means?" Donatello asked.

She frowned. "I'm rather torn." She said softly. "On the one hand I have looked but there aren't any books on the Tarot in the library, and I don't have the internet hooked up yet." She said looking at Donatello sheepishly. "On the other hand, I don't know if I really want to know. It isn't like one card is going to tell me my future and even if it means something, some things are better left unknown." She said with a shrug.

Katherine looked up from the card. "You guys had better get going." She said with a smile which Leonardo was not included in.

"Sure Kitten we'll be back soon." Raphael said dragging Michelangelo out. Leonardo took one last look at Katherine sitting on the bed with Donatello and walked out.

Poor Leo...=(