Chapter 06: Guilt

It had been a bit awkward when they had parted after their training session, the one Raph and Mittens had spent completely different – or with some other kind of training, kissing training. They had just stood for some moments, looking to the ground, mumbling their good-byes and then got home.

Raph had marched right into his room. He just hadn't been able to face Mikey. He couldn't help it, he had felt guilty. He still did.

Today was no exception. He wasn't able to look at Mikey without thinking about what he and Mittens had done which lead into avoiding Mikey as good as he could.

Fortunately, Mikey was too busy wandering around the lair with his T-phone in his hands and texting Mittens every ten seconds. What a love's fool he was! Raph would have teased him about it, but right now, he was relieved that Mikey was distracted, until this guilty feeling had faded.

And he was sure it would fade sooner or later. He just had to avoid Mikey and Mittens for a while and everything was going to be okay.

He had been able to talk Leo into taking over his next training session with Mittens, telling him that he wasn't feeling so good and wanted to turn in early, which Leo had accepted, with a frown, actually, but without any further questions. It did work for the next training session as well, but Raph thought that using the same lame excuse a third time would be a bit suspicious. So he was thinking about another one right now as he was sitting in the living room, pretending to read a comic book while he was wracking his brain for some believable reason why he couldn't train with Mittens tonight.

He had no idea how long he had been sitting there. It was only when Leo, who had been helping Donnie in his lab, entered the living room and addressed Raph that he snapped out of his trance.

"Aren't you leaving for your training session with Mittens?" Leo asked.

"Is it that late already?" Raph answered. He had to come up with an excuse. Now! "Uhm, Leo, could you please fill in for me one more time? I…uhm…I'm not feeling well and want to turn in early tonight."

So much for coming up with some new excuse! Raph would have slapped himself for his own stupidity if it wouldn't have given him away.

Leo frowned. "Again?"

"Heh, it's not my fault," Raph said. "There's nothing I can do about it. Maybe I have a cold coming on. I should talk to Donnie."

"You know what I think?" Leo gave back. "I think there's something else going on."

"Yeah, and I know exactly what it is," Mikey said who had entered the living room unnoticed by Raph and now knelt down on the floor near Raph behind the couch so he and Raph were on the same level.

"You do?!" Raph turned his head, a shocked look on his face. Mittens had told him?!

"Of course!" Mikey replied. He looked his brother over with a frown. "You and Mittens got into a fight again, didn't you?"

Raph choked a sigh of relief before he answered, "Yes, that's exactly what happened."

His voice sounded a bit too happy when he said that, but Mikey didn't seem to notice and Leo just raised an eyebrow at this.

"So, I would prefer to not see her for a few more days," Raph continued, making sure his voice sounded grumpier this time.

"Sorry to hear that," Mikey said as he slumped down on the couch next to Raph. "You two were doing so well."

Too well, actually, Raph thought. He shrugged.

"It will get better, I'm sure, we just need to work this out. But I need to be less angry with her first, and that's why I would highly appreciate if you could fill in for me one more time, Leo," he said to his older brother.

"Okay." Leo's face was unreadable.

"And please stick to the 'Raph's not well'-version, okay? I'm not sure Mittens would like anyone to know about our fight."

"Okay," Leo said again, then left the lair.

Raph choked another sigh of relief and turned toward his comic book and this time really reading it. He had the feeling he had been staring at the same page for hours which probably was the truth.

"Whatcha doing?" Mikey asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Reading my comic book," Raph answered without turning his eyes away from the comic book.

"Can I join?" Mikey tried to move closer.

Raph placed a hand on his youngest brother's head and shoved him away. "No."

Mikey twisted his mouth and got up.

"Fine!" he said while leaving the living room. "I'm going to text Mittens that you are one big meanie!"

"I bet she knows already!" Raph yelled after him without looking up from his comic again, but the moment he said that, though, a sad look appeared on his face, just for a second, though, but it was there.

After her "training session" with Raph Mittens had been so confused she didn't know what to think. She had tried to concentrate on thinking of Mikey, her cute, adorable boyfriend, but somehow Raph – or rather him and her kissing – had found a way to disturb her thoughts. Mikey, of course, had realized how confused she was and thought it might have something to do with Sonya and her gang. That was the reason why he was sending her all these text messages when he wasn't around and she didn't have any lessons – to keep her from thinking of this terrible woman that was after her. He didn't know she had been thinking about someone and something else. But it had worked nonetheless. Mittens had been kept busy by his texts and responding to them.

She had only realized that she hadn't had any time to think about what has happened between Raph and her when it was time for their training. She had been so nervous when it was time for him to show up, with no idea how she should react when she would finally see him again that she had started grooming herself and purring again, just to calm down.

And when she had opened the door she had been relieved to find Leo waiting for her outside, not Raph. He had told her something about Raph not being well, but she was pretty sure that was some excuse, but she was fine with it. And she had made a mental note to finally think things through until her next training session with Raph. But thanks to Mikey and his "keeping Mittens busy"-plans she had never come to that.

So, again, she nearly had a mental breakdown when it was time for her training with Raph, but again, it was Leo who had filled in for him. Mittens had mentally rolled her eyes when Leo had told her that Raph, again, wasn't feeling so good. He'd better come up with some better excuse next time. If he would come up with another excuse next time.

And their next training was scheduled for tonight, and Mittens knew that this time she really needed to know what to do and what to tell him. And she needed to sort out her confused thoughts and feelings.

Being a cat, she loved the sunlight and that was why she had opened the skylight and now was sitting on the couch in the small golden square sunlight that fell through it. She had hugged her knees, her chin resting on her knees, and just let the sunlight fall upon her dark fur. The warm feeling made her feel better and it might help her too with all this thinking-things-through-stuff. And considering what kind of things she needed to think through, any help was appreciated, even if it was just a little bit of sunlight that fell through a skylight.

She and Mikey had had a little talk the last night where she had reassured him over and over again that she was doing fine and that he didn't need to send her so many text messages.

She had been afraid he might be mad, but instead he just had scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly and saying that he might have overdone it. He had looked so cute that moment, Mittens could have kissed him for that. Okay, she really had kissed him for that.

So, Mikey' had only send her ten texts that day, and she finally had time to think. Actually, thinking was all she had been doing today. It was still a miracle to her why she had responded Raph's kiss – and all his other kisses that night, to be exact. She thought she might have been too surprised to react the way she should have reacted in the first place, and then she had just been flattered. At least, that was what she had come up with so far. Okay, she had really liked his kisses. They were so much different from the kisses she and Mikey shared, but she didn't love Raph. She was sure about that. She was in love with Mikey, sweet, cute, adorable Mikey, her boyfriend who had been so worried about her the last week, he had nearly spent every waking second to text her to keep her from thinking negative thoughts.

Raph was just a friend, not even a very close one. Okay, their kissing had been nice, but she knew it would never happen again. It must not happen again. She knew that. And she would tell him that tonight. She didn't know if he had feelings for her, but she had to set this straight when he'd show up tonight – it would never happen again, they would never talk about it again, they would never tell anyone.

Mittens nodded firmly. That was what she would do, that was what she needed to do. And this time she really would do what she had to do.

So she took a deep breath when it was time to leave her toolshed that night to meet Raph, squared her shoulders and went outside – only to stand rooted to the ground in the doorway for a few seconds when she found Leo waiting for her outside.

She had been relieved the last two times, but now she was highly disappointed.

She went over to Leo. "Where's Raph?" she asked without greeting him.

"He isn't feeling so good and ask me to fill in for him," Leo replied.

"Again?" Mittens raised her eye-brows.

"Yeah, we all know as well it's just an excuse," he said. He hesitated for a moment if he should tell her what Raph told them, but then decided it would be best to be honest. "Actually, we all know what has happened."

"You do?!" Mittens squeaked, followed by a sharp meow, her eyes gaping in horror.

"Yeah."

Mittens lowered her eyes. "Is Mikey very angry?" she asked sadly.

"No, he's rather disappointed," Leo replied.

"Disappointed…okay," Mittens repeated.

"Seriously, why did you two get into a fight again? I thought you were past this," Leo stated.

"Fight?" Mittens raised her eyes and looked at Leo with puzzled eyes. Then she realized what was going on.

"Oh…meow…sure…fight," she stammered, lowering her eyes again. "It's a shame. But we will sort it out."

"You better do," Leo said, placing a hand on Mittens' shoulder. "As much as I like training with you, Mittens, I won't fill in for Raph again. You need to start training with Raph again."

"I meow… I mean, I know," Mittens gave back, her eyes still glued to the ground.

Leo gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze before taking his hand away. "I know you will do fine. After all, you are my best student," he added while making his way to the roof-edge.

"Well, I am your only student!" Mittens gave back, sticking out her tongue.

Leo turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, so you're showing your sensei disrespect? This calls for a punishment," he scolded her playfully. "Catch me before I reach our training rooftop or else we're gonna do five minutes of extra training tonight." His smirk turned into a grin when he waved at her slightly and then jumped.

Mittens smirked for a moment before she went after him.

The next night Mikey had picked up Mittens and led her to the park. Mittens was happy they were going there. Trees always cheered her up. And the fact that she had to wait two more days until her next training session with Raph and the possibility to finally talk to him had really clouded her mood. Two more days! She couldn't believe she had to wait that long.

Or maybe she hadn't to. When Mikey and she arrived at the park there was Raph standing there, his back leaning against a tree. But when he saw Mikey and Mittens approaching, he straightened up.

"What's this all about?" he asked without greeting them. "Mikey, you said you wanted to show me something and then you show up here with Mittens?"

"That's because Mittens is what I wanted to show," Mikey answered with a grin.

"I know Mittens already!" Raph mumbled grumpily.

Mikey took Mittens' hand into his and led her over to Raph, then flung an arm around Raph's neck, pulling him into a headlock.

"Look," Mikey said in a serious voice, "I want my brothers and my friends to get along. And when you two are fighting, this somehow contradicts my wishes. So I want you to settle your differences. Think you can do that?"

He looked to Mittens who smiled slightly, then to Raph who mumbled his okay.

Mikey nodded satisfied. "Good." He let go of Raph who straightened up.

"Well, then I leave you alone now. No more fights!" he warned, wagging his finger at the two. "Settle your differences. I'll meet you back at your toolshed, Mittens." He gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the cheek and then left.

Mittens and Raph were just standing there, their eyes glued to the ground.

Mittens had waited for the ability to talk to Raph for some time now, thinking that she couldn't wait any longer, but now that the moment was here, she didn't know what to say. She had played this whole situation through in her head for hours, learning each and every word she wanted to say by heart, and now it that she had somehow been dragged into this, everything was gone.

She felt the urge to calm herself down again, but now wasn't the time to groom herself. It would have made this whole situation even more awkward. Instinctively, her hand wandered to her neck, her fingers searching for the golden heart-shaped pendant. It was only then that she realized her collar was gone for good. Sonya had taken it from her when she had given her her new outfit. This realization hit her like a shot. Her collar, the one thing that had reminded her of her owner, the one thing her owner had given to her and which she had been able to preserve from her life as a normal cat that seemed ages away was gone forever.

She let her hand drop to her side, lowering her head even more. Suddenly she felt very sad.

Raph cleared his throat.

"You know," he mumbled, "this whole thing that has happened last time, I…uhm…I would prefer we act as if it had never happened. We should forget about it. It didn't mean anything, by the way. I…uhm…I was just curious, I guess."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. Mittens nodded without looking up, giving a little meow instead of an answer.

But then she remembered that Raph wouldn't understand.

"That's exactly what I wanted to suggest," she finally said, drawling each word as if she had to concentrate on how to pronounce correctly.

They stood there for another moment in silence.

"I think we should catch up on our training. You're fine with that?"

For the first time he turned his head to look at the cat-mutant who again answered with a nod.

"Good." Raph straightened up and took a step so he was standing in front of Mittens. The cat-mutant lifted her head and looked at the ninja turtle.

"You remember the last thing I taught you?" Raph asked.

Mittens nodded again, taking a fighting position.

The red-clad turtle smiled at her. Then he got into a fighting position himself.

Sonya was standing at the window in the hall again. All the signs of the Turtles' interference had been removed. The window had been repaired and the hall looked just like it looked like before the Turtles had escaped with Mittens.

The Bastets' leader frowned, looking out into the darkness. All the men she could spare were out there, searching the city for the cat-mutant. But a week had passed and no-one had spotted her.

At that moment the built-in intercom in the arm-rest of her throne gave a short beeping sound and started blinking.

Sonya turned around, walked to her throne and sat down, pushing a button while doing so.

"What is it?" she asked in an annoyed voice. This better was important.

"Mistress, we have spotted the cat in the park, together with one of these turtles," a male voice said. "Shall we capture her?"

"No. Make sure you don't lose track of her," Sonya answered. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Mistress?" the man asked surprised. "You want to get here?"

"Yes."

"Mistress, in consideration of your own safety, I would presume you better stay away…"

"And in consideration of the fact that I am your boss, I say you wait till I get there!"

There was a short pause before the man spoke again.

"Yes, Mistress," he said.

Mittens jumped backwards to dodge one of Raph's attacks. She knew he was going easy on her, very easy, but she still gave her best. She thought about her next move, but the moment she landed she was grabbed by her shoulders and pinned against a tree.

Mittens twisted her mouth. She had simply forgotten how fast he moved.

But her facial expression changed abruptly when she realized that his mouth was so close to her while he held her in his grip.

Raph realized this the same moment and before he really knew what he was doing he moved in a little closer. But when their lips were only inches apart, he finally got a grip on himself, let go of Mittens and jumped backwards to even further the distance between them.

"I…I…I am sorry," he stammered. "I don't know what I was thinking. I'm sorry!"

"It's okay," Mittens answered, still a bit confused.

"Shall we…continue?" he asked. "With the training, I mean."

Mittens replied with a nod and took a step into his direction. They looked into each other's eyes for a moment, and before they even knew what they were doing, they fell into each other's arms and kissed, hugging tightly.

Mittens felt a slight wave of guilt washing through her, but it faded quickly. But it was back there the moment Raph broke the kiss.

Mittens opened her eyes, but when she saw that Raph scanned his surroundings with a concerned look on his face, she frowned.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Someone's here, " Raph answered.

"Mikey?!" Mittens screeched.

"No", Raph replied, drawing his sais. "They move too loudly to be Mikey."

"What now?"

"I'll hold them back, you run," Raph commanded. "East. They're approaching from the other direction. Go!"

Mittens hesitated for a moment, but then she ran.

Mittens had no idea how long she had been making her way through the brushwood, when something made her stop. She perked her ears. There it was again. It was a voice, calling her. Her voice.

"I know you are here somewhere," Sonya called. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

She and her men were standing at the bank of the small pond that was arranged in the middle of the park. Sonya was looking around her, but there was no sign Mittens was close.

"Well, maybe we need to use some kind of bait," Sonya said with a smirk, and Mittens, hiding in the brushwood, gasped as she saw how some of these Bastet-guys led Raph over to Sonya.

"We have your green friend here. How about an exchange?" Sonya continued.

Raph growled at Sonya. He was so angry with himself. He had simply underestimated them, there were too many of them and they had managed to restrain him.

Sonya answered with a smirk. But then she looked around again. Still no sign that Mittens was near. But Sonya was sure she was near. She could feel it.

"Okay, then let's raise the stakes," she said and nodded to her men.

They dragged Raph into the lake until they were knee-high in the water and then pushed him into a kneeling position.

"I've always wondered how long a turtle can hold his breath," Sonya said to Raph with a devilish grin.

Raph chuckled. "Heh, lady, as you said, I'm a turtle. You sure you got all night?"

"Oh, I should have been clearer," the young woman answered. "I've always wondered how long turtles can hold their breath when they are asleep."

She nodded at the men holding Raph and the next moment he felt a sharp sting in his left upper arm. And then his sight got blurry. He tried hard to keep his eyes open, but he soon lost the fight to the tranquilizer.

Mittens choked down a scream as she watched in horror how Raph fell forward, but was grabbed by the shoulders and held up by two men before his face hit the water.

"It's up to you now," Sonya called out.

Mittens took a deep breath and got up.

"Let him go!" she said demandingly as she stepped out of the brushwood. "You have no business with him. You want me."

"How true!" Sonya gave back.

"If I surrender, you let him go?" the cat-mutant asked.

"Of course!" Sonya answered. "I want you, not this green freak."

"Turtle!" Mittens hissed.

"Whatever."

Mittens took a few more steps in Sonya's direction and then came to stop.

Sonya looked at two of her men who rushed over to Mittens and grabbed her by her hands, holding her in an iron grip.

Sonya grinned as she clicked her fingers. The men who had held Raph up let go of him and went over to their mistress. Raph fell forward, his unconscious body hitting the surface of the water with a splashing sound.

Mittens hissed and tried to struggle free, but the men's grip was so tight, she had no chance.

Sonya walked over to Mittens, smiling confidently.

"You said…"

"I said we would let him go," Sonya finished Mittens' sentence. "And that's what we did. Too bad he is unconscious and can't just walk away."

"You monster!" Mittens spat.

"It's mistress!" Sonya gave back.

Mittens hissed as one of the man rammed an injection into her upper arm. While she tried to fight the tranquilizer Sonya placed a hand on her cheek.

"But you will learn to address me correctly," Sonya whispered.

It was the last thing Mittens heard before she finally lost her fight against the tranquilizer and drifted off to sleep.

The pond was calm when they had left. No-one would have known that there was a mutant turtle under water there, lying under the surface, unconscious.

They had him left to drown there, but something about the water somehow revived Raph's spirits. It must have had something to do with the fact being a turtle. The tranquilizer's effect faded quickly, and moments later Raph got back to his feet, thus getting his upper body out of the water again and taking a deep breath. The cool night air stung his lungs a bit, but he thought he had never breathed fresher air.

He shuffled over to the pond's bank, the water dripping from his body, and slumped to his knees as he reached it.

He coughed to get the water in his lungs out and looked around.

The events that had happened before returned to his mind bit by bit.

He got up which was more difficult than he had thought because his hands were still tied to his carapace.

He had to think of a way to get rid of these bonds, but it was more important to get out of here first. After all, these Bastet-guys could still be near. He'd think about it while he was on his way back to the lair.

April O'Neil woke up to knocking on her window. Drowsily she scuffled to the window. She was pretty sure it was one of the guys. The Kraang wouldn't bother to knock, and neither would Karai.

She rubbed her eyes and looked out of the open window to find Raph standing there, tapping the glass with his foot.

For a moment April wondered why he hadn't broken the glass already. She knew Raph wasn't very gentle, so she was rather surprised to find him able to tap the glass with his foot without breaking it.

It was only then that she thought of why he would tap the glass with his foot in the first place. Okay, she was still half-asleep, so thinking rationally wasn't her strong suit right now.

She opened the window.

"Raph, what are you doing?" she asked.

Raph didn't answer her question, but turned around immediately, showing her the bonds on his hands.

April quickly went over to her nightstand and took a pocket knife out of the drawer and came back to cut the bonds through.

"Mittens and I were…training in the park," Raph explained while she did so. "Then these Bastet-guys showed up. I tried to hold them off and sent Mittens away so that she could escape, but they were too many and they captured me. They dragged me to the pond and drugged me, and then I woke up on the bottom of the pond. Lucky for me it's only a knee-deep pond, but it's still a miracle to me I didn't drown. When I had managed to get out of the pond I realized I was alone, this crazy cat-lady, her men, and Mittens were gone. So I made my way here because I couldn't get underground. It's difficult to lift a manhole cover with your hands tied to your back.

April was finished with the bonds and Raph turned around.

"April," Raph said with a serious sound in his voice, April had never heard before, "I think they have Mittens."

"But you said you sent Mittens away. Maybe she has escaped. Let's call her. I bet she's fine, and…"

"No, April," Raph said gravely, placing both his hands on April's shoulders. "They got her. And it's my fault."

When Mittens woke up, she felt miserable. Her head was aching, and she was slightly shivering. It took her some time to keep her eyes open. When she finally felt strong enough to get up she stiffly struggled to her feet. Her paws instinctively searched for something to hold on, so she could steady herself. Another shiver rushed through her body as her paw touched some cold metal. When she had finally stood up completely, her eyes had adjusted to the dim light as well and she saw that she was in a cage. It was big enough for her to stand up and she could even walk around in it a bit.

Her one paw touched her neck, finding a collar there. It was just as cold and unpleasant as the cage. She brought her other paw to the collar as well, determined to get it off, but before she could do that a door opened and someone stepped close to the cage – someone in a white dress with a golden neck-collar.

"Sonya," Mittens hissed.

"It's mistress," Sonya scolded with a devilish smile. "But you will learn that." She chuckled. "I think it is so funny that everyone thinks that you can't teach a cat anything. That is so not true. Sure, a cat is no dog, but all a cat needs to understand is that she is better off if she obeys and that everything else will be quite unpleasant. All my cats have understood that so far." Her voice turned serious, deadly serious. "And so will you!"

Sonya pressed a button on her armlet.

Mittens hissed in pain. It felt like her neck was burning, as if something was trying to cut through her neck. She would have screamed, but the longer this pain went on the more difficult it got to actually breathe. It was the same feeling she had felt when Sonya had punished her the last time, only now it was ten times more painful. She slumped on all fours, desperately panting for air – or at least trying to do so. Breathing got more and more difficult. She slammed her paws against the cold concrete of the floor, in a desperate move to somehow decrease the pain, but it didn't help. When she thought she couldn't bear any more her vision got blurry. She tried to scream, but there was no strength left for that. The last thing she felt before she passed out, was the cold concrete against her cheek as she slumped to the floor completely. Then everything went dark.