Chapter 16 - Finale

He emerged fully into the alcove from the shadowed tunnel beyond him. He strode forward and placed his knuckles upon his hips as he surveyed the scene before him. Deceiver. Monster. The Shredder. His dark eyes glimmered merrily behind the shining mask as they ran over each of them; searching. The small Hamato clan shrunk back from the shadow he cast before them; huddling tighter in a protective circle all around Leonardo.

Splinter stiffened as Shredder's eyes fell upon the one he sought. In a slightly bemused tone as if discovering where he may have left his misplaced keys, he said, "Ah, there he is."

Raphael's face darted around, gripping his sais in his fists, mentally counting how many soldiers were surrounding them. Not too many. They could take them. Even without counting Leo. Leo. With wide eyes Raph shot a glance over his shoulder to see Mikey and Leo just behind him.

Raph's shoulders dropped as he took in the expression of his older brother. The bravest of them, the clever and swift leader. Big Brother. Onii-san. His heart sped up as his stomach cringed and sunk. His fists tightened around the leather wrapped handles of his sais. He turned away, unable to look for another second at the lost and frightened look Leonardo had; making him seem small and weak. Broken. They did this to him. And they were gonna pay. And he would not allow one single soldier to get close enough to lay a hand on him. Not a single one. Not a finger.

Mikey felt Leo stiffen as soon as the awful laughter rained down around them. Then as the Shredder spoke and looked at him, Mikey felt something happen to Leo's body, as if tiny volts of electricity were frying his skin. It wasn't so much that he trembled, but rather, it was more like his entire body vibrated in absolute fright. He felt Leo's knees wobble and he gripped his brother tighter. He hazarded a glance at his brother's face and found Leonardo's glazed eyes round like saucers; pupils pinpricks of terror; the color was all drained from his skin, leaving him a strained grayish green. Mikey swallowed and steeled himself against the rippling fright coming off his brother; battling back the responding fear rising within him.

"You," Splinter rose up from where he knelt near Karai, his voice boomed around them despite the tremulous note of fury. "Dishonorable . . . . Fiend!"

Shredder lifted a palm to quiet him and tilted his head away at an angle. "Don't speak of honor, you miserable rodent. We had a simple agreement. One you more than readily accepted. An even trade. One soldier for another."

"You promised he would be unhurt!" Splinter's voice had taken on a hysterical note that had Raph and Don exchanging worried glances just behind their Sensei's back.

Donatello and Raphael unconsciously inched their shells around to flank Splinter where he stood next to Karai, still holding her bleeding forearm in his claw. Weapons poised, body's tense. The air crackled with tension between the silent soldiers and the surrounded family.

Behind them, Leo shrank back into the protective embrace of Michelangelo's arms. His eyes, round and huge, remained locked on the ground in front of him. He shook his head once as if disagreeing with something that no one else heard. He did it again and Mikey bit his lip, not sure what was happening to Leo. Unsure of what he could do to make facing the men and the Shredder any easier. Knowing that there was really nothing he could do except hold on to him as tightly as he could. His brother's eyes had taken on a faraway look as though he wasn't completely there. His expression was grim and he grew even paler and he looked as though he might at any moment be sick.

"Easy, Leo," Mikey whispered growing more distressed by the second.

"Those wounds will heal in time," Shredder replied dismissively.

"And his arm, Pig!? Will that heal in time, as well!?"

The Shredder made a disgusted noise. "How I discipline my men is of no concern to you."

"Discipline for defending himself?! After what was done to him . . ." he choked.

The man repeated the noise, the glimmer of amusement was now gone in his eyes, replaced with a flat, reptilian, lifeless gaze. Wet and empty like river stones. "What the men in my Foot clan do to entertain themselves is nothing I need justify or explain to you. Enough of this. I will not stand here and bicker." He glanced at his men. They stood by, tense and ready to erupt into action. "You have proven that the Hamato clan has no honor. Your actions have demonstrated what I've known all along."

"How dare you speak of honor!?" Splinter's eyes flashed as he gnashed his teeth. He squeezed Karai's arm painfully but she did not move or flutter an eyelid. She remained standing, shirt torn, and battered, staring at the man who raised her.

The Shredder crossed his arms. "I will collect what is rightfully mine."

Karai held her breath as he raised his arm to point. She readied herself to make a choice. Her future, her life, her everything rested on this moment. Did he include her in this statement? And if he did, could she go back to him knowing what he was? What he truly was? She felt her body shivering with anticipation and fear and expectation. Still not knowing what she would do – not knowing anything except a sudden terrible urge of wanting him to acknowledge her in some way. To say that her entire life had not been as an unwitting pawn, as a tool; but that she was, at the very least, respected. Wanted for her skill, even. Even just that.

Please. I'm worth something. More than something to be traded away. Did you really never love me?

But he never once even glanced her way. It was as though she stood there, invisible to him. Nothing. Not even a hint of remorse or regret or sorrow. She'd served her purpose. And in that moment, when she thought she would be destroyed, devastated by his lack of acknowledgment of her existence, something happened that surprised her. She felt no grief. No sadness. Instead, she felt a strange light-headed, giddy feeling sweep through her. It was as though a thousand tiny threads attaching herself to the Shredder had suddenly been severed. She was her own person. To choose what she would. To pick alliances or enemies. To think for herself. To act on her own whim. She was free. Free.

His finger rose and he pointed past Splinter and Karai and the turtles to just behind them where Leo now fell to the ground, onto his hands and knees with Mikey close behind; hovering over his brother's shaking shell. His severed arm tucked close under his stomach. He was gasping and shuddering, making a strangled grinding noise, fully in the throes of an anxiety attack or flashback, Karai wasn't sure. She only knew that she'd just made her first true decision free of any and all influence: she would protect him. With her life. No one was going to harm him, never, ever again. Not while she lived and breathed.

"Foot Clan, reclaim what belongs to me." The Shredder crossed his arms and tilted his head. The men began to move forward as the turtles braced themselves but stopped as the Shredder said, "Hold, men." They froze and all turned their masked faces to their master. "On second thought . . ."

Karai's heart was in her throat. The curse she would scream at him should he say he wanted her after all on the tip of her tongue. But it was unneeded. She was truly nothing to him. It was perfectly clear. It was as if she wasn't even there. And she realized then, that she wouldn't want it any other way.

The flat expression in the Shredder's obsidian eyes took on a hungry, obscene sheen as they rested on Leonardo and Michelangelo. "Take him and the one holding him as well. The little one in orange," he said it with a sneer in his voice. Splinter stiffened. Raph and Donatello exchanged frightened then furious looks. Mikey's terrified face shot up as his eyes darted around, still keeping one reassuring arm around the back of Leonardo's trembling shell. His brother's forehead was pressed onto the ground now and he was making a soft mewling that was like daggers through Mikey's heart.

"Yes. Take them both. I feel I have earned further recompense for my trouble of having to track down my pet and retrieve it from this rodent thief. Tonight, I shall enjoy-"

Before he could finish the vile sentence, a snarling roar erupted out of Splinter and he sprung forward onto the Shredder. They fell back in a wrestling heap of tearing claws and straining limbs as the men flew into action all around them. In a flurry of glinting blades, sweeping wood and fists, they descended. Raph and Don spun to take on the men coming in from their flanks. The sound of steel clanging and wood clacking filled the air.

Karai dashed around Donatello and just blocked the prongs of a sai aimed for Michelangelo's ducking head first with her right arm, then her left, hissing in pain from the wounds inflicted by the very same weapon held in Raphael's grasp not twenty minutes before. The mutant boy that she now fought side to side with and was happy to be there. One prong slid across her already torn flesh on her arm. She cursed loudly in pain. Droplets of her blood sprayed the back of Mikey's head as he crouched over Leonardo, sheltering him with his body. She hopped back and to the side, cradling her arm. She jumped, snapping her leg up and out, clipping the man square in the chin. He fell back as she brought her opposite leg around and cracked him in the temple. He went down and stayed down. Forgetting the pain of her injured arm, Karai lunged into the next man coming at Michelangelo and Leo, diving into him with a snarl, like a tigress protecting her cubs.

Raphael turned and dodged a kick. He swept his fists around as he spun, striking a man in the face first with his fist then with his elbow. The soldier crumpled just as another soldier tried to jab him with the blunt metal tipped end of a tonfa. He feinted one direction and dropped to sweep the man's leg out from under him. The ninja jumped over Raph's leg and immediately swung the tonfa around, aiming for Raph's face. Raph cursed as he lumbered backwards nearly stumbling into Donatello as his brother swung his staff around over the top of his head, blocking an attack from a blade.

Instinctively, from years of practice, the brothers switched places without a word passing between them. Just as Donatello brought his bo swinging around into the jaw of the surprised man, shattering the bone, Raphael brought up his sais under the rib cage of the man who had been attacking Don. Raph twisted as he brought the crimson coated weapons down and out. The soldier gurgled and dropped his sword as he fell to his knees.

The brothers switched sides again as their foes crumbled to the ground and dashed off to take on the remaining handful of men circling and jabbing at Karai who rolled and wrestled with a large soldier in the dirt near Leo. Mikey was on his feet swinging his chucks in order to block another soldier brandishing a short-handled sickle.

Splinter managed to knock the helmet from the Shredder's head as he fell backwards onto his back. The rat clawed at the Shredder's forehead, tearing the delicate flesh near the man's eyes. A curtain of blood washed over his left eye as he cursed in pain. The Shredder bucked and landed a blow with his right fist that had Splinter tumbling back and over several times.

Shredder lumbered to his feet. He moved to stomp upon Splinter's chest just as he rolled out of the line of the strike and jumped to his feet. His claws and heels of his hands struck outwards and the Shredder blocked the volley of blows but was unable to deflect the jump kick Splinter landed in his stomach. He stumbled back. Regrouping quickly, he threw a round house kick that knocked Splinter sideways as he was running to leap onto the man again; determined to rip the man's eyes from his face so that he could never look upon any of his children the way he had a moment ago. The blow was powerful. Splinter felt the sharp telling pain that one or more of his ribs had broken. He rolled and tried to get to his knees, but the Shredder was too fast and before Splinter could maneuver out of the way, a blunt kick sent him slamming into the wall. The wind was knocked from him and spears of electric pain burst through his skull.

Leonardo emerged from the icy grip of his anxiety attack with a gasp and a sense that he needed to run. To get away from all of them. All of the men, his brothers, his father and . . . and the Shredder. His heart was still racing and his pulse pounded in his ears, muffling the sound of the battle being raged all around him by his brothers and Karai. Vaguely, he knew that he needed to help. That he was letting them all down by being so useless . . . so helpless. But his legs were numb and his missing limb was sending debilitating pain up through his shoulder and into his back. As if protesting being in the same room with the man that severed it from its home; Leo's body. He picked up his head and the first thing he saw was the shape of his father's body as it flew across the short space and slammed into the wall.

"Father," he breathed as he saw the Shredder moving towards his father's prostrate form. He pushed off the ground and with trembling legs that felt more made of rubber than muscle, he stood up. The bandages covering his limbs seemed to strain against him as he struggled to stand. When he did, his chest heaved with the effort. Breathlessly, he started towards the Shredder.

Movement caught the corner of Donatello's eye. He turned his head to see Leo heading towards where the Shredder was fighting Splinter. No!

"Leo!" he shouted fearfully and, not paying attention, was struck sideways by a round house kick that had him staggering into the wall.

Karai's face shot up when she heard Don call out for his brother. She grappled with the man on top of her and flung him off. She scrambled to get up when he caught her ankle. She snapped her other leg up and cracked him in the nose with a growling shout.

The Shredder unsnapped the mask from his face and tossed it away. He wiped the blood from his left eye and flicked it free from his hand. He marched over to where Splinter lay, catching his breath and trying to rise to his feet again. The man knelt on one knee as his fist came straight down. Splinter brought his arm up and deflected much of the blow, but could not do much more than lay back and defend against the increasingly stronger strikes to his muzzle and head, chest and stomach. The ends of the gauntlet on the Shredder's left hand tore ribbons of flesh and cloth as he brought his fist down again and again.

Splinter grunted and groaned; his body taking the punishment of the blows that he could no longer deflect. The Shredder pounded his face without mercy. He reached down to grip the front of Splinter's robe, catching up a fistful of his fur and flesh as he did. He brought him up to look him in the eye.

"Your son tasted of innocence and spring rain," Shredder murmured, his eyes glimmering again with mad amusement as Splinter grimaced.

"No," he said weakly. He blinked and closed his swollen, blackened eyes in anguish. The words like claws tearing through his mind and heart. Guilt and shame pummeling his wounded heart and battered body as much as the Shredder's fists had done. Splinter struggled faintly in the man's unyielding grip, wanting to break from the awful horror that was this man and the devastating words he was speaking before he had to hear more. He did not want to hear of his son's defilement, he did not want to know. It was too horrible. It was monstrous. It was all his fault. His failure to be wiser and protect his child. He'd been selfish and arrogant. And his beloved boy had been savagely used in exchange. It was all his fault, yet he wanted to hear no more! But he could not get free.

"Oh, yes. You should know that he called me father as I fucked him. He moaned like a whore and cried like an infant after he came." The Shredder shook Splinter with each word, "Every. Time. I made him."

"No . . . No!" Splinter hissed and growled and placed his shaking claws at Shredder's temples. He raked at the man's face, but Shredder shrugged him off. Ignoring the trickles of blood, laughing in Splinter's outraged, agonized face.

The Shredder slammed Splinter into the wall once again and then dropped him to the ground. He ran one hand through his tousled hair as he rose up. He kicked Splinter again in the stomach and the old rat curled into a ball of pain; gasping.

"I will not kill you this day, you pathetic rodent. I think you should live knowing how terribly you failed them. Your students, your sons," he sneered. "Wallow in the grief of knowing that they will live to serve me, the ones I allow to live, that is. And they will not know a day without pain and humiliation. Without knowing their father allowed this fate to befall them. That he was too weak." The Shredder kicked him again. "Too pathetic." Splinter writhed and groaned as the next blow struck home. "To protect them. I will-"

But his next statement was cut short as he was tackled from the side by a mass of green growling fury. They tumbled and rolled. Leonardo rose up over the Shredder's chest and not hesitating a second began punching him in the face with his left hand. But as the Shredder brought his gauntlet covered fist up, Leo moved to block, only the blades struck the end of his severed limb and the pain was so great he crumpled to one side off of the man and curled into a fetal position; clutching at the stump and crying out piteously.

The man's laughter rained down around him. He shuddered and fought the panic that rose up through the pulsing pain like a black, suffocating presence; lurking and just waiting for its chance to pull him back into another attack of anxiety; rendering him helpless and useless once again. He quaked and wrestled to remain calm and in control. He rose up on one elbow, clutching at his throbbing limb, sweating with the effort.

He jumped as the Shredder grabbed Leonardo by the head with one large hand and made him roll back to look him in the eye. He scrambled but the Shredder placed a knee solidly against his heaving chest, pinning him down in place. His breath strained against the pressure on top of his chest and he cringed away, squirming to get free, but the Shredder gripped his face and squeezed his cheeks hard.

"Look at me, pet," the Shredder growled.

Leo shook his head as much as he could while having his face held. The Shredder squeezed harder and Leonardo whimpered. His legs kicked impotently. The Shredder kept him firmly in place like a cat with its claws in the broken back of a still-struggling bunny.

"Look at me."

Leo gasped and finally cracked his eyes open. The Shredder's bloodied face split into a pleased grin. Leonardo felt his body freeze as his blood turned to ice. All the fight went out of him as he slumped; heart thumping, eyes widening as memories of the Shredder's chamber and what happened to him while in this monster's grasp flooded his mind.

"That's my pet. You know how I like to look into your eyes when I have you."

Tears built and spilled from the outer corners of his eyes. He quailed beneath the man's body. Feeling as though a million insects were crawling over him and burrowing into his flesh to roil just under it. His breathing came in broken, hitching, small gasps. The Shredder's hand released his bruised cheeks and slid down to cup his throat, gently at first, relishing the rapid flutter of the boy's pulse beneath his fingertips, then more firmly until pressure began to build in Leo's head and his lungs started to burn. The Shredder's dark eyes took on a hungry expression as they slid over his face and down over his chest where Leo's heart fluttered and stumbled in complete horror and fright. His body writhed and squirmed beneath him. It only served to fuel the Shredder's dark lust.

"Should I take you here, in front of your family?"

Leo's eyes grew larger as his pupils shrank to tiny points. He squeaked, between choking breaths, "Plea-se, n-o."

"Ah-ah," the Shredder purred. "Please . . . what?"

Leonardo closed his eyes, wishing for death, but feeling his master's grip tighten on his throat, they popped back open. He had to live, if anything, to protect his family. He could not chose the coward's way out. There would be no one to try and stop him if he decided to take one of his brothers in his place. He had to be the sacrifice to save them. He would not allow this monster to do to them what had been done to him. No matter what it took, no matter what it stole from his being; he would offer himself and his dignity, his very heart and soul to spare them. His cheeks burned and reddened and his jaw clenched. His tearing eyes wept. He gave an agonized moan before relenting.

"P-Please . . . f-fah-fath-"

The Shredder titled his head and raised his brows in anticipation. His grin spreading and twisting his face into a demon's mask of glee. From the side, Splinter's anguished groan erupted as he clawed in the dirt, trying to drag his beaten body through the gravel to come between the Shredder and his child.

"You are no one's father," Karai snarled as she wrenched the Shredder's head back by gripping the top of his head; her fist in his hair; bringing a gleaming blade sweeping across the Shredder's throat, from ear to ear; leaving a crimson slash in its wake. He released Leonardo and spun, choking and sputtering as the front of his body became coated in his life's blood. He lunged forward on his knees at Karai and grabbed for her throat with both hands. She stiffened but locked her shaking legs firmly in place as he gurgled and managed to grind out a curse, leaning his quivering body against her.

"Little whore . . . worthless . . . rat's . . . pup," he spat and Karai flinched as her face was sprayed with droplets of blood.

The Shredder made another strangled wheezing sound and collapsed forward just as she stepped back, allowing him to fall flat on his face before her. His body jerked and his fingers dragged against the ground before he finally lay lifeless and limp. The tunnel grew still and quiet besides the straining noise of breathing coming from Splinter and the soft panting of the mutant boys around her.

With some effort, she forced her fingers to uncurl from the hilt of the dagger; it fell to the ground in a clatter. The weapon she had used on the man that for so long posed as her father. Her mentor, her guide, her hero, even, when she was very small. When she believed that monsters lived under the bed and loneliness was just something that everyone lived with and accepted it as par for the course. Never questioning why he did not spend time with her the way some fathers did with their children that she'd glimpsed in Japan. Laughing and holding them close. Someone she had striven to gain approval from, to gain his respect and even his love at one point in her life.

She glanced around in a daze. At the boy weeping and struggling to contain himself laying in a fetal, curled ball a few feet away from where she stood, to the large rat, the creature that supposedly was her true father; a thought that made a strangled chuckle burst from between her lips but it quickly died away; and then, vaguely, she became aware of the two standing beside and just behind her, both in stunned silence, wobbling where they stood, covered in bruises and blood.

Her mind spun. Her heart raced. Who was she now? Lost daughter, fierce kunoichi, pawn, ghost, killer. No one. Nothing. Where did she belong? Here? With them? Where did she fit in this bizarre family? Her eyes again fell on the body before her and like earlier, she felt the giddy, heady sense of freedom. And all the terror and loneliness that came along with that bright blinding promise.

Mikey eased Splinter up. He was murmuring a mashed blend of Japanese and English, but Mikey heard some of the words and he gulped with a sickening sorrow. "Gomen. God, my god. Leo-chan, my poor child, Kodomo, what have I done? Yurushite," Splinter continued to repeat through battered, bloodied lips.

He was lost in his grief. Confronted by the truth of what the Shredder had done to his boy, unable to deny or place blame elsewhere, he broke down. He had been the worst fool. An ignorant, arrogant fool. And his sweet boy had paid with his blood and dignity, with his honor and innocence. Splinter nearly collapsed as Mikey held him.

"It's okay, Splinter. Leo's okay now. It's over," Mikey reassured him in a wavering voice even as tears spilled down his cheeks. Splinter only shook his head, still murmuring for forgiveness and expressing his sorrow in the blended language. And Michelangelo feared for his father's mental state.

Raphael and Donatello moved around Karai to Leonardo's side. They fell to their knees and reached for him. But he quickly rolled and pushed himself to sit with his right hand. His bandages were torn and frayed and some of the stitches had ripped and his wounds seeped through the material, painting it red. He sniffled and shook his head.

"I-I'm okay," he hiccupped and cleared his throat, blinking furiously as he wiped his cheeks on his shoulders while his brother's strategically looked away. Then he turned worried eyes to Splinter. Mikey was carefully helping him stand. One arm pulled over Mikey's shoulders, as Mikey's left arm held tightly around his father's back. "Father? Is he all right? Will he be okay?"

Donatello and Raphael exchanged glances. Both boys dropped their gazes, feeling more than a little guilty for all their anger at their father during this time. After everything he'd been through, Leonardo still loved him and if he could forgive Splinter, then they should be able to at least move past their own private grudges against their father. For all his tragic missteps and poorly executed planning, there was a reason behind it. He had intended to play a ruse with a man in order to bring his lost daughter home where she belonged. He'd been a fool to trust in a man that was more devil than human. He had gambled and nearly lost everything in the process. His son and his daughter. Not only that but their entire family. He may have been a terrible fool, but it was all done out of love. For that, perhaps, they could forgive him. One day.

"Master Splinter's pretty banged up, but don't worry, okay? Don will fix him up," Raph said and clamped one large hand on Donatello's shoulder. "Right, Donnie?"

Don nodded as Leo turned concerned eyes to his brother. "He'll be fine," Don swore and there was no bitterness in his tone. He would do his best to heal their father. And then, they would all need to work on healing each other. "I promise, Leo."

Leonardo blinked slowly and exhaled. "He'll be fine," Leo repeated to himself as Don and Raph helped him to stand. Together they moved to step around the Shredder's body. Leonardo keeping his eyes straight ahead, looking only at Karai, staring at her intensely. Raphael stopped to kick the corpse once in the ribs and swore viciously.

"He got off easy," Raph muttered to Donatello as he returned to Don's side.

Karai raised her eyes to meet Leo's. For an instant, there passed between them a silent communication; one that spoke of relief, exhaustion, sorrow and grief. More importantly now, a single question between them. They stood, hesitantly before one another, awkward and unsure. Another second passed and Karai was about to turn away when Leonardo spoke.

"Come on, Karai," Leo said then, voice becoming stronger, less wavering and more commanding, more like his usual tone; moving out of his brother's supporting arms to reach out to Karai with his right hand. She raised her own in a slow, hesitant movement. But then wrapped her fingers around his and held his hand gently, but firmly, feeling the pressure returned just the same from him. As before, Leo's thumb ran affectionately over the back of her hand. "Don will need to look at that arm."

She glanced back at Raph who looked guilty but maintained eye contact and raised his chin a little as if to say that he was ready to take whatever was coming for his earlier actions. She ran her tongue along her bottom lip, split and aching. Freedom brought so many choices. It was as exhilarating as it was terrifying.

"Yeah," she started slowly, "one of those bastards hooked me good with a sai." Raph's eyes widened and she shot him a smirk. "A real ass, he was. But I think he learned his lesson." The open gratitude and intense relief that washed over his flushed face made her chuckle out loud and Leo looked at her with some surprise. She smiled warmly now, as her green eyes roved over his poor battered face. She cocked a brow, "Besides, I'm fine," she said airily. Then, "You can't hurt steel."

Leo made a soft snort and something like an awe-filled smile ghosted over his face before it vanished. But not before his brothers each caught the fleeting expression. They looked from Leonardo ducking his head as he held onto Karai's hand to Karai who walked with her head held high and chin slightly jutted in quiet defiance, to each other as they limped home.

Leonardo's smile wasn't much. But considering what he'd just been through, what they'd each been through in the past few days it was more than enough to make each of them feel a little lighter, a little less angry. A little less lost.

It was a start.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this final chapter. Fight scenes do not come naturally to me, at all! They are a struggle to write - so, I hope this one was satisfying and clear. There will be an epilogue to this, so stay tuned.

I am nearing the finale to I, Alone and if you haven't seen, I have started Sins of the Fathers: The Tender Trap III - yay! I will turn all my attention to writing that and Lost in the Gloaming when I complete this and I, Alone. :D Until then, thank you for reading and for the reviews!

xo

(p.s. I had to let you know that Karai saying 'You can't hurt steel' is particularly personal, for it's something that my tough-as-nails mother would often say, even in the midst of being in what a normal person would experience as horrific pain - like nearly having your thumb severed from your hand in the most horrible way. :P )