A/N: Hey! It's been a while XD

Here's another one about Karai and the guys again! I had this idea that after everything she's been through, Karai would've developed an intense fear of enclosed spaces (come on, she's been thrown cage after cage! The girl needs a break!) So I wanted to do a short drabble based on that, with some added brotherly fluff. If there are moments where they seem OOC, please inform me, and I will fix that.

I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!

Enclosed

"Come on, Karai! Pick up the pace!"

"Yeah, hurry up, sis! Don't wanna get caught, do ya?!"

Though her breath was labored, Karai managed to let loose an irritated growl from her throat as she trailed after her two younger brothers. "I'm running…as fast…as I can!" she snarled as she leapt over another water tower, landing on the next rooftop in a roll before bolting after Michelangelo and Raphael.

It'd just been another pizza run for dinner that night, just like the guys did just about every night, and of course, Karai wanted to tag along this time around. One, because she was sick and tired of staying below in the sewers whilst the others got to go out and actually do stuff, and two…because she was sick of listening to Donatello telling her that she was too sick to go anywhere. Honestly, it was just a common cold; something everybody got at some point, and there was no way she was about to let that hinder her from a task as simple as getting pizza.

So, it was after some insisting that Splinter and Leonardo had finally allowed her to accompany Raphael and Michelangelo to the surface to get dinner, and then come straight back home.

Sounded simple enough, right?

Of course not.

Even after all this time, Shredder was still relentlessly looking for her. His mutant henchmen and his Foot Bots were always on the prowl, lurking in the shadows of the streets, waiting for even a glimpse of her out on the surface. Of course, Karai and the turtles were well aware of that, which was one of the reasons why her family had been so reluctant to let her go in the first place…but even so, they hadn't seen them coming before it was too late.

Now, the three of them were running for their lives from several Foot Bots, and a seriously ticked-off Rahzar (curtsey of one of Mikey's infamous surprise water balloons to the face), with Raph grumbling to himself all the while about how they'd had to retreat instead of standing their ground and fighting back, when in reality, it should've been Karai that was complaining. She hated running away from an easy fight just as much as Raph did.

If only she hadn't been so sick…she could've easily taken Rahzar down without so much as batting an eye, and then the three of them could've gone skipping all the way home with three steaming hot pizzas in hand.

Great, now she was thinking about food. And now her stomach was groaning in longing for food. Sheesh…

Much to their liberation, a well-timed smoke bomb from Raph blinded the mutant wolf long enough for them to get a fair distance away from him and the Foot Bots that tailed them. After silently thanking the heavens, the three of them skidded to a temporary stop on the next rooftop to catch their breath, though Karai was wheezing heavily as she bent over and planted her hands on her knees.

Damn it, she was already tiring out. Though she hated to admit it, Donnie had been right after all; she was sicker than she'd thought. And now she was paying the price for her stubbornness. This tended to happen to her a lot, it seemed…

As Mikey hurried over to her side whilst Raph kept an eye out for their pursuers, Karai lifted her head to send a green eyed glare up at the freckled turtle. "Hey, Mikey? Explain to me exactly why you decided to throw that water balloon at him?! All you did was tick him off!" she hissed.

Helping her to stand up straight again, Mikey shrugged at her innocently. "What? The dude seriously needs a shower," he snickered, sending her that mischievous little grin that they all loved and hated at the same time.

Karai rolled her eyes skyward, slapping a hand over her forehead, which felt warm beneath her palm. She did love Mikey, and she'd been almost excited over the concept of having a baby brother when she'd first moved into the lair officially. But she hadn't realized just how annoying he could be at the worst of times, nor had she heeded the warning of her other three brothers before it was too late. "Mikey," she grumbled, rounding on him with a deep scowl creasing her pale features as she bared her fangs at him. "As soon as we get home, I'm gonna shove Leo's katana so far up your –"

"Look out!" Raph shouted.

Distracted by the empty threats, the two ninjas hadn't realized that Rahzar had already caught up to them, roaring deafeningly as his claws lashed out, taking a deadly swipe at them both. The blow knocked Mikey over to one side of the roof, sending him crashing into an air vent.

But Karai had been too close to the edge, and she fell with a scream of terror off the building, tumbling into the dark alleyway below.

She heard both her brothers scream out her name, and the sounds of screeching Foot Bots surrounding the building before her back collided with a large dumpster, and everything spiraled into darkness…

With a low groan, Karai slowly and painfully regained consciousness, her whole body burning, and not just from her fever. She didn't know where she was, but she was pretty sure she'd done some damage to her spine from the fall, plus a broken rib, curtsey of Rahzar. Growling at the thought of what she would do to that zombie dog the next time she so much as laid eyes on him, Karai opened her eyes –

And she was met with a flat, metal surface.

Her heart racing, Karai tried to move around, to sit up, but quickly found that there was not much space between the metal surface and where she lay on her back. There was hardly any space at all. And to her horror, as she wriggled her arms from her sides to bang against the lid, she found that it wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she hit it. She was in some kind of cage…no, a case.

She was trapped, inside a case.

Horrible images flashed before her eyes as Karai panted heavily with fear.

Memories of being thrown into a cell, unable to move around for weeks as she thawed her way through the metal bars…

…being gagged and confined inside an even smaller cage, which soon fell into a vat of glowing mutagen…

…her twisted, reptilian body being mercilessly squeezed inside another cage after three months of loneliness and inner torment, hissing up at the man who'd made her into the monster she'd become, and then had the gall to dare and call her his 'daughter'…

…and then being trapped within the walls of her own mind, watching helplessly as her body moved of its own accord, attacking her friends, her family…

Unable to hold back any longer, Karai started to scream.

Her trembling fists pounded against the metal case as she shrieked, though her throat burned from the strain and her body throbbed at her relentless thrashing. She dared not change into her snake form, for she knew it would only worsen her predicament. The walls were close, too close, drawing in on her, suffocating her, cocooning her, forever, with no hope of escape…

"Help! Help me!" she cried, hot tears streaming down her face as her scarred, bare knuckles beat against the metal case, over and over. She couldn't do this again. She couldn't be trapped again. She couldn't be dragged back to him, to serve him and bow to his every whim, like his perfect, faithful little puppet again. She couldn't!

"Please! Please, help me! Let me out, let me out of here, please!" Karai sobbed helplessly. She'd never been fond of asking for help, not even in the presence of her brothers, who'd reassured her that they would be there for her no matter what. She had to be strong, confident, independent; she couldn't rely on others all the time, not like April or Casey could.

Now, however, those walls she'd built around herself had been broken. She was begging. She was crying, praying that someone, anyone, would come and save her from this prison that threatened to swallow her whole, before spitting her out again at Shredder's feet…

And then, over her pleas, came a most blessed sound.

"Karai?!"

Gasping loudly, Karai fell silent, her fists stilled as she listened. That voice…that young, sweet, innocent voice…

"Mikey?!" she called, her voice ragged from her screaming. "Mikey, is that you?!"

"Yeah, it's me Karai! I'm right here! Are you okay?!"

The girl felt her heart soar to the heavens and back again as she let out a shaking breath of relief. He was here. Her little brother was here. "M-Mikey, g-get me outta here right now, please!" she cried desperately, her palms pressed against the flat surface as if attempting to push it away from her…the walls were still too close, and they were getting closer…

Mikey said nothing in reply for a while, and Karai feared that he'd left her behind, abandoned her to her fate.

But before her panicked tears could return, she heard the sound of his large, three-fingered hand coming to rest atop the lid, and her own shaking hand moved to press against the same spot.

"Don't worry, Karai. Raph's right outside holding off Rahzar, but I swear we'll get you out when he comes back," Mikey's calm, steady voice echoed from behind her encasement, his words washing over her like a wave of comfort. "Until then, I'm gonna stay right here and make sure you're okay. Just take deep breaths, sis. You can do this. You're gonna be just fine. I promise."

Swallowing down that burning lump in her throat, Karai pressed her forehead against the metal wall as she bit her lip and closed her eyes. "…O-Okay," she stammered weakly, before doing as Mikey said, and focusing on getting her breathing under control.

Leave it to Mikey to know what to do in situations like these. He knew of her hatred for enclosed spaces – they all knew, after an unpleasant occasion where she'd accidentally locked herself in one of Donnie's lab cabinets – but not to the emotional extent that her baby brother did. With Donnie, it was all technical. With Leo, he was always very cautious whenever the subject was brought up. Raph handled it the same way he handled everything that related to fears an emotions – he simply never brought it up, almost as though the fear didn't exist.

But Mikey knew how to handle it. Mikey knew how to keep her calm. He knew how to coax her out of her paralyzed state, and then how to make her relax again afterwards, even getting a smile out of her in the process. This was the worst it had ever been for Karai, but just like all those times before, Mikey knew what to do.

It was true he was a bit of a goofball at times, but when it truly mattered, he was a pillar of comfort for her to willingly lean on…even if it made her feel weak…

Her thoughts were interrupted when another voice, louder, rougher and angrier than Mikey's, rang in her ears.

"Mikey, where is she?!"

A watery chuckle escaped her. It was Raphael.

"She's in here, dude! In the box!" she heard Mikey shout over his shoulder, though she knew that his hand never left its spot against the metal cover.

"What?! They put her in a box?!" he barked. Karai heard his running footsteps approaching before Raph's hands braced the sides of the case with a loud 'thump!'. "Karai, are you okay?! Say something!"

"U-Uh, c-could be b-better!" she called back, fighting the urge to cry again as her voice shook. They were both here. They were going to get her out, just like before…

"Okay, this thing's padlocked, so I'm gonna try and bust it open. Cover your ears or something, 'cus this is gonna be real loud, okay?"

He didn't give her the chance to reply, before the sound of metal piercing metal thundered in her eardrums, making her cry out sharply before she covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. He was seriously using his Sais to break open a padlock?!

Seconds later, fresh air and light hit her full-force, and she opened her eyes to see the familiar green faces of a beaming Michelangelo, and a satisfied Raphael as he twirled his Sai back into his belt. The red clad turtle grinned down at her. "Welcome back, princess," he said, kneeling beside the box and extending a hand out to her.

Karai blinked several times, staring nonplussed at her brother for an eternity, before tears welled up in her eyes again. Without warning, she sat up, ignoring the pain in her chest and searing down her back as she wrapped her arms around Raph's neck and buried her face into the crook of his shoulder as she sobbed heavily, her whole body trembling as she clung onto him like a lifeline.

Green eyes wide and body as rigid as a staff, Raph looked from his sister to Mikey, who folded his arms motioned his head at her pointedly. Unsure of what else to do, Raph's arm slowly came around her waist whilst his other hand stroked her hair gently.

After that mutt-faced jerk had knocked her over the roof, he and Mikey had been surrounded by Foot Bots before they could get to her, and were eventually overpowered and knocked out cold. By the time they'd woken up again, tied up, inside an old factory, Rahzar had already informed the Shredder of their whereabouts. It had only been thanks to Mikey's quick thinking that had gotten them free from the ropes – thank you, kusarigama blade – where Raph then took the over-sized wolf down, whilst Mikey searched for Karai.

To find out that they'd actually put her inside a box boiled Raph's blood…

"…uh…hey, it's okay," he began hesitantly as she continued to cry against him. Damn, he still wasn't any good at this stuff.

But it was as she whispered a trembling 'thank you' through her tears, Raph decided it didn't matter anymore as he frowned, tightening his embrace around his sister. Mikey was quick to join the small group hug, his arms coming around them both, surrounding the quivering girl in warmth, reassurance and love.

In that moment, the two turtles were tempted to continue hugging her, to never let her go…

And then Karai sneezed.

Raph's eyes pooped open. "Augh! Karai, that's gross!" he cried, grasping her shoulders and pushing her backwards so he could glare at her. However, his glare faltered as she started to laugh.

"Sorry, but not sorry," she sniffed through her giggles, simply relieved that she was finally out of that box. Of course, a part of her still felt like a weakling for sobbing like a child in front of them, exposing just how pathetic she was…but then again, these weren't Foot Soldiers. They were her brothers. They were her pillars of comfort and strength. And now more than ever, she was willing to lean on them…

Rolling his eyes as he wiped the tears – and other stuff – off his shoulder, Raph reached out and gathered her into his arms, lifting her off the ground as he held her bridal style despite her squeak of protest. "Alright, Princess," he said gruffly, "let's get outta here before Shredder shows up."

"And then, after we get the pizza, we're putting you straight to bed," Mikey quipped in a voice that was supposed to sound like Splinter as they hurried out of the building and escaped to the rooftops. "You need a good night's rest, little Missy!"

Rolling her eyes as she hung onto Raph, Karai snickered. "Yeah, yeah, okay. But only if I get an extra slice; I had a rough night."

"Of course you get an extra slice!" Mikey chimed as the three of them made their way towards the pizza parlor. "And on top of that, you'll have two extra bodyguards bunking with you tonight! Special treatment, y'all!"

Raph nearly tripped, his eyes wide. "What?!" he barked. "I'm not gonna –"

Craning his neck to look behind him as they ran, Mikey pinned Raphael with a flat, almost threatening look, one that even sent shivers down Karai's spine; she hadn't known he was capable of doing that.

Eventually, Raph sighed and rolled his eyes heavenwards. "Ugh…fine!" he relented, and then turned to narrow his eyes at the girl held in his arms. "But just this once. Got it, princess?"

Grinning smugly at the prospect of receiving such 'special treatment', Karai chuckled, her serpent eyes gleaming. "Whatever you say, Raphael," she replied, taking delight in her younger red clad brother's disdain as he groaned again.

It was later that night, when the whole family had eaten their fill and retreated to bed, that Splinter walked towards his daughter's room to check up on her. However, as he silently cracked open the door, he found her, and two of his sons, in a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor, with Karai nestled in between them as they snoozed.

And as she let out a sigh, the old rat could clearly see the pure serenity on her sleeping features as she burrowed deeper into the embrace of her brothers.

Splinter smiled warmly at the sight, before quietly closing the door again as he made his way back to the dojo. If anyone ever found out about this, he guaranteed that Raphael and Karai would never hear the end of it from the others. And normally, temptation to tell them all would have overcome him.

But this time, Splinter's lips were sealed.

A/N: AWW!

Thanks for reading! And BTW, I watched Jurassic World recently, and let me tell you...there WILL be an TMNT AU for this! Mwahahahahahaha!