"…why are you looking at me like that?"
Leo jumped slightly, realizing that Karai was talking to him. "Like what?"
Karai frowned. "You're looking at me funny."
"No, I'm not. I'm just concentrating on what you're saying, that's all."
"So how do you plan on doing this? Whatever you do, you'll have to be careful. Bradford has a sharp sense of smell, when he actually decides to pay attention."
"Yeah, Fearless Leader," Raphael added. "Did you think of that?"
The four of them were lingering in an alley not too far from the old cathedral-esque building that was the Foot's headquarters.
"Ooh, I know." Mikey thumped his fist on top of the closed dumpster next to him. "We could roll around in the dumpster! Then he'd just smell trash, and be all like, 'Dude, who forgot to take the trash out?'"
"Good idea, genius," Raph said. "You first." He grabbed Mikey and started to lift the dumpster lid.
"Hey!" Mikey squirmed, struggling against Raph's pull.
"Cut it out, Raph," Leo said. "We are not rolling around in the dumpster."
"But Mikey really wants to!" Raph continued trying to force Mikey into the dumpster. "He said so."
"I never said that," Mikey protested. "Stop it stop it stop it stop it…"
"Cut it out!" Leo broke them apart. "You guys are making too much noise. We're ninjas, remember? And we have a mission."
"Yeah," Raph said, folding his arms. "Operation 'save Karai's butt 'cause she can't do it herself.'"
"Excuse me?" Karai said.
Leo's face got hot. "He doesn't mean it, Karai."
"Yeah, I do," Raph said.
Leo grabbed Raph and dragged him to the other end of the alley. "Get this straight, Raph." He kept his voice low. "I don't care what you think about Karai, but treat her with respect."
"Get out of my face, Leo." Raph yanked his arm out of Leo's grasp.
"Stop acting like a jerk, and I won't be in your face anymore."
"Stop acting like a stupid sap, and I'll stop acting like a jerk."
"How am I a sap?"
"Because you're too busy making eyes at Karai to see that this could be a trap!"
"I am not making eyes at her," Leo hissed. He glanced over and saw that Karai and Mikey stood next to each other, watching them. He lowered his voice even further. "This isn't a trap. We can trust her."
"Well, trusting Karai sure did Aunt Mei a lot of good."
"What's your deal, Raph? Aunt Mei forgave Karai."
"Well, maybe Aunt Mei is a sap, too."
"What about Master Splinter? Is he a sap?"
"Maybe he is. He's so hung up on the fact that she's Miwa that he can't see that she's a huge threat. And I see those faces you make at her. You're just as bad as Donnie was around April."
Leo's face started burning in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "I do not make faces at her. And you want to talk about Donnie? Karai is risking her life here, just so she can help Donnie! That's got to count for something."
Raph's eyes shifted over to where Mikey and Karai were standing. "I've got a bad feeling, Leo. I don't think we should go with her."
"Fine. You don't have to. But Mikey and I are."
"I guess you'll need backup then, huh?"
Leo was nonplussed. "Yeah, that'd be nice."
"Then I'm coming." Raph planted a finger on Leo's chest. "But when this whole thing goes south, don't say I didn't warn you." He then raised his hand, slapped Leo lightly on the face, and started walking back to where Mikey and Karai stood.
Leo stood there for a moment, totally lost between anger, embarrassment, and utter bewilderment.
Raph…why are you such a pain?
He turned around trotted after him, slapping the back of Raph's head as he passed him. Raph punched Leo's shoulder by way of acknowledgement.
Karai popped one hip out to the side and put her hands on her hips. "Well? You two boys ready to play nice now?"
Raphael narrowed his eyes at her and said nothing.
"Yeah, we're good," Leo muttered. "So…we need to come up with a plan."
"Well, while you two were having your little tea party, Michelangelo and I came up with an idea."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah," Mikey said. "Since Rahzar never goes to Karai's room, we'll hang out in there until the Ronin shows up. Then we'll get all ninja-y and stealth down to the main hall to watch."
"Plus, this way if the Ronin is planning any night attacks for me, you'll be there to help me fight him off," Karai added.
"In your room?" Leo couldn't help but get a stupid giddy feeling at the thought of spending the night in Karai's room. Yeah, his brothers would still be there, but he'd get to see the inside of her room…
Wow. Maybe I am as bad as Donnie was. Get it together, Leo. She's your sister, remember?
"Yes."
"That sounds like a decent enough plan. All right. Let's do this."
Like shadows, the four of them scaled the building and crept in through a window. They landed in a huge, completely empty, dusty room.
"This is your room?" Mikey said. "Dude, that's sad."
"My room's just down the hall," Karai said. "Wait a second…" She pulled out her phone and unlocked it. "Huh. That's weird. I thought somebody called me." She fiddled around with it for a few more minutes before stashing it. "Okay. So my room is the fourth door down on the left. Let's go." She gestured toward the door.
"Why don't you go first?" Raph said, frowning. "This is your home, after all."
"What are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting that you seem awfully willing to let us waltz into whatever's waiting on the other side of the door. What were you doing on that phone?"
"Checking to see if I had messages," Karai said.
"The heck you were. Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?"
Karai drew a sharp breath and started to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, okay? I – I know I'm a terrible person, and I know that I betrayed Mei… I just…I just want to make it right…"
"Don't cry," Leo said, running to Karai's side and putting an arm around her. "None of us blame you."
"Raphael does," Karai said. She sobbed. "Why don't you just admit it, Raph? Admit that you hate me!" Her voice rang out in the musty silence.
"Shh, keep it down, Karai," Leo said. He glared at Raph, but then he was surprised to see that Raphael's expression had softened.
"I don't hate you," Raph said. "It's just...we've been enemies for so long…I'm not sure how to…"
"You think I don't know what that feels like?" Karai pushed tears from her eyes. "I've had to change my whole outlook on things. Everything I thought was true was upside down. Now I'm trusting you guys with life, here. The least you could do" – she sobbed again – "is trust me."
"Dude," Mikey said, nudging Raph's shoulder.
Raph sighed. "I'm sorry, Karai. Here, look – I'll go first, okay?"
Karai sniffed. "Really?"
"Yes, really. As a sign of trust." He said the word like it was against his better judgment.
Karai went over to Raph and threw her arms around him. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"Yeah," Raph muttered, shrugging off the embrace. "I guess let's get this over with." He went over to the door and opened it slowly.
"Well, look at that," Leo said. "An empty hall. Good thing you were so worried about us, Raph."
Raph scowled and walked out into the hall. Mikey followed him, and Leo went next.
They had gotten a few paces down the hall when Leo realized Karai hadn't followed them yet. "Hey Karai, are you coming?"
Karai stood in the open doorway, a peculiar expression on her face. "I'm sorry, Leonardo. Some loyalties run too deep." She slammed the door shut. A hissing sound filled the hall.
Leo started gasping and choking. "What – " The air grew thick with gas. The world started to spin.
"I told y –" Raphael collapsed to the floor with a loud thud.
The next thing Leo knew, his face slammed into the cold floor and the world went black.
Leo opened his eyes. Daylight stabbed into them, as if it was trying to lance his brain. Dizzy and nauseous, he pressed his eyes shut again and tried to draw a deep breath.
He couldn't breathe in through his mouth. He went to feel whatever it was that was over his mouth, but his hands couldn't move either. He opened his eyes in a painful squint, and realized that he was lying on the floor in the main hall of Shredder's lair. Raph and Mikey were there too, bound at the ankles and wrists. A large piece of duct tape was over each of their mouths.
Betrayal swept over him. Karai…
He had trusted her. Trusted her in spite of everything. Forgiven her, tried to be her friend, and she had stabbed them in the back.
Some loyalties run too deep.
How could she? How could she still be loyal to the Foot? How could she want to work for Oroku Daiki? After everything the Foot had done to her, after all the lies that Shredder had told her…why?
Leo exhaled through his nose. Raph had tried to warn him. Raph had been listening to his instincts like a real ninja should, while Leo had been running around with his head in the clouds. The last time Raph told Leo that Karai was bad news, he had been right, but Leo hadn't wanted to listen.
Now Leo's brothers were once again paying the terrible price for his foolishness.
It's all my fault.
Leo squeezed his eyes shut again, then tried opening them a little wider. Slowly, his vision adjusted to the brightness of the light.
The hinges on the main door complained loudly as they swung open. Leo looked up to see Karai, Bradford, Xever, and a Japanese man who must have been the Ronin walking in.
"To prove my undying loyalty to you and to the Foot, Master Ronin," Karai said, "I have brought you a token of my allegiance. Hamato Yoshi's disciples."
Raphael woke up and started thrashing around immediately, straining against the ropes. He was yelling against the duct tape, producing an incoherent muffled scream of rage.
Mikey was awake, too, but he didn't struggle much beyond a few wiggles. He sniffed loudly, and moisture collected in the corners of his eyes.
That was it. Karai could hurt or betray Leo all she wanted, but the second that she brought his brothers in the line of fire, all bets were off. He was going to make sure that she would never hurt his brothers again.
Sorry, Karai. Some loyalties just run too deep.