TMNT are the property of Mirage. Nice to see that 4Kids is finally running this past seasons episode in the correct order.

Clarigate

No one caught cold this time, though Raph complained of headaches- brought on by being cooped up with Mikey, who spent all of his free time thinking of ways to annoy his brother.

Don buried himself in work, and though he could not go to see Honeycutt and Leatherhead, Splinter had at least allowed him a way to send and receive information back and forth- though he was still grounded from the Internet and the phone.

Unfortunately, that way was to have Leonardo play messenger boy. Don was not pleased at the situation- well, to be honest, he was sort of pleased at the situation, when it came to Leo's continued "problems" with Splinter!

"You have been after me to allow you to travel out by yourself," Splinter had calmly said to the irate "leader" when he had told Leonardo of the plan. "This is your first chance to prove yourself to me. Straight to their place and back again."

"Sensei, I need to go patrol outside! We must know if our enemies are nearby, now that the storm is over!"

"Of course you may patrol outside- as soon as you return, Michelangelo and Raphael will be ready, and the three of you may-"

Leo cut his father off with an impatient gesture, and then yelped as the walking stick caught him a sharp one on the offending wrist!

"Sorry, Sensei," he bowed, rubbing the spot where the stick had connected with bone, grateful for even the slightest protection the wristband afforded- that had smarted!

Don had laughed at that. But Leo paid him back in full, messing up the verbal exchanges (Don quickly learned to write everything down after that first time); accidentally "dropping" items in the sewers- easily replaceable items, but Don was convinced that his brother was setting him up for the time when he decided to drop something that could NOT be so easily replaced; and "forgetting" some vital piece of information or equipment that made it necessary for him to have to go back for (or return for, depending on his mood), and delaying Don's work even further.

Leo, Mike and Raph started patrolling at night once the storm's aftereffects had finally let up and they could get out of the sewers. Careful to not leave tracks, they could not believe the amount of snow in the area. It had been a record fall this time, and the city was slowly coming back to life after nearly a week of wicked weather. Rooftops were drifted high with the stuff in some places, while others seemed scoured of every trace. Side streets were still choked with the stuff, made worse by the accumulation of whatever had been scraped by the snowplows along the main streets. Snow removal was slow, slow, slow- but it was getting done.

At the warehouse area, the Foot had left no trace of their previous "look out" place. All the equipment was missing- including Don's ingenious spy cam.

"Great!" Raph grumbled after a fruitless search. Since there was no evidence that it had been destroyed, they had to assume the worst. "I hope that thing can't lead them back to us. And Mikey, I am so warning you to drop that snowball!"

"Spoilsport," the younger turtle replied, dropping the perfectly round, large and well-packed sphere off the side of the building.

Leo stood on the corner of the roof, gazing down at where the fight had taken place. He could still "see" her in his mind: dressed as she used to, katanas in hand, waiting and watching as he fought her soldiers. The red headband that fluttered like a ribbon behind her jet-black hair, a symbol of her position as well as a stylish adornment.

He had wanted to engage her, but distance and Foot had made it impossible. She had watched him with hatred- and admiration. She had watched him with growing anger as he easily dealt with her many Ninja, waiting for him to come engage her in combat.

He had wanted to engage her, but Raph had gotten there first.

"Karai!" he yelled again, with a laugh in his voice as he beckoned to her. "Kocha koi!"

Raph had been the one she had attacked that night, not Leo; and Raph had been the one to knock her on her-

Leo needed to engage her, to fight her, to make her pay for all she was doing to him- and his family. He needed to-

BAP!

The snowball caught him square in the back of the head! Packed hard, large, it stung as if it had been ice, and the rapidly melting chunks slid down his neck and into those annoyingly hard to reach places between skin and shell, causing all sorts of unpleasant sensations.

"Jeeze, Leo, you really musta been out of it," Raph couldn't help laughing. "You let Mikey sneak up on you like that? Good thing it wasn't Karai, you'd be-"

He choked off the rest of his words at the deadly gaze of his brother. And then he got mad at himself. Since when did he let Leo intimidate him?

But there was something this time in his look...

"Let's get out of here," Leo said, leading the way. Frankly, he hoped to leave the two of them far behind, but he knew that doing so would only earn him more punishment from Splinter. Quickly he made his way from rooftop to rooftop, dropping down to street level here and there when distance was too great or the roof was too icy for jumping safely from ledge to ledge. Right behind him were Raph and Mikey, keeping up though never fully catching up.

Silhouetted against the clear, cold night sky, the three made their way through the city in a strange sort of "Follow the Leader"- but with Raph and Mike having no clue as to their destination, much less the purpose of this run.

Their breaths left vapor trails that vanished quickly, but sometimes it was the only clue the two had as to Leo's location.

"He's doing his best to lose us," Mikey observed once. Raph nodded in agreement, a mirthless smile on his face.

"And when he does, then we go home and wait for the fireworks," Raph replied.

"Hope Don has some popcorn left."

On and on the "run" went. And all the while, Leo's thoughts were on the white-hot anger that had flashed from Karai's eyes that night. His mind was full of the image of her lithe yet well-muscled body dressed in black; her slender hands gripping the handles of her katanas, knuckles white with the pressure; those red lips parted in anger.

Why was she filling his thoughts? She filled them most sleepless nights, when the shoulder wound she had given him ached in some phantom memory, or when he'd catch sight of the scar, slight yet visible- a constant reminder of her treachery.

And yet, upon their return, she had declared a truce. And he, in his preoccupation with his plans for Bishop, had believed her; had trusted her; had gone to her for information;

Had forgiven her.

All that stands between us...

"Leo!" Mikey's voice finally snapped through his thoughts, and Leo realized that he was on a rooftop just across from the "memorial library" of Oroku Saki. Turning he saw his brothers one building behind him. Mikey had taken a chance on calling out; there were Foot standing in the shadows on certain parts of the building in question, keeping a not very careful watch.

At least his mind had NOT allowed him to be exposed to his enemies. He had kept to the shadows, better hidden (he hoped) than the guards around the library.

Within seconds the other two had joined him in the shadows, thin, ghostly wisps of "steam" rising from their skin as the heat of their bodies came in contact with the icy cold air surrounding them as they stood still.

"Are you out of your freakin' mind?" Raph immediately chewed his older brother out in a fierce whisper. "We're supposed to be patrolling, not looking for trouble!"

"Since when were you afraid of looking for trouble?" Leo couldn't help saying, rather put out by Raph's attitude.

"Since we're one turtle down- two by the looks of you!" he shot back. "You been actin' like your mind's someplace else tonight. I don't like the idea of fightin' anyone while you're so distracted!"

Leo felt a red-hot flame of anger start up in his chest. Who the hell was Raph to say such things?

"I am NOT distracted!"

"Uh, guys..." Mikey tried to cut in, but no one was listening.

"Yeah- and now, come to think of it, I bet I know what's distractin' you," Raph insisted, an idea dawning on him. "You been thinkin' about her! That's why we're out here! You're hopin' to catch a glimpse of Karai!"

"Guys!"

"I need to find out what she's up to!" Leo defended. "She is after that guy. She wants payback on our family, and I can't allow that to happen!"

"You're HOT for her! She fucking stabbed you with your own katana, and you're HOT for her!" Raph accused.

"She is our enemy!" Leo's voice rose in angry denial of his brother's accusation. "We have to be prepared against her! We-"

"GUYS!"

"What?" both of them snapped at Mikey, turning to face him- and then they saw "what".

They were surrounded on the roof by roughly a dozen Foot.

Leo stood before Splinter in the dojo, weapons gone, head bowed, fresh bandages covering various cuts.

On the floor, Raph, Mike, and Don (sans popcorn- after all, this was the dojo) sat, waiting for the show. Mikey, sporting a freshly stitched shoulder wound, looked rather sympathetically at his older brother. He was not looking forward to what was about to happen, though he did feel that Leo deserved some of it.

Raph, nursing a wicked bruise that closed his left eye and covered a large portion of his face, shifted the ice pack in the towel before replacing it to his injury. Despite having only the use of one eye (temporarily), the Turtle's feelings could be clearly read in it- he was so going to enjoy this.

Don, coming down from the adrenaline rush of having to deal with wounded brothers, was struggling not to show any emotion whatsoever. He could feel the anger emanating from Splinter earlier as they had worked on the wounded in the infirmary, and he was not going to let any of it spill over onto him! He wanted off grounding, not more.

They had won, naturally, but the fight had alerted Karai and the Foot to their presence. Reinforcements had been swift in coming, and they had spent a good deal of the rest of the night losing their pursuers. Finally the Foot had to admit that the turtles had escaped, and gave up the chase. But it wasn't over, not by a long shot.

Splinter, dried blood still in his fur and on his robe from cleaning and stitching the wicked yet shallow sword wound in Michelangelo's shoulder, stood there, staring at this oldest son. Only the slight quivering of his whiskers and the flicking of the tip of his tail showed his anger. It was taking all of his willpower to master himself before dealing with Leonardo. He did NOT wish to act while so emotionally raw, but this had to be dealt with now.

"Zonzai!" he snapped, hitting the dojo floor with his cane for emphasis, causing all four to jump, startled at the loud crack. Leonardo flinched at the word, perfectly true- he had been careless. "Have I taught you nothing? Have I wasted my time with you? Have I failed? The fault must be in the Master, since the student keeps acting so!"

"Sensei, I-"

"Silence! I have heard your story and your apology! I wish to hear no more! What am I to do with you, Leonardo? Do you think I enjoy having to punish you?"

Yes, he thought to himself. Yes, you certainly do- lately.

"I am growing frustrated with your willful behavior. You put yourself and your family at risk- again! Your obsession with this woman is becoming a liability, a liability we cannot afford!"

"With respect, Sensei, I am not obsessed with Karai," he carefully replied. "I do not trust her. She is after this scientist. I need to know why. We are now standing between him and his would-be captors, and I want to know the reason."

"You are making excuses," Splinter shook his head. "You are not interested in this Baker or his safety. You are only interested in this woman. I cannot understand, my son! Why do you do this to yourself and to your family?"

But Leo would NOT admit to such things. What did they know of his feelings? What did any of them know of his thoughts?

"I need to know what she is planning," he replied simply. "I need to be ready for her. I need to be ready to fight her!"

"You need to attend to my orders! You need to attend to your training, and to your healing!"

"I am healed!" he shouted, suddenly unable to contain himself. "I am healed through and through and yet you treat me as if I were just risen from my death bed! I- AM- HEALED!"

Why Splinter did not slap him then and there was an immediate mystery to the three on the floor- as well as the one standing across from him. For a moment it was hard to judge who was more surprised by the childish outburst as well as the lack of reaction- Leo or his brothers.

Splinter seemed unfazed by the show of emotion.

Mikey, however, could tell by Splinter's tail that something was coming, something worse than a slap for insolence. It had gone perfectly still; more than when it twitched, Splinter's tail staying perfectly still was a warning sign of monumental proportions.

Splinter moved to the weapons rack, retrieved two bokken, and tossed one to Leonardo. Then he went on guard.

"My son," he said calmly, though the hard glint in his eye told a different story. He beckoned with one hand. "Kocha koi."

"... and then Splinter handed Leo his tail on a platter," Raph said to Casey later. He and Mikey were sitting in the kitchen of Casey's place, eating pizza and drinking beer and catching their friend up on all that had been happening to them recently.

"Dude, I don't get Leo lately," Casey snorted. "I mean, I can understand that he's been pissed 'bout Splinter's keepin' him on a short leash, but ya'd think Leo'd be smart enough to go along with it and earn his freedom, like you did."

"Yeah, well, somthing's different about him lately," Raph, snagging another slice of pizza, said. "He's been broodin' over Karai lately. We run up against her, and since then its added to his moodiness. Seein' her like that I mean."

"So, what's the damage this time?"

"Grounded to the Lair for two more weeks, no trips above ground except with Splinter, and he took his katana from him as well. He can't even practice with them."

"Harsh! So, wanna watch the game?"

Mikey, unusually quiet, merely listened, but he really wasn't paying much attention. His planned memorial ceremony for Victor was less than a week away, and April had said that this time it had damn well better take place, or the next flowers she ordered would be for HIS memorial service.

The box containing the shinishozoku was sitting on the chair next to him. He had opened it to take a look, but hadn't tried it on yet, saving that for when he got home and Splinter could tell him if he had put it on right. Casey had picked it up for him from April's where it'd been since his illness. If there was anything wrong with it, it was too late to fix it. They'd been so busy with other things that Mike had not had a chance to pick it up earlier, and April (also busy) never seemed to find the time to drop it off at the Lair.

So white. The material was so white- like snow, really. He could not recall ever seeing material that looked so white, not even some of April's stuff.

So white.

As he sat there, staring at the white fabric, he suddenly recalled with startling clarity the face that had loomed out at him in the snowstorm.

The noise of the game on tv, the good-natured arguing of Casey and Raph was background music to his thoughts- and yet, his thoughts weren't conscious ones. He stared at that shinishozoku and remembered all the "sightings" of Victor he'd been experiencing.

Fever dreams; tricks of the snowstorm; Victor is dead. Get over it!

He glanced at the calendar again. He had time. It was too late today, but tomorrow he had time.

He was going to that abandoned place where he and Raph had made the phone call, and he was going to check it out. He would prove to himself that he had been seeing things.

He would prove that it was only a ghost.