TMNT are the property this year of Mirage, despite my New Year's Resolution to take control bwa-hahahaha.

Circumstances

She was dreaming of that day...

She knew this now.

Sitting up in the middle of the night, in her comfortable bed, surrounded by the best that his hard work and countless years of struggle could provide, she knew that, despite it all, he HAD harbored love for her in his own way. The dream had once again reminded her of that.

For Karai, that was good enough!

She arose, shunning the expensive silk, milk-white kimono that lay across the foot of the large bed. The room was warm enough even in the filmy, violet silk and lace nightgown that clung loosely to her well-toned yet feminine frame, and there was no one else around anyway to warrant the wearing of the robe.

She padded barefoot, across the expensive rug to the small yet well-tended shrine she had set up along the far wall. Lighting a stick of incense, she bowed with respect to a beautifully framed picture of Oroku Saki, and then knelt before it, remembering all he had done for her and speaking to him of her gratitude in her mind.

"And this I swear, my Master, my Father," she ended aloud as she always did lately. "I will avenge you! Your enemies are my enemies. I will crush all those who did this to you. I will crush the Turtles with my own hands!"

Hun awoke early, and for a brief moment he registered surprise and awe at his location. He owned a fine penthouse at the top of a small yet serviceable building that housed his reinvented Purple Dragon gang.

He stared for a moment at the king-sized bed that he was in, expensive Egyptian cotton sheets; exquisite silk-covered quilt that had been special ordered, embroidered with- what else, a large Purple dragon rampant on a black background- and he marveled again at his status and new life.

The master bedroom was large. It was appointed with the finest in carpets, furniture, and decorative art. It was surprisingly tasteful, and many of his old associates would have wondered at this seeming good taste and fine appreciation that Hun of all people seemed to be exhibiting.

Sighing happily, he allowed himself a few more minutes of basking in the glow of his good fortune! Then the day began.

A brief trip to the bathroom, a change of clothes (from satin pajamas to a workout outfit), and he hit the "dojo", where today he only spent an hour working out and keeping up his sword practice. He may have some latent hatred for his former "master" ("an Utrom!"), but there was no denying that "Oroku Saki" had pretty much taught Hun everything he knew. There was no point in letting these skills in fighting go to waste, though he preferred all the high-tech weaponry he had been "lucky" enough to acquire over the months following the "death" of the Shredder.

Yes, sir, Hun had shown them all! There was no more talk of his being a pile of muscle with no brain! He was a force to be reckoned with! He had taken a street gang and turned it into a profitable business! And this was just the beginning.

He would have liked to spend some more time training, but business called. A quick shower in the beautiful bathroom, then on with a custom-tailored and expensive (yet very tasteful and conservative) business suit, and, grabbing his dark cashmere topcoat and well insulated leather gloves, he was ready to go.

"Make sure the car is ready," he said without preamble into his newest phone (high-tech! The latest in styles with a myriad of abilities that rivaled anything they had used when he was still with the Foot- and anyone could buy these!), as he headed to his private elevator. "And make sure my coffee is ready as well! I'm meeting with Karai today, and I know she won't be serving any."

"Yes, Master Hun," the obedient voice of his second-in-command replied. "Should you like a thermos to take in with you?"

"Naw. I can tough it out with the tea. But make sure there is plenty in the car when I'm through," he replied.

And another day of business as usual began for Hun.

Karai sat across from her former "brother" and considered all he had said. She looked thoughtfully into the cup of tea that she held in her hands, repeating everything he had presented to her in her mind. Then she had looked up. Her face did not betray any emotions, but she was both curious and untrusting. Hun, after all, had been her fiercest adversary when her father had ruled the Foot. She had no reason to trust him.

But he had served her father faithfully for many long years, and so she was familiar with him enough to know that she could believe him- at least, believe him on what he had told her. She knew he had not told her everything.

She was, after all, the Shredder's daughter.

"How does finding this Dr. Baker benefit either of our organizations?" she finally asked.

Hun shrugged.

"Whether it benefits the Foot I've no idea," he admitted freely. "But I need to find this guy before the others do. He worked for Bishop. Bishop did a lot of work with alien technology. I need his help, willing or no."

She arched a finely shaped eyebrow at Hun. Skepticism briefly showed on her beautiful face.

"You tell half a story," she smiled. "I know that you have much contact with this Ruffington. Why would you need this Baker?"

Hun hated tea, but he sipped his anyway. He knew that dealing with Karai had its dangers. He did not want to reveal all his plans to her, but over the past few months he had had to face the realization that he needed her help. The Dragons were not being effective in finding Dr. Baker. He knew that if he had the help of the Foot, then he stood a better chance of locating this person before his old colleagues did.

The rumored death of Bishop only served to make this more urgent. The guy had apparently remained in hiding, knowing that others were after him for his unique expertise in genetics.

But should he tell Karai?

"I need him for my own personal reasons," he finally said, steadily looking her in the eye. "And that is all I wish to say. Will you help me or not? All you need to say is 'yes' or 'no'."

And he set the fine tea cup down ever so gently.

"You have not convinced me of the benefit to me," she replied. "I am not talking of payment, as you know. I am talking of personal reasons. We never were the 'brother and sister' that our Master tried to make us. Why should I, dear 'brother', help you?"

Hun smiled in spite of his hatred for Karai. It was true, he had been fiercely jealous of any attention paid to her by Shredder. As long as she had stayed in Japan, things had been tolerable.

But when she had come to New York to take control of the Foot during that time when everyone thought Saki was dead- and had revealed to Hun that he was indeed alive and in hiding- Hun had had to swallow the overwhelming hurt he had felt; his Master had NOT trusted him by letting him know he was alive. Karai had been given the specific job of protecting him, hiding him, until he had healed from the near-death injuries he had sustained.

Even knowing now that Oroku Sake had been an Utrom did not lessen the old hurt in Hun. Despite everything, Saki had been like a father to him, and though he hated to admit it now, it had felt good to "belong".

"Let me put it this way," he heard himself saying. "How would you like to clone 'dear old dad'?"

"Excellent!" Splinter heartily commended when Raphael, still breathing harder than he should be from the exercise, defeated Donatello in the match. "Excellent! That is the way! Congratulations my son! Well done indeed!"

Don was grinning at his brother. Though Raph had won, he was nearly twice as winded as Don. Of course, it hadn't helped matters that he had also defeated Mikey beforehand. Sparing with each brother was tiring but not exhausting. Don and Mikey had first sparred with each other, then they had to give Raph and Leo their chances at freedom. A normal day of training like this and they all would have been tired but not to the point of collapse.

Raph was struggling to act anything but ready for a nap. He desperately wanted to sit down for a bit, perhaps stretch out in his hammock and catch a few Zs to recover, but he was determined to make sure Splinter honored the agreement: once they had defeated both brothers in the dojo, they were free to return to the surface.

And the first place I'm goin' is Casey's to pay him back for rattin' us out to Splinter, he vowed as he awaited the official word from his father.

Leo as well had managed to defeat both Don and Mikey today. Though he had had plenty of time to rest up while watching Raph's bouts, he had trouble getting up off the dojo floor to line up with his brothers. After a desperate struggle to rise, coupled with his fight to keep from groaning aloud, he was on his feet and acting as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Splinter was not fooled. But he had to honor his agreement. He would rather they not go at all, but he was caught.

And yet...

If these two think that their punishment is through...

"Very well. You have defeated your brothers in the dojo. You are free to return to the surface," Splinter said, and those were perhaps the hardest words he had ever had to utter. "No meditation today. You are all dismissed."

Containing their overwhelming joy, Leo and Raph made a dignified exit from the dojo- then grabbed their gear and prepared to head out.

"I see that you two are wasting no time," Splinter said behind them as they put on coats and other things. It was daylight and cold, and their first real trip was not going to be for training but for fun.

"Yes, Sensei," Leo grinned. "Raph and I want to be in the sun as soon as possible."

Splinter nodded.

"And what, may I ask, are your plans?"

"Casey's of course," Raph said, trying to decide which hat would keep his head warm, keep his profile covered, and not make him look like a stereotypical pervert or stalker. "For me, at least. You comin' with me, Leo?"

"I had thought about a run across the roof tops, but if I need to wear all this because of the cold, I'd rather either visit Casey's or April's," he replied, pulling on a pair of jeans and some large boots. "Of course, at April's there's more of a chance of getting some hot chocolate and warm cookies."

Raph, mind full of the many pay backs he had planned for Casey, suddenly had an overwhelming desire for some of April's chocolate chip cookies.

"Mmmm... she makes them just the way I like 'em," he sighed with a smile on his face. "Let's go to April's and see if we can get her to make us some."

Leo grinned.

"Yeah! A celebration of our release from prison!"

And they laughed, forgetful for the moment of their father's presence.

In fact, they were so excited and busy getting ready to go, talking about their plans, that they failed to notice that Splinter was getting ready to go out himself.

It wasn't until they found him waiting at the door that it registered on them. Splinter was dressed in coat, pants, small boots, gloves- and his wide-brimmed hat. Normally he reserved these for special trips for scavenging above ground at night. But things had been so good over the past few years that he had not had to use these items any more for that kind of activity. The guys hadn't seen him dressed like this in ages, and certainly not in the daytime.

He looked at them expectantly.

"Well? Let us hurry! I have not had any of April's chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven in months and months."

And he exited the lair.

Leo and Raph exchanged confused glances. For the moment they could not comprehend what it was that Splinter had said; had meant.

"Does he..."

"Is he..."

"Come on, my sons! We must hurry! We do not want Donatello and Michelangelo to beat us there!"

Both of them caught up to Splinter in a heartbeat; both of them got in front of him, halting his progress.

"Whoa! Waitaminute!" Raph sang out in disbelief, staring hard at the expectant face of his father. "You're goin' with us?"

"Of course," Splinter replied, slightly surprised. "Did you not hear me? We are going to April's for a celebration." His eyes narrowed. "You know... to celebrate your release from prison!"

And he pushed past them, leading the way. Once again the two in tandem caught up, got ahead of, and blocked their father's way.

"Uh, Sensei!" Leo tried smiling, gathering his thoughts quickly and trying his best to talk them out of the apparent extra company. "I was out of line for saying that. I'm sorry. But we- I mean, don't get me wrong, we love spending time with you, and we haven't been- you see-"

"We wanna go alone," Raph cut in. "By ourselves. Without YOU. Father." As Splinter continued to gaze at him, Raph became anxious. "I mean, not that we're saying that you can't go wherever you wanna go. It's just that..."

"We don't want you going with us," Leo finished, desperately crossing his fingers mentally.

Splinter smiled wickedly at the two of them.

"Oh, no, my sons. It is my duty to go with you; to ensure that you DO make it to April's, which as you say is your destination. You have just been released from prison, you know," and Leo groaned inwardly at his careless choice of words in the Lair.

"Jeeze," Raph sighed in part frustration, part anger. "Here we go again- your duty as our father, right?"

Splinter, eyes wide in mock innocence, shook his head.

"No, my son! My duty as your parole officer."

"Parole officer? What the hell?"

"Yes. You two are on probation," Splinter said, pushing past them to start the climb up the latter to the surface. "And I am your parole officer. I must make sure that you are where you say you are going to be. Come along! I know for a fact that Michelangelo is already counting on this being one of April's baking days. We need to get there quickly if we are to get any cookies."