Fade

Part 16

By Dierdre

Beta read by Reluctant Dragon. Go check out her fics!

Her expression did not change, but I could still detect a hint of amusement as she ran her fingers languorously down the worn leather. “You’re hardly in a position to make demands.”

“Kutabare, ikeike,” I spat, feeling a surge bitter gratification when her eyes narrowed at the insult. “If you didn’t need me for something you would’ve just killed me outright, so I think my position is pretty damn perfect.”

Despite the haze of red that clouded my vision, I maintained enough presence of mind to realize that snapping at her like that was not only rash, but pretty damn stupid. A captive at the mercy of an enemy was not in a position to act aggressively, and telling that selfsame enemy to fuck off was an engraved invitation to a slow death by torture. I knew I was digging my grave a little deeper with every spoken word… but I quite frankly couldn’t bring myself to care. The thought of Karai in possession of April’s backpack, pawing through its contents as if its owner had ceased to matter, brought with it a wave of revulsion so intense it bordered on nausea.

Unable to help myself, I gripped the bars tightly, ignoring the sudden rush of pain that shot up my injured arm, and fixed her with a glare so fierce that by all rights she should have burst into flame. “Set the bag on the ground and tell me what you’ve done with my family.”

Karai was a minimalist when it came to displays of emotion, so it was difficult to tell just what she thought of that last sentence. The only giveaway was her eyes, which had hardened to chips of emerald in a face that was still as pale and tranquil as a corpse laid out in state.

Oh, yes, the bitch was pissed, so imagine my surprise when she suddenly bowed her head and blew out a small breath. After a moment she straightened and met my gaze, and I saw that the hardness had drained from her eyes, replaced by an emotion that was dangerously close to acquiescence. “As you wish,” she said calmly.

She curled her fingers around the leather strap and lifted the bag off her shoulder, before depositing it on the floor with deliberate care. Taking a step to left with all the solemnity of a holy ritual, Karai then hooked her thumbs on her belt and opened her mouth again to speak, “Leonardo is unharmed, and will remain so regardless of the outcome of our conversation.”

A strange expression flitted across her face when she said my brother’s name, as if she had just bit down on something unpleasant, but was too polite to spit it out. Leo’s unscheduled trip to La La Land had apparently come as an unwelcome surprise, and if I hadn’t been so busy sagging in relief I might have said something sarcastic.

As it was, I was still trying to regain my composure when Karai continued, “Ms. O’Neil’s situation, however, is a bit more precarious.”

A spike of fear-induced adrenaline stabbed through me, as sudden and shocking as a kick in the teeth. My good hand was gripping the bar so tightly I actually heard the metal creak, but before I could launch into an angry tirade, Karai cut me off with her next words.

“Remain calm, Raphael. She is still very much alive, despite many in my clan’s desires to the contrary. She wounded two of my people in her bid to protect you, and while injuries are to be expected with our lifestyle, they are most displeased by the manner in which she dispatched Akito.” She paused and frowned again, her expression momentarily distant. “He will survive, but his right eye is damaged beyond repair. He will have to be retired from active duty.”

My thoughts thoroughly derailed by what she had just said, I blinked and felt my grip on the bars slacken. Letting her soldiers get smacked around by a gimp didn’t say much about Karai’s command abilities, so she had little reason to make it up, but the notion was still difficult to process. It was hard to believe that April, my April, who was terrified of spiders and cried every time she watched Old Yeller, could injure two trained ninjas with nothing but a short kunai blade. And to actually put out a man’s eye…

Wicked glee rippled across my skin in a sudden, warm wave, and it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud. Alone, crippled and probably frightened out of her mind, but she’d still kicked ass. I’d never been prouder of anyone before in my life.

The moment did not last long, however, for the reality of the situation quickly killed my good mood. April’s act of heroism had pissed off a lot of bad people, and she was now at the mercy of those who had no reason to treat her kindly. The thought was chilling, and it leeched all amusement from my voice when I said, “If any of your lackeys hurt her, I will take it out of your hide.”

“Let’s dispense with the tiresome threats, shall we? The injuries sustained by my warriors are regrettable, but their scars will serve as a reminder to them all about the dangers of underestimating an opponent, no matter how fragile they might seem.” Karai shifted her weight and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind one ear, before continuing in a voice as mild as milk, “My people have been ordered to exact no retribution, and they will naturally abide by their jonin’s decision, but once she is no longer under my care, I cannot guarantee her continued safety. My men are loyal, but they can be remarkably vindictive.”

She reached out with a booted foot and nudged April’s backpack in a distracted fashion, paying no heed to the way my lip curled in automatic warning. “Perhaps, however, you can make it worth my while to police the matter indefinitely.”

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was holding all the cards, and we both knew it. I rested my head against the bars and let the coolness of the rough metal sink into my skin, taking the edge off my headache. “What do you want from me, Karai?” I asked tiredly.

“I just want to have a conversation with you, without your usual bouts of sarcasm or attempts at intimidation. That is a fair request, is it not?”

“I want to speak with her,” I said resolutely, lifting my head from the bars. “Until I hear her voice, we have nothing to say to each other.”

She shrugged one shoulder, her expression indifferent, and reached into a pouch on her belt. Pulling out a slim phone painted a generic shade of silver, she dialed a number and pressed the device to her ear. I strained to hear the faint tonal pulse and watched tensely as she tilted her head to the side, the harsh halogen lighting reflecting off her dark tresses in brushings of midnight blue.

“Yukio," she said, with an abruptness that was almost startling, “give the phone to Ms. O’Neil.”

There was a pause as we waited for the anonymous subordinate to comply, and then an explosion of sound that I could easily hear across the distance separating us. My captor winced and instinctively jerked the phone away as a very familiar voice poured from the tiny speaker, thick with rage and undeniably feminine.

Karai lifted one corner of her mouth into the barest of smiles and wordlessly tossed the phone to me. The drugs and my recent injury had slowed my reaction time, but I still managed to dart my hand through the bars and snag the cell before it could smash against the concrete. My treacherously numb fingertips lost their hold on the slick plastic, and I fumbled badly until I was able to get a good grip on the receiver and draw it through the cage bars. Silently cursing myself for such an obvious display of weakness, I turned my back on Karai and pressed the phone to my ear… only to have to suppress a wince of my own.

No doubt about it; April was pissed.

“-hurt him in any way, I’ll kill you! I don’t care where you go, I’ll… I’ll hunt you down like a dog! I swear to god, I will! I’ll-”

It had been a laughable attempt at privacy, but I was suddenly very glad I had decided to turn around. The last thing I wanted was for Karai to see me grinning like an idiot.

“Remind me to help you work on your death threats,” I said dryly.

The stream of invective cut off abruptly, her enraged train of thought screeching to a stop at the sound of my voice. “Raphael?” she asked hesitantly. At my affirmative huff, she let out a glad cry and began to speak in a relieved, rapid clip, “Raph, you’re alive! Are you all right? Where has she taken you? What does she want? When-”

“Just shut up for a second, will ya, April?” I cut in without acrimony. She obeyed with almost unheard-of alacrity, falling silent with such swiftness that I almost heard her jaw snap shut. “I’m fine. As for the rest… your guess is as good as mine.”

I paused and sucked in a breath, attempting to prepare myself for the outcome of a far more important question. “Is Leo with you?”

“Yes, he is,” she replied, eager to reassure me. “He seems fine, although he’s really twitchy right now. I don’t think he likes this.”

Something deep within my chest loosened at her words, and the sudden release actually weakened the muscles in my legs, forcing me to lock my knees to keep from falling flat on my face. I hadn’t truly believed my brother was alright until that moment. Considering our situation, it was a fleeting comfort at best, but I’d take what I could get.

When I could trust myself to speak again, I said, my voice slightly hoarse, “Heh… I can’t imagine why. What about you? Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay, aside from a nasty headache. Two Foot goons are breathing down my neck as we speak, but they haven’t touched me.” She faltered for a moment, as if reluctant to continue. “We’re in the lair, Raph. They must have followed me from the bus stop when I came by last time. I sensed something was wrong then, but I… I ignored it.” Her tone had changed gradually as she spoke, transforming into a somber, frail thing, which trembled with an emotion I belatedly recognized as guilt. “This is all my fault. I’m so, so sorry.”

Closing my eyes in reaction to her confession, I reached up absentmindedly with my free hand and pressed a finger to my temple. My wound twinged in sharp reminder as the stitches pulled, and I was suddenly treated with an image of April’s anguished face as she shouted at me, begging to know why I’d tried to kill myself. That brief memory flash was enough to dispel my anger at her accidental betrayal, the emotion fading into nonexistence before it had a chance to properly form.

“It’s okay, April,” I said at last, in a tone as gentle as I could make it. “Just take care of Leo for me until I get back.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let them lay a finger on him.”

She sounded so grim and determined that I couldn’t help but smile. “That’s my girl. I’ll see you soon.”

I was reluctant to hang up, but I had nothing else of import to say, so I ended the call without another word. Closing the phone with a decisive snap, I turned around and fixed Karai with a speculative stare. The woman kept her face carefully neutral, but I swear I could detect a hint of smugness as she held out her hand, mutely asking for the return of her property. I briefly debated keeping the cell, but ultimately tossed it through the bars, scowling a bit when she caught it easily. It wasn’t like I could call for backup, anyway.

As she glanced down and belted the phone, I cradled my injured arm against my plastron and said, “You wanted to talk… so talk. You just bought yourself five minutes.”

“I believe it will take more than that, but it will serve for the moment.” As if to add emphasis to her point, Karai turned in her heel and grabbed the metal back of Jacob’s chair. Dragging it over next to April’s bag, she sat down gracefully and crossed her legs, an almost comically feminine gesture from someone with more muscle than curves. “Why do you think I brought you here, Raphael?”

There was only one possible answer to that. “‘Cause you’re a pushy broad who won’t take no for an answer?”

“Sarcasm, remember?” she said dryly, seeming to hold off an eye-roll by effort of will alone. When she spoke again a moment later, her voice had changed, taking on the lilt of a storyteller beginning a very familiar tale. “The feud between our two families originated with our fathers, nearly a quarter of a century ago, but it did not truly begin until the first drop of blood was spilled fifteen years later. It-”

“Thanks for the recap, but I know this story as well as you do,” I interrupted, in a tone that conveyed strained patience. “Can we just fast-forward to the point?”

I felt vaguely triumphant when she sighed gustily, obviously annoyed that I had stolen her thunder. Only a few minutes into this little tête-à-tête with the Ice Queen, and already I was finding ways to get under her skin.

What could I say? It was a gift.

“Very well,” she finally said, her voice thin with the effort of self-control. Standing in an abrupt motion, she stalked away from the chair, all but disappearing into the gloom as the portable lamp weakened with distance. Light shimmered in a pale glow across her skin as Karai then turned around and lifted her arm in a determinedly dramatic gesture. The neck of her uniform fell open slightly from the movement, and I was surprised to see a wide scar curving under her collarbone and slashing downward, shining an angry red and still rather fresh.

Seemingly unaware of my scrutiny, she gesticulated with her upraised hand and said, “This is the warehouse where my father and your family first battled. I am surprised you don’t remember it.”

I glanced around briefly, but was unable to detect anything recognizable in the building’s looming darkness. Shrugging my shoulders as I drew a blank, I sardonically replied, “We were on the roof, mostly. And I was too busy trying to keep Saki and his cronies from killing us all to notice the architecture.”

The barest flicker of a smile darted across her shadow-veiled face. “Regardless, that is why we are here. I believe in the circular nature of things, and it seemed only fitting that the place that first witnessed the commencement of our hatred should also be here to see its end.”

That statement was practically dripping with potential threat, and was not something I wanted to hear while imprisoned and essentially defenseless. I tensed instinctively, drawing away from the bars, but was brought up short when Karai lifted a hand in a conciliatory gesture. “Do not fret. I wish to end our blood feud, but not through your death or those of your surviving kindred.”

She walked back into the slanted spotlight of the halogen lamp and came to a halt in front of me. Once again a few careful steps beyond my reach, the Foot clan leader crossed her arms over her chest. “I am here to offer a truce, Raphael,” she said, “and to suggest an alliance. The latter will be only temporary, but mutually beneficial, for it will help us to achieve something we both want.”

“And that is?”

Karai’s eyes narrowed at my skeptical question, and for an instant that nearly perfect mask of quietude fell away, replaced by a look of such raw hatred that I felt an odd chill of recognition.

“Revenge.”