"𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓪𝓻𝓽𝓱 𝓲𝓼 𝓪 𝓽𝓲𝓷𝔂 𝓫𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓪 𝓾𝓷𝓲𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓾𝓷𝓯𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓵𝔂 𝓸𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼."

"Ah, look who finally showed up." Shinigami spoke as she sat atop the glass casings around Shredder's old lair. The blue hue was still covering the entire place, and you'd be lying if you said it didn't give you a calmer but also fearful vibe.

"Having trouble sneaking out so Splinter doesn't see you?" Karai didn't even look up from her training to know that it was Leo.

Leo jumped down from the roof, walking towards Karai. "We need to be more careful, Karai. You can't just go charging in like that."

"But she's not charging in... At least not completely." You said as you walked through the double doors leading to the throne room.

Leo turned around, his eyes filled with a guilty and still mad at you sort of expression. "(Y/N)..."

"Hello Leonardo." You said coldly. "I told you before didn't I? Don't get involved."

He opened his mouth to argue with you, but you only held your hand up to silence him. "I'm not here for you." You muttered before taking the tablet in your hands and handing it to Karai. "I'm here to deliver a report."

You turned around, looking at Leo with your head held high, and emotionless eyes. "We don't need your help, Leonardo." You said finally.

"The Purple Dragons are one thing, but just you guys against all of Shredder's army? We should at least get the others!" Leo tried to argue.

"No!" You said firmly. "This is exactly what I meant when I said-" Karai stopped you mid-sentence when she placed her hand on your shoulder and handed the tablet back.

She gave you a confident smirk and spoke instead. "Your brothers aren't interested in going after Shredder's empire because Splinter won't allow it."

"We're outnumbered. We need help." Leo said firmly.

"On that, we agree." Karai said before she spoke in Japanese and gestured with her hand. "Omaetachi, mae e." Ninja dropped and appeared from all around the room. "Shinigami recruited these new Foot Ninja from Japan."

Leo's eyes were wide, and you looked down to the floor. "But these guys are mercenaries!" Leo protested.

"They're unfit for this, Karai!" You spoke loudly, voicing your own concerns as you shook her hand off your shoulder. "They can be bought right under your nose and - I can't even begin to tell you where this could go wrong. You went against my words and hired them anyways."

And it went down hill from there. "(Y/N), don't forget who you're working for-"

"I am NOT working for you!" You hissed. "Do not make that mistake Karai," You squared up with her, both of you standing your ground. "I will not be used as a means to an end. I will not allow you to do to me what Shredder did."

And with that you turned away from her and walked past Leo, but not before you made one thing clear. You stood a few feet behind him. "Leonardo. I assure you, we don't need your help. Go back to your brothers... They need you more - and any 'charging in' that Karai may be doing is because of her personality, not mine." You let out a shaky sigh and calmed down a little bit.

"(Y/N), you can't just leave." Karai spoke aloud, causing your anger to build again. Leo could see your hands tense around the tablet. "Not when we need you for our next mission."

Shinigami threw up several printed out posters that the mercenaries grabbed, Leo receiving two of them. "Shredder's chemical factory?" Leo's voice was just above a whisper.

"If we can destroy it, we'll cripple his organization big-time." She explained. "But, we need our little chemist if we want to do this right."

You still didn't turn around. You knew she was pressing your buttons, trying to be clever. She needed your help to truly take down Shredder's chemical factory, and she wanted you to accept that taking mercenaries as soldiers was a good idea.

But there was one problem. "I told you before, Karai... I won't step into Purple Dragon territory." Only Leo knew as to why. "Go home, Leo. While you still can."

.

.

.

Your T-phone rang, and surprisingly, it wasn't Leo for the hundredth time. It was Mikey.

You'd been working on weaponry for the mercenaries that Karai had recruited, and sharpening swords and doing data analysis wasn't fun, but it was necessary. You'd kept an eye out for your coms, but it was surprising that the other turtle brothers even called you. You'd pretty much cut ties since your last big argument with Leo, sadly. You just didn't want them getting hurt trying to look for you.

Before you could even say hello, Mikey screamed in your ear. "(Y/N)! We need your help! Donnie's hurt bad and we don't know how to help him! Please!"

His voice caused you to panic, but his words caused you to jump out of your seat and run straight to the Lair. You didn't care that the mercenaries 'guarding' you were left behind when you entered the sewers. You didn't care that you unblocked your tracking system on your phone so you could find them, and they could find you. You didn't care that you'd probably have to face Leo and his brothers.

All that mattered was that someone you cared about was hurt, and they called you for help, and like hell you wouldn't.

You didn't stop running until the path opened up and it was big enough for you to skate instead. You just hoped you'd arrive on time to save Donnie's life.

The moment you entered the Lair, you looked left and right, panting heavily, but there was only April and Master Splinter. "Where..?" You tried catching your breath. "Where are they?"

Splinter and April could only look at you, worried and confused. This was the first time they'd seen you in days and you were panicked, out of breath, and -

"SENSEI!"

The turtles filed in, all of them carrying an unconscious Donnie. Your breath caught in your throat as Raph tried desperately to explain the situation.

"The factory!" He cried. "Explosion!" That was all he needed to say for you to understand everything.

"Take him to the dojo! I will prepare the healing mantras!" He ordered before placing a hand on your still shocked stiff shoulder. "Calm down, my child. Get the medical supplies, and be prepared to aid me in saving Donatello."

You took a shaky breath and nodded, not speaking a word before you rushed into Donnie's lab. You shuffled through his things, trying to find the medical supplies.

You knew how it all happened - how he got injured like this. Those three words that Raph spoke in a hurry were just enough. They'd gone after Leo, got caught in the crossfire, and hadn't made it out of the building quick enough to avoid the explosion.

The worst part? You'd built those bombs Karai used to blow the place to smithereens.

You lugged the medical supplies to the dojo, rushing right past Leo as he sat on the steps leading to the area. Just seeing his expression from the corner of your eye, you could tell he was heartbroken and guilty; and you could tell that it wasn't just because of Donnie.

It was because you'd told him this could happen... and he didn't listen.