Chapter 1

Author's note: Yes, I know. I have some unfinished stories still. But this idea has been eating at me since before TMNT 2 came out. I just waited to see how it would play out so I could get the feel for some characters. Now, it's time to set this one in motion.

She sat behind her desk, her dark eyes looking over the reports that had been placed on her desk. The papers seemed tiny on the large, polished surface of the massive piece of furniture. It even seemed to dwarf the woman physically, but her presence alone was very commanding and there was no way the deep mahogany colored office furniture could compete.

Her head lifted slightly, her long, black tresses swaying with the movement as she laid eyes on the man fidgeting very nervously on the other side of the desk. "Tell me, why do you make the trip to Japan just to bring me this?" Her tone was calm, but the anger that flared up in her eyes made the man wince. This woman was not to be trifled with and she had made that very clear over the years. Most of the time in unpleasant ways.

"I-I uh...well...ah..."

"Speak!" Her irritation at this bumbling buffoon was rapidly growing. "What am I to do with these women you bring to my attention?" Her hand waved at the small pile of paperwork on her desk.

"F-forgive me Mistress, b-but if you would have taken the time to look over the reports more thoroughly...you would have seen that they have a connection with the turtles..."

A fine brow raised at that statement as she watched the nervous man a moment, then she lowered her head back to the reports that had been handed to her. Delicate hands shifted through the paperwork as she sorted through the pile. The room was quiet as she found interest in one particular form and read. And her jaw clenched tightly at what was being revealed to her. Especially at the line "They seem to have a deep connection with the turtles, possibly romantic."

She barely finished reading that before a tanto was buried in the paperwork as the woman rose to her feet in a fit of anger. Those simple words of explanation bothering her more that she wanted to admit. Especially to this bumbling scientist standing in front of her. "Get out." She growled at him.

"But Mistress, there is still-"

"I said get out!" She screamed, backing up her command with a thrown kunai that barely missed his head to slam into the wall behind him.

His face paled and he quickly spun and stumbled towards the door, tripping over his own feet in his haste to reach it. She had already forgotten about the idiot before he walked through it. Instead she had turned to look out the wall of windows that covered one side of her luxurious office. Almond shaped eyes looked out over the glowing night skyline of Tokio, but she didn't see any of it. Her mind wandering back into her memories, back to the last time she saw him.

She had just come out of the bathroom, dressed in a long, black silk nightgown and a soft brush running through her damp locks. He had said he would come tonight and she was more than eager for his arrival and she had taken the time to carefully prepare for him. Candles lit her apartment, and a bottle of red wine was waiting on the coffee table. A small, eager smile was on her face as her body sent a shiver of excitement up her spine, and that telltale twinge hit her groin.

Their romance had to be kept secret, for obvious reasons, but she would be lying if she didn't admit that the mere sight of him didn't send her mind reeling. He was a beautiful specimen. Graceful in his movements, fluid. His well trained, muscled body was hypnotizing to watch in battle, and the bedroom. The very self disciplined woman frequently found herself desiring his touch. And tonight she would feel it again.

No one had ever been able to please her the way he could. None. There was just something about him that surpassed all the others she had ever bedded, and she was in no short supply of bed partners. The allure he had on her was still a mystery to her, she couldn't figure out what about him drew him into her bed instead of her tanto in his side. Maybe it was the danger of their forbidden romps, or the fact that she couldn't control him like she could the men who surrounded her. She just didn't know.

Her bare feet stepped along the lush carpet that covered the hardwood floor as she stepped further away from the bathroom. The steps directing her towards the couch where she put down her hair brush and focused on opening the bottle of wine. He didn't drink much, but he did allow himself a glass on occasion. She hoped tonight would be one of those occasions.

When she looked up from that task, she realized she wasn't alone anymore. The smile on her face was allowed to grow as she stood up. "Leonardo. Punctual as always."

She moved to step closer to him, but was a little taken aback when he stepped away from her. "Leonardo?"

She heard the deep breath the large turtle took in before he spoke. "Karai... We...need to talk..."

"Of course." She agreed, biting her lip in anticipation as she stepped towards him again. "We can discuss the matter later-"

"We will discuss it now!" He firmly snapped as he stepped back again.

"What has gotten into you..." Anger started to fill her now. She had spent all evening preparing for his arrival, ignoring any and all calls just so she could make her self suitable for him. And he dares reject her advances? She let the anger show as she looked up at him, and as her eyes looked over his body again she noticed that he was covered in bandages. She raised a questioning brow at him. "Decided to tire yourself out before you came here?"

"Not by choice." Came the hard answer. Anger of his own filled his blue eyes, making it feel as if she was staring into pools of ice.

"Enough with the riddles Leonardo!" She snapped, her limited patience at an end. "Tell me what you have to say so we can move onto other matters."

"I'm afraid those matters you want to move onto won't happen anymore." He raised a bag he was carrying in his hand to open it as he walked past her to the coffee table. Karai watched him, not sure what he was doing as he pulled something out of it and placed it firmly onto the surface, next to the wine bottle and two glasses. Then he stepped out of the way.

Karai stared at what he revealed. The candlelight flickering off of the once polished metal that was now dented, tarnished and even scratched. The face plate so warped that it barely was able to fit right in it's hinges. The dark eye holes seemed to glare at her accusingly. The blood smeared on it didn't help ease that feeling. "What have you done..." her eyes couldn't lift from the helmet on her table.

"What my hand had been forced to do Karai." Came the calm answer from behind her as she stepped closer to pick up the helmet.

"You killed him!" She whirled to face the turtle, anger flashing in her eyes.

"If I didn't, he would have killed my brother." Leonardo didn't back down from her anger. Not at all intimidated by her. "You know I couldn't allow that. I am sorry Karai, but we both know this was always going to be one of two inevitable outcomes. His life, or ours."

Karai held the helmet close to her, ignoring the fact that the jagged edges were snagging in the expensive silk of her nightgown. And ripping it as her arms shook with anger and grief she couldn't control. Her mentor, father figure, killed by her secret lover. It was the ultimate betrayal to her.

"You will pay for this... The clan will not fall with his death." Her eyes narrowed at him, seeing an enemy in front of her, not a lover.

A quiet sigh preceded his soft words. "I had hoped you would see that he was tearing what could be between us apart, but I knew you wouldn't. Know that if this is the path you chose, I will stand just as firmly against you as I did him."

"Then so be it..." She snarled at him. "You and your brothers are dead to me. Dead!"

"Then it is time we part ways." He turned and walked towards the window, then stopped and turned to her before he moved out of it. "Karai, I do care for you and I did want to love you, to be your everything. But I can't if this is the path you keep wanting to walk."

"I don't need your love!"

His blue eyes met hers, sadness now showing in them. "Then nothing else needs to be said between us. I hope that you can find someone who will suit your needs better than I can, and I hope the same for myself. But what is between us? It's over." And with those last words, Leonardo slipped out of the window.

Karai snapped back to the present, partly because the memory was played out but mainly because her fingers had curled hard into her palms, nails cutting into her flesh. Despite her bold claim, she never was able to keep the clan together. Sacks split away into his own group, and Baxter Stockman, the idiot who just came to pay her a visit, was notorious for offering his aid to the highest bidder. Mainly he offered his services to Agent Bishop, though he was not above working for himself as well.

Her empire crumbled to the point she had to retreat to Japan, having been ousted out of New York because she didn't have the numbers on her side to maintain what had once been a very large and profitable underworld organization. Only a handful of the countless Foot were still with her and new recruits were slow to come in after word of the original leader's defeat. No matter how much she tried, she could not bring the clan back up to the level it had been. She just wasn't powerful enough to reunite the different factions they had been split into. She wasn't...him...

And while she struggled over the years to reclaim her empire, the turtle who caused it's downfall dared to live happily? With another woman? How dare he do this to her... How dare he!

The sneer that found it's way onto her face was vicious as she abruptly spun and strode back to her desk. Her fist slammed down on the intercom that was placed there.

"Yes Mistress?" Came the prompt reply from the other end.

"Find Stockman and tell him to pack." She snarled into the device. "And round up those two morons from the base outside the city. Advise them all we are going on a trip."

"At once Mistress."

Karai didn't say anything else. Instead she left her office. She had her own packing to do.