Crash and Burn

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Chapter Four: Explanations

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As soon as they walked into the lair's main room, Raphael grabbed Leo by the shoulder and spun him around. "What the fuck were you thinking!"

"I was protecting our family, Raph! Your feelings for Kali were blinding your judgment."

"My feelings?!? You're the one who just... just... banished her based on one of your feelings!"

Leonardo matched Raphael's glare, trying to stay calm. His brother could be so thick headed sometimes. "Raphael, I'm sorry-"

"Oh, if you're sorry!"

"But it had to be done. She's dangerous, Raph. She murdered a room full of men. You saw her, she's not-"

"Not what, Leo? Human? Hey, guess what, neither are we! And your hands aren't exactly clean."

"She's not like us..."

"No one fucking is!" Raph screamed. "Who's next? Casey? April? You gonna tell them off too?"

Leo set his jaw. His brother was starting to cross that line again. "Raph, be reasonable for once."

"If being reasonable means I turn my back on my friends, then screw that!" Raphael turned and stormed right back out of the lair.

"Raph, come back!" Don called after him.

"No, let him go. He'll be back." Leo turned and headed for the dojo to clear his mind.

***

Kali wandered the halls of her childhood home. This place had so many fond memories, she wondered why she ever left. She paused in front of her old bedroom door before going in.

Everything was as she had left it. Not a thing had been touched, evident by the layer of dust covering everything.

She was pulling the curtains away from the window when she felt another presence in the room with her. She turned, still holding the curtains open, letting the red light pour in and light up the room. There stood a tall man, handsome except for the dark eyes, fangs, and horns that denoted his true nature.

"Hello, Daddy."

***

Raphael pulled himself into Kali's window, which had been left open, so the apartment was now freezing. He shut the window behind him and turned the heater up a little. "Kali?"

No answer, she wasn't home yet, what was taking her so long? She should have been able to get home by now from where they had left her. He sat down on the couch and waited for her, she had to come back sometime.

He took a deep breath. He'd really be in for it when he got home. Splinter would take Leo's side, as he always did, and they'd go so far as to chaperone Raph to make sure he followed Leo's decision. Screw them, what Leo did was wrong, he had no right. What was he basing his decision on, the fact that she had killed a few men? Hell, they were trained as assassins. They'd met people with weird powers before, and some of them were friends. Raph refused to believe that she was evil. Stupid Leo and his feelings.

After about five minutes, he started to get bored, so he reached over and turned on the radio. Just his luck, Kali had been listening to a Country music station last.

He leaned his head back as the song drew to a close. Something with fiddles came on and he pressed another button.

***

The demonic figure smiled, showing off his perfect white fangs. "Welcome home, Kali. The house has been so empty without you."

Kali turned back to the window. "How have things been?"

"Very good. In fact, I recently recruited a particularly evil soul. Had to pull some strings to bring him back to life, but I'm sure the chaos he'll bring will be worth it."

"That's nice."

Kali's father, Darce, frowned. "Is something wrong? You seem sad."

"It's nothing," Kali sighed.

Kali felt her father's hand on her back. "I know it's hard for you, having such conflicting natures. I told you long ago that you would have to choose one. You can't keep going back and forth like this, it will only cause you pain."

Kali bit her lip. "I thought it was going to work this time."

"Oh?" Darce arched an eyebrow. "What's his name?"

Kali glared at her father, then relented to his intuition. "Raphael."

"Ah, I thought so. And what was so special about this one, hmm?"

"He's not human." She leaned her forehead against the window. "I feel so stupid."

"Well, that's all a part of growing up and learning, my dear. You should take it as a sign that you were not meant to inhabit your mother's world. That your true calling is here. You could do great things with your potential."

"Maybe..."

***

Leonardo had retired to his room and was just falling asleep when Mike came to tell him that Master Splinter wanted to see them. Splinter would be wondering why Leonardo hadn't reported in when they came home. He usually did so after every mission or fight, but this time he had put it off, not wanting his anger towards Raphael to be directed at Splinter. But Splinter would want an explanation about what happened, and he would get one.

***

Raphael woke up from his light sleep in a considerably warmer room. He got up and turned the heater down, then went to the kitchen to get something to drink. He glanced at the clock on the microwave and frowned. Two hours. Where the hell was she?

He was pulling a soda from the 'fridge when he heard the front door open. He waited until Kali turned the corner and saw him. She stopped, looking at him as if he had two heads.

"What are you doing here?" She gasped.

Raph smiled as he opened his soda. "Waiting for you."

Kali put a hand against the counter, as if to steady herself. "I thought..."

Raphael smirked. "You didn't really believe I was going to listen to that transcendental idiot, did you?"

Kali sat on the opposite side of the counter from Raph. "Raph..."

"If you're gonna go on about how right Leo was, save it, I ain't listening."

"I killed at least six men."

Raph snorted and took a sip. "I've killed more in one session."

"Did you enjoy it?"

Raph shrugged. "I guess on some level, yeah, I did. They were trying to kill me." He looked Kali right in the eye. "You gotta defend yourself." Kali looked down to see Raph's hand covering hers. "You did what you did trying to rescue us. That's good in my book."

Kali looked up at Raphael. His eyes were warm, forgiving, and she knew that he really didn't care about what she had done, because she'd done it for him. He trusted her, and now she had to trust him with something.

"Raph, there's something I have to tell you. Let's go over to the couch."

Raph nodded and walked with her to the couch. "Okay, so what's so important?"

Kali pulled her legs up under her to get comfortable. She'd never told this story to anyone before, no one had stayed long enough to hear it.

"You told me your origin, so I guess it's only fair I tell you mine." She took a deep breath before beginning. "As you may have guessed, I'm not human, not completely. My father is a demon. I've spent most of my life among other demons, growing up, learning how to use my powers and our purpose in life."

Raphael raised an eyebrow. "There's a purpose to demons?"

Kali nodded. "We bring chaos and destruction. Without that, there can be no order or creation, the domain of angels."

"There are angels, too?"

"Will you stop interrupting."

"Sorry."

Kali started again. "There's not a lot I can tell you, mortals aren't supposed to know the details. But I have to admit this, Raph. I don't deny what I am. I'm not here on Earth looking for redemption or salvation. I'm damn proud of being a demon, and I've never regretted a single thing I've done."

She looked over and Raphael was staring at her with an unreadable expression. "So go ahead. Now that you know, go ahead and damn me and walk out."

"Why do you think that's what I'm going to do?"

"Because that's what everybody does!"

***

Leo bowed his head as his finished the account of what had happened to them. "And that's what happened, sensei."

Splinter looked at his son silently. "Donatello, Michaelangelo, please leave us, I wish to speak with your brother alone."

Don and Mike bowed and left at their master's command. Mike tried to stay near the door, but Splinter told him to close the door and go do something else. "He doesn't sound too happy," Mike commented.

"I noticed. What do you think has him upset?"

"Maybe he doesn't like Leo's decision either."

Don stopped. "Mike, be serious."

"Well, I think he was wrong," Mike snapped back.

Don sighed. "Mike, I know you saw her face, and what she did."

"So you're like that, too, huh?" Mike got a serious look on his face.

"Mike, don't do this. We can't let our family get torn apart by this one stupid thing."

"It's not stupid. After all we've been through, how can you treat someone like that?"

"Like what?"

Mike paced around in a circle. "The way people have always treated us! Doesn't it hurt whenever you get called a freak or monster or something? When people think that just because we aren't human we must be evil?"

Don frowned. "Yeah, it does."

***

Leo kept his head lowered. He knew Splinter was upset with him, but he didn't understand why. He thought Splinter would agree with him on this.

"Leonardo. I am rather disappointed in you."

"But, why? I thought you'd understand."

"And I do, which makes me all the more disappointed. In myself. I thought I taught you better than this, my son."

Leo frowned. "You taught us well. You told us to be very careful who we choose as allies."

Splinter sighed. "I am very aware of that. Do you want to know what I think?"

"Yes, sensei," Leo nodded.

"You distrusted Kali from very the beginning, you told me as much. You were looking for any reason you could to detach your brother from her."

"But she-"

"She saved your lives," Splinter continued softly. "Tell me Leonardo, would you not do the same to save your brothers?"

"Of course, I would."

"Judge her actions for what they truly are, Leonardo. Not as acts of destruction, but as acts to save all your lives. Tell me you would not kill all those men over again if it meant saving your brother's lives, then you may condemn her. She is powerful, and yes, it is a dark power, but I also sense that she has a good heart, despite her dark nature."

Leo bowed his head in silence. He knew Splinter was right. Leo thought he was doing what was right for his family, but in all honesty, he was scared of Kali. And maybe a little jealous of Raphael.

"She is like us, Leonardo, different from the humans, and not able to truly live in their world. And like it or not, Raphael cares about her, more than even he knows. Nothing you can say will ever change that, you know your brother that well."

Leo sighed. "Yeah, I do. He's so stubborn."

Splinter placed a hand on Leonardo's shoulder and smiled. "He is not the only one, my son. And sometimes that's a good thing, but not always."

"I think I owe a few people apologies."

"I think so, too."

***

Raphael looked at Kali, her eyes averted. He thought about her last words: "Because that's what everybody does!" She must have been through this before. "Wow, I never thought I'd be on this side of the conversation."

Kali looked at him with a confused expression.

"It's usually me waiting for that reaction. The screaming, the yelling, and the trying to kill me. Well, you didn't do that to me, so I ain't doing that to you. Okay, so you're a demon, but I know you aren't evil."

"How can you say that?" Kali asked softly.

Raphael scooted over next to her and took hold of her hands. "Because evil people don't let turtles snuggle up to them for warmth, they don't risk their lives for others." He took hold of her necklace and pulled his own out from a pocket in his belt. He hooked them together. "And they don't give friendship necklaces."

Kali felt like crying, but she couldn't, demons can't cry, but she sure felt like it.

"Believe me," Raph continued, "I've been there. I've been so angry at the world because it doesn't accept me for what I am. I've snapped and nearly killed people who've called me a freak. I know how much it hurts, and I am not going to do that to you."

Kali threw her arms around Raphael's neck and hugged him tight. "I know you won't, Raph."

Raphael hugged her back, and they sat like that as the radio continued on in the background.

***

Credits: "Without You" - The Dixie Chicks, "Crash and Burn" - Savage Garden

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Chapter Five

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