After an hour or so of staring blankly outside, Akila spotted movement. Atop a distance building stood four little specks, and she knew that her hope was not in vain. Akila sat up, restless with nervousness now.

Just then, the door to her room opened, and Malick walked in. He held a glass of water and a plate of food. "I brought you something to eat," he explained with a smile, "thought you might be hungry."

"I am, thank you," Akila answered and took the water and fruit. But before she ate, and before Malick could leave, she questioned, "Malick, why do you stay here?"

"I told you, Akila," Malick explained, "I know too much. If I left, Shredder would be after me for the rest of my life."

"But what if he wasn't?" Akila asked, "what if he just..let you go?"

Malick snorted in amusement and smiled brightly. "Then I'd have left here years ago." Akila found herself smiling weakly in return. "Now there's something I haven't seen in a while," Malick remarked.

"I smile like this all the time with my new family," Akila told him, "and when I get out of here, I'll bring you with me, and you can be part of it, too; you, me, Splinter, and the turtles."

Malick chuckled as if it were only a joke. "That would be nice. Between you and me, I've always admired those turtles. The way they defy the Shredder; it's a strength I just don't have myself."

"Malick," Akila spoke in sudden quietness, "..they're coming here to get me. Tonight."

Malick suddenly frowned and repeated, "the turtles?" His eyes then widened, "oh no...but you guys won't make it..."

"What do you mean?" Akila asked suspiciously.

"There's a shield..." Malick spoke in dread, "Shredder had me design a laser shield around this place that can be turned on and off by a switch; if your friends get in, they won't be able to get out..!"

• • •

The turtles were finally in the Shredder's lair. Leo swung his katanas around, slashing through the robotic Foot soldiers that surrounded him and his brothers. "Leo, look out!" Raph shouted. Leo turned around just in time to see his brother take down a ninja that was about to attack him. 

Leo panted, "thanks, Raph."

"Don't mention it," Raph answered as he continued to fight off robots, "go find Akila. We can hold these guys back for a while."

Leo nodded and ran off. Once out of sight, he stealthily moved through the maze of identical hallways in search of Akila. He opened doors silently and inspected rooms. But one corner he rounded resulted in him meeting face to face with what looked to be a doctor. Leo froze for a moment, then whipped out his katanas, ready to fight. But to his surprise, the man only flinched and backed away. "W-wait..!"

Leo kept his weapons up and glared suspiciously at the man, demanding, "who are you?"

"My name is Malick. I-I know why you're here; for Akila," the man stuttered. 

Leo's suspicion faded into curiosity, and he lowered his swords. The man regained his posture and spoke more confidently now, "she's down this hall, last door on the left."

"..Thank you." Although Leo hesitated, his response was full of gratitude, then he was off.

He raced down the hall to the last door on the left. He tried the handle, but it was locked, and he had no key. So Leo took a few steps back and kicked the door open, breaking the lock entirely. Sure enough, Akila awaited inside. Her head whipped around at the sound of the door being forced open, eyes wide with emotion. "Leo.." she muttered.

Leo stood still for a moment, then ran to Akila. He lifted her off of the bed by her waist and held her tightly against his chest, her feet inches off the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, her body trembling slightly.

As Leo's grip loosened, Akila's feet slowly landed back down on the ground. Pain shot through her sprained ankle, but she didnt care. And before Akila even knew what she was doing, she pulled out of the hug just enough to crash her lips into his. Leo's eyes widened and his face immediately blushed. Before he could even process the kiss, Akila pulled back.

Akila winced suddenly as the pain in her ankle suddenly spiked. Putting her weight on her oposite foot, she glanced down at her sprain with a frown. Knowing they had to hurry, Leo forced himself to forget about the kiss for now, deciding that hell ask later. "Are you okay?" Leo asked immediately, "did he hurt you?"

"It's not too bad.." Akila reassured Leo, gesturing down to her sprained ankle.

"He did hurt you," Leo observed with a growl, eyes growing hard as he frowned, "he'll regret ever laying a hand on you."

"Leo.." Akila began, but Leo wasn't done.

"I'm not letting him get away with this," Leo vowed.

"No, please," Akila pleaded, earning a curious look from Leo. She wore a look of exhaustion on her face. "I just want to go home."

Leo immediately calmed down and hugged Akila again. "Okay, we'll go home." He then lifted her off the ground and carried her bridal style out the room. Akila clung to Leo as he raced through the halls of Shredder's lair.

Soon, they met up with the others. "Akila!" Mikey shouted happily. 

Akila smiled wide at the sight of all the turtles safe and together. "Talk later, we gotta get outta here now!" Raph yelled.

So the group of five traveled quickly and quietly to a large lab. The ceiling was glass and seemed easily breakable, but when Raph attempted to break it, he simply bounced back and fell onto the ground. Oh no, Akila thought, the shield..! "There's some sorta force field up," Raph growled in annoyance. 

"Indeed," an aweful voice hissed from behind them. The turtles turned to see Shredder's three mutants closing in.

Leo looked around desperately for a safe place to put Akila down. His eyes found a complex computer system and he had an idea. "Donnie, get to work on bringing down the force field," Leo yelled, gesturing over to the computer. He then placed Akila down by the computer and said to Donnie, "and keep Akila safe."

Donnie nodded and got to work right away while his brothers took on Shredder's mutants. Akila felt shackled to the ground by her sprained ankle; she wished more than anything that she could get up and help them fight. But after just a few minutes, the shield was down. "It's down," Donnie called out, "but we've only got sixty seconds!"

"Then let's go, bro!" Mikey shouted while mid-fight with Xever. Akila's heart was pounding. We're so close, she thought, hopefully. Soon, she'd be home again.