Title: Destinations – Sequel to 'Moth and Flame'
Author: Jayde
Summary: This picks up a couple of months after 'Moth and Flame'.
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned the turtles. No harm intended.
Credits: Big thanks to ReluctantDragon for the beta reading.
Chapter 1:
Taking a deep breath and enjoying her first taste of freedom, Juliet paused by the passenger door of the car to glance back at the high gates. It was minimum security, but she would be just as happy to never be incarcerated again – cushy place or not. Finally, she opened the door and climbed in to sit down. She glanced over at the driver's seat, and smiled.
"Home, James," she instructed, and Mike tipped his sunglasses down to look at her.
"You've been locked up so long you've forgotten my name," he accused teasingly. "It's Mike, by the way." He turned back to the windshield, and started the car. Juliet settled back against her seat, and sighed. It wasn't going to be easy – going back home again. She had a lot of work ahead in gaining everyone's trust again. Mike was making jokes, and he looked happier, but there had to still be some residue there.
They got on the road, Mike driving casually as they had a couple of hours to go before they reached the city. "You had a couple of calls this week," he noted.
"Oh," Juliet responded. She turned her head and rested her cheek on the seat back to study him. "Who?"
"Someone named Chuck. He said he's heading up a new alien rights group," Mike explained. He didn't turn to face her, and his tone was bland, but Juliet wasn't fooled.
"I'm not interested," Juliet said, and Mike's eyes flickered to hers for a moment before returning to the road. "I'm not. I'll make a donation or something, but I'm done."
"You don't have to give up what you like to do, Jules," Mike noted seriously.
"I want to be with you, and the girls. That's all I want right now," she reiterated. And it was the truth. She had almost lost everything. It was a wake-up call, and she was lucky to have an opportunity to get her life back at all. She had come too close to losing Mike – she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. "Just take me home," she breathed, letting her eyes close. A moment later, Mike's hand stole across to rest on her knee. She smiled, and laid her hand on top of his. "All I want to do is be at home."
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"Great day, isn't it? Oh, and sign here, too, please."
Leo carefully signed on the second line as the package deliveryman waited.
"Thank you. Have a nice day," the man said, snapping his gum loudly as he handed over an oblong package marked with bizarre writing. Leo nodded politely, and turned back to the small office of the martial arts school. He set the package down on his desk, and dug out a pair of scissors to cut the tape off.
From the stamp on one side, it appeared that the package had arrived from off world. It could have come from a few different people, but Leo had a hunch as to its source. He sliced the tape open, and twisted off the top of the canister. He tilted it, and out slid something wrapped in black cloth, and a folded piece of paper. He picked up the paper first, and opened it to read a brief note.
Raphael, watching from the doorway, noted that the letter brought a smile to his brother's face.
"Who's it from?" Raph asked.
"Sen," Leo replied, folding the note up again, and putting it down. He turned his attention to the cloth and unwrapped it carefully. Inside rested a gleaming blue dagger made of some substance that looked like glass, but probably wasn't.
"Nice," Raph complimented. "Gotta like a girl who sends you weapons." Leo held up the dagger. The sunlight from outside made it glow a brighter hue. "So, what did the letter say?"
"Why do you want to know?" Leo questioned, returning the dagger to the protective cloth. It was a beautiful piece. He would have to find an appropriate way to display it.
"I'm bored," Raph retorted. "Is it a love letter or somethin'?"
"What makes you think it was a love letter?" Leo asked, continuing to parry a question with a question. Raph snorted. Leo touched the folded paper with his fingertips. "She wants me to visit."
"Then go," Raph said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms over his plastron. "Damn, bro, you've been mopin' since she left. Go see her."
Leo shook his head. He would have to leave the school, get Mike to take over his classes … But it was tempting.
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The coroner calmly plucked internal organs from the open cavity of a young female, all the while lecturing over his shoulder to the two cops attending the autopsy.
"This isn't the corner deli," the cranky doctor complained. The perforated heart of the corpse plopped grotesquely into a metal pan. "I don't take rush orders."
"We know," Dan agreed politely, keeping a safe distance so no blood splattered onto his suit jacket. "We appreciate your efforts on this case." Dan looked over at his lieutenant for some support, and noticed that she was very pale. "You okay?" he questioned in a near whisper.
"Fine. Just a little warm in here," Sam commented, swallowing and finally leaning her shoulder against the cool concrete wall.
"Your cause of death," the coroner intoned. "Would be the bullets that turned her heart into hamburger. Any other questions?" Dan shook his head, and thanked the man as Sam walked carefully out into the hallway.
There, she leaned against the wall for a moment, eyes closed, as she fought down the urge to vomit.
"How many autopsies have you been at? At least a couple hundred, and you get sick at this one?" Dan shook his head, and studied her face intently. She looked green. "You could be really sick, you know."
"Probably just something I ate," Sam said, brushing it off and straightening up a little.
"No, I read something about this disease you can get from reptiles," Dan explained, and Sam opened her eyes to level a glare at him. "No, seriously," he said, intercepting her look. "You handle lizards and you can get really sick."
"I'm recommending you for a leave of absence," Sam noted wearily, pushing away from the wall and walking down the hallway to the exit. "You're clearly suicidal to say something like that to me."
"Just think about it," Dan protested, following behind.
"I'm armed," Sam reminded him, shoving the exit door open and stepping out into the bright sunshine. They walked to the car in silence, and Sam reflected on her career as she dug out her sunglasses. She was still a lieutenant in homicide, but the high profile cases were shifted to another department. She had been given Dan, and a couple of real troublemakers, for her group. It was a struggle to stay motivated most days, but she was hanging in there. She wouldn't quit – wouldn't let them beat her down.
She climbed into the passenger seat of the car, and felt her stomach rebel again. Reaching into her pocket for her antacids, she decided it was probably stress.
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Rachel was hard pressed not to skip exuberantly. She knew if she did, they would end it and take her home. Instead, she kept her happiness inside, and followed Raph and Don carefully. She kept her back to the brick wall of the alley, and made sure she was shrouded by the dark at all times.
It was the way and she respected it – respected them and what they did on the streets on many nights. Her uncles and her step-dad still patrolled the city and protected people. And now, she was getting her opportunity.
Don stopped, hand raised to halt the others. Rachel waited, heart beating fast and adrenaline pumping. She hoped it was a mugging or something she could get involved in.
Fortunately or not, Don pulled out his cell, and answered it. He proceeded to lean against the wall and conduct a conversation. Rachel pouted, and then caught Raph looking at her with amusement in his eyes.
"What?" she shot at him, annoyed.
"Not as glamorous as you thought, huh?" he queried.
"Do you two mind," Don interrupted, one hand over the receiver of the small phone. "This is long distance." Returning to his call, he continued. "Yes, that sounds like a wonderful offer, but I'm going to have to think about it …"
The smallest noise alerted them, and Rachel glanced up just in time to see Mike drop in from the fire escape.
"What's the hold up?" he asked, tilting his cap back and studying the three of them.
"Don's on the phone," Raph explained. "And Rachel's having a temper tantrum."
"I am not!" Rachel argued a little too loudly. Mike shushed her, and looked down the alley to see if they had been spotted. He relaxed after a moment's inspection.
"Nothing's going on. Leo and I crossed the park already. Nada," Mike reported. "I think we're done for tonight."
Rachel struggled to keep the disappointment off her face. It was her first patrol, and it was already ending. She hadn't been able to do anything. It wasn't fair.
"Come on, kid," Raph said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and turning her back up the alley. She followed, practically dragging her feet. "Time to go home."
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Many years ago, on Maora 2 …
A little child wandered happily down a wide path. On either side of her nodded brilliant flowers, their petals unfurled to catch every ray of sunshine. The child's large, bright eyes glittered with joy as she was headed for her favorite place: a little bridge that forded a tiny stream. Just at the edge of the path, on the very first step of the bridge, the child froze.
Someone was crying.
Turning her head this way and that, her silver braids swinging about, the child searched for the sound. Treading off the path, she gently parted the leaves of a large shrub. Behind the foliage she found a small, dark creature curled into a ball.
"Sen, what are you doing in there?"
The child looked behind her. "Nanny Gemma, come quickly!"
"What is it child?" Gemma responded, hurrying along as rapidly as her old legs could manage. Where once there had been the vibrant blue skin of the child, there was now the gray of old age and hard work. The nanny paused and took a few deep breaths as she reached her charge. "Is there some sort of animal in there?"
"No, it's a child. A lovely child, and she's crying," Sen reported, her voice reflecting her sympathy.
The nanny leaned over Sen and peered into the bush. "Best we leave her there," Gemma tried, laying a hand on Sen's shoulder. "Her people will come along directly, I would imagine."
"We can't leave her," Sen disagreed. Turning back to her discovery, Sen reached out one four-fingered hand. "Come on now. I won't hurt you."
"Who are you?" the weeping creature asked, raising night black eyes to study Sen.
"I'm Sen."
"I'm Cho," the unhappy child replied.
"Would you like to come out and play with me?" Sen invited genially, smiling.
"Oh, Sen," Gemma sighed. Sen glanced up at her caretaker, and the smile tumbled away from her little face. "Your mother won't allow …"
"But isn't Cho beautiful," Sen interrupted anxiously. Gemma looked over at the other child, waiting in the bush, her tears now drying. "I love her wings!"
The bug-like child stood up carefully and opened wide a pair of blue and green tinted wings. The violet sun above made the gossamer colors glow.
"Sen, you do fall in love with the strangest things," Gemma commented, her tone both rueful and sad.
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