Aiden, Esper, A'Janae, Ace, Talia and Kaia are mine. No touching of my things. But you can play with the Turtles, they're not mine. The lawyers won't let me have them.

Darkside of the Moon

Summary: Six unlikely vigilantes have joined together under a common goal. To bring a murderer to justice. But as their ties to the hidden world of magicks and the supernatural deepen, not only do they end up facing almost overwhelming odds, but their own fears and troubles. Saved from certain death by four heroes-in-green, and now bound to them by the knowledge that they all are hunting the same person, will our group ever accomplish what they've set out to do, or are the cards of Fate piled against them?

A/N: There are some words of Spanish in here, the translations can be found at the end of the chapter.

Chapter one: Meet the girls

A long drawn out sigh escaped the lips of the woman that was perched on the edge of a fallen palm tree that overlooked the bright sandy beaches of Jamaica, the clear waters of the ocean gently lapping at the shoreline as the songs of birds floated on the warm breeze.

The rustle of paper caught her attention then, and she quickly slapped a hand down on the few leafs of paper that she had lain on her lap, keeping them from being carried away by the wind. Resolving to go through with her idea, she reached up to snatch the pen that was resting behind her right ear and spent a moment chewing on the cap of it before lowering it to the paper.

My name is, Aiden M'guire, and I'm hunting a killer.

Sure, okay, you're thinking 'what's a twenty-five year old lass doin' playing the part of bounty hunter?' Well, that's simple.... the killer's my sister.

Now that I've fully hooked you, I'll explain myself.

I come from Ireland (I refuse to disclose the exact location for reasons that are personal), from a familyline that was once related to the Fae. The Fairyfolk. Oh, I can hear you Mundanes now : 'there isn't such thing as Fairyfolk'. Well welcome to a culture shock : they exist. I'm proof.

Sure, the bloodline's been thinned by Human/Mundane blood, but it's still there. Dormant. Waiting to be wielded by someone who knows how. My parents knew how. My Pa was a Druid, my Mother a Wiccan. Through them, my sister and I gained power and knowledge of the mystic arts that would frighten Mundanes into the hills. Unfortunately, where I followed my parents teachings of nature and energy, my sister, Moira - who was jealous of not only my power, but the extra attention our mother gave me - turned to the darker arts.

Would that I had known how deep her hatred of me ran. Maybe I could have stopped her. Maybe I could have saved her. But I was blind, too interested in my own selfish pride to realise that my boastings were only fuelling her anger, her darkness.

In the end, I don't know what made her sanity break. All I know is that I came home from wandering the hillsides of the woods to find my parents dead, their souls and bodies ripped apart, a gruesome testament to the Black Magick ritual that they had been unwilling participants in.

And Moira stood there, amongst the bodies, their hearts clutched in her hands, and she looked at me, and laughed. A sound that was so devoid of remorse, of guilt. A sound that was actually joyful. My sister, my sister, had killed our parents in a ritual that was evil in every sense of the word, using our parent's life-forces and their own magicks to fuel her own twisted power. Never in my life have I felt such rage, as when I stood there listening to her laughter. Had she not vanished, using her newly gained magicks to beat a cowardly retreat, I feel certain that I would have killed her.

I buried my parents at the top of a hillside, under a huge weeping willow tree. I didn't dare report their deaths to the police. Not only would they not comprehend the idea of magicks, they'd probably have thrown me into a psychiatric ward. That would have ruined my plans of bringing my sister to justice.

Two days later, I packed up all of my belongings into a single backpack that I had enchanted - yes, think 'Mary Poppins' - gathered all the money and credit cards I could find, hotwired the family car and began my search for my sister, knowing that her thirst for power, now that she had the means to gain more of it, was never going to be slaked.

I followed her to England, arriving too late to stop her from performing another ritual. Another death. This time a Mundane was killed, his blood and life-force used to conjure up a creature of the Underworld. Luckily for me, I didn't have to face the monstrosity alone. That was when I met Talia. She's a slip of a girl, a mere twenty-one, fair skinned and freckled, auburn hair that hangs to the middle of her back and bright green eyes that shine with the power that she holds. And by the Gods, does she ever have power.

At first I thought her like myself, a Mundane who had managed to tap into the thin lifeblood of her ancestors. Imagine my surprise when I learned that she was a halfblood. Half-human, half Forest-Pixie, and that the one that Moria had killed had been her Mundane boyfriend.

I can truthfully say that I'm glad of her half-Human side, I'd have hated to meet up with a full-blooded Forest Pixie. Those creatures may love the forests, and have an almost uncanny ability to turn any situation from sombre to playful, but they're bedamned pests, never taking anything seriously at all.

I was fortunate enough to discover her half-human traits when I suddenly found myself with company on my self-imposed quest to either bring Moria to justice or simply bludgeon her to death with something. And thus began my new ability to gather comrades.

Talia (who was actually quite the talker, the girl never shuts up) and I spent part of the first year trailing my sister through the better parts (and the not-so better parts) of Scotland, both of us becoming infuriated at Moira's seemingly effortless talent of being able to double back on her trail and leave us chasing ghosts.

In the end, we trailed her back to England and got to travel across the Atlantic on a large tanker (more accurately we were hiding in the cargo hold trying to convince our stomachs not to try to escape through our mouths), and landed in the gorgeous territories of Venezuela almost a month later (bloody boat took it's damned time). True, we did spend the better part of a week lounging at the beach and recuperating from our not so luxurious trek across the ocean, although we also took that time to gather information about the new country we found ourselves in.

This was also the place where Talia recruited another person. A Water Sprite, of all beings. (I truly don't know how that girl manages to attract the right people to us, I partially suspect that she's some sort of spiritual beacon). It turned out that there had been an odd underwater explosion two days before Talia met the Sprite. The destruction that had decimated an entire ten mile stretch of coral reef had been caused by a major Black Magick spell, and it didn't take a brain surgeon to figure out who was behind that little bout of havoc. And thus, Kaia, proclaimed protector of the oceans around Venezuela and seriously pissed off Water Sprite, joined our ranks.

Her name literally meaning 'the sea', Kaia had the ability to pose as a Human, a trick that all Elemental Sprites possess. Of course, she didn't go too far into that disguise. Her short dark blue hair and light blue eyes were a giveaway to anyone who knew anything about Water Sprites. Luckily Mundanes who hold that knowledge are few and far between, else we'd be in trouble.

So there I was, a Human with the powers of the Fae, with a halfblood Forest-Pixie and a Water Sprite as companions. Needless to say, I was starting to wonder if perhaps this was fated. There are no coincidences, and certainly, meeting these people at this exactly time in my life did seem a little.... odd.

But I digress.

Reports of gruesome killings that were identical to that of my parents and of Talia's boytoy sent us on our way to Brazil (did you know that these people drive on the wrong side of the road?! It's boggling!). We spent months, wandering lost in the rainforests in a vain attempt to either find Moria or find a decent hotel with indoor plumbing. Magick or not, when you're soaked to the skin, itching from hundreds of bug bites and stumbling around lost in a never-ending forest, your good mood tends to plummet. It didn't help that Talia and Kaia found my plight hysterical. Damned girls were right at home there. I'm more of a Hilton kinda person.

Though, I suppose it was once again meant to be, for we were rescued by the oddest of people. A were-jaguar by the name of Esperanza found us - or more rather she found me since I was complaining rather loudly at the time. After the shock of seeing what I had thought was my death in the form of a huge jaguar turn into a woman, a naked woman (I suppose she just didn't have use for clothing at the time) and look at me as if the sight of me trying to crab-crawl up a tree was highly entertaining, we pulled a kind of truce and tried to understand one another.

True, the language barrier was a problem. Considering that I had never really thought that I would ever have to speak Spanish in my lifetime, I was sorely unprepared for our meeting. Talia to the rescue, once again. Turns out the little one had taken a basic Spanish class in her school. The Gods, at least, knew when to cut us a break.

So after three hours of babbling to one another incoherently while Talia tried to form a complete sentence that wasn't related to 'hello', 'goodbye' and 'where's the bathroom', we somehow pieced together the knowledge that Esperanza was the last of her tribe of were-cats. The reason? Bingo, Moria. The psycho had apparently learned that the natural magicks of the Weres gave her more of a boost of power than anything else. Esper had been away from her tribe at the time, and thus spared a rather painful death.

And now, Moria had a were-jaguar with a severe revenge streak after her blood. Bad for Moria, good for me. I just gained a superb tracker with the strength, agility, senses and abilities of a full-grown jaguar.

Of course first, we had to introduce her to the wonders of clothing. Never again, will I try to convince a were-jaguar in Human form to wear a bra. It was a once in a lifetime experience that I never, ever wish to endure ever again. Never.

It was another two months before we ended up here, in Jamaica. It was here that we met A'Janae, a five foot nine athletic native to the island. She was lax on most of her explanation of why she had sought me out. But from what I managed to get out of her, she had moved to New Orleans when she was twenty, and now, six years later, she had been unable to fight a strange complement to return here, where we literally ran into each other. From what I can tell, she's Human, although she does have power within her. What that power is, however, is a completely different matter. She won't say what it is, and everytime I try to magickally scry her, she throws shields up to deflect me.

These past two months have been oddly relaxing. Moira seems to have hit a lull, for which I am thankful for, and while we've lost the trail, it's given the five of us time to get to know each other better.

Esper, as we've come to call her, has spent the last two months learning how to speak English. She's rather good at it now, and it helped greatly that Talia was able to tutor her. The were-jaguar, I've found, has a fiery spirit, and a predatory edge to her that has made many shivers travel through my spine. We've finally managed to get her to accept clothing, and while she won't let any of us get close to her with any kind of makeup, she has taken to wearing a black leather and silver studded choker around her throat.

Kaia and Talia bonded. Once they realised that they both loved fun and parties it was like they automatically became inseparable. It's like having two little sisters that you want to strangle. Except one of these 'sisters' is an ageless Water Sprite that is quite capable of hurling a tsunami wave at my head, and the other is a Forest Pixie that takes great pleasure in scaring tourists by making the bushes come alive and reach for them with questing vines.

And me.... I started out on a mission and now I'm just along for the ride. Thank the Gods that Pa had a decent sized life-savings, else I'd never be able to afford the transport and lodging. Not to mention the couple of shopping sprees we've indulged in. I find myself starting to like a more gothic look. Black suits me. And I've also taken this time to work on hiding my Irish accent. According to my new friends, I'm hard to understand. Heh, good thing they've never heard me stressed yet.

Well, the sun is setting, and I should go back to the hotel room. Maybe I can pry more information out of A'Janae....

"Hola, mi amiga! ¿Cómo está?"

"Ack!" Aiden yelped and tumbled from her perch, landing hard on her back with a very audible 'oof' as she stared up into the gaze of the resident were-jaguar, who was currently in human form. Hazel eyes gleamed down at her in an almost predatory fashion, the colour of her eyes accented by the midnight black of her hair and by the two out of place grey bangs that framed her face. She was currently sporting black jeans, sneakers and a grey sportsbra. Well, at least she isn't walking around naked again. Last time she did that, the male hotel staff almost fainted from severe blood deprivation to the brain. "Esper.... bloody 'ell! Dinnae sneak up on me like tha!"

"Ach! Forgive me, amiga! I forget that you Humans cannot hear the footsteps of a cat." A chuckle rumbled out of her as Esper held out a hand to her friend, grinning at Aiden's low grumble as she pulled the fiery haired woman to her feet. "You are not hurt, I hope?"

"No...." She took a moment to shake sand out of her tank top and calm herself so that her accent died down before returning her gaze to the were-jaguar, whose attention was currently diverted to picking up the loose leafs of paper that had been scattered to the ground when she had startled and done her ungraceful crash to the ground. She was still amazed at how quickly the Were had learned English, and while she wasn't perfectly fluent, or able to hide her thick Spanish accent, she was quite capable at holding her own in a conversation. "What's up?"

Hazel eyes blinked past a curtain of black hair, and Esper frowned curiously as she looked at her friend in confusion. "Up? Ah! Si, si. Talia and Kaia were wondering where you had gone. They sent me to find you. They are.... ach, what is the damned word.... preocupado... er... worried. Si! They are worried about you."

"Oh, bloody hell. I forgot to tell them I was coming out here." Cursing herself at her own stupidity, Aiden huffed in annoyance and raked her fingers through her hair, freeing it of sand.

"Amiga? ¿Qué es esto?"

"Huh?"

Esper rolled her eyes and waved the handful of papers that she was holding at her friend. "¿Qué es esto? What is this?"

"Oh. S'just a journal of sorts. I thought it'd be good for there to be a record of what's been happening. You know, in case.... in case something happens."

"In case we die, you mean."

"Aye."

Esper frowned and handed Aiden's writings back to her. "Amiga, do not dwell on such things. You are powerful, I can scent it on you, and on the others. You need not doubt yourself. Confía en mí, amiga."

A moment of silence passed between them before Aiden smirked and rose her gaze to Esper's. "Would you pick one language and stick to it? You're hurting my brain."

A purr of amusement rumbled out of the Were as she draped an arm over Aiden's shoulders and guided her back towards the hotel they were staying at. "Ah, but what better way for you to learn?"

"Talia told you to do this, didn't she?"

"The little cub does not dictate my actions."

"I beg to differ."

"Ay, beg all you wish, amiga. It does not change a thing!" Fangs glinted in the sunlight as Esper grinned, and Aiden's eyes widened a little before she shot a wary look around them.

"Esper, your fangs are showing again. I thought you said you were adept at holding this form!"

Blinking, the Were ran her tongue over a fang and frowned, concentrating a moment to alter her human guise once again, the fangs shrinking back into flat Human teeth. "I am, amiga. However, in other times, I did not have to hide all of my Were traits. I forget sometimes that Humans do not react well to claws and fangs."

Aiden nodded. "I can understand that. Hey, can I ask you something?"

Curious at the sudden serious tint to her friend's scent, Esper pulled away from her and gave Aiden her full attention. "Of course."

"What do you think of A'Janae?"

"Is this.... personal or professional?"

"Both."

Sharp hazel eyes narrowed, glinting dangerously in the waning sunlight. "Her scent gives away her feelings. She does not know what to make of us, and she has yet to come to a decision on whether or not she can trust us. Her power is not like yours, however. While you are in tune with the energies of nature and of life, she is in tune with her own inner strength, the strength of the body, mind and spirit. Personally," she bared lengthened fangs again and rumbled out a low growl, eyes taking on a tint of gold. "I do not like her. She watches us, patient like a hunter waiting for the prey to lower their guard. She has her own reasons for being here, and if it comes down to a choice, I do not believe that she will stand by our side."

A sigh left Aiden as she looked back towards the ocean, her thoughts whirling with what Esper had just told her. "I was afraid of that. Is that why you're so protective of Talia? Because you don't trust A'Janae?"

"It.... is instinct more than anything else." The Were's cheeks darkened a little under her natural tanned complexion, the anger fading from her as quickly as it had come to be replaced with a deep sorrow. "In my tribe, the youngest among us was always watched over and cared for by all members...."

She could have slapped herself. "Oh, Esper, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...."

"No." She rose a hand, cutting off Aiden's apology. "It is alright."

"You're sure?"

"Si."

Feeling awkward, she merely nodded, then continued heading for the hotel, letting silence hang over them for a moment before the need to say something overcame her. "We're gonna have to start teaching you some slang. You sound all proper."

Aiden could imagine the jaguars ears twitch in her direction. "Slang?"

"You know. Saying 'it's' instead of 'it is'. Well okay, it's not really slang, but still, it's part of the English language."

"I have barely managed to grasp this language and you wish to confuse me all over again?"

She chuckled at that. "It's just that no one really talks like that, all proper, I mean. You stand out. I thought you cats were big on camouflage when hunting."

A single black eyebrow arched upwards, amusement slowly working it's way into the steady hazel gaze. "We are."

"Well?"

"Fine. I will.... I'll work on it."

Aiden grinned at her and playfully nudged her in the ribs with her elbow, seeing the Were's eyes widen in surprise for a moment before she chuckled and returned the gesture, very obviously holding back a large portion of her strength so as not to hurt her. They headed back to the shared hotel room in comfortable silence, and Aiden was glad for the small respite, knowing that having to share a room with four other people was going to be.... interesting.

True to form, they walked into what could loosely be termed a 'warzone', and Aiden spent a moment gawking at the scene of Talia and Kaia perched on the bed while staring at a small TV while they both ate out of various bags of junks food that littered the bedcovers. A'Janae looked like she wanted to fling herself off the balcony as the two energetic members of their team nattered on about the possibility of the X-Men truly existing.

Esper automatically reached out and grabbed Aiden's arm when it seemed like she was going to back out of the room, giving her a feral grin as she pushed her further into the room.

"Finally! I was beginning to think that you had abandoned me here!" Visibly relieved to see two sane people in the room, A'Janae rose from the chair she had been occupying and pointed at the two on the bed. "These two are like children. If I hear one more Elmer Fudd impression I think I'm going to scream."

Talia snickered and exchanged mischievous glances with Kaia. "Be vwerrry, vwerrry, qwiet. Oi'm huntin' wabbits. Eheheh!"

Grinning, Kaia quickly struck a pose, one hand risen into the air to point at the ceiling while her other hand lay over her heart. "Kill de wabbit, kill de wabbit--"

"Argh!" Resisting the urge to rip out a handful of her shoulder length dreadlocks, A'Janae glared at the the two snickering girls, then snatched the remote away from them and turned off the TV. "No more!"

"Awww....."

"I should have stayed at the beach," Aiden muttered to Esper, who chuckled and moved to throw herself onto the bed, lying perpendicular to the two who were sitting at the foot of it. "You're not helping."

That, of course, set the two off again. "Help!"

"'Cause I need somebody!"

"Help!"

"Yes, I need somebody!"

"Help!"

"You goin' to be needin' help if you keep this up!" A'Janae shook a fist at them threateningly, then glanced over at the reclining Were when a low warning growl filled the room. "Oi, stay outta this, cat!"

"Alright, alright!" Taking the roll of peacemaker before the room got trashed, Aiden set her papers on a table and walked into the fray, making calming gestures at everyone. "Let's just all calm down, okay?"

Esper snorted and returned her attention to staring at the ceiling, unable to stop a purr from leaving her when Talia fell back and used her stomach as a pillow. "Hola, joven."

The term made Talia scrunch up her nose in distaste. "You'll never stop calling me that, will you?"

"No."

"What's it mean?" Kaia asked, twisting around to take part in this new predicament.

"Means 'young woman'," Talia muttered in mock annoyance, reaching out to poke the Were in the ribs. "She does it on purpose."

A chuckle made the low constant purring waver. "¿Quién, yo?"

"Don't you give me that 'who me' innocent crap, you big fluffball."

Shaking her head in amusement, Aiden walked over to A'Janae who had reseated herself at the small table near the patio doors and plunked down in the chair across from her. "Gotta hand it to her, she's good at distracting them."

"Next time, we should leave her in here," A'Janae smirked. "Let her deal with the Elmer Fudd impressions."

"Was it that bad?"

Wry amusement worked it's way into her dark gaze as she rose a hand and idly curled the end of a dreadlock around her right index finger. "Well, let me put it this way. If I hear the term 'spear and magic helmet' again this month, I may develop a twitch."

"Point taken." Aiden turned her attention back to the trio who were now exchanging playful verbal barbs and chuckled when Esper retaliated and tickled Talia, eliciting a shriek of laughter from the auburn haired girl. A low dread filled murmur made her return her gaze to A'Janae, who was digging her nails into the arms of the chair, her back ramrod straight. "A'Janae?!"

"Eh?" The worried cry drew the Were's attention, and Esper froze in mid-tickle to look over at their newest member, eyes widening when she realised what was happening. "¡Dios mío! Aiden, quickly! Get a pen and paper!"

Spurred onwards by the sight of Esper leaping from the bed to land in front of a now trembling A'Janae, Aiden frantically shot to her feet and ran to snatch the papers she had placed on a table near the door, pulling her pen from her jeans pocket as she thrust the items to an impatient Esper. "Here!"

"I cannot write. Simply take down what she says." Turning her gaze back to A'Janae in time to see the Jamaican's eyes go pure white, she crouched before her and frowned. "Tell us what you see, A'Janae."

Talia watched the scene in front of her for a moment, then rolled her eyes and rose a hand to smack herself in the forehead. "Oh, duh! She's a clairvoyant!"

"Shh," Kaia whispered, waving at her friend to be silent as she strained to hear what was being said.

The Seer spoke through clenched teeth, every muscle in her body as tense as steel. "T-there's blood. A lot of it. Someone's crying.... I can't see who.... wait. No, there's a Human male.... only he isn't. He's another Were. A fox. He's trying to protect someone.... a child."

"Protect from who?" Aiden asked, although the cold sensation in the pit of her stomach told her that she knew who it was.

"A woman. Short red hair, black bangs, she's.... oh Gods.... she just ripped the heart out of the Were.... laughing...."

Esper's eyes turned gold, a thin ring of green appearing around the iris of her eyes. "Where? Where is this?"

"It's.... a city. Big, no, huge. A nickname.... Big Apple?" A shudder wracked her frame as a gasp escaped her, and she clenched her eyes shut as A'Janae slumped back into the chair, exhausted. "Oof, I lost it."

Talia looked over at a pensive Esper as Kaia hurried to get A'Janae a glass of water. "How'd you know she was a Seer?"

"Back in my tribe, our Wise One had the same gift," Esper murmured as she straightened and looked at A'Janae sympathetically. "Are you well?"

She nodded, one hand pressed to her forehead. "Yes. It just takes me a moment to reorient myself."

Aiden, meanwhile, was looking over the quick notes she had scribbled down during A'Janae's vision. "'Big Apple'? What the hell does a big fruit have to do with this?"

"Okay, that's just lame." Rolling her eyes, Talia shifted to sit lotus style and grinned at the confused Aiden. "Duh and a half, Aiden. Haven't you ever heard of New York City? The Big Apple?"

Esper blinked. "Why would someone name a city after a fruit?"

"Ugh. You're missing the point here. The place that A'Janae was seeing was New York City. It's huge, I'd bet there's hundreds of Weres and other nonhumans living there. If Moira's going after those kinda targets, what better place than somewhere where they're all in one spot?"

Aiden looked at Esper. "Why didn't we think of that?"

The Were shrugged, then folded her arms over her chest and looked at her new tribe. "Well, mi amigas, the hunt is renewed."

Talia grinned and jumped up onto her feet, still standing on the bed as she thrust a fist into the air. "Woohoo! An I know just the person who can help us too! My sister lives there! She'll help! So, let's haul ass to New York City! Woo!"

Aiden exchanged glances with Esper and A'Janae before looking back at a giddy Talia. "No more caffeine for you."

TBC

Translations:

(I am in no way fluent in Spanish, I just know snippets here an there. If I get something wrong, please, feel free to email me and tell me. Nicely.)

Hola - Hello

Amiga - Friend (female)

Si - Yes

¿Cómo está? - How are you?

¿Qué es esto? - What is this?

¿Quién, yo? - Who, me?

¡Dios mío! - My God!

And thus ends our little Spanish class for today! :)