Title: Destinations
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 2:
"See anything you like?"
Noelle smiled somewhat sadly up at her mother and shook her head. "I don't need anything, Mom," Noelle responded. Around them other evening shoppers wandered the brightly lit mall. The windows were full of signs announcing back-to-school sales. Summer had just barely started - it seemed unfair to be thinking about school already.
They stopped in front of a popular store, and looked at a display of mannequins dressed in light sweaters and the latest thing in jeans.
"Looks like I'm not buying any jeans this year," Juliet noted sourly.
"Come on, Mom, you would look fantastic in those," Noelle argued good-naturedly.
"I don't think …"
"Dad would like them," Noelle said, interrupting her mother. Juliet looked at her daughter with fond amusement.
"Yeah," she agreed with good humor. "Guess I'd better get them then." Juliet wrapped an arm around her younger daughter's shoulder and walked into the store. It was a shame that Rachel wouldn't come along for a little mother-daughter bonding, but … Juliet sighed. It wouldn't be easy to work things out with Rachel. Noelle was young enough to forgive, but Rachel was stubborn.
"You should get some sexy new underwear, too," Noelle added sagely. Juliet halted their progress and stared at Noelle with surprise.
"What do you know about 'sexy underwear'?" Juliet questioned.
"God, Mother, I'm not a kindergartener."
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Outside, evening had given way to full dark. Left alone to lock up at the school, Leo found his attention returning to the object sitting on the corner of his desk. He reached out and unrolled the dagger Sen had sent him from its covering. The weapon was cool and smooth, and he tested the heft of it. It was very light, and he wondered again what it was made of. Don would probably want to take a piece of it to analyze.
It was thoughtful of Sen to send this to him, and Leo let himself think about her - a practice he had been avoiding lately. Her light eyes and soft, almost musical, voice. He knew it did him no good to dwell on her. She had gone back to her home world, and he was here. There were how many millions of light years between them?
His fingers were still exploring the weapon, and he paused when he felt a slight indentation. Experimentally, he pressed on the space, and was surprised when a miniscule panel slid open on the handle. Leo turned the weapon over and shook it gently. A tiny rolled up piece of paper dropped out and onto his desk. He set down the dagger, and carefully unrolled the scrap of paper. He had to lean forward and strain to read the small lettering.
Leonardo - I would not ask you for so great a favor, but I am in desperate need of your help. Please come. - Sen
Frowning, he read it again. It was definitely Sen's delicate writing. The paper was so small that there was no room for anything else. He set the paper down and found himself looking across the street at the empty storefront that once housed Sen's bookstore. He tried to think rationally about the note, but he could already feel the adrenaline beginning to rush. She would not ask him to come without a reason, and she certainly would not go to the trouble to conceal the note unless something was very wrong.
Leo stood up, picking up the dagger and note as he strode toward the front door of the school.
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"Are you nuts?"
"Do you know how often you ask me that?" Rachel shot back. She was slumped at the kitchen island as she waited for Raphael's response. "I just want another chance."
"Kid, this ain't the end of the world," Raphael noted, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the counter. "You'll get another chance to patrol, but not tonight."
"Then when?" Rachel demanded. Raph rolled his eyes at the melodrama. Teenage girls. Someone save him from the angst of teenage girls.
"When your parents say you can, Rach," Raphael stated with finality. Rachel's face scrunched up in dismay. "Go home, kid."
Rachel jumped off her stool, and stormed over to the door without so much as a goodbye. She shut the back door with a vicious slam. As she stomped down the steps she thought about how unfair it all was. She was ready! She didn't have to wait for Mike, or her mother, to say she could go out. Raphael was being an old mother hen. He was too cautious. He needed to relax.
Reaching the street, Rachel paused to consider where she was going to go next. For sure, she wasn't going home. She turned her body to the left, and walked down the sidewalk towards a nearby park. There might be some action there at this time of night. If not, then she'd walk the patrol. She knew the routes the guys used.
Her anger kept her moving right up until her feet hit the grass at the edge of the children's playground. Here, the trees hung over the paths, and blocked out the meager illumination of the sliver of moon. Rachel paused, and tried to see through the foliage painted black by the lack of light. She had left her weapons at Raph and Leo's house. She could go back, but Raph would never let her out on the street alone and armed. He'd know exactly what she was up to.
A shout drew her attention. She saw movement further in, past the swings. Rachel stepped across the grass, trying to see what was going on. When she reached the swings, she called out. "Hey!" The shadows she had seen in motion turned towards her. Rachel took a step back, realizing a moment too late that she should have gone home.
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"So she's not with you?" Mike asked for the third time. He listened to Raphael's answer, and the initial shock turned to dismay. "And she's not home." Mike rubbed his forehead distractedly as he only half heard Raph complaining about how hotheaded Rachel could be. "Look, Raph, I'm going to start heading your way. If Leo … Leo's there?" Mike paused again to listen as Raph and Leo discussed where Rachel could have gone. "I'm heading out right now. Jules is looking, too."
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"Look at the little girly, all alone in the park at night."
Rachel took a step back, and tried to watch every one of them at once. Two were moving around her on the right, but there were so many more. From their tattoos and colors, she guessed they were with the Purple Dragons. Not that the knowledge helped her a bit.
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"I don't think you're going to need that," Don commented as he retrieved his bo staff from the hall closet. He stepped back, and whirled it to the side. He glanced over at Sam as she double-checked the clip, and then slapped it home. She tucked the gun back into her shoulder holster, and picked up her keys.
"I don't think you're going to need that, either," Sam responded, nodding to the staff in Don's hand. "But better safe." They reached the door to their apartment, and Don opened it. "Where do you think she's gone to?"
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Pulling into one of the slanted parking spaces surrounding the small park, Juliet shut the van off and stared ahead at the playground. She could see a group gathered there. While the headlights were on, she had seen matching jackets and the gang colors of some local thugs.
"Stay in the car," Juliet instructed, her eyes on the scene before them.
"But Mom …," Noelle started.
"Stay," Juliet ordered sharply. She stared hard at her younger child, willing Noelle to understand the seriousness of this. "And lock the doors." Before Juliet could rethink her mad idea, she opened the door and stepped out. The evening air was still warm, and a soft breeze caressed her cheek. Juliet shut the door, and looked through the window at Noelle. A moment later the car door locks clicked.
Moving quickly now, Juliet strode back to the hatch of the mini-van. She opened it up, and studied the floor. Tucked under the seats, stretching nearly the length of the vehicle was a worn bo staff. Her daughters had stubbed their toes on it countless times, and on more than one occasion Juliet had considered storing it in their apartment. Now, though, she was glad she had never removed it. Juliet put her hand on the weapon, and pulled it out. The wood was cool to the touch.
Closing her eyes briefly, Juliet offered up a quick prayer for Mike's imminent arrival, and then she shut the trunk with a loud bang. Two of the gang members in the park looked over. Seeing a flash of her daughter's white t-shirt on the ground beyond them, Juliet felt a cold, red rage come to life. She had heard about mothers killing to protect their young - a natural instinct. She rounded the car and took off at a dead run, the bo staff now firmly gripped in her hands.
Before the two young men could raise an alarm, Juliet was on them. To the boys, she appeared a madwoman or mythical harpy, with her hair flying and a furious scream escaping from her lips. She caught the first boy in the stomach, knocking him flat. The second stepped back, but was cut down with a swipe across his knees. She might be rusty with the weapon, but she had adrenaline on her side. Fully in a place where only her instinct lived, Juliet heedlessly dived into the group.
Rounding the corner at a dead run, Leo and Raph spotted Juliet in the midst of a melee. Two cars tore into the parking lot, their headlights splashing across the pavement and lighting up the playground. Raphael jumped the hood of the one that had stopped closest to him just as Mike opened his car door. The three brothers rushed forward into the park.
Mike caught sight of Juliet, and drew his weapons. Nunchucks whirling too fast even to be seen, he took out two of the young gang members who had circled behind his wife. At his side, he saw a bo staff sweep out and take down another opponent - Donnie had joined up, and it was almost like old times. Except in the old times, he hadn't had a wife or a child with him in the fight.
Seeing that she was no longer alone, Juliet dropped her staff and quickly knelt beside her daughter. "Rachel," Juliet called to her, but there was no answer from the still form on the ground. The girl was unconscious, and the darkness hid her wounds. Juliet anxiously started checking for Rachel's injuries.
One by one, the young gang members began to realize they were far outclassed in this fight. Leo raised a hand, signaling his brothers to back off. The few young men still standing hurried away, vanishing into the dark line of trees.
Exploring with gentle fingers, Juliet felt slippery blood on her daughter's forehead. She gasped as her eyes adjusted and she saw more of Rachel. Her clothes were torn. Raph, Leo, Mike and Don exchanged nearly identical looks. Don nodded briefly, agreeing with something yet unsaid, and stepped over to stand protectively behind Juliet.
Sam, having not even drawn her weapon, peered warily at the brothers. Some kind of silent communication had taken place here, and she couldn't quite put her finger on it - until she noticed that the other three were stepping back, closer to the surrounding trees. They were leaving, and Sam would bet it wasn't to get help. "Let the law handle it," she tried, and was met by the icy glare of three sets of eyes. Don, ignoring or condoning whatever was happening, gently coaxed Juliet to let him pick up Rachel.
"We need to get her to a hospital," Don explained as he knelt beside the girl. Cautiously, he slid an arm under her shoulders, and the other under Rachel's knees. Standing, he lifted her up and turned towards the cars.
Sam watched as Mike, Leo and Raph drifted into the shadows and disappeared from sight.
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Many years ago, on Maora 2 …
"But I don't want to go, Mother."
Pressing a button on the top of her writing desk, Taka watched with narrowed eyes as the screen went dark and sank into a recessed space below. Laying her hands, decorated with jeweled rings, flat on the surface she contemplated her daughter - her only child.
"You do not have a choice," Taka responded, her tone empty of all emotion. It did not do to spoil the little one. She must learn self-control, and discipline.
"I want to stay in the city school with my friends," her daughter explained. Her large, silver eyes were filled with sadness. Taka gritted her teeth at the open display of emotion.
"Your friends, such as that absurd Cho creature," Taka paused to snort with disdain at even speaking the name. "Are precisely the reason you will go to the school I have selected. It is one of the best on the planet."
"It is so far away," the child said, dismayed. Taka rose to her feet with deliberate grace, her long, flowing robes falling to her feet.
"You will learn to control yourself, Sen," her mother ordered, steel in her normally pleasant voice. "You will not argue with me …"
"Mother, I wouldn't …"
"Silence," Taka commanded harshly. She moved out from behind her desk, the train of her robes hissing against the polished floor. "You will not be allowed to humiliate me or this family by your associations with those beneath us."
Sen lowered her head, struggling to hold in her tears as her mother walked out of the room.
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