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, and to everyone who has reviewed.

Chapter 3:

"Hey."

Juliet glanced up from her vigil to see Mike stepping into the room. His eyes turned briefly to the still figure on the hospital bed, and then returned to Juliet's face. Mike let the door swing shut and crossed to where Juliet sat in a chair at the bedside. Reaching her, he wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair.

"You okay?" he asked, settling into a chair at Juliet's left side. She nodded.

"Yeah. You?" she questioned in response. Juliet studied Mike for a moment. He had changed clothes, and he looked very tired.

"Yeah," Mike answered. He reached out and put his hand on Rachel's arm. He was relieved to find her warm to the touch - she was so still. Nearby a monitor softly beeped at regular intervals.

"The doctor said …," Juliet had to pause and clear her throat. "The doctor said she's going to be fine."

"Good," Mike said, nodding at the news. "You took me by surprise you know," he continued, turning his head to study Juliet. "I didn't expect you to fight."

"I've forgotten so much," Juliet admitted, frowning. "If you hadn't shown up when you did …" Mike put his free hand to Juliet's cheek.

"You did great, Jules," he complimented, brushing his thumb over her skin, tracing her cheekbone. "If you want to practice again, then we can do that."

"Okay," Juliet breathed.

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Fourteen square tiles. That was the count as she turned back to start another line of pacing. Fourteen square tiles on the floor of the hall just outside Rachel's room in the hospital. A couple of feet away, Noelle sat on a vinyl bench next to Don, curled into his side.

Don glanced up as someone entered the hall. Leo and Raph walked towards them, their heads together in quiet conversation. Sam stopped pacing and narrowed her eyes at the pair as they approached.

"What did you do?" Sam demanded by way of greeting. Leo ignored the provocative question, and moved over to where Noelle sat. He bent over the young girl and gently wrapped his arms around her. Noelle returned the embrace fervently, and when her uncle sat down on the bench, she cuddled close to him. Don, abandoned, just smiled. He knew he was not 'favorite uncle' in Noelle's heart.

"This isn't the wild west," Sam continued, turning her attention to Raphael. His lips twisted into a smirk. "Vigilante justice is not okay," Sam went on, her voice rising in the quiet hallway.

"We take care of our own," Leo stated calmly, his hand stroking over Noelle's hair.

Sam whirled, ready to confront Leo, when everything tilted to one side. The bemused expression vanished from Raph's face and he reached out quickly to catch Sam before she fell over. Don was on his feet and moving before he fully realized what had happened. Without comment, Raphael backed off as Don wrapped his arm around Sam, supporting her.

Confused and still a little dizzy, Sam leaned on Don, her face hidden against his neck. It had to have been something she ate, or forgot to eat. Low blood sugar or something, she decided.

"How's Rachel?" Raphael asked, and Sam could have kissed him for filling the awkward silence.

"Cuts and abrasions. A concussion," Don reported carefully, glancing over at Noelle. The girl had her eyes closed, and could have fallen asleep. Don looked back at Raphael, receiving a hard stare. "That's all." Raph released a breath, and rubbed a hand tiredly over the back of his neck. He had been scared there might be more that had happened to his niece.

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Rachel opened her eyes and blinked owlishly at the table that was sitting in front of her. A white paper bag sat in the center, and an intoxicating smell was drifting over. Rachel struggled to sit up, and her head throbbed sickeningly in response. She groaned.

"Rough night, huh kid?"

Turning her head gingerly, Rachel saw she had a visitor seated next to her bed. Mike and Juliet had left towards morning to take Noelle home, which meant there was no one here to protect her from her uncle's wrath.

"I'm sorry," Rachel offered softly, pre-empting the lecture she figured she was in for. "I'm sorry I failed you, sensei." The girl didn't dare meet Raphael's eyes, and instead concentrated on the sheet covering her, plucking at it with nervous fingers.

"You got in over your head," Raphael responded gently. Rachel looked up quickly in surprise, earning herself another throbbing pain in her skull. Raphael leaned forward and shifted a pillow behind her head. "It wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done," he continued, still not sounding angry. "I can't figure out how you inherited my personality." He offered her a small smile, and feeling better, Rachel returned it.

Raphael relaxed back in his chair, and contemplated his niece from under lowered eyelids. "Goin' it alone isn't the way, Rach. I always had my brothers to back me up." Here he paused, and carefully considered his next words. "I know you wanna prove yourself, but this isn't the way to do it."

Nodding, Rachel looked over at the mysterious bag on the table. "Is that for me?" she asked.

"Yeah, hospital food isn't worth eatin'," Raphael answered. He stood up and opened up the bag. "I also wanted to tell you that Leo and I are goin' away for a while. Your mom and Mike are gonna run the school for us."

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Leaning against the wall and listening to Leo, Mike struggled to keep his mind on task. It was just that Leo, like when they were teenagers, felt the need to repeat every instruction fifty billion times.

"So there are classes every day except Sunday and Monday," Leo explained, looking at a sheaf of papers in his right hand. "The most advanced levels are at night - you could maybe get Don to take a couple of them for you …" Leo glanced up at Mike, and noticed his brother's blank stare. "Mike, are you listening?"

"Absolutely, Leo," Mike reassured automatically. He straightened up and stifled a yawn.

Leo sighed, and shoved the papers into Mike's hands. He then turned around and looked at the trophy case. Inside a number of trophies, ribbons, and certificates were on display. Years of work had gone into making this school. He had a waiting list of prospective students, and to turn it over to Mike …

"Hey, Leo," Mike said, stepping up beside his brother and took in Leo's brooding expression. "It's gonna be fine, bro. Jules and I will take of everything." Mike shifted a little, waiting for some response. "Seriously, your face is gonna freeze like that, and then what are you gonna do?" Leo shifted his eyes to glare at Mike. A tiny smile flitted across Mike's face. "Just think about it, bro," Mike went on. "You're already really ugly - you don't want Sen to run away when you get there."

Rolling his eyes, Leo headed over to his office, with Mike trailing behind. The little bell over the front door rang softly, and Mike turned back to see Juliet and Noelle step inside.

"Hey, how was piano?" Mike greeted as Noelle ran up to him. Surprising him, Noelle replied with a solid hit to the center of his plastron. "Oof," Mike breathed, bringing his arm up too late to block.

"Too slow," Noelle teased, dashing around him to approach Leo. "Morning, Uncle Leo," the girl said cheerfully, sketching a quick bow. Leo wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulders.

"What have you been teaching my kid?" Mike questioned grumpily as the four of them headed into the small office.

"How to keep you on your toes," Leo replied evenly, pulling out his desk chair and waving Juliet to the available seat. Mike muttered something to himself as Juliet sat down. "All of the accounts are current, and we should be back before tuition is due," Leo explained, leaning over Juliet's shoulder to open up a file on the computer.

"So, why the rush to leave now?" Juliet asked, turning her head to glance back at Leo. He straightened, and looked over at Mike.

"He thinks Sen is in some kinda trouble," Mike answered, leaning back in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Noelle, sitting next to her father, glanced from one adult to the other.

"I'll know more when I get there," Leo added. "Raph and I have already made inquiries with the Utroms, but they haven't been able to tell us anything of use." Mike made a face like he wanted more information. "There is some unrest. The Utroms recommended that we not travel there at this time."

"Not that you paid any attention to that warning," Mike retorted.

Leo shook his head, and turned the conversation back to less troubled waters. "If you have any problems, call Don. He set up most of the accounting software for us, and he knows our class schedule," Leo advised. "It wouldn't hurt to have him come down and give you a refresher on the bo staff, Juliet."

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"It's in London."

Sam sat down very carefully on the sofa. She didn't know if she was dizzy again or not, but her heart was beating too fast to feel normal. Outside it was a bright and cloudless morning. They were heading to the hospital to see Rachel - she was getting out in a couple of days.

"London, England?" she asked, and Don nodded slightly. The clarification didn't make Sam feel any better.

"It's a research position," Don explained, watching the emotions on Sam's face - stunned surprise being the most obvious. Sam knew that this was Don's dream - to concentrate on his experiments. But London…

"It's the other side of the world," Sam noted breathlessly. She felt as though her lungs were in a vise grip. She just couldn't quite wrap her mind around Don wanting to move to London.

"Sam," Don started, sitting down next to her on their living room sofa.

"How would we …," Sam had to pause to swallow around the lump in her throat. "How would we stay together? I mean, I can't just …" Don put his hand over hers where it was gripping the seat cushion.

"Sam," Don tried again, but Sam turned her head away. She took a shaky breath.

"Are you leaving me?" she asked, still facing the front door. She couldn't look at him, and hear him say it. She would crack into a million pieces, and …

"No, of course not," Don replied firmly. "Sam … Samantha, please look at me." Sam turned back, and faced Don. He shook his head, and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck. He leaned forward into Sam's personal space and pressed his forehead to hers. "How could you think, for one second, that I would leave you," Don whispered. "It's an interview, Sam. It's an opportunity I would like to look into, but I didn't say I was moving anywhere." Sam closed her eyes and released a deep sigh. "It's a few days, okay. And then I'll be back, and we'll talk about it."

"Okay," Sam agreed, still feeling a little ill from the emotional roller coaster she had just been on. Don moved his hand under her chin and tilted her face up to kiss her. Sam opened her eyes when Don leaned back a bit to look at her.

"Would you do me a favor?" Don asked, still cupping her chin in his hand. "Go see a doctor."

"What? Why?" Sam retorted, frowning.

"You've been sick for the past two weeks. Just humor me, please?" Don coaxed.

"Alright," Sam reluctantly agreed.

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Seven years ago, on Maora 2 …

Curled tightly into a corner of the bench, Sen attempted to will herself to invisibility. She knew it wasn't even theoretically possible to vanish into thin air - but she wanted to.

"Where is she?"

Her mother's voice carried down the hallway, heavy with anger and frustration. Sen tried to sink into the pages again. She had, in her years of living far away and attending the cold and sometimes brutal private school, discovered the world of books. In a work of fiction, or even the retelling of someone's real life adventures, Sen could escape. For a while, she was somewhere else - perhaps even someone else.

"Sen!"

The printed words failed to drag her away from her surroundings, and Sen pressed her ear against the heavy drape that hung behind the bench she sat on. If only she could be deaf, or horribly disfigured, then maybe her mother would leave her alone. But not blind … never blind, because then she wouldn't have even this private pleasure.

"There you are," her mother said, opening the door and entering the room Sen had chosen to hide in. "Our guests are beginning to arrive, and you're not even dressed!"

"Mother …," Sen began, only to be cut off immediately as her mother spoke over her.

"Is this how you intend to spend your holiday? With your face stuck in a book?" Taka questioned, frowning.

"Mother, I've been away all year," Sen started anew.

"All the more reason for you to socialize," Taka interrupted, sweeping over to tower over her daughter. "Now get to your room and put on the clothes I have laid out for you. There are many suitable …"

Closing her eyes and ceasing to listen to the lecture, Sen tightened her hold on the hard spine of the book. If she could have, she would have crawled inside its comforting pages. Only there did she know peace. She wondered with a pang if she would ever find the same kind of feeling in her life - the sense of serenity and safety she found only in books.

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