Jack pulled the van into a gas station somewhere in rural North Carolina. She yawned as she climbed out of the vehicle and walked around to put the fuel in the tank. Raph realized how much easier this process was when there was a human around to help, but he felt bad when he watched her pull out her wallet. There were only a few bills in it, she used most of them to pay for the gas.
When the woman went to climb back in the driver's seat, she was surprised to find a turtle sitting in her way. "Uh, what's this?" She asked with a bit of a surprised laugh.
"You look tired; you should grab a nap or something. I know how to drive don't worry." Raph managed a smirk as she climbed into the passenger seat and strapped in.
Curling up in the seat, Jack sat sideways to face Raphael as he drove. "I've never been out of Georgia. Born and raised down there so… This is something new for me." She admitted, trying to get him to talk. The ride thus far had been long and rather quiet.
"Yeah? I haven't left the New York all that much… Just a few times. That accent of yours is going to make you stick out that's for sure though."
"'Bout likes yours down here I bet." She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed a bit when she caught a redness on his face. Glancing down she picked at the splint she had wrapped around her arm.
Raphael caught her fidgeting. "That happen in your fight?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Not exactly." But she dropped the subject, seeming like she didn't want to talk about it so he let it go for now.
"So what kind of a name is Jack?" Raphael asked, changing the subject to something maybe a little less serious. He glanced sideways at her with a half-smile as he continued to drive.
She chuckled. "Jack is what my brother always called me. It's a nickname I guess. My real name is Jacquelyn but no one has ever called me that. Not that I can remember anyway."
He actually looked at her for a moment before looking back to the road. "I like Jacquelyn." He said simply, unaware of the color tinting her features.
She looked out the window, tucking her hair behind her ear trying to ignore the heat rushing her face. "Well, you can call me that. But… just you." She smiled, still looking at the window.
Raphael felt a small swell of pride in his chest. It was nice getting some kind of special privilege, particularly when it came to her. He wasn't sure why he felt so proud but it felt nice. He glanced at her when he heard another yawn and simply shook his head. "Get some sleep."
Slowly she nodded. Leaning the seat back a bit she curled up, angled towards him she closed her eyes and managed to drift off to sleep. Driving in silence, Raphael glanced over at the woman every so often, she seemed so at ease while she slept. Even the turtle who was constantly on edge could see the stress and worry on her features while she was awake. It was nice to see her finally relax.
It was a few long hours just as dusk started to set and the van started to cross into the Pennsylvania back roads. Raphael cracked his neck as he pulled the van over alongside the road. Reaching over he brushed some hair out of Jacquelyn's face and rested his hand on her head. "Hey. Wake up." He said softly.
Her bright eyes slowly fluttered open. She sat up and rubbed at her face. "Huh? Wha… what's going on?" She asked as she looked around.
"Nothing. I just need to stretch." Raph admitted. "I just didn't want you to freak out if you woke up and I was gone." He opened the door and stepped out as the woman sat up straight and stretched to try and wake herself up. Raphael did the same outside. He rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms and legs. He heard the van shift, much more than it should have for someone Jacquelyn's size. Turning to look at the vehicle, his brow furrowed until he heard the panicked sound coming from the back, and a small scream from the front. Moving to the side door, Raph slowly pulled it open, and glanced inside.
The other turtle was awake, clutching his chest, he was scrambling back against the back doors, struggling to catch his breath. It was obvious he was in pain as he kept weight off one leg and favored one side.
"W-where am I?" He stammered. Glancing between the pair of them. "Who are you…" His eyes glanced down at his own three digited hand. "What am I?"
Jacquelyn slowly slid out of her seat into the back. "Easy…" She said in that soft voice of hers, Raph swore it could have calmed down anything. "We aren't going to hurt you." She offered him up a small smile before glancing at Raph. They were the same, maybe he'd have better luck.
Raph however, wasn't really good at this. "We uh… found you." He blurted out. "You are like me… uh, a uh…" He didn't want to say mutant and freak the kid out if he was once a human but if he had been an animal like Raph hand started out, this was better wasn't it?
"Don't worry. You are safe with us." Jacquelyn jumped in and saved Raphael from himself. "Just calm down and relax before you hurt yourself." She motioned him over to the mattress. "Come on. Sit." She sat down too, but gave him some space as she tried to ease the turtle into some kind of comfort. "My name is Jack. This big guy is Raphael." She smiled over her shoulder at him before turning back to the mystery before her. "Do you have a name?"
He shook his head a little too fast. "No. I… I don't know." He looked from the girl to Raph and then back. "Why can't I remember? Did I have one to begin with? Am I a monster?" His eyes landed on Raphael.
"We are not monsters." Raph tried hard to not sound angry. "We are just different." The tension in his body eased when he felt the small hand of the woman between them land on his arm.
The Turtle's dark chocolate colored eyes blinked slowly. "So… I…" He paused. "I don't feel so good." He pitched forward and fell on top of Jacquelyn. The woman let out a small cry as he landed on her.
Raph hurried to lift the other's heavy form from a top the small woman and roll him onto the mattress as Jacquelyn scooted back. "Thanks." She said, a bit embarrassed.
"No problem." He nodded before scratching his head. "Although, I think that could have gone better. I was hoping he'd at least know somethin'."
Jack shrugged and climbed back into the front. "He's talking, and he didn't try to kill us. I'd say that's a good start."
He nodded agreeing, but Raphael couldn't help but hope for more. He sighed and climbed into the van shutting the door. He was about to squeeze back into the driver's seat when the woman scooted in before he could.
"I got it." She smiled at him. "You can have a turn to relax." She buckled up and started the vehicle before pulling it back onto the road. "Just make sure I'm still heading in the right direction and all that."
Nodding Raphael sat down and peered between the two front seats, glancing back at the other turtle on occasion.
"So are you going to show me the sites once we are in the city?" She looked at him. "The Statue of Liberty, the Empire state Building, Central Park…"
Raphael blinked a few times before he could answer her. "Uh… I'm not really one for sightseeing." He admitted. "But the park's pretty nice at night. You do remember I can't go out like a human. Right?"
"I know. But I still don't want to go see those places by myself. That's no fun. I'd rather you come with me."
He felt that warmth in his chest again. Spreading out and filling him with an ease and happiness he hadn't felt in a long long time. It was a bit awkward, he wasn't really sure how he was supposed to handle it, or what he was to do with it. Should he say something about it? Or just let it go? Deciding on the latter they rode in silence for a while until they were just outside of the city and Raphael made her let him drive. She'd never find the entrance to the sewer.
Glued to the window, Jacquelyn stared out at the city as Raphael drove them. The turtle smiled and shook his head at her wide eyed wonder. It was cute. Turning off the main roads and onto some service areas they ended up at the edge of the storm drain system, Jacquelyn glanced at Raphael and quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing.
He drove until he couldn't drive any more, down twists and turns through the different turns in the sewer system. Then after parking he laid on the horn.
The small door to the side of the tunnel opened and a bright green head poked out. Brown eyes got wide under the bright orange bandanna. "Raph? What the hell is going on?" He stepped out scratching his head, Shadow trying her hardest to come out behind him but he shoved her back inside with ease.
Raphael rolled his eyes and looked over at the woman in the passenger's seat. "Get ready for an interrogation." He smirked and climbed out, looking at his brother. "Get over here Mike, we have a couple of guests. I need a hand."
Mikey was still looking at Jack in the front seat. "Guest's? Did you… find Leo? You've been gone a few days…"
"Yeah I found him. Stubborn ass isn't coming home yet. But I found us someone else." He pulled open the van's side door and revealed the other turtle.
"Whoa!" Rushing to the van Mikey was grinning. "Another Turtle!" He looked up at his older brother. "Where'd you find him?"
Raphael rubbed his head. "It's a long story. Help me get him inside and I'll tell both you and Don." He pulled the unconscious turtle to the door and Mikey hoisted him up onto his shoulders and started to carry him into their home. While his brother moved their new house guest Raph turned back to the van and frowned when he saw Jacquelyn getting into the driver's seat. "What are you doing?" He asked.
She jumped a bit, caught off guard by him. "Well I thought… Since you got home…." She tucked her hair behind her ear, facing him, but not looking at him. "You didn't… I should probably get out of your hair." She finally looked up at him, giving him a weak smile before she started the van up once more.
"You could always stay." He offered.
She paused before looking back at him. "But I…"
Raphael reached over and put a big hand on her arm, pulling it off of the steering wheel. His heart was pounding in his chest. He wasn't sure what he was doing, or why he was doing it. But like everything else, he was just following his instincts. "I want you to stay. Come on… It's not often I find someone that doesn't look at me like I'm a monster." He pulled his hand away, feeling a bit self-conscious for the act. "What do you say?"
Color tinted her cheeks as she looked down at his hand on her arm. Giving him a small smile she looked up from behind her pale bangs. "Alright. I'll stay, but only till you guys get tired of me. I don't want to over stay my welcome."
"Don't think that's going to happen." He muttered as he looked into the back of the van and gathered up her things, blushing slightly as he saw a few pairs of panties mixed in with her other things. Zipping the suit case closed he pulled it out and waited for Jack to join him. Once she was at his side he paused before he opened the door. "I should warn you, It's not just my brothers Mikey and Don. We have a few human friends, A news anchor named April Jones and her husband Casey. They have a daughter named Shadow. She tends to hang out her a lot so I'm sure she'll be bugging you, and if she tells her parent's, you can guarantee they will want to talk to you at some point."
Jacquelyn looked up at him. "I thought you didn't have any human friends?"
He shrugged. "Not many." After opening the door for her, Raphael followed her inside. The living room and kitchen were dark. The only light was coming from the game still running on the television. He glanced at the woman at his side, they were both frowning. Raph set her bags down next to the dining room table and walked over towards Donnie's lab. The door was cracked open already so Raph just pushed it open, Jack silently followed him into the room.
It was a buzz with electronics. Screens showed displays, of the different alleys and sewer ways that were near their home. Others were computer statistics that made no sense to wither of them, something Raphael assumed were related to his job. Across the large room was more science looking stuff. Vials and beakers full of strange looking substances lined shelves next to strange tools. There was a specially modified table in the middle of the room that the mystery turtle was lying on, he had wires and monitors hooked up to him as Donatello was bustling around. Mikey was standing there, scratching his head, clueless like usual with Shadow at his side.
Mikey looked up and froze for a moment before reaching over and smacking Donnie. Donnie frowned. "You brought home someone else?" He quirked a brow, but it was a look of disapproval.
Raph glared. "So what if I did? I wouldn't have found him if it wasn't for her." While the two of them had a glaring match, Mikey had come up to Jacquelyn's side.
"So you helped us?" He asked. "Awesome." He grinned.
Raphael smacked him in the back of the head. "Come on Mikey, we need to go talk. Jacquelyn, keep an eye on our… friend there." The brothers all left, Shadow trailing behind them. Filing into the kitchen they sat around the table and talked about what had happened down in Georgia. About Xanus and the Foot, the corporation moving, Leo and his decision to stay for now, the new turtle and training him, and about Jack and her brother.
While the boys all talked, Jack walked over to the side of the table to check on the other mutant. He was relaxed into the table, his breathing shallow. Donatello had monitors connected to him monitoring his breathing and his heart rate. He had yet to treat the wound on his chest or the other injuries on him. His brow was creased, it looked like he was in pain, his eyes flicking back and forth beneath his eye lids. Jacquelyn went over to a sink against the wall and found a rag. After getting it wet and ringing it out she brought it over and gently dabbed the cool cloth against the turtle's forehead and face trying to calm him and ease the pain away.
"Poor soul… You seemed so scared in the van." She mumbled softly to herself as she tried to do something helpful. Her eyes flicked over to the door where she could hear the brothers talking. She couldn't make out what they were saying but she knew it was important so she wouldn't interrupt.
A hand flew up and clamped down on Jacquelyn's arm, wrenching it away painfully, the woman screamed. The turtle on the table bolted upright, the wires clinging to him tearing and popping off as he backed her against the nearest wall. "What are you doing to me? Where am I? Who the hell are you?!"
But the big green hand around her neck was cutting off the air supply as he questioned her. "I-I…" Her eyes started to flutter as she struggled to pull the hand off her throat.
The door flung open, banging against the wall as Raphael burst into the room. "What the fuck is going on in here?!" He shouted.