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Perseverance	By : EvaBrick Category: Comics > Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Views: 9920 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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“Are you sure we’ve gone over everything?” Charlie said nervously late that Thursday afternoon. “You have a spare set of keys, right? And my cell number?”

“Yes and yes,” Lisa sighed with a smile.

“Oh! I didn’t write down the computer passwords!”

Lisa tapped her temple with her pencil. “They’re all in here - I’ve been working here for years, remember?”

“I know,” Charlie sighed, trying to relax. “And you’re great at what you do.” She smiled at her friend. Lisa was great.

“Take it easy, ok, Charlotte?” Lisa said. “Go and have a nice time with Don and stop worrying!” She wrapped an arm around Charlie’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I promise I’ll take good care of the store - all you need to worry about is yourself. Get some sun, and for goodness sakes, try to relax. You’re going to burn out if you’re not careful.”

Charlie smiled sheepishly and hugged Lisa. “I’ll try to be good,” she sighed.

Lisa boosted herself up so she was sitting on the counter. “Well, don’t be too good,” she winked. “A weekend getaway with this mystery boyfriend of yours sounds pretty romantic…”

“Yeah,” Charlie laughed, “but his brothers are going too, so I don’t know how much fooling around there’ll be.”

Lisa chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, Charlotte… of course there’ll be lots of fooling around. That’s what happens when young people are unsupervised.”

“Young people?” Charlie laughed. “Lisa, you’re only a year older than me!”

“Yeah, but you act like you’re eighty-two,” Lisa laughed. “You have to be so responsible all the time that I think you’ve forgotten how to act like a hip, twenty-something.”

“Do people still say ‘hip’?” Charlie teased.

Lisa rolled her eyes and they both laughed.

Suddenly Lisa sat forward, looking serious. “Tell me you’ve packed a decent bathing suit, and a couple of nice dresses,” she said.

“I’ve packed a couple of shirts, a pair of capris, and a sundress. I’ve got a suit, but it’s getting a bit past it. It’s the same one I had in high school, but I guess it’ll have to do…”

Lisa slapped her hand onto her face in shock. “Not the red one with the white speckles?!”

Charlie cringed and nodded.

“Oh hell, no…” Lisa said, jumping off the counter. She ran into the back room and grabbed Charlie’s purse. “Here,” she said, shoving it into her friend’s hands. Go across the street and pick out something new.”

“I can’t leave the store!” Charlie sputtered.

“This is an emergency, so yes you can!” Lisa snapped, shoving her toward the door. “Pick a few out and hold them up to the front window so I can tell you if they’re any good or not.”

Charlie hesitated.

“Go!” Lisa said. “It’ll only take half an hour. You can’t let Don see you in that red thing!”

Charlie pursed her lips - Lisa was right. Her old suit was gross. She hurried across the street into the clothing store and went straight to the athletic section. Charlie perused the racks, occasionally pulling a suit off to examine. When she’d selected a dozen or so, she went to the front window so she could see Lisa, who was still working at the counter across the street in the bookstore. One by one, she held the suits up and Lisa either gave them a thumb up or a thumb down. All of the one-piece suits got a thumb down. Charlie frowned at Lisa through the glass and went to try on the approved suits.

*****************

Charlie’s alarm clock went off at three-thirty the next morning. She groaned in frustration and whacked it a few times until she finally found the button to make it shut-up. She took a deep breath and ordered herself to get out of bed. The cold floor helped her to wake up a bit, but the warm shower nearly sent her back to sleep.

“C’mon, Charlotte,” she chided herself as she pulled on her jeans a few minutes later. “Wake up! Don’ll be here in a few minutes and he’ll feel bad if you’re acting like a zombie.”

She did her best to shake off the sleep and went to make some coffee. The guys had told her that they had to leave when it was still dark so that no one would see a humanoid-turtle driving a van.

Charlie dug around in her cupboards and found a large travel-mug which she filled to the brim with coffee before screwing the lid on tightly. Down the hall she heard the bathroom window slide open and a quiet ‘thud’ as a shell bumped against the frame.

“Hey handsome,” Charlie smiled as Don appeared in the kitchen a moment later. He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her off the ground for a hug. Charlie’s arms snaked around his muscled shoulders and she smiled against his lips as he kissed her. She loved how a big, strong guy like him could be so tender and sweet.

Don set her gently down and rubbed his nose against hers before turning to pick up the bag that she’d left on a chair the night before. Charlie grabbed her travel mug and took his offered hand. “You look pretty,” he said quietly, as she led him to the bathroom window.

Charlie squeezed his large hand and looked down into the dark alley where a large delivery van was parked. Don went out the window first and took her coffee from her so she could use both hands to steady herself on the climb down.

“Anything breakable in here?” he asked, gesturing to the bag. Charlie shook her head and Don quickly let out a sharp whistle and dropped the bag over the railing.

“Got it!” Raph’s voice called up. It was too dark to see, but Charlie could hear him catch it. She followed Donatello down the ladder - he liked to go first so he could grab her if she slipped.

Don let himself drop off the bottom of the ladder to the ground and looked back up at Charlie, ready to catch her when she dropped off the end. He felt a bit guilty as he took the opportunity to admire how the jeans curved tightly around her backside like a second skin. He glanced over at his brother and noticed that he was doing the same thing. Raphael winked at Don and took Charlie’s bag to the van.

Don smiled at the red turtle and looked back to Charlie. From what he’d read and seen on tv, he wondered if he should be jealous when one of his brothers checked his girlfriend out, but he just wasn’t. He knew they’d never try anything funny with her, and that they’d never let her become aware that the looked at her, so what was there to worry about?

Charlie dropped off the ladder and he caught her neatly in his arms and carried her to the van. Leo was in the driver’s seat, with Mikey next to him. Raphael was lounging on one of two old couches in the back than had been bolted to the floor. There was a tiny bar fridge strapped to the back of Mikey’s seat.

“Wow, guys, this is great!” Charlie said, impressed.

“When it starts,” Leo said, turning the key. Nothing happened.

“Damn it!” Don snapped. “It’s those fucking spark-plugs again! They keep burning out!” He sighed and turned to get out of the van. To his surprise, Charlie climbed out with him. She walked to the front of the van and tapped the hood with her fingers. Leo pulled the release and turned to look at his brother with a raised eyebrow. Don just shrugged. What was she doing?
“Do you have any electrical tape, Donnie?” she called a few moments later. He fished his toolbox out from under the seat, dug some out and took it to her. She tore off a long strip and leaned over the engine to fiddle with something he couldn’t see.

Don placed his hand on the small of her back as he leaned in to look over her shoulder. “Whatcha doin’ baby?” he asked.

“My grandfather used to have an old delivery van. It was a piece of junk that shook more than a paint mixer at a hardware store. The spark plugs used to get rattled free and the electrical currant would break so it wouldn’t start.” She tore off another piece of tape. “If you tape them down they’ll stay put.” Charlie stood up straight. “Try it now!” she called to Leo. He turned the key and the van started straight away.

“I didn’t know you knew anything about cars,” Don said, impressed. He reached up and slammed the hood down.

“I don’t,” Charlie replied, honestly. “But boy, oh boy, can I use a roll of tape!”
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Perseverance