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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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- 67
Thanks for the reviews - you guys rock! Sorry about the cliff-hanger in the last chapter... I can't promise not to do it again, though. ;)
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Charlie and Lisa’s shoes squeaked across the highly-polished museum floors as they turned corners quickly, looking for some stairs. “Here!” Charlie said, tugging on Lisa’s arm. They barreled down the stairs to the ground floor and burst out on the Russian wing. The place looked like a bomb had gone off. The broken glass crunched under their feet and there were bloody handprints on the walls. They ran passed a guard’s desk and Charlie stopped to yank the drawers open, spilling papers on the ground until she found what she wanted - a flashlight. She was never ever going into the sewers without a light.

Both girls clutched each other and screamed when they nearly tripped on Frank’s body. His guts were spewed across the floor and his stomach acid had already begun to eat them. It smelled awful.

Charlie had had just about all she could take. She grabbed an old chair and flung it at the window, breaking the glass. They women climbed out and held hands again as they ran from the museum to the park.

“There’s a manhole cover in those bushes,” Charlie panted. She’s slept in those same bushes one night when she was fourteen. It was right after she’d run away from her mother. She was cold and hungry and she’d hidden there, watching the rich people go to some charity gala at the museum. She’d spread some old cardboard out on the manhole cover because the grass had been wet. A little part of her thought that it was almost funny, that while she’d been on top of the cover, Donatello could have been possibly walking below her somewhere.

“Do we really have to go in here?” Lisa asked as she helped Charlie to life the heavy cover.

“The turtles live down here - they’ll find us,” Charlie said, turning the flashlight on and holding it between her teeth while she climbed down the slippery ladder, still balancing the gun.

“Charlie!” Raphael called as he limped through the sewers. The brothers had finished off the last of the new mutants, including the thrashing wildebeest - that was really a mercy-killing - while the wing of the building burned. The Africa room had filled with smoke and timbers and plaster had started falling through the ceiling. They’d tried to get to Shredder, but the smoke was so thick that they could hardly see through their watering eyes. Leo had ordered them out before anyone collapsed from the bad air.

Once in the sewer, they’d split up, looking for the girls. Donatello was worried that they hadn’t made it out, but Mike chided him, saying that Charlie was the toughest chick in the world and that if anyone would get out, she would.

The fire was a complete mystery - was it electrical? Did Shredder start it to cover his escape? Raphael shook his head, wondering.

“CHARLIE!” he shouted more loudly as he continued on. They’d tried calling Leo’s shell cell, but either it had been broken or the girls were somewhere where there was no signal. Raph paused and listened to see if he could hear anything other than rats before moving on, scanning the ground with his flashlight for footprints.

“Lisa!” he called, moving on. He froze and looked at the wall - someone had gouged a neat arrow into the bricks with a stone. He knew it might not even be the girls, but he followed it anyway.

“Charlie!” he shouted, scanning for other arrows. At the next turn there was another one, pointing in the same direction. He went along faster - if it was them, they seemed to be trying to follow the main street. He jogged along, wrinkling his nose as sewer water rushed loudly passed him, below the platform he was standing on. “Charlie! Lisa!” he shouted, following the next arrow to the left. Far, far, up ahead, he saw a flashlight flickering out. “CHARLIE!” he shouted as the light died. He listened hard and heard a faint, response.

“We’re here!”

Raph ran down the tunnel toward the girls, glad they were alive and knowing the rats would be moving in, brushing against their feet, freaking the living shit out of them. He heard a screech and knew he was right. When he got close enough to see them in his flashlight beam, they ran toward him. Charlie leaped into his arms and he hugged her hard, lifting her right off the ground.

“Oh fuck, I’m glad yer okay,” he said, his voice thick. “Everyone’s out lookin’ fer ya. Donnie’s a little rough-looking, but he’s okay,” he said, answering her question before she could ask. He set her back down and tipped her head back gently by her chin and brushed her hair away from her face - it wasn’t a pretty sight, and her shirt from was covered in blood. He sighed angrily and pressed a comm button and spoke into the gadget. “Go home, guys, I found them.”

Charlie staggered a little as they walked back and Lisa reached a hand out to steady her. “I’m okay,” she said, in response to Raph’s raised eyebrow. “I’ve still got a few drops of blood left.” Raphael smiled proudly at her. Donnie was a very lucky guy.

Donatello had the battery back in the van so they could go and see Splinter and was sitting on the living room couch, busy putting stitches into his leg where he’d gotten the gash. It hurt like a bitch. He stopped to pop another couple of pain killers and looked at his brothers. No one really wanted to talk about Master Splinter. They’d called April when they’d gotten home and she told them that he was resting comfortably, although he was weak.

The communist rally flag lay in shreds on the floor by Mike’s feet. He had one leg up on the coffee table and Casey was using a combination of stitches and a burning medical glue to patch up the deep cuts that Frank had given him. Leo was just slouched in the reclining chair, feeling too shitty to move, and not caring if he was bleeding on the furniture... it wouldn’t be the first time. Besides, that’s what afghans were for. Casey had been shocked when he had seen the hole in the blue turtle’s chest.

“Pills...” Mike winced holding a hand out. Don chucked him the bottle.

“Just take two, dude - they’re strong.”

Mike took three.

The big, round door creaked open and Raphael limped in with the girls on his heels. Don vaulted over the back of the couch and grabbed his girlfriend in a bear hug, the needle and thread handing from his leg. Charlie put her arms around his neck and burst into sobs, the moisture mixing with the dried blood on her face, giving her red tears. He was all she had left in the world and they had nearly lost each other.

Tears slid down Don’s cheeks - he couldn’t help it. When Raphael had said that he’d found the women, Don had been greatly relieved, but now that he actually had her back in his arms, he felt overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions. He nuzzled his nose into her hair and rubbed it against her neck, breathing her scent in. She smelled like blood and he could detect a trace of her fear sweat, but underneath it all was her flowery shampoo. He let her soft hair wipe away his tears as he fought back the sudden strong urge to rub his nose all over her - what was up with that?

Raphael flopped down on one end of the couch. The bite wound on his shoulder was hot, red, and throbbing, clearly infected. Mike tossed him the rattling pill bottle.

“Casey,” Raph said, “Charlie’s got a broken nose.” Casey had had more broken noses than he could remember, but he knew how to straighten it so it wasn’t crooked on his face. The turtles, however, were build differently and had never run into that particular problem. Black eyes? Yes. Split lips? Oh yeah. Broken noses? Didn’t seem possible.

“I’m all over it,” Casey said, standing and going straight to Charlie. She was still sobbing in Don’s arms. “Noses set fast,” Casey said. Don let her go so Casey could look. Charlie was still crying as she looked up at Casey. She took a few deep breaths to try to calm down - her face was throbbing.

“I’m Casey Jones, by the way,” he said, tipping her head back like Raphael had done.

“Hi,” she sniffled. He touched her nose gently and she yelped in pain. Don reached out and held her hand, knowing what was coming.

“This is really gonna hurt,” Casey said, apologetically, “but if I don’t do it, you’ll look like an old witch with a hooknose for the rest of your life.”

Charlie nodded. “Do it,” she whispered.

Casey turned her around and stepped up close to her so that his chest pressed into her back. He reached one hand around to her forehead to hold her still and put his other hand over her nose. She’d instinctively step back from the pain, but his body would block her. This had to be done right, especially with a girl. A guy could get away with a crooked nose; it made dudes look tough. Girls needed to look pretty though. He pinched her nose and pulled down sharply.

Charlie cried out in pain and tried to move away, but only bumped into his back. Her nose started to bleed again as she cried fresh tears. Casey turned her around and looked at her nose - it was perfect.

“It’s just blood that was trapped in your sinuses - it’ll stop in a sec. Don’t touch it for a while,” he said, patting her shoulder before going back to Mike.

Don pulled her back into his arms, nuzzling her again. “You’re beautiful,” he whispered, reverently.

Leo looked at Lisa. She was taking the lair in, as well as their injuries. “Sorry, we’re being such bad hosts,” he said so quietly that she could barely hear. “Just make yourself at home.” His head flopped back down weakly and she moved shyly to his side. He had bits of glass still sticking out of his skin. She kneeled down next to him and started to pull them out. He’d saved her life - the least she could do would be to patch him up. He smiled at her. “Thank you,” he said. She smiled back - how was he always so polite?

Casey had some scrapes, a black eye, bruised ribs, and two broken fingers, which he said he’d go to the hospital for later. He’d taped them quickly and had insisted on patching Mike up.

Don kissed Charlie, not caring who saw or how shocking it might be for Lisa, who might not be used to the idea of Charlotte’s romantic relationship with him. “Oh, baby, I love you,” he said, brushing her tears away while she cried. “I’m so sorry about your store,” he said. “Raph and I saw it on the news and went there as fast as we could. I tried to call, you but you weren’t answering your phone. When they grabbed you...” he shut his eyes against the image. “When they grabbed you, I chased the van from the rooftops where I’d bee watching you. I wrapped my wristband with the gps chip in it around a star and threw it so it stuck into the side of the van, then I followed you to the college.”

“He told me you were dead,” Charlie said, crying harder. “Why did he have to burn down my store? Why is he so horrible?”

“Oh Charlie,” he said, hugging her. “I don’t know what to tell you... Casey’s going to take you girls to the hospital once we get patched up...”

Lisa watched them kiss with interest, then realised she was staring and glued her eyes back to Leo’s glass problem. She blushed as she remembered that Charlie had told her that she and Don had also made love. Where did the turtles keep -

“It’s new for us, too,” Leo whispered, so the others wouldn’t hear. “None of us have ever had that, but they’re very much in love and we’re very happy for them.”

“They put tape over my mouth and he pinched my nose so I couldn’t breathe until I passed out,” Charlie cried. Don rubbed her back and looked at Mike over her shoulder. Mike looked pissed, but he didn’t say anything. Shredder was a motherfucker.

“Didja see me nail him in the eye, Charlie?” Mike said in a look-at-me-Mommy voice. He’d decided that Charlie needed to stop thinking about this shit - the sooner she got it off her mind, the sooner the memories would blur and the specific details of how it felt to be suffocated, for example, would fade. “I strangled a bear, too!” Charlie let out a little giggle. It wasn’t really funny, but the way he said it made her smile.

“Yeah, we saw, Mikey,” she said, turning her head against Don’s chest so she could look at him. “That was a great shot. We saw the bear, too. It was disgusting.”

“Is anyone here fit to drive five hours?” Leo asked. “Cause I’m sure not.” His chest was throbbing and his back hurt so much that he couldn’t even sit up. Fucking Bubba...

“Don and I can probably do it,” Raph sighed. He wanted to go to sleep and not wake up for a year.

Charlie looked at Don - where did they need to go?

“Splinter’s dying,” he said, hanging his head. She hugged him again, stroking the back of his head and neck. They all looked terrible.

Charlie took a deep breath and her head throbbed - she hoped that she wasn’t concussed. Still, this is what Splinter had warned her about - someone needed to guide them... she just couldn’t do it... she had so much of her own grief weighing her heart down, that it took all her strength to keep herself going... what a horrible, awful, terrible day...

“Who’s Splinter?” Lisa whispered to Leonardo.

He shut his eyes for a moment. “He’s our father,” he breathed raggedly.

“I’m so sorry, Leonardo,” she said, putting her hand in his very big one. His eyes were wet, but he squeezed her hand back for a moment. It dawned on Lisa that the turtles had come to save her and Charlotte, rather than go and sit at their father’s death bed... she looked back at Charlotte and Don, who were still pressed together. Maybe Charlotte had picked a good um... man... after all...

“Donnie,” Charlie said, quietly, suddenly remembering something important. “I need to show you something. She took his hand and led him to the door of the lair and pushed it open before pointing to the ground outside.

“Holy shell!” he shouted. “Where’s you get that?!”

“What is it?” Leo said, too tired to get excited about anything.

“It’s one dose of mutagen,” Don said, not bending down to pick up the needle. Charlie had pulled it out of the gun and chucked the gun away so that it would be easier to hide if she had to.

“Shredder dropped it and I took it,” she said. “I thought you could inject Splinter with it and change him back into a human... I mean... he’s only in his fifties... the rat part of him is dying... if you could change him back, Donnie... he could potentially live for another thirty years... at least... I left it outside so no one would accidentally come into contact with it...” she was nervous. Had she done the wrong thing?

Something joyous exploded in Donatello’s chest and he smiled at her. He was so proud of her. Even after what had happened to her today, she still thought of someone else before herself. He ran into the kitchen and grabbed a bunch of dishcloths, tupperware, and a big pot with a lid. “Here,” he said, “Wrap it up in as many layers as you can.”

“Is that possible?” Leo asked, sitting up a bit.

“Maybe,” Don said, excitedly, before sobering. “But he’s also very weak... it might kill him.”

“Not to sound unkind, guys,” Casey said, wrapping a clean gauze bandage around Mike’s legs, “but... he’s going to die anyway...” Leo nodded. Casey was right.

Charlie finished wrapping the gun in dishcloths, then she put the bundle into a tupperware container, then that into a bigger one, then bigger, and bigger, and finally into the pot. She put the lid on over it and stood to stagger to the bathroom. “Go and sit down,” she said to Don as she passed. “Rest.”

She snapped the light on and looked in the mirror. She looked like someone had stepped on her face; there was even blood caked in her hair. Charlie turned the hot water on and washed the blood away. Splinter had burst a blood vessel under her skin by her temple when he’d suffocated her. Asshole. She grabbed Raphael’s red towel and pressed it to the cut on her head. The blood stains wouldn’t show if she used his.

Don was trying to stitch up his leg with shaky hands when she got back out to the living room. She sat on the coffee table around the corner from Casey and took the needle out of his hands. He flopped back on the couch and smiled at her, gratefully.

“We’re going leave after we get patched up,” Don said, reaching for her. “We’re not in any shape to go anywhere, right now.” He stroked her hair away from her face and froze as he caught sight of the blood vessel - it had been hidden under the dried blood before. He pulled her close and kissed it gently, interrupting her work for a moment. He’d been closer to losing her than he’d realised. “Call me as soon as you get to see a doctor,” he said, worried. “I wish I could go with you, sweetheart.”

Charlie finished stitching him up, her little fingers making neater stitches than his first few. She put some antibiotic cream on him and wrapped his thigh in gauze bandages before checking out his glass cuts. She looked at the big tube of cream and wound up just covering his arms and big patches of his legs in it, rather than to do all the little wounds individually.

Lisa had gotten all the glass out of Leo and moved to the other side of his chair to undo the remnants of her shirt from his arm. A few of the puncture wounds bled freshly as she pulled the blood-soaked rags off and dropped them on the floor. The savage bite wound was clearly infected and would leave scars. Charlie tossed her Raphael’s red towel and she pressed it to the wounds to stop the bleeding.

“We all need antibiotics,” Don said, “and the three of you might even need tetanus shots.” He dug through the big box of stuff that he’d stolen from vet’s offices over the years and found a package of needles and a bottle of the right medicine, while Charlie moved to look at Raphael’s shoulder.

“You can use this glue on that,” Casey said, passing it to her, “but Leo’s gonna need a lot of stitches.”

Charlie sighed... it was gonna be a looong night.
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Perseverance