Perseverance

I'm not making any money from this, nor do I own the Ninja Turtles - I'm just borrowing them for a while.
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Raphael and Leonardo picked Michelangelo up by the knees and underarms and headed for the bathroom window. The girl followed them. “Will I um... see you guys again?” She really hoped that she would - she didn’t have a lot of friends.

Raphael turned his head and smiled. “Yeah sure, babe. We’ll come by in a day or two, k?” He passed Mikey out the window to Leo. “You got a name by the way?”

“Charlotte”.

“Night Charlie!” Leo called from the fire escape.

“Charlotte”, mumbled Mike.

“Oh, sounded like Charlie”.

Charlotte giggled, “I like Charlie - sounds cool.”

Leo, Raph, and Mike disappeared down the fire escape as Don came into the bathroom. He’d rounded up Mikey’s nunchucks and protective pads. “Are you uh... going to be ok?” he said. She smiled shyly.

“Yeah... I think”.

Don had never had a girl stand this close to him before. She smelled good, and (even better) she didn’t seem to be afraid of him.

“Ok, well make sure you disinfect that leg. It looks pretty rough.” He climbed out the window. “Oh, I left our phone number on your table in case you need us”.

Charlotte smiled as he went down the ladder. He seemed worried about her - no one had been worried about her in a long time. “Thanks,” she called after him. “Tell Michelangelo I said thank-you for saving me... twice!”

“Will do! Night Charlie!”

She laughed as he disappeared into the shadows after his brothers.

After Mikey had been put to bed, Leo, Don, and Raph sat in the kitchen with Splinter to talk about the Foot.

“My sons, we must be particularly careful from now on. Now that Shredder has figured out an easy way to be rid of us, we must assume that he will try something similar again”. The turtles nodded in agreement. “As for this young girl - er...”.

“Charlotte, Sensei” Don reminded.

“Yes, Charlotte... do you feel that she is trustworthy?”

“Don certainly does” Raphael said under his breath. Splinter raised an eyebrow and Donatello blushed and looked away. Leo shot Raph a dirty look and said, “I think she’s nice, Master Splinter. She seems really smart and I think she even owns some kind of store”.

“A bookstore”, said Don.

“Hmmm... I think I should like to meet her. Bring her here when she is ready, but take a long, roundabout path so she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone how to find us”.

“Yes Sensei”, said Raphael.

“I must now retire for the night. Please check once again on your brother and then go to bed yourselves”. Splinter stood and walked out of the kitchen. “Donatello, will you come with me, please?” Don stood and followed the old rat. They walked in silence to Splinter’s room. At the door, Splinter turned and said, “Donatello, you are fully grown and can make your own decisions, but do not forget that you know nothing about this girl or any other. Remember your ninja training; move slowly and with caution. Do not allow an enemy to use your trust as a weapon against you”.

Don lowered his head. “Yes Sensei... you’re right, I don’t know anything about her... I just think she’s pretty. I’m not deluding myself though. No human girl would find us... y’know... attractive...”

Splinter gave him a small smile. “True love, is blind to all features but the heart. Goodnight Donatello”.

“Goodnight Sensei”.

Don walked slowly to his room and flopped down on the bed. Sleep came surprisingly quickly.