December 17th 2012

Val sighed as she leaned up against the cold window pane of her loft bedroom. Watching the snow fall in lazy spirals, she wished there was something to do, but she'd already read every book in the house five times, beaten Brice's high score on their ancient Game Boy more times than she cared to count, and explored every portion of the surrounding woods so that she had them memorized. Even the house sparkled with immaculate cleanliness that offered no chance for even the distraction of work. Her mind drifted back to the strangers she'd met in the woods days before. Of course she'd known there were other mutants out there; the frogs, for one, were an annoyance at first, especially when they found Val was a human member of a mutant family. Her dad had dealt with them swiftly, though and she hadn't seen them for months. Maybe these turtles were part of a new faction they'd have to deal with. Donnie seemed kind, and there was something very familiar about the girl, April.

She was deep in thought when something cold and wet exploded on the side of her face. Jumping up, gasping, she saw her little brother, Brice standing at the top step, almost doubled over in laughter. In many ways, he looked just like a normal kid, save his electric blue hair that shimmered with startling bio-luminescence and his eyes, which were the same violent shade as his hair. "Gotcha!" he shouted as soon as he was able, jumping off the top step. Rather than falling, he drifted, landing softly so that his feet barely hovered over the floor.

"Oh, you're gonna get it now, little squirt!" Val growled as she rushed down the ladder; her mother had healed her ankle the same day she'd sprained it, but even fully healed, she was nowhere near as fast as her younger brother, who floated over the snow in the yard like a phantom.

To her aggravation he spun around, floating backward with complete ease, "You're getting slow, old lady."

Without pausing she reached down and scooped a handful of snow, forming it into a ball as she ran, "Speed isn't everything," she said, hurdling the snowball towards him. He dodged to the left, like she knew he would, and the snowball hit him squarely in the face. "Accuracy counts a lot too," she chuckled, grabbing another handful of snow as he did the same. He threw and she rolled out the way, springing up and pelting him in the chest as she did.

"Ok, ok, I give," he laughed, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Grinning wickedly, she hit him in the chest with another snowball, "Oh no, buddy boy. You started it, this is war."

"Better listen to her," their dad called from on to the windmill, where he was reinsulating the wires. "She means business."

Brice threw a snowball that caught her arm as she dove out the way, but she got him in the chest again. "Some help, Dad?" Brice called.

"This one's all you," his dad called down, chuckling as he watched his children playing in the snow.

A few minutes later, his wife came into the porch, "Lunch is ready, guys!"

Dusting themselves off the went into the house, still pushing and horsing around. "And that's why I don't take you hunting. You know that right? You're a really lousy shot," Val said ruffling his hair.

"Maybe if you took me hunting now and then I wouldn't be a lousy shot," he said defensively.

"Sorry, skill proceeds assignment. Until then, you're stuck with Dad," laughing, she pumped water at the sink and cleaned her hands.

"Well, until we find out if those new neighbors are friendly or not, neither of you will be going anywhere alone," Lydia said firmly.

Val scowled, but was watched her mother ladle soup into their bowls. Despite the winter, the orchids still boomed in her viney hair. Her chiseled face was normally so happy and gentle that to see the worry on it disturbed Val slightly.

That night, she lay awake in her bed, listening to her parents talking. "We need supplies, Gerald," Her mom said softly.

Grumbling her dad agreed. "Think we can trust them alone with those mutants so near."

"It's not them I don't trust," Lydia said. "I ought to stay behind this time."

There was a long pause. "She doesn't think they're dangerous," he said. There was heavy skepticism in his voice, but also a faint trust.

"They were teenage boys," her mother groaned. "The first teenage boys she's ever met."

"There was a girl, too," he reminded her. "You can't blame her for being lonesome."

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure her first contact with the outside world in 12 years ought to be teenage boys, whether or not they've got a girl with them," Her mother said sagely. "I don't need to tell you why that's a bad idea."

"Look, Lydia, I followed one of them, could smell him, hear his heart beating. I don't know why he followed us, but I know he didn't harm her. When I went to trace her trail the next day I saw, she walked two miles with that deer, injured. He could have attacked her at any point if he'd have wanted to."

"He could have helped her too," Lydia scoffed.

He gave her a flat look, "Our Val? Look, I'm a pretty brave guy, but if I wasn't her dad, I sure as heck wouldn't want to be the one to try and help her when she was mad."

"She's got your temper," Lydia laughed.

"And it's served her well so far," he said, then yawned. "We've both heard the rumors, though. There are mutants out there not tied to the Kraang..."

"That's a big if," Lydia said.

"I'm not saying I trust them, and so help me God, if any of them tried anything with Val, I'd rip their throats out, but I don't know, I kind of feel bad for the kids."

"This is the most normal life Brice could have," Lydia reminded him, "and you know Val's better off with us than growing up in the foster care system."

"Yeah," Gerald agreed reluctantly, "but if they have the chance to know other people, even if they are mutants, don't you think that's better than them being completely isolated?"

Whatever her answer was, Val couldn't hear it. She waited for several long minutes, but there was only hushed whispers, then their bedroom door shut below her. She rolled over and sighed. She didn't usually think about their isolation. Of course, she remembered the time before they'd gone there. She remembered her kindergarten class, and going to see The Nutcracker with her mom at Christmas. She remembered that there was a park near their apartment complex, and how she love spinning on the merry-go-round with the other kids. But this was their life now. They had to stay hidden so her family stayed safe. She understood her mother's hesitation. Even if these new people were mutants too, there was no assurance that they'd keep their secret safe.

She lay awake for a long time, looking at the stars outside her frosty window. Weighing out all the possibilities she could calculate, she came to one conclusion. When her parents left, she would stay near the house, and make sure Brice stayed there too. She'd keep her guard up. Even though she was curious, there was no reason to put her family's safety in jeopardy just to meet people that, in all likelihood, she wouldn't even like.

As she drifted to sleep, she thought about the three people she'd met. Maybe in a different life, she and April could have been friends; maybe in that strange existence, she could have seen the turtle boys as something besides a threat. Maybe. It was kind of funny that her dad, of all people, saw those possibilities. Her mom was usually the optimist. That night, her dreams were of snow, and turtles, and blood.

A/N- Okay, I promise a longer chapter next time. Thanks for the reviews. :)