Hey guys, sorry, I feel like it's been forever since I've updated but I've been waiting to try and figure out a way to advance the plot a little here. Essentially I know where this story will end, I just don't know what I'm going to fill in right now. This story still has a way to go if you're up for it. Also, I totally agreed with some of you that Casey needed a little more attention in this story, so from the depths of my many forgotten creations and lists of possible OC's, I've pulled up something special. Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty One

It had been another two weeks, and now well into December Alex couldn't remember the last thing she had said to April before they had left. She felt guilty but the other half of the family had become but a distant memory in her mind for the past few weeks. Maybe it was the cold, or maybe it was the fact that nothing had been heard of from April. Casey had been mumbling something about a weird dream he had about her, but that was pretty much it.

She sighed, back at her window she watched the snowflakes tumble to the ground, blown around helplessly by the wind. A storm was coming, and the local weather station had said it had been predicted they would receive about a half foot of snow by tomorrow morning. It was a lost cause even if April did contact them with good news, there was no way they were going to be able to leave now, and depending on how bad the winter season became, they might not be able to get the van out of the driveway until early spring.

"What is it?" A gruff voice came from behind. She didn't have to turn to know who it was. "The storm's going to be bad, what if the power goes out?" She said a hint of worry in her voice now realizing the reality of their situation. They had no one else out here to help them, they were hopeless if anything happened. She wished they were with Donnie right now, he'd have a solution for everything.

"Quit your worrying, we're fine." He said, she could see his faint reflection through the window though, she could make out the slightest trace of worry on his face. "Did ya forgot you can shoot fire out of your hands? I think we'll be okay." His chuckle made her smile and for a moment the worry was eased, pushed to the back of her mind. "Shut up." She mumbled turning to him now, nudging his chest softly with her fist.

It was becoming easier now, talking to him. She could be playful again, she could smile at him and know he'd smile back. She could touch him and know he wouldn't shy away. Taking her mind off of him for a minute, her thoughts strayed to Casey, they had sent him out alone to get the groceries after another morning of her not feeling to well. He had been gone over two hours now, a task that only took less than an hour to complete. "What the hell is Casey doing out there?" She mumbled quietly as her hand found it's way to the window pane, earning a quiet chuckled from Raph.

"I bet he doesn't even know." He said back, smirking as he pictured the raven haired kid all alone in the grocery store. From knowing Casey for years, he knew he wouldn't be able to handle such a simple responsibility on his own. "Let's just hope he comes back with the right stuff."

...

Casey shifted uneasily as he pushed the cart further down the isle in search of the scribbled items on the list. He was getting anxious, and he didn't know why, it was grocery shopping, a four year old could do it.

Except he had never done it on his own, only if you count scavenging the streets of the city for a meal. He had always been with April or Alex, they had always known what isles held what, and the specific brand to buy. To Casey, everything looked the same, and while he didn't consciously register it, he had been standing in front of the milk section for at least five minutes.

"Excuse me, are you getting milk or would you rather stare at it for another ten minutes." A voice said from behind him, drawing him out of his trance, his head still trying to figure out why milk had five different varieties. "Oh, yeah sorry bout that." He said, pulling his cart back while he turned to face the unnamed voice.

It was a young girl, probably his age, maybe a year older with her arms firmly set across her chest. She smirked at him as his face flushed with embarrassment. "First time?" She asked with a teasing voice, reaching her arm out for the door to grab her own milk.

"Sorta." He replied sheepishly.

She just chuckled and walked over to him, placing the milk in her own cart before holding out her hand, palm up. "This?" He asked holding up the crumpled list, she just nodded and he handed it over. Scanning the scribbled down words she reached into the milk section and grabbed a jug with a blue cap. "Two percent, says it right on the label." She said, handing him back the list shaking her head with a smirk. "Seriously, my five year old cousin could've figured that one out." She chuckled.

"Hey! Not my fault I've never done this before." Casey replied defiantly and girl just looked at him, her smirk now fading away. "Sorry, it's just comical." She said. He couldn't help but feel like she was looking right through him with her electric blue eyes. They were like icicles.

He looked down at the list as she started to roll her cart away waving a short goodbye. There was still a lot more to go, and he had no idea what some of the stuff Alex had written was. "Wait!" he called to the girl before she could disappear down an isle. She just smirked and shook her head. "Lemme see it." She sighed and Casey handed her the list, defeated.

They had been shopping now for another half hour, and he was worried Alex was starting to wonder where he was, but he had to admit this girl was really helping him out. As his cart filled with the specific items on the list he had learned a lot about her already, other than the fact that she was just as sarcastic as Raphael. Her name was Sloane and she was only in the area for college, her parents living miles away on a small piece of farmland upstate. Her fair hair was short, cropped around her neck at an angle and her cheeks held the same number of small freckles that Alex's did. She was smart, funny, and kind of an ass, but she grew on Casey quickly.

He sighed as she tossed the final item on the list into the cart with a triumphant smile. "Done!" she said as she went over the list a final time. Casey just smirked. "Thanks a ton, seriously." He said as she beamed at him handing him back the list.

They ended up together at the register too, and as her items were scanned and swept away into the plastic bags she turned back to Casey. "Do you know how to do this part, or do you need my help again?" She joked, mocking him with a smirk. He just huffed and when the cashier wasn't paying attention gave her the middle finger. She laughed, "I like you Casey, even if you are a little incompetent."

"Same for you, if you could be any less of an ass." He joked back and received a glare from her before she handed her money to the cashier.

"We should catch a coffee sometime, when the weather isn't so bad." She said hesitantly, the smirk on her face replaced with a shy smile as she pushed her golden hair behind her ear. Casey just smiled back, feeling his face flush a little at the thought of hanging out with her again, did he actually like this girl? He didn't know what he felt but he took her up on the opportunity anyways.

"That sounds good." he said back, his smile equally as shy. "My apartment's right above the coffee shop on main street, just come by anytime." She said before waving a quick goodbye with the promise of meeting up again.

As Casey drove home he couldn't help but feel as if a giant weight had been lifted off his shoulder. He was no longer the wing-man, he had actually found a girl who had taken an interest in him. Even if it was an accident, he thanks Alex for being sick and sending him out alone. He had a date! Well, not really, but technically! Smiling he pulled up the icy drive-way, eager to see his supermarket friend again.

...

(Two days later)

Journal Entry #34

I wish I could get you out of my mind, your image has been etched into my eyelids, and every time I try and lull myself to sleep there you are. The mystery child that plagues my thoughts, the small toddler who runs through the fields of flowers without a care in the world. Who are you, and why are you haunting me...

Sometimes you look like Wren, then other times you resemble my image when I was young...oddly human. I don't know why you keep coming back...are you a vision of the future? Or are you just there as a subconscious desire. I've always wanted a child, but you've been dancing around in my mind too long for this to be a dream. I've been lying awake at night, trying to figure you out, trying to understand why I keep having the same dream over and over again.

It's not only in my dreams that you haunt me though, you're everywhere I look. I can stare out the window in the living room as long as I want to try and make my mind go numb, to forget what I've been seeing, but your image lingers in the snow covered trees, in the emerald eyes of the turtle who came here with me. There are too many forms of you to make sense of.

You cannot exist inside my world, I cannot have a child. So why do you mock me, why do you instigate my deepest desires.

You are beautiful though, your emerald eyes are brighter than Raphael's and the freckles that line your face are even darker than I could've imagined. You've drawn me into your world, and even though it was my mind that conjured you up, I still remain curious as to who you really are.

I've called you Eva, a name my mother had gone by before she was murdered, an ironic name considering it means life. You are my life now Eva, whoever you are. Though I wish you would stop taunting me, I can't deny I ache for you to be real.

Alex closed the notebook with a soft sigh, the smell of waffles being enough to draw her out of her early morning stupor. With a groan she stretched out her legs over the bedside and gently slid the old notebook in between the mattresses before getting up to see who had decided to make breakfast. As the stairs to the loft creaked beneath her she could hear laughter and dishes clinging together from the kitchen. With a small smirk she made her way over to investigate.

Being cooped up in the cabin wasn't such an awful thing, she had been spending most of her time with Raph, and said turtle and Casey had been getting along like their old selves. Leaning into the frame of the kitchen entry-way she managed to keep back laughter as she watched the two trying to outdo the other with their 'pristine' waffle making skills.

"Good morning." She said from the doorway, getting the immediate attention of the two boys. "I see you two are having fun."

"Morning Al." Casey said, his smile one she hadn't seen in a while. Raphael walked over to her with a cup of coffee already in his hand and offered it to her. "Morning." he said, his voice gruff, sending shivers down her spine. She just smiled weakly up at him, something she knew could do the same to him.

After the encounter in the kitchen, Casey was left to clean up, while Raphael retired to the morning news, and she found her regular spot by the window. The snow had all but piled it's way up to the glass, and it was getting colder, though the weather promised temperatures that were on the rise. She sighed placing her hand to the glass already knowing it would still be ice cold. Looking out into the snow covered trees she tried to picture what they had looked like when they trio had first arrived here. Failing to remember she huffed, turning to Raphael.

"I don't want to go back to the farmhouse." She said, mostly to herself but gained the attention of the turtle on the couch. She couldn't deny she had fallen in love with the idea of everyone living happily at the farmhouse together, but the cabin was warm, and comfortable, and there were no old, terrible memories here. It was new, a fresh start. Maybe she could convince April to join them up in the mountains.

"I know, I can tell." he said with a smirk. He had watched her everyday since she had started gazing forlornly out the massive window, he knew she had decided already this cabin was the end of the line for her. She wouldn't leave now.

In the time he spent watching her, and knowing her longing to stay here, he decided when the time came if she didn't want to return to the farmhouse, he would vouch to stay here with her, and the escape they had always had planned those years ago would finally happen. Sometimes it felt as if they had already run off, and were living together peacefully and happily, that is until Casey showed his face every so often and the sweet image of him alone with her face planted into cruel reality.

He smirked up at her, taking her in from her mousey brown locks, to her delicate fingers. He had ached for so long just to hold her like he used to, to whisper all those sweet words into her ear, things reserved only for her, and god so help him if Mikey ever found out. He knew he had a temper, but she was the only one besides his father who could ever suffocate that fire, and even though he wasn't, she made him feel completely human. Some days he would wake wishing to have a normal body for once, hands that held five fingers instead of three, a body without a shell... She made it feel as if those things never mattered though, and he couldn't help but feel as though she had him completely wrapped around her finger.

"I want everyone to come here." She mumbled, turning back to her window, pressing the pads of her fingertips to the cold glass as if she was trying it reach through it. As she sad it, he realized just exactly what she meant.

"Too small." He mumbled, wishing she could just ask if they would be able to stay here together...alone.

"We can build, add more to the cabin." She said, a glint of hope shining in her eyes now, and for a moment he wished he could give her what she wanted just so he could see that expression on her face for the rest of their days. "Yes! It's possible..." She said, her excitement climbing.

"Maybe." Was all he could muster, trying to sound neutral he just let his gaze fall back to the tv set. "C'mere" He mumbled and looking to him with those wide hopeful eyes, she did just that, finding a comfortable position she let her head fall to his shoulder and instinctively he reached out and wrapped his arm around her.

As long as he could hold her like this nothing mattered.

With a long sigh he let his eyes fall shut, his body memorizing the way she felt up against his side, the way her breath fell gently on his shoulder as they just existed together. Alex was a miracle, not only in the sense that she shouldn't be alive right now, but in the sense that she had come to love him, a mutant creature who defied the laws of evolution, and humanity. A freak...

Humming softly, she dared to reach up her hand to caress his cheek, raising her body so her eyes could meet his. At the touch his eyes fluttered shut. "As long as I'm with you, nothing else matters Raphael." She whispered, returning to her position leaning on his side for support.

As her palm left his cheek, his eyes stayed closed, there was no way she had known what she had just done.

He had forgotten about that little quirk, her gift that allowed one to swim through her memories upon touch. She had just accessed that to him without notice, and he had seen something he could not comprehend.

The image of a small child danced around under his eyelids for a brief moment before the connection was severed, and even then her emerald green eyes seemed to stay trapped there, beckoning him, seemingly reaching out for him.

The rest of the day he didn't question her, he kept the image of the small child to himself, until he fell asleep that night and once again her image danced around in his head as he seemingly chased her down through a field of wild flowers.

Sorry to end on such a weird note, but more will come, I promise! Hopefully I made the story a little more interesting than it previously had by adding a new character. Let me know if you like Sloane or not! PLEASE! Also, thoughts on the tiny child inside Alex's head? *menacing laughter* Take a good guess my friends.

Hope you enjoyed! Please, if you liked this chapter please leave a review. I appreciate every word you guys write me!

New business! I wrote a small little one-shot of Donnie and April, it's on my page if you'd like to check it out. (I'd really appreciate it)

Until next chapter!(: