Author's note: Hey, guys! I know i kind of died for a few months but i'm back! This is a story that I've been wanting to do for a while, but i just finished writing it. The origin stories have been outlined, but i haven't decided how i'm going to post them. I'm also going to go back through the stories I have written and try to fix the grammar, spelling and plot mistakes. Keep an eye out for more stories and i will try to get something up in the next month or so. Love Y'all!
EDIT: HEY! So I wanted to posted the updated verison of this. I might write another chapter for the new leverage fic. Still debating. Love Y'all!
If you had told a heart broken fifteen year old Garfield Logan that in less than eight years he would be married to Raven and they would have two children, he would have asked what the hell you were smoking. Now at 22 and some years, he can chuckle to himself as he and Dick fold a basket full of sparkly pink and purple and black clothes. Not that Dick has been in much of a laughing mood in the past month.
"How's Mar'i?" Garfield asks, breaking the silence," I only heard her wake up once last night."
"She seems like she's better, but then she'll wake up screaming or have a ghost while Kor'i or I are trying to help her fall back asleep. Then she starts thrashing, trying to get away from us. Like we're going to hurt her," Dick looks at one of Mar'i's t-shirts blankly, his blue eyes a million miles away," I have no idea how to help my daughter. If she was older maybe but how do you help a three year old after something like that."
"She's strong like you and Kor'i. She'll be fi-" He can't even finish the goddamn sentence before the universe proves him wrong.
"DADDY!" Mar'i runs into the room, her dress wrinkled from her nap. Dick jumps up as the little girl literally flies into her father's arms. Her words run together as she tells them there had been a lady looking in her window. Dick looks like he's going to ask her if it might have been a dream. Then they nearly lose their hearing as she screams again," There she is!"
They look and Garfield's blood turns to ice. A woman with long blonde hair looks at them through one of the living room windows, standing on a rock. Dick rocks a shaking Mar'i, the toddler clinging to her father as if she might float away if she let's go," Gar, is that who I think it is?"
"If you think it's Terra, then yes." Terra smiles at them," I think she want's in."
Dick looks at him, like it's the worst idea he's ever had. That would be horrible because the last time someone gave him that look, he'd been getting ready to ask Raven on a date. But Garfield has this odd look on his face, one that Dick can't place. Instead, he adjusts his daughter, revealing a large wet spot. Garfield notices the back of her dress cling to her skin and the droplets of sweat on her arms. Dick places a hand on his friend's shoulder," If you want to talk to her, you can. Just… Don't do anything stupid."
"At this point I need to make that my middle name." Garfield smiles weakly. Dick gives him an encouraging smile before leaving. Garfield takes a deep breath, before walking over to the window. Victor had added a portion of the window that opened because Mar'i had a habit of running into them to get outside. Yeah, she isn't always the brightest one. He opens the panel and Terra steps in, the rock she'd been standing on, flies into the ocean.
"Beast Boy!" Her blue eyes brighten with excitement as she steps into hug him. He steps back.
"Terra, what do you want?" Garfield gets straight to the point.
"I wanted to tell you that i got my memory back. Well, I got it back about two years after I last saw you. I left to regain control of my power," She smiles as if she's given him great news," I got back last night."
"Why are you here?" In his head, he was trying to figure out how much longer the twins would be asleep. As long as he doesn't have a nightmare, Lucas should be out for another twenty minutes or so, but Delilah could be out from anywhere from five minutes to two hours. Ever the wild card of the two. Garfield is torn between wishing his children were here so it will be easier to remember why he can't afford to trust Terra if she lied, and wishing that they stay asleep until Terra left so she would have something to threaten him with if she was bad.
"I want to be a hero again."
"Terra…" Garfield isn't sure what to say.
"I know what I did was wrong. Teaming up with Slade, believing what he said, following his orders, all of it. I'm sorry, I really am." She tries to meet his eyes.
"This isn't exactly something you can fix with an 'I'm sorry.'"
"Why? Are you still angry?" She asks.
"No, I'm not angry. I forgave you after you sacrificed yourself to stop the volcano. We all did. But there are three very good reasons why I'm reacting the way I am." Garfield feels trapped. He has forgiven Terra, even made peace that the girl in the hall from seven years ago was a doppelganger. But those clash with the feelings he had had for her, and those clash with the love he has towards Raven. Terra is about to say something when the living room door slides open and a small, musical voices calls out.
"Papa!" He turns and Delilah races to him, her dark green eyes bright and her smile wide. Garfield forces a smile onto his face as he picks his daughter up. She pushes her red and green hair out of her face, the locks falling past her shoulders.
"Hiya, baby girl, what are you doing up?" He playfully tickles her belly, making her giggle.
"Maw'i sceamed," She tells him," Whe'e Mama?"
"Mama's with your auntie and uncle getting food." Terra is drilling holes into him. He faces her," Terra, this is my daughter, Delilah. Can you say hello to Miss Terra, Delilah?"
Most little kids would have suddenly become very shy, burying their faces into their parents' clothes. Delilah smiles even wider, beaming at Terra, and chirps," Hi, miss Tewwa. Papa, I hungy."
"Hungy?" He asks in a in a silly voice," how about aminal crackers and apple juice?"
The little girl giggles as her father tickles her again. Garfield moves around Terra to pop Delilah in her booster seat and grabs a small baggie of crackers and a sippy cup of juice. After popping both in front of Delilah and kissing her forehead, he moves back to Terra.
"You have a daughter?" She asks quietly. She sounds hurt.
"And a son, Lukas." Just having his daughter here focused him, keeping an eye on her and on Terra," They're twins."
"I assume those are two of the three reasons you mentioned."
"Yes, they are." Delilah babbles to herself, making the aminals, as she calls them, dance across the table. She is not a that or a part of those. She is his child.
"You have kids, how old are they?"
"They turned 3 last week." He and Raven had gotten a lot of shit about having kids at 19. Some tv hosts a few months ago were going on and on about how they're role models and having kids so young sent a bad message, and all that shit. Garfield doesn't care. Even before he and Raven were together, 14 year olds were having kids. He's responsible for Lukas and Deliah, no one else.
"I don't understand…"
"What's there that's hard to understand?" His tone suddenly shrapens a bit," Terra, you left. We thought you died. We mourned you and we moved on. Robin and Starfire," It's so odd to call his friends by their old hero names," got married and they have their little girl, Mar'i. The girl that you scared half to death. I moved on. I got married-"
"To who?" Terra's voice matches his own. The universe must have like a build up vendetta against him because in walks Raven, deep in conversation with Kor'i and Victor, not noticing Terra. She'd changed some since becoming a mother. Physically she just seemed older. Her long dark purple hair is tied in a messy bun and her black jacket covers her simple jeans and plain blue t-shirt. But she smiles brightly down as she sets down the groceries on the table next to Delilah, who beams up at her mother.
"Hi, Mama," Delilah chirps.
"Hello, darling," Raven kisses the top of her daughter's head, before turning to face her husband," Sorry we took so long, Gar. Some idiot decided to-"
She stops, seeing Terra. Garfield can literally see his wife shift into defensive mode. He realizes how close he's standing next to the blonde and takes a step back.
"Terra," Garfield says firmly," You remember Raven, my wife."
Terra gets the same look that everyone gets when they find out he and Raven are together. This look of confusion that most people get when they see polar opposites together. Out of the corner of his eye, Garfield glances at his daughter. Delilah looks at her mother, and her face changes. The smile fades into a small, thin line and her eyebrows come together, forming a wrinkle between them. Wheels turn in her head. In one second, she's fallen out of her seat, crackers and juice everywhere, screaming bloody murder.
Raven snaps out of her defense, picking up the crying toddler and rocking her. Garfield makes a mental note to sneak Delilah a cookie later. AS long as Raven holds her, she won't do anything stupid. He hopes.
"Garfield, what is she doing her?" Raven's voice is harsh.
"I came here because I got my memory back. I'm in control of my powers. I want to be a hero." Terra eyes how Raven holds Delilah with such ease, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, rubbing the girl's back. Kor'i to the side with Victor, a look of bewilderment on her face, nearly oblivious to the ticking time bomb that's in front of her. Kor'i is probably trying to figure out how to react to Terra's return.
"Look," Victor, ever the mediator in fights, breaks in," That's great and all, but there are reasons why you rejoining the team would be bad."
"I know three reasons," Terra looks directly at Delilah," What are the others?"
"Mommy?" Dick comes back in carrying Mar'i and holding a bleary eyed LuKas' hand. Garfield moves to the other side of the room, picking up his son. The boy's thin, dark purple hair is damp with sweat and he's not looking at his father or anyone else. He had a nightmare and doesn't want anyone to know about it. Kor'i takes Mar'i from Dick. The little girl clings to her mother's shirt, her lovely green eyes squeezed tight.
"I promise I'm not bad!" Terra looks at them all.
"We aren't accusing you of being bad," Victor tries to keep his voice reasonable," But the risks with you join this team specifically, yes mostly due to the kids, aren't worth the risk."
"There's a team," Dick says after a minute of stressed silence," forming in Texas. They could use someone like you.
Everyone sees what that is- a bone. Garfield's sure that she thinks they're trying to get rid of her, which they are, but he can't help notice that Dick had glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He looks down and sees his nails have begun to grow into claws. Lukas whimpers in pain as they poke through his shirt. Garfield focuses, letting the claws shrink back. Terra clenches her fists, making a promise they were sure was empty to check it out.
Total she was in the tower ten minutes, but the air is heavier than before she arrived. Delilah, miraculously, stops whimpering the second Terra leaves, the pain vanishing. The adults spend the afternoon playing with the kids. Some people would find this a mindless task, even just causally responding with an occasional 'oh really' or 'I see' instead of focusing on what the child was saying. When the titans played with their kids, it was an all or nothing situation. There's always a chance of them dying on a mission, so they wanted to make sure the kids had good memories to look back on. Mar'i manages to smile, and even giggles when Garfield tickles her. Victor Shows the kids cool tricks with his detachable limbs. Dick and Garfield, in cheetah form, chase the kids. Raven and Delilah put on a magic show (Delilah exclaims gibberish and Raven makes pretty colored lights appear.) Lucas yells that he's superman as Kor'i flies him around the ceiling with a red blanket tied around his neck.
By dinner time, the kids are worn out, Mar'i falling asleep in her macaroni. The parents put their children to bed, and proceed with nightly activities- Victor goes to do repairs or work on an invention, Kor'i takes her medication and lays down, Dick goes to train and look over some notes, leaving Raven and Garfield to themselves. Since they switch off putting the twins down, Garfield tucks Delilah into her bed.
"Papa?" She asks, stifling a tiny yawn.
"Yes, sweetie?" He puts the story book that he'd read to her up.
"Awe you and Mama fighting?" Garfield looks at his daughter. She's young, but she notices more than people give her credit for. Garfield sighs and crouches beside the little girl's bed
"I don't know. Things are very confusing for Papa right now, but I promise tomorrow everything will be better." or worse. but he wouldn't tell her that," Now, give Papa a kiss good night."
she kisses his cheek and curls up into a ball under the covers. As Garfield tiptoes from the room, he hears her whisper," I love you, Papa."
"I love you too." He creeps into the hall, turning her light out as he passes it. then he walks slowly to his bedroom, trying to avoid the fight he was sure would becoming.
But when he enters the room, he doesn't hear the famous pissed off wife voice growling his full name. Instead Raven Is already in bed, with her nose in a book. He stands at the door for a solid minute, but she never turns a page in the book. He walks slowly across the room, in case she throws something at him.
"Rae," He says,"I-"
"Garfield, I don't want to talk about it." She says blandly. That sets off some alarms in his mind.
"Raven," He sits next to her on the bed. She gets up and returns the book to one of the overstuffed bookshelves," Raven, Don't do this."
"Do what?" she asks too the books. He runs his hands through his dark green hair, angrily.
"Don't bury it deep inside. Don't lock it away. Yell at me, scream, say something, but please don't think that you have to deal with this by yourself. Please, Rae, I love you and I'm scared you're going to lock me out," He hears her breath catch.
"You'd have chosen her," Raven whispers, but he hears it. She turns to face him," If Terra hadn't been working with slade, she wouldn't have betrayed us, she wouldn't have had to sacrifice herself and you would have chosen her."
"That's not-"
"Yes it is, and you know it. We got married because I was pregnant. If I hadn't gotten pregnant, we wouldn't have gotten married."
"I don't believe that."
"Garfield, we are complete opposites!" She sounds so hurt as she says that. He recognizes that tone. Where you've fought for so long to prove people wrong, until you finally give up and you start to agree with what they say. His fiesty and saracstic wife sounds defeated," You're goofy, loud, and you live in the light. I'm serious, quiet, and I dwell in the shadows. We don't have anything in common-"
"So why did you say yes?" He asks, cutting her off," When I asked you out five years ago, why didn't you say no? Hell, I was expecting you to say no, but you said yes."
"I-I don't-" It isn't often that he's able to put his wife at a loss for words, but he doesn't have the luxury of soaking up the moment.
"You know why I asked, Rae? Because I liked you. No, I loved you, and I still do, even more. I didn't care if we like the same books or music or tv show. I didn't give a rat's ass if our ideal days matched up. I wanted to be with you, to learn more about you, get past all those walls that you built up to keep people, show you that not everyone will fuck you over." He moves in front of her, and looks into those beautiful eyes," I care about you. I fell in love with the way your eyes lit up as you read, the way you rolled your hair between your fingers. Now, I get to see the way your voice chances as you read to Lukas and Delilah, how you stroke their hair because for you that's the way you can show them how much you love them."
"But if-"
"I don't care about the if's, Rae," He responds firmly, taking her hands," There are a million different universes out there, where I end up with a million different fates. But here, I chose you. You, who put up with my crappy jokes, who gave me two beautiful and intelligent children, who knows how much my mother's death screwed me up, who can tell when I'm telling a joke to be funny and when I'm trying to cover up the pain. Who i get to wake up next to every single day. I chose you because you gave me a chance"
Raven is quiet for a second before she mutters," hopeful."
"What?" Garfield asks.
"When you asked me on that first date, I felt hopeful. Most people would have given up on me years ago, but you kept trying. To make me laugh, to make me feel like I had friends, to make me feel loved. Most of my life, people I loved were afraid of me, so I learned to keep my distance. I gave up on finding love," Her voice breaks,"So when you asked me out, i got hopeful and thought that maybe, just maybe things would be different. Seeing Terra today, it was a like a slap in the face. Just a reminder that I could lose you at any point."
"You could, but you won't," He lifts her chin," We made vows to love each other until death do us part. So, you're stuck with me until one of us is dead. If it's me that goes first, I promise that I'll wait to go into the good part of the afterlife until you're there."
"Garfield, I'm half demon."
"Yes, and I turn into animals and my sister is a martian. Raven, If anyone deserves to go to the good part of death it's you."
She smiles a little," Promise?"
"I do. If you promise, in the off chance that you go first, to wait for me?"
"I do." He kisses her. Her lips are soft and her breath warms him as she exhales into him. Raven didn't like to be touched affectionately very often, so he makes sure that she knows how much he loves her and how beautiful he finds her in this simple gesture. He pulls away first, tracing her cheek with his thumb. Raven keeps her eyes closed.
"I love you," She whispers.
"I love you too," He kisses her again. And again. And again. Like this was the first time they had ever kissed. Raven moves her hands to his shoulders, moving closer to him. He wraps his arms around her waist and they move backwards, falling into the bed. He loves her, brushing his lips against all the parts of her that she hates. She loves him, tracing her fingers over his scars and down his back. That night they both fell asleep, with no doubt in either of their minds, that they're both protected in the arms of the person they love.