A Friend Indeed
Original draft by SumOfAllZeroes
6/5/14
A/N: Hello everyone, this is SumOfAllZeroes here with a brand spanking new Teen Titans fanfic for you all. Please keep in mind that as of right now, there are 0 votes on a poll I've had up for months now. So, as you could guess, I'm not too happy about that. If things keep up the way they are, I will most likely end up donating Birds Of A Feather to another, more experienced writer.
So at least take that into consideration. Or Slade'll hurt old people. And that ain't cool.
Anyway, I own nothing in the TT franchise.
WARNING: This fanfiction covers a very serious issue. That being said, none of my fanfiction so far has ever been beta'd. READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED, FLAMES WILL BE NUKED!
Chapter 1: Heart Shaped Box (Rated Hard T)
"I need help."
Oh, hello there! You must have stumbled across that interesting little nugget of information, didn't you? Well, don't just stand there, come inside. It's much too hot for any foolishness like that. You're probably wondering what happened in that particular instance, aren't you? Well, get comfy, this one's a doozy.
It was a rather warm night, just like this one, in which the moon shed no light when two compatriots met under curious circumstances. The individuals in question were named Rachel Roth and Garfield Logan. Garfield was a rather spry fellow, and as gleeful as a child on a sugar rush, although...his joviality was not always genuine, usually a masquerade for some other emotion. Nonetheless, he was at least partially 'normal'.
Rachel, however, could be considered Garfield's antithesis; stoic, and calm in speech and action, and in rare instances could be seen with a miniscule smile on her face. Although, those rare instances were usually brought on by her male compatriot's genuinely cavalier attitude.
In any circumstance, the duo found after a few short years that they could confide in one another under any situation.
Which just so happened to include this one.
While the two most certainly had different vantage points in the maze of life, one thing they shared was similarly dreadful childhoods.
You see, friend, Garfield used to live in a small village called Upper Lumumba in Africa. His parents worked in the village as part of the Peace Corps' medicinal branch searching for a cure for various forms of cancer. However, during a research trip, Garfield was exposed to a rare DNA-altering bacteria. The Logans rushed back to their lab, hoping and praying to whatever God there may have been to help keep Garfield alive.
In a stroke of desperation, Marcus Logan, Garfield's father, injected Garfield with an experimental antibiotic to at least slow the bacteria down enough to get additional help from the village witch doctors. The drug, labeled Sakutia, proved effective, albeit with noticeable side effects. Did I mention that it let him turn into animals? Yeah, pretty cool, huh?
The celebration wouldn't last long, as Garfield's parents were separated from him only a month later; one group headed west to Gotham City, the others to the grave.
Rachel's childhood could hardly be described as anything short of isolation. After all, everyone knows that evil demon lords don't 'do' parenting well. Raised in an alternate plane of existence by pacifist monks, Raven was trained to control her power and use it appropriately. Despite Trigon being as sadistic as Elizabeth Bathory, he was allowed to visit Rachel and help her with the lower-level workings of black or gray magic...under close scrutiny, of course.
Azar, a mystic who had taken charge of Rachel's well-being after Rachel's mother, Arella Roth, died battling Trigon. Despite all the training, Raven was treated about as well as a person with an uber-demon sealed inside them could expect to be. She was either targeted, shunned or psychologically torture. After she arrived on Earth, things got slightly better.
Now, my friend, you may be wondering how such things may be possible. I mean, demon lords and alternate planes of existence? What's next, Justin Bieber actually doing something useful?
Anyway, back to the story. As the years went by, young Rachel wandered onward. After meeting a few...equally interesting individuals... the two finally met. Although Garfield was a supportive friend, he was unable to truly grasp the depths of Rachel's feelings.
After a few months of living in her compatriots' odd consonant-shaped abode, Rachel believed she had found someone who 'understood' her plight; a rather slippery con man/dragon by the name of Malchior. Did I mention he was also a rather manipulative fellow?
The punishment meted out by Trigon once he got his talons on Malchior is best to not be spoken of. Needless to say, the graphic details made one 'Buffalo Bill' sob with fear.
Sadly, the damage was worse than expected when it came to Rachel's case. If Rachel had met Doctor Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter during his period of psychiatric medicinal practice, she would have known that after the Malchior fiasco she had developed clinical depression. Even Garfield couldn't help her with the heartbreak she felt, despite having the same thing happen to him with a blonde haired harlot, erm, excuse me, former Titan.
Which brought us to this point in time.
Garfield took in every detail of the scene before him. Rachel knelt before him, her purple bangs hanging loosely, her eyes red from crying, her arms a mess of scar tissue. But that wasn't his most pressing concern.
He was more concerned about the stainless steel carving knife lying on the floor by her palms.
"G-g-ar..." Rachel stuttered out, waking the changeling from his mortified stupor. Garfield reacted quickly, wrapping the girl in a tight embrace, far too afraid to think rationally.
"Why Rachel...why would you do this?" Shuddering sobs wracked the duo's bodies. Gar gently guided Rachel away from the knife before abruptly kicking the cruel implement away from the changeling's room. Rachel followed the teen's gentle movements towards the messily made bed, shutting and locking the door behind her. Rachel repeated her message, broken by occasional sobs.
"I...need..h-help."
A/N: And chapter one of A Friend Indeed is down! First off, the idea for this story was inspired by a BB/Rae fanfic entitled I Need Help. If anyone would like to read it, I have it favorited on my page. Second, if anyone knows a quality BB/Rae artist on deviantART that takes requests, it would be greatly appreciated if I could get a request in. Lastly, REVIEW/PM/FAVORITE! REVIEW TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT!
Otherwise, catch ya on the flip-side.
Peace,
\M/-Zero-\M/