Author's note: I really like writing this. So, most of the characters will be a little off the original character, and that's simply because I want to explore each of them outside of the show. Some of you voiced concern that there would be romance between BBxTerra and there will be NONE of that. Purely a sibling relationship. So, read, review, and enjoy!


When they walked into the room, Terra gripped Gar's hand tighter. She could already feel him starting to shake. She would go first, test the situation, and if it came to it, use her powers and get out of here. The guy in the wheelchair, Chief, led them over to a set of beds. There weren't any straps to hold them down.

"Why don't the two of you sit down." Miss Rita seemed nice, then again, everyone did in the beginning. Gar was looking around, mapping out all the exits. She wondered if he had enough strength to shape shift.

Their powers were difficult to describe. Gar had gotten his only a year ago; Terra had hers for as long as she could remember. Granted, Gar was getting better control over his abilities, he didn't have a choice, she was still struggling. Rocks weren't as simple as you thought to manipulate. But these people… they were like them. People with powers. She couldn't trust them. Not until she knew what they were about. She knew Gar felt the same; he didn't trust easily anymore, especially not since the last time. That failed escape attempt would haunt and scar him forever.

"What are you going to do?" Gar didn't move towards the beds, so Terra had to stop walking or lose her grip. Rita lowered herself down to their level.

"Well, we'd like to know if anything is hurting right now. Then Chief would probably want to give you a quick check up. Stuff like measuring your breathing, looking at your eyes, things like that. Then he'll probably ask you some questions." She looked over at Gar. "Honey, I know you're scared, but we'd really like to look at your neck."

Terra couldn't tell her not to ask him quick enough.

Gar pulled away and wrapped his hands around his neck. Terra moved and held him. The shaking wasn't bad yet, and when Miss Rita came forward to help, she pulled him away so that he was behind her.

"Don't! You're scaring him!" If they were outside some of the smaller rocks would be floating. Her powers always acted up when she was upset. Miss Rita didn't come closer. Her face was pinched, and Chief was on the other side of bed, a blood pressure cuff in his hand, the expression on his face unreadable.

"Ok, I'm sorry for scaring him."

The strange thing was that it sounded like she meant it. From her experience, Terra hadn't met many adults that sounded sorry for what they had done.

"Not his neck, don't touch it." Had this been in the lab, she would have been beaten. At the very least, Gar would be taken from her. "He doesn't like it when people touch it. It doesn't hurt him, not anymore, just don't touch him." Chief put his stuff down and wheeled over to them. Gar's face was in the middle of her back, and her could feel the panicked breathes going out.

"Terra, I know that this is a new place for you two. I want you to understand that we aren't going to treat you like the people who held you." He didn't flinch away from them. "I want to help you feel better. The only way I can do that is if you tell me what your triggers are so I don't scare you."

"Triggers?" Terra asked.

"Things that could make you feel unsafe. For example, we didn't know that touch Gar's neck was traumatic for him. That's a trigger. Now we can work around it to make him feel safe."

Safety wasn't for them. It never had been. There were gloves, coats, even weapons for the guards and doctors. They were the ones who needed to be protected. She and Gar got chains, cages, and drugs to keep them quiet and still. She couldn't remember the last time an adult had gone out of their way to make her feel safe.

"Don't put anything on his wrists. Or try to hold him down." She shivered when she recalled the screams (before they made Gar silent) Gar would yell out when they tried to forced him down onto the table.

Chief nodded and then, he searched for a pen and paper, and wrote it all down. Then he looked at her again. Terra could feel that Gar was looking over her shoulder, and she nuzzled his cheek.

"And what about you, Terra?" Chief asked gently. She swallowed.

"I don't like small places, injections, and electrodes." She knew that word. That had been one of the favorites amongst the doctors when it was her turn to go to the circular room. They wanted to see how long she could hold out before she lost control. "I can't remember any other ones."

There were others, and Terra wasn't dumb enough to give them more. It was better to wait and see how they were handled. The past two years had been awful, and it wouldn't be smart to trust these people blindly. She could only imagine that Gar was the same way, and he had been with the lab for three years. Chief seemed to take it all in stride and wrote it all down. His handwriting was neat, all cursive, and Terra wondered how he got all his letters to look that small. When he was done, he set it aside.

"Would you two feel comfortable sitting on the bed? I won't get any of the medical equipment, I just want to get some information." Chief asked. He waited patiently. Gar moved out from her and looked them up and down. Seeing that he could talk to him in the normal way, Chief slid a piece of paper and the pen towards him. Gar waited a moment before taking it.

Just talking?

Rita made a mental note to looking to getting some sign language books. Gar wouldn't be able to write everything he wanted or needed to say on plain paper.

"That's right, just talking. You and Terra can sit together." There wasn't any point to try and separate them. Rita helped them up onto the bed and tried not to feel hurt when both of the children moved away from her touch as soon as possible. Chief came over, with the same pad and a pen, and began asking.

"Could I have your names?"

Gar Logan.

"I don't remember my last name. Just Terra." Chief nodded. It wasn't a big deal right now.

"How old are you?" Both kids paused and Rita could see those little brains working extremely hard. Then, Terra smirked and she turned to Gar.

"I'm nine and a half." Gar rolled his eyes and both adults had to stop their mouths from dropping to the floor.

I'm nine. And it's only a difference of a few months.

Terra pointed a finger in the boy's face. "No, it isn't. I'm older than you." Chief would never understand how children could fly in and out of fun arguments like these. It was a relief to see them act like their ages for a moment. He wrote down these facts on the pad.

"Alright, so nine and nine and a half." Terra stuck her tongue out at Gar and he gently poked her side. Rita let a laugh out this time that had both kids go still for a moment, then relax.

"I'm sure we can debate who's older later on. Now, I know this part might get a little scary, but how about we set some ground rules, ok?" Gar was the one to open his hand for Terra to grab this time. "Just like the triggers, how about we have a safe word." Chief coughed at that. Right, Gar wouldn't be able to say it. Terra was already one step ahead of her.

"I can say it, and Gar can hold my hand and then tap it when he needs to stop." Clearly these two already had a system in place. It made her angry that they had ever needed it in the first place. "Can I pick the word?"

"Sure." Chief said. Terra thought for a moment.

"Mineral." And odd choice, but Rita wasn't about to argue it with the girl. Both of them needed to have a say in what happened from here on out. They had already lost so much because of the Brotherhood.

"Alright, now, how would you like us to go about the check-up?" Chief asked bluntly. Rita wished he was a little more tactful, but she could understand why he was doing it this way. "I can check the same things on both of you at the same time, or I can do one person first, then the other." Terra looked at Gar. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on, and Rita didn't have a clue how to start translating it. Not that she would try; these kids had already started to worm their way into her beating heart.

"Both of us at the same time. I'll go first." Terra said after a moment. Gar moved to get the hair out of her eyes.

"Ok, so, I need to know if there are any injuries that are causing you pain right now." Chief said as he wheeled closer to the bed. Terra bit her lip before nodding.

"My knee has a gash. Some bruises. That's it. They didn't have time to put me back on the table." There was that weird face again. She was beginning to believe that it wasn't a bad thing, or at least something not aimed at her.

Rita grabbed the pad and pen off of Chief's lap and handed it to Gar. The boy took it without hesitation. As he wrote stuff down, Chief started to direct her in getting medical supplies for Terra. The gash on her leg was infected, and the majority of the bruises were still black and blue.

"It may sting." He warned as he put the disinfectant on it. Gar stopped writing to lean his head on her shoulder. "We can give you some cream for the bruises. Make them stop throbbing."

"Okay." Terra watched him wrap her knee.

Once that was done, Chief turned over to Gar. The boy held out the paper and then curled up around Terra. There was another unspoken conversation and she let him rest his head on her shoulder. The list was short, just a few cuts on his chest, and some older abrasions that seemed to bother him. He put the list to the side and then, slowly, moved closer.

"Gar, I'm going to need you to lift your shirt up so I can see the cuts." Gar stiffened at that. Terra moved her hand to cup the back of his head.

"Maybe it would be easier if Terra helped." Rita suggested. Even though the kids were working with them, there were tons of issues they were tiptoeing around, and Rita didn't want to give them a reason to fear them. The suggestion went well. Until they got a glimpse of Gar's torso. Had the people who did this, Rita would have grown to the size of a skyscraper and crush them. The cuts weren't bad, but she could count his ribs, and there was bruising near his shoulders. Like someone had held him down hard enough to leave imprints on skin.

Chief cleaned the cuts and Rita tried to compose herself before speaking. She wouldn't let these kids think that her anger was directed at them.

"Did these people ever feed you? Did they give you meals every day?" Chief glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but didn't comment.

"No," Terra said. "They only did if they got something they didn't like. Food isn't for pets, anyway." When Chief was finished, he helped Gar get the shirt back on and then waited till both of the kids were looking at him. "Are… are we in trouble, sir?"

"No, honey, you aren't in trouble." Chief's face hardened just a fraction. "The people that did this are." Rita didn't doubt that. Once the kids were settled, the older man would be hunting for the offenders. "When was the last time you two ate?" Gar held up two fingers. "Two hours?" Gar shook his head. "Two days?" That was the answer and both adults were seething.

"How about we get you something to eat." Rita said as she helped them down.

"Something light, Rita. I don't want their stomachs to get upset." Chief waved goodbye to the kids as they left. Once they were past the elevator, Chief let his head fall into his hands. What kind of situation did they just stumble on?

X

The kitchen was huge. Gar hadn't seen anything like it. The lab didn't have one, or if they did, he and Terra never saw it. The guards weren't too keen on letting them wander around. Rita was patient, answering all of the questions. Terra was asking most of them. Gar was fine with that. He wanted to look around anyway. The other members weren't here. Rita assured them that they would come up later on.

"Now, since Chief recommended something light, you have a few choices. I could make you soup, or some toast, or oatmeal? Any other those sound good?" Like before, she crouched down in front of them. The ability to talk would have been nice, but the paper was back upstairs, and Gar didn't want to ask for another one. His face must have given him away, as Rita smiled sadly at him before pulling out a smaller one for him to use. Feeling shy, he only gave a brief smile of his own, before hiding behind Terra again. "You're welcome, Gar."

He wrote down what he'd like, oatmeal sounded pretty good, and then showed her. Rita perked up. "Good choice! Now, we have plain oatmeal, but I'm sure we could sweeten it up if you'd like." He frowned in confusion and she explained. "I could add honey or fruit to it." Terra grinned.

"Could I have mine with honey?" Gar rolled his eyes; she always said she liked the sweeter things. Not that they got a lot in the lab. He shivered and it had nothing to do with the temperature.

"Sure, you can. Gar, what would you like with yours?"

Could I have fruit?

"We can make that happen." Rita got them settled at the table as she prepared the meal. This was when Terra began to pester her with questions.

"Does anyone else live here?"

"No, just the five of us." She looked over her shoulder to smile at them. "And now the two of you." Terra drummed her fingers on the table.

"For how long?"

"Well, Chief is looking into finding your families-"

"They're all dead." Gar had lost his before being taken from Africa, and Terra had lost hers somewhere, she didn't remember the country it occurred.

Rita stopped what she was doing and came by the table. Her face looked sad. "I'm so sorry. On the chance that someone related to you survived, Chief is going to check." Gar wrote something quickly and showed it to her.

And if there isn't anyone? Rita moved slowly and brushed his hair back. He froze, heart pounding, but her touch was gentle. Just like when she asked to take their hands back in the rubble. She didn't linger. Gar was happy about that; he didn't like people toughing him for too long that weren't Terra. They trusted each other.

"If we can't find anyone, then you might live here. Would you like that?" A home. This woman was telling them that they could live here if they wanted. And all too soon, Gar remember a conversation that he and Terra had. About where they would go once they got out. They could go anywhere, but there wasn't anyone sticking around for them. No one left to care. Rita gave another smile, sad and timid. "It's ok. You don't have to answer right now." She straightened up. "Now, let's get some food into you. Then we can go find you a room."

The oatmeal was good, and the strawberries even better, although he ended up sharing with Terra anyway and offering some to Miss Rita. Terra insisted in helping clean up, and was delighted with she got to use the little hose in the sink to rinse off the bowls. After that, Rita led them down to where the rooms were. She explained that the building had four floors and that the bedrooms were on the fourth floor. Terra stopped at every window to peer outside. There was a lot of trees around them. No other people to be seen.

The room was huge. Bigger than what he had back in Africa, and what he had in the lab. There wasn't much in it yet, besides the two cots and some blankets. Rita lead them further inside.

"I know it's not much, but we can get more things for you in a few days." She gestured that the cots would be replaced by beds and pointed out that they had rolling wheels, so they could place them anywhere in the room. "We could even paint the room. And put shelves up, if you want." Terra was looking around, probably picturing where future things could go.

They could really stay here. The possibility of remaining for one place for a long time could happen. He wouldn't have to wonder if this would be the last time he saw Terra. When he caught her eyes, Terra must have been thinking the same thing. She came over and grasped his hand. Miss Rita was watching them, and he slowly held his own hand out. The reaction wasn't meant to make her cry, but as she took his hand in hers, she explained that the tears weren't sad.

He didn't even know tears could be happy.