I'm on a roll! Wooo! The end of this chapter starts to finally break away from Broken :)

To Guest: Garth is Aqualad's civilian alias (well, one of them...There were 2 Aqualad characters in DC comics the alias of the first was Garth and the other was Jackson...and in Young Justice there was another Aqualad who went by Kaldur)...In most of the FFN stories, the civilian name of Aqualad of the Teen Titans is assumed to be Garth which is why I've used that name for him...

His last name in the story is a bit meh but I never could find out what Garth's last name was and, therefore, his last name relied on my very brilliant imagination :P Anyway, hope that clears up any confusion for you! :)

And now, the next chapter! :D

Last Chapter:

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Richard's presence until she felt the weight of him sitting at the edge of her bed.

Quickly erasing her chicken scratch handwriting, she quirked a brow.

"Hey, Ravennn," he began hesitantly, drawing out the last syllable of her name, "Can we talk?"

Changes

"Hey, Rae," he began, nervously fiddling with her off-white bedsheets, "So that new doctor came around and we talked for a bit and, without telling him any specifics, I told him what was on my mind and he urged me to come talk to you."

Taking a steadying breath, he continued, "Garth said that you might not understand the reasons I'm not speaking to you; that you'd gained your first friend and probably now felt abandoned."

Sneaking a peek at her face to gauge her reaction, Richard interpreted her incredulous look as saying 'well, duh'.

"I'm sorry," he said sympathetically, "It just scared me for you that right after I told you everything they went after you, I was trying to protect you by not getting you involved further."

His shoulders slumped with his misplaced guilt, "I'm trying to do the right thing but I feel like I don't know what that is anymore."

At a loss for words (as per usual), Raven did the only thing she could to comfort him. She hugged him. He seemed surprised at first but, after a brief moment, wrapped his arms around her small frame.

"Forgive me?" he asked and was elated to feel her nod against his chest.

Noticing the chalk and small green chalkboard laying discarded on her bed, he asked, "Are these for you?"

She nodded.

"The new doctor thought of this, right?"

Again she nodded.

He beamed, "Good, hopefully it'll keep you out of the other treatments."

She smiled and shrugged as though to say 'we'll see'.

"You want to go to your spot?" he asked, eager to spend time with her.

Part of her understood he was still feeling guilty, but she couldn't help wanting to stay and practice her writing. Still, figuring she'd have plenty of time to do that (after all, she wasn't exactly going anywhere) she decided to follow him out to the dingy common room.

The next few days continued in the same fashion as before, only with Raven making time each day to practice neatening up her illegible scrawling.

She was also thrilled to find out that she had been temporarily assigned under Garth's care, meaning her weekly meetings with Dr Slade were at an end for now. Despite the uncertainty, after all she knew it was possible the visits could start up again at any time, she was grateful for the reprieve.

She also noted, happily, that Garth ensured she received 'Positivity Points' for participating in his programme. Whenever he caught her practicing, he would always make sure to add another point to her score, a fact that meant she would be able to spend her new points on new activities. While it was not necessary for her survival at the ward (after all, she had gotten on just fine for 13 years without participating in this system), it was nice to be able to consider doing something new.

Part of her also guessed, correctly, that Richard had something to do with this. She concluded, after his failed attempt at getting her any privileges on his first night at the ward that, when he saw the opportunity with a new, caring doctor, that he would suggest it as a reward for her. Because of this, she decided when she accumulated enough points she would spend them on time with the piano, playing some of the songs she remembered for her friend.

Despite being eternally grateful to both Richard and Garth for their aid in shaking up some of the monotonous routines of the ward, she still had yet to communicate with any of them. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but rather, was still trying to figure out whether or not she wanted to open that floodgate. After all, she couldn't write one message and decide not to write any further.

For Garth, if she refused to write again, there would be no way to prove he was actually telling the truth to any of the other medics in the ward. And she wasn't sure she wanted the ward knowing she was now willing to communicate. SHe was not a trained monkey and did not want to be forced to write in front of the other staff to prove she was improving with treatment. As for Richard, once she started communicating with him, if she ever chose to stop, he might take it to mean she was angry. Or would feel disappointed, something the socially stunted girl was not sure she wanted to deal with.

So she practiced around herself, writing out the alphabet and, as the week progressed, writing out lengthy passages from the books she'd read. Sometimes, in the solitude of her room, she would write out random passages from the books she thought she knew by heart and then compare them side by side with the book (which she always took with her to her room for these exercises) to see how accurate her memory was. It wasn't a revolutionary game but also helped stimulate her brain and helped her to realise that her memory wasn't entirely infallible.

Sometimes, also in her room, she tried drawing with the chalk. It wasn't the best artistic medium but it gave her yet another thing to do when she felt the need for something new. As a woman, her mother insisted she be brought up learning the womanly ways-how to keep a home, how to entertain, how to cook and serve a proper tea, how to raise children, etc. It was due to her well-travelled father (well, actually only biologically a step-father but still better than her actual father), who often visited Asia, that she was also taught an appreciation for culture and the arts and she was trained in several artistic mediums. She learned how to sketch and paint, how to ballroom dance, how to play several instruments (some from Asia, such as the Qin) and how to read. He always brought her books on histories or cultures and encouraged her to read anything, even fiction-which he claimed always held some grain of truth.

It still amused her to think of how different her mother and father were. They would often get into fights about what to teach her. She vividly remembered once, when her father was out travelling, as part of her mother's teachings, she had to care exclusively for her three cousins Melvin, Timmy and Teether for a week. She had no help and they were quite young, Melvin was probably only 8, Timmy 4 or 5 and Teether was probably just over a year old at the time. She smiled to herself recalling how impossible it'd seemed-they were monsters, each of them vying for her attention and unhappy when it was given to one of the other munchkins.

And yet, somehow, she had managed to bond with them. They eventually took a liking to her and stopped making her life a living hell and, in return, she'd gone out of her way to reward them for their good behaviour.

She frowned, hearing an "ahem" that pulled her from her sentimental memories.

It was Garth, looking sheepish and giving her a small apologetic smile as he usually did when he could see that he'd disturbed her in some way.

Returning a small smile of her own she stood and gathered her chalkboard, chalk and eraser before following Garth into his office for their fourth visit-a part of her new regimen of bi-weekly meetings.

In these meetings, since Raven usually wouldn't speak or contribute, not much happened. Raven usually sat in one of the plushy periwinkle chairs and looked away trying not to look like an idiot while Garth would usually spend the time going over files, looking up occasionally to see if Raven would change her mind about speaking-always without success.

Still, knowing it must have been a bit frustrating for him, Raven enjoyed the meetings. They were comfortably silent; he never pried and was ready to let her do things on her terms, a fact she was grateful for. She knew she ought to reward his faith in her by writing something, but she wasn't sure even what she would say. So, each meeting they sat in silence for about 40 minutes before Garth would eventually give up and allow her to leave.

Today was no different. Raven spent the 40 minutes examining the details of his office which, since day one, had always been comfortably messy. 'Lived in' was how Raven described it to herself. Most of his files were put away neatly into the filing cabinet, with a few exceptions always piled on the corner of his desk. He had a few stray papers cluttering his sandalwood desk, which resembled an 'L' shape. Part of it lined the wall (with storage space above for papers, notebooks and the like) and, after about 4 feet it turned jutting out partitioning him from his potential guests.

His family photo rested on the unused portion of the desk that lined the wall, which she always looked at in their visits. It was always kept away from the mess-as though it were important enough not to be drowned in papers. In front of the photo he had also added a nice sea-shell that was about the size of a fist and had pretty rose-coloured lines decorating its surface. She was also quite amused when he'd put a rock garden in his office. It sat next to the family photo and was a small, shallow black wooden box filled with sand (which he carefully drew designs in with his paperclips) and pebbles.

The only thing on that portion of the desk that resembled anything work-like was a calendar pasted to the wall. It almost looked like a small shrine to his out-of-work hours.

Looking up and catching her looking at his sparse decorations, again, Garth came up with a new plan.

"Hm," he began, "It's just occurred to me that I'm being completely unfair."

She frowned, not following his train of thought at all. Not to mention, she was not used to hearing him speak in their meetings and this interruption was jarring-a fact that prevented her from thinking about what he'd said and instead making her focus on the fact that he'd said anything at all.

"I'm expecting you to take a big step without reciprocating anything in return," he explained, "How can I expect you to want to share anything with me when I haven't had the courtesy to share anything of myself with you. I'm sorry about overlooking that."

Now she was really confused. Not a single nurse or doctor had offered to tell her about themselves and they had certainly never apologised for it. Or anything. They were above their patients; he was the first to try and reach out to her. She wasn't sure how she felt about it; whether she ought to trust him or not.

"I'm not sure exactly what you'd like to know," he began suddenly feeling her heavy gaze fall on him, "So how about I tell you the story behind that picture? Does that seem like a good place to start."

Dumbfounded, Raven nodded waiting for him to begin his tale.

"My parents met when my dad, volunteering as a local lifeguard, saved my mom on a stormy day. My mom, new to sailing, went on a sailboat with some of her other inexperienced friends. They'd sailed far, adventurous and eager and, by the time they noticed the storm rolling in, it was too late.
They sailed as close to the shore as they could before the boat capsized. Several professionals went into the water, rescuing everyone but my mother. When he heard someone was still missing, my dad, a retired olympic swimmer, went to find my mother, Tulsa despite protests that it was too dangerous. He nearly died but he managed to get them both to shore where they were given warm clothes and blankets."

Raven sat, transfixed. It wasn't what she would associate with him at all. His dad was an olympic swimmer? It didn't seem to fit with his career at all.

"My parents started dating shortly after," he continued, despite the unnerving silence, "My dad did everything he could to teach my mother to love the water as he did. He also taught me and, although I'm a medic, I go swimming often. It helps me to clear my head.

Anyway, that was the first time my mother acquiesced to letting my father take me near the water. She always felt that if they ever encountered another storm that she wouldn't be able to hold her own, that my father may not be able to save both of us if it came down to it.

I remember she was so nervous the entire trip since it was the first time I wasn't swimming in a contained pool. My dad seemed like he was going to tear out his hair. The picture was taken right when we arrived-when we were all still happy and excited. All the other photos are of my mom worrying, me elated with my new freedom and my dad going out of his mind to help my mom," he finished with a laugh.

Raven smiled at that. In the photo his father looked strong-and his strong jaw fit with his physique. He also had unkempt blonde hair that flowed over his blue eyes and blonde stubble decorating his face-further contributing to the 'manly' appearance. She found it amusing that such a (for lack of a better term) strong man could be so frazzled by the petite woman next to him. She probably looked smaller than she was because of the fact that she was standing next to Garth's father. Still, she was slender with olive skin (whether natural or from all the time outside swimming, Raven couldn't say) but it complemented her charcoal hair and dark brown eyes.

Looking at the clock and noticing their time was almost up, Garth said, "I'll think of some stories to share with you at our meetings and, hopefully, you'll begin to trust me soon with your words."

Raven, surprised at herself, felt compelled to do something. He was, after all, opening up to her the way none of her other doctors ever had. And she wanted him to continue to tell his stories, she was surprised to find she enjoyed them-even if they were only small snapshots of his life.

Cursing herself and trying to ignore the surprise that Garth tried (and failed) not to show, she scribbled 'Thank-you' on her blackboard and held it up so he could read it.

Then, as quickly as she wrote it, she erased it and hurried out of his office leaving a stunned and smiling Garth in his office.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think! :)

~RR