Chapter Five: Magic

"What is this?" Cara-Beth wondered aloud. Jason leaned around the frail girl lingering in the door frame and frowned. He wasn't sure where the door had lead them, but somehow it was like fucking Narnia. The door was a portal, some shitty little gateway to a faraway mystical land full of sugar plum fairies and dancing elves. Okay, so maybe he was exaggerating. He was exaggerating a whole lot. However, the door did take them far away from the creepy white room. Wherever they were now, it was bright. But in a completely different way.

He'd never seen a sky so blue. So vibrant it was almost blinding, literally Jason had to shield his eyes with the back of his hand and stare blankly at the ground, which much to his surprise, was pure gold in color. Tall thin strings of grain rolled calmly across a flat field. And when he tilted his head upward, he could make out faint blue and purple silhouettes of mountains across the horizon. When he breathed, he could taste crisp unpolluted air. His body thanked him. If it could talk, it would have let out a fucking sigh of relief. So different from the grimy smog infested city Jason had reluctantly learned to call home with the hustle and bustle of fucking assholes in their beat up gas guzzling cars. Here, there were no gunshots, screams, or people gambling for their lives. There were just peaceful lulls of grasshoppers, probably mating, but whatever. It was nice white noise. And were those birds chirping in the distance? If this was some sort of happy spot in Carrie's mind, Jason wanted to join. This was a blissful escape, and God did he need to escape.

"I know this place." Carrie said cracking a faint smile. Her giant anime eyes fluttered a bunch of times like a fucking Disney princess as she gallop into the middle of the field. "This is my home."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jason growled. "This is where you fucking live? Of course, princess. Of. Fucking. Course."

He was right, side-chick Barbie never worked a day in her damn life. She lived in a blissful fairy tale. He was right to be angry in the first place. Right to hate her right off the bat. Nothing bad ever happened to this fucking girl, just look at the fucking place!

"I fucking hate you." Jason mutter shoving past the girl, still aimlessly gawking at the scene. "I fucking hate you."

Cara-Beth rubbed her arm faintly feeling his presence, and let her face sink into a deep frown. "Angel, why are you mad?" Carrie asked. He stopped, squinted his eyes, and turned.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why do I- why?" He was starting to sober up. His steps weren't quite as sloppy and she wasn't so hazy to him anymore. She was clear, crisp, high definition. He violently shook his head no and crammed his hands into his pockets as he shrugged. "I don't know princess, look around you! I mean, damn. You know where I lived? Do you really want to know where I grew up? I grew up on the fucking streets. By the time I turned ten, I'd seen more dead bodies than a normal mortician. Tell me if that's fucking fair? The answer is no, princess. While you got to frolic through these fucking fields, I had to steal and lie and cheat. I was fighting for my life. What were you fighting for?"

The girl was quiet. Once again, she was staring past him. But it was clear to him she could vaguely hear him. More than that, she could sense his anger. She dropped her head and puffed out steam.

"You're right." She muttered under her breath. "I was very blessed. My main concern growing up was whether or not mommy or daddy would tuck me in. I wasn't tortured. I wasn't abused. I didn't have to struggle to find food, I always had a place to rest my head at night. I was lucky."

Carrie slowly pulled her hand forward, sticking it out inches away from him. Jason looked at it confused. It was like she was trying to touch him. To feel him. But she failed miserably.

"I know you're not trying to rub your a-list life in my face, but you definitely are. I mean, damn, princess. Stop while you're ahead."

"Angel's got jokes." Carrie shrugged staggering forward. "Well, if you've got the balls to mock me, I'm going to assume you have the balls to follow me."

Elegance and grace were words Jason would have used to describe the girl before this point. But now he found his jaw hanging loose, nearly touching the floor. In a weird way, he appreciated and respected the new change of tone. And damn, did he have the balls to follow her.

The lovely lady dressed in white effortlessly strode forward. Her posture was firm, but fluid, and her eyes were fixed dead ahead. Cool and content. Jason, on the other hand, was bulky and awkward as he stumbled through the field. As he galloped after the girl, a large log cabin inspired building started coming into view. Jason ignored the stinging pain of jealous gnawing away in the pit of his stomach and attempted to hold onto the respect he had for her. The respect was small and the house was damn fucking beautiful.

"I wonder," Carrie mused, "what year it is."

Jason's brows pinched together as he snapped his head back to her. Carrie's pace had slowed significantly, and the gorgeous ranch was a mere feet away from him. He took her hesitance as a chance to memorize the layout, not that he needed to or anything, he wanted to add more reasons to hate her to his already growing list.

The house stood a proud three stories tall with a large wrap around southern lovin' porch complete with hanging swings and lazy chairs. A neat combination of logs and stones decorated the frame of the building, and clusters of ivy crawled up its side. Flowers were in full bloom, lining a single stone path to the house. So many gardens. Too many flowers. Too many bugs. But the house. Wow. Gorgeous.

He let his eyes wander around, noting the wooden fence that kept a small herd of horses in line with a gorgeous wooden barn. And to his left, a vineyard as far as the eye could see. Did she really own a vineyard?

"My parents own the place." She explained. "I'm not exactly in line to inherit, if that's what you're thinking. But as my guardian angel, you should already know that." She paused to take a breath. He pursed his lips. "Let's go."

Jason didn't say anything. If he was being honest, which didn't come naturally, he felt bad. There was a certain heaviness in her voice when she spoke about the house. A certain tone that he recognized. Somehow, and he wasn't sure how, she'd burned the bridge between her family. Now he was curious.

Once again, Carrie composed herself. Her fluid motions lead her to the door, which she clasped with one hand, and tugged it open. In the foyer was a little boy, no older than two, strapped in in overalls and a red and blue striped tee shirt. He was drooling on himself as he raced around in circles. In the distance, two female voices could be heard mumbling. Carrie dragged herself forward, like a ghost, following the noise. Jason puffed out steam realizing he didn't have a fucking choice. He had to follow the damn girl again. Wherever the fuck she was heading.

"I'm telling you, Janis. You need to leave him." A heavy set woman with thick black hair cooed. Jason wrinkled his nose, disgusted. What a cow! And her thick southern accent was absolutely appalling! She was worse than Porky, the heifer. When she spoke, her double chin jiggled. And she tried- and failed- at disguising her body in a lavish green and black dress. If he had to give the woman, as awful as she was, a compliment it would be her makeup, which she wore perfectly.

"Miss Leslie!" Carrie exclaimed rushing to the woman's side. "Look at you! So thin! You look beautiful!"

"Thin?" Jason chuckled. "She's a cow."

"No need to be bitter." Carrie snapped, she was getting better at hearing him. "She is, and always will be, lovely. Miss Leslie is like a mother to me. She has a big mouth and a heart of pure gold. I could always count on her to keep me straight."

"I'm sure." Jason grumbled under his breath. Carrie didn't respond. Instead, she spun around, bewildered at the sight of a second woman with a baby in her arms. The woman rocked steadily back and forth, yawning as she did so. Heavy purple rings lined her eyes, but she still managed to smile. No matter how fake it was.

"Mom." Carrie whispered. "You look…tired."

"I can't leave him," Carrie's mom's voice was meek, just as tired as she looked, "he's my husband."

"And a class act asshole!" Leslie said leaping to her feet.

"Oh, I see what you mean by big mouth!" Jason grinned. "I take back every negative thought I had about her."

"Janis, your husband is scum. Lower than scum. How many times have you caught him cheating? And with your fucking children in the house!"

"Language!" Janis, Carrie's mom, hushed. Jason quirked his brows. This was like living inside of a soap opera. Spicy, fiery, fun. Leslie didn't back down as she stared at Janis, and Jason loved the intensity rising in the room. Carrie, on the other hand, seemed to hate it. The fragile girl shrank back to Jason's side, though she couldn't see him, she hid behind him.

"Language? It's a baby, Janis. Babies don't remember things. Cara-Beth won't remember this conversation, and knowing you, she will never know how much of a lying, cheating whore her father his! You and your children deserve so much better."

"Davis, Kylie, and Cara-Beth need a father." Janis stated firmly. "I appreciate your concern, but I can't handle this right now."

"You just had a baby." Leslie finished. "I know. I had one too."

"Two years ago!" Janis exclaimed. The baby started whining. Jason massaged his temples. Fucking babies always fucking up good drama. Fucking fucktard. "You can't keep hiding behind that!"

"Seriously! I'm not the enemy here, Jan. Your husband is!"

"Can you-"

"Stop!" Carrie screamed. Jason didn't expect the volume in her voice. He jumped, fucking jumped at her shrieking, and staggered backwards.

"Whoa, princess." He whispered. "Where'd that come from?"

"We're leaving." She hissed storming out of the room. Jason lingered, unsure of what he should do, but ultimately did what he always did and followed.

"Where are we going?" Jason asked speeding up to keep her pace as she zipped back through the field where the door lingered. She didn't utter a word as she stepped back into the white room and headed for another door. Jason's eyes grew large. "Oh, hell no!" He growled. "Hell fucking no. What the fuck is this madness? No!"

"I want a happy memory." Carrie murmured. "My dad wasn't a cheater. He wasn't."

Jason stared at her long and hard. Her hands had balled into tight fists and she was practically shaking. He shut his mouth and sighed, accepting what was coming. He had to go where she went. That was how he would get out of this nightmare, right? This bizarre hallucination began and ended with her. She knew the way out.

Carrie glanced around the white room at all the doors until she finally settled on one nestled in the far end. She lifted her finger and pointed, and without saying a word, she hustled over to the door and threw it open. Jason was barely able to keep her step, but he'd be fucking dead if he lost track of her. She was completely insane, he was sure of it. Just nuts. Fucking nuts. But when he stepped through the frame, something unexpected happened. Fucking Frank Sinatra.

Jason remembered listening to the song before, a long time ago. And when he closed his eyes, it brought him back there. Transported him like some sort of time machine. And for a split second, he was happy. "As Time Goes By" by Frank Sinatra. His chest hurt, like someone had punched him square in the gut. It ached. He wanted to throw up, and when he opened his eyes, he was inside the house again. This time, in the living room. A Christmas tree was neatly decorated in the large gaping window with handmade decorations, and missile toes and strings of pine and reefs were scattered across the small room. As Jason examined it further, he noted that the furniture was pushed to the sides leaving the floor open. He could strong smell egg nog and chestnuts lingering in the air. And there was a crackling fire that surprisingly blended well with 'ole Blue Eyes voice.

"Christmas, 1997." Cara-Beth breathed happily. She looked over to where Jason was standing and smiled brightly. His heart skipped a beat. She was glowing. "Look over there." She nodded. He let his gaze flicker.

Dancing clumsily around the room was an older version of Carrie's mom with a man Jason assumed to be her father. He was a handsome man, and Jason could guess that's why he felt the need to cheat so much. He had a thick full head of blond hair and warm brown eyes, much like Carrie's. His skin was a translucent white, and he was built like a Greek god. When he floated around the room with Carrie's mom, it was easy to see their love for each other, and it was at that moment Jason realized Carrie had a little bit of control to where she lead them.

"This is a good memory." Carrie seemed to agree. She dropped her gaze to the opposite end of the room and laughed silently to herself. "Look," she nodded again, "that's me. I used to sneak out of bed a lot to spy on my parents. I know their marriage wasn't perfect, and they did fight a lot. But moments like these make them all melt away. Love is hard. Falling into love- that's easy. Staying in love is takes work. You are constantly under attack. But if you give it your all, it's worth it."

A single tear pulled at the corner of her right eye. Jason couldn't bear to watch her cry, for whatever fucking reason, so quickly glanced away to see the younger version of herself. He had to admit, she was a cute kid. She had thick, choppy straight across bangs and a messy bun sat at the top of her head. Her eyes were gigantic, even larger and more round than they were currently. And her cheeks, so round and chubby. She hadn't quite lost her baby fat. She looked so innocent as she hugged a stuffed angel to her chest and smiled a toothless smile up at her parents. The scene was too perfect, and Jason wondered why that made her want to cry.

Before he had the chance to ask, the room started to shake and melt like wax dripping down a flat surface.

"Dammit." Jason scoffed. "Not again."

"Angel, are you leaving?" Carrie asked, seemingly unaffected by the sudden change.

"I'm not your goddamn angel." He snapped as she started melting away. But this time, she didn't hear him. And in a flash of bright light, everything went black and he could feel the heaviness of a hangover throbbing at his temples, and the coolness of the helmet on his head.

He didn't have to open his eyes to know that it was morning and that he was magically transported back to his room. It was insane, though. How real interacting with her felt. And those rooms. He didn't feel jealous of her anymore. Instead, he felt an odd desire to try to dig deeper. He wanted to know her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hey, guys! Merry Christmas! This will be my last update for a while. What do you think? Is this story worth continuing? I haven't been getting too much feedback, which is sad because I'm really getting into it. Jason is really fun to write, and I love his interactions with Carrie in this chapter. I'll upload one or two more chapters, and if they're unpopular, I think I'll quit. Sorry, loves. I hope you have a lovely holiday, though!

CRITICAL QUESTIONS:

-How do you feel about Carrie now?

-How is Jason's character compared to how he is in the comics?

-What do you want to see happen?

POLL:

Which characters do you want to see appear?

A. Starfire

B. Dick Grayson

C. Tim Drake

D. Bruce Wayne

SONGS MEANT TO INSPIRE:

1. Wanklemut- One Day

2. The XX- Island

3. Lumineers- Flapper Girl