I KNOW!! Super long wait! Im so sorry! I could tell you all my excuses, but you would prolly rather read the chapter. LOTS OF ANGST! Please tell me what you think!!

Question of the day….

How important dose a person have to be to be considered 'assassinated' rather than just 'murdered??'

Chapter 10

Freedom

Raven's laced hands came down at the black box, slamming it from the table and into a concrete wall. His body shivered in disgust as he fell down into his chair. He rested his elbows on the cold table, hands fisting in his black hair. His eyes clenched as he swallowed tightly.

His mind was constantly flashing back, the feel of hands covering his unwilling body… he struggled to find reality, choking back the feeling of sickness he could feel in his throat…

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Two days had passed since Raven had been arrested. He hadn't given the evidence they wanted, and in return, had a few more bruises. Nothing more had been done to him, yet.

Now, two days later, he sat in the same hard metal chair, staring at the brick wall, waiting for his hourly interrogation. His brows furrowed after almost an hour and a half of being alone.

Two hours later, and he was shooting looks at the one way glass occupying a wall. Time continued to pass, and after almost ten more hours of uninterrupted silence, Raven fell into a fitful sleep for the first time since his arrest.

He was awakened as the metal door slammed open against the wall an unknown time later. His head jerked up, hazy eyes focusing on the cop storming over to him.

Waking completely, Raven was satisfied to see the bruise surrounding the still-healing cut across Chris' cheek bone.

His green eyes showed his confusing as Chris roughly grabbed his arms, jerking them up. He held them high against his back as he harshly unlocked the hand cuffs adorning the slim wrists.

Raven cautiously pulled his sore arms in front of his body, rubbing the chaffed and bloody wrists. "Get out!" Chris snarled.

Raven was on his feet in a flash, backing warily away from the enraged man. He went to ask what was happening, but he didn't have to before Chris spat it at him.

"Jack's gone. Know where he went?" he asked, eyes flashing with rage. "Goddamn stubborn man. Wanted the thrill of bringing down Manuel Corinthos himself. Kept the fucking evidence hidden. Great idea Jack!" he said. Raven wasn't even sure who he was talking to anymore. "What the hell are you still doing here??" He raged, looking back that the boy. "We can't keep you without evidence. GOD! What idiot keeps the evidence hidden from everyone!! GET OUT!" he didn't yell, but it was close. Raven immediately left, not willing to risk his freedom.

He hurried through the station, ignoring the hateful looks he could feel at his back. Finally he reached the exit doors and pulled them harshly open. He paused at the full sun shinning down on his face. The pause only lasted a second. Raven turned to where he knew the subway was, not looking back to see hate filled eyes watching him.

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Surprised exclamations were heard as Raven pushed open the door to their house.

He looked into darker interior, peering at the faces sitting around the room. They were clearly as curious about him as they took in his ripped clothing and tired appearance.

A voice called out of the darkness. "We thought you were gone for good."

Raven looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ross staring stonily back at him. "You should know me better than that." He replied after a pause.

Ross shook his head at gestured toward the T.V. One of the younger kids nodded and quickly turned it on.

A news reporter appeared, perfectly groomed, talking impassively into the mike.

"This new assault against gang activity is expected to yield great results. Already thirty suspected gang members have been found and arrested since the mayor's unexpected press release late yesterday morning.

Again, for those of you just tuning in, the mayor has launched an all-out war to get gangs off our streets, and make this a safer city to live in. For more details, you can tune in at our 5:00 airing, or go to the website displayed across the bottom of your screen. Back to you Will."

The kid shut off the T.V. as the news report ended. The gang stared silently at Raven.

The silence in the room was deafening. "Didn't think we'd be seein' ya again." Someone finally spoke up.

"Come on, can't be that serious. They pull shit like this all the time. They gotta make it look like they doin' somthin."

Ross snorted defensively. "Four years for being caught consorting with a know gang or gang member. Then ya gotta add in everything else they can fuckin pin on ya. Assault, MIP, dealing, Aiding and Abetting, arson, battery, fraud, drug distribution, DWI, hate crimes, theft, manslaughter, murder, money laundering, prostitution, rape, hell, it's a fucking crime to be seen with a 'gang member' now!"

"But," a small voice called out hesitantly. All eyes focused on a little girl- one of the four girls living with them. "We don't do that stuffy, mostly, so they cant get us in trouble for it, can they?" The girl's name was Ember, nine years old. She had only been on the street for a few months. She, like Raven, had been abused until she finally got the courage to run.

"Do be fucking native!" Ross spoke harshly, obviously mad. "It doesn't matter if we did it or not, if they can pin it on us, we're fucking screwed."

"That's enough!" Raven snapped at Ross. "So what, your just gonna sit around here and complain? Or are ya gonna fuckin' DO somthin' about it?!!"

"And what the hell are we suppose to do?!" Ross stood from his reclining postiton. "Go out and get are asses arrested?! NEWS FLASH! The fucking pigs have most of us on photo id."

"So what? Your gonna sit here for the rest of your lives?? Hide from 'um? Congrats! They just fucking won!"

Complete silence followed Ravens last statement. "What do you want us to do?" Sheri asked boldly.

Ross looked at his girlfriend in disbelief. His head turned back to Raven, eyes narrowed in rage. "You ain't our god-damned leader anymore! You can't pull this shit!"

"What 'shit' would that be?? Not hiding from this like a fucking coward??" he spat, looking pointedly at Ross.

"Self preservation."

Raven shook his head in disgust. He looked at them all in turn, some looking him square in the eyes, others avoiding his gaze. Finally, his eyes locked with Ross'. They stared mutely at each other. The house was completely silent.

Raven spun and stalked up the stairs to where his room was. His sudden, unexpected movement caused most of the people in the room to start after such a grave stillness.

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Raven and a small group of teens walked into the loud music shop. When he had come back down stairs, and left the house, the group had surprised him by following silently.

He hadn't explained his plan- he hadn't needed to. The group following him were his most loyal friends. A month ago, Kyle and Ross would have been beside him. So much had changed…

A tall black man came over to them. Raven recognized him instantly as the owner of the shop, a man named Devon. Raven instantly got to the point. He started talking, showing all the charm and manipulation he had picked up in his life.

"Raven, I can't let you have that much stuff. You've heard the news, that's like, ten years in prison if I did this."

"No, it's like, ten years in prison if you got caught doing this. You wont, I guarantee it." Raven said back calmly.

"And how can you do that? I cant risk this man!"

"Look, We just need the stuff for a little while, and I give my word that you'll have it ALL back, in perfect condition, and wont get nailed for aiding and abetting."

"Ya, because no one will notice that most my stock is missing for a few days!"

"You won't get in trouble." Raven said again.

Devon looked squarely into the green eyes, one of the few able to do it. "Fine, but if I get screwed, so do you."

"Deal." Raven said in satisfaction.

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Sheri asked Raven to talk to her on the way back. The rest of the group silently broke off, leaving the two in private. They were on a relatively empty side street, branched away from the main hustle of the city.

Sheri stopped at faced Raven squarely, and he took in her appearance fully for the first time in days.

She looked tired, with dark rings around her eyes, and none of the makeup she generally wore. She opened her mouth once, then twice to start, but nothing came out. Finally she let out a choked sob. "Im sorry!" she said in defeat.

Raven eyes widened in concern. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders. "Hey," he said softly. "What's going on?"

She looked at him with watery blue eyes. "I-im pregnant." She whispered.

He looked at her silently. "Im sorry!" she exclaimed.

His eyes went cold at the exclamation. "What are you gonna do about it?" he asked coolly.

A tear flowed out of her eyes at his coldness. "I don't know!"

"What happened?"

It took her a few seconds to start, but when she finally did, she couldn't stop the words from flowing brokenly out of her. "I tried to stop them! I s-said no!! They wouldn't stop!! It hurt so bad!! Ray, please! I didn't want this to happen! Im only fifteen!" Her words started to jumble together as she spoke faster and faster, but the message was obvious.

His eyes lost the coldness, and he pulled her to him. She clung to his clean shirt desperately, sobs escaping her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck and hair.

She finally calmed down and pulled back slightly at his nudging. "When did this happen?" he asked softly, not wanting to ask, but needing to know.

"A-a couple months ago." She said shakily.

"Did you tell anyone else?"

"NO!" she said, suddenly fierce. "It was my own fault! I shouldn't have been so weak, I shouldn't have…" she was cut off as he pulled her to him again.

He pushed her back again and looked into her red eyes. "It wasn't you fault!" he cut her off as she started to speak again.

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The group stood in the room, watching the scene with sadness felt by all. Celeborn stood with his son-in-law, and all three grandsons. No one else was in the room this time.

Elrond watched helplessly as the young girl, only a baby by elf standards, broke down. He had gained a great understanding to his grandson's life. He understood why the elfling was so cold and reserved as he faced task after task that any other elf would have long since faded from.

His respect grew after each task the young one passed, and grew from. Many a time he had felt guilty for watching the things Elerossë had tried so hard to hide from his family.

"Did you tell anyone else?" Elerossë had asked the child.

"NO!" she said, suddenly fierce. "It was my own fault! I shouldn't have been so weak, I shouldn't have…" she was cut off as he pulled her to him again.

He pushed her back again and looked into her red eyes. "It wasn't you fault!" he cut her off as she started to speak again.

Elrond traded a tortured look with his father-in-law.

"It wasn't your fault! Listen to me Sheri. Was it my fault?" he asked.

All five men traded a confused look at the question.

"Was it?!" he demanded. "Was it my fault for what my uncle did to me?"

Elladan and Elrohir drew in shocked breath at the same time. Everything fell into place instantly. Elerossë's refusal to talk to the twins, or be alone with either of them. The slight flinches every time one of them tried to make him feel more comfortable around them. His cold rejection of them the first time he met them… It all made since.

"No…" Celeborn whimpered.

"Of course it wasn't your fault! You were only six!!" Sheri said back steadily.

"Oh Valar!" Elrohir murmured, feeling the bile rise in his throat. He felt his twin grip his hand and looked to see the same anguished look on his face.

"How many?!" Raven said harshly.

"What??" she asked weakly.

"How many where there?"

"F-five." She said, barely audible.

Raven's eyes closed tightly in pain. "Sometimes… Sometimes bad things happen to us." He said to her, voice distant with memories. "And there's nothing we can do to stop them… nothing we can do afterwards except try to get over it. But you can't forget, not ever. No matter how much you try, the memories follow you. The fear. The pain. The hate… Sher, the bad things aren't your fault. And you have to try, no matter how much you want to give up… no matter how much it hurts, you have to keep going. Your one of the strongest people I have ever known, and if anyone can do it, its you."

Celeborn could feel the tears falling silently down his face, and did nothing to stop them as the felt a peace of his heart die at the unbearable pain emitting from the still, but unbroken form of his great-grandson.

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