Reminder- I do not own the Covenant

"Ugghh," Raven groaned as she came to. Her head felt heavy and hurt terribly. Everything was black, even though she knew she had her eyes open. Something heavy and metallic enclosed her wrists and ankles. She lay on a comfortable bed with silk sheets and down feather pillows, from what she could feel. All of the sudden, bright light filled the room, effectively blinding Raven. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she could make out the one person she never wanted to see again, standing at the foot of her bed.

Nightshade stood there, watching her with a maniacal grin on his face. Raven pulled against the chains that held her in place, testing their strength.

"Bastard," she spit out when she found the chains would not break.

Nightshade grinned even wider and moved around to the side of the bed and sat next to Raven. He spoke while running the back of his hand down the side of her face. "Finally awake I see." He grabbed her chin and leaned in close to her face. "I told you I would have you." He closed the distance between their faces and would have kissed her, had someone not knocked at the door.

Nightshade sat up and called out in an extremely irritated tone, "What do you want?"

Raven sent out silent thanks and praise to whoever stood on the other side of the door.

"The Captain of the Guard requires your presence on patrol sir," the voice on the other side of the door answered.

Nightshade grumbled but got off the bed and grabbed his cloak. Before he opened the door to the room, he turned around and addressed Raven.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Try not to miss me too much." With a clearly insane smirk, he left the room, pulling the door shut.

An ominous click echoed through the room, marking the locking of the door. Raven let out the breath she had been holding. Intent on ridding herself of the chains confining her to the bed, she put her magic into her effort of envisioning herself without the manacles. With a small pop of displaced air, the chains were gone and Raven was free. She sat up, and then stood.

She walked over to the shrine of the Great Mother, knelt before it, and prayed. "Oh Great Mother, I am in the hands of my enemy. Guide me, for I know not which path to take."

A gentle voice, older than time, filled Raven's mind with words. "Take heart my daughter. You are stronger than you know. Stay here in this place and meditate until your heart and mind are at peace. Only then will you be able to find and follow the path to your love's mind. Connect to him and then you will know what must be done." The Mother slipped from Raven's mind with a gentle caress that filled her with peace.

Raven rose from her kneeling position and looked about the room. It was then that she noticed the door to the left of the bed. It was a small door, looking so much like the walls on either side of it, unless you knew the door was there, you would miss it completely. Raven walked over to the door and felt all along it, searching for some kind of catch or button. She finally found it at the bottom of the door, along the baseboard moldings. She pressed the carving of the sun and the moon intertwined. The door swung inward with an almost inaudible click. Looking around to make sure no on else was in the chamber with her, Raven crawled through the secret door into the blackness beyond it. She pushed the door shut behind her and the room filled with a soft glow of light.

It was a miniature garden. The grass was green and lush. Patches of wildflowers and clovers were spaced sporadically throughout the room. In the very center of the chamber was a spring bubbling up from under a rock and flowing down to a large, crystal clear, pond. On the shore of the pond was a cherry blossom tree in full bloom and branches trailing in the water. Raven smiled and walked over to the tree. When she got there, she saw that the roots and the trunk of the tree formed a natural sort of lounging chair facing the pond. She settled herself into this hollow and sighed at the overwhelming feeling of rightness that seemed to flow from the tree. She made herself more comfortable and began to clear her mind of all thought.

Raven quickly entered a state of complete and utter calm. She sensed the link from herself to Reid and grabbed onto it. Following the link, she drew closer to Reid's mind.