It had been over the better part of a day since Rachel had destroyed the Convent and fled into the woods, however what had started as a simple reflex, had become much more serious. After stumbling and losing her balance, she was not only cold, wet and injured - but much more importantly, lost. She had wandered blindly hoping to find a road or village, but there was nothing - the sky had darkened as the sun slipped below the horizon. With the last remnants of her energy, she stepped into a clearing, and saw a small cottage - relief filled her as she started stumbling towards it, only for her foot to catch on a root and fall. Landing roughly, her vision began to darken - and before she collapsed into unconsciousness the last thing she was was a set of bright green eyes leaning over her, filled with concern.
Rachel woke up lying on a large, soft bed, for some reason - despite the complete unfamiliarity of her surroundings, she felt completely safe.
Looking around the room, she saw the dying embers of a fire in the hearth, rays of sunlight showing around the edges of a pair of thick burgundy curtains. The room had an old-fashioned, almost archaic, feeling to it - filled with wooden furniture and a single large painting depicting a dragon in flight above a castle hanging on the wall opposite the bed.
She had just finished taking stock of her surroundings when her host entered the room…
He was a relatively unassuming man, not too tall or short, not too wide or thin, with messy black hair and stubble - but what truly stood out to Rachel was his eyes, there was something unusual, almost magical shown in the bright emerald orbs - a sense of both great power and kindness. In his hands was a tray, which Rachel's nose quickly identified as containing food.
"Hungry?" he asked. Like his eyes, his voice also seemed to hold power, he spoke softly, but it still seemed to fill the room. Before Rachel could answer, her stomach did it for her, rumbling loudly. She flushed, but the man only laughed good-naturedly, placing the tray down on a bedside table. Sitting up in the bed, Rachel saw a full English breakfast sitting on the tray - seemingly cooked to perfection, and began ravenously eating.
"Thank you" Rachel said softly once she had finished eating. "For the food, and for bringing me in here".
"Think nothing of it Miss" he replied, "I don't exactly get many visitors, so It was quite a shock seeing you collapse outside. What were you doing out there?".
"I... " Rachel trailed off, struggling to find a way to put it into words, without revealing too much. "I made a mistake, and just wanted to get away - by the time I had realised what I was doing, I was lost in the woods."
"We all make mistakes. I won't prod, but if you want someone to talk to, I'm happy to listen Miss…". He trailed off questioningly.
"Roth, Rachel Roth"
"It's nice to meet you Rachel, I'm Harry Potter"
Rachel sighed heavily, she didn't know why she trusted him so much, but she still started explaining.
"... so I have these powers I can't control, and I'm being chased by people for a reason I don't know." Rachel summarised.
Harry had been silent through her story/rant, his eyes appearing to be filled with pity and wisdom.
"Everyone faces challenges, yours may be greater than most, but I'm sure you will overcome them. All you have to do is to believe in yourself, self-doubt is an easy path but you will learn to control your abilities.
"But how can I learn when" Rachel started arguing.
"No" he interrupted, "Trust in your friends, reach for your power when you know they are around to help, then practise until it becomes second nature." His words this time were filled with experience, and once again Rachel found herself trusting him.
The noise of a car was heard outside the house.
"And speaking of your friends…"
Dick Grayson and Kory Anders were running out of options, they had spent the whole day driving around the edges of the forest, asking at the various little villages and towns if anyone had been seen in the woods, but they had heard nothing. Short of manually searching the woods themselves, a task that they would never complete, they had one place left to check - apparently a middle aged man lived alone somewhere in the woods.
As they drove along the muddy dirt track that had been pointed out to them, as they pulled to a stop in front of a quaint little building and got out, they saw Rachel come running - wrapping her arms around them. In the doorway of the house they saw a green-eyed man watching.
"Thank God we found you," said Kory, hugging Rachel tightly. "Come on, let's get going so we can get Dick's car washed before he has an aneurysm" she quipped, causing Dick to scowl while Rachel laughed.
"One second" she said, extracting herself from their arms and walked back towards Harry.
"Thank you again" said Rachel, "for the help, and the advice"
"You're welcome Miss Roth, remember what I said - trust in your friends."
'So, that was Trigon's daughter'. He mused, watching the trio depart. He had never expected that such a clear reminder of his past would make his way to his house. It had been over 15 years since Trigon came to Earth, and was banished - dealing with demons was one of the few tasks involved in being 'Master of Death'.
'I guess I'm out of retirement'.
A/N: My first Fanfiction, a random idea that popped into my head while between projects at work. There may or may not be a sequel/s where Harry shows up during the encounter with Trigon, or one showing how Gar joins their group after this.