Chapter 6: Family

Rating: T

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2020

A/N: I know. I know it took forever, but yes, I'm still thinking about this story, and no, it has not been abandoned. Saw a review asking me when I would update, and I made some time to read it over so I could catch up on my own work and update. The good thing is I have time on my hands because of everything that's going on. Please, take care, all of you! Wash your hands! Stay home if you can! And stay healthy! I wish you all the best!

Family

It was the best dinner Garfield had had since he'd left Rita to live on his own, and he wasn't referring to how good the food was. They talked and joked and playfully teased each other like old times. It almost felt like they weren't currently under witness protection from a psychopathic mercenary and a human trafficker. Kory spent most of the time reminiscing on old moments from their high school experience, including the first time she'd met Raven. Vic took his time talking about their current life, bringing up embarrassing Gar moments Raven had missed out on, and complaining about Kory and Dick's relationship. Dick didn't speak much, though when he did, it was usually to ask Raven about her life, though her evading answers were enough to alert him she didn't want to talk about it, and he respected that.

Then there was Gar who, oddly enough, for the first time, didn't speak so much. He was too busy gawking at Raven most of the time, unbelieving of the fact she was actually there with them in the flesh. It was a thing of dreams, and he couldn't fully express how happy he was having her there beside him.

Once done, they headed off their respective ways (though not before Vic made sure to plant a tracker on them in case of emergencies). They decided they would meet up in the lab at the police station the following day. Dick asked Gar one more time if he was sure he wanted to take in Raven for the night, and there was no doubt in his mind about it.

When they arrived at Gar's house, he let out a pleasant sigh at the sight of it. It'd definitely been too long. Luckily, he'd gotten a K9 officer friend to look over Blue while he was gone, and he'd dropped him off at Gar's place earlier that day.

Gar was finally going to see his best friend after so long.

"So you said you have a dog..?" Raven asked cautiously.

"I didn't take you to be one to be afraid of dogs, Rae," he teased playfully.

She rolled her eyes as they stepped on his porch, and he started unlocking the door. "I'm not afraid of them. They just don't tend to like me very much." She crossed her arms as she did, taking a quick glance at his simple porch.

"Good news is, Blue is very good at reading someone's character. So she tends to like good people," he mentioned as he put a hand on the knob of the door and smiled at her. "Ready?"

"I doubt I'm part of the 'good people' you're referring too, but I guess we'll-" she didn't finish her sentence as the moment he opened the door, Blue burst out, tail wagging like crazy and started jumping all over them, first at Gar and then at his new companion.

"Oh my word…" Raven looked uncomfortable as she stepped back when the german shepherd started jumping so high she could lick her face.

Gar was nearly hysterical with laughter at the scene of his dog practically attacking Raven with her happy licks.

"Get him off of me!"

He finally managed to stop laughing as he told Blue to sit who quickly obeyed his command. "Go on." He gestured Raven to the door. She gave him a hesitant glance before walking in. "She's a girl, by the way."

"Who?"

"Blue, duh," he told her as he called the dog in.

"And you named her blue?"

"Gee, Rae, I didn't realize you'd be one to conform to sexist societal expectations."

Raven huffed and took a seat on the sofa of his living room, glancing around the room curiously. "You have a nice house."

"Thanks, had enough money to start renting it as soon as I got Blue. I would've gotten an apartment, but frankly, Blue needs a big yard to thrive, and I'd do anything to satisfy my favorite girl," he explained as Blue hopped excitedly around him trying to reach his face with her tongue.

He chuckled lightly as he walked to the kitchen to feed the dog before proceeding to sit down next to Raven. "So…" he said as he scooted toward her.

"So what?" She arched a curious eyebrow. "You don't expect anything to happen, do you?"

"Not at all. A little insulted that you'd think that was my first thought when I said I wanted you to come with me." He put a hand over his heart, feigning offense. "But I do want to know more about how you've been. I know you were uncomfortable talking about it during dinner, but could you at least tell me?"

Raven stayed quiet, avoiding his eyes at all costs.

"Please? You know I care about you Rae. I just want to know," he whispered as he took her hand in his. Surprisingly, she didn't pull away. Perhaps she'd missed him a lot more than she was willing to admit? After all, the last time they'd been together, they'd shared a passionate kiss that more than anything revealed how strongly they felt about each other.

"How is your illness treating you?" she asked, probably to change the topic.

Gar sighed but let it slip. "I've been ok. I haven't had any sort of attack since the last time you saw me, but you already know how unpredictable it is."

Raven nodded. "I'm glad… but I do wish you hadn't gone snooping your nose in my husband's business and ruining this great life you seem to be having. We wouldn't be in this conundrum."

"I thought it was time to do it. Besides, you coming along with me is the best thing that came out of it. I think it was a worthy risk," he spoke, staring deeply into her eyes, even though the color felt so wrong on her.

"I don't believe you sometimes, Gar. You're so…" she searched around for the words to describe him. "You're like a beam of light."

Gar grinned. "I'll take it as a compliment."

They stayed silent for a moment, just watching each other and hearing Blue excitedly chew her kibble.

"It was hell. I'll admit that," she finally told him. "Living with Malchior after the wedding and my father visiting every once in a while. But that's why I'd rather not talk about it. There's no point in reliving bad memories. It's better to stick to the good ones."

Gar had to admit he was shocked. In the time he'd known her, he didn't think she'd uttered such positive words. Most of her outlook pertained to pessimistic and realistic thoughts about the world, so he was usually the one to cheer her up with his positive outlook.

"I'm sorry your life has been so hard, Rae."

"No reason to apologize. It was never your fault to begin with. But you did make it better."

Her confession arose all sorts of butterflies and sparkling feelings in his gut. To know he'd made her life a little brighter, it made him feel an overwhelming sense of joy. But it wasn't enough. He wanted to make her life from then on better. He wanted her to smile every day, to wake up and breathe in the fresh air, looking forward to the start of her day. He wanted her to be with him, so he could share his brightness with her every time she needed it.

"Raven, after this is all over, I want you to come with me."

"What do you mean?"

Gar squeezed her hand comfortingly and smiled. "I'm saying you deserve the world after everything you've gone through, and I don't want you to be alone… I also… I have something to tell you."

Raven seemed intrigued at his apparent hesitance. "I know your dad is your only family, per say, but while I was searching for you during all those years, I managed to contact someone else…"

Her breath hitched, and she squeezed his hand ever-so-slightly. But he didn't have time to tell her as Blue found it appropriate to start barking at that moment. They both glanced over at the dog who apparently had spotted someone outside the window as she was snarling like crazy.

"Blue, calm down, girl. I'm sure it's just the neighbors." Gar stood up and took her by the collar to pull her back from the window, but she was insistent on staying put. "What's wro-"

Everything happened in slow motion for Gar. One second and his window was shattered, a huge shadow jumping in and knocking him back. Blue jumped at it to attack, but the figure smacked the dog to the side and she fell down with a loud thug and a quiet whine.

It was the black man from Trigon's layer, Jared, he believed. He stood tall in front of Gar, while from the other side, he heard the window behind the living room also burst, probably signaling another intruder had broken in.

"We're here to pick up our little sister," he grinned.

"Sister..?" Gar muttered before realization hit him. "Raven!?"

Jared picked him up by the collar, although Gar was fast enough to hit the emergency button on his bracelet to alert Vic and Dick of the emergency. "I knew you were a punk from the first moment I laid my eyes on you."

From the corner of his eye, he could see Raven struggling to fight against another one of the guys he'd met, presumably another brother. Just have to distract them enough for the police to get here, he thought.

"Say, aren't you Trigon's disposable son?" Gar asked, remembering how Raven's words had struck a chord with him.

Jared appeared confused at first before his wrath seemingly got the best of him and he pushed Gar to the ground before standing over him. "You're going to regret saying that!"

"Blue, attack!" The german shepherd rose in the span of a second and hurled toward the giant man, snarling and growling before digging her teeth into his arm. While the man struggled to get the dog off, Gar jumped to his feet and rushed to the living room where the other man was holding Raven by the neck and mumbling something Gar couldn't quite hear due to his adrenaline rush. He swooped up the bat by his couch (that he had fortunately forgotten to put away the last time he'd gone to play with Vic) and slammed the back of the man hard.

The man stumbled over in pain while Gar took Raven's hand and pulled her away. He noticed a cut on her left thigh that appeared to be bleeding pretty badly, and he felt his anger get the best of him, suddenly wishing to do something a lot worse than hit the man with a bat.

"That's it!" Jared yelled as he walked out of the kitchen. He had somehow managed to fight off Blue, and Gar only felt his anger grow, though his concern for his best friend was stronger since he glanced at the kitchen hoping she'd come out. He heard a click beside him and turned to see Raven pointing his gun at Jared.

Her brother regarded her with disgust. "I knew you never liked our family, sis. But I didn't realize you'd dare to point a gun at your own flesh and blood."

"The only thing you and I have in common is a demon for a father. Now get out of this house, go tell daddy you failed your mission, pathetically, by the way, or I won't hesitate to pull the trigger."

"Rave-" Gar tried to interfere and tell her it was smarter to let the police handle them, but she didn't appear to be done with her sentence.

"And tell Trigon he'll soon be rotting behind the bars of a prison cell once the police catch him or in hell if I do."

Jared snarled before pulling his brother up and dragging him out the broken window, sending her a wicked smirk as he did. Just as they disappeared into the backyard, the front door burst open and Dick ran inside, gun out, followed by several other men.

"They're gone," were the only words Raven uttered as she pulled the gun down and struggled to lean on the wall to her right. Gar quickly helped her to sit down, taking the gun and putting it aside in the process. He ripped open the material on her jeans to examine the wound. It appeared to be pretty deep, and Gar wasn't even sure how she still managed to be on her feet.

Dick kneeled down next to her too just as Vic marched inside with his medkit. "Take care of her. I have to check on Blue," Gar told them before rushing into the kitchen.

His heart dropped as he spotted Blue lying by the counter whimpering. "Dick, send the vet unit right now!" he yelled. Gar examined her for any external wounds, though being careful about touching her. "It's okay, girl," he muttered soothingly as he did. "You're okay. You're such a good dog." He continued to mutter encouraging words while Dick walked in to check on them.

"Is she okay?"

"She's fully conscious, but her leg seems to be at a weird angle. I think it might be fractured."

"The vet is already on his way. Don't worry, Gar. She'll be okay." Dick placed a hand on his shoulder.

"They're going to pay for this," he growled.

"They will. We're going to take those assholes down as soon as we can. I need to bring you in for a briefing while Raven and Blue get patched up."

"How is Raven?"

"She seems to be okay. She's lost a good amount of blood, but an ambulance is on its way. Vic is treating the wound."

Just then, Gar could hear the ambulance approaching. "I'll go with her," he said.

Dick shook his head. "It's alright. Vic and Kory will ride with her for now. You need to stay with Blue for now. I'll catch you at the police station once you get there with Blue."

He was hesitant but ultimately decided Dick was right. Raven was in good hands with Vic and Kory. Right now, he had to care for his best friend. The K9 vet unit walked in soon after, and they wheeled Blue out to the vet clinic in the station. Dick sent him a single nod as Gar jumped into the vehicle to ride with the dog.

As the doors closed and they went on their way, Gar couldn't help the rage building inside his gut, and he instinctively clenched his fists. Now more than ever, he was pissed. Hurting Raven had certainly angered him but messing with his dog would certainly warrant his bad side coming out.

And deep within, it honestly scared him just how angry he was. He definitely understood Raven's phrasing and truly believed her when she'd said Trigon would be rotting in hell if he faced her. Because he certainly wanted him there too.

Azarath Cat: Sorry it took forever to update! Thank you so much for being willing! I honestly don't want to make money off of my works, since I won't be launching a career as an author any time soon. It's simply too risky without having money already. I just write when I can, which is why a lot of my works take forever to finish. Hope you enjoyed!

Miss geek: We're almost done. I think maybe two-four chapters are left. This is a lot shorter than Broken.

Guest: I'm glad! :)

ppgmikaela: Thanks to you, I have updated! I hope you like it! You helped me remember this story existed with your review, haha!