Trigger warning and all that!

Also, not the best chapter for story progression. But, I guess, enjoy? Like, you probably guessed, this is a character development story, not an action story.


On the interview stage of Gar's mind, things were getting loud. In the audience, a ruckus was breaking out and David was trying his best to keep everything calm.

"Please, return to your seats and keep the noise down." He begged as he paced the stage.

Through the sobbing of a child and the distant roar of a lion, adult voices could be heard.

"You need to take responsibility for your actions!" A woman shouted, aggressively.

A man joined in. "If you wont learn respect for yourself, I'll have to teach it to you!"

Garfield had no idea where his body was. Everything was overwhelming; there were too many voices in so many languages that he couldn't concentrate on his own. He hoped Dick was taking care of him. Fortunately, something told him he was back in the break room; there was the familiar smell of Vic and Eddie.

Gar didn't look good. Dick was stood by him, ready in case he fell.

"What happened?" Asked Vic.

"There was this guy asking about... something private in Gar's life..."

Instinctively, Gar put his hand out to find a surface to steady himself on. His hand found the table, but knocked a glass off the edge.

It shattered as it hit the floor.

Garfield whimpered, his eyes glued to the shards of glass. Quietly, he muttered. "I... I didn't mean to..."

"We know! It's O.K!" Dick quickly interjected, preying his words were making it through to his friend.

The mood in the room was unusual, filled with uncertainly and worry. Gar was still focused on the glass, but stepped slowly, backwards towards the wall.

Vic thought he could try break the ice. "You seriously need to be more care-"

"PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"

It was a high pitched cry from somewhere dark inside Garfield. He was sat on the floor with his back against the wall and his hands over his head. His eyes were screwed up tight and his body was tense and shaking.

Dick sighed. "Garfield..." He crouched down and slowly edged towards the flinching boy. Softly, he said "Hay, buddy..."

"It-it-it was an accident."

"I know. I know..." He was finally at the wall, and settled down next to Gar. "I know..."

Again, Garfield flinched. When he spoke he didn't sound like he normally did. "Don't let them hurt me..."

"I wont. You're safe, here..." Carefully, he unzipped the pocket on Gar's sleeve and pulled out a piece of fabric. "Hay. Look at this." He said, slipping the fabric in-between Gar's feet. "Do you know what dinosaurs these are? 'Cause I don't..."

Gar took the fabric printed with colourful, cartoon dinosaurs and held it in his hands.

In a small voice, he named the dinosaurs as he pointed at them. "...Triceratops... Tyrannosaurus Rex... Parasaurolophus... Stegosaurus... this could be a Cathetosaurus..."

"Oh? Is that so? I thought it was a Diplodocus."

"No. Diplodocus have really long tails...um..."

"You O.K?"

Gar started blinking profusely and speaking in his, almost, normal tone. "Um, I... I got him...Oh, that was, um, that was unpleasant..." I'll say. Thanks, David. "No problem... almost..."

"That was an ambush."

"Yeah. I do not want to know what that kid went through..."

Dick lightly jabbed him and nodded towards Vic and Eddie. Eddie was fine, and had been carefully wrapping the shards of glass in newspaper, but Vic looked mortified.

Gar took control of the body again. "I...I'm sorry... but, heh, at least I didn't transform... this time..."

It was bad enough Garfield himself didn't know what was going on, but he certainly didn't want to explain how he had several different people in his head.

"I'm... I'm going to the garden... to be alone... sorry..."

"Why? Why is this happening? Why now? Why am I sharing my body with other people?! Logically, it makes sense... There was a traumatic event, presumably the whole- being bit by a monkey and contracting a deadly disease and going through agonizing, life altering treatment that didn't really work, and instead activated my metagenetics, turning me into a shapeshifter... My baby brain couldn't deal with this, and now I have, like, David, Craig... Nalia... 3 dogs... the lion/ tiger … at least 7 personalities… in my head. But it doesn't make sense; It's meant to be repeated trauma! What don't I know about myself? … Did Rachel make this happen, now?" Gar had focused on a patch of grime on the slab by his foot. A years worth of muck had already built up on the patio.

Why do you keep looking down? There's all those daffodils and, and … flowers... to look at instead, and you're focused on dirt?

"I know, David. Maybe I want to look at the dirt..."

At least it smelt nice, here. There wasn't any bleach or blood- just the faint smells from the flowers that he had adamantly planted when the hospital opened.

{ You need to free yourself... This garden isn't even long enough to run in...}

"{I...I don't know who you are, Nalia... and where did Craig go?}"

What are you saying, guys?

"Where did Craig go?"

He... He went for a break. Probably sulking because of something...

{What did David say?}

"What?! You're both in my head! How do you not understand each other?"

Nalia has been here since you lived in Kenya... She only knows Swahili... Ya know. Amnesia barriers and all that...

Gar went from looking at the grime, to resting his head on his knee. The world was overwhelming, but it didn't feel heavy. All these strange things never stopped happening; they were just a part of his messed up life that had never been normal.

"You can't miss what you never had, I guess..."

His ears pricked. The door had opened and a nurse was pushing a girl in a wheel chair into the garden. What options did he have?

Leave? No, too rude... Pretend I didn't see them? No, also rude... Smile? Smile. Smile works. Smile always works...

It wasn't the most convincing smile, but it was all he could muster up as he unfolded himself and sat up straight.

The nurse smiled back. "We can leave, if you like?"

I think I would like that...

"Oh, no, that's O.K! Don't mind me!"

And now they're coming over...Smile more...

Effortlessly, the nurse pushed the chair over to where Garfield was sat on the wooden bench, in-between large beds of dancing flowers and bushes.

"Hay." He said, worried about not seeming genuinely happy.

"Hi. Um. Sorry, she really wanted to talk to you..."

The nurse indicated the small girl in the chair, who seemed nervous as she smiled at him.

Maybe this isn't so bad...

"Hi. What's your name?"

"..Savannah..." She mumbled through her teeth.

"Oh, that's a lovely name."

Beaming, the girl turned to look at him. "Thank you."

Maybe THIS is what I needed... not being alone...

The daffodils bobbed their heads as a breeze came into the garden.

"Garfield..." The nurse pitched in. "Do you mind if I maybe leave her here with you for a little bit? There's a lot of jobs that need to be done..."

"Oh. Um, I-I guess? Sure? Is that O.K with you, Savannah?"

Oh, I am not qualified to babysit! Be cool. Just breath.

"YES!"

No, don't leave, nurse.

"Great! I'll be back in 10 minutes to get you."
She slipped into the building, leaving Garfield with the young girl.
"So..." He began, twiddling his thumbs.
"My mummy said you … you make it so I can have my medicine..." Smiled the girl, showing the gap from a lost tooth.
"Oh?"
"She said that we can't get it if it was... if we have to pay for it... she says other doctors cost lots of money. But you made it so the doctors don't cost a lot of money..."
Garfield stayed quiet. How was he supposed to reply to that? They both looked at the flowers before Savannah started talking again.
"The medicine makes me sick..."
He brought his eyes up to her and studied her face. Her slightly sunken eyes didn't have the same gleam as other kids he'd met her age, and something told him that her hat was covering up one of the side effects of her treatment.
"... I know the medicine isn't nice... My medicine makes me sick, too... but we have to take it to get better..."
Her eyes light up with interest.
"What do you … what makes you sick? Mummy says I have something in my tummy making me sick, and the medicine is making it go away!"
"I'm glad the medicine is making it go away. I have a virus-"
"What's that? Is it like what I have?"
I need to make this easy to understand...
"No, not exactly. It's like... like a really bad cold that never goes away...but instead of making my nose stuffy, it makes my body not work... does that make sense?"
Savannah looked at him, her face twisted with thought as she learnt this new information. "I... Think so... Does your medicine make the bad cold go away?"
Slowly, his eyes went back down the grime.
"...No... it stops the virus from getting worse, but if I, if I don't have my medicine then the virus makes me sick... and it changes... and then the medication doesn't work any more... and I could pass it onto someone else..."
"...That sounds bad... how does the medicine make you sick? Mine made my hair fall out..."

Slowly, he felt his face soften. Adults made situations like this uncomfortable, like being around someone who's ill is unnatural for them. But children liked to learn.
"I'm sorry about your hair..."
"Mummy said it will grow back!"
"Yeah?"
"Yeah... But... I want to have my hair back now... I miss school. I can't go to school..."
"Do your friends visit you here?"
"Sometimes! But it isn't very fun. They can only stay for a hour... Do you think maybe a angel could make us better?"
"An angel?" If only they existed...
"Yeah! A pretty one!"
"Oh? What does the pretty angel look like?"
Savannah thought again as she tried to choose the right words. "She would be... small!"
"Um. Alright? How small?"
"Not like the tooth fairy. But not as big as mummy! How tall are you?"
Chuckling, Garfield stood up. He had a mental bingo list of things people said when they met him, and one of the phrases was 'I thought you'd be taller.' or there about.
"Taller them me. But not as tall as you!" Concluded the girl. "You can sit down now."
"Thank you." He sat back down with a real smile on his face. "So, what does she look like? What colour is her hair?"
"Black! Like mine. But not really really curly. Super long, like. Like the princess."
"That sounds very pretty. What about her eyes? What colour are they?"
"Rainbow!"
She smiled at him as he tried to imagine what rainbow eyes looked like. Would it go round from the pupil, or stripy?
"And! Her dress would be pink! 'Cause it's her favourite colour."
"Pink is a very good colour. Does she has big, white wings?"
"NO!" Protested the child. "They have to be black! To be the same colour as her hair!"
"Black wings? Like a, like a raven?" Savannah nodded. "O.K. So she's taller then you, but not as tall as me. With long black hair; rainbow eyes; with black wings; and a pink dress... what's her name?"
She went quiet. "Um. What was that word you just said? The black wings reminded you of?"
"Raven?"
"Yeah! Her name is Raven!"