AN: I have been gone for way to long. There's really no reason why. I've been writing this chapter in between my classes, and I'm really excited to be sharing this with you. College has been fun for the past couple weeks, but I'm starting to get a little homesick.

"I need you to slow down, Hal, please." Raven had spent the last few minutes trying to understand what Hal was rambling on to her about. He had just finished visiting with Richard, which hadn't gone very well. Raven wanted to know what kind of situation she would be walking into when she went to try to clear things up. All she had understood was that Richard was now very upset, and Hal was drunk.

"Yeah...yeah. Okay."

"So, why is he so upset?"

"He's not angry, but he's super sad now." Hal shook his head, slapping his face to calm himself down. "When I dropped him off with the team, I said I would be back. But everything was fine. The team loved him, and he felt safe. I didn't—I didn't want him to get too, I don't know, like—dependent on me. He was happy and safe, and I wanted him to be able to grow, and not be held back by me."

"Okay, so he's not angry or violent?"

"No, but I made him cry, so that's absolutely terrible."

"I'm terribly sorry for that, Hal." Raven hesitantly placed a hand on Hal's knee. While she had been making positive steps toward showing more emotion toward her teammates, Raven still felt rather uncomfortable being emotional with other people. But Hal needed this. He needed someone to help him process these emotions, if not he wouldn't be able to help Richard in any way at all. "I know how much you care about him, and I want to help you to be able to communicate with him and help him process the trauma he's experienced."

"I know." Hal took a shaky breath, patting her hand in thanks. "And I can never thank you and your team enough for trying to help Richard. He deserves to be cared for."

"We're very glad to be able to help him. So, Richard responded very negatively to seeing you, because he feels—even subconsciously—that you abandoned him."

Hal nodded, not able to respond to that. Hal saw himself as Richard's father. And in many ways, he was. Richard was an orphan, so legally he didn't have a father. Not even a guardian. No father—no good, caring father—would ever want to think that he had hurt his children in anyway. To hear that he had abandoned his son must have hurt him terribly.

"Hal, we know you didn't. You still cared about him, and were working very hard to make sure that he would have a safe, and happy life. But that's what's going on inside his mind. As hard as it is to hear it, it's very important that we are able to understand what's happening to him on a psychological level."

"I know, it's still just really sad to think about it. I mean, there's no way that the poor kid is going to be able to sort through this stuff easily, and he may never completely get through it all. There's probably a lot of repressed stuff that's going to surface over time. This is probably going to be a long-term process of working through different traumas—even the same traumas over and over again—until we've treated most of them in some way."

Raven wasn't exactly sure what to say to that. It was incredibly well spoken, but it wasn't something that anyone would expect to come out of the mouth of Hal Jordan. Hal was smart, he was a good strategist and a functional human being, but that just sounded like something that Batman or an actual psychologist would say. That wasn't the type of smart that Hal Jordan was. In all honesty, he was kind of stupid.

"That's very well said, Hal." Raven couldn't help the slightly surprised tone that she spoke in. Again, that was something no one would expect Hal to say.

"I've read a few books. I want to help all that I can."

"Right now, the best way you can help is telling me everything you know about Richard. As much as you care about him, he's not going to be very receptive and welcoming to you. But you know a lot about him. Things he likes, how he used to think, and just how to help make him feel comfortable. That can really help me to better relate to him. The quicker he warms up to me, the quicker you'll be able to help him."

Hal nodded, his leg bouncing quickly. He had to be nervous. This was the fate and health of a child he considered to be a son, there was no way that he could be calm or happy about this situation. Especially when there wasn't a lot of good news.

"Okay. Thanks, I'll try to tell you everything that I know. I know a lot." He laughed to himself. "So when he was little, he really, really into Captain America. He had a huge interest in anything and everything Marvel."

Raven listened intently, making sure she took in any detail that might help her establish a connection with Richard. She also wanted Hal to be able to talk freely and excitedly about his son. She didn't want to point out any negatives. She just wanted to hear all of the sweet, beautiful, silly things Hal remembered and loved about Richard. She could talk to Batman about all the sad things that had happen in Richard's life, but Hal would be able to paint the best picture about Richard's likes and what made him happy were.

Raven wasn't a trained therapist, but she did have a strong understanding of human emotions. She had learned how to control her own dangerous emotions, which was something that she would have to teach Richard. He obviously had a lot of pent up anger, grief, and frustration which could cause him to react in violent ways. He had already threatened the safety of several League members, and he had talked about wanting to die. Raven didn't want him to die. She wanted him to recover and control his own life. She wanted him to show the world that you can change your fate. And if Richard was having a mental breakdown of any sort, Raven was going to need to know how to make him feel better if she wanted to help him in any way.

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"Mom, do you think Daddy'll like my pictures?" Christi asked from the counter. Carol was folding the clothes she had just washed from their little trip. He daughter had been drawing out the things they had done at Disneyland; riding rides, meeting characters, and eating lots of mouse-shaped food.

"He'll love it, sweetheart. I think they look amazing." Christi had only woken up a few hours ago. She had been exhausted from her adventures with her family, and Carol preferred to clean the house when her daughter wasn't messing around right after she had finished cleaning a room.

Carol understood why Hal had left. He had been searching for Richard for five years, and he was finally found. Richard had been in a situation that was physically dangerous, he had been emotionally unsupported, and no one really knew if he was dead or alive. While she was incredibly happy that Richard was safe and alive, her emotions about the situation didn't go any further than that.

She understood that Hal had a strong emotional connection to Richard, viewing him as his son, but Carol had only met him once—and for a very short time at that. It wasn't that she didn't care about Richard as a human being, of course she wanted him to be safe and happy. But she didn't view him as her child.

She knew that adopted children were parts of the families they were adopted into, but she didn't feel like Richard was actually her child. Maybe it was because she had a biological daughter, so she now knew what that maternal instinct felt like. When she thought of Christi she felt unwavering loyalty, boundless love, and an undying need to protect her.

But she didn't feel that way when she thought of Richard. Of course, she felt sympathy and wanted to make sure he was safe, but she didn't feel boundless love, unwavering loyalty, and undying protection. It had taken her a very long time to realize this. Her affections did not belong to Richard, them belonged to Christi, to Hal. This didn't mean that she couldn't care about anyone else, but she didn't feel any attachment to this child.

Carol let her hands stop folding socks in on each other. She had been keeping herself busy in order to make sure she wasn't thinking about her husband. Why her husband? Why couldn't someone else in the League take this boy? Clark, Bruce, Barry, even Oliver could take care of a child. And any of the women she had coffee with every week would be fantastic at parenting this child. Hal had never expressed any interest having children until he met Richard. Carol had always assumed that they would have children once they were married, but they would be—normal children.

That was the worst word, but the only word, Carol could think of. Obviously, parents should love and support their children no matter their interests, abilities, health issues, identity, and any other thing that a child could be. But this child was a...a murderer. Carol knew it was not Richard's fault. He wouldn't have been an assassin if he hadn't been taken by Slade and forced into this lifestyle. Her heart ached for the boy, and any child who had been treated like he had, and she was grateful he had been removed from that situation. But he was dangerous. Hal had told her about his nightmares. She didn't want that near her Christi. She didn't want the little girl to hear that, to see the boy having panic attacks. What if Richard was violent when upset or frightened? Hal was strong and knew how to handle situations like that, but Christi was only a little girl. Sure, she could play pirates with the best of them, but she was just a child. If she tried to comfort Richard when he was panicking or upset, she could get hurt. Richard shouldn't be around children. That's why one of the childless League members should take him in. Or Bruce, his children were invincible.

And even if Richard wasn't dangerous, Slade was. What would happen if he tried to kidnap Richard again? That would send Hal spiraling again. The months right after Richard had disappeared had been rocky. Their wedding had almost never happened. Carol didn't think it could survive another catastrophe. In some ways—she supposed—she resented the boy for bringing so much struggle into her family. Hal had been hyper-focused on saving him, Christi had asked her so many questions about when her big brother would be coming home. Hal had always told her soon, but Carol wanted the whole thing to disappear. When people asked Christi if she had any siblings, she would always say:

"I have a big brother, but he's not with us anymore."

And every time they would look at Carol with so much sympathy, thinking she had lost a baby. She hadn't lost anything. That boy wasn't her son. It opened up awkward questions that Carol didn't know how to answer. She didn't know how to explain to people that Christi was her only child without sounding like she was completely ignoring this supposed other child they had.

She just wanted her family the way it was. She loved Christi. She loved Hal. But she didn't know how this new child would fit into the equation. She didn't want Richard to come home with Hal. He was too dangerous. He would ruin everything.

Christi had been doodling happily as her mother stared at the wall. The arms on her people were too long, and they didn't have any noses, but they were perfect. Her mommy was holding hands with daddy. She had a big ice cream in her hand. The all had their new Mickey Mouse hats on. Her big brother was holding the toy lightsaber Daddy had bought for him. She and her brother were the same height. They looked the same. Obviously, her best friends were siblings and they looked exactly the same, so she and her brother would look the same too.

She always drew a picture with him, and a picture without him. Mommy didn't like the pictures with him as much as she did the others.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed. Carol's thoughts were the hardest for me to write, but I feel like they are really important. She just doesn't want another child. She cares for Richard and wants him to be safe, but she wants her family the way it is. If I wrote anything that seems insensitive let me know and I'll be very happy to correct it. I hope you all have been having a wonderful summer, and are staying safe and loved.