Chapter 41

I hate you for always saving me from myself
I hate you for always choosing me and not someone else
I hate you for always pulling me back from the edge
I hate you for every kind word you ever said
I'll bleed you dry now

Hey gang long time no see! How ya been? Me? I've been busy. I've been working like crazy, and dealing with some drama. *eye roll* but I won't bore you with all that. Let's get on with it shall we? ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!

The next day Raven sat in the rec-room with the other crazies. Since she had decided to cooperate with Leland she was given a bit more leeway, (meaning she was allowed out of her cell without an escort.) she sat on the couch with Cherie on her lap, as she stared absent mindedly at the flickering television screen. She didn't have any particular interest in actually watching—especially since a certain Alice in Wonderland obsessed man—had the remote at the moment—however it made decent background noise as she pondered and weighed her options.

On one hand; if she got the help everyone (and by every that meant Ivy and Zatanna) said she needed, and get out of Arkham—having done her time for the crimes she committed with Klarion—and go back to being normal. Well as normal as she could get. She could maybe finish high school, go on to college maybe? It would be nice to say she at least finish high school, even if no college would accept her after all the hell she created for Gotham. She could get a job, have a normal relationship with a normal human being, or maybe even play it single for a while. It seemed to be doing well with Ivy.

On the other hand; if she stayed there, she could—one day—break out of Arkham, take Harley and Ivy with her and go and be the queens of Gotham's underground. Harley would be on board with that idea in a second, and Ivy…well she would eventually get over it. maybe? Raven could also have it out with Zatanna, finally put her in her place. Who knows maybe they were meant to be rivals, not friends?

Raven was so deep in thought she didn't even notice a certain red head sit down next to her. Ivy seemed to be content in waiting for Raven to notice, for her to finish whatever happened to have the young witch-girl's attention. It wasn't until Cherie yowled at her did Raven finally snap out of her thought. She looked to Ivy, who leaned her upper half against the armrest of the chair.

"Finally come back to reality have we?" She asked, Raven frowned. "I heard what happened to you this morning."

"So a crazy nutjob sets fire to her cot in the middle of the night." Raven said with a shrug, trying desperately to play it off as a casual joke, "I'm sure other inmates have done worse."

"True or not, you had me worried." Ivy said with sincerity. Raven shifted in her seat uncomfortably as she brought her legs up under her. "and it seems the good doctor Leland had you in her office for a while."

"Yeah." Raven replied simply. Ivy's brow rose.

"Did you consider anything I said to you?" She asked, skipping over the questions about how she managed to use her powers—much to Raven's relief, even she was unaware of the how.

"I have." Raven mumbled, "I…am..."

As if sensing the hesitation in Raven's voice, Ivy leaned over and placed her hand on the young woman's shoulder and with real sincerity said, "It's ok to be scared Raven, we all were when given this choice."

Raven stared at the green skinned woman. It was so strange to find someone like Ivy—who was known for her distaste for human kind—to be so…motherly toward her. Not even Raven's own mom had taken this much thought toward her. Ever since Raven had hit 'that phase' in most teen's life where they don the black lipstick and clothing, her mother had all but ignored her, she'd been the problem child since then. Now she was dead, that part of Raven's life was over. Still, she couldn't help but wonder why Ivy had taken such a motherly interest in her. what made Raven—or Harley for that matter—so special that Ivy didn't just ignore her existence, or put them out of their misery? Raven was about to ask just that, when a guard entered the rec-room.

"Blu. You have a visitor." He barked. Raven looked over her shoulder and scowled. only two people in the entire world would show up to visit. One; she threatened to kill on sight if he ever showed up again, which left only one person.

~0~

"Zatanna." Raven grumbled, when she saw the familiar magician girl on the other side of the plate glass. She wasn't dressed up in her hero gear, nor did she had her old blonde haired pony tail disguise. Zatanna hesitated before she spoke.

"…Raven." she began, "How…how are you feeling?"

"Oh, it's magnificent here, I got a room with a view of the pool and everything." Raven hissed, then scowled, "How do you think I'm feeling?"

"I'm not sorry for locking you up Raven," Zatann said, "You need help, Arkham is the best place to get it too."

Raven scowled, scratching the top of Cherie's head, "Yaknow maybe you're right, I do need help."

"I'll do what you and your precious Nightwing want, on one condition." Raven said dryly. Zatanna frowned.

"What condition is that?" she asked.

"When I get out of Arkham, I want you, to leave me alone." She said coldly, "I plan on starting a new life in Gotham, and that life doesn't include lying, backstabbing...witches like you."

Zatanna was silent. She'd known she hurt Raven by lying to her, "I only lied to protect you—"

"Oh spare me." Raven hissed. "I don't care why you did it, the point is you lied to me. You lied to me and then mocked me about magic. We were supposed to be friends Z, but I didn't even know who you really were. So now, I want nothing more to do with you."

Zatanna was silent for a long time. She couldn't really mean that, could she? Sure she kept her identity a secret, but it was to protect her. If Raven had known that she was Zatanna, she'd have been in danger. Surely Raven knew that. Surely she knew that she only lied to keep her safe. Ending their relation ship would mean that she wouldn't be able to help her if Raven ever got into trouble again with the law. Zatanna wouldn't be able to give her the benefit of the doubt either if the league thought she was using her magic for evil again either.

Zatanna looked at Raven for a long time. The look in her deep blue eyes, Raven knew what she was saying. She was hurt, and no amount of words would change the feeling of betrayal she had. Zatanna bit her lip.

"Is that...really what you want?" She asked softly. Raven nodded

"If I have to get help, and become reformed," Raven began, "I want you out of the picture. Because every time I see your face, it makes my blood boil."

Zatanna looked down at her hands in silence for a moment. She wanted Raven to get help, she really did. At the same time however, she wanted to stay friends with her. Raven had been a really good friend underneath her constant sarcasm and and dark humor. They were close—even with the whole secret identity thing—and even with Zatanna lying about who she really was, she wasn't lying when it came to who she was deep down. She may not have told Raven her real name, but she was still herself around her. They knew each other better than anyone else. She didn't want to lose that. However, if that's what it took to get Raven better...

"So be it then." she mumbled as she looked up to meet Raven's glare. Raven gave no reaction.

"And don't even think about using a glamor charm to come talk to me." She said simply. Raven then stood, ready to finish the visitation, and go back to her cell. As the guards came Raven turned to her back to Zatanna, it hurt, but it had to be done. She had to end her relationship with her, otherwise she'd risk falling back into that dark place again. Everything about her made Raven feel angry, and though it pained her to leave the only friend she'd ever known in Gotham, she couldn't forgive her for lying. No matter what her intentions were.

~0~

"Raven? Raven are you listening to me?" Leland's voice called. Raven shook her head, she had been lost in thought for some time.

"Sorry, what?" she mumbled. "I kinda zoned out."

"I'm saying that you'll be able to leave Arkham tomorrow." Leland said. It had been a month since Raven's talk with Zatanna, since then Raven had been doing everything she could to get better. She had decided to take Ivy's advice. She was going to get out of Arkham the right way, even though Harley and Ivy had managed to get out the...less than legal way. Ivy had offered to bust her out if she had decided to go back on her decision, however Raven had declined. Deep down, Raven thought that maybe Ivy was a little proud of her for that. Now it seemed all the therapy, the medication, and talking had paid off. She'd be going home—or at the very least a chance to find a home.

"That mean this collar will be coming off too?" Raven couldn't help but ask. She missed talking to her familiar...and levitating. She loved using magic in the laziest way possible. Dr. Leland made a face.

"Not exactly." She said, "State still doesn't trust you to let you go without some sort of restraint, so the inhibitor collar will be staying. Also, you'll need to attend weekly sessions with me., however those will be at my other office."

"Fair enough." Raven said as she absent mindedly pet Cherie, "But, can I make a small request?"

"That depends."

"It's nothing big. I just...I miss my cat." Raven mumbled, "It's sorta hard to explain, but we...we're connected. Before all this I could talk to him, and—and all though it was mostly lectures—I miss talking to him."

"To your cat?" Leland asked skeptically. Raven nodded.

"I-I'm not trying to get rid of the collar, I'll wear it no problem." she said looking down at Cherie who looked up in turn. She grabbed him unexpectedly—to Cherie—and hugged him tight, "I just miss my friend. Is there...any way I could get to talk to him."

Leland contemplated Raven's request. Dealing with meta-humans was the sort of thing you had to handle differently, she still wasn't sure Raven could actually talk to her cat, however she couldn't deny that she had powers. It was very possible she could. Zatanna hadn't exactly been clear on all her powers. She let out a small sigh.

"I'll see what I can do about that. Meanwhile, can you promise me you'll behave until then?" She asked, "No temper tantrums with the other patients?"

Raven nodded, truth be told she still had a short fuse—especially with some of the other inmates—however she was working on it. "I promise. If it means I can talk to Cherie again I'll do whatever you need me to do."

"Words I like to hear Raven." Leland said. Raven smiled as their session ended and she was escorted back to her cell. Raven couldn't help but feel good; she was getting released, she was on the road to recovery, and—if she kept her temper in check until tomorrow—she'd be able to talk to Cherie again. Oh how she missed talking with him. It would be great to hear his voice again!

Raven smiled as she walked down the stone hall to her cell, as she did she saw a familiar costumed hero. She stopped for a second, Why on earth would Robin be in Arkham? He had to be with the batman, were they checking in on her? Her smile drooped, probably with Nightwing as a favor to Zatanna, since she couldn't do it herself. She watched as Robin suddenly stepped aside as if he was avoiding someone. Raven rolled her eyes, it had nothing to do with her. As she continued walking she caught another sight; a man with claw marks on his face, he looked vaguely familiar as he stood outside of the cell. She stopped as the man walked toward her.

"Do...I know you?" She asked. The man stopped in front of her, he cocked an eyebrow, "Sorry, you just...look strangely familiar."

"I don't believe so." The man said simply, "Excuse me."

with that he walked past Raven. Raven shook her head, she must have just been imagining things. She then continued walking, past the person the man had been talking to. It was a girl, no older than thirteen with ice-blue hair tied off into two lotus shaped pigtails and one long pony tail in the back. She was screaming for the man to come back for her. Raven shrugged; the man must have been her father. Still it had nothing to do with her. The kid would have to find a way out on her own.

Back at her cell she noticed another costumed hero. This one she was even less than enthused to see. Nightwing. He stood just outside her cell door. Raven scowled.

"I heard you were being released tomorrow" he said to her, Raven huffed as she walked past him into her cell.

"Congratulations, birdboy, you have ears." She said as the guards locked her in her cell, "I'm sure you over heard everything said in that offic. Evsdropper."

"I didn't...look, I'm only here to check on you." He said with a scowl similar to Batmans. Raven turned her head and crossed her arms.

"For the justice league, or for Zatanna?" she asked with a huff.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"Touche." Raven grumbled, turning to look at the masked hero, "Well you have nothing to worry about. I'm getting outta here the right way."

"Good thing. I'm just here to make sure it stays that way." He said, "And you can count on me checking in on you when you go home."

"Ah, screw you." Raven hissed, "I'm not even moving into that old house. I'm sure someone else had bought it anyway."

Nightwing nodded, "Well either way, don't for a second think that you're off the hook completely."

With that Nightwing turned and walked away, leaving Raven scowling after him. Still it didn't change the fact that she would be getting out tomorrow. Nothing could ruin that. Not Nightwing, not Zatanna, nothing. Who knows when she got out maybe she'd go back to highschool. She'd been studying while incarcerated—leland's orders—so she'd still be able to graduate with her class if she wanted to. Maybe Dr. Leland could put a good word in with the school system to let her back in. or would that be asking too much? Even so, Raven still wasn't sure what she was going to do when she got out. One thing was for sure though, she was gonna have to find a place to live. She could probably use her parent's credit cards or whatever to get a down payment on an apartment. Maybe she'd invite Harley and Ivy to—wait...that would probably do more harm than good. Raven shook her head and smiled. She did miss those two. Even if it was a short time spent with them, and even if Harley did start to grind on her nerves, she still saw them as a bit like family. After all Ivy had been the one to talk her into cleaning up her life. Raven wanted to badly to tell Ivy how much she was improving.

"Still," Raven said stretching her arms, "I suppose I can't complain. Right cherie?"

Cherie only responded with a mew, which Raven interpreted as a 'yes.' Raven smiled. Tomorrow was a new day, it was the beginning. A New life, with no complications, no crazy superheros at her neck, and no chaotic boyfriends to fight with. Speaking of Klarion; Raven couldn't help but wonder how he was getting along. Or if he knew about Raven's whereabouts?

"If he's smart, he'll stay as far away from me as possible." She said with a scowl as she laid down on her cot. She then smiled, "Tomorrow is a new day."

~0~

Meanwhile, in his own dwellings Klarion sat in his arm chair in his study. He let out a growl, so far his attempts to make Raven miss him had gone on unsuccessful. Instead of driving her even further into madness—in the hopes she come to realize he was her only true friend she had was him—the dreams had done nothing but further her decision on getting better. The news stated that she would be released the next day—much to Klarion's dissatisfaction—which meant he had one more chance to show her before he would have to move onto something else.

"You'll be in my arms again soon enough Raven." He said to himself. After this, if it didn't work, he would try a more 'hands-on' approach. One last chance to show Raven that she belonged to him and him alone. That's all he needed really. One. Last. Chance.

So what do you guys think of this chapter? I know it's been a long time since I wrote for this. Sorry about that. Inspiration has been lacking until now I've been reading a fiction by Nursejoy called 'the power of three.' it's a squeal to another story by her about Klarion and a certain kitty. If you're able you guys should give it a looksy. It's a sweet love story—the total opposite of mine—and great source of inspiration. See ya later armadillos—unless I see you first! Haha and don't forget to review!