Chapter 45

Hello everyone! And we're back! How's everyone doing today? Anyway where we last left off Raven had just gone to bed after quite the over whelming welcome from Sue-sue. So let's get right to it shall we? ONWARD TO THE BATTLE FIELD!

Raven sat up and looked down at the devil haired boy, whose arms were firmly around her. She sighed, recalling all the night before. She remembered finding out about her friend Mary…or more accurate, Zatanna's lies about herself. She only pretended to be a normal girl, while keeping Raven from the one thing she desperately wanted to be a part of. Magic. She kept it from her, and mocked her for trying to learn it. Zatanna could have taught her everything she knew, they could have fought by each other. Helped each other. Instead she lied.

She lied and instead Klarion, her now boyfriend, had taught her everything. She'd even managed to beat Zatanna, and had moved in with her new boyfriend, whom she loved deeply and whom loved her in return. Raven groaned, the fight the night before had taken their toll on her body, and even gifted Raven with one hell of a headache. She groaned, bits of the battle were fuzzy in her head. Mostly, she remembered fighting a real heavy hitter with magic. Probably nabu. They'd fought before—it had resulted in raven losing her memory—and she pretty sure Klarion had come to her rescue. He always did. She always enjoyed that about their relationship. Klarion had her back and she had his. Klarion was protective but stayed out of it when Raven asked. It showed how much he cared.

As Raven began to relax, the scene suddenly shifted. What was once the bed she shared with Klarion, was suddenly a broken up street way. Cars, buildings and even the pavement were broken and out of place, as if a major battle had taken place. There was fire and blood, the sky was dark with a red moon above her. Raven looked around from her spot on the ground. Frantic and scared. She had no idea what was going on. Suddenly she felt the shadow of a presence above her. Slowly, Raven turned to see Zatanna standing above her, smiling evilly.

"Poor Raven," She said standing over her, "You actually thought you could beat me in a duel of magic?"

Raven stared up in fear. She'd never seen Zatanna like that, so angry, so spiteful….so evil. She tried to crawl away from the red eyed sorceress, but she spoke a spell and soon Raven was off the groud and forced to stand by her. Zatanna's hand found its way to her throat, and she could feel the pressure of her esophagus being crushed. She looked at Zatanna with a pained expression as she started to claw at Zatanna's hand. She never imagined Zatanna could get like this. That she could be so bloodthirsty.

"What's wrong Raven? No Witchboy to bail you out of another scrape?" Zatanna asked menacingly as her form then changed to that of the blonde haired girl she'd once called a friend, "how's it feel to not have a friend in the world? You left the only person who gave damn about you."

Tears swelled in Raven's eyes as she thought back to every happy memory she had. All of them featured Klarion, and the one's that didn't made her head hurt and were tainted with lies. Zatanna laughed manically.

"You killed so many people, the world would be better off without an evil little witchgirl like you!" She shouted and lifted Raven above her head. "I'm going to do the world a favor, and end your pathetic little life! Not even the justice league would argue with a monster like you out of the picture!"

With that Raven felt her body levitate high in the air. She saw the evil, toothy grin that decorated Zatanna's face.

"Now, witch girl, DIE!"

~0~

"Raven!" A voice shouted, shaking Raven from her horrible nightmare. She gasped and sat up in bed. She looked around in a panic and for a moment forgot where she was. Her gaze landed a girl she didn't know, her concerned face stared back. Breathing heavily, Raven held her head in her hand.

"W-where…where am I?" She asked in a tiny voice, her memory still foggy. Sue-sue placed a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her. Cherie was also close by her.

"You're at Haven House, you came here yesterday." Sue-sue explained.

'calm yourself Raven dearest.' Cherie's voice echoed in Raven's head. 'Calm yourself and try to remember. We arrived at Haven House yesterday and met Sue-sue. We came here to start over.'

"R-right…" Raven said, still trying to catch her breath as she started to remember. Sue-sue, the girl she'd met the day before. She began to recall the reason she was there, and what she was planning to do after. She sucked in one last breath and she calmed herself.

"Are you ok?" Sue-sue asked, Raven nodded looking up at her.

"Just….just a nightmare." She answered. She'd been getting those a lot since arriving at Arkham, she was a little disappointed that they'd followed her. Sue-sue let out a breath of relief.

"I'm glad you're ok." She said, "When you started shouting in your sleep I was worried."

"I-I'm fine." Raven mumbled, still a little shaken. "S…sorry to worry you."

Sue-sue smiled warmly, "You'll get used to it here I promise. Everyone has nightmares when they first show up here. a few nights and you'll be having good dreams again."

Raven nodded. Sue-sue's voice sounded like that of a veteran. Almost as if she'd gone through this more than once, and was already used to everything. She sighed. She probably was, after all she seemed to be very friendly with the woman in charge. Sue-sue stood and smiled.

"Why don't we get you something to eat, you were already fast asleep when I came to get you for dinner." She said, "Let's get you some leftovers and warm milk. That'll help you sleep more soundly."

"Yeah…sure Sue-sue. Thanks."

~0~

"So how are you settling in Raven?" Dr. Leland asked. Raven had just arrived to her daily session with the good doctor. She shrugged.

"Good I guess. I've only been there one day. So, it's not like I have a lot to report." she said as she sat in the leather chair with Cherie on her lap. Leland smiled from behind her desk.

"That's an...interesting outfit you have on today." She said gesturing toward Raven's shirt. Raven looked down. She had once again borrowed Sue-sue's clothes, today's mismatch consisted of a bright pink sweater with brightly colored rainbows, stars, and a while unicorn, and a pair of lime green leggings. Raven felt her face grow warm as she recalled the walk over. People stared at her more often in those clothes than when she wore her usual Goth look. At least people didn't say anything about it.

"I uh...yeah...These clothes are not mine." She mumbled, Leland chuckled.

"Clearly, so who's are they?" She asked as she scribbled down notes on her clip board.

"My roommate's. She lent me some of her clothes yesterday...and today." She explained, "Until I can get my own."

"So you've made a friend?"

"Well, I mean, I guess...kinda?" Raven stumbled, "I mean she's nice and all. A little on the odd side. But, I don't know."

"Do you want to make friends Raven?" Leland inquired. Raven paused, she'd thought about it but not in depth.

"I don't know. Making friends isn't exactly my specialty." She mumbled.

"Did you not have friends before all this?"

"I had one friend in Gotham, but she...turned out to be a terrible one." Raven answered, thinking back to Mary, she decided to keep it to herself that she was really Zatanna. No reason anyone else should know about that.

"What about your old school?"

"Not really...I pretty much kept to myself then." She said, "I had my cousins though, Gideon. Especially."

"Oh? Why don't you tell me about him?" Leland suggested. Raven shrugged.

"Not really much to tell. He lives in Oregon, and only visited on special occasions." She explained "He's a few years younger than me. I haven't seen him in a long time. I think he's ten years old now?"

"You two were close?"

"Yeah, I mean when he'd visit he was practically attached to my hip." Raven continued. "Made staying home a lot more fun. We'd play games, and I'd help him learn how to read. He's a smart kid. Sometimes a little too smart for his own good."

"Well, it's good to know you had family members that you were close to." Leland said kindly. Raven shrugged, "So, how was your first day at Haven House?"

"Not bad I guess. Like I said before, not a lot to report. I met this girl who lent me her clothes." She reported, "She introduced me to everyone there, and I met this real nasty girl. I can't even remember her name."

"And your first night?"

Raven paused for a moment, causing Cherie who was on her lap, to look up at her.

'Raven dearest? You are going to tell her aren't you?' Cherie asked, Raven swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

"Raven..?" Leland cocked an eyebrow as Raven remained silent.

"Well, everything was fine—is fine." She said, and everything was, at least at Haven House. Leland's brow rose. "I'm getting along fine with everyone, I just...last night, I had a really horrible nightmare."

"Last night? Did anything happen?" Leland asked that had gotten her attention. Raven shook her head.

"No. nothing like last time." She said, "I think whatever Nightwing did to my collar to let me talk to Cherie, stopped me from torching my bed again."

"That's good." Leland sighed in relief. Raven nodded, "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

Raven retold every detail she remembered from her nightmare-(excluding the Mary/Zatanna transformation). She didn't really understand why she was having these nightmares to begin with. She'd slept fine up until her time in Arkham, and even then her nightmares were that bad. Well except for the one that led to her setting fire to her bed, that one was pretty bad. Just what was it with all these dreams that showed her being killed? And why did she dream about Klarion? She wanted nothing to do with that bastard, ever since finding out the real reason he gave a damn about her. Maybe it was her subconscious telling her she really did miss him? As she thought that she felt a slight growl in the back of her head.

'Klarion is a child, and you do not need him.' Cherie hissed inside her head. 'If we ever encounter that brat again I will slaughter him myself.'

Raven rolled her eyes, sharing in her familiar's opinion. However Klarion wouldn't be so stupid as to try and show up. Not after their last encounter where she threatened him, after nearly killing Uriah. He wouldn't dare show his face to her after that. Would he?

"Raven?" Leland's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Are you listening?"

"Sorry, I...I was thinking about something." She answered, Leland frowned.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked.

"Nothing important."

"Raven..."

"It was nothing, I promise. Nothing serious anyway." Raven said putting her hand up in defense. Leland closed her eyes, deciding to let it slide for now.

"Alright, I was just saying that I think your dreams are do to a feeling of guilt." She explained. Raven frowned.

"Guilt? From what?" she asked.

"Well, from many things." Leland began as she sat back in her chair, "You did a lot of deplorable things before Arkham, I wouldn't be surprised if your subconscious was feeling guilty about it all. As for your former boyfriend, I believe a small part of you doesn't know how to cope with the loss of someone you felt a connection to, and that you want to feel that closeness again with him."

"I hate that asshole!" Raven shouted standing up, "He used me and abused me! I don't care if that bastard lives or dies!"

"Calm down Raven." Leland said calmly, "Remember what I said about that temper?These outbursts you have are going to get you into trouble if you aren't careful."

Raven took a deep breath and tried to calm down, then sighed a rather forced, "Sorry."

"Now," She continued, "I wasn't trying to imply that you wanted to go back, but I believe some part of you may be clinging to a part of your past, when you were happiest. And you were happiest when you were with this Klarion right?"

"I...I guess." Raven mumbled. "I still hate him."

"I know, but you need to let go of that anger you feel toward people. Otherwise, you won't be able to move forward with your rehabilitation." Leland explained, "You'll end up right where you started again. You don't want that do you?"

"No.."

"Good, so you'll work on that temper for me?" Leland asked. Raven nodded, "Also good. As for your roommate, I think it would do you some good to make a new friend. At the very least it wouldn't hurt to try. Right?"

"I suppose." Raven sighed, "Sue-sue seems nice enough...sure, I'll give it a try."

"Words I like to hear." Leland said closing the folder she was in and standing, "Why don't we call it a day and pick back up tomorrow."

"Sure. Ok." Raven said then laughed, "Not like I really have a choice."

"You always have a choice Raven." Leland said seriously, "Never forget that."

Raven paused, that was seemed to be the tenth time she'd heard someone say that to her within the last few months. Ivy, Zatanna, Uriah...even Cherie, maybe there was something to that? Or maybe she was just over thinking it.

I feel this chapter was rather short, I swear its not filler. Even if it feels like it. Everything in this chapter plays an important part. Sorry for that little teaser at the end of the last chapter, I was somewhat curious as to how everyone would handle that so I'll admit it was a bit of motivation fuel for myself. Well anyway that was chapter 45. I hope you all enjoyed it. Don't forget to keep reviewing, its what keeps this fiction alive. You guys are the reason I keep writing after all n_n SEE YOU LATER ARMADILOS—UNLESS I SEE YOU FIRST HAHA!