Back again! I am extremely sorry for how long it's taken me to update. But I haven't been too well recently, so unfortunately this little fic of mine has been the last thing on my mind. But, perhaps updating will keep my mind off things.

Still do not own the teen titans

This time, when Raven opened her eyes, she was not filled with panic, but with warmth. She struggled to turn to see Gar asleep next to her, his arms grasping her as if at any moment she would just fade away. Not wanting to wake him, Raven aid peacefully enjoying the silence. She studied his face, the scar that ran from his left ear down to his neck, the curve of his lips, the freckles on his tanned skin, and the way his eyelashes fluttered from her breaths.

"I'm so hot aren't I?" Gar chuckled, startling Raven out of her trance.

"You wish," she replied coolly, not bothering to deny her staring. "I thought you were asleep," she continued.

"I was, but then I felt you moving and woke up. But, I didn't want to deny you the pleasure of staring at my oh so handsome face."

"Ass," Raven said, moving to punch him in the shoulder, but felt a sharp pain in her arm as she moved it, "aagh" All at once, the pain and memories of the previous nights came back, and Raven burst into tears.

"Rae, it's okay," Gar rubbed circles on the violet haired girl's back, "I'm here, it's okay,"

Raven knew that had anyone else told her these things, she would have immediately defended her pride saying that she didn't need anyone and that she was okay on her own, but Gar's soothing voice only made her cling to him further.

After a few minutes, Gar spoke, "I'm going to go get Rita so she can check up on your injuries, Okay?"

Raven only nodded her head, not trusting her voice to speak. Accepting this, Gar slowly got out of the bed and went to find his adoptive mother. He didn't have to go far, as she and Steve were sitting at the kitchen table, coffees in hands.

"I see you finally decided to wake up," Steve noted

Out of habit, Gar immediately began to form excuses.

Rolling her eyes at the two, Rita stopped him before things got out of hand, "he was only kidding, sweetheart"

"Oh"

"Is raven awake as well?"

"Yeah, but she's in a lot of pain,"

Rita gave a solemn smile, set her coffee on the table and followed Garfield to the guest room. She gave a quick knock before entering, surprised to see Raven sitting up on the bed.

"Goodness, honey, lay down! I'm not quite sure the extent of your injuries, so I don't want you to put any strain on anything!"

Raven was taken aback by Rita's forwardness, but quickly did as she was told.

"Are you absolutely sure that taking you to the hospital is out of the question?" Rita asked, motherly concern clear in her voice.

"Yeah, I don't have insurance and the last thing my father needs to deal with is overpriced hospital visits when all of this could be dealt with with a little first aid." Raven said weakly as she has said a thousand times.

Rita only nodded, seeming to understand that there was more than what Raven was letting on, but made no move to question it. Rita checked and re-bandaged all of Raven's visible injuries, but at Raven's protest didn't go any further than that.

"thank you," Raven said simply when Rita was finished, and pulled her into a quick hug before retreating into the living room in search of Gar.

"Raven wait!"

Raven was confused at Rita's apprehensiveness, until of course she found Steve arguing with someone at the door. Ignoring Gar's protest, she went to see who this mysterious being was.

"Hello daughter."

Everything around Raven began to spin, and if Gar wasn't by her side to steady her, she surely would have fallen to the ground.

"Well," Trigon began "Now that I see that my daughter is most definitely here, may I come in to discuss why exactly that is."

Realizing that he really couldn't deny Trigon his request, Steve moved to the side and motioned for him to come inside.

Raven avoided eye contact with her father, who may have seemed calm on the outside, but was surely seething with anger on the inside.

"Raven, dear, I was most surprised to return home after my business trip to an empty house."

"Empty?" Raven repeated, in a manner that seemed dumb, but was merely clarifying that the house was indeed empty. She didn't remember much after Slade forced her into the shower, only bits and pieced of running to Gar's house. She wasn't sure if Slade would have stayed and waiting for Trigon to return.

"Yes, empty"

She supposed not.

"You see sir," Steve began, "I myself am not concerned with the emptiness of your house but with the injuries that have been sustained on your daughter."

"Ah yes I suppose there is that matter to be addressed. Well, daughter, why don't you do us a favor and explain it all to us," There was a certain threat in his voice when he spoke to her. As if she didn't choose her next words carefully, there would most certainly be hell to pay. The look in his eyes told her exactly what that hell would be.

"I was, um, on my here. I wanted to hang out with Garfield, and I was attacked on my way." She looked to Rita and Steve "I would have explained later, but I didn't want to get Garfield in trouble"

Gar looked incredulously at Raven. He opened his mouth to challenge her story, but her stare shot daggers directly into his soul.

"I was being an irresponsible teenager, and I got what I deserve" her voice sounded to sickeningly like her father's she almost broke down completely. But, she couldn't afford to do that. Right now she needed to be strong, for not only her own sake, but for Gar's. If Trigon knew that Raven had mentioned Slade to the boy, Gar would wind up with a far worse fate than Raven.

Trigon spoke before anyone else had the chance, "Well, now that we have all of that cleared up, I believe it's time for me to bring my daughter home." He got despite the clear protest on everyone's faces, grasped Raven's shoulder and ushered her out with him.

When they were in the solitude of Trigon's car, Raven took the opportunity to ask her father a question. "Where's Slade"

Trigon looked Raven right in the eyes as he said, "Dead"

Raven gasped, though she wasn't surprised. In doing this to Raven, Slade endangered everything that Trigon had going on. She was shocked, however, to see Trigon looking at her with almost sympathy in his eyes.

"This made me realize something very important," Trigon took his stare back onto the road as he spoke, "People like Slade just can't be trusted with something as important as my company"

Raven looked at him curiously, not sur where this line of conversation could possibly lead.

"Then I noticed how you dealt with that boy and his family, and realized that the only person that I can trust with my own company is my own blood"

"What?"

"Congratulations, my daughter, you are the new vice president of Trigon Industries."

Well I didn't see that coming… what about you? Review, and perhaps you'll see me again soon…