Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or any of the characters
Rachel tended to her garden as she always did. She picked out everything from her carrots, to her radishes to her tomatoes, being sure to take the ripest ones of the bunch. Nothing was very different about this time, except for one detail. She was happier than she had ever been in her entire life. It had been five days since Garfield and her had become a couple, and she loved every microsecond of it.
The girl looked over her shoulder to see him picking some more fruit from the trees, knowing that they would be eating many apples or pears in the near future, much like they always did. He saw her and smiled at her before climbing down.
"Need any help with the garden?"
"No" she answered "I got this covered"
"You sure?"
She nodded.
The green boy merely shrugged that off and headed back inside the house… after coming over to her and kissing her cheek of course. Rachel returned to work, smiling timidly and blushing. How lucky was she? She had met this young man only a few months ago and now… she loved him more than anything. Not since her mentor's tragic death had she let someone into her heart like this.
He was just such a nice boy. Kind, brave, funny… well maybe not that last one. Anyway, she loved how much he helped her and cared for her. Like how he cooked most of the time, how he always try to make her smile and how he held her close to him whenever she had nightmares. Why only a few weeks after meeting her, he laid down next to her so she would sleep better. That was very helpful to her, as she seemed to be getting more and more nightmares.
That's when a horrible thought went through Rachel's mind. The nightmare she had on that night was the first time she had seen her father. It was a bit of a coincidence how she would have that nightmare not very long after meeting Garfield. She began to think into more detail. The night she met him, he saved her from a pack of hungry wolves. Wolves rarely attack humans anyway, so it was quite convenient of him to be there at that exact moment. Too convenient even.
The happiness in Rachel's mind then turned to anger. Was Garfield connected to her father somehow? No, that couldn't be possible, she would have empathically sensed if he was trying to deceive her. Yet again, her father was apparently a powerful warlock. And magic to cover up one's true emotions was not unheard of. He must be linked to Trigon in some way. How could he have done this to her? She trusted him, befriended him, loved him! She invited him to stay, made new clothes for him and opened her heart and soul to him. How could he take advantage of her like this? She felt betrayed, used, manipulated.
She started to imagine what plan her father was concocting. Sending Garfield to her so he could gain her trust, only to then stab her in the back and take her to her father. Probably something around those lines. Well she wasn't going to let that happen! She tried to calm down, make sure her emotions were in check. Maybe she was overthinking this, maybe this was just a convenient thread of coincidences. But yet again, this seemed a bit much to just be coincidences.
She stopped her work in the garden and made her way into the house, seething with rage. She saw him, preparing their lunch as he did normally.
"So, you done in the garden?" he asked before turning to face her.
His smile. Even though now she was almost sure he was faking it, looked real.
Garfield seemed surprised at her expression "Everything okay?"
"How could you!?"
The surprise on his face turned to complete confusion "What are you talking about?"
She took a step towards him "You know exactly what I'm talking about!"
His confusion grew more and more, shifting now to worry "Rae, I-"
"Don't you say my name" she shouted, her emotions causing one of her books to fly across the room. Rachel concentrated on controlling her anger, but that was no easy task. "How could I have not seen this sooner?"
"Rae, please! Tell me what's goi-"
"Are you working for Trigon!?" she interrupted "Look me in the eye and tell me!"
"Rachel, calm down! I'm having a hard time follo-"
"Shut up!" She slapped him across the jaw so hard that I caused him to fall down.
He rubbed the cheek that was now sore "You… You hit me? What the hell's gotten into you?!"
"That's nothing to what I've got planned for you next! Now tell me, why did Trigon send you to me?"
"What?"
"Don't play dumb. Answer my question"
He appeared beyond nervous "I promise you, I'm not working for your father"
She didn't believe him for a minute "Oh really? Then how do you explain the fact that you saved me from that pack of wolves at the perfect moment? A second later and I would have been wolf supper, yet you came at just the right moment!"
Beads of sweat were rolling down his face "I don't know what to say. I heard you screaming, I came to help. That's what happened"
"Liar! What about the nightmare about my father, hmm? Pretty big coincidence that I got it not so long after meeting you."
"Rae" he told her, his voice shaking "Please listen to me"
"No you listen. I allowed you to stay in my home, and you betray me like this? How could I ever believe that someone like you could ever love me?"
The sweat ran down his face even faster "Rae, I do love you."
"Of course you do" she said sarcastically "A freak like you love someone? How is a monster capable of love?"
Tears ran down his eyes and mixed with the sweat, and his face seemed to turn to anger "What did you call me!?" he said with a low growl present in his voice
"Oh don't give me those crocodile tears" she shouted "And since you're not gonna tell me about my father's plans, I'll just have to find out by other means"
She closed her eyes and focused her powers on entering his mind. She tried to search for the memories which involved Trigon giving the instructions to him. But she found nothing like that. She did, however, find other memories.
Rachel saw a young Garfield, playing with his parents, having fun with them like she imagined most young children would. She then saw him when he was ill, and his transformation into what he was today. The villagers who tried to kill him on his first day out of the house, the final words given to him by his parents, his home being burned and the sounds of his parents screaming in pain. Him living for years in nature, living on the food he could find in the woods. Rachel saw everything.
She immediately pulled out of his mind. Garfield was staring at her in anger and fear, and not without reason. She had yelled at him, accused him of treason, hit him and invaded the privacy of his own mind, and for what? Her hypothesis was proven completely wrong. She had released all her anger on the person that she loved because she thought that some random events somehow meant that he was working for her father. Maybe she was a bit right to assume that some of this was suspicious, but she let her anger get far too out of control. All her nightmares and fears of her father had boiled up into this horrid explosion of rage onto her boyfriend.
She leaned out her hand, wanting to treat his sore cheek, but Garfield took it the wrong way. He morphed into a rabbit and ran out of the house and into the forest.
As soon as she saw him leave, she chased after him. He was the only person whom she had loved, and she had practically told him to get out of her life. She called him a monster, how could she even say such a thing like that? She had to apologize for what she did, even though he may never accept it.
"Garfield!" she cried into the forest "Garfield, I'm sorry!"
She heard nothing but the rustling of the leaves in the wind.
A/N: 1. Happy Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Holidays everyone! Hope you guys have an amazing time with your friends and family!
2. I know, it's been a few months since my last upload. Sorry about that
3. I tried my hand at some angst/drama here, though I'm not sure whether or not I'm any good at it.
4. Yeah, I guess it is cruel to leave you guys on a cliffhanger after months since my last upload. BUT WORRY NOT! For the next chapter will most likely be in much less time than this one.