Alright, it's time we get this show on the road. I've been looking forward to getting this little arc here going for a long while. I hope you all had enough tissues after last chapter. Just be warned the starting out to this ain't going to be pretty. In more ways than you're thinking right now.


Mailbox Time:

Random Useless Info: Sorry for the wait. I'll say we'll probably be stuck in the depression cycle for a while though.

Golem XIV: As an old man once said, "This is not the fluff you're looking for" old friend.

neslykoki: First off, thank you for the birthday wishes! I'm sorry to send you off crying though. Hopefully this chapter makes you feel slightly better (I don't have much hope with everything that goes down in it)

ANTI REAPER: Does anyone really like to cry (besides like, that one goddess in Rick Riordan's book "The House of Hades" I think her name was Ackyls or something like that)?

J-Rob95: Well that's certainly an optimistic comment there. Or Raven's dry tone of sarcasm. I'm not sure to be honest.

Eris: The things you'll do out of anger. We'll have to see about Beast Boy's drawing book now that it's served its purpose.

Pixel-Pie02: Thanks for the birthday wishes too 'old' friend. Hehe. You said it yourself in the comment. I hope this chapter doesn't take you through a whole box of tissues like the last one!

frog31791: You know, I guess that's one way of putting it. I don't have too much to comment on there because in a lot of ways it's right.


Since Last Time: 2 more favorites, 2 more follows (Total: 273 Favorites, 317 Followers


Updated: June 5th, 2019 10:45


Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. I don't own much of anything as a college student if I'm being honest.


Chapter Forty-One: Heartache in Star City


A couple of days later…

The sun blazed high up in the blue clear sky. The last couple days of the storm had finally given way to one hot humid summer day in Star City. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky up, and boy was the sun scorching the city down, with the temperature being in the high 90's, and the low 100's.

Despite the heat, the citizens of Star City were determined to be out in the city to enjoy the day rain-free day. Some ate at restaurants with outdoor seating. Some window shopped what was on display in the store windows downtown. Others were on their way to the parks with their family. They all looked somewhat happier with the sun shining up above... Even though most knew that another storm was supposed to come that night. And according to the weather channel, it was supposed to be worse than the last few.

Maybe they hoped that the weatherman was wrong like he usually was, or maybe they didn't care about that night when the sun was shining now. Regardless, the citizens of Star City seemed determined to enjoy their day…

The scene focused on one of the outdoor restaurants.

A blonde haired guy in jeans and a green t-shirt sat back in his chair. He had his menu up in front of his face.

Opposite him sat a black haired girl dressed in a knee-length blue skirt and a black t-shirt. She had her menu on the table in front of her, and she was calmly reading from a book she held in her hands.

It looked almost like a normal outing between two teenage friends at first. A passerby wouldn't even sense any problem between the two 'friends.'

Garfield lowered his menu and revealed his face. Despite the hologram rings he was wearing, there was no way of hiding the bags under his eyes. Bags that spoke of the lack of sleep he had gotten the last few nights sleeping out in the open. He also had a frown that had taken over his face the last couple days. He looked rather miserable sitting in his seat, opposite her.

'Dude, this blows.' Garfield thought before he quickly glanced up at the girl opposite him.

Rachel looked plain and normal to him. Like she wasn't even affected by what had happened the last couple days. In fact, she looked as great to him now as she did before... everything fell apart.

Garfield raised his menu to his face again and pretended to look over all the options on it. All of them contained one type of meat or another. From beef to pork, turkey, salami, fish, and a bunch of other types of meat.

He didn't really care though. He was feeling either really depressed, really angry, or a mixture of the two. Enough that he was willing to try meat if it meant distracting him from the last couple days.

He and his friend had made surprisingly good time to Star City from where they had been at before. But that was because she hadn't spoken to him once, and he hadn't tried talking to her either. Not when he had made their meals (with extra bacon for her) and ate somewhere else away from her so he could fulfill her desire to stay away from her. Not when they took breaks as far from each other as possible in a clearing to recover from traveling; nothing. Even their usual training sessions had stopped, being replaced with more traveling. Even despite his reputation of being the former talkative Titan, he hadn't tried to break the silence. He was too depressed to try.

And now... she still hadn't spoken to him while walking through the city. Even though this was the closest he had been to her since a few days ago. They had merely walked into the city in silence, and shortly after before he could ask her what they should do, she had walked them up to this restaurant, and besides when she ordered a drink, she hadn't said a word.

On the bright side, the extra exercise he had gotten from focusing on traveling had improved his endurance to the point that he felt like he could run or fly for hours now instead of minutes like before...

...

Garfield sighed. It didn't seem like much of a bright side to him when he had to be silent about it. 'Beast, please talk to me. You know Rae doesn't want to talk now, and I just feel so lonely.' He thought to himself.

That was probably the only other thing that could have made him feel worse. The Beast's sudden silence in his mind. All he could feel coming from the primal entity was a sense of depression and despair. He had tried everything he could to get the Beast to talk to him. He had even tried to recall the image of Raven in just a towel despite how guilty it made him feel for thinking that. Yet the Beast never spoke back to his pleas. He was, for once, nowhere to be found in his mind.

It was ironic. Beast Boy hadn't wanted to talk to him at all before, and now when he really needed the Beast, he wasn't there.

Garfield clenched the menu in his hands. 'Beast! Please!' He mentally yelled.

After a moment, he seemed to realize that his claws had come out and he was damaging the menu. He angrily retracted his invisible claws and put the menu back down on the table. Nothing on the menu looked good to him. Who was he kidding? Not even the possibility of eating meat could distract him.

'I don't even know why I ordered a drink! Or why I'm just sitting here across from the most stubborn empath to walk the planet! I'd be better off walking to a different restaurant and meeting up with Rae later when I'm sure Mento knows where we're at!' Garfield thought darkly to himself as he crossed his arms.

Then again this city was also infamously known as Green Arrow's hideout. He or Raven could possibly be ambushed here because of the Justice League presence. They hadn't seen any other heroes for a while because of the storm, but there was always the chance, especially in the city, that they could be found. And it'd honestly be better if they were found together instead of alone, even if they weren't getting along well in that moment. That was probably one of the few things keeping him there opposite the cold apathetic looking Raven. Besides the other things going through that good heart of his.

'Stupid, freaking, stubborn, self-absorbed apathetic goth girl who I'm stuck with until this whole mess blows over...' That, however, didn't mean that Garfield didn't have to be happy about it.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the table, Rachel had put down her book, and was staring at her menu. Not looking it over, but staring at it. Her unblinking eyes couldn't focus on the words on the menu or her book. Which she hadn't turned the page of since walking into the city. Not when it was taking everything in her to try and stay calm and to not break down again from the guilt she still felt.

Besides, it was better looking down at her menu than looking up at her 'friend.' Not when she could still feel his sorrow and anger rolling off him in waves.

As if because of the thought, she became aware through her empathy that he was feeling very dark in that moment. Even darker than normal. 'I wonder what's up with him now.' Raven thought.

'After the way you've treated him for the last few days? I'd want to leave you in a prison cell and throw away the key.' Knowledge said bluntly in her mind. She was the only one who still spoke with Raven. Though it was rare when she did.

'What do you mean? I'm just trying to avoid interacting with him so I don't make him feel worse. You know what'll come out of my mouth if I try to talk to him.' Raven thought almost angrily back.

Knowledge did know. She knew Raven's self-defense mechanisms to avoid further being hurt all too well after the young monk, Malchior, and other such incidents. It took her a moment of having to examine the situation for Raven to see what the problem was...

'You know Raven. I'm not seeing anything that doesn't have meat on this menu.' Knowledge said more calmly.

'So, why does that matter?' Rachel thought almost as an afterthought.

'Garfield doesn't eat meat, Raven. And besides the way you've been avoiding him, I'm sure he's feeling dark at the moment because out of all the places you could have chosen, you chose an all meat restaurant to eat at.' Knowledge said.

It took seconds for Knowledge's meaning to kick in, and when it did Rachel visibly blanched. She hadn't even been paying attention to where she had walked into. She had just felt hungry and picked the first place that felt like food. She finally focused on the menu and quickly read through it. She did her best to keep her breathing under control. 'Oh crap… oh crap oh crap oh crap!' She thought. No wonder he was feeling dark at that moment. It almost made it look like she was going out of her way to be a bitch to him then.

Her attempt at calmness almost faltered at the thought.

'Raven. We have to eat somewhere else. At least for him.' Knowledge said to her seriously.

Raven sighed. 'I can't… then that might make him want to talk, and then I'd just hurt him more... Garfield will live. A little meat won't kill him.' Rachel thought to try and reassure herself.

'You wouldn't dare do that to him.' Knowledge said almost as if she was taken aback.

'Do I have any choice? What I could do by speaking could end up hurting him worse than some beef.' Raven mentally asked.

Crack.

An empty glass that had been sitting on an empty table behind her was encased briefly in black, causing it to crack. Rachel hid her surprise very well as she quickly reined in the stray bit of power and looked back.

'Raven, that isn't the right thing to do here, and you know it. I have your memories of the monks of Azarath teaching you better manners than this to deal with negative situations. I even have his memories of why he hates meat from your little adventure in his dreams! You owe him!' Knowledge yelled at the end.

Rachel mentally groaned. 'I'm can't though. Not when-' She thought.

Crack.

Again, the cup behind her cracked some more. Rachel again had to quickly rein in the stray bit of power that escaped. '-Stop doing that! I meditated all this morning so we could be out here in the midst of all these people!' Rachel mentally commanded.

'I'm not doing anything to keep your powers in line Raven. The loss of control is completely on your end. Denying the guilt at choosing the wrong place is only going to make it worse.' Knowledge said in her mind.

Crack.

The cup behind her was now cracked in almost a spider web formation. Rachel looked around to make sure no one had noticed. She seemed to be very afraid on the inside now that she was about to blow their cover after so long…

'Please! Stop!' She begged mentally.

'Then eat somewhere else so the guilt will lessen to a controllable level!' Knowledge yelled.

'But then he might question it and make me hurt him with my words!' She thought back.

'Raven! If you won't do this, then why are you even staying with him since that would risk hurting him more!?' Knowledge yelled back.

Garfield was finally brought out of his mental tantrum and he looked up at the sound of the third crack. "Where's that sound coming from?" He asked.

'Because… because I…' Rachel tried to think.

At that moment, the waitress for their table approached with their drinks. Rachel's was a herbal tea, and Garfield's was a soft drink. "Here are your drinks. Are you two ready to take your orders?-" The waitress started to ask.

Ksch!

The surprise interruption by the waitress was too much, and the glass behind Rachel shattered loudly on its table. The three of them, along with the other customers nearby looked in surprise at the table.

"What in the blazes was that?" The waitress asked as she quickly went over to the table. Garfield looked to Rachel, who despite her holo-rings looked pale.

"Rae-Rachel?" He asked.

Rachel tried her best to calm herself. It felt like things were already starting to spin out of control though. The guilt of not only choosing the wrong place, but potentially blowing their cover and getting them captured and sent away was slowly starting to-

"Sigh, that's the third faulty cup that's shattered this week." The waitress said almost casually to herself as she grabbed a broom and dustpan nearby to dust up the pieces.

Rachel almost visibly relaxed, and the power that she felt had been about to escape from her disappeared. She quickly set her menu back down. She hadn't realized she had been gripping it so harshly with everything that had been going on. 'Too close. Way to close.'

Garfield was still looking at her in confusion. "What was that Rachel?" He asked.

Rachel didn't speak, she focused instead on taking deep calming breaths until the waitress came back a few seconds later. "I'm sorry about that, would you like me to take your orders before I deal with this mess?" The waitress asked.

"Yes... um, actually, my friend here is vegan. He had some pretty traumatic experiences with meat in the past. I didn't realize when we walked in here and I got my drink that this was an all meat joint. Do you happen to know of any other restaurants in the area that serve vegetarian food by any chance?" Rachel quietly asked.

The waitress put her hand to her chin in thought. "I don't… but I can check with the chef while I throw these away if he could make an exception to his all-beef rule for your friend." She said with confidence. "I'll be right back." She finished before she started to walk away.

Garfield had a look of surprise, and confusion on his face now. "What happened? And I thought you chose this place because it didn't have vegan." He asked as he crossed his arms angrily.

Rachel raised her book to hide her face. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention." She tried to say calmly, but she had to put more focus on not saying something harsh. So instead of calm, it sounded more quiet and ashamed. "I'd rather not talk about it right now, please." She said almost beggingly.

Garfield still looked angry, but there was also confusion in his face. Finally, he sat back in his chair. "Alrighty then." He said.

'Was that so hard?' Knowledge asked.

'I could have hurt him worse. He's still angry with me.' Rachel thought.

'But you didn't. And you might have just taken a step in the right direction because of this.' Knowledge said.

Rachel almost let hope come from the thought. Maybe, maybe she could work things out with him… the thought was immediately crushed by the anger still coming off him though. Anger at her, and anger at himself.

'How could I ever fix what happened there short of going back in time to when we were at the Tower?' She sadly asked.

For once, Knowledge didn't have a response...


A couple hours later

"Now that looks pretty cool!" Garfield said excitedly. He seemed a little bit happier after getting to eat a nice hot 'meat-free' tofu lunch a little while ago.

Rachel looked to the side again. Garfield had run up close to another window, and he was looking in awe at the game console on display inside. She had thought they would merely walk around town after lunch to some rendezvous point with the Doom Patrol, but he seemed hell-bent on stopping at every window possible to ooh and aah at whatever was on display. Granted, she felt a little better that after finally getting an infusion from tofu (she'd have to find that waitress another time and thank her for twisting the chef's arm into handling the stuff. The chef had acted even worse than how Cyborg reacted to being asked to cook tofu according to what she'd told Rachel and Garfield) that Garfield was finally acting a little bit happier than before.

"Dude, they literally came out with another upgraded version of the GameStation while we've been out! And they're selling it for half the price of what the original was!" He said excitedly.

Rachel groaned to herself and quickly looked around to make sure no one was giving them any odd looks on the street. Of course, they were getting a few odd looks from passerby. And from two oddly dressed hobo guys who walked by eyeing the two of them.

'Great. Just great.' She thought. It didn't help that she could barely stomach her food because of how ashamed she felt for making such a huge mistake in the first place. Now she was having to fight off being annoyed at her friend and feeling guilty at the same time.

'We're supposed to be finding the Doom Patrol. Not gawking at every stupid gadget that's come out while we've been exiled.' Rachel thought. Even now, Garfield still had a way of irritating her that went past the hurt and shame.

'Oh boo hoo Raven. We didn't see him complaining when you stopped to look at that one store with all the hooded jackets and the other one with all the trinkets on display for ten minutes.' Knowledge said.

'Okay, that was two stores. This is just some stupid low class-' Rachel was mentally responding irritably.

Crack.

A corner of the shop window started to crack. Rachel immediately stopped thinking and started to say her mantra under her breath over and over again. 'Please, not again!' She thought to herself.

"Rachel, that's the fifth store window that's cracked so far."

Rachel stopped her mantra and looked back up. Garfield had turned and was staring at her. He looked really nervous, but he bucked up his courage. "I know things have been thin ice between us lately, but is there something going on with you today? You're breaking more things now than you have the last few months." He asked.

'If only he saw my room before I cleaned it…' Rachel thought depressedly. She had been glad the furniture inside had been made of nanotechnology. It had taken a few simple commands to rearrange the nanobots back into what they had been before her powers ripped them apart from each other.

Crack.

Rachel grimaced a bit and tried to rein in the sadness.

"Rae-chel?" Garfield asked as he took a step closer.

Rachel turned away and shook her head. He didn't get any closer. "One, I'm still mad at you, and that has made me off a little bit." She gritted out. It was part of the truth, though she didn't dare to voice the other part. "And two, I'm just wondering why you aren't leading the way to your te- family. It's kind of already the middle of the day, and you're wasting time window shopping at every store on this street in broad daylight. Where we could be found by the wrong people." Rachel managed to say calmly, though with some impatience in her tone.

Garfield sighed quietly to himself. 'I was hoping she might be more open after what she did at the restaurant.' He thought as he looked up at the sky above him.

"Hmm, what do you know. I lost track of time. I could have thought Steve would have found us by now." He said.

Rachel arched one of her eyebrows. "You're saying that you haven't been looking for them this whole time?" She asked blandly.

Garfield shrugged. "Hey, I don't know how they've disguised themselves, and they don't know what how we've disguised ourselves. But there's been a reason why I've been getting so close to the windows." He said.

"You mean you weren't just acting childish," Raven said with some bite in her sarcastic tone. Then she grimaced to herself.

Luckily, he ignored the comment and turned to face the window again. "Do you see that security camera up there in the corner?" He asked as he pointed to it.

Rachel looked around to make sure nobody had noticed. This time it seemed like people were just leaving them alone now. She walked up to the window next to Garfield and looked up. "... yes." She said as she saw it.

Garfield then pointed with both ring fingers to the game console again like he was excited to see it. The action clearly revealed the rings on his fingers to the security camera. He made the same excited face from before. "I'm sure that Steve has Bob scanning footage from all over the city for us. I just figured if I were to do this at enough of the windows, Bob would eventually recognize what the rings were from me waving my hands in excitement." Garfield simply explained.

'That's actually pretty smart of him.' Knowledge commented.

'I can't say that out loud. He might get the wrong impression-' Rachel started to think.

Crack.

Garfield looked up in surprise at the corner of the shop window as it cracked some more.

"Again, are you sure you're okay-" He started to say.

"That's pretty smart of you Garfield. Good job." Rachel said quickly before she turned and walked on down the street. Garfield turned, looking even more confused again at her sudden comment. 'Why is she being all mood swingy now?' He thought.

'Urgh... why are you making it so hard for me to ignore him!' Rachel thought.

'You know it's not us doing that Rachel.' Knowledge replied.

Raven groaned… because Knowledge was right, again. 'Sminkle smarkle smarty snark.' Rachel mentally groaned as she walked on.

"Hey Rachel, what about this window here?" Garfield called behind her.

Rachel stopped and turned to see what Garfield was pointing at. He was smiling next to a window showcasing a mannequin in a red dress. Rachel saw the security camera in the window, and inwardly she knew why he had said that. He wanted it to pass off as normal to anyone who might be watching them.

Still, the words left her mouth before she could even think. "What, are you going to draw a picture of me wearing that too now?" Rachel snapped.

Crack.

Garfield's smile dropped, and his hand clenched into a fist at his side. Rachel mentally facepalmed. "Wait, I didn't mean-" She tried to say.

Garfield turned around and walked away up the street. He took in a deep breath and tried to relax. 'Okay, so it's still thin ice between us. But I don't need to break it in the middle of the city. I just have to deal with this long enough, and then Bob will eventually get the message... hopefully in another hour or two.' He thought to himself as he walked away.

Crack.

Another window cracked a little bit.

'Can't I do anything right?' Rachel thought miserably again as she followed along behind him.


The sun had moved across the sky and was now close to the western horizon. It was still hotter than the inside of the devil's armpit, but clouds had finally appeared in the west. With the promise of bringing colder temperatures, and a very large storm with them.

By now, the residents in the city were getting into their various cars. Rush hour traffic was very prevalent all around, but the sidewalks were almost strangely deserted of people. As was the street the two were walking on since the road was under construction at that moment and closed off to the rush hour traffic.

"Aw dude, why did so many cool things have to come out while we were gone!" Garfield said excitedly as he ran up to another store window. He pointed excitedly at a Virtual Reality set inside. "Wait, this thing can connect to that game station I saw earlier! Dude, that's so cool!"

Rachel stood back near the edge of the sidewalk. She had resolved to try and be silent now. Since she saw emphatically that her friend was only putting up a front. He was still mad about her earlier comment. And it felt like anything she tried to do made her powers that much more unstable. She still had a strange feeling that Knowledge had something to do with it. But most of her knew the real reason was on herself. For not being a better person. For trying to put off not fixing what she felt couldn't be fixed. The list seemed to go on and on. And her only reluctance in trying to fix it was what had happened on the hill, and that damn drawing!

Rachel looked around herself again to make sure they weren't getting any odd stares. The only odd stares she found were from the same two hobo guys she saw earlier sitting on a bench nearby. They seemed to show up almost everywhere they went for some reason. She didn't really think much on it though as she looked back to Garfield.

"Dude, according to this you put it over your eyes and then you're able to see all these awesome dinosaurs! That'd be so cool! Wait, it's only less than $50! Dude, that's a steal! I totally need to get one of these! Is the store open, argh! They just freaking closed, that's ridiculous! Nobody should close this early!" Garfield said in mock anger, yet excitement as he looked in awe at what was on display inside.

Rachel didn't say anything. She could tell in that moment that the darkness that had been around Garfield lately was starting to lift the littlest bit with how excited he was about the VR set. For once he wasn't faking excitement at what he saw behind the window. She found it to be a surprisingly welcome change that almost made her want to smile.

'You know Raven, I'm sure that darkness would fully disappear if you told him you forgive him right now.' Knowledge suggested.

Rachel sighed. 'I can't. I want to, but I can't. I still don't understand why he did what he did.' Rachel responded without a second thought.

A sigh came from her mind. 'You're probably right. We just hate seeing him feel this way because of us.' Knowledge said.

'It wouldn't have been this way if he'd never drawn that drawing of me. If he hadn't admitted to staring at it wanting me. Wanting my body…' Rachel tried to feel angry at the thought. It was scrapped away though because she couldn't feel angry at him. Maybe she wanted to write it off as a boy thing to do. To want to visualize what a girl's body looked like. Or maybe she wanted to think that he had been staring at her like that because of something different. Something...

"Wait, dude! There's even a thing here that allows you to fly around in an X-Wing! That'd be so cool to just fly around and blow up Tie Fighters and stuff! Haha, fight the Empire, heck yeah dude!" Garfield was pointing his fingers in all directions in front of the window display. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to her anymore.

Rachel groaned to herself and walked a certain distance away down the street to rub her forehead. It seriously felt like she had bipolar disorder or something like it. Because now she was being annoyed by how bright his countenance was instead of being glad that he was at least brighter now and less dark than before.

'Of all the contradictions in my mind-', Rachel started to think when she'd put sufficient distance between them.

"Hey, pretty girl."

Rachel turned towards the voice in slight surprise. She had walked right by the bench the two hobos had been sitting on. Both of them were now looking up at her. "You look awfully alone. Did your friend forget about how a beauty such as yourself needs attention?" The hobo on the left asked.

Rachel stopped thinking. The two guys who had been following them around all day had not so good grins on their faces.

"Maybe you'd like to take a walk with us and leave your friend there? We'll be sure to give you the attention you need." The other hobo said in a suggestive crude manner before winking at her. He and his friend stood up.

Rachel could practically feel their lust coming off them now that they were close. And as she thought on it, it wasn't like how Beast Boy's Lust had felt like. It was like there had been some other emotions packed into it. No, what these two men in front of her were giving off was pure desire. A desire that made her feel sick to her stomach.

She slowly shook her head and started to back away. "How about we don't, and say we did." Rachel said before she turned to walk back towards Garfield. She felt really cold on the inside and opened her mouth to call to him.

Snatch!

One of the guys grabbed her arm and put Rachel in an arm lock, his other hand covered her mouth before she had time to yell. "Come on now. That isn't the way you're supposed to act girl." The guy said darkly in her ear.

"We just want to have a little fun is all." The other said as he got beside her, blocking her from the view of construction. There wasn't anyone else on the sidewalk besides Garfield. Rachel couldn't turn her head to see him or what he was doing.

Rachel tried to tear her arm out from the other guy as he painfully started to lead her away. "Let go of me. Azarath-!" She had barely started to shout her chant when the guy clamped down over her mouth tighter. "Oh, we can't have a pretty girl like you calling for help now. Though to be honest, there isn't really anyone who'll help you out here." The guy restraining her whispered into her ear.

'No! I need my powers now-' She tried to think.

A look of fear and alarm came onto her face. She felt the other guy's hand move down her back going for the bottom hem of her t-shirt. They were leading her towards an alleyway. "Now, if you'll be nice, then we'll make sure this is nice and quick-" The guy was saying.

Bam!

Rachel brought her head back into the guy's face, bloodying his nose. She also tried biting down on the hand over her mouth. He dropped a cuss word, but instead of letting her go his grip on her clenched even tighter. The one hand over her mouth moved down to grip her neck, while the other that had been going for the hem of her shirt gripped her buttocks instead.

"Hmmm, I like my girls feisty. It makes choking them out so much more fun." He said into her ear. Rachel found herself unable to breathe. She was angry, but she was far more afraid. Tears started to fall from her eyes as she desperately wished for her powers to work without her mantra. "No, please-" She choked out as she strained to do something as simple as breath.

She felt the other guy's hand grip her abdomen. Slowly moving its way menacingly up towards her chest. They were close to entering the alleyway out of sight. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this one George." The guy restraining said in an almost evil filled voice. A voice that was a thousand times worse than anything Rachel had ever heard before. It was like hearing her own father speak to her through the man.

"Let's hurry. I've been wanting to do this all day Fred." George replied to his friend.

Rachel started to sob. Tears fell from her eyes down her cheeks onto the dirty hand that belonged to one of the individuals she realized was about to rape her. 'Garfield never felt like this. Never. Even when he went through his heat cycles!'

Too bad that realization had come too late for her. Now she and her emoticlones were wishing they hadn't been so quick to assume. "Please, please don't-" Rachel tried to beg as she felt herself becoming lightheaded. The one guy's hand gripped part of her chest in anticipation.

Pow!

The guy named Fred who had been holding Rachel hostage while choking her was suddenly knocked to the ground. He put a hand over his face. "Awew! Mi hode!" He yelled in pain. Now that his nose really was broken.

Crack!

Before his friend could register what had happened, a hit dropped to the ground just as quickly. He screamed in pain after he felt something in his arm snap. The arm that had had the hand gripped to Rachel's chest.

Rachel quickly took in deep gasping breaths while simultaneously backing away from the two. Her eyes were wide in shock and disbelief, and she looked to be on the verge of a panic attack. She then looked to the side with wide eyes to find out who her savior was.

Garfield was standing there with his hands still in the form of two rock-solid fists. His face, which had looked so cheerful before, was leveling a glare so harsh and primal that it made the demon in her want to slink away and hide. The guy who had had his nose broken visibly wetted his pants when he noticed the glare.

"Unless you want to find out what I'm really capable of, you'd better leave me and my best friend alone. And never, ever, show your faces around us again." Garfield said in an almost primal voice. His barely held back rage was evident in his tone. Yet it wasn't the Beast doing this. It was all him.

He put a protective arm over Rachel's shoulders to demonstrate his point. Rachel felt so numb at that moment, she allowed Garfield to do so.

The guy with the broken nose helped his friend with the broken arm up from off the ground. "Fine, we didn't want your ugly hoe friend anyways! Keep her for yourself!" The hobo without the broken nose yelled before they fled. The guy with the broken nose was too scared to say anything intelligible. Eventually, they ran around a street corner and disappeared.

Garfield glared after them for a moment more. He wanted so badly at that moment to chase after them. To hurt them more for even having the thought of hurting the shaking girl beside him. But when he was sure they were gone he immediately let go of the anger and looked down in concern at Rachel. "Are you okay Raven? Did they hurt you? Did they-"

"Stop." Rachel cut him off in a small voice. "Just, get me away from here, please." Rachel said quietly. Almost brokenly. But certainly begging.

Garfield looked at her for a few seconds. His face had a wave of different emotions cross it. Then he nodded his head. "Okay, I can do that."

He led Rachel away from the scene.


A couple of minutes later

Garfield still had his arm over the slightly shaking Rachel's shoulders. They were now on a different street. A street that had considerably less traffic, but was also packed with more people. There would be no chance of what had happened mere minutes before happening again.

Garfield looked around himself. 'Those creeps have been following us ever since we left that restaurant. I should have realized what they wanted to do. I could smell the hormones coming off them from a mile away. I'm so stupid. Stupid. Stupid!' He mentally berated himself. Though now there was thankfully no sign of them anymore.

He was only slightly worried that the incident would somehow reach the wrong ears in the police department. But for now, most of his worry was focused on one thing. And she was huddled underneath his right arm, trembling with fear and disgust. Whether at the two guys or at him, he didn't know.

After a moment of walking, he spotted an empty bench. "Do you want to sit down there Rachel?" He asked her.

Rachel didn't say anything, but she shakily nodded her head.

Garfield guided himself and Rachel to the bench. Then, feeling that Rachel probably didn't want him touching her, he started to raise his arm off her shoulders.

Rachel grabbed his wrist with her hand. "Wait. Please, don't take your arm off yet… I need some comfort right now." Rachel whispered.

Garfield was slightly confused, but he didn't take his arm back. "Okay, Rae." He said quietly.

To think that this was coming from the girl who only a few days had told him she never wanted to see his face...

The two of them sat down on the bench, with Garfield holding Rachel close to him in a protective embrace with one arm. His other hand rested on hers, rubbing calm circles along her palm. For a while, neither of them spoke…

"Garfield..." Rachel finally said.

"Yeah, Rachel?" Garfield asked.

"... what's wrong with me?" She quietly asked.

Garfield looked down at Rachel's almost huddled form. He might have been a little surprised to hear that statement from her. He might have also been surprised at the fact that she had tears running silently down her face. 'If I hadn't been so distracted by that freaking Virtual Reality headset!' He thought angrily to himself. 'I know she's been a real jerk the last few days, but I can at least understand why after the way I betrayed her trust! What those two jerks were going to do to her… no one deserves that.' He thought bitterly.

"Rae-" He was about to say something cheesy like 'there's nothing wrong with you.' But he cut himself off. He knew that kind of comment wouldn't work. "What do you mean?" He asked instead.

Rachel sniffed. "I don't understand. Why is it that I can bring out the worst in other people just by being nearby. Why do all the good things I find have to be taken out of my life? Is it like Zatanna said? Will, will I always bring out the worst in others, will I never have good things just because I was born as an evil demon?" She asked in between tears. She looked more like a young normal woman at that moment then he had ever seen her before in his life.

Garfield didn't say anything for a long while. He simply observed his friend next to him and waited as she sobbed quietly. He wondered deep in his mind if it was what had happened recently with them that was on her mind, or if it was just everything in the world from the Justice League to a bunch of other things crashing in through a wide whopping hole the two low lives had most likely made in her emotional wall… and now she was really being exposed to the world for everyone to see.

"Raven." He finally spoke. Then he paused to choose his next words carefully. She looked up at his face, with tears shining in her eyes.

"The problem isn't on your end... It's never been on yours. You're one of the best-hearted people I know. You, you really deserve so much good in your life Rae. And, it's their fault when they choose to be bad, not yours. It's…" He took in a deep breath. "It's my fault that I hurt you and betrayed your trust, not yours. I'm sorry." He said quietly before he hugged her.

Rachel immediately returned the hug and rested her forehead against his shoulder. She didn't openly sob, but she let her tears fall onto his shoulder. It hadn't been the words she was expecting from him. But they meant so much to her at that moment. "I'm sorry Gar." She whispered.

Hearing that name instead of Beast Boy made him feel a lot better.

After a moment, Rachel let go of Garfield. He also let go of her and watched as she wiped the last of her tears from her face. His ears drooped a little bit as he saw a little of the old Raven starting to return to her face. He could imagine her beginning to patch up the hole in her emotional defenses. Though how she'd do it, he didn't know. "I'm sorry about the hug Rae. I know you haven't wanted me close the last-" Garfield started to say.

Rachel lifted her hand in a gesture of silence. Garfield stopped speaking. "Gar, I... honestly needed that more than you realize... thank you." She said quietly.

"Does that mean..." Garfield trailed off.

"It means... that I've realized what happened at the bottom of that hill was an accident... I sensed lust coming off you back then, and… I felt it through your pants too." The comment made him blush a bright red. "But I assumed wrong." She continued. "I felt your emotions back then, and I felt the emotions of those two idiots that wanted to rape me. And I should have realized that while you were turned on, you didn't want to take me there." She trailed off for a moment. "Plus... to be honest, I have been a bit of a bitch to you the last few days." She finally admitted.

Garfield rested his hands on his legs. He chuckled a little bit at her choice of word. "Yeah, I guess that's one word that could apply to it." He said as he sat back.

"Oh, what other words would you add to them to make me feel more guilty?" Rachel blandly asked.

"How about torture, unusual punishment, hell, and the like." Garfield said rather jokingly.

"I could show you what hell actually looks like if you really wanted." Rachel jabbed back.

Garfield chuckled for a moment. "Nah, I'd rather not experience what you put that redneck through in Smallville. Thanks for the offer though." He joked.

Rachel almost had a smile come onto her face. It was like the shocking event had finally put them up the path back to normalcy.

"So… does this really mean we're all good now Rae?" He asked.

Rachel went silent... the almost smile became a creased frown when she looked up into his eyes. She hadn't felt like she could talk openly with him before. But realizing what he had willingly saved her from… and the fact that her emotions were completely shot anyways. "Not completely. I still want an explanation for why you had those drawings of me if it wasn't to admire and lust after my body like those two hobos were. I need to know what made you want to draw them." Rachel said.

She looked hopeful that she could get an answer that could put everything that had happened back in its place.

Garfield heaved a sigh of relief and opened his mouth to explain... except that nothing came out. 'What do I say?'

The Beast didn't respond. He might have poked his head out of his den briefly, but now he was back in his somber den inside Beast Boy's mind.

"Gar?" Rachel asked almost a little unsurely.

Garfield shook his head to clear it. "Um... sorry I-"

Kckckck!

At that moment, a black limo screeched to a stop on the side of the street right in front of them. The two of them looked towards it in surprise.

"Mr. Garfield Logan and Miss Rachel Roth, your limo has arrived courtesy of Steve Dayton." A robotic voice spoke from a speaker on the side of the limo.

Vmmmm...

The back passenger door to the limo opened up after the voice was done speaking. Within seconds, the door was open in front of the two. "If you could hop right in please, Steve Dayton and his wife are eager to see you two."

Garfield looked at Rachel. His face was a little crestfallen. "I'm sorry. I want to explain it, Rae. I just, I can't." He said to her.

"Why?" Rachel asked almost in disbelief.

"Because... because everything could change if I were to explain it. And… maybe I just need some more time to think." He said.

Rachel looked calmly up into his face. He had a sincere look on his face, and especially in his tired baggy eyes as he looked pleadingly down to her. She had to ponder for a space of a second what he could have meant with that statement. 'Everything could change? Haven't things already changed enough for us?'

"Gar, I really do want to trust you again. I really do... but I need, no I want to know why." Rachel said simply.

Garfield sighed, and then he and Rachel walked to the door of the limo. "I know Rae... I promise, after this is all over, I'll tell you. I promise. I want you to be able to trust me." He gripped her hand at the end. "Because I trust you."

Rachel didn't say anything at first and climbed into the limo. Then Garfield got in after that. Before he could close the door though, Rachel suddenly embraced him with a hug again. "Please, Gar. I've already lost so many of my other friends... I can't lose you too." She admitted quietly.

Garfield couldn't respond. He was again shocked by her action. After a few seconds, she let him go and silently went near the front of the limo. Tears again coming down her face. Garfield gulped, and then he closed the door behind him.

Almost immediately, the limo took off down the street. Garfield sat down in a seat in the back and looked out the window at people as they drove by them.

'What do I tell her... should I just express my feelings, or should I joke that I was practicing drawing French models...'

… He seriously pondered on that thought for a moment.

'That might not be the best thing to do actually... But I don't want to just outright express something she might not have for me... but if I did, and she didn't have those feelings, she wouldn't think I was trying to harm her in any way... and even if she doesn't have those feelings now, she could in the future... if we have a future that is...'

Garfield groaned to himself and took off his rings. Within seconds, he appeared as normal Beast Boy again. The windows were tinted so no one could see inside the limo. 'Dude, why does it have to be so hard! Isn't there some other way for me to explain it that'll put everything behind us!' He thought.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."

Beast Boy looked across the limo. Raven had taken her rings off too and was sitting cross-legged in the air. She recited her mantra over and over again as she got into her meditation. Without the rings on, Beast Boy was able to see where the low life had held her by the arm before. He could also see the bruises forming where he had gripped around her neck, and he could also see some bruising by her leotard on her bottom…

A deep, almost dark anger built up in Beast Boy at the sight. A protective feeling stronger than anything possible to be described. The only words that could capture a portion of it were the will and desire one had to protect his/her mate from harm...

Mate...

The anger immediately drained away, and Beast Boy sat back in his seat and sighed longingly. 'What do I do?...'


'Knowledge, what's the situation on the inside?' Raven thought as she meditated.

'It's… not good.' Knowledge said to her.

Raven almost paused in her chanting. 'Define, not good?' Raven asked. Though to be honest, the black sparks that were starting to come off her even while she was meditating was a good sign as to what she meant.

'Brave and Rude are having to hold down Rage at the moment.' Knowledge started to list.

'Let go of me! I will have their heads on a silver platter for what they tried to do to me!' Rage's angry bellow was heard in the background.

'Lust is, um, not being herself.' Knowledge continued.

'I never, ever, want to hear the word sex again! You got it Love?! Never!' Lust yelled furiously at her counterpart.

'But, but you're supposed to be lust-' Love tried to reply.

'Nuh uh! If what those two guys were giving off were lust, then I'm not going to have anything to do with that bullcrap! For now, you can call me Chastity!' Lust firmly responded… for now.

'And most of the rest of us are a wreck. Not to mention, the emotional defenses you had set up in your mind are in shambles. Which is also why your powers are also escaping right now.' Knowledge finished off sadly.

'... so, you're saying…' Raven couldn't get herself to finish the thought.

'Yes. If we were to picture your emotional defenses as a wall, we could say that it was being shot at before with the events that happened between you and Garfield. And what happened with those two… (insert harsh demonic growling describing the two bastards) they might as well have knocked the wall down with how little defenses we have now. I'm sorry, this is something we just can't fix on our own.' She said sadly.

Raven stopped thinking at that for a moment. 'Then… how do we fix it?' She thought.

'We're going to meet up together soon to discuss it. But the best option I have for fixing our defenses is to fully make up with Garfield. We won't be able to work together in fixing the 'breach in your wall' so to say while we're still racked with guilt over him.'

Raven sighed. 'I want to. But you know we can't until he explains the drawing.' She thought.

Knowledge sighed in her mind. 'And I agree. We can't fix this until we get an explanation from Gar… we know what happened on that hill wasn't bad at least...' Knowledge trailed off depressedly. 'I'm sorry Raven. I really am. If we only hadn't been so quick to assume, maybe things could have worked out better... I'll go work with the others for now and try to keep things under control here. Just… please try to keep a handle on your powers for now. The last thing we need is to accidentally hurt him with an outburst.'

'... I'll try.' Raven thought, even as she felt the water bottle in the holder next to her get covered in black.

Raven opened her eyes. She floated back down onto her seat, looking down sadly at her hands.

Raven took in a deep breath… 'Okay. This isn't so bad. I'm just a little out of control. But I'll be okay.' She thought.

Crack!

The window next to her cracked from her powers.

'Never mind. This is bad. No, this is my worst nightmare come true...' She thought.

Raven looked across from her. Beast Boy was facing the window next to him. He had fallen asleep with his chin resting on his hand, but even though he was asleep he still looked tired and defeated. As if he was now charged to deal with an impossible task.

Raven looked back down at her hands... Then she hugged them to herself. She inwardly felt so alone at that moment... even with Garfield sitting only a dozen feet away. And despite his comfort earlier, now she wanted to cry and scream at the world for how cruel it all was. First, for the loss of her friends and family. Second, for the loss of her freedom to live peacefully in the world. And third, for being forced through a traumatic situation, again. Without her consent.

She looked to the fourth and hopefully last cruel thing that she didn't want to end up on that list. Because if she really lost him... 'I really hope Garfield has an explanation soon. Now I don't just want to fix things with him, but I need to fix things with him... I just don't want to be alone.' She thought sadly to herself while forcing down her tears.

They could be saved for later.

The limo drove on, heading deeper into Star City with the heart-aching couple inside.


Author's Notes:

Again, I went back and forth on the last scene there. But I think it came out satisfying enough. Hope you all enjoyed it!

Till Next Time

Allen Blaster