Disclaimer: I don't own anything mentioned in this story, especially Teen Titans.


Chapter Five: Learning to Trust
Gar had taken Adam straight to his father. Dr. Logan would know what to do with the teen, and he had the authority to fire Adam. It only took Gar thirty seconds to explain what had happened to his father. Shock was apparent on Mark's face as he stood there in disbelief and anger.

"I can't believe this!" Mark fumed. Adam stood there with an open mouth trying to get an explanation out, although no one was listening to him. "You're fired. Get your things and leave immediately or I'll be forced to call the police!"

"But- but... You can't fire me!" Adam sputtered.

"I just did!" Mark yelled without realizing that he had raised his voice.

Clenching his huge fists, Adam had to resist the urge to punch Mark, but he could go without a police record. For a tense moment the two stood rigid, staring each other down. Then, Adam made a swift turn, making sure to glare his meanest at Gar who had been standing beside him the whole time. If the look was meant to intimidate Gar, it definitely worked.

They watched him as he stomped out of the building and screeched off in his expensive sports car. Once Adam was long gone, Mark turned to his son with a questioning look.

"Wasn't today your day off?"

"Yeah, I just came back for my wallet," Gar said as he rubbed the his ear with one hand.

"Well... what are you still doing here?" Mark asked jokingly. "Don't worry, I'll get someone to take over Adam's shift for today, and I'll have a chat with Raven."

"Okay, I'll see you at home," Gar replied hesitantly as he left the hospital.

The rest of the day was spent with Gar's cousin, Matt. They just sat around and played video games, then went out to get some lunch. The day went by slow. Finally, it was time for Gar to go home, so he left his cousin's house after saying a quick goodbye.

When he got home his parents were just sitting down at the table to eat dinner, so he joined them. "How'd it go?" Gar asked as he shoved some meatless lasagna in his mouth.

"You guys will have to cover his shifts until I get someone new." Gar just nodded in response.

"Did you talk to Raven?" A deep sigh escaped Mark's lips, and he brought one of his hands up to rub his eyes. It was obvious that something was wrong.

"She refuses to talk to me. In fact, she refuses to talk to anyone besides you. I don't understand her at all... I believe she might be a bit agoraphobic, as well." Stifling a laugh, Gar nodded with fake seriousness; Raven was just timid, at least that was what Gar thought.

"Don't talk about work during dinner," Marie broke in with her honey sweet voice.

Before he realized it, it was already seven the next afternoon. He had to work the late shift tonight, so he set off for work. The night shift had a reputation for being the dullest shift all day.

When he reached the hospital it was exactly seven thirty, which meant he was right on time. He walked straight into thee office, and plopped down on one of the seats. At eight he would have to give distribute the medication, then at ten he would do a quick bedroom check to make sure everyone was in their rooms.

After Gar had finished the magazine he had brought with him, it was time to give out the medication. While going through the mundane task, Gar began to day dream. Day dreaming was Gar's only escape from the boredom, besides bashing his head against a wall, of course.

What felt like an eternity, but was actually only about two hours, it was finally ten. All he had to do was peak in each door to make sure everyone was accounted for.

Finally, he reached the last room, which just so happened to be Raven's. When he opened the door he saw her sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. To Gar she appeared to be asleep sitting up because her eyes were closed and she looked extremely relaxed. He shrugged it off and closed her door, there was no reason for him to disturb her.

Strolling back to the office, Gar turned on the old computer on the desk. It had to be more than ten years old, and it took almost fifteen minutes just to start up. There was no possible way for him to surf the internet on this old thing, so he settled for a game of solitaire. After a few games, he was already bored out of his mind. Setting his head down on the desk, the teen used one of his arms as a makeshift pillow. No one would know if he took a quick nap. His eyes drifted shut as the world slipped away from him.

Gar awoke with a jolt. Still not fully awake, he panicked as his eyes frantically scanned the room. It took a minute for him to remember where he was, but finally once he was fully awake his eyes settled on the clock high above him on the wall. The clock read 1:03, Gar's eyes widened. Had he really slept over two hours?

If he stayed in the office any longer he was bound to fall asleep again, so he decided to take a quick walk down the hall. When he reached the end of the hall he noticed that the lights were still on in one of the rooms. Approaching the room cautiously, Gar opened the door silently.

There sat Raven on her bed, just like before, except now she sat with her knees up to her chest as she loosely hugged her legs. She obviously hadn't heard him open the door because she continued to stare straight down at the floor in front of her, her chin was rested on her knees. The expression on her face was one of extreme concentration, and Gar saw a hint of sadness in her dark-blue eyes.

"Raven?" The girl clearly jumped when she heard his hushed voice. Her eyes darted up to meet his, once she realized who it was who had called her name she relaxed ever so slightly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's alright." She cleared her throat.

"I saw your light on and I was just wandering why you were still up."

"Oh. You can come in if you want." Gar accepted the offer, and carefully shut the door behind himself. Standing in the middle of the room awkwardly, Gar scratched his ear. Raven patted a spot on the bed next to her signaling for him to sit down. Gratefully he sat down a couple feet away from her on the bed with a smile on his face. "Gar?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?" Gar was confused, he hadn't done anything that deserved praise.

"For sticking up for me earlier. I think you're one of the first people to ever trust me." Gar smiled proudly.

"It was nothing, really. So, what are you still doing up?"Raven fixed her eyes back on the spot on the floor that she had been so fascinated with just a moment ago.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"I'm working the late shift tonight," Gar answered before returning the subject to her. "So, what's your excuse?"

"Couldn't sleep," she answered bluntly. She had dark rings under her eyes, and she looked absolutely exhausted.

"Didn't you take your pills?" Raven turned her head away from him guiltily.

"No," she answered softly.

"I swear, I remember making you take them earlier." Gar thought about earlier that day, making sure that he had actually given her the pills.

"You weren't really paying attention, so I slipped them into my hand without you seeing," she replied honestly. Lying seemed pointless, although she wasn't quite sure why she felt so obligated to tell him the truth.

"Oh... How long's it been since you slept? You look completely exhausted."

"I don't know. Four, maybe five days," she guessed with a shrug.

"Why haven't you been taking the pills?" he asked with genuine concern. "Why are you so determined to avoid sleeping?"

"I'm afraid that Slade might attack me in my sleep," Raven dead panned.

"I see you've met Richard," Gar chuckled. It was obvious that she didn't want to talk about her insomnia, so Gar let it go for now.

"Yes, he's quite... interesting."

"That's the nice way of putting it, but he means well."

"He gave me a five minute speech on how he'll save the world." Gar laughed even harder. As much as she tried to contain it, a small smile managed to creep on to her lips. Finally, his laughter subsided and they sat for a moment in silence. "Oh yeah, I forgot to return this to you earlier." Raven reached down beside the bed and picked up the small book he had lent her. "I loved it, it was a really interesting book." The small writing on the spine of the book spelled out We the Living.

"Truthfully, I wasn't really paying attention when I read it, so I wasn't really sure of what was going on, but I'm glad you liked it." Gently, he took the book from her and slipped it into his pocket. They talked for a long time about anything that was on their mind. Although they didn't have much in common, they had no problem finding something to talk about. Gar made a few of his infamous jokes, and Raven just rolled her eyes.

Finally, their talking began to wind down, and was replaced with a comfortable silence. After a couple of minutes Gar broke the silence. "Raven?"

"Yes?"

"What'd you do to get sent here?" The small smile that was on her face a moment ago immediately disappeared, and she looked back down at the floor. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, I was just wondering," Gar corrected quickly, when he realized that what he said might have been a little too personal.

"It's fine," Raven replied somberly. She swallowed before continuing, "I live with my mother and father, who owns a big financial company or something. My father is under a lot of stress all the time, and he gets angry easily... I was never the perfect child. I always got good grades, but I got into a lot of trouble... He threatened me a lot, and at first it scared me, but then I realized he wouldn't actually going to do anything." She shifted uncomfortably, past memories began to flood her mind.

"But I was wrong... He hit me a couple times, but it wasn't very often..." It was getting harder for her to tell. "It started to get worse, so I tried to stay out of trouble... but it wasn't so much punishment anymore as it was his way of venting from a stressful day... My mom tried to pretend that she didn't know what was going on. She thought that closing her eyes would make it all go away. I avoided my house as much as possible, but that didn't work. He thought that I was getting into drugs or something, and that made him even angrier... Then, he started threatening to kill me, and I believed he would do it, I still do... One morning I woke up, and there he was standing next to my bed. He started yelling about something, and he dragged me out of my room. All I remember was that he kept saying he was going to kill me. He pulled me into the kitchen and hit me in the face. I couldn't take it anymore, I just flipped. I ran over to the counter and grabbed a knife, and I just ran at him. If it weren't for my mom I might have killed him, but she came in and stopped me... My dad said I had gone insane, and then he sent me here."

Silence filled the room once again. Gar scooted a little closer to her. Reaching out, he set a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. The sudden contact made Raven flinch. Slowly, she raised her gaze up to meet his. His eyes were filled with understanding and sadness.

"I'm afraid, Gar. I hate this feeling of helplessness," Raven said softly.

"It's okay to feel like that. Everyone feels helpless sometimes, Raven, but you just have to overcome it... I'm here for you. We're friends, and friends help each other out. If you ever need me, Raven, I'm here to fight by your side." Gar gave her a reassuring smile.

"I need to get out of her. I need to get away. Away from my father, away from my past, away from all of it. I need to run away and never look back," Raven said. Her eyes watered and she tried desperately to keep her tears from falling, but a few got past her barricade. Gar pulled her into a hug, and he felt her tense up for a moment.

"I know. And I'll run away with you if you need me to. I promise, Raven." And she knew that he was telling the truth.

The two had met only a couple of weeks ago, but they already trusted each other with their lives. They were almost complete opposites, but they seemed perfect for each other. Nothing could go wrong, could it?


A/N: I absolutely hate this chapter! They seemed really OOC in parts, too. Oh well. Sorry that it took me so long to post this, first I was on vacation, and then when I got back I tried so hard to write this. I ended up sitting in front of my computer three days with almost nothing written, but finally after so much struggling I wrote this at midnight on Friday. And I'm sure that a lot of the facts in this chapter are incorrect. I haven't read We the Living, but it's my sister's favorite book, so I decided to make that the book he lent her, although I'm not even sure what it's about. Well, tell me what you think if you can, it would be greatly appreciated.

ravenmasteroftele: It's exactly the same for me! Aren't parents annoying sometimes. They see kids as little slaves. lol. Thanks! You're the best!

Beast Girl 433: Thanks! I tried to make him a real jerk. No offense taken. lol. If I can make anyone's life just a little but better than I know I'm doing a good job. I can't wait for the movie to come out! It's gonna be awesome!

Tails-Coyote-Carnivore: Yeah, Adam was either Malchior or Adonis, although I never really could decide. Cookie! I hope this didn't take too long, cause I really want that cookie!

addicted2danny: Thank you, Captain! I will live up to my title as first mate! Give me a name, and I'll make you crazy, Captain. I can even make a whole biography on you, I'll name it: A Pirate's Life. Okay, well that title needs work, a lot of work, but a better one will come to me soon.

IGAF-kun: Sorry, I tried to put more description in this chapter. I hope you liked this chapter. :)

Kinz: True, but who does? Nah, I'm just lucky, anyway I'm sure your writing is much better than you may think. Of course I will update! I live on candy, it's my main food group.

Kaos Kraze: The story should be getting more interesting now. Yeah, Adam was meant to be a total jerk. I just went camping in the mountains up in northern California. I brought you a little souvenir, it's a mug shaped like a black bear, it was the best I could find. Hope your summer gets better, mine has been pretty boring so far too.

Esplodin' Ookami: Thanks! Who said anything about being released? I don't have a problem with that! Please, I'm not looking for a fight here, I'm just trying to mind my own business. I'm sorry, don't hurt me!

Django X: Thanks! I've just been lucky so far. You're too kind!

Hide-because-it's-me: Adam is either Adonis or Malchior whichever you think, although I'm leaning more toward Adonis because he was Gar's rival. I wasn't sure what book to make it! I wanted something that was meaningful, but it was extremely difficult to find one. Not only wound that hurt, but my chair would get all bloody. Fine, I'll write if I must! What a wonderful souffle. The pancreas was nice and juicy. If humans aren't supposedly edible why do they taste so good?

Rainbow-Jess: Thanks! I won't disappoint you. :)

Overactive Mind: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Richard probably won't change much. I had planned for them to meet, but you helped me make it a little sooner. So, I guess you did influence me. :)

Crazy Sugar Girl: Thanks! Yeah, Adam was meant to be like Adonis. Good guess!

beautifulpurpleflame: Thank you. The story should be interesting to say the least, I have some big ideas for it. My vacation was pretty good, thanks.

Carly Luvz U: Thanks! I'm really glad you like it so far.

BlackoutHart: Oh, sounds fun! Don't eat yourself into a chocolate coma. I'm not even gonna ask what the sausages, ketchup, and mustard are for. I love marshmallows! I accidentally drooled on my laptop a little and it caused it to short out, damn braces! I hope you have fun at your sugar party, fun fair thing. I'm jealous. :)

queenOFanime535: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I'll make you wait as little as possible. :)

teentitansraven2: Thanks! I'm so glad you like it! I won't let you down. :)

Lilliesofthevalley: Yeah, that's the worst part of vacation, all of the stuff you have to make up for when you get back, but it's also nice to have something to look forward to when you get back. I'm glad you liked that one.

Shay Bo Bay: Hahaha. I don't know, I haven't really thought about him. Maybe, if I can figure out how to add him in, he will make an appearance. But I can't promise anything. ;)