Chapter 15. Secrets part 2

Meliah pushed him away softly and walked to the window. The evening was upon them, the city lights could have been a beautiful sight in other circumstances. "Do you know how he found out of what we can do?" she said to his reflection on the window. "He followed me to your parents boat"

"What?… is that why you were hiding?" He asked. Slowly coming closer.

"No, I didn't know at the time he had been following me, I was there because there was no way I was going to stay behind."

"So, when you said that you were like me…" Trying to understand that other bit of his memories.

"I had already messed with the vials. At first nothing happened but as I was making my way out, I felt a chill run inside me then burning. Your parents found me outside their lab right before I passed out. I got pretty sick for the remaining of the week until the day you were departing. I had the same symptoms you did. I made myself get off the bed and tried to get to you before it was too late." she turned to him and walked back to the sofa and continued.

Beast Boy had forgotten to breath until he whispered "You could have died"

"I know" she said with a sad smile. "I just wanted you to know that I was like you, that you didn't have to leave" He nodded with a knot on his throat.

"I was pretty disappointed when I didn't turn green" She said with a sad chuckle. "But I felt different. I followed your parents to the boat and waited till the next morning"

"You spent the night alone in that cabin?" he said while he came closer and kneeled in front of her.

"I didn't think I was alone. I heard steps around the deck, so I figured it was your dad. I stayed there until you showed up the next morning"

"What happened after I left? "

"During the storm, I came out to the deck after your dad came for you, then the lightning stroke the boat and it was already sinking and fire was everywhere. I heard faint voices over the storm… I managed to get to the railing and saw your parents overboard and you were no where in sight."

"The river had swollen with the heavy rain and the wind made it difficult to see but I saw your dad point ahead and I saw the edge of the waterfall approaching fast. I could feel the charge of the storm and the rumble of the thunder right before the lighting strike and I jump overboard"

"The current was strong and I could barely keep my head out of the water. For a moment I wished to be something big, next thing I know I'm an octopus. I managed to grab your parents with my tentacles but… suddenly I couldn't breath…"

"What?! You tried to save my parents?!" He said in disbelief. She smiled sadly again.

"They were scared of course, they didn't expect to see this huge sea creature trying to grab them. For a moment they thought I was you. I remember them yelling your name and telling me to let go of them and save myself. However by then I couldn't breath anymore and had to let go of them and the rock I had managed to strand myself into… I turned back to human, barely conscious and right at the end of the waterfall , your mother grabbed me and your dad grabbed us both and fell into the empty space…"

The room was silent. She was hugging her knees to her chest hiding her face. Beast Boy's slump form and head hung didn't make a sound or a move other than the shaky breathing he tried to control.

Suddenly, Beast Boy felt arms wrap around him. He didn't open his eyes, her scent betrayed her. Raven held him close and he buried his face on her shoulder. In the turmoil of their emotional moment, neither of them had sensed Raven's presence as she appeared thru the floor next to Beast Boy who now cried bitterly.

…

Raven had returned with Red X to the tower. She had managed to place the villain in the holding cell before she got too distracted. And she had been at the console, watching them thru the live surveillance cameras and had heard Meliah yelled at Beast Boy and from there listened to the rest of the conversation.

It wasn't long before the others came back and also heard part of the conversation as well. They had known that Beast Boy's parents had died in an accident but he had never gone into detail. And now they were all finding out, along with him what happened next. Raven couldn't take it anymore and the moment she saw him sink in the floor crying, she phased thru one of her portals and reappeared in the screen next to Beast Boy. No one dared to say a word. Not even Red X.

…

…

Beast Boy slowly lifted his head. Still not making eye contact with Raven who was kneeling next to him. He felt ashamed for a moment. No one had ever seen him cry before other than Raven, but still couldn't help it.

Meliah had finally calmed enough to notice Raven's presence, but it didn't bother her as much at the moment. She was just glad Garfield had someone who's shoulders he could cry on.

With some difficulty, he managed to steady himself enough and with a hoarse voice, he asked "What happened next?"

"Gar" called Raven softly to him, not paying much attention to her impulse of calling him by his real name.

"No Rae, I have to know" he said softly as he grabbed her hand. She squeezed it softly.

"M, what happened with my parents?" he saw her eyes crystal shreds of blue again, not sure if it was due to Raven, but at the moment he didn't care.

Meliah took a deep breath, looking at everything but nothing or anybody in particular. "When I woke up, I was ashore, your mother lying on her back next to me. I had a broken leg and my other ankle was swollen. There was a small fire next to us and a man in some kind of robe came to us."

"It turns out, he was a monk on a meditation trip that had ventured into the jungle with just a few supplies. But the sudden storm had stranded him on a nearby cave by the waterfall. The water had started to overflow the cave and had to come out or he would have been trapped"

"That's when he saw what was left of the boat and a woman and a girl floating nearby with the current taking us farther. He managed to get us ashore but had to wait for the storm to subside before taking us to the nearby village. I don't know what time it was when I woke up next but the wreckage was around us. The monk had gone out for help and I fainted again when I saw him coming back with help"

"I woke up in the hospital with a cast on my leg . My mother was next to me. Apparently she had been looking for me into every hospital around. And that's when they brought me in along with your mother"

Garfield gasped at this. A small sense of hope building in his heart. "My mom…" he started to say.

Meliah closed her eyes shut and almost whispered back " Her injuries were severe. A broken arm, a few broken ribs, a punctured lung and several concussion. She was heavily sedated they had to do surgery in order to fix her lung, but once inside, they discovered the damage was worse"

"There was internal bleeding and besides her lung, her liver had detached and wasn't functioning. A further scan revealed a swollen brain too tight against her skull."

"After a few days, the doctors had managed to get the swelling of her brain down but they couldn't tell the extent of the damage until she was awake if she ever did… and by sheer will power she woke up disoriented at first. The Dr said she might not have memory of who she was but she managed to say "find my Garfield" … and she passed away" She said this last in a whisper. All tone detached from emotion.

At this point Garfield was paralyzed in shock.

It was an unbelievable amount of pain and sorrow that Raven felt from them. She had sensed it on him before but as a fleeting emotion but now it was a thousand times worse. Guilt and despair emanated from the two changelings.

Meliah had started to shake despite her efforts. It hurt her to see him like this. It was something she hadn't spoken of to no one. Not even her mother.

The others had been listening from the holding cell room. Starfire had started to fly their way but Robin stopped her. She wept silently.

Without warning, Garfield asked what Meliah was silently hoping he wouldn't want to know. "What about my father"

Meliah squeezed her eyes shut and despite herself, more tears escaped her. "He died instantly" she whispered.

"How!?" Garfield said louder than what he had meant. Meliah didn't answer at first. Trying to take calming breaths.

"How, Meliah" he repeated thru greeted teeth, trying to keep an even voice. She cringed at his tone.

"He put himself between the rocks and us. He buffered our fall… he had a shattered skull and spine"

Garfield was crying fully now. Meliah was hugging herself crying at the memory. She didn't tell him she had seen his father's mangled body within the nearby remnants of the wreckage.

Garfield was panting. Heavy breaths could not fill in the emptiness he felt at the moment. He felt light headed and grabbed on to Raven's hand as if she was his anchor. He had closed his eyes for a moment when he heard her sobs.

He saw Meliah, staring at nothing, lost in thought, panting heavily like he was. Pale and shaking uncontrollably. Then she closed her eyes trying to steady herself, tears still running.

Beast Boy let go of Ravens hand and leaned into Meliah and held her tightly. Meliah wrapped her arms around his neck and both cried together.

Raven could not help but feel left out. There was no comfort she could give him. She wanted to at least touch him, to let him know she was there for him. She even lifted her arm, ready to put her hand on his shoulder but then, Meliah wrapped her legs around his torso.

Raven dropped her hand and without a word used her dark magic to phase thru the floor and reappeared on the roof.

Her eyes stung from the held tears, but she was stronger. And tried to blink them away but a few minutes later she saw two large birds, one green, one ivory fly away.

And then she couldn't hold her tears anymore and dropped to the floor on her knees, holding her face in her hands sobbing uncontrollably.