Chapter Eleven: Misunderstandings

Garfield took the elevator up to the roof. The building was a substantial height and he found it strange that Cleaver claimed she would be up on the roof. He expected the woman to be locked up in her room and would refuse to come out. His guilt was building up every floor he passed and his remorse was beginning to manifest. Garfield felt sick from guilt, but had nothing to vomit. Once he reached the top floor, his stomach was upset. To his disappointment, the elevator led him to one more flight of stairs that directed to the roof door. He cautiously walked up the stairs and reached the metal door leading to the roof. The man hesitantly opened the door.

When Garfield opened the door, he scanned for the woman. He saw a dark silhouette sitting several feet from the edge of the roof. The figure was in the fetal position and was staring off into the clear night. The moon was full and as Garfield approached the figure, it was none other than Raven. He tentatively stopped a few feet behind her. She seemed to not notice him or she was ignoring him. The man cleared his throat but did not get a response.

"Um, hey Raven." Garfield said sheepishly. He received no response from the woman. "I actually expected you up here with a cigarette in your mouth but I guess I was wrong." Silence. Obviously, the woman didn't find his assumption amusing. She continued her vacant stare into the skyline.

Trying to get closer to her, he asked. "Mind if I take a seat next to you?"

"Would it make a difference?" she said bitterly.

"I deserved that." he said with remorse, and casually sat next to her. She continued to stare at the sky without a glance at the man. For moments, Garfield did the same. The man sat in silence and looked at the sky, moon, and the city skyline. He would have to admit, it was beautiful scene.

No wonder why she came up her to clear her mind. It's so peaceful and tranquilhe thought.

Moments passed admiring the scene, and Garfield mustered his courage to look at the woman. She sat in the fetal position with her arms crossed above her knees. Her head was resting on her arms and she wore a sad expression. Raven's eyes were glistening from the moonlight and were glossy as if she were crying. He had never seen her his way. She seemed so vulnerable and fragile. He knew that he his comment got to her and she clearly showed it. The man was sad that he had to be the one to spark this feeling of depression and vulnerability. It was obvious he had to atone for what he said earlier.

"Let me say this," he spoke breathing the silence and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry for the hurtful things I said earlier. I'll admit that I'm ignorant and I didn't understand. I shouldn't have said those things and I can't imagine what's going through your mind. And I will never understand."

She moved her head to face the man next her. There was a twinkle in her eyes and her expression changed. Her eyes told him to continue.

"I said hurtful things that would make me crawl into a corner. So I apologize and I'm sorry I didn't follow through with your orders. You told me not to do anything impulsive, and I clearly did . . ." he apologized but was cut off by the woman.

"You are forgiven." she said and stretched out her legs and reached her arms behind her for support. "And I hope that you can forgive me." To his surprise, she was apologizing to him. This was unlike her but she was so fragile at this moment. "I shouldn't put so much pressure and strain on my Messors. I expected too much out of you guys. I should have considered that things never go the way it was planned. It wasn't even your fault and I blamed you for it and I'm sorry."

Her words were very meaningful to him and he never expected them to escape her lips. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. "I forgive you as well." he said. There was a moment of time where they just stared at each other until he spoke. "You were right that I was ignorant."

"You should already know that, but what did Cleaver tell you?" she said fixating on the man.

"To be honest, he told me about, you."he said with hesitation in his voice.

"I see." she said in realization. "Now you know what I am and most likely my past. Great, now the cat is out of the bag. What did he tell you?"

"He told me that you were a half-demon, about Trigon, and your mother."

She raised her head towards the sky. This was subject she rarely wanted to talk about. "Now that you know this information, I want you to know that I don't want you walking on egg shells around me. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

The man chuckled. Trying to lighten the mood, he spoke. "So do you really kill people if they don't follow your orders?"

"I'm not that vindictive. I just used it put up a front, but convincing isn't it?" she asked.

"I'll have to admit that." He laughed.

"Really? I find it pitiful." she lightly chuckled. He finally got her to laugh! He finally accomplished making her laugh.

"No, it's not pitiful." he said and she looked over to him. He seemed to change since their confrontation. He appeared to be . . .mature. She really hoped it would last. She regretted punching the man in the face over a small confrontation. In fact, there were no cuts or bruises on her hand. He was certain that hand was the one that punched him.

"You know, you can pack a lot of force in your punch. You practically almost broke my cheekbone." The man said rubbing his cheek she punched earlier. There was a large bruise that slowly began to appear, and his cheek was swollen. Raven reached for his face and cupped his cheek. His cheek was tender, but her touch was soft. Suddenly, a blue light illuminated around Raven's hand and onto Garfield's cheek. Within seconds, Garfield's pain faded away and she withdrew her gentle touch. The man slowly lifted up his hand to his cheek and was surprised to find that the lump was gone. He pressed his cheek and it was no longer tender.

"How did you do that?" he asked in amazement.

Raven smiled. "I have healing abilities. I got it from my mother. She was a medicine woman and taught me how to use what she taught me to induce rapid healing." She said with a soft smile. It was strange to see the sympathetic side of Raven. Garfield admired her empathy towards him.

They suddenly locked eyes, and Garfield could feel a spark. Her eyes were so lustrous and incandescent in the moonlight. He couldn't look away from her eyes and he felt a strong feeling in his stomach. Moments passed in their stare, and Garfield did something impulsive. He scooted closer to her and sat adjacent to her. Being as bold as he was, he cautiously pulled her closer to his side. Garfield felt like he was going too far, but he received a reaction he never expected. Raven put her head in his shoulder and stared into radiant sky. Unknowing to the man, Raven was completely flushed when he pulled her closer to him. She wanted to shrug it off, but the warmth of his body gave her comfort. She could smell his cologne and instinctively rested her head on his shoulder. Moments passed in this state of bliss, but Raven withdrew from the closeness. She stood up and gave him a demulcent smile.

"Thank you for forgiving me." She said.

"You're welcome and thank you for forgiving me." Garfield said and stood up. "But I still feel that I need to make amends. I was actually hoping, that possibly, I could take you out for coffee?"

"Listen, you don't need to make amends. Your apology is enough." she replied.

"I know, but I said a lot of hurtful things back there and an apology isn't enough to satisfy me. Please." he begged.

"I don't know." She said hesitantly.

"Let me rephrase," he cleared his throat. "Let me, as your subordinate, take my commander to meet up for some coffee. I wish to better understand my boss so nothing like this ever happens."

It took her moments to think it over, but she caved in since he was giving her the puppy dog look. "Fine. Tomorrow afternoon then."

Garfield smiled and, yet again, he did something irrational and bold. He wrapped his arms around the woman in a hug. Raven was clearly caught off guard as he pressed himself closer to her. She considered this would be there only moment, so she decided to do nothing about it. However, she didn't move and Garfield let go of her feeling her awkwardness. On the other hand, he had a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks Rae!" he said leaving the roof.

"Don't call me that!" she complained. "It's Raven!" Before she could get the point across, he shut the roof door behind him. She sighed and stared at the moon with a faint smile on her face. She lingered on the roof for some time and then exited.

When Raven reached her bureau floor, she was surprised to see Trent sitting by her office door with a something metallic in his hands. He was relieved to see her as she approached closer to him.

"What are you doing here Trent? Shouldn't you be asleep?" she asked and he stood up holding the disc in front of her. "What is this?"

"This is the footage from today's incident. The club had cameras in their alley and I got the recording. You may want to see this." He said with a worried expression on his face. Immediately, Raven was concerned.

She opened the office door and invited Trent inside. Raven walked over to her DVD player, located in the corner of her office, and inserted the disc in the player. Before watching the footage, she sat in her reclining chair and Trent sat across from her watching the film. The footage was only five minutes long and Raven's eyes were glued to the screen. Under realization, her eyes widened and her mouth nearly dropped to the ground. Once the video was over, Trent spoke.

"I hope this answers our inquiry to what Mr. Logan is."

"I can't believe it. I thought this could never happen." she stood up and ejected the disc. "This will, indeed, be the key to our investigation, but I want to be certain our hypothesis is one hundred percent correct. I know you're thinking the same thing I am." she returned to her desk and started to write on a piece of paper. She handed the paper to Trent and he eagerly took the inscribed note. "I want you to order this test to the lab. Go there now." she demanded. Trent took the paper, as well as the disc, and left the room. Raven reclined in her chair staring at the ceiling. She hoped that the test would confirm her suspicions. She rubbed her temples in frustration wishing she had a cigarette.