Fandom Beast Boy and Raven (Closed)

[Beckspace]

“My magic is not a toy,” Rachel replied simply. She cut a piece of French toast and shoved it in her mouth. As she chewed and swallowed, she searched for the words to try and make him understand.

“I won’t deny that my powers are helpful and even sometimes necessary, but anything outside of the spells and abilities I’ve learned through my books and the people of Azarath are not to be messed with. You saw first hand what happens when I dabble with dark magic,” Rachel said, remembering Malchior and the destruction he almost wrought on Jump City because of her.

“And then there’s the things I can do without a spell book, just by being me.” Rachel thought about her dream just last night. “I know there is more I can do that I’ve never tried before, but I don’t want to try. I can’t.” She put all her focus onto cutting her French toast as if it was surgery and not breakfast. “Nothing good has ever come from me being powerful.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield took another triangle and stabbed several strawberries behind the slice before stuffing it into his maw. He nodded along, having heard Rachel say these things before. “I know I know but I was just saying you could if you wanna.” He reworded thought he prepared for a deeper understanding since Rachel would make sure of that.

Garfield looked a bit aggravated when she mentioned the dark magic and he inhaled his third piece of French Toast. “I knew that dude was no good…” He muttered before nodding in agreement regardless. She hadn’t done it intentionally and he knew Rachel was stronger now than she was before.

Garfield eyes jolted open as if he figured out the solution to world hunger in a single thought. He scooched over next to Rachel and smiled a little. “Rae you definitely were powerful when you beat your dad, right? That was like the goodest thing that ever happened.” He countered.

It seemed it was now his turn to boost Rachel’s own confidence since she must’ve forgotten she dispelled the most evil being in the universe or whatever. “I’m just sayin you’re waaaaaay strong now and I bet if that dude from the book came back you could beat him with both hands tied behind your back AND blindfolded.” Garfield was certainly going to support Rachel’s decision whether she chose to become more powerful or not but he would not stand for self slander.

 

[Beckspace]

That’s what I’m worried about, Rachel thought to herself. She decided not to express her worries the Garfield for two reasons; one, she hoped they were unfounded and saying then aloud might make them more real, and two, Gar did not need to hear this over breakfast. He was just trying to cheer her up, there was no reason to sour the moment.

Rachel grinned at him and poked his cheek with her fork. “What’s a fake wizard dragon against the ‘nightstalker’?” She drew her fork away and stabbed another piece of french toast.

“Speaking of, have you decided what foul creature the Nightstalker will be?” She asked. “Remember, you don’t want to actually damage anything or anyone.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield’s mood brightened tenfold when Rachel pumped his head with pride. He had almost forgot about Malchior immediately. “The Nightstalker is listening.” He mustered through a wide grin.

That was a question he had thought of since they came up with a plan. It had to be something that matched the name of course, yet be easy to paint. No way could The Nightstalker be the name of something as big and clumsy as a hippo. It had to be something stealthy and powerful. Then again painting a lion, especially the mane, would prove difficult. A tiger would make sense but would he be big enough?

After munching on another slice of toast and several fruit, Garfield had a look of eureka in his eyes once more, which must’ve been a record in one day. “Imma definitely be a Tiger but different!” He announced. He put his plate on the bed and hopped up, standing in the middle of the floor. “Imma show you what I mean Rae.” Garfield said instead of explaining himself.

Garfield closed his eyes and was suddenly a normal tiger. Well, a normal green tiger that is. He transformed back into himself and groaned. “Wait I can do this, give me a second.” Garfield went back and forth from himself to a tiger for long enough that Rachel was even able to finish eating. “No no wait I can do it.” He insisted. A couple transformations after that very sentence Garfield turned into a green tiger….except he was the same height as Rachel was on all fours. “Ha! Way awesomer than any regular shmegular tiger!” Garfield exclaimed.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel finished her food while Garfield worked on his ultimate tiger form, not even batting an eye at the constant switch between man and beast. She couldn’t help but flinch, though, when the largest tiger she’s ever seen appeared in front of her. Beast Boy or no, it was intimidating. She stood up and found that she was eye level with the tiger, it took up most of the space between the two beds and the TV.

“Not bad, tiger.” Rachel complimented, but it was way more than ‘not bad,’ it was perfect. “I’d be shaking in my boots if I was against you on the battlefield.” She reached out and flicked his fluffy tiger ear. “But you still look like Beast Boy. Maybe we keep your black stripes and paint the green a different color? Maybe Grey.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield did not take into account that he would barely be able to move in the room by doing this but was happy nonetheless. He was glad Rachel approved of his idea and laughed when she flicked his ear. He rubbed his giant head against her stomach and bent down so he could sit down.

Garfield did have another thing on his mind other than the color he should be and that was his breakfast. He stretched to the plates Rachel was sitting next to previously and ate everything in one bite. “Oh, let’s do dark grey and black!” Garfield was a little too excited and stood up, his tail nearly knocking the TV off the stand.

Garfield froze in place and laid back down, grumbling loudly as if he were an annoyed predator. “Can you magic paint me too? I dunno if I’ll fit in the bathroom…” He asked before looking up at his partner in crime. He forgot some animals see things in a different aspect than humans do and the dark room made his vision acute. Even as Rachel gave him a response, Garfield found himself starting at to stare at her features just admiring her with a wagging tail.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel had put her hand up in response to the tiger tail hitting the TV, but luckily it only wobbled a little. She relaxed her stance when the tiger laid down too.

Rachel grabbed the back of paints and looked for the dark grey. “Yeah, I suppose that would be best. We should do it on the roof, though, we don’t want the paint to get everywhere.” She found the grey paint and pulled it out of the bag, looking over just in time to see the tiger’s tail wagging.

“Stay,” Rachel ordered, holding a hand out. She did not trust him to watch where he was going inside. “I’ll be right back.” She flew over the bed and to the bathroom. Quickly she cleaned out the brushes in the sink and came back out. Her cloak needed a little while longer to dry, so she left it for now.

“All right, let’s get you to the roof.” Without her cloak on, it was easier to see her magic at work. Darkness flowed out of her limbs, engulfing her and the giant cat. The darkness transformed into the shape of a raven, which zoomed through the walls of the hotel room and up towards the roof. In no time at all, the darkness went away and the two of them were standing on the roof.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield groaned and threatened to go and stand up once more. “I wanna go tooooo…” He complained but decided to listen regardless of the beast he had become. Rachel could definitely be so much scarier…. He watched Rachel with curious eyes when she returned.

The black aura surrounding her arms and body quickly shot out and engulfed the two. Garfield stood up slowly before being transferred through the building as if it were a suggestion that there were walls and material in their path. Once at the top, Garfield admittedly felt queasy after the new traveling experience, much preferring flight over phasing through things.

He tried to stand on all fours only to fall on his back temporarily. “Whoa, that was weird…” After a second attempt he was on his feet once more. “I like the portal better but let’s do it again!” Garfield eagerly bounced around with the grace and speed of a housecat but several times larger.

With the sun now out the temperature was considerably better and far from freezing since this morning. He stood up on his back legs and rose to a frightening 20 feet tall before coming back to all fours. “I think I like being this big Rae. I wonder if I can beat up that dumb gorilla now.” Garfield questioned in reference to Mallah.

 

[Beckspace]

While the big cat pranced around the roof, Rachel set up the paint and brushes. “He’s certainly have to rethink his strategy,” she said absent-mindedly. All set, she stood up with the two brushes in her hands.

“Now hold still. We gotta make this look good,” she said. Once he was doing so, she let go of the brushes, her eyes turning white. The brushes hovered in the air for a moment before shooting off into action. The paint can rose to meet them, offering more paint as they brushed down the sides of the tiger at a steady pace. Little by little the green was hidden away under the dark grey.

The last of the green to go was the tiger’s face. The brushes slowed down at this point, not wanting to hit the eyes. “Shut your eye,” Rachel ordered, and the final green on the eyelids were brushed away.

Finally all was done, and Rachel let the brushes fall to the ground besides the paint can. She never thought of herself as artistic, so she was surprised at how well she did on the paint job. He looked terrifying, like a real live nightmare of a tiger come to life. The only remaining semblance of her Beast Boy were his green eyes which for obvious reasons couldn’t be painted. She was glad they were still there.

“Well, I don’t think anyone will be wanting to pet you,” Rachel commented with a frown. The more she looked at it, the more she didn’t like it. She didn’t realize just how attached to the green she was.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield came to a stand still before making sure he was completely ready for the painting. “Don’t worry, no way imma move. I’m like a statue.” He assured. It proved much harder than said when the brushes went to town on his thick fur. Garfield started to giggle and shake slightly as they reached the underside of the tiger.

He closed his eyes before feeling the wet paint gloss over his eyelids. Garfield made sure to wait a few moments before opening his eyes and exhaling. He roared loudly as a protest to just anyone petting him before approaching Rachel. Garfield was aware his voice was his least intimidating quality so he remained silent, forcing Rachel into her posterior.

The dark grey cat bared his sharp teeth to Rachel and growled intensely, eyes full of predatory fire. Once he was nose to nose with her, Garfield licked her cheek and laughed. “I totally gotchu back for earlier!” He sat down with a chippy voice.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel flinched back at the roar response. That wasn’t a Beast Bou roar. She looked for the green in his eyes again to confirm he was still him. The green was there, but there was something else too, something primal.

He was prowling closer to her, like a predator towards his prey. “Gar?” She asked. Did her powers do something else besides paint him? He was growling and showing his teeth, and she couldn’t move.

And then he licked her. Rachel scrunched her face in disgust and wiped the cat drool off her cheek. “Cute,” she said sarcastically, her face flushed with embarrassment. She might have been angrier if she wasn’t so relieved.

“If you’re done fooling around, I say we get this whole thing over with,” she said, crossing her arms.

A black disc appeared underneath her and she phased down into it to appear in the hotel room bathroom. She swung the cloak around her and took a look at herself in the mirror. With the cloak fully covering her body, she looked much like a shadow. There was just one more thing to cover up. Dunking her thumb in the black paint, she pressed down on her chakra. The red gem turned black, getting rid of the last bit of color on her. Rachel through the hood over her head, the hood of this cloak casting a shadow over her full face rather that just the top half. The only light they’ll see if the Dark Enchantress will be her eyes.

Satisfied, Rachel phased through the ceiling and appeared back up on the roof. “Here goes nothing, I guess,” she said. “You ready, Gar?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield finished his laughing fit prematurely, sensing Rachel was over his joke. “Hey you totally deserved that for earlier.” He defended his actions while watching her disappear. While she was gone, Garfield flopped on his stomach and laid his head on top of his paws.

When Rachel returned the tiger’s head perked up and he stood to his full height. “Uh are you gonna float me or imma have to walk?” Garfield was only semi serious since he couldn’t tell what the plan exactly was. He wondered if he could sprout wings and just fly next to her but ultimately decided against it considering just trying it would take forever.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel looked over at the Daily Planet building in the distance, thinking about the best way to do this. She had to make sure that whichever powers she used didn’t give away who she was. She decided that she’ll refrain from flying as much as possible, relying more on her magiportation instead to act more as a shadow.

“I’ll get us over there and turn out the lights. You become the monster that hides in the dark. As soon as we see a hero, we lead them away to the river,” Rachel relayed her idea. Once she was done, she opened up a black portal in front of her. She took a deep breath, “Time to connect to our inner villains.” And with that, she stepped through the portal, leaving it open for the giant tiger behind her.

As soon as she stepped out of the portal she reached her powers out in a dome-like formation, darkness slowly spreading out in front of her. The sun was the first light to be extinguished, and cries of shock echoed from the nearby buildings. “Azarath Metrion Zinthos,” Rachel said quietly, then sent her voice into every nearby person’s mind. “Lights out, Metropolis. Beware the things that go bump in the night,” she said in a whispery ghost-like voice.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield listened to Rachel carefully and figured he would be most effective as a tool for inducing fear into the public and making sure the people would be terrified of them. The fact a real hero showed up was certainly worrying to him since he knew some heroes did kill criminals they interacted with and he didn’t want to end up a dead tiger on the news. His thoughts were set aside for the firm faith he had in Rachel and his own plan.

“Let’s do this mean mama!” Garfield said as the portal appeared in front of them. He stepped through and began to think hard. The tiger left Rachel to creep through the alleyways to the streets and watched the light diminish from the area. Garfield’s tiger vision was enhanced by the lack of light thankfully while he leaped onto a parked car. He cringed slightly when the car was crushed under his increased weight but tried to focus on the task at hand.

People everywhere stopped to look up at the sky to see nothing but darkness in the air. Fear flashed across their faces when Rachel’s telepathic words were heard throughout the city block, including Garfield’s own mind. Once she finished he thought to give the area a spook and took a deep breath. The roar that followed made the one he used to scare Rachel sound like kitten’s purr. People covered their ears and car alarms sounded off while Garfield stalked the sidewalks in a manner where every few feet a part of him was visible but only for a moment.

Citizens began running away from the Daily Planet in hopes to escape the darkness, some people pushing others over and running past. Garfield’s instincts kicked in when he saw a kid on the ground he rushed over and picked him up with his teeth by the shirt. The child tried to pet Garfield calling out “Kitty..” which he almost let happen but he remembered he was a villain. Luckily the boy’s father ran over and Garfield sneered at the pair, forcing them to scramble away.

“Man this is pretty easy…” Garfield thought, hoping Rachel could hear him. Suddenly the sound of thunder was heard and on street level lightning struck, a figure showing in the distance. “We got some new faces now?” A second figure pulled itself into the picture and another voice followed. “Really? Today of all days? I was gonna get my haircut at 1!” The voice complained. Garfield figured those where the heroes and gave an in between roar so that he could be spotted. “Whoa! Easy there kitty, I don’t like hurting animals if I can help it.” The jokester commented before lightning struck at Garfield, him dodging it with little reaction time to spare. “But I don’t mind.”

At this point he took off running towards the river, not realizing how much faster he was than a normal tiger. “You sure that’s not a cheetah, Jeffy?” The other hero grumbled but shook his head. “I told you call me Black Lightning when we’re on duty but don’t let it get away!” The two began pursuing Garfield while he weaved through abandoned cars and citizens who hadn’t gotten away in time.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel felt the fear of those trapped in her powers most of all. It was the first time she really allowed herself to soak in such an enormous amount of emotion from a great many sources. It strengthened her senses and her ability. Like a drug, it was almost intoxicating. Her mind told her she hated it, but she wasn’t sure she entirely did.

One man who was closest to Rachel and in the heart of the black sphere had caught her white eyes. He was trying to throw something at her. A rock? A shoe?

“The Justice League will save us! You chose the wrong city, sister!” He called out to her. Rachel glued her eyes to him and reached out to his mind.

“Your precious heroes can’t save what they can’t see,” she said. “But don’t worry, I can see you just fine.” Rachel floated closer so that she was face to face with him. The man screamed as the white eyes turned red and doubled. He fell to his knees, the eyes followed him to the ground.

Noise other than screams of terror reached her, and luckily for the pedestrian, Rachel turned her attention over to her partner being chased by two unknown figures. Right, what they were doing all this for. Heroes. It seemed they had not realized that the dark bubble was not created by the giant tiger. Rachel shook herself back to her senses and followed the heroes towards the river, bringing the darkness with her.

The hero dressed in red was gaining on the tiger, so Rachel aimed for the other one in the blue and black getup. A black tentacle reached forward and grabbed onto the heroes leg, tripping him.

“Leaving so soon? We were just starting to have some fun,” Rachel whispered in his mind as the tentacle pulled him closer into the bubble.

“What the-? Hey Plastic, we got a live one in there!” The hero said. He reached down and grabbed the tentacle. Immediately electricity courses through the tentacle and right at Rachel. The bubble disappeared as Rachel was shocked and momentarily stunned.

“There you are. Now we can fight!” The hero charged towards her, but she recovered quickly and phased into the ground. She rose again right next to the giant tiger. Remembering that she wasn’t going to be flying as her villainous self, she hopped onto the tiger’s back and focused on once more hiding the sun away.

“I think we’ve got their attention,” Rachel relayed in Garfield’s mind. “We’re almost at the river. Any idea who these two are?”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield felt Plastic Man graze his fur before he picked it up to max speed, hoping Rachel heard his plea. “Here Kitty Kitty!” The hero called out as his legs stretched to increase the ground he covered. Of course the tiger could run faster, why wouldn’t it be an easy villain to catch.

Once Rachel was on his back he pushed himself harder, trying to get to the river. “That’s Plastic Man in the red and I dunno the other dude!” He insisted. Black Lightning immediately put two and two together before telling his partner the facts. “That woman there put created the darkness and the tiger is definitely her pet.”

Plastic Man groaned and threw his arms up mid stride. “Oh sure great! Magic woman who creates darkness has a magic giant tiger!” He sarcastically recalled. Black Lightning had a bit of insight on these two that made them seem not as evil as the average villainous duo. Something that tiger had done…

Garfield scrambled to the edge of the river and slide to a halt, quickly dismounting Rachel and not knowing what the next part of the plan. Plastic Man and Black Lightning caught up and the elastic hero formed his fist to the size of a table before Black Lightning struck the ground in front of them. Garfield turned back into himself, a grey painted version, before yelling out. “Wait!” The two heroes stopped their actions looking at each other.

“Wait a minute, I know you. You were with the Titans a few years back.” Black Lightning said with a tone that sounded like an angry principal. “Yeah your Beast Bob!” Plastic Man exclaimed, a giant finger in their faces as if he were scolding them. “Then that means your..” Black Lightning turned to Rachel.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel was all ready to continue the fight. She slid off the tiger and felt her eyes get heated red, ready to counteract the heroes’ attack. But then Beast Boy changed back into his human form, and Plastic Man recognized him. Rachel was able to drop her magic as Plastic Man called out to Beast Boy.

“Then that means me you’re…” the other hero’s attention to to Rachel.

“In trouble,” Rachel replied. She pulled her hood back a little, not all the way, but just enough for them to see the bottom half of her face.

“I’ll say! What were you doing messing up my city?” Black Lightning asked, crossing his arms expecting a full confession.

“It was the only way we could find help,” Rachel explained. “Lex Luthor has come to Jump City. He’s planning something big and he has help. None of our old contacts were getting back to us and the Justice League is offworld so-“

“So you switched careers? That seems a bit extreme to me, but hey, I used to be a crook and look at me now!” Plastic Man puffed his chest out and flexed his stretchy muscles.

“No, that’s not it,” Black Lightning frowned. “You thought playing villain will get our attention and we’ll help you out. Is that it?”

Rachel glanced quickly at Gar. This was her idea and it was not going well at all. They didn’t seem to keen on helping them. It was up to her to convince them.

“We weren’t going to hurt anyone, just make a scene so you’d show up and we can talk. Jump City needs heroes who can handle Lex Luthor,” Rachel said.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield stepped back a little so that he and Rachel were at least side by side while they were getting chewed out by their hero superiors. “We made sure not to hurt anyone or nothing cut us some slack.” He pointed out. He made sure to try and take some of the weight off of Rachel’s shoulders regardless of who’s idea it was. He still chose to follow through with it and even added onto it.

Plastic Man looked at the two of them, stretching his neck to get closer to their faces. “You two don’t need us, you’re big boys now!” He took another look at Rachel and his face jumped back. “And girls, big girls too.” He added. “We got enough to deal with without you phony villain wannabes and if you don’t mind, I’ll be getting my haircut now.” Plastic Man began walking off before jumping up and turning into a glider, letting the wind take him away.

Black Lightning on the other had stood in front of the couple with crossed arms. “Listen up. I know you two meant well and I hate to say it, but Plastic Man is right. You are both getting old enough you could even be your own heroes.” He pointed to Garfield first. “You, you dodged my lightning, something a few heroes can’t do.” Black Lightning then turned to Rachel. “And you. That strike was supposed to knock you out but you took it like it was a small punch to gut.”

Garfield shifted his weight a little, not sure what Black Lightning would do with them. He had heard plenty of scoldings before and knew this is where the punishment came or you were of the hook. Black Lightning exhaled “I just want you two to know, I think you’re more than powerful enough to do what needs to be done. I know for a fact you two know what the right thing to do is and should follow through with that.” It was often Black Lightning lectured those who needed guidance but these two were practically heroes already. “Yeah but what if we need help?” Garfield asked out.

Black Lightning took one look at Rachel then back at the gree- no, the grey young man and chuckled. “If that wasn’t you two trying to hurt someone, I’d hate to be on the receiving end of Lex’s ass whopping.” He turned to walk off before saying one more thing. “Oh and one more thing.” Black Lightning smiled “Good luck.” Lightning began to stem from his body and he teleported away.

Garfield plopped on his but and sighed. “I guess it worked kinda?” He was a bit sad that they were going in alone but surprised of the approval from at least one of the heroes. His ears were drooping from the disappointment they received as he stared down at his own hands. Was he really as powerful as they say? He certainly didn’t feel it….

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel crossed her legs and sat down beside Garfield, working it all out in her head. That didn’t go the way she expected it would.

“I’m sorry, Gar. This was my stupid idea,” Rachel apologized. She lowered her hood and wiped the paint off her forehead. The city around them was bustling back into life. She supposed they were more durable than most cities with their track record of attacks.

Rachel felt the disappointment in Gar, and turned to look at him. He was all grey save for a few random stripes of green where the tiger stripes must have been.

“Maybe they’re right though. It’s time we grow up and take care of our city.” She reached over and rubbed some of the paint off his cheek. “Not gonna lie. Nightstalker looked pretty powerful out there. Wouldn’t want to face him in a fight.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield shook his head, eyes still looking down at the ground. “I thought it was a awesome idea…” He replied with lackluster energy. It was true he thought the plan would work with 100 percent certainty, though he never thought of what could and would go wrong. Garfield was just eager to form some sort of team again but it seems the two of them were already the best of teams.

He had a slight blush from Rachel’s touch and smiled a little. “You think so?” Garfield turned to face who technically was, sometimes he forgot, his girlfriend. He had perked up with speed that would’ve made Flash jealous when he made eye contact with her. “I think you did most the work Rae, with those eyes and the dark! That was super awesome!” He paused before looking at her gem.

Garfield leaned in and narrowed his eyes. “Hey you gots more paint on your crystal thing.” He went to wipe the black paint off of it. When he looked again the small black speck was still there, as if it were inside of her rather than outside. “Hmm…it won’t come off…” Garfield concluded while backing up a little from Rachel, repositioning himself in front of her.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel was in awe at how quickly Gar’s mood could change. There was a sort of naive innocence about it that was really charming. Her thoughts on the matter went away quickly though, when his focus turned to her gem. As he rubbed on it, she felt a sharp and strong sense of foreboding.

“It’s fine,” Rachel said quickly, pulling her hood back up over her face, covering it up. “We should go anyway and get cleaned up.” She lifted herself up to her feet, pulling Garfield up with her. Eager now to get out of there, Rachel made a portal right to the hotel room. Without another word she makes a beeline for the bathroom, closing the door swiftly behind her.

Rachel pulled down her hood again so she can see her gem for herself. There were still remnants of black paint on her forehead. Maybe it was just paint after all. Rachel took some toilet paper, wet it, then rubbed the paint off. With all the black paint gone, she checked the gem again. There was still some black amidst the red. She leaned in closer to the mirror to scrutinize it, and that was when she finally saw it. It was small, barely visible to the naked eye. But there was in fact a small crack right where the black dot formed.

She leaned away from the mirror and nearly jumped out her skin when she saw four red eyes staring back at her. “You’re not here,” she said firmly, turning her back away from the mirror. She took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door again.

“All my paint’s gone. Your turn,” she said, not looking at Gar. If she was lucky, maybe he wouldn’t notice long enough for her to cover it.

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield was going to ask Raven what the problem was but before he could the Nightstalker was snatched up and pulled through a portal to the house. “That was way faster than this morning…” He muttered while she sped off to the bathroom. He sat down on the bed and waited for her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

When Rachel came out of the bathroom he immediately hopped up. He quickly moved over to her and placed his hands on her upper waist. “Rae, I know that look.” It was more of the lack of one but same thing, right? “What happened? Why you acting so…far?” Garfield menu distant but couldn’t find the word for it.

He tried to not let Rachel pull away before pulling her hood down and looking into her eyes. “Raaaae…we’re partners right? We was supposed to be in it together, right?” Garfield looked sad as if he had done something to make her not want to talk to him. “Did I do something bad?…”

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel was heading to her side of the room when she was caught by Garfield. “I’m fine, Gar, I’m fine,” she said, halfheartedly trying to pull away. He wasn’t letting go, and she gave up completely when he pulled off her hood. She looked up at him and sighed.

“The day we met up again, I had an…incident. I didn’t think about it at the time, but after last night… and this morning. I don’t know how or why it’s happening, but my gem is cracking,” Rachel explained, drawing attention to her forehead. “This gem does more than help me focus, it helps me control the….not human side of me. The more is breaks, the less control I’ll have.”

She put her head on his chest, no longer able to look at him. “I’ll have to be more careful from now on. In time, the gem could mend on its own. If it doesn’t…” Rachel stopped, not wanting Gar to know what could possibly happen to her. What she can become and what he would have to do if she became it. “This whole Lex Luthor thing just needs to be over.”

 

[QuickWords]

Garfield let go of Rachel once she put her head on him and wrapped his arms around her instead. He wasn’t going to continuously pry into her emotions knowing it was hard just for her to say what she already was saying. When she mentioned the self healing of her gem, he frowned and finished her sentence. “Bad things gonna happen…”

When she spoke of Lex Luther, Garfield couldn’t help feel like she was right. He remembered having to face an old enemy of his was getting to his psyche and maybe the cracking of her gem was doing the same. It was clear Rachel was scared of the result but if he was understanding her correctly, her gem made sure she didn’t go full evil.

“Rae, we’re gonna beat that bald dude even if I have to become the giantest dragon with three heads, or anything. I won’t let you be evil.” Garfield felt his heartbeat ring in his ears before lifting Rachel’s face by her chin and planting a small kiss onto her crystal. “There, it’s all better.” His grin was half happiness and half hoping to make Rachel feel better. He knew it wouldn’t be as immediate as himself but to calm her spirit would be enough.

 

[Beckspace]

Rachel had heard of parents kissing their child’s wounds to make it better, even though a kiss doesn’t having magical healing properties. Raven’s mother never did that for her, and of course her father didn’t either for obvious reasons. So for Gar to do it now, even though it was silly, perhaps there was some merit to it. A tear had left her eye and she quick wiped it off.

“All better,” she repeated with a smile. “And here I thought I was the magical one.” She reached up and planted a kiss on his lips. Rachel decided then that she would pull herself together for him. She defeated her demons before, she’ll just have to do it again, because there was no way she would allow anyone to hurt him, including herself.

Rachel released the kiss and looked him over. “Ok, I can’t take you seriously all dressed in grey.”