XXXIV
What She Did
~~~

"Excuse me?" A little kid, probably not much older than 6 tugs at Raven's t-shirt. "Can you help me find my mommy?" His seemingly giant green eyes look as if he just finished crying.

Gar looks at Raven, and they both sigh. Their sense of duty is too strong. She straightens herself, then kneels down to the boy's level.

"Sure. What's your name?"

"Michael..." he sniffles.

"Ok, Michael, where did you last see your mommy?"

"W-when we got here..." he points towards the wall at the very edge of the field. "We came in from back there..."

"Don't worry little dude, we'll find her." Gar assures him. He whipes his nose with his sleeve and then nods. Raven takes his hand and leads him to where he pointed while Gar follows.

He eyes her hand the whole time, wanting to hold it just as Michael is.

"Gar," She calls. "Please don't fall behind." He jogs up to be even with them.

"I think I've seen this kid before." She whispers to him.

"Where?"

"I don't know, but I'm getting a bad feeling about him..."

"Raven he's just a kid."

"Look, I don't like kids. All of them make me uncomfortable, except for my cousins."

All of a sudden, Michael releases Raven's hand and runs ahead not saying a word.

"What the–? Michael wait!" Gar runs after him. The kid ducks behind a wall and Raven and Gar follow.

But he's not there.

"Where did he go?" Raven looks around. "Michael??"

"He was just here." Gar looks down the street, then at the sidewalk behind them. "There!"

Michael hears them, but keeps running.

"What is he doing?"

"It doesn't matter. We should follow him. It's dark and he could get lost." Gar's parental instincts (that he never knew he had) kick in.

"He seems to know where he's going though."

Michael stops. He turns around and looks at them. Staring at them.

"I found her!" He shouts.

"Where? The was no woman anywhere near us." Raven questions.

"Maybe he saw her car, or maybe out of the corner of his eye? Either way we should follow him."

"Why are you in charge all of a sudden?"

"Who said I was in charge?"

"You seem to think so." She crosses her arms.

"Can we please just focus on the kid?!"

"Don't yell at me!" She groans. "Fine. We're coming!" Instead of going around they jump the wall behind them and jog up the hill. But as soon as they get to the sidewalk he dashes off again.

"This damn kid. I swear if this ends up being a wild goose chase..." Raven complains.

As they keep running they go farther and farther from the field, and Gar begins to pant and wheeze, getting very winded.

But thankfully, Michael stops.

"Thank God." Raven sighs in relief. "Where is she?" They're nowhere near a car. In fact, they're nowhere near a street. They're in a small clearing in a park about five minutes away from the field.

"She's right there." He doesn't point.The stoic look on his face is extremely unsettling.

"What?"

Then something wraps over his mouth and an arm around his chest.

"Gar–mmph!" The same happens to Raven, and everything fades.

~~~

"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."
~Carlos Ruiz Zafón

~~~

The loud explosion of the first firework of the night reverberates through her body. Her eyes slowly open, already sensing that something is out of place.

As soon as her vision clears she notices three things: Gar is waking up on her right, her hands are tied, and Michael ahead of her clinging onto someone's shirt. She looks up, and who does the shirt belong to?

She meets with Ike's enticing jade jewels.

"Ike!" She shouts and attempts to get up and tackle him, but fights against the rope.

As soon as she blurts the name Gar's eyes fly open. He looks to his left, then forward, and sees what Raven is struggling towards.

He freezes. Sitting there on his knees stuck in place. Watching.

Michael is holding onto Ike's shirt like Ike is his father. Domino looks very uneasy, and Ike is standing with the same face he always has: That smug smile that infuriates everyone who sees him.

Content with his misdeeds.

The smile terrifies him now. He can't unsee it anymore. It's permanently imprinted in his brain, like a stamp done with permanent ink. It'll fade, but it's still there despite how little you can see it.

Ike grins at Gar's obvious fear of them. It makes him laugh.

"What so funny, asshole?"

"Woah woah careful, we have a child here." Ike responds with the most fake tone she's ever heard from him.

"Shut up and sit down, bitch." Michael demands.

She scowls, then looks over to Gar. Not taking in the fact that he's petrified, she begins to yell at him.

"I told you there was something weird about him! But did you listen?! No!"

Ike chuckles, "What did you do to bring this side out of her, Logan?"

"None of your business!" Raven butts in. "Untie me so I can punch the teeth right out of your mouth." Gar meekly turns to Raven as she continues to struggle.

Why is she so mad?

"That's the point of you being tied up. Why would we even consider letting you go?"

"..."

"Exactly."

She huffs and puffs, trying to muddle her way through the duplicity of his words. She is in no mood to deal with him and his hidden agendas.

Her wrists are starting to burn from the coarse rope, so she stills out of instinct.

Domino whispers something to Ike, and Raven instantly picks up on it.

"Ike, how much longer is this going to take? I don't like this..."

"You're such a baby. It's only fireworks."

Raven scans over her face, and she understands.

"What are you scared of?" Domino gives the most shocked look Raven's seen from her in years. "Don't look at me like that. I'd know that face anywhere. For as stolid as your are, you're not good at hiding fear."

"Not true. I'm not afraid of anything..."

"The fireworks. Specifically, the loud noise. She's like a damn cat."

"Ike!! What the hell?! You're not supposed to tell stuff like that!"

"You're my sister, not my partner. Quiet." Ike moves away from his twin and kneels down to Gar's level. As he gets closer, Gar shuffles farther, until his back is back is up against the bush he's tied to. There's nowhere left to go, so he sits there.

Ike stares at Gar's fearful eyes specifically. Then he turns to Raven.

"You know Rae," she growls at the mention of the nickname. He smiles at her discontent. "This is really pathetic." He points to Gar. "Look what you've done to him. He was so promising earlier this year. Now?" He begins the motion to slap Gar upside the head, but stops. Instead of slapping him he watches pleasurably as Gar flinches at nothing, only the mere possibility that he was going to be hit. "This is sad. Boo!" Gar flinches again.

"What does that have to do with me?" She questions belligerently.

"Everything. You made him this way."

"What?!"

"He would've never come here if not for you. Had he not come here he wouldn't have met us, and he wouldn't be so affected by his past. You realize that right? This is all because of you."

"It's not my fault he's got mental problems!!"

"It was your father." Gar warily shakes his head, trying to tell her that he's wrong.

"Tony is not me in any way! Don't you dare compare me to him!"

"Tch. Of course. Because family never share any similarities with each other whatsoever."

"I know what you're doing, Ike. You're trying to get in my head."

"So? Knowing what I'm doing isn't going to do a thing for you. If you want me to shut up, then fix it yourself."

She's completely fed up with the way he talks now, more so than ever before.

"What do you mean?" She asks exasperated.

"Why don't you simply tell him what you've been keeping from him?" In that instant, she figures out precisely what he means. Her heart leaps a mile and then doesn't move.

"Why don't you stop with the cryptic bull and just tell it like it is?" She retorts without any hesitation, being very careful about her tone.

He shakes his head.

"You're just as pathetic as he is. You can't even own up to your mistakes."

"Raven..." Gar finally speaks, but he's too quiet to even be noticed.

"What is the matter with you? Why do you insist on pretending it never happened? Why do you constantly lie to yourself? Is it satisfying? Pleasurable? Please, tell me. I'd love to know what goes on in that sociopathic mind of yours to justify this. Because this is just as bad as anything I've done. I'd be ashamed of myself if I were you."

I think we both know you have no remorse. She thinks. "What kind of lies are you making up?" Raven's face remains indifferent. "I haven't done anything."

"Exactly. That's the problem. You haven't done a thing, and you're hurting him because you're just sitting idly by and remaining passive."

How would that hurt him?? He doesn't even want to know!

"You are making absolutely no sense."

"Raven..." he tries again, but slightly louder. Nothing.

"I really thought you were better than that. I didn't take you in for no reason."

"Take me in?"

"You had potential you know. Just like he did. I taught you all of my tricks and skills, like that listening one you pulled earlier on Domino. I wasted all that time on you and this is how you repay me? Spoiling my new protégé?"

I didn't spoil anything! It's not my fault! It's yours you prick! Stop acting like you're above everything and everyone!!

"Just say it, Raven. Say it. Are you afraid of what it'll do to him? Because he's way too far gone for it to even matter at this point."

Shut up! SHUT UP!

"There's nothing for me to say..."

"Raven..." he tries a third time even louder. It's just loud enough that she hears him. She turns, and he speaks, "you don't have to tell me. Don't let him force you to do anything you don't want to." He sounds a bit more like himself than a cowering child now.

But he shouldn't have said that. Because it just broke her.

"C'mon Raven, it's simple. Just tell us what happened to Jackson."

Even as Ike is pressuring her, and it is very obvious that she is hiding something, he still respects her privacy.

"Jackson?" It's been a bit since he's heard that name. But he remembers who it is. "What does he have to–"

She can't take it. The guilt overcomes her. All the guilt she's built up over the years finally reaches the surface.

"I KILLED HIM!" She errupts. Her eyes are flooded. She can't take it. "You happy Ike?! I said it! Leave me alone now!!"

He got to her.

"You...what...?" He's not sure if he heard her correctly.

"I...killed Jackson, Gar. Ike made me."

"No you did it on your own." Domino corrects.

"Why would you make her kill someone...?" Gar reluctantly questions.

"Because I don't tolerate love. Especially not in my own institution."

Raven's words were replaced by tears and cries. She was sitting on her knees, staring at the grass, letting her tears water the little green blades.

"She wanted to kill him, Gar. I told her that she could leave and never come back if she didn't want to do it. But she turned right around and pulled the trigger on him. If she did that to him what do you think she can do to you?"

Gar remains quiet.

Ike shakes his head.

"I can't with these two anymore. They make me want to jump off a bridge. You know the drill, Domino. I'm going home." He spits their direction. "Disgusting." He walks away with Michael still grasping to his shirt, leaving Domino with Raven and Gar.

She glares at Raven and her puffy red eyes, then walks to Gar and gets down on her knees.

"Shame," her voice paralyzes him with fear again. It's too calm not to have ulterior motives. "You had so much promise. More than she ever did. You would've been much better off with me." She sizes him up, then brings his face near with her fingers lightly placed under his chin.

Before either Gar or Raven can process it, Domino's already attached her lips to Gar's. Gar tires to pull away but she just leans into him as he does so, allowing no detachment.

Raven feels her face burn up.

"Get away from him! Stop!!" She doesn't stop. Not until she's satisfied.

When she finally is, she flashes him a tiny smile, then proceeds to untie the both of them. Gar looks haunted.

"You know the rule." She leaves.

Gar and Raven stand together alone in the dark. They rub their reddened wrists in silence, only being filled with the sounds of the distant fireworks. Exactly how far away are they?

That's the only Raven can think about. If she doesn't she may start to cry again.

It may be dark, but she can see Gar's face all too clear. Yet, being as clear as it is to her, she can't make out how he's feeling.

His face is still in shock from the kiss that came from left field. But as he calms down, he gains his resting face, then this face that displays at least four emotions either at once or jumbled together haphazardly.

His brow is knit and his eyes are sharp, glowering. But if he were angry he'd be yelling at her. She knows that for a fact. This grimace disappears as soon as he looks up from his hands. An expressionless face meets her eyes. Is he purposely trying to hide it?

"Do the others know?" His dour tone shatters the glass wall of silence.

She almost says no.

"Yes..."

He sighs.

"It's kinda annoying that that was what he lead us all the way out here for." He says after trying to look around the bushes they were tied to to get some sort of lay of the land around them. "We've been gone way too long." He stuffs his hands in the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Let's go."

He pivots on his toes and begins walking. Speed walking.

"Wait up!" She catches up with him. He checks his phone.

"You know, it's weird."

"What?"

"That we've been gone for an hour and nobody's called or texted us." Realizing that he's right, she pulls out her phone. No calls or messages. In fact, no notifications at all.

Hmm...

It's on airplane mode.

Of course.

As soon as she turns it off a monsoon of notifications come in. Most being calls and texts.

Judging by the sounds Gar's phone is making he figured it out too.

"Jeez. They spammed the group chat." He says.

"I'll call Dick."

"Don't. They won't hear the phone. The fireworks are much louder there than they are here."

"R-right..."

There isn't anymore conversation from then until they get back to the soccer fields and can clearly see the baseball field. When they decide that there finally needs to be some sort of conversation.

When Raven decides there needs to be some sort of conversation.

"Are we not gonna...you know...like...talk about–"

"You being a murderer?" He just looks with his eyes, not bothering to move his neck.

Despite how much the words sting, he still doesn't sound angry. His voice wasn't sharp. It was like he was speaking normally, maybe with slightly less emotion, but still normal.

"Nope, we're not."

"But...why?"

"What, would you rather I did?"

"God no. I just...mm..." she doesn't want to say it. It's on the tip of her tongue though. So close it could fall out with a gust of wind.

"Wanna know how I feel about it?" He replies.

"Yeah..."

He says nothing.

As they walk past the blankets, the fireworks climax, lighting up the sky. The array of flashing lights and intense sounds affect both Raven and Gar. They can feel the vibrations when each one explodes. They both gets anxious.

Finally the light show ends and people can hear their own thoughts.

The crew begins to clean up their spot.

"Ok guys as soon as we get our stuff together we need to find Gar and Raven." Dick says.

Wally looks around, and he sees them walking towards them. They've got at least a foot of space between them. Gar still has his hands stuffed in the pocket, and Raven's arms are crossed, completely closing herself off.

"There they are." Wally points. "Hey guys, where did you go?" Wally waves and Gar waves back.

"Well we–" Raven gets cut off by Jinx.

"Where the hell were you two?!" Jinx asks already fired up.

"Jinx chill!" Dick says.

"They were gone for over an HOUR, Dick! What am I not entitled to worry about them?!"

"You are, just relax. They'll tell us where they went. You don't need to be bad cop." Jinx pouts and crosses her arms. She goes and starts cleaning up more stuff."

"Where were you two?" Kori asks in a much friendlier tone than Jinx did.

"We went to talk." Gar states vaguely.

"For an hour?" Dick asks suspiciously.

"Yep."

"How much you wanna bet they just made out in a corner somewhere?" Vic nudges Wally and the two snicker like middle schoolers.

Raven eyes dart down to the grass and she rubs her arm.

Gar on the other hand, practically snarls.

"Not. Funny." He remarks. He purses his lips, trying to push that kiss from his mind.

"Damn ok relax. What got your boxers in a twist?"

Gar looks around, nobody is sucked into their own conversations and focused on packing up their stuff. He takes a side glance at Raven and their eyes meet. Raven watches the others' faces as he starts to speak.

"The fact that I just found out what Raven did to Jackson." All of their faces drain and their smiles are wiped away. Raven turns her whole body away now and takes three good steps from him. Well, tries to. Although he hasn't eaten anything remotely substantial, his reflexes are still sharp. He snatches up Raven's arm before she even starts the second step. "Anyone wanna to explain?"

~~~

I had this planned from the very beginning.

Word Count: 3143