Pᴀɴᴀᴄᴇᴀ Hᴀᴍᴍᴇʀ

Panacea packed her black school bag slowly, she was still stuck in her old habits to avoid the bullies that would have stricken as soon as she even tried to step out of the doorway.

Jack was patiently waiting by the classroom door for her, which was a stunning surprise for the Hammer girl.

Jack chuckled when he noticed her bewildered expression, "Come on, Pan, did you think I was going to leave you alone?"

Pan shrugged as she walked towards him, a playful smile on her face as she poked her tongue out at him. The two grinned as they walked out of the classroom and through the hallways of the building.

"Your mom, outside for you?" Jack asked, tilting his head slightly downward to her. His slightly taller size making it so he had to duck slightly to look directly into her eyes.

Pan nodded, rolling her eyes slightly causing Jack to snort.

"Not liking this arrangement?" Jack chuckled as Pan scrunched up her face.

'Not one bit,' Pan wrote on her post-it notes, making Jack bark a laugh out, drawing an amused grin out and onto Pan's lips.

Soon the two reached the door to the outside "See you later," Jack grinned as he headed his way to his home.

Pan waved her goodbye to Jack before scanning around for her mother's car, finding it then heading over rather quickly and climbing into the passenger seat with her school bag at her feet.

"Hey, hon," Thalia grinned as Pan shut the door before Thalia drove off, humming to a song on the radio.

Pan tilted her head in a questioning way and Thalia smirked, "Yes, he's gonna be on edge for a while. Doesn't want all our funds to disappear from their bank account."

Pan snickered silently, as she wrote on a post-it note, 'Shame on him.'

Thalia glanced at the note, surprise featured on her face before happiness emerged, she was overjoyed to see her daughter communicating with others again, "You're writing again?"

Pan shrugged, 'Thought I might as well. Jack and Miko don't exactly understand my facial expressions.'

"Another friend?" Thalia grinned and Pan ducked her head bashfully, her hands fumbling nervously on her lap.

"Don't be shy, I love that you're making friends," Thalia smiled, placing her hand on Pan's leg as she drove the car.

Pan poked her tongue out at her mother who laughed. Pan tucked her post-it notes into her bag as clouds drew across the sky, hiding the setting sun from view.

🛠️

Pan glanced at the empty seat at the head of the dinner table, then glanced back down at her plate of food.

Thalia frowned as she noted her daughter's mood, "He'll be here," She said, a small smile as she tried to be optimistic.

Pan shook her head before leaving the table with her plate.

Thalia sighed before digging into her dinner as her daughter's door slammed shut.

In her room, Panacea sat at her desk eating her dinner as she watched the starry night sky through her window as tears watered in her eyes, but not falling.

Pan glanced at the photograph that sat on her desk, one of her, her mother, and her father. Together. As a happy, whole family.

Not anymore.

With her father gone for his work, not coming home for weeks at a time, sometimes months, because of his job at his tech company, called M.E.C.H.

Pan sighed as she brought out her homework, starting on it as she finished the remainder of her meal.

🛠️

(Surprise!)
Rᴀғ Eꜱϙᴜɪᴠᴇʟ

"See you after school, Pan," Thalia smiled joyously as she dropped off the young Hammer girl.

She grabbed her bag and hopped out of the car.

Pan gave a half-hearted wave to her mother before almost disappearing into thin air into the school. Her black hair flying up as she vanished around the corner into the school hallways.

Thalia shook her head before driving off to her work.

Inside the school, Pan had paused before backtracking slightly as she heard a faint sob.

She made her way down a deserted hallway to a deserted classroom where another sob sounded as she opened the door silently before it creaked suddenly alerting the person inside.

"Who's," the young boy sniffed, "There?"

Pan waved awkwardly as she stepped out from behind the door.

"Oh, hi, Panacea," the boy said, his voice wavering slightly as he wiped away the tears that were dripping down his cheeks.

Pan smiled lightly as she grabbed her pen and post-it notes out of her pocket and quickly wrote, 'Hi, Raf.'

"Was too loud?" Raf asked, sniffling again as he moved his glasses as he wiped his eyes.

Pan shook her head as she pulled a chair closer so she could sit next to the young boy.

"Sorry," Raf mumbled, wrapping his arms around himself.

'It's not a problem,' Pan shook her head as she displayed the note, 'Who was it?'

"Vince," Raf mumbled, sniffing again.

Pan frowned as she patted his back comfortingly. Raf sobbed before throwing his arms around her.

Pan stiffened slightly before gently wrapping her own lithe arms around his much smaller body.

"It's okay," Pan whispered and she felt Raf stiffen in surprise before he started sobbing into her shirt.

Pan rubbed the poor boy's back as she rested her head on his and she felt him soften under her touch. A sad smile perched on Panacea's lips as she hugged him.

Pan sighed as she ran a hand through his wavy hair, rubbing circles onto his back with her other hand.

Raf sniffed as he wiped his eyes, "I'm sorry," He apologized again.

"Don't be," Pan whispered quietly, yet again, and Raf blinked his wide, shocked eyes at her from behind his glasses.

"You can speak?" Raf asked, "Selective?"

Pan nodded giving the smart boy a nod, going back to her silence as the boy didn't even try to move from her arms, finding comfort and safety in her grasp.

Here's Chapter Five.

Raf is a cinnamon roll who needs to be protected at all costs. 
If anything happened to him, I'd kill everyone in the room, then myself.

I swear; I originally wrote Trent instead of Vince. *epic facepalm*.

Hope you enjoyed!
Feedback?

(Thanks to HellBlazerPax for the Pan meets Raf idea!)