Teen Titans 1. Chapter 1

**AN: before you read this, I suggest you to read the author note at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: Teen Titans belong to DC Comics**

It Was A Night (1)

"No father," shouted the heiress, her eyes blazing with extruding fury. "I'm not marrying him, nor shall I'll be married to him, father!"

Trevor grabbed his daughter's arms and gripped them hard. She winced.

"Rachel," he said, face-to-face with his own daughter. "You're going to marry him, regardless if you like him or not."

"No fa—" she wanted to protest again, however her father's death glare gave her sweet intentions that it wasn't worth all to do. Her wanting out of this marriage was not going to do anything, if all, her father had control of this marriage regardless whether she liked it or not. Nor her or Mitchell had a say of anything. _Maybe Mitch had some say,_ she thought hard, looking up at her father who still had a strong grip on both her slim limbs staring down at her angrily. _But I don't, and I won't follow through to this._

Therefore, right at that moment she decided to do something that no one ever had tried to do to Trevor the terrible. Her lips pursed, she spit right on her father's face. The saliva enriched his beet red face and with that he gave his daughter a look that rivaled a block of ice. She was pretty sure something was going to break. That being the thick pregnant pause, or the slight given notation her father wouldn't let her be without doing something 10X harder back at her. Her father, she knew, was extremely compulsive. However she didn't show one glimpse of begotten fear.

Bringing his thick hand up, it connected hard with his daughter's ghostly pale cheek. It stung terribly and tears were welling up beneath her azure eyes. "I hate you!" She shouted, then she exited the room quickly before her father could say anything, and left the house she knew she would never be welcomed back into again.

—

—

"Friend Raven, here is your glorious luggage!" Crooned Kory. She had auburn hair, green bottled eyes, and tan orange skin. The foreign girl was really sad her only friend in the city was leaving for quite some time, she knew she was going to miss Rachel dearly. Her eyes gave away her emotions and although Rachel was a training psychologist her sixth sense was telling her that her best friend would miss her terribly and that she needed to get away for awhile.

When she had ran away she called Kory on a pay phone and told her the sudden events, and with that knowledge the Tamaran native offered the best help she could muster. With that being the suitcase filled with two dresses; one day and one formal. A pair of pajamas, two pair of undergarments, and three It's Donna! magazines.

"Thank you Kory," said Rachel giving her friend a warm hug. "I'll be back soon. However, if anyone ask's for me you are to reply no."

The Tamaranian nodded gleefully. "I'm to do that Raven, and may I say I feel very the down you are leaving." Her jade eye's gave away that saddened look again.

Rachel frowned a bit before giving her friend one last hug and in advance taking her steps towards the busy train station, her heart pumped with pride. Leaving her father's Hell was something she always wanted to fulfill. And here I am. We're her last thoughts before continuing her way.

—

—

While a heiress was running away from home a heir was told, on the other hand, to leave home and to never comeback. He was olive toned, his hair was blonde equivalent to a ripe lemon, and his clothes otherwise screamed hippy although he didn't make it the intention to dress so.

"This dude's talking smack to his own dad!" A middle aged man shouted amusingly. Everyone was crowded around the blonde on the pay phone considering his back was facing the crowd.

"YEAH STEVE, I ALREADY HAVE A PLACE OF MY OWN AND I DON'T NEED YOU."

—"I should really get some tips from this guy. 'Cause I'll probably need the courage to tell my dad I dropped out of college." A stranger in the crowd whispered to one of their friends.

_"Gar you're already a disappointment and here you are disrespecting me, your own father?"_

"AND IM CUT OFF, SO WHAT? STEVE I'LL FIND A BETTER JOB THAN THE ONE I HAD WORKING FOR YOU!"

—"Ooh, if I told my father that, my ass would be on a very thin line."

_"Honestly already Gar you're telling me this as an act of immaturity. I'm hanging u—"_

"AND YOU KNOW WHAT? IM GONNA BECOME AN ACTOR. I'LL BE GRACING THE BIG SCREEN IN NO TI—"

The line then went dead. Gar glancing nervously at the crowd around him, he knew he needed to end this phone call with Steve at least seeming he had gotten the final word.

"STEVE YOU'LL ONE DAY HAVE TO CALL ME FOR AN EMERGENCY. AND IF YOU NEED ME, DON'T EXPECT ANY HELP FROM YOUR SON."

Putting the phone back on the hook he turned around and saw that people in the crowd were giving him astonishing looks. He smiled in triumph and heard the applause as he went the opposite way. Right now he was deciding to take a train to Jump City, he heard the city was known for its many landscapes and drama theaters. And after hearing that, Jump City was his destination.

Thus glancing at his watch he sat down beside a quaint looking girl around his age. She seemed to be waiting for her train as well. Her hair was jet black with a blue streak running through it, her eyes were dark blue but if you glanced deep inside them they would suddenly have a purple hue to them, and her skin was extremely pale as if the sun never beamed on her. She was wearing a pair of black jeans, purple flats, and a dark blue shirt with a raven cardigan.

"So where ya' headin'?" He inquired the lady. Taking her eyes away from the book she was reading, she stared at him sharply. "None of your business."

"Hey," Gar said a bit defensively putting both his hands up in the air. "I was just wondering." He gave her a cheshire grin and she shook her head irritably at him. "Leave me alone." She then returned to reading her book.

He tried many things to get the girl's attention but all she was doing was successfully ignoring him, he frowned hence the fact ladies always seemed to go for his comedic charm and here this one was ignoring him. He didn't like it one bit, if all he wanted her attention more. However after his last failed attempt of getting her to look his way he decided to take out his phone to check his daily mail. He was pretty sure Rita sent him something like always. For instance on why Steve always acted the way he did towards him and such, or maybe another one of her general loving letters (he admittedly loved getting) reason being she always did remind him he was still part of the family no matter what.

But when he checked his email nothing new came up except his occasional DC news celeb feed. For some reason he knew he followed the website but he just couldn't put his finger on why. Mmh, he thought. Maybe I accidentally clicked on it when I was installing a new app or something.

Clicking on DC news, the front of the page read: HEIRESS OF DIRECTOR TREVOR RYAN IS RUMORED TO HAVE RUNAWAY. He clicked on the article. It shown a girl leaving a ritzy looking mansion. Her face, pale, had a big red mark on the side of it as if she were just slapped. He couldn't help but frown at the conclusion that maybe that could've been the cause but shaking his head in denial he knew Trevor the most famous director of all time wouldn't really do that to his own daughter. Would he? The guy's too cool, Gar thought absentmindedly.

Trevor Ryan, he knew, was known for his realistic raw action films that were spellbinding and the amateur actors he usually casted in his films. Nonetheless the actors were occasionally great and acted beyond their years and he wanted to be one of those actors. Turning his attention away from his phone for a moment he stared at the girl once again who continued to ignore him. Her face he saw seemed oddly familiar, as if he just seen it someplace else awhile ago. Therefore he glanced at the screen of his phone once again.

Pale skin, blue streak in hair...

"You're Trevor Ryan's daughter!" After the words had left his mouth, the girl covered his mouth instantly with her hand. "Are you crazy?" She whispered-yelled, glancing cautiously around to see if anyone heard him. "You're lucky no one heard your galant lie. You're just like the paparazzi. Noisy, no empathy, rude..."

"Now, now," said Gar, slowly removing her hand from his mouth. "Who said I was gonna tell?"

"You're like eve—"

"Wait," he said, removing a strand of her black hair away from the side of her face. The red mark was their, contrasting with her ghostlike flesh, he grimaced. "Did Trevor slap you?"

"Trevor, why should I know who Trevor is? Bringing up names I'm not aware of, and you're just a stranger. Now, leave me alone."

"Come on, don't act like you weren't scared when I said: 'YOU'RE TREVOR RYAN'S DAU—"

The girl then slapped him, interrupting him in the process. Gar looked her as if she needed to be put in a mental institution.

"Wh—wha—what was that for?"

"You needed to be quiet."

Gar got up from the chair he was sitting in and glared down at her. It didn't appeal to him whatsoever that this girl slapped him. He had been in an abusive relationship with a girl—he wouldn't like to recall—and here this stranger he didn't quite know was reminding him the years of torment he had suffered in that relationship.

"You know what," he said to the girl whom went back to ignoring him. Her eyes once again glued to the page of her book. "I'm gonna call DC News and tell them where Trevor Ryan's daughter is."

"You don't even know my name."

"Ha, but I can search on my phone. That is what the Internet is for, right?"

He then turned around and left the girl gobsmacked.

—

—

Gar decided he needed to make this phone call privately. If he was gonna tell a celebrity gossip site where the daughter of a famous director was, this needed to be done privately. Thereupon he sat near two vending machines that were "out of order", and made the call. However the office didn't pick up which didn't stop him. He tried two more times with still no answer but then decided on leaving a message.

"I have an idea where Rachel, Trevor Ryan's daughter, might be."

And that was all. He knew with just those words they would call him back in no time. Smiling in triumph, he went back to where the girl now he knew as Rachel still remained. She wasn't reading her book anymore but still seemed rather intimidating and desolated.

"Hey," he greeted. She stared up at him with a critical eye but stayed content. "Hi."

"The train will be here in ten minutes, right?"

"What do you think?"

Grabbing his duffel bag, he glanced at the purple suitcase she had beside her and the purse that was on her lap that she was currently rummaging through trying to find her misplaced ticket.

"Need help looking for something?"

"No."

"Yeah you do, what is it? Your ticket?"

"..."

"Well, I'll just say this, if you can't find your ticket I have an extra one."

"No need for that," she clamored. "I'm not gonna get help from an unworthy stranger. What's your name? Wait, don't answer that. Once again why would I wanna know a scumbag's name?"

"Hey, hey," said Gar playfully. "My bad for being a scumbag earlier but let me introduce myself. Gar as in Garfield Logan. And you?"

_Maybe he didn't tell DC News, _she thought.

"Rachel Roth."

"Fine Rachel Roth, where ya' headin'?"

"Jump City."

"I seen you more as the Gotham City type; eerie, reclusive, and content."

"I'm not going to a place with mental unstable rats out on the loose. Arkham is just a step away from that city and me going there is a waste of time. Now be quiet, please."

"Hey you haven't found that ticket yet. So here, I'll give you this one."

He then grabbed her pale hand and wrapped her fingers around the ticket.

"No, like I said. I'm not gonna get help from a scumbag."

"Hey, you're acting like you're checking into rehab or something, and I'm your shrink. It's not like that. Now take the ticket."

"Fine, but if I have to. I will hurt you."

He nodded.

"Train for Jump City has arrived. Grab your luggage and your kids and make your way towards the train at this moment." The intercom announced.

"Ha," said Gar with a chuckle, standing up. "You're my kid 'kid.'"

"Shut up."

—

—

**AN: Well I know Gar seems to be a bit of a jerk but please give this story some time to linger and you'll eventually see he's not mean. And it may be a bit OOC for him but later in the fic that will change. Anyway, this is AU. But still Teen Titan characters. Also, this is based off the film It Happened One Night.**

**P.S. When the story is done I'll be sure to edit every chapter.**

Rachel Roth—Raven

Gar Logan—Beast Boy

Steve—Mento

Rita—Elasti Girl

Kory—Starfire

Mitchell—Malchior

Trevor Ryan/ Trevor the terrible—Trigon the terrible (Raven's dad)

DC News—a parody of celebrity news websites.

It's Donna—magazine franchise based off of the superhero wonder girl.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, DC Comics does. Me, Never!**

It Was A Night (2)

After getting on the train Rachel realized their were no seats available. She tried seeing if there were anymore available in the back, but when she looked there, all the seats were taken. Or maybe not.

"Ya' can sit by me,"

She groaned. If that voice was her alarm clock she would probably have broken the clock by now. It was Garfield Logan, the guy she had just recently met whom had been bugging her for quite some time. She had been skeptical of him ever since he had figured out she was Trevor Ryan Roth's daughter, who was probably the most respectable director/producer of this time. Rachel never really did find her father's work any good. It was always wishy washy and superb. She wanted something in depth, like the journals she kept at home locked in a safe. If she kept those journals easy for hands to get onto, she wouldn't have been here right now. Considering most of her journal entries contained reasons why she loathed her father so much and ways to escape home.

"Come Rachel," Gar said with a toothy grin, coaxingly patting the seat next to him. "Sit here, please?" She sighed and reluctantly sat down in the seat. "Fine."

"Now about the DC News situation I didn't tell them where you were. But I did leave a message."

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him comprehensively. "Saying what?"

"I'll tell you, but may you promise me this one thing?"

The pale girl crossed her arms.

"I'm not making any promises until I know what you told them."

"I didn't tell them anything, now if you don't want me to, you'll have to promise me this. Put me in one of your father's films."

"Ha—ha," she said sarcastically. "Now I demand you to tell me what you said in that message this instant."

"Okay, okay calm down. I'll tell you."

After a moment he said, "I told them I may know where you are. That's all, I swear."

"Mmm," she said examining him for a moment. "I'll believe you..."

"You do?" Gar asked hopefully crossing his fingers. _I'm gonna be famous._

"When Hell freezes over."

_Dang!_

"Come on Rachel, believe me, I didn't tell them. I sw—"

"I'm going to nap. Don't interrupt me." She made sure to lay her head down away from him. Her trust in him wasn't there yet and her skepticism still stood strong. Thereafter a couple minutes sleep consumed her, and sleep consumed Garfield Logan as well.

—

—

When he woke up Gar could smell the scent of lavender beneath his noise. As if he were in a field of flowers. Looking down he saw that Rachel somehow was snuggled against him. He smiled at how calm her features seemed to be. Her eyes were shut showing her long eyelashes, her mouth turned upward in delight, and he saw she naturally blushed; both her cheeks rosy. Therefore pushing a strand of hair away from her face, he saw how gracefully beautiful Rachel Roth really was.

Just then his stomach growled, giving away how long it has been since he had last eaten. Staring at Rachel her eyes slowly opened. "You should probably eat something." She murmured against his chest.

"Well, it doesn't help you're addicted to me," he couldn't help but add playfully.

She scoffed. "You wish." Sitting up she grabbed her purse and stood. "Want to tag along, I suppose?" Gar nodded standing up too. "Sure, why would I want to leave my beloved Rachel."

—

—

The line at the cafe car was terrifically long. An inspirational speaker was making small talk or rather a long inspirational speech with the cashier whom was a lousy looking guy who wore nothing but tore up jeans, a pair of working boots, and a t-shirt.

"You know what? Going to college at a slow rate is a good thing, it's saying 'I'm getting back on track,' reevaluating everything, taking everything in, being the person I can be. So do go to college, go to your parents look them both in the eye and say: 'Mom, Dad, Im going to college,' tell them your plan. Regardless of their reaction, say to yourself 'I'm trying to become the best person I can become.'"

Some people clapped and agreed with the long inspirational speech while others groaned. "Hurry it up, wouldja?"

Before long, the line was moving in motion.

"What would you like today?" The cashier asked. She wore pink extensions in her hair and went heavy on the eyeliner. Rachel, by all means, thought her appearance was quite expressive. "A bagel and one chamomile tea please." The cashier nodded and was about to round up the order until Gar spoke up. "Wait, this is all on one tab. I would like two chocolate sprinkled donuts and a coffee," looking at the girl's name tag," if you don't mind, Jenny."

Rachel gave him an eerie glance. Hence the fact he was paying for her food when really she had all the money in the world, and second he was flirting with the cashier.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't mind at all." Jenny then replied, fluttering her eyelashes like an actress in a black in white film. Rachel couldn't help but grimace. She wasn't jealous. No, not one bit, Rachel Roth jealous? Her liking Garfield Logan was something she couldn't ever imagine, if anything she could imagine herself nearly killing him, that's for sure.

"Thank you." Gar replied, giving the girl one of his signature toothy grins.

"No problem."

They continued looking at each other flirtatiously until both him and Rachel were handed their orders and back to their seats.

"Finally," Rachel remarked.

Gar nudged her. "Were you jel...ous?"

Taking a bite of her bagel and a sip of her tea she monotonously answered, "No."

"Yeah right."

"I need an aspirin." She then got up from her seat and looked in the compartment she had put her purple suitcase in, as she felt for it she looked up and saw her suitcase wasn't in there. Don't worry Rachel, the dweeb must've moved it. Looking at the blonde, she put her hands on her hips and stared at him.

Gar growing agitated at her intimidating stare, put both his hands up. "Did I do something wrong? Cause if I did it's a lie, it's a lie, it's a li—"

"Gar stop with the antics. Where's my suitcase?"

He stopped rambling and stared at her dumbfounded.

"This is about your suitcase?"

"Yes."

"Well I don't know what you're talking about, 'cause I haven't done anything to your suitcase."

"Then why isn't in the compartment?"

"I don't know."

Rachel rubbing her forehead tenderly, gave him a glare.

"Gar, I know you've done something to my suitcase. If you're trying to auction it off somewhere, there's nothing in there except a few borrowed dresses, underwear, and some magazines. So now as you see, there is nothing in there. Please, just tell me where my suitcase is. I know you've hidden it somewhere."

"Honestly Rachel, I don't know what you're talking about. And I wouldn't have auctioned off your suitcase regardless what I would get out of it. It just seems to me someone else stole your suitcase, not me."

"Well," deadpanned Rachel sitting back down, "If that's the case, there's no need getting it back now. I don't need it anyway, would have been another headache. I'll just buy me some new clothes when I arrive in Jump City."

_After all, _she thought. _New beginnings._

—

—

The train stopped in Central City, a town known for its urban legend The Flash. It was refreshing and rejuvenating for everyone on the locomotive to be out and about considering the train ride went for 12 hours, it now being currently 8:00 pm. The next train to Jump City would arrive at 9:00 pm.

"Wowza, that was one long train ride, wasn't it Rae?" Gar remarked, flexing his legs a little.

She gave him a look and started walking towards a vending machine. "Don't call me that." Ignoring her, he sat down on a vacant bench and watched as she walked away. "Some lady."

As he waited for Rachel he checked his email again. No message from Rita and no news from DC either. He could have cared less though, the site really didn't express sympathy towards celebrities so he decided to unsubscribe. Therefore he realized there was a miss call.

Clicking on the red telephone icon he saw the number, it was a returned call from DC news but he deleted it. The idea of telling them where Trevor Ryan's daughter dwindled behind his mind. Like said he could have really cared less about telling those people where Rachel was. He really wanted to earn her trust and starting with deleting those people would be a good start. He then put his phone back inside his pocket and stared up at the night starry sky.

—

—

"Stop it," Rachel said eying the guy suspiciously. "If my father sent you here, I demand you to give me the phone."

The guy smirked. "Sorry miss, won't do that. Trevor told me if I found you, my reward would be contributed."

"What reward?"

The guy didn't answer her question, nonetheless he grabbed her from behind and forced her inside a vehicle perched in front of the main entrance of the train stop.

"I know what you are doing, and I give you a warning to put me down this instant!"

"Or what?" He challenged now in the driver's seat. He locked the car doors and tied a bandana around her eyes. _Does he think this hasn't happened to me before? This guy is a newbie and he obviously isn't prepared. _Numerous times Rachel Roth had attempts of running away, and she was always found successfully by her father's men. And now that she was out of her father's sight—from what she could tell—this was the farthest she had gotten away from her father and she wasn't going to let this guy take her away.

As he started the engine, she grabbed the nail filer she kept inside her pant pocket and lurched at the guy, considering he didn't tie her all the way up. Him surprised, put both his hands up in surrender and did as was told.

"Did my father send you here?" Rachel inquired, putting the sharp nail filer against his neck, almost putting him in a choke hold.

"Not exactly!"

"What do you mean, per se, by not exactly?"

At that moment the passenger side door opened revealing a frazzled Gar. He took a look at the situation and smirked. "Dude, seriously?"

The guy smiled gleefully although he was still being threatened violently. With a wave of his hand he said,

"Hey Gar."

Rachel looked at Gar questionably while tightening the hold she had around the guy's neck. "How do you two know each other?" she deadpanned.

The two men smiled at each other. However they didn't say anything.

"I precaution you to tell me now or..." she demanded tightening the hold on the guy's neck.

"Gar please tell her."

"Fine," the blonde said. "His name's Wally West, we went to college together. He hosts a show called Royalty on the Loose, which is basically a show about catching famous people's children and calling them out. Like if they're at a night club partying, doing illegal thin—"

"That's dumb," Rachel interjected gravely. "You're humiliating people for money. I should really hurt you right now, but resisting to do so you'll live for another day."

She then hopped out of the car, although Gar stayed where he was. "Ya know man, don't ever do this again. If you want money call your uncle. Buh-bye."

But before he left, he grabbed the flier from the glovebox of his friend's car and read it over and huffed. "And before you want to kidnap someone for money, make sure you have a plan first."

Wally flushed. "I know that now."

Thereafter Gar left, the call for the train to Jump City rang through the quiet train station.

—

—

**AN: Tell me what you think? Thanks for favoring! Who's Wally West? Hint: he's the nephew of our dear The Flash.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Never.**

It Was A Night (3)

"How did you get through the locked doors?" Rachel asked Gar as the two boarded the train. They were continuing to talk about the incident that had occurred with Wally West.

He smiled. "The doors were locked?"

Rachel still skeptical of him, decided to sit by a middle aged man whom was playing a game on his phone. He doesn't seem too bad, she thought. Gar a bit hurt that she wasn't sitting by him watched as she took out her book from her purse and began to read.

_Why is she so difficult?_ he couldn't help but think. Of course he kept admiring her from afar but what he saw in her she didn't quite see in him. She thought he was an imbecile, a nuisance, and a nag. And although she could agree he has helped her some during this trip, she knew it was by his choices. She hadn't even asked him for help and she sure wasn't going to start either.

Therefore, turning the page of her book someone nudged her. It was the man she was sitting by who did so. He had an alluring smile. "Miss, I think you're awful pretty." She gave him a small smile and nodded. "Thank you."

Gar frowned. Even though he only knew Rachel for almost a day, he could tell she rarely smiled. He noticed she always seemed to rarely show any emotion and if she did, it was only for disgust and disapproval.

"Why, where are you traveling birthday cake?" said the guy.

Rachel looking up from her book gave him a disgusted look. "Excuse me?"

He winked at her. "You're like baskin' in Carmel. Sticky, sweet, and delicious." He then had enough nerve to add a growl at the end. A sound of thunder could be heard in the background.

_Pitter—patter!_

_Pitter—patter!_

Rachel sitting up in her seat, glared at him.

"I'm not caramel, or as you say, sticky, sweet, and delicious. If you don't mind, I would suggest you leave me alone."

The guy's smile broadened. "Well the name's Leo but my friends call me Adonis, and although you're not my friend. I'll make you mine, sugar."

Gar wasn't really feeling Adonis, he found him too proud of himself and too confident.

"Now, tell me honey. What's your name, I want you to be my icing to my Oreo."

Rachel was utterly sure she wasn't going to be able to make it through this train ride without strangling the guy. Her heart was pumping with adrenaline, and before she could even speak, Adonis spoke again. "Please tell me your name sweet chocolate," he laid his hand on her thigh. "'Cause I would surely want to get know you, if you know what I mean."

That's it, Gar thought angrily. "Leave my wife alone!"

Adonis quickly moved his hand away from Rachel's leg, and smiled up at Gar mischievously. "You're her husband?"

"Yeah," Gar said, standing up and inching towards him. "And if you don't mind, I don't like you touching her." Rachel surprised, gave Gar a strange look. What is he doing?

She never really thought he would stand up for her. If all, she never really thought anyone would stand up for her. It was always her who had to fight for herself, not anyone else. This was foreign to her.

"I'll touch her again, 'cause man, she's not your wife. You're way out of her league." Attempting to put his hand on her thigh again Gar grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her to his side, luckily her book was put back into her purse and her purse was right on her shoulder.

"She is my wife," looking at Rachel he said,"Come on Rachel let's sit some where else." He then put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the back of the train, and this time they both knew to sit down beside each other.

A moments of silence was exchanged between the two until Rachel decided to break it. "Thank you," she said quietly, her voice grave.

He smiled widely and nodded. "You're welcome, wife."

"Don't ruin it."

—

—

The thunder outside was still heard inside the train as the passengers got off. Gar grabbed Rachel's hand out of courtesy and quickly found them both cover from the pouring rain. Which was a bus stop with a bench topped with a canopy.

"I think we should call a taxi to take us to a motel for the night, and then we'll take the train to Jump City tomorrow." Suggested Gar with a bright smile, looking at Rachel whom didn't agree with his plan.

"No," she said solemnly, shaking her head slowly in disagreement. "I want to leave as quickly as possible. Where are we?" Staring at the sky she added with her hands up in the air dreadfully, "must I ask?"

Gar shrugged. "I don't know, I think Starling City."

Rachel didn't say anything. Her thoughts were plagued with pessimism and disappointment. The one time I'm actually leaving my father, this has to happen? She gripped the bridge of her nose and stared at the ground below her.

Gar frowned. He didn't want Rachel to be upset but seeing as she was, he then thought of something. "Now Rachel what about w—"

She interrupted him with a stop of her hand. "Leave me alone."

"Come on Rae, ple—"

"No! What did I say about calling me that?! My name's not Rae, it's Ra—chel."

Gar seeing that nothing was working, stood up and walked away. A few minutes later he came back with a small bag in his hand. Honestly Rachel thought he had left her, but seeing now that he had came back that fear was pushed aside. Thus he grabbed what was inside the bag; revealing a beautiful necklace.

"What is that?" Rachel inquired looking away from the ground. Obviously she saw it was a necklace but the stones seemed quite exquisite and unique to be just any necklace.

"It's for you," said Gar undoing the necklace's hook. "The guy at the shop I was browsing at told me the necklace was rare, so I bought it."

Rachel gobsmacked didn't show it, more so she wasn't impressed with his sucking up. "I'm not accepting it."

"Wh—"

Gar's eyes grew expediently big. He wasn't favoring Rachel so much now, he was more annoyed than anything hence the fact he went into the pouring rain just to buy her something to make her feel better. And here he saw she was not impressed nor satisfied with his gift.

"Well, here just keep it," he urged with a sad smile that he sure wasn't trying to show. "I was just trying to make you feel better, that's all."

"I know you were but..." Rachel wasn't trying to feel bad. The necklace she thought was exceptionally beautiful; gold with red rubies but somehow she knew she didn't deserve it. She knew Gar was just trying to help but she just wanted to get more away from her father than anything. Therefore standing up, she stared at Gar with a small smile dripping from her lips.

"Call a taxi."

"You mean we're going to stop here for the night?" His eyes sparkled, and with his hair wet and stringy and clothes completely wet, Rachel thought about how much he really did help her on this trip.

"Yes Gar, call a taxi. If we're going to stay a night at a motel, I think we will need some type of transportation."

The blond smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you're right." He then fished his phone right out of his pocket and started dialing. "Yeah we'll definitely need a taxi."

He didn't give her the necklace (because she didn't take it). But he would give it to her sooner or later.

—

—

Subsequently the two checked into a motel room, one they would have to share for the night, considering Rachel didn't have a credit card or barely any money, now that she thought of it, Trevor Ryan—her dad—canceled all of her banking accounts, and most of the money she did bring on the trip was in her luggage that was stolen. And even if she did decide to use her credit card she knew it would've been another way her father could've tracked her down.

Nonetheless the motel room had two beds and was neat to the T.

"Now the bathroom they say is out of order so we have to use the public bathrooms for now." Gar laid spread out on his bed like a spider monkey.

Rachel groaned as she sat down on the ragged chair. "They still have those?" She mumbled to herself. Her knowledge of public hospitality was limited. Ever since she was a child she always stayed trapped inside her house as if she were Rapunzel waiting for her prince to come save her and here she was now.

"I know right? Public bathrooms... There'll probably be a long line in the morning. Shucks, this is some motel." Gar then clucked his tongue, much to Rachel's annoyance, and started to undress.

"Get. Out."

He looked her way, puzzled.

"Get out? Oh, come on Rachel I'm just getting undressed. And I paid for this room didn't I?"

"Yes Gar, you did pay for the room, but I didn't ask you to whatsoever, nor did I want to stay here. Now you either leave right now, or I'll force you out of here myself."

Gar about to protest once again looked at her alluringly. "Would you really wanna leave me out in the rain Rae?" He slowly went towards her, unbuttoning his shirt one by one.

"Leave me alone Gar, or..."

He didn't stop staring at her as he stopped in front of where she was sitting and decided to take off his shirt there. Rachel didn't look his way though, however she could't resist taking one glance at him from the side of her view. She could see he did sport a six pack but he wasn't too buff which she liked, his skin was quite tan compared to his blond hair color she found contrasting, she could tell blonde was his natural hair color but he dyed it before—telling from some of the green hues she could see poking through strands of his soaking wet hair.

"Come on Rachel," he said cajolingly, wiggling his eyebrows in the process. "Look at me, ya' know you wanna see."

"No."

"Fine, I'll make you."

He tried making eye contact with her but he was having a hard time doing so, therefore he did one thing he knew would work. Staring at her for a long amount of time was the key, and he did just that.

Rachel on the other hand was losing her willpower unwillingly. She wanted to slap him again just as she had done at the train stop, however she knew that took a lot of her might which she was currently losing. _He is an imbecilic hippy with no job as you can see. If you look Rachel, he wins._

10 minutes later Gar won. She was staring at him, her eyes meeting with his two azure irises her heart beating rapidly in the process. Her subconscious she knew was disappointed with her but she didn't care, all she wanted was to get out of her wet clothes, to get this juvenile charade over and done with, and to go to sleep.

"Yes Gar, you win. Now leave me alone."

"Yes! I win Rachel!" He crooned triumphal. Thus with his shirt in his hand he started spinning the flannel teasingly and dancing. "In yo' face Rae, I knew you couldn't resist me. Mm—mh, I won." Seeing as Rachel was entering the 'out-of-order' bathroom to change out of her clothes, he grabbed something from his duffel bag.

"Rachel wait! Here's some PJs the motel had, so since you don't have your luggage..."

Rachel about to close the door stopped it and grabbed the nightwear from Gar's hands. "Thank you."

He smiled widely and nodded. "No problem, Rae."

From the other side of the door he could hear an exasperated yell of: Don't. Call. Me. Rae. It's Ra—chel!"

—

—

**A/N: Please review. I'll probably be updating soon!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Never.**

It Was A Night (4)

Rachel woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. The smell brought her back to the earlier years of her life, when Arella her mother was still living with Trevor and her, and her mother's mind was not wrecked with the havoc her father had caused her mother to falsely visualize.

The smell made Rachel smile as she sat up. Opening her eyes, she saw two plates filled with food being what seemed to be on one plate tofu bacon, tofu eggs, and fruit. On the other plate there was plain ol' bacon and eggs with black berry jam on toast. Gar, however, wasn't in the room which she had noticed seeing as the other bed was already made up and empty.

Therefore she saw a dress laid out on one of the table chairs. Getting up from the bed she went towards the chair and examined the dress. As she lifted the garment up from the chair, she saw it had colors of purple, orange, blue, and black. Also she saw the dress wasn't dressy nor one you would wear on a girl's night out—not that she had ever experienced one of those before, she just saw the dress was something you would wear during the daytime instead of on certain occasions.

Setting the dress back down on the chair the door to the motel room opened, revealing a clean and kempt Gar; his hair was clean and shiny compared to yesterday. He then wore a casual 70s flannel and some simple brown corduroy pants with a pair of Jesus sandals.

He smiled as he saw she was already awake. "Good morning Rachel. I took all the clothes you got yesterday and sent them to get washed. Also I took a taxi and went to the mall and bought you a dress at one of those goth—romance and stone stores, not that you're goth or anything, it just seems to be more of your style that's all." He then halted his rambling and stared at the food on the table.

"I hope your plate didn't get cold, this motel's pretty much weird considering they have a kitchen that everyone here uses and shares. Took me forever to cook all of this but I hope you like it."

Rachel smiled and took a bite of her bacon. She was quite impressed of how much of a good cook he was, thus she continued eating her breakfast gradually in big bites.

"You're close with your mom," she remarked finished with her plate.

Gar flushed. "What's that supposed to mean? He inquired nervously scratching the back of his neck. _She might think I'm some kinda' prick._

"You know how to cook." Rachel picked up her coffee cup filled with herbal tea, she smiled as she smelt the familiar scent of chamomile.

"Well Rita always said a man who knows how to cook, makes a gentlemen."

"Rita seems nice,"

Gar smiled wistfully. "Yeah, she is."

"What about your mom. How's she like?"

Rachel almost about to take a sip of her hot tea, set her cup down and sighed. "I would rather not talk about my mother."

"Hey," prodded Gar. "What could be so bad? Huh, my mom's dead but Rita's good, loves me, and she cares about me like a real mom should. So whatcha got?"

"Well while I'm quite surprised about your revelation, my mom's checked into a place treated for her condition."

"What condition?"

"I'll tell you later," said Rachel standing up. "I'm going to go take a shower."

"Well um, there's a long line so it might be long before you comeback. I'll be here."

—

—

While Rachel trudged to the girl's public bathroom she reevaluated Gar mentally in her mind. Her hands held a towel, a bar of Dove soap, and a small bottle of shampoo the motel provided.

_He's a nuisance of course, he is quite handsome, however his 70s hippy flower child wear isn't appealing at all. His hair could be cut as well..._

Making her way towards the bathroom door she grew distracted and didn't realize the long line that inched all the way to the back entrance of the motel's lobby to the bathroom door. Therefore she knocked on the door.

—"Couldja' give me second?!''

Rachel jumped which made the girls in the line laugh. "Ha, sweetheart you'll have wait like the rest of us."

Rachel then nodded, not even trying to show her disdain towards the chicanery, she did as was told and went to the back of the line. Much to her dear chagrin.

—

—

"I ran away from my father, too!" Gushed the blonde delightfully. Rachel had learned the woman's name was Dinah Laurel Lance. She lived here in Starling City all her life and was in a steady relationship with an older man named Oliver.

"Now the reason I ran away from my father," said Dinah filing her red polished toenails. All the girls were crowded in the bathroom now being the remaining five whom were in the back of the line awhile ago, including Rachel herself. "'Cause he didn't know when to lightin' up, he sometimes would make me have to fight for what I wanted. Like one time he made me box with him, just 'cause I needed to borrow the car."

Switching her other foot and leaning it against the countersink, she looked up at Rachel and smiled, her teeth white and shiny. "So tell me, why did you runaway?"

Rachel stared back with her unemotional mask she had perfected her senior year. "Typical reasons." She was already out the shower and into the dress Gar bought her, and admittingly she liked the dress but to finish the outfit off she knew would need some other shoes instead of her quaint purple flats.

"What typical reasons?" Another girl in the bathroom inquired frankly, she wore a white robe and was brushing her straight long black hair.

"My father in other people's eyes is an extraordinary man," said Rachel, she was having a hard time deciding whether or not she should tell them who she was. If she did, she knew there would be two cons; them or at least one of them calling DC News, maybe even that magazine It's Donna she thought was considerably dumb, and telling them where she was. Or, kidnapping her and taking her to her father like that Wally West would've done if it wasn't for her portable nail filer and Gar, and receiving that big reward. Therefore she decided on No.

"And if people think of my father in that particular way, you would wonder what type of freedom he truly does have." She finished.

Dinah smirked, "Wow, aren't you a witty one," she then said to all of the girls in the compacted bathroom. "We all know who she is, right?"

Every single girl in the bathroom nodded cheerfully. "You're Trevor Ryan's daughter!"

_Wow, and the last person who said that got slapped. _Rachel thought sarcastically.

"It's obvious," crooned Dinah rolling her eyes, "the hints, everything. However you won't have to worry about anyone of us blowing your cover. Am I right, girls?" She stared at the girls sternly that were now crowded around an irritated Rachel, they all nodded knowingly. "I mean, this motel is a pretty cracked up one—if ya' know what I mean—and we're good at keeping secrets."

"I'm not sure if I should trust your word," Rachel's gut feeling continued to drip with skepticism. "I'm trying to get away from my father's grasp as much as possible."

Dinah tsked. "And you don't think we already know that?"

—

—

Gar knew it would be quite sometime before Rachel came back. He saw how long the lines were to the public bathrooms that stretched far from one point to the other. Honestly he had thought the motel would get everyone's plumbing up and working again, but somehow that didn't happen.

Leaving the motel room he headed towards the lobby. He decided he needed some fresh air and the lobby was the closest thing he would get to it outside of the swimming pool.

Therefore when he entered the lobby nobody was there except the motel clerk and a guy who was playing on his phone. Going up to the front desk he snagged a cookie but before he even took a bite, the concierge said something.

"I wouldn't eat those things if I were you," he warned nonchalantly, Gar then put the pastry back on the plate and took a glance at the guy's name tag. Roy Harper. He smiled in remembrance of the guy's name. He knew him, they had went to college together.

"Roy Harper?"

The guy looked up from the desk and smiled. "That's my name."

Gar almost did forget about the guy's cockiness. The ladies loved him for that and his carrot orange hair that they all thought went well with his starling emerald eyes. Thus, Roy Harper went around the desk and the two men did that handshake that all men did.

"Wow, what are you doing down here man?"

Gar shook his head and gave him his signature cheshire grin. "Ya' know dude, just typical vacationing, but I'm just stopping here for the time being. I'm supposed to catch my train at four." He wasn't even bothering to tell him about Rachel.

"When did you check in?"

"Last night around 11,"

"Mmh, wow if made it in on time I probably could've given you a discount."

"And I'm guessing you were late 'caus—"

"Hey, hey," said Roy looking cautiously around the room, lowering his voice to the slight minimum. "Mia (my manager) doesn't even know I was late. So please just ya' know..."

"Yeah... Anyway what's up with the plumbing dude? These weird public bathrooms..."

Roy smirked. "It's the motel owner being dumb and that would be my dumb uncle. "

"You two still cool?"

Before Roy had a chance to answer him, the guy that was playing on his phone earlier, seemed annoyed and irritated slapping his hand on the bell impatiently. "Is there any help here?" Roy hurriedly went back around the counter. "What can I do for you?"

Gar grimaced at the guy Adonis. The same guy on the bus whom was flirting with Rachel. Right then and there Gar could feel his hands going tight into knuckles, he knew if he had to fight this dude he would—hands down. Nonetheless he left without even saying an adieu to Roy Harper. He wanted to leave unnoticed and he did just that.

When he arrived back to the motel room he was surprised to see Rachel in the dress he had bought her. Not only was he surprised but happy. He bought her something she loved, and thought she really did look great in that dress. Instead of the flats she originally wore, she instead had motorcycle boots dawning her feet and her raven colored hair put up in a messy bun.

"Wow," said Gar speechless. "You look..."

"Great?" Rachel chimed in monotonously. Her eyes were somewhat filled with dread, but hindered on her lips was a playful smirk.

"No,"

Her face then turned timid. She didn't mean it do so, she really had thought she looked great, Gar's face then brightened into a grin.

"You look beautiful, Rachel."

"Stop saying things that aren't true."

Gar taken back, gave her the sternest look he could muster.

"Rachel, I am telling the truth."

She didn't say much more after that, even after Gar tried convincing her, she still didn't believe him. Thereupon the door to their room opened revealing two ordinary looking men.

At that moment Rachel hid under the bed as Gar told her to do with a motion of his hands. He was a bit disturbed at their unwanted guess but put on the best mask he could make.

"Sorry to disturb you sir," one of the men said, he was the tallest out of the two and was blond. The other one on the other hand was brown-headed and more sterile. "I'm the owner of this motel and were checking everyone's rooms at the moment 'cause I have gotten a call from someone, telling me an heiress is staying here at this motel that shouldn't be. And I was quite disturbed by the call, but as you see I may abide by that person's advice and search for this... Let's say missing heiress."

"More of a runaway," snarled the dark-haired one.

"Well there's not a runaway here or missing person. So you dudes can leave." However before Gar closed the door they went on past him relentlessly.

"Um dudes," Gar said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I wouldn't go there my wife's getting dre—"

"Honey, why didn't you tell me we had guests?" Rachel in a white robe, appeared behind the entryway of the room. Her face was covered with purple jelly and two sliced cucumbers coated her eyes. Gar stifling a laugh replied, "Honey what did I tell you about using the vegetables!" He shouted, he winked at Rachel. "We eat the cucumbers, not use them for..." he motioned what was on her face, "That!"

"Why do you always do this!" Rachel shouted back. The two men looked warily at each other.

"'Cause of that stupid BS on your face!"

"This is not BS!"

"It's a waste of my damn money. That's for sure!"

"Why?!" She cried with crocodile tears. "I love you and you can't seem to take me for me! Why?!"

The blond man interfering stepped between the couple. "Now we will be leaving. If you see any sightings of the heiress please tip the front desk. And, sorry for the inconvenience."

The dark-haired one following after, gave the two both eerie glances and closed the door behind him as he left. Thus at that moment Rachel did an out of character thing, she hopped into Gar's arms and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Thank you Gar."

"Thank you? I should thank you for thinking up the act, those dudes were really on to us weren't they?" He couldn't keep from grinning. Rachel kissed me!

She nodded in agreement and got down from his arms. "Yeah," looking at his face, she wiped off a swift of purple jelly with her fingertip that was on his cheekbone that came from when she had kissed him on the cheek. Plus sucking the jelly off her thumb she commented, "Mmm... Blackberry."

"Wow, you used blackberry jam?"

"Yes. The cucumbers I brought from the kitchen for just in case," and removing them from both her eyes, "Seems like I needed them." Just as she said that the two men opened the door.

"Why are you so difficult!" Gar screeched shaking his head. "Woman, you're just dumb!"

Rachel covering her face with both hands feigned a sob.

"Um Sir," said the blond awkwardly. "The train station called just awhile ago reminding any passenger whom are staying here of their arrival times."

The dark haired one pulled out a spreadsheet announcing the given times. Jump City was what caught the couple's attention.

"...And Jump City 3:00 pm. That's in 30 minutes."

"Thank you sir. You seem to have a better brain than my wife here," commented Gar looking at Rachel disgustingly, he then added, "Ain't that right?"

"Oh... shut... up..." Rachel said between fake sobs.

"Well, we will be going. I hope you two enjoyed your stay." Therefore the two men left, and this time for good.

—

—

**A/N: R&amp;R. Thanks for the review Jinseiwakurai-Shouganai! C: Thank you so much! Also thanks for the favs and follows (everyone).**

**Also as you could see in the chapter Gar and Rachel were acting. Dinah, Roy, Mia, and Oliver are references in DC universe.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Never ever ever!**

It Was A Night (5)

They both raced to the train in time and they were quite surprised. A few hours had passed since they've been on the train and everybody seemed to have enjoyed each other these past few days on each ride. Someone having the nerve, decided to bring out their Dean guitar and sing Fleetwood Mac songs much to everyone's dear delight.

"Go Your Own Way!" Gar suggested, the guitarist nodded. While everyone agreed with the song, Rachel on the other hand was busy staring out the window; watching the passing scenic view and it wasn't because she was angry or irritated at Gar. It was something else. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Are you okay Rachel?"

She turned away from the window's view and stared up at Gar. "I don't know," she answered monotonously. "It has come to me that I'm one step away from my father's controllable grasp, for once in my life."

The blonde nodded understandably. "I get you," he said with a sigh. "But shouldn't you be happy about it Rachel? I mean, come on the dude can't control you anymore and here you are sulking."

"I'm not sulking," she said glaring up at him. "You don't even get it. You act like you do, but you don't."

"Wh—Rachel I do get it but you're not even giving me room to explain. Have you even asked me why I left that city we were both bounded to?"

She didn't say anything; considering she didn't even know what else to say. Through most of the train ride, the imbecilic man she had become accustomed to, joined with everyone on all the song's the guitar player strummed.

Thus after awhile the guitarist went towards Gar and Rachel and gave them a look that inquired them both upon which song they wanted him to play next.

"I already had my turn man," said Gar putting his hand to his chest, then pointing to Rachel who sat beside him. "Ask this fine lady here."

The guitarist nodded and looked at Rachel—whom a little perplexed—cleared her throat. "You won't have to do that si—"

The guitarist put his hand up to halt her words, and took out a minuscule yellow notepad from his back pocket. He then wrote something down.

Rachel and Gar gave each other peculiar glances. What's he doing?

The musician then revealed what he had written on the small notepad:

_Joey_.

"Um, what's that?" Gar questioned, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Therefore Rachel just raised her eyebrow in comprehension, she was trying to figure out the musician. She saw he wore a ebony leather jacket.

Stereotypical.

Had green eyes that she couldn't help but think were somewhat dreamy. And blonde hair that closely resembled Gar's except his hair was styled quite the opposite; a bit curled on the sides being the difference.

"I'm guessing Joey's his name," Rachel said taking a quick glance at Gar. "Am I right? Joey's your name."

He smiled and nodded, then writing something else on the notepad: _Now what song?_

She gave him a small grin. "I don't know, Gar can you help me here. Please?"

Gar smiled and nodded. "Sure, fine. Um... Joey what about Tusk?"

_Perfect._

Strumming the first notes on his guitar he got the notion and started off the song. Everyone on the train cheered at the rhythm and before long people were dancing to the beat.

It was quite a sight hence the fact people were getting up from their seats and dancing, even the train conductor—from what he could hear from where he was located on the train—was nodding his head from side-to-side. Everything was going fine.

Gar being the person he was sang along through most of the song, and Rachel herself could agree he was a great singer, and she admired that in him. However she remained content where she was seated, only allowing herself to join in on all the fun until Joey coaxed her into doing so. He told her to dance a little from what she could read on the notepad, and she shook her head. But it wasn't until Gar grabbed her hand and guided her into dancing that she chose to have fun.

"So," he said grinning at her, "who gave you the boots to that dress."

"Wow, aren't you Sherlock," said Rachel sarcastically. "From a woman named Dinah."

"Oh, well they fit you," he complimented.

"They have to, for me to wear them."

"Hey, sarcastic much?"

"Only when I'm prone to."

Gar just shook his head in amusement and the two continued dancing.

—

—

The passengers escalated from the train quickly, however Rachel wasn't one of those passengers. She was too busy in the train helping a woman whom was suffering from dehydration. It wasn't until Joey stopped strumming his guitar for the fun to end, a child in the train car began to scream in agony, and it wasn't until Rachel's sixth sense gave her the hint something was wrong.

Gar on the other hand was comforting the child the best he could with one-liners and jokes of his own he knew would make the child come at ease. Successfully the child went back to his own self and started talking uncontrollably which Gar didn't seem to mind. If all, he was happy for the child hence the fact it seemed to him this child was having a far more better childhood than he did, and that was all that mattered to him.

Thereafter the child was back in his mother's care and Gar was waiting for Rachel, he felt a presence near him and when he turned to look, there was no one there other than Adonis with a mischievous grin dripping from his lips. "I know who your wife is," he contorted. Gar gave him a feigned naïve look; the best feigned one he could do as an aspiring actor. "Okay good for you dude. You've been basically stalking my wife."

Adonis's eyes furrowed a bit giving Gar the indication he wasn't amused nor satisfied by his immature complexity.

"No, I'm not stalking your wife 'Rachel' is it?"

Gar didn't answer, but Adonis continued.

"I know who she is." He took out his phone.

_Didn't he already say that?_

"Here! It says she is the runaway heiress of director Trevor Ryan," and holding his hand up. "She's been spotted in locations such as Central City and Starling City."

Gar looked around the train station and saw it was currently vacant, the thought of hurting Adonis was taking over his mind. _If this dude says one more thing about Rachel, it's on!_ Nonetheless Adonis practically continued rubbing his phone in Gar's face.

"Dude, stop doing that," he said calmly. Adonis smirked. "Or what?"

_That's it!_

When Rachel got off the train car she was interrupted by the fracas coming from within the train station. She went towards the noise and was gobsmacked to see a guy with blonde hair in the fight—that she was pretty sure wasn't Gar. Or was it? She wasn't trying to break up the fight considering she didn't know either opponent and was fatigued from doctoring the lady in the train. Therefore looking for Gar was coding her mind. Although he did seem to annoy her, she really didn't mind the company.

In what was matter of hours the pale girl didn't find the imbecilic flower-child anywhere. When I find him...

"Rachel!" At that moment Rachel felt the nerves of her legs give out.

"Rae, are you alright." She could feel his arms wrapped around her waist. Surprised a bit she stood straight up and nodded. "I'm fine." Then her eyebrows furrowing, she glared at him. "I've been looking for you!" She snarled pushing back from him.

Gar flushed which made her identify his busted lip from what she could see making no further injury was applicable. "What in God almighty happened to you?"

"Nothing," he said pushing the subject aside. "Right now we're on the outskirts of Jump City," patting his pant pocket. "Now if I could find my wallet."

This time Rachel could feel her face doing the flushing, but hiding her emotions she cleared her throat and said, "Well Gar to my generosity, I'm to say I gave the money away,"

"Wh—"

"And the woman needed it—she was a single mother raising one child. It was for good intentions Gar, remember that."

His mouth wide open, he was currently in a state of shock. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. "Wh—Rachel you just can't be giving money away, we needed it."

She sighed, gripping the bridge of her noise. "I know that, but like I said, my intentions were good. Now don't go yelling at me."

"Yelling?" Gar scoffed. "My voice is barely above a whisper. That money we needed it."

"Boohoo, no big deal."

"My fucking father has just cut me off, I don't even have a job, and you're saying it's no big deal?"

Nodding her head to the side. "No."

Rachel could see Gar was possibly going to blow up at her. But to her clear vexation he didn't, nope, he remained content and calm.

"Well, there's nothing I can do. We'll just have to walk to the city even though it's a few hours away, I've camped in these woods before. We'll just need to find a clear space."

Rachel fought the urge to complain but held her tongue.

—

—

Thereafter the two left the train station they were now in the woods. Gar of course was used to nature considering he just loved the outdoors while Rachel on the other hand was loathing it to no end—hence the fact she was used to being cooped up inside her room—this was something remotely new to her.

"Now, we'll just have to cross the river we'll be coming up to in a few minutes."

Rachel rolled her eyes. With her arms crossed it gave away her disdain towards his ridiculous idea. She didn't know how to swim and she sure wasn't wanting to learn either. The thought of her crossing the river was scaring her to a certain degree. Drowning being one of them. She was never really out of the house much to learn how to swim, Arella was going to teach her when Rachel had been around ten years old but never did.

Rachel sighed and looked down at her feet as she walked beside Gar. She knew she would have to tell him sooner or later but she was reluctant. And she hated it deeply she was scared of telling a man she didn't take seriously and really didn't know. _Maybe he could use it against me,_ she thought brooding with her hand on her chin. _He could drown me in the lake. _However she didn't believe any of those predictions, not even her subconscious believed those retching prognostications.

She knew inside her heart that Gar wasn't that kind of man.

"Okay here we are," he announced, putting his hands up in the air. "Isn't it lovely? And it's not that deep either. We can just walk across it, no big deal." With that said he stared at Rachel and for a moment he saw deep despair in her eyes. He knew that look from being a volunteer lifeguard at local community swimming pools.

_She doesn't know how to swim. _

Now appearing emotionless Rachel glared at him seeing he was staring continuously at her. "Are you going to continue staring at me, or are we going to cross this river?"

"Ye—yeah," Gar scampered bending down and rolling up his pant legs plus he held his duffel bag tight in his hand. Nonetheless, before stepping into the river he grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?" She was then startled when he threw her over his shoulder with her purse in her hand. "I'm carrying you across the river, that's what I'm doing." Rachel wanted to protest but why should I? Was what stopped her. He was doing her a huge favor and she knew it, too. Thus that's what Gar Logan did. Clutching his duffel bag in his hand and Rachel thrown over his shoulder, he stomped across the river as if he were a soldier in war.

—

—

"This is our new sleeping quarters?" Rachel inquired as she watched Gar spread some hay over the ground.

The place they were resting at–for the time-being–was like a cave, but instead of the opening of the boulder being pronounced, it was utterly minuscule instead. They could only rest their heads inside the opening while there legs and feet would be outside of the cave covered with the nearby hay Gar founded.

"Yep," he answered. Still standing he took a waft of the nature around him and grinned. "We'll try hitch-hiking later but for now we're resting."

"Well I'm quite hungry," clamored Rachel on a nearby rock. "But I'm going to take a little nap. And don't think you can control me now, you're far far from that." Thus she went over onto the hay, laid down, and closed her eyes.

Gar nodded his head knowingly. But getting the insight she didn't care wether or not he knew to abide not controlling her—considering she was resting. He then decided to find something to eat for her.

But she didn't know that.

—

—

**A/N: Here's the chapter. Short, I know. Please review and comment. Any feedback is welcome! Thanks for the follows and favorites! I'll reply to any review or comment. Also any suggestions?**

**P.S. I'll be sure to edit this fic when it's completed. Do you know who Joey is? (The guitarist)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. DC Comics does, though.**

It Was A Night (6)

"Gar?"

"Gar?"

Rachel was looking frantically around the desolated and vacant area, wildly searching for any sign of Garfield Mark Logan. She was scared—admittedly; considering when she had woken up she realized the flower-child wannabe was nowhere in sight. The snap of a twig made her whimper but when she heard another snap, a scream escaped from her lips she never knew she confined.

"Aah!"

She halted her screaming instantly by covering her mouth with both hands. _Rachel do you hear yourself?! _You're showing how scared you are. The pale girl took a deep breath and as she did so, she heard sudden movement behind from where she was located.

Her face blanched.

...1

...2

...3

She could tell the steps were getting closer and closer to where she was located. Her heart beating nonstop she held her breath for a moment, and standing still she felt something touch her elbow. She then screamed for Gar again.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" His face was flushed; his cheeks rosy and his blonde hair askew, you could have easily saw he had ran in a rapid, quick, and alert fashion at the sound of her scream.

Rachel felt heat rush to her cheeks in modest embarrassment. "Nothing," she said sternly, smoothing out her dress and sitting on a nearby big rock. "Now, where have you been?"

Gar endearing his hair and scrunching it up in his hands sighed in irritation. "I was looking for some food for you. That's what." He sat down and took something out of the pocket of his flannel. "You said you were hungry. So here."

"Fine," said Rachel. Thus sensing his change in attitude she took the food from his hands. "What are these?" She asked reevaluating the minuscule tan bits, seeing they could've possibly been fatal, handing them back to him.

"Normal peanuts," he answered popping one in his mouth. "There was this huge field of them." Putting another one in his mouth. "They're yummy. See, try one Rae." He coaxed her by bringing one up to her mouth. Nonetheless reluctantly the raven haired girl grabbed the peanut from his hand and ate it.

Cocking her head to the side and chewing it for a bit. "Mmh, not bad."

Gar's blonde eyebrows wiggled. "Toldja' so." He then lifted up his bag up from the ground, opened it, and put the rest of the peanuts inside. "This isn't a meal but it'll last. Have you tried calling anyone?"

"I don't have a phone," Rachel deadpanned standing up from the rock, she then went towards a rose bush and plucked a pink rose. "You should know the reason why. Shouldn't you?"

Nodding his head in agreement he then took out his phone. "Signal out here kinda' sucks anyway," walking around the compacted area with his green cased phone held up high, he searched for some kind of connection. "Remind me to switch mobile plans."

_Why would I? _Rachel thought wittingly. Staring at him she reevaluated him again mentally in her mind. Even though she disliked his imbecilic nature and childishness, she couldn't help but feel some sort of admiration for him. His compassion was the one of the things she admired very deeply about him, and the way his eyes would sparkle when he looked at her, she felt the emotion but wasn't sure if it was real or not.

Stop thinking those kinds of thoughts, Rachel. Her subconscious reminded her. _He's nothing and he's probably using you. Ha, he might even turn you in to your father, like he's been planning to all long._

Rachel shook her head and frowned, thus she felt something on her shoulder.

Gar's comforting hand.

"Rae are you alright?"

She looked up at him. Her heart was beginning to beat at an abnormal pace. Staring intently at Gar she could see right through him; his past, his fears, his dreams, everything. And for a moment his mask was about to falter—his happy-go-lucky mask. The way she continued to stare at him almost longingly was starting to nag at his emotions.

"Um Rachel, shouldn't we... Hitchhike? I can't get any signal but this dude I know from high school, his place's near here I think. He could've moved for all I know." Gar turning his gaze away from her and taking his hand off her shoulder, he then checked for a signal again but was unsuccessful.

—

—

"This is possibly dangerous," remarked Rachel, walking beside Gar on the vacant road. Her arms were crossed and the view of an empty bench was becoming appealing to her. The blonde gave her a toothy grin. "It's dangerous, but if the person turns out to be, ya' know..."

"Vile?"

"Yeah that," Gar said. "I'll be sure to whip their gnarly butt."

Rachel smirked. "Doubt it you'll be able to do that."

"What? I will be able to do that. Ha, you just watch and see."

Thus sitting on the bench they waited for any passing car to stop by as Gar—going first—stuck his thumb out in a typical hitchhiker-like fashion. As he did so, he gave Rachel one of his signature cheshire grins.

Oh, great.

"Okay, Rae...

She gave him a stern look, her head resting on her palm, she wasn't quite in the mood to deal with his shenanigans. "It's Rachel."

"Yes, Rachel. As you see now I have my thumb up."

"Okay," she said solemnly. "Good for you."

"No, no I'm trying to show you the art of hitchhiking. Now look and see."

She then looked at him with her arms still crossed.

"See, Rachel it's all in the thumb," wiggling his thumb back in forth. "The thumb is a great signal for stop guarantee but nowadays you realize people are doing it totally wrong. They tend to wiggle it back in forth—like I'm doing now. And those dudes really don't know what they're doing. Plus them waving their thumbs out, like saying 'hello' is stupid. But the darn thumb technique never gets old, just maybe a bit overused, but never ever old.

"Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, in hitchhiking you have three techniques: Number one you move your thumb forward quick. You see here, it says, I'm an independent dude, I know what I want, I'm just lookin' for a ride, ya' don't have to stop, and I could care less if you did stop, but just know I need a ride. I have money!"

"Is this a guide on hitchhiking or whoredom?"

"What!? No, I'm definitely not experienced in that field, and listen to me alright, Rae? I'm not done. Okay, number two is a bit more wide, you have a smile a big cheesy one that says you're on top of the world, and Donna Troy's at home waiting for me. Mm-mh, yeah I said that."

Rachel eyed him weirdly in response to his vulgarity.

"Wow."

"That's not all. Number three is the old joe. You whisk your thumb up and it just says it all, pulling the old bum role; I'm hungry, broke, and homeless,"—tsk—"I'm like everyone else in dear old America, tryin' to make it."

"Your guide deserves an award," said Rachel sarcastically, clapping slowly. "I think I know the art of hitchhiking now. Great, great guide."

"Now to only make it better, add an real exaggerated depressed face expression." Gar's face contorted into melancholy anguish which by all means seemed raw. For a moment, Rachel wanted to hold her hand out to him and lead him to her sanctuary, however, she knew she couldn't. If she never experienced real happiness on her own, how could she do the same for him?

Seconds later his face turned back to happy-go-lucky.

"Now, for proof to see if my guide works—which it does by the way—here it goes."

Trying number one, a car whisked by quickly not even slowing down.

"Okay here goes number two." Gesturing his thumb in a wider motion, a big smile then formed on his face. And hope the next car would stop to give the two a ride, the hope then dwindled as two more cars whizzed by.

Rachel wasn't convinced, but watching Gar use number three an idea had then crossed her mind.

The same for the other two, number three hadn't work. So Gar defeated, tried all three gestures again without any luck. He then sat back down beside Rachel whom stood up. "Let me try something." Gar cocking his eyebrow to the side watched as she went to where he had stood; lifting her dress up a little she showed her leg and a hint of her black panties which left the blonde gobsmacked. What the? He was incredulous how classy could Rachel could be, even when doing this.

At that moment, a car stopped. The car seemed to be a red dodge truck. Gar stepping along towards the vehicle glanced at Rachel who was smirking at her intuition.

She walked right past him.

"Rae—dude. What was that?! You could've taken off all your clothes, for all I care. You probably could've stopped five-jillion cars. "

The pale girl turned around with both hands on her hips.

"Tell me that, Gar, when we need five-jillion cars."

He smiled gleefully and shook his head. She sure is somethin.'

—

—

"Where y'all guys from?" asked the man.

Gar and Rachel were sitting in the front with the man whom was quite friendly considering the dodge truck had no back seats. Therefore he wore a red and white sports cap, had a an accent from some city in the far south, and wore a black leather jacket similar to the one Joey—the guitarist on the train— had wore. The man was eating a bag of potato chips and Rachel quite disturbed by his loud chewing, was tempted to pull a chip out of the bag and eat it (she was still hungry), however she resisted the urge.

"We're from Gotham," Gar replied nonchalantly with his arm placed about on the headrest.

"Ole' Gotham, huh?" The man rubbed his nose and put another potato chip in his mouth. Chomping rather loudly, Rachel rolled her eyes turning her view towards the window.

"Yep and we'll be needin' a ride to Jump City."

The man nodded. "I've been to Gotham, full of ole' looneys and snobs. Y'all ain't looney or snobs are ya'?"

"No sir, we're not." Gar sitting beside the man could tell he was somewhat convinced they were Gotham natives.

"Ya'll bunch sure don't seem like you're from ole' Gotham. Maybe, Central City?" The man eyed them both suspiciously. "Cause you guys don't seem uptight like a person from Gotham would seem to be."

"Sir I'm pretty sure we know where we came from," said Gar a bit sternly. "All we need is a ride to Jump City and that's it." _The dude's acting like we're asking him to be our getaway driver._

Albeit the drive to the nearest gas station was tense with the man asking them all sorts of question, Gar surely was glad when they stopped at a gas station. He was going to see if Victor Stone still had the same address so he and Rachel could spend a night for at least a day until they both got settled into doing what they had planned to do individually. _I wonder if he's still married to Karen._

Other while he was doing that, Rachel was sitting on a bench taking down her messy bun and letting her hair down. It wasn't really hot outside and she felt as if she needed to have her hair down. She was missing feeling the form of her haircut; being her hair touching midway of her pale cheeks. She had seen the man go inside the gas station—gladly. And waiting for the hippy to be done making his phone call, she started reciting Edgar Allan Poe poems inside her mind to keep her entertained.

"Okay man, bye see ya' later." Gar putting the pay phone back on it's hook, stretched his limbs, the sequences of location made him very fatigued. Therefore, he was glad to find out Vic and Karen had the same address and gladly offered him to stay at their place considering he was in town. However, he didn't tell them about Rachel, and he knew if he did, it would risk everything.

"We're staying at Vic's house," announced Gar to Rachel, sitting beside her on the bench. "It's better than staying at Richard's, I'll tell ya' that."

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm guessing Richard's a bad person,"

"Nah, probably just suffering a mild case of OC—"

Right at that moment they saw a red dodge truck past by.

—

—

**A/N: Another short chapter, my apologies. I'm using the typical school excuse and I have been suffering a mild case of writer's block. This, I must say, isn't my best chapter. So I hope to make the next chapter longer and much better. Also who's the man driving the red dodge truck? Who's Vic and Karen!**

**P.S. The old film this fic is based on: It Happened One Night directed by wFrank Capra with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert is coming on tonight at six o'clock. I suggest you to catch it fast if you can. The film will be on TCM. Also I think watching the film will give you more understanding of the fic.**

**BurntTitan: Joey is Jericho! You were correct! Anyway thanks for reviewing and yes it's awesome when the Titans are being put into alternate dimensions or AU. I think it gives people more ideas and broader imagination in AU.**

**dg25taz: Thank you! You'll have too wait and see C:**

**Raven456: You're correct! *throws confetti into the air* thanks for the review.**

**Therefore, thanks for the follows and faves. Means so much!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own the teen titans. Never ever ever.**

It Was A Night (7)

Gar ran after the tattered red dodge truck and Rachel sat there watching. They were both baffled on how the man slyly got into his truck and drove away. They didn't see him get inside his truck, thus they knew the man had been planning this all along; picking up two innocent civilians and stealing their belongings. Rachel's purse was left inside the truck while Gar's duffel was left in there as well.

Sitting there for quite sometime, Rachel waited for Gar and by doing that she then decided on taking a little walk. She needed some space and she doubted the blonde would be back with their belongings. She doubted a lot of things about him, really. But she knew somehow he always did find a way to surprise her.

Therefore wiping a piece of lint off the sleeve of her dress, she heard the roaring engine of a vehicle. Turning around she saw the red dodge truck make its way down the paved road, stopping beside her, she quickly got in and was glad to see Gar had successfully retrieved the truck with their belongings at hand. However she could see he had a small scratch below the side of his jaw.

"Are you okay?" She inquired, making sure her voice didn't give away the deep concern she felt for him.

He shrugged but putting on his coverup; being his toothy grin he turned his eyes away from the road for a second and stared at her. "Yeah, I'm alright. I had to knock that country dude out, though." Lifting up his arm, it showed two teeth marks edged on the side of his arm. Rachel wanted to gasp, but holding it in she frowned.

He then began to tell her what had happened.

"After reaching the truck I opened the driver's door and yanked the fool out of his seat, and then we started rollin' like some loonies, and him getting the first right hook I punched him right on the nose. And out of nowhere the old dude bites me on my arm. I nearly screamed. Then I kicked him, he passed out, I hopped into the truck—thanking God that the keys were still in there—I then made my way back to you." He glanced at her once more as he said the last part.

Rachel realizing she was holding her breath, let it out slowly and prematurely. "Wow," she responded not out of spite. "He bit you?"

He chuckled and nodded his head. "Yep."

After a moment of silence, she inched closer towards him. Plus grabbing her purse off the dash she fished out a small first aid kit. "Here, I need to fix that scratch on the edge of your jaw, or it's gonna scar."

Gar shook his head. "You don't need to do th—"

"I am," interrupted Rachel. "And I wanna help. You've done too much already, Gar. Let me do this one thing." She then rolled her eyes and applied some salve on the scratch, and getting out tan-looking fabric, she wrapped the tan bandage around his man-bitten arm leaving him with one hand on the wheel.

"Really Rae you didn't have to do th—"

"Shut up," she said sternly, a small smile adjourning her features. "If you say that one more time, you'll just have another arm for me to wrap up."

"Fine," he said. "Just no one's ever fixed my scars or owies before, that's all." Rachel surely didn't take what he had just said seriously but she did. If all, she could've said the same for him. He had helped her a lot and she never thought anyone would piggy back her across the water, give her a ticket when she had lost hers, fix her breakfast and buy her a dress etc... She was utterly flattered

Thereafter she was done being doctor she simply smiled again. "Are we going to be wanted for stealing this man's truck?"

He shrugged."I dunno, he probably won't remember anything when he wakes up."

Rachel nodded and turned her head towards the window. She felt serene, blissful, and secure for once since being on this trip.

—

—

"So you're telling me, that this Garfield only left a message and didn't call back?" The DC News executive was perplexed for when he had entered his office, a tan sunburnt man with gray-white hair was sitting in his chair, drinking a cup of water. The executive knew who this man was; the famous director Trevor Ryan Roth.

The executive putting the papers he held in his hand down on the dark oak desk, he cleared his throat. "Yes sir, I am telling you Garfield didn't return our call. The only way we know who he is, reason being, he subscribes to us. However I'm afraid he doesn't anymore."

Trevor Ryan Roth took another sip of the cold glass of water, and smoothing his gray suit out a little, he then got up from the executive's chair and started walking slowly around the room taking, his time examining each piece of artwork on the walls in the spacious organized office. "You're a fan of Picasso?"

The executive nodded quickly, showing how nervous he felt. "Yes-s s-sir, I'm a big fan of his artwork. My favorite painting would have to b-be t-the Weeping Woman."

Trevor Ryan raised an eyebrow. Chuckling, he turned around and glanced at the executive."I know that painting, seen it in person. I favor it as well. Reminds me of my late ex-wife."

Not knowing what to say, the executive nervously sat down in another chair instead of the big brown leather chair behind his desk, that had been occupied by Trevor Ryan. He was afraid the director would bite his head off even if he attempted to sit there, although Trevor Ryan wasn't sitting in the chair at this moment, he wasn't going to risk it.

"Now you're telling me, the person whom possibly knows where my daughter may be, has unsubscribed and now there's no possible way to possibly locate him?"

"Y-yes."

Trevor Ryan turning towards the desk and picking up the glass of water clenched it feverishly in his thick hand taking another minuscule sip.

"Sir, we tried tracking the guy down—illegally I must say. He might be somewhere where connection isn't the wis—"

"YOU EITHER KNOW WHERE HE IS, OR YOU DON'T. IF YOU'RE LYING-TO-ME. I WILL GET YOU FIRED AND BANISHED FROM GETTING ANY OTHER WORK HERE ON THIS PLANET EARTH." The director clenched the executive by the shirt, lifting him up from the chair, and looked him menacingly in the eyes; the frail man shriveled under the able-bodied man's grasp. He was utterly sure he was going to pass out sooner or later.

"O-okay sir, w-we'll try t-the best way to locate him."

Setting the man down, Trevor Ryan was proud of himself. He then smirked and before leaving the room he told the executive one last thing. "And I want to see this Garfield Logan in the flesh."

—

—

"Tell me about Vic," Rachel said, and she couldn't help but realize shockingly she was encouraging a conversation. Gar smiling ear-to-ear nodded his head excitingly. "Sure."

Putting his hand on his chin—other hand still on the steering wheel—he was looking where to begin. "Well Vic's a really awesome dude, he's really good in all that techno stuff. He could fix a computer, TV, gaming system, you name it, in a heartbeat. Um... He likes—no, scratch that—he loves," Gar grimaced, "meat. He loves eating animals and putting them inside his body. Maybe that's why he's big and buff."

Rachel cocked an eyebrow. "Gar,"

"Yeah?"

"Would you say all meat lovers, or more generally people who eat meat. Are well, let me see; big and buff?"

"..."

"Gar, I eat meat."

The blonde's eyes widened.

"No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was, they're good lookin', no, their cool, yeah meat lovers are cool, aah I don't kn—"

Shaking her head, Rachel then prodded him to continue on about Vic. His face flushed a little, Gar nodded and continued. "Well in high school he was really good at football, I wasn't and I only joined to really just become popular but that didn't really work out well for me. Anyway, Vic and I became buddies in high school and while he was known for being the quarterback, I was known for being the class clown with the weird dyed bright green hair, and people really didn't think those types of people could be friends. Plus, we both liked video games and so we became each other's wingman.

"Anyway, Vic sure did help me a lot with bullies, getting me dates—'cause ya' know, he was popular—and being there whenever Steve and I had a misunderstanding. He's just been there for me, ya' know. We're like brothers."

Rachel could feel the rapid beating of her heart. The look on Gar's face made her feel splendid, he reminded her so much of a shrimp. Not because of his scrawny figure or his big blue eyes, but because he thought with his heart instead of what other's thought(a shrimp's heart is in it's head.) And she heard someone once say, "Not much people think with their heart." At least not in this day in age she wanted to reply. However how could she say that when there was this magnificent human being right beside her, proving her wrong?

"...she in prison or something?"

Caught off guard for a moment, Rachel hadn't even realized he was talking to her. Straightening herself up and clearing her throat. "Excuse me?"

"So, what about you? You still haven't told me the condition your mother has or where she's checked in at? Is she in prison or something, or something like that? 'Cause I don't think it's bad if your mom's like th—"

As he stumbled with his words, almost losing focus on the road. Rachel then told him to shut up in the most mature and calmest manner she could muster.

"Gar,"

"Huh?"

"Be quiet."

"Okay."

Silence then filled the truck up for a moment, then by Rachel breaking the silence. "My mother Arella suffers the mental disorder schizophrenia and suffers a mild case of a bipolar affective disorder. She's been checked into a mental institution near Gotham, but it's not Arkham. No, no, not Arkham. Ever since I was young I never really ever saw my mother. The only way I saw her was I had carried a picture of her but my father ended up taking it away from me, and that's just what he did with Arella.

Therefore Rachel turned and stared out the window once again, and continued. She knew telling this story was going to take a lot of emotion out of her.

"The picture of her was beautiful; her dark ringlets curving her face, and her dark lovely eyes that I harbor. She resembled a silent film star and the things she wore were dated;lace dresses, pearls, velvet pointed flat shoes, dark red lipstick. And maybe those things were what caught my father's eye. Although I dislike my father, he knows a rare gem when he sees one. So considering my mother's unique look, he took her in and casted her one of his known films: The Prophecy. The film went on to win an abundance of accolades and my mother grew to be a star.

"My father grew to be a famous director as well but not like Arella. He still did cast her as the leading lady in many of his other films such as; The Raven (based off of Edgar Allen Poe's known poem), She Who Seeks Silence, The Ghosts Far Beyond, Rivet Laces, all of those known films. But other directors wanted my mother in their films, too. So Arella deciding on branching out a little, she starred in another film but this time not directed by Trevor, she won an oscar and her only oscar on this film; Sweet As Can Be. She played a distressed damsel but with spitfire and the audiences loved it, reason being it was a role outside of the typical roles she played; beauty and the beast type of character roles.

"Thereupon as my mother starred in less of my father's films, the less famous my father had become. Therefore my father made a plan, a plan to end her contract, her fame, her notoriety. He knew all along Arella was smitten by him, and I supposed he loved her as well, so he coaxed her into marrying him and they got married in a church in a lavish top-notch ceremony. It was broadcasted live everywhere and now my father was known mostly as the beau of Arella Roth. Ergo when my mother eventually became pregnant with me, Trevor had convinced her it was best not to act or promote during her stages of pregnancy, fearing miscarriage. So she took a maternity leave on acting, her fans and agents didn't know that though. And since her fans and agents didn't know, they thought she had dropped Hollywood.

"Nine months later I was born, and soon my mother worked her whims with acting again. However, she couldn't find any roles. It's as if somehow she turned down all these roles, but she didn't. Nope she hadn't even spoken to her agents of Azarath Studios in eons. Quite perplexed now, my mother called Azareth Studios and they told her she sent them a letter on many reasons why she was retiring from acting. Thus they cancelled and turned down all her offered roles, fan ceremonies, interviews, everything. Plus she grew angry at this total revelation she went to Azareth Studios with my father at tow. She confronted them and figuring out my father had everything to do with this, sending the fraudulent letter to the studio, she started acting out. Later she was charged with vandalizing the studio and charged with assault by having had attack my father physically.

"Five days later my mother had went missing and that's when she grew unstable. She was found by the side of lake by an elderly woman who lived near there, she said Arella was saying things like, 'feed the fish, save the fish from drowning.' And that's when the old woman had called the police. Not many days later was my mom hinted at doing prescription drugs, excessive drinking, gambling, and partying, the tabloids started calling her the whirlwind of distress. She came home each night awfully late and boozed up. And that's when my father brought Hollywood and the law into everything she did. They both fought for my custody, money, the rights of the films, she had starred in and he had directed.

"Soon my father begun to win everything, he took everything from Arella her fame, money, agents, rights, and even me." Rachel cleared throat to keep her voice from cracking under pressure. "My mother felt lonely then and there, she started getting plastic surgery, only got roles in c-films that anyone could've gave any crap about, and then she grew what the public called even more crazy. And the more crazy my mother got, the more fame and recognition my father received, he started getting everything back, he won two oscars that year and it was as if he were on top of the world. My mother on the other hand wasn't. The tabloids stopped hearing about her after she attempted to strangle herself in my room while I was asleep in my crib (I was still only 11 1/2 months old) with a blanket she had gotten for me.

"She somehow snuck into my room while Trevor was sleeping, grabbed my blanket, and wrapped it around her neck. Thus they always theorize she was going to the bathroom to drown herself in the bathtub, but the reasons are never vivid enough. Anyway soon after that, she was checked into a mental ward. Any memories of my mother during those months while I were still an infant are indecipherable. Sometimes I think I can remember her smile when she had first held me in her arms." Rachel then wiped her nose with the sleeve of her dress, and stared down at her sweaty fingers. "It sometimes pains me to know my father won, he won, he beat her, he won the race, he got what he wanted. I've only seen my mother two times during my lifetime, when I was 7 and 10, but it was only for minuscule amounts of time ."

Gar speechless for a moment, saw how Rachel remained content, but he could see how her telling him all this was emotionally painful. He didn't mean to leave her emotions unstable. Putting the truck into park on the side of the road, he then turned towards Rachel and stared at her; a pale stiffened lonely girl, who's trying not break under emotional distress.

Holding his arms out. "Ra—"

She turned and went into his arms, salty tears mingled her face, and the fresh smell of old spice lingered in her noise.

If you we're to past a red dodge truck, and see inside the truck, two people hugging; a boy and a girl. You would've smiled my friend. Reason being, they were now something to each other than escapee partners, being partners of solace instead.

—

—

**A/N: Hope the chapter wasn't too long. And maybe the chapter was a bit gloomy and sad. Plus if you're wondering how Rachel knows all of this, it is through many connections of what she's heard in the past related to her mother's past and whereabouts, Rachel had seek a truth and found it and has connected all the pieces. Anyway, you all should know who Arella is, duh! Gar is going to reveal his past in either the next chapter or the chapter after the next, just depends. I'm soon going to end this story, not yet though.**

**P.S. I'll revise and edit everything when I'm done, and please check out my buddies: DG and Reed stories: A Couple Mistakes (DG) and Sunglasses At Night (Reed). They're the coolest. A couple mistakes and this story kind of have the same ideas just a little, don't worry no copying each other or anything, we just exchange ideas from one another.**

**JasonVUK: Thanks for reviewing. You got all the Easter eggs and cameos correct, maybe Gar did beat up Adonis. And yes, the man is Ding Dong Daddy (I just won't mention his name in the story, as you can see.) Anyway, thank you so much for reviewing!**

**Thanks for favs and follows as well everyone. Please review and tell me what ya' think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. DC Comics does. Just sayin'...**

It Was A Night (8)

The time was around eight o'clock at night when the two arrived at Vic and Karen's house; a two story brick layered house with French doors and lavish windows. Rachel admired the house, considering the house wasn't as big as her father's pricey mansion, but instead somehow she could see this house had more of a home feel to it. Getting out the truck with her purse at hand, she waited for Gar as he grabbed his duffel bag from the back of the truck, following him, she then watched as he pounded his fist lightly against the dark green painted door. Sniffing the air for a moment, she smelt the scent of burning charcoal.

"Hey my man!" An able-bodied African American appeared, greeting Gar enthusiastically. He wore a blue apron over his clothes titled: I love meat! With a little cartoon steak printed underneath the lettering. She could already tell this was Victor. Giving Gar a big hug, his charcoal eyes then landed on Rachel.

"This is... Raven my fiancée!" Gar introduced her, grabbing her hand he then intertwined his fingers within hers. Rachel caught off guard, gave him a warning glance but seeing it was no use, she then played along unwillingly. "Yes, you can call me Raven." Victor looked from Gar to her in a mawkish fashion, a big smile on his face. "Ya'll engaged?"

"Sure," deadpanned Rachel although it was tempting to deny the accusation but before Gar could say anything she then replied further, "yes-s, we're engaged." _Unbelievable_, she thought grindingly.

Therefore Victor hugged her. Naturally she would've kneed him in the groin, but she didn't, his hug was quite comforting—but not as comforting as the one Gar had given her when she had broken down in the truck. Victor's hug on the other hand was not entirely different, she felt familiarity. "Welcome to the family." He then guided them both inside the house.

Rachel observing the interior of the house, saw that there were pictures of collages hung on the navy blue walls everywhere; in the living room, dining room, and in the kitchen.

From what she hadn't seen yet, in the living room there was a black L-shaped couch in the center with two arm chairs placed in front of a high-definition flat screened TV, where a game device and two hand consoles laid. The floors were a dark oak wood waxed and shiny. Ergo near the staircase was the dining room with a elongated black modern table with six modern chairs. The living room and dining room had a white-opaque carpet, while the kitchen had a nice burgundy stone tiled on the floors matching the counters.

"Cy is Gar here yet?!" a feminine voice shouted from the kitchen.

Victor gave them both looks and smiled. "Yeah Bee, but you gotta see for yourself."

"What? Cy, just tell me if he's here yet or not. 'Cause I'm almost done getting the sides and drinks ready."

Therefore an African American woman appeared. She had her black coarse hair braided into kinky twists, she wore red lipstick equivalent to a lobster's outer shell, and dawned a simplistic orange day dress. Rachel found her outfit quite chic. The woman looked from Gar to her. "Nun-uh, " she commented with a big smile dripping from her scarlet lips, inching towards Gar. "You finally got yourself settled, see I told you sparky he wasn't gonna come this time alone. You can call me Karen honey, now what's your name?" She then waited for Rachel's response.

A bit stiffly Rachel replied. "You can call me Raven."

"Can I see the ring?" Karen waited as Rachel fidgeted for a moment. "We're still looking for the right engagement ring."

"Yeah," Gar intervened, chucking nervously. Then rubbing the back of his neck, moist with sweat. "I want her to have the perfect ring. "

"Oh, okay. I know how you can be Gar when it comes to buying expensive things, don't we?" Karen commented, both hands put upon her hips, and a knowing smile now plastered on her lips.

"That was only one time!"

"Yeah and you somehow forgot the credit card!"

Victor pulling Rachel away from the two friends potential bickering, took her to the backyard. Which consisted of a moderate sized pool with a slide, two outdoor dining tables, one wooden picnic table, a masters grill, and a small mini bar.

"Those two always get into it around about this time," he commented blissfully, lifting the lid off the grill, then flipping two T-bone marbles steaks with a silver spatula. "Yeah, meat almost done. Now Raven tell me about ya' self."

The pale girl sat down on the picnic table. She didn't trust Vic enough to tell him her life story, but she could still share with him her dislikes and interests. After all, Vic did say welcome to the family, right? However her and Gar did put themselves into an hoax engagement out of the clear blue, so maybe she wasn't really welcomed into the family after all.

Thereafter Rachel was done telling him about herself, the two then went back inside both carrying high-stacked trays of meat. When they had entered the kitchen, in the other room Karen was setting the table with Gar being a helping hand.

"The meat's done, great. "Karen putting the last set of silverware down on the table, went inside the kitchen. Vic was voicing out the different types of meat laid out on the counter."We have steaks, brisket, baby-back ribs, hamburgers, and—for Gar—his stinky nasty sans-meat."

"Hey! I heard that." Gar vociferated from the dining room. Vic rolling his eyes, finished setting the meat down and announced that everyone should go and wash-up.

—

—

It wasn't a bad dinner. Questions were asked and answered somewhat, vaguely and decipherable. The guests were comfortable and the hosts were a bit skeptical of Raven but they put that behind their minds.

—

—

Gar stood outside alone in the evening.

He didn't care much about talking right now. He just needed to think for a moment. Although he hadn't acted any different today than he had acted yesterday he was an aspiring actor so of course he was terrific at covering things up. Then, he thought irritably, why does it still hurt? Today was an anniversary, and for all he cared it could've been the anniversary of someone's death, that he had truly loved. But it wasn't that. No, it wasn't that.

"Tara," he whispered sullenly under his breath. She was the intermediate cause of his still recovering broken heart. The divorce had left him penniless and feeble. It had been utterly bad to the point Garfield Mark Logan once contemplated suicide. A word he hated to think about and something he knew wouldn't 100-percent put him into paradise. "I still love her and I called her, and you know what—"

"What?"

Rachel appeared behind him. After she was done helping Karen with the dishes she was baffled and concluded Garfield was nowhere to be found. She had looked everywhere for him; to and fro, and to her astonishment he was out here during Twilight. "Nothing," Gar replied with a finishing sigh. He was surprised Rachel had found him but he didn't show it, the desperate need in his heart for Tara was overpowering all of his other actions, and surely this spoiled heiress wasn't going to be any help.

What do you want?" He inquired grumpily not even bothering to hide his defeat. _Tara._

"Are you okay?" Rachel didn't like it when people asked her that obvious question when she felt obtrusive. Of course he wasn't okay if she was asking if he was okay. But she felt she needed to substantiate the obvious regardless of how she represented herself.

He didn't say anything. His back was facing her and she still stood a few feet from behind him. Thus she remained where she was. "Gar, I know you're not doing okay. I was looking for you."

"Thanks for the lovely compassion," he retorted sarcastically, asking himself mentally, _am I going to put my heart on a sleeve? _He decided he wasn't going to exactly. "And no, you didn't have to go looking for me. You could've just let me be. But I guess you can stay out here if you want, but I'm not encouraging you to."

She swallowed. "I'm staying and if you want to talk we can talk." He didn't say anything else, and for the amounts of minutes they had stayed out there, Rachel could've just been invisible to him, but whether she knew this or not, she was the only thing that was keeping him afloat.

The only thing.

However she found it perverse that Gar's mood had totally shifted. Today she saw he had acted quite cheerful and ecstatic and now here he was broody and insufficient as if he were somehow the sunny sky that had turned into a bed of turbulent gray-silver clouds. His features weren't adjourned with that happy-go-lucky smile of his she had grown accustomed to, and telling from all that, she now knew he had covered up his emotions all through this trip.

Frustrated she held her tongue the best she could. All along she thought she had him figured out. _He's imbecilic, irresponsible, annoying, fickle, smite with life, and too cheerful._ However those things she figured out about him maybe were a little true, but not entirely. He was something more—maybe even entirely different. "Gar, who's Tara?"

"Nobody," he answered.

"Nobody," she mimicked monotonously. "Gar she must be someone you've once cared about." She then paused and rephrased her sentence. "Or maybe someone you continue to care about and love till this very day."

How does she know? Gar thought, his head was in his hands. Blond strands of stringy hair dry and experienced. Even though he looked drunk, he hadn't drunk a drop of alcohol. He never drank. _But Tara did,_ he thought. _She loved her cocktails and those weekend tequila shots. _He knew she was a mess, pitiful. Oh, but how he had loved her and how he still did love her, or at least he thought so.

"I'm going back inside." And he did just that. He walked right on pass Rachel feeling fatigued, he wanted this day to end, and going to sleep sooner would help a lot, and he knew it, too.

—

—

**A/N: R &amp; R! My bad for the long wait. **

**JasonVUK: Thank you for commenting! Yes Arella's story is so sad, and Trevor is such a horrible person.**

**dj25taz: Thank you! Yes, Rachel finally has let go some and she's growing a bit more closer to Gar.**

**Also, thanks for the faves and follows. Really is appreciated.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, why I'll tell you who owns them. Well... DC Comics does.**

It Was A Night (9)

Rachel was utterly gobsmacked as she watched Gar walk on pass her. And most ultimately she felt as if she were a piece of gum stuck on the bottom of someone else's shoe. "Gar," she deadpanned, although loudly. "Letting go isn't particularly a bad thing."

Gar stopped before he twisted the door knob. "It's not like that Rae, you should know that." _Ouch_, Rachel thought, miserably. "What's your problem, Gar? I'm just trying to help."

He sighed. "I don't need any help, but thanks."

She could feel her blood boiling. Why won't he accept help when he needs it? Before she could even say anything else, he had already went inside. She already knew Vic and Karen had went to bed. They were both early larks, her being the polar opposite, she was a night-owl. It seemed to her Gar was a night-owl as well, knowing someone with such personality couldn't have been an early bird . And here she knew he was going to bed early just to forget everything. She was very aware on how he felt. When she was little, every time when she would go to bed alone in the house when her father would leave her alone in that dark mansion to go and film a movie, she would go to bed before twilight just to forget everything; her nightmares and every single bad thing that had happened in life.

After getting out of her clothes and into her pyjamas, she decided to use a blanket she picked up from the wacko motel her and Gar had stayed at. It was the walls of Jericho. Which meant she would hang the blanket up forming a sort of barrier between her and the flower-child wannabe, she would have one side of the guest room to herself, leaving one side to the room to him. The room didn't have a queen or king sized bed which meant they wouldn't have to share, thankfully the room had two twin-sized beds. Nonetheless, she took out the book she had been reading on the train. She read from where she had left off. It would pass time quickly, hence the fact Gar was taking a long shower. Maybe to clear his thoughts, she then turned the page of her book. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

In honest truth she felt as if the protagonist Scarlett O'hara was too difficult. Loving a man who officially wouldn't give her the time of the day, and here this rough-all-over Rhett Butler who does give her the time of day, who does love her, who she thinks she doesn't love. She felt as if Scarlett O'hara lived in her own fantasy world and maybe wasn't coming-of-age as she ought to. Melanie, she thought, reminded her of Kory the one that had given her the suitcase. Filled with grace and heartfelt kindness, that only a saint could harbor. Then there was Ashley a guy she had once admittedly fallen for—an unrequited crush. Now he was with, and madly in love, with her best friend Kory, not that she was mad. Time has passed sense then, and she's happy now that they're together and she's moved on. But then again, who was Rhett and Scarlett?

Before she could continue to think again, a fresh Gar entered the room. He was in his PJs and though he was fresh and relieved from the shower, the look on his face could tell you otherwise. He looked 10X his age, as if he stepped out of a time warp. Something must've been eating him real bad, and then suddenly he did a thing Rachel thought he would never do in front of her.

He laid spread out on the floor on his stomach, and began to cry. It was a strange sight. It could've been strange to Rachel, of course, considering she never saw a man cry before. She never had seen her father Trevor Ryan Roth cry before, not that it mattered anyway. She knew it would be a snowball in hell to ever see him cry.

Thus as she sat there silently continuing to read her book, she let Gar cry. His sobs were at a moderate volume barely even reaching the walls but she could still feel the emotions; heartbreak and longing. Plus even Rachel had the urge to cry. Remember you've already let go. But was it enough? As she let him cry until he had let it all out, he then went and laid down on his bed. She could hear his hiccoughing, thereafter he was done. He then began to speak, his back facing her again (not that she knew, considering the walks of Jericho were blocking their view of each other.)

"Have you ever been in love, Rachel?"

"No."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

"Sure you have, you just won't tell me."

Rachel sighed and gave in.

"Yeah, I've been in love before. However, I don't love him anymore. Done?"

"No,"

"..."

"Have you ever been heartbroken?"

"Sure."

"..."

"Gar, are you heartbroken?"

He didn't answer right away, then after a moment, he did.

"Her name was Tara, we're divorced now," he now admitted stoically while staring at the ceiling. "She took all my money, 'cause she's an alcoholic. Today was our wedding anniversary and I called her when you were helping Karen with the dishes. When she had answered, she told me she never did love me during the time we were together, and now she's in rehab. Then she told me she had five more days to go, and that Slade—the guy she's married to now—is a better guy than I could ever be."

"Don't believe her Gar, she's lying. She just resents you."

"She doesn't resent me. See, I love her and after all this time I just saw her as this perfect faultless girl and now I have no idea what to think of her now. Maybe she was too, like me, but maybe not. 'Cause I would never do all those horrible things she ever did to me when we were married. Like taking all my of money from my trust funds, and the money my parent's had left me before they had died. She was just so ruthless, but I was just so in love with her I was too blind to see it. Another excuse could've been we we're both young, both 18 and I guess in love. I had really thought things were going good for us, then out of the clear blue she just decided to file for divorce. She took everything and I was left with nothing."

Rachel didn't know what to say. Another surprising thing she found out about Gar—he was divorced before he was even the legal age to drink alcohol. A small smile lingered on her lips for a second before Gar began to speak again.

"I just want a girl who I guess balances me out, tells me what I shouldn't do but in a way that sorta' lifts me up. She isn't exactly like me and we have differences but we just balance each other out, I guess. I don't care who she is, if she's creepy, nerdy, or just weird. I don't care. As long as she just doesn't try to use me or take advantage of me. 'Cause I'm telling you, her and I would be on top of this world, amongst the stars where nothing else matters except me and her, where nothing could touch us. 'Cause whatever thing that would try to destroy us and tear us apart would be defeated by our love for each other."

"..."

"I know, it sounds corny. But I guess when you want something so bad you can't help but be typica—"

Rachel quickly raced to the other side of "the walls of Jericho" kneeling beside Gar's bed, the blond man looked at her peculiarly as if she'd grown two heads wondering what she was doing. "Gar, I'm willing to go on top of the world... With you... Amongst the stars."

It took much of her heart to be able to say those words. Not because they weren't true, the reason being she felt something she had never felt before as she did say those words. The words were indescribable and did cover much of her heart, unbeknownst to the purgatorial pale girl kneeling beside the sad once happy-go-lucky guy she came to know. He helped her through this trip, carrying her across the water when he knew she couldn't swim, buying her that terrific expensive dress, defending her from that one guy named Adonis and that other guy named Wally, searching for food while they had stayed in that eerie forest, and letting her stay with him when he knew she would be scared to be alone in this horrid world too big for someone like her, who had basically been through Halifax just to find enough courage to runaway from her evil father and his evil mansion.

Thus as his blue eyes looked into hers and some sort of hope bloomed into them. He couldn't figure it out, he was pretty sure their faces were drawing closer together but he turned away before they could even contradict what was beginning to happen. _I was gonna kiss her, _he thought and cogitated how different and weird he had felt that he regretted not kissing her. Rachel on the other hand was feeling desolated as if she were disappointed he drew back and didn't want to kiss her. _But he wanted to kiss me,_ she thought and that made her feel dirty. She was glad he went on this trip with her but she ignored the connection. And going back to her bed and laying down, she felt that things between her and Gar maybe were becoming inappropriate. After all it was just the sorrow getting to the both of them.

Rachel he just helped you through this trip, stop thinking these ambiguous things about a heartbroken dweeb, you don't love him. "Azareth... Mentrion... Zinthos..." she quietly chanted to herself unable for Gar to hear. It was a mantra she used to chant a lot when she was a teenager. One day when her father wasn't home she had snuck quietly into his room and found a big thick book, it didn't have a title and being curious, she opened it up and the book was consumed with intent psychological pointers, and that was how she had ended up finding the mantra quoting it quietly to herself, endless nights of depression she had suffered. By now that she was in her early 20s she didn't have to chant the calming mantra quite as much as she had done in the past, but when push came to shove it was her only harness. Thereafter quoting the mantra over and over again, quietly to herself, she then quietly went to sleep with feelings of regret and a little hope for tomorrow.

Furthermore Gar laid restless. He was thinking much about Rachel and how much he had came to know her. He saw her as this beautiful detached girl that since then has grown to be something more through this trip. She had seen him cry and she just let him cry those pitiful tears he had been holding in for so long. Plus he favored how she didn't make-fun of him for crying, and he liked that he didn't have to say anything for her to understand why he was crying. Also he liked how she would be willing go on top of the world with him underneath the stars, and he was aware it took something in her heart to say those words. But she's playing with your heart, dude. Just like Tara did to you. Are you sure you wanna make the same mistake again?

He shook his head, disagreeing with his conscience. So be it, he defended. I'm willing to risk it all again for Rachel. Then hitting himself in the head. Was he falling for Rachel, the runaway heiress? I am, I know I am. The way she had called for him when they both were in the woods, when he was searching for food because she was hungry. How she had went along with him on the acting they had to do for those two men that were apparently looking for her. And didn't I save her life mostly throughout this trip? He nodded. Yeah, he was willing to do anything for this woman even giving up his own life.

Thus rapidly jumping up from the bed, he quickly got dressed and grabbed the keys to the Red Dodge Truck. And before he left their room he gave Rachel a small kiss on her cheek telling her he'll be right back. Not that it mattered hence the fact she was already in a surprisingly deep slumber.

Then as he started the truck he knew it would be about a five-hour drive to wherever he was going, but he could care less. The reason being he was doing this for Rachel and praying to God hoping his plan would succeed in making Rachel happy and her freedom guaranteed. Though he would have to go through Hell, and he knew it, too. That be going through her acclaimed and lauded director of a father Trevor Ryan Roth.

Gar would find a way.

—

—

"Sir you have a visitor," Maggie his secretary ringed from the front desk.

"Send them in," he demanded.

"Okay sir."

Trevor Ryan Roth sure was surprised to see a blond hippy-like flower-child boy go through his two heavy office doors. His face was stern, filled with determination, and confidence boomed. The director was taken back. Whenever someone did enter his office the person would have this feebleness to them, and this type of mouse-like fear inside them would show as if somehow he granted the person the inability to speak or to even move. The confidence this man carried however, who just entered his office, was beyond his means.

Before Trevor Ryan could even speak, the boy—no, man spoke. "I'm here to speak for your daughter. I know where she is and I'm not going to tell you where she is. First off dude, your daughter doesn't want to be found and returned to you like an ex-convict, she wants to go out into real the world, she wants to be free, and I have shown her that by being with her throughout this whole runaway spree of hers. I've kept her safe dude, and if you could just leave her alone I'll pay for her freedom in cash. Whatever just to make her happy. Now if you want the money now—"

"Quiet!"

Gar stopped talking, the sinister voice that hushed him was deemed to make him afraid, but he wasn't afraid. He was more focused on buying Rachel's freedom regardless if they would never see each other again. Dead or alive.

"You're Garfield Mark Logan," Trevor Ryan said, his eyes on the man. "I knew your mother. Marie, isn't it? She was a terrific actress and that dirt-poor man she married, Mark, was your father."

Gar nodded, ignoring the tenacious remark about his father. "Yes."

He continued.

"Your mother acted in some of my films and she was a gem. Sadly your mom didn't live long enough to achieve the fame she was promised. Her acting company didn't give her the fame she deserved either, if only she hadn't had you and married your father, she would've been a star. I'm guessing you carry her natural acting abilities?"

The blond boy always had wanted to act in one of his films. However not today, he was only thinking about Rachel, only Rachel. "Dude I just wanna make a deal with you."

"I don't particularly favor the idea of making a deal with you, Logan. Obviously you had this all figured out in your head that this was going to be easy. But when someone makes a deal with Trevor Ryan, you'll have to do what I say, and what I say only. Now, I admire you for coming in here confident, but whatever deal your wanting to make with me won't be made without a cost.

"If my daughter's freedom really means that much to you, I'm afraid you'll have to do something for me."

Gar nodded. He thought of the rare smiles Rachel had given him and how refreshing they were to see when you caught her at her splendid moments which were rare. Then taking a deep breath. "I'll do anything you ask for."

"Perfect," Trevor Ryan applauded, now raising his eyebrow in comprehension.

That's where Rachel gets it from.

"How did you ever find my secret headquarters?"

Gar shrugged. It wasn't really hard if you had a lot of money saved up in your bank account sent to you by your adopted father, and meet a guy nick-named Gizmo behind a department store, to get a personal database set on a ruthless guy you're about to meet, who could possibly snap you into two. "I have my connections."

The director laughed. "Wow," he said, false amusement set behind his teeth. "Connections. And I thought I was the only who had connections. Well not that things like that will matter anymore after I have you under my wing, Logan. Be surprised, you're deemed for stardom."

_I'm doing this for Rachel._

—

—

She woke up for once in her life feeling happy. What would her and Gar be doing today? Everything Gar had said last night, did he mean it? Was he really such a dreamer? She didn't know but she was willing to forget everything and for her and Gar to focus on doing what they had to do today; forget the past and live for today, was going to be her motto from now on. It was their last day together considering they were both adults and had their own lives to live, they just couldn't keep on spending it by going through escapades on a daily basis. She was here in Jump City for a normal life and he was here in Jump City for... What? She never did ask Gar his reason for wanting to go to Jump City. She then decided she was going to ask him once she would get out of bed and get dressed.

"Gar?" Subsequently putting on her clothes she decided to peek over "the walls of Jericho" to see if Gar was awake yet or not and to her astonishment he wasn't in the bed. She then checked to see if he was in the bathroom but the lights weren't on, which only meant he was down stairs fixing breakfast or maybe talking to Vic and Karen.

When she came downstairs she was surprised to see Vic and Karen walking back and forth as if they were deciding between a rock and a hard place. She could hear the celebrity news from the TV in the living room.

_"...The runaway heiress is found. Reportedly she was staying with friends and is said to be going back under her father's care today."_

She stopped her mouth agape in horror, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. I'm an adult, she thought frustratedly. I don't have to go home. But her father, she knew, had those deep connections and with those "deep connections" she could never be free no matter the circumstances. Nonetheless she was trying to figure out how the news was getting this information. Sitting down on the bottom of the stairs she was in slight reverie for a moment until Karen noticed her as she was heading to the kitchen, a black and yellow striped coffee cup in her hands. "Oh Raven!" she exclaimed, listlessly. "Good morning."

Rachel frowned and got off the steps. She realized Karen was acting differently towards her, not as guest but as if she were intimidating royalty. _I'm suddenly the Queen of England._

"Would you want some coffee? Wait, you might prefer tea, am I right?"

"You listened to that gibberish?" Rachel inquired her voice emotionless and gritty, she decided to sit down in one of the stools that were placed against the island counter. Karen refilling her cup of coffee turned around and looked intently at Rachel. "Should I?"

"No."

"Then who are you really, honey? Gar isn't here, the truck isn't here? You gotta give me something. Are you and Gar really engaged?"

Rachel sighed as Karen started the tea.

"It's a long story that I'm deliberately debating inside my mind whether or not I should tell you."

Karen smiled humbly. It was then Rachel saw she wasn't wearing any make up.

"Well whatever's going on there's reporters on our doorsteps and a few men dressed in black who're telling us they're your 'kin.'" Karen laughed as she finished the sentence. "Wow really cinvinci—honey, are you okay?"

Rachel's eyes were huge. My father's henchmen, great. "Yeah, I'm fine. Is Gar here?"

Karen shook her head. "Like I told ya' when Vic went outside this morning to get the mail he didn't see the truck. Girl, what do Gar be doin' anyway that made him leave so early? When he lived here for awhile he didn't believe in the motto early bird gets the worm, or has that changed?"

The pale girl didn't feel like replying to Karen's questions, she wanted to leave. _Garfield, he told them where I am. That's why he's MIA. That's why they're reporters and Trevor's henchmen are outside on the porch, waiting for me._ She then bit her tongue as Vic entered the kitchen. His face looked a little flushed, maybe all of the soliciting that was being done outside was bothering him. Or maybe he was worried for his best friend. Where is he?

His face lit up as he saw Rachel. "Good morning," he greeted. He had on a giant gray hoodie and some black jogging pants. "You seen Gar this morning?"

Rachel shook her head. He then sighed defeatedly, his eyes drooping reminding her of a teddy bear. "It's not like the little grass-stain to just get up and leave like that." She was guessing "little grass stain" was a nickname to reference of when he had green hair in the past. "Honestly, Raven I thought you convinced him to leave here early."

A bit hurt, she gave him a wry smile. "Trust me Vic, the stories he has told me about you and him... I would never try to break your guy's friendship. Never. And as you see, I'm still here."

He nodded and looked worriedly outside, a frown stretched upon his face.

"Those people are here for you, and I can see you're a runaway heiress." His face brightened up again as he said the last part. "Yeah," she said solemnly. I'm the runaway heiress." Not for long, whatsoever. Her freedom was slowly dwindling but unknown to her the person that was missing in the room was sacrificing himself just to give her that freedom she had always longed for.

"I'll go and get my bag," she announced gravely to the couple. "I've already caused enough trouble today." Getting up from the stool she was stopped by Vic, his eyes were promising but Gar broke a promise utterly big for her to accept anyone else's promises.

"No Raven—Rachel, you really don't have to do that. Gar will be back, he's always late, he's probably just getting some more of his nasty tofu to cook breakfast with." Rachel gave him a minuscule smile, she knew he was just trying to help but she was quite aware Gar left for only one reason and for one reason only. She knew he couldn't keep his promise for long, telling DC New where she was, and that pained her a little, well maybe not a little but a lot. She really thought he had cared about her, maybe even loved her, and it was as if everything from last night demolished and went with him.

Now done making up her bed, she then took down the walls of Jericho and stuffed the cheap small blanket inside her purse. Her luggage was stolen on the train, remember? So of course she really didn't have much stuff to carry. And before exiting the room she saw Gar's bag but it didn't really matter to her. _He'll probably just come back and get it._

—

—

**Artemis Raven Courtney: Thanks for commenting! Yes you're right, Rachel was left a bit perplexed on some of her judgements on Gar being false.**

**JasonVUK: Ha ha! Tara I dislike her, too. Ugh definitely in the comic betraying dear little beast won't need to advertise my story, I don't mind the moderate reviews. But thanks for the offer c: really means a lot. And thank you thank you for commenting.**

**dg25taz: Hopefully she has already helped him or is she going to? Don't worry I'll definitely have him forgetting about Tara in no time. Thanks for commenting c:**

**A/N: I want to have them questioning their feelings just a little more towards each other. But as you see can things are taking a turn for the worse or at least going to. Anyway Rachel isn't a demon worshipper or Wiccan just noting this not to make things seem extremely dark. This is just an ordinary AU. Also thanks for people who have faved and followed! Really means a lot.**

**R&amp;R!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did... Would I be writing this?**

It Was A Night (10)

Gar quickly drove back to Jump City. He was going back to Jump City to tell Rachel everything. Where he had gone to and why. _Hurry up you stupid truck, hurry up,_ he thought agitatedly. The truck was on it's last leg and Gar knew it, too. However with this streak inside him nothing could stop him now. Broken truck or not, if he would have to get out the truck and run, no problem for him.

Therefore, the deal he had made with Trevor Ryan was this: he would have to act in one of his films which was either a good or bad thing. When that guy Gizmo did a personal database check on Rachel's father there were things on there that had scared him. Possibly relating to the fact the guy had many criminal records, that were supposed to seem as if they have been cleared off his name. But that Gizmo sure did know his job, he got into everything centerfold that had been edged out on the famous director's profile even his birth certificate, and his financial whereabouts. However those things didn't matter to Gar as much as it might've mattered to that Gizmo guy with those weird looking googles strapped upon his bald shiny head, he had brightened at the money, both of his black eyes flashed dollar signs, but Gar knew not to go there. Thus the only reason he was doing these things were because of Rachel. Fame and fortune weren't a necessity to him, not even now; he never did really care for those types of materialistic things.

Thus, when he had been a teen he would work plotless hours on farms for some pocket money, doing nothing but plowing, mowing, and taking care of the animals—which he did love doing the most. He had always loved taking care of animals. Ever since he was a kid he had always been good with animals. Big or small, canine or feline, endangered or opulent, it didn't matter. He could always relate to animals more than humans. No one ever did understand him. Rita was a heart warming surrogate mother but it seemed as if Steve always had the upper limb preventing her from ever comforting him, regardless of the situation, wherefore she could never really explain to him why being different wasn't a bad thing. Cliff, his uncle was a bodyguard for celebrities which meant he had to travel a lot and wasn't around much to really explain to him the ups and downs of life. Larry the aviator—his other uncle—was the most sarcastic of them all and witty, and was too much of an eggshell to really go to for advice, then there was the loathsome Steve his surrogate father who if you ever were itching to get any advice from him you might as well have been talking to a fraudulent motivational speaker, you would just be open to insults and an abundance of lectures from him.

Like said, _Rachel understands me,_ he thought, a cheshire grin planted on his lips as he got closer to Vic and Karen's neighborhood. Even though at times she acted as if she didn't understand him, she did. She listened and soaked up everything in her mind as if each word that had escaped from his mouth were a gem. And he knew well. Thus as he reached the neighborhood gate a roll's royce was on the other side, it had a rich ebony color and glistened brightly in the sunlight. Gar feeling a bit self-conscious, the red dodge truck being nothing to rival. He just quietly watched as the car went through the opened gate, then taking a glance at the window to see whom could own such an expensive car he was startled on who was inside.

"Rachel," he whispered, he grew white. She was in the back with two tall bulky men seated beside her; one on one side and the other one the other side, which were probably bodyguards sent by—suddenly a light bulb appeared above his head. "Trevor Ryan." _That must've meant he didn't go through with the deal. What was I thinking?_ He knew what that big bad director was doing now; he was turning this all of around on him, making it seem as if perhaps he ratted her out, like he told the media, or worse... DC News.

"Dammit!" He cursed, hitting his hand hard against the will. _Rachel probably thinks I've betrayed her, _he contemplated deliberately. No, not probably, she feels betrayed. I know she does. He could feel his throat tighten either by defeat or sadness. When he had made that deal with Trevor Ryan he felt as if the deal was genuine and clear. However, thinking back on everything now, he felt like he had made a deal with the damn devil. All those things Rachel had told him: what he did to his late wife and her mother, Arella. _Oh, no!_ he thought. Of course this man was more sinister than he had really thought but that was just the icing on the cake. But now he really knew the guy, and Steve seemed more of an angel compared to him, and that was something Gar never would have ever compared Steve to—an angel. Looking back he probably would've compared him to a fiend of some sort.

Currently attempting to follow after the car, luck just didn't seem to agree with him today. The Red Dodge Truck decided to stop clear in the middle of the road which made it unable for him to follow the Roll's Royce driving down the road. He tried pushing the peddle again but after many tries he knew his luck was doomed. And every car that was passing him gracefully and smoothly, happy they didn't have a peace of junk stuck in the middle of the road, just looked oddly at the truck wondering why a tattered-looking vehicle like this one would be stuck in the middle of the road in this certain neighborhood. Then there would be some other cars honking as they drove by just for the spite of it. "Get your ass out of the way, ya' damn hippy."

Therefore he took out his cell phone and about to dial Vic's number, the screen of his phone struck him; the picture was of Rachel and him. He had remembered when they were walking through one of the train stops, and him being the in-the-moment kind of person had decided to take a picture of the both of them with his phone. Of course Rachel had protested at first but after some coaxing she agreed to do so. Looking more intently at the screen; he could see Rachel's wry smile and his blissful grin, plus telling from those two truly happy smiles, there was something in this picture he could just grasp in a heartbeat. Fondness, caring, and amour.

Subsequently looking at the picture once more, he then dialed Vic's number.

The first words Vic said when he answered were: "Man, where have you been?!"

The blond man sighed pushing his sweaty yellow hair back, and squeezing it in frustration leaning his head against the seat.

"Dude I'll tell you where I've been, when you come see what's wrong with this truck, it quit on me."

"That vintage thing, Man I'm telling you as it is, that truck is no fix. I'll just call J. T. to come and tow it. Maybe I'll go by the shop and try to see what's wrong with it but there's no guarantee it'll be fixed tonight, more later than sooner."—Gar sighed miserably although it was a stolen car—"Sorry man, where ya' at anyway? So I can come and pick you up."

He told him.

"Okay, see ya' later man,"

"See ya."

The line then went dead. _Beep._

—

—

The female waiter set the two cups of steaming joe on the table between the two men."Thanks," Gar said.

The waiter smiled at his politeness and left, letting the two men be.

Vic grabbed his cup of coffee as Gar did the same.

They were currently at a café located in downtown Jump City where the comic book and video stores, and a chain of local restaurants stood. Here in this coffee shop everything was casual; the lights were dimmed, and symphonies of people's lithe conversations soared throughout the room where professional paintings hanged on the forest green walls, the lights being a ombré of colors, that hung from the ceiling dramatically dipping down towards tables set between two modern couches, or in other cases, two tall chairs. There was also a jazz band playing on a small stage consisting of one girl and about five guys either doing variations or covers of oldies.

Therefore Gar sighed laying his head down on the table. He was waiting for his coffee to cool down and Vic looking at him as if he were waiting for him to say something was bugging to him to no end. "What, Vic?"

The mechanic held his hands up in defense. "Nothing, man," he said. "I'm just trying to figure out what's goin' on."

Gar stared up at him irritably with his chin and arms still on the table. His blue eyes looked oddly tired; blood shot and reeking with fatigue. "Nothing," he answered simply, that made Vic smirk. "An' I'm supposed to believe that? Gar, I've known you for almost my whole life and now you're telling me nothing's wrong with you? Man that's like telling your mama you didn't come from her womb. You better give me a better answer than that."

"I'm telling you the tru—" Gar stopped himself for a moment and covered his face with his hands laying his head back down on the table. "Dude, what's wrong with me?"

Vic chuckled. "Nothing's wrong with you other than the fact you hate meat, eat nasty tofu, dress like a hippy, and for not telling me about Rachel."

Said, Gar instantly lifted his head up from the table.

"Don't you mean Raven?"

"I know who she is Gar, earlier today while Karen and I were watching DC news in the living room, we saw everything from runaway heiress to her being Trevor Ryan's daughter." He stared up at his friend in disbelief. "Those sick puppies showed all of that?"

Vic nodded. "Yep, and now you're gonna tell me what's been goin' on," he said. "And no sugar coating it either."

_I might as well,_ thought Gar without any trace of doubt in his mind.

—

—

**JasonVUK: Gar can be the most absentminded person in the universe, sometimes he can be the cause to unlucky things to happening to him.**

**dj25taz: Was it a mistake? What do you think?**

**Artemis Raven Courtney: You're right why does Rachel never get a happy ending? Anyway hopefully she does get a happy ending in this story (but you never know... Shh...) Ha ha! Gar's better than that, you're right I don't think he would ever try to rat Rachel out, regardless of the situation. He's better than that (at least you know he hasn't ratted her out.)**

**DayXBeastboy: Maybe not at the speed of light lol! But hopefully fast enough. I'm glad you like the story.**

**Guest: Thank you! I'm glad you like it so far (and that you think it's an excellent story)**

**A/N: In general, thanks for the comments and faves really means a lot. And I hope you're looking forward to more c: Do you know who Cliff and Larry are?**

**R&amp;R!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. The. Teen Titans. And. I. Never. Will. DC Comic does, though.**

It Was A Night (11)

"Wow."

"I know, Vic. And it's all my fault. Why does everything always have to be my fault? Huh?"

Both cups of coffee were by now done and finished with. The waiter came by with the bill, and Vic out of remorse paid for both coffees. He felt bad for his friend, how such a good deed of his had to take a turn for the very worse.

"And you still have to work for this guy?"

Gar nodded, his blond hair stringy and in his face, he didn't even bother to move the hair away from his eyes. If all, he wanted to hide his eyes behind his hair hence the fact they were consumed with raw emotion that he didn't want Vic to see. Plus he was aware he even looked more like a Hippy than ever before. Therefore he thought when he would return from seeing Trevor Ryan, he would've at least taken a shower although he had taken one last night, that truck didn't have the best air conditioning so he had been sweating profusely on his drive back to and from Jump City, plus the sweat added from when the truck had broken down—being no air conditioning at all and waiting for Vic to come and pick him up.

"Yep. He wants me to be under his acting team. they're known as The Pretenders or something like that. There's like five people in the group, he didn't tell me their names but I'm seeing will be like the next Brat Pack or something close to it. I had to do a lot of screen tests for him, and he said he liked me, and that filming will begin on Monday." Admittedly Gar had been real joyous about getting one of the supporting roles in the film. He would be playing the leading guy's happy-go-lucky friend that helps him on this journey in the artist world where he hopes to come-of-age. The role, by all means, would be very easy for him to play. He would have to go over the script tonight, however he didn't want to do the movie anymore. Trevor Ryan double-crossed him and it had cost him Rachel.

But he knew he had to do it. The reason being he knew if he didn't do it he wouldn't be left off so easy. He had signed a contract that had been partly read, not because of the lots of reading he had to do but because he was trying to hurry back to Jump City in time before Rachel woke up. He didn't want her to think he told DC News or any other resource where she was located. He hadn't even told Trevor Ryan and the thought of him knowing where Rachel was didn't scare him to say the least. He wasn't surprised really now that he had thought about it.

"You're gonna act in a movie, man?" Vic was ultimately perplexed, he was quite aware his best friend had a knack for acting, and now knowing he landed a role in one of Trevor Ryan's movies made him want to get up and hug the string bean, but he remained in his seat. "You should be happy, shouldn't you? That was the reason why you came here."

"Yeah," said Gar, "but it's not good. The only reason I went through went through with thevrole was because of Rachel. He told me he would be willing to accept my offer. I told him I was going to buy Rachel's freedom, but he didn't take my money. Instead I was to sign a contract and take a screen test—which I did both—and that's how I did get the role, but he didn't set Rachel free. Instead he double-crossed me. And now I know Rachel thinks I've betrayed her. But that's not the case. I didn't even tell Trevor Ryan where she was, and now that I remember he didn't even ask me where she was."

The mechanics eyes grew astoundingly large. "He must've tracked you down, man. We probably need to go to Dick for this." Gar mumbled something that Vic wasn't able to hear but he waited for the blond's answer.

Honestly, Gar didn't really like Richard. When he was going through that turbulent divorce with Tara, Richard was making false accusations against him for fraud in N unforgivable way, he was in and out of jail and was one step away from being locked up for life. It's as if during that time Richard had forgotten Gar and him were even friends. He just couldn't help but grimace at the thought of him going to Richard for help. The man who arrested him.

"No."

"No?" Vic gave his friend a peculiar look. "C'mon Gar, just cuz Dick made situations worse for you when you were getting divorced, does not mean he was doing it to give you hard times."

Gar grunted.

"Yeah, tell him that."

Ergo, the two friends agreed to go see Richard the great artful detective after much debate. It was something that took awhile for them to both compromise on, but it was made ado, and ado it was.

—

—

Richard was looking over some papers at his desk unaware of a reunion that was deemed to happen. He just got done talking to Kory on the phone and although he was afraid to admit it he was missing her terribly. She sounded sad on the phone when he had called her; sad that they were not living together in Jump City like a couple ought to. Every time he thought of her he would get this mellow feeling inside when they were apart, one that he never did feel when he was with Babs. Although he thought he had loved her, he didn't. They had both been dating for the same reasons. His father Bruce thought him and Babs complemented each other and had lots in common. However after he found her cheating on him with this guy named Sam, he decided to break-up with her. He didn't feel heartbroken nor did he care what Bruce would think. Plus he didn't even know about Kory and that was one of the reasons, Richard didn't want Kory to move here to Jump City just yet.

Thus as he put the papers into one of the file cabinets and sat back down, the door to his office opened revealing a buff brown man and a blond scrawny flower-child which startled Richard by all means. "Vic?G-Gar?"

"Hey man!" Vic greeted.

Richard stood up and gave Vic one of those handshakes all men did. But Gar sat down in one of the chairs casually observing the office with somewhat of a critical eye. He still couldn't get himself to forgive Richard but he knew it would be for the best to just forgive; let bygones be bygones.

"Gar?" Richard was surprised to see Vic but he was even more surprised to see Gar sitting in his office quiet and dreary. In honest truth he thought the blond would continue to hate him after all of those arrests and accusations he'd made against him during that horrible divorce he was going through. However he was startled on the belief Gar wasn't holding an absolute grudge against him. _After all, _he thought,_ I was doing my job and I'm glad he has come to accept that._

"Hey Dick, how's it been goin?" Gar inquired, getting up from the chair. The two men greeted each other like old friends would but you could still sense some tension between the two. And the tension was now arisen when they both started scuffling on the floor with Gar having the upper limb.

Vic who was minding his own business looking over Richard's surprisingly neat office he was startled on the two men rolling on the ground fighting. What th— He quickly pulled the two men apart. "C'mon guys be mature. Gar we weren't here to seek vengeance."

Gar rolled his eyes. "Yeah but the dude seen it comin.'" Vic sure wasn't trying to laugh he knew he had surprised Richard and that was what made it even more humorous to him. "Have to admit you're right, Gar. Dick ya' doin' alright?"

The raven haired man grimaced and smoothed his hair back, reminding himself to get more hair gel. Looking pointedly at Gar he said, "Yeah I'm fine Vic, just seems maturity hasn't reached some people."

"No," said Gar. "Just seems to me some people forget about their wrongdoings, and just need to be reminded of them sometimes."

"Alright, alright you two calm down. Weren't we here for one thing, Gar?"

The blond nodded with a cheerful grin planted on his face. Vic was debating in his mind whether or not the smile was genuine.

Thereafter telling Richard everything, both men waited for him to say something.

"Well... It seems to me you guys messed with the wrong guy. And seriously though, what did you guys expect from Trevor Ryan Roth a box of chocolates?" He laughed emplacing his feet up on the desk.

"Richard, first off man, this here's grass stain's problem not mine. I'm just bringin' it to the surface." Vic smirked and glanced at Gar knowingly; who glared at him. "Yeah," he said with a deep exaggerating voice. "It's my problem and yeah, here Vic's just bringing it up to the surface." He could see the mechanic crossing his arms at his imbecilic mimicking and mumbling curses underneath his breath.

"Gar tell me how you know Rachel," Richard said curiosity dripping from his voice. When Gar had told him some part of the story, he noticed that every time Rachel's name was brought up he would blush or look down at the ground stuttering a little in the process. He was quite aware who Rachel was, being friends since the age of seven, he was startled upon how much they've been out of touch. Only really knowing each other's whereabouts when Kory would bring up one person's name in a conversation they'd be having on the phone or very much in person.

"W-well," stammered Gar, "s-she's Trevor Ryan's d-daughter a-and um... I'm a-afraid for-r h-her w-well being."

Richard and Vic then started laughing.

"What?!" He shrieked. "I'm just worried about her that's all."

"Then tell me this," said Richard, the laugh still in him. "Why did you make that deal with Trevor Ryan then?"

"I don't know."

"There's gotta be a reason," added Vic.

"Well... There's not,"

"There's always a reason for everything," Richard said leaning back against the leather chair. "Hit us with your best shot."

For a moment there Gar was going to come up with some illogical excuse but he didn't. He wasn't really angry at Richard, the reason being he knew why he was asking this, he could see it in his face. There was an understanding. Rachel he cared for a lot, and wasnt sure if the feeling was mutual anymore. He didn't really see her face when he had seen her in the Roll's Royce to predict how she was feeling. Everything just happened so fast; to him going to her father to him seeing her leave in that Roll's Royce. It was really hard for him to decide whether or not he did love her, everytime he would think of her—like now—he would start to blush, his stomach would begun to flutter, and his heart would began to beat fast as if it were a woodpecker pecking a tree.

"I think... I think I'm in love with her.

—

—

When Rachel appeared in her father's office she wasn't surprised to see only Mitch in the room. Honestly she would have to say she had once loved him, but now she loathed him. He didn't love her and she didn't love him. The argument between her and her father probably would've once been because she was in love with Mitch and wanted to marry him but it wasn't that. The reason her and Trevor Ryan had that argument in the first place was because she didn't wanna marry Mitch. He was basically just using her, and Trevor Ryan knew it, too. And that was why she was arranged to marry Mitch.

With her jaw clenched, she didn't even make eye contact with him. Obviously she knew what he looked like. His hair was this platinum mediocre blond hair that went a little past his ears, he had pale skin with his azure eyes contrasting brightly, and his scrawny figure that made him look as if he hadn't eaten a thing. Once she had thought all things physical about him were attractive and now those features of his made her want to gag.

Mitch was the first one to speak, his lucid gaze centered upon her. "Nice to see you Rachel," he said with a casted sinister grin. "You look more beautiful than usual. Where did you get the dress?"

Rachel resisted the urge to slap him by just simply ignoring him. She was startled on the fact that she realized she was wearing the dress the traitor had boughten her when they had stayed at that uncanny motel in Starling City.

"Not gonna answer me? Fine, I don't care. You actually thought you were gonna marry that hippy, didn't you?"

_Maybe, maybe not,_ Rachel thought tiredly. She couldn't believe she had convinced herself to think she was actually in love with Gar. Forsooth she was kind of embarrassed for thinking she cared about him, she felt like a naïve bimbo and if that was one of the things she hated the most—feeling incompetent.

"What was the guy's name again Grant? Gus? Or was it Gan?"

_Idiot._

She wasn't bolted out of the blue that Mitch knew about Gar but she was having a hard time deciding whether or not if he really did know about Gar, considering he was having a hard time with his name. Maybe DC news released his name out into the public, wondering who got the award and who was such a scumbag to be able to live with themselves for ratting out a poor girl with less freedom than a caged bird. She felt as if she were a raven trapped in a cage desperately wanting to get out, and spending those days with Gar on the trains they had to take just to get to their final destination, and instead of being a freed bird she was still a caged bird. However instead it was as if the owner decided to leave the bird's cage open for a few hours trying to figure out how to ruin the precious ebony bird's life even more when it would go back to being caged again.

Thus Rachel could feel goose-bumps beginning to prickle on her ghostly pale-like skin. Too paranoid to think of anything else right now she was beginning to think Trevor Ryan wasn't going to come. And Mitch's teetering of Gar's name was beginning to annoy her.

"It's Gar," she mumbled, her fingers gripping the bridge of her nose. "Now shut up or I'll make you."

Truthfully Mitch was scared of Rachel. He was aware of what she could do but unaware of what she couldn't do. She stayed true to herself and was firm in her beliefs, but it angered him that she didn't love him. He continued to love her, and him knowing she fell in love with that stranger—although she was denying the claims. He couldn't help but feel choleric over the fact she was in love with a stranger rather than him.

Rachel was glad he closed his mouth and just then Trevor Ryan Roth decided to walk through the two heavy office doors. He walked pass the soon–to–be married couple, and sat down at his desk sorting through papers and throwing some papers into the small trash can nearby. He seemed to be in a content state but there was never an absolute feat about him. He could be happy and you wouldn't even know it.

"Sit down," he said casually motioning towards the two chairs in front of his desk. They both sat down.

Rachel was guessing his mood was in a decent state, if he were angry he wouldn't have allowed them to sit down in the chairs. He would've kept them standing till kingdom come.

"Hello Mitchell and Rachel, I hope you didn't have to wait too long. You're both in my office for reasons that are identical to my plans for the both of you." For some reason, admittedly, Rachel couldn't help but feel as if her and Mitch were a married couple that were trying to see if they were able to bore children or not. The image disturbed her in many ways unknown to mankind. She then listened as her father continued to talk. "You guys are going to marry this Saturday."

The pale girl internally was shocked and miffed but knowingly she remained unfazed outwardly. Showing emotion to her father was something utterly illiberal to him. He hated emotions, every single emotion except the ones consisting of anger, greed and hate which as you could imagine made him into this wicked gnarled-up sort of person consumed with dirt as if he were the wicked witch of the east. She knew not to disagree with him but from when she had left, she wouldn't mind protesting again. Just not yet, she thought. When the spirit gives me strength, I will protest again.

"The nuptials are already planned..."

She wasn't real sure if she heard everything her father did say after that but it didn't matter to her anymore. She was gonna think of something; Gar or no Gar, she was getting her freedom back, one way or another she was going to get her freedom back.

—

—

**JasonVUK: Lol! That's Gar for you. **

**dj25taz: Could it be because Gar sees the good in people? But Gar can be pretty dumb when he wants to be.**

**titansoul123: Thanks for the comments. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Anyways your answer is correct. **

**A/N: I know Ive been crazy with these updates lately (I might not update in a long time ya' never know) and I hope you all enjoy the chapters so far. And please tell me what ya' think c:**

**P.S. Richard aka Dick is Robin and Mitch is of course Malchior plus thanks for the favs and follows.**

**R&amp;R!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. DC Comic does.**

It Was A Night (12)

It was late in the evening by the time they were done talking to Richard. He told them Trevor Ryan Roth might've had a detective or maybe some sort of hired hit man tracking his and Rachel's every move. With that said it wasn't surprising nor scary for Gar to learn that someone could've possibly been following him and Rachel through this whole trip.

"I'll look at some of Mr. Roth's files; his criminal records, affiliates, anything that'll bring us to conclusion on who could've followed you and Rachel on your way to Jump City." Thus Richard told him he would call him if he found something.

Currently getting into some new clothes after taking a shower, he felt lonely. He was still in the guest room that him and Rachel had shared almost 24 hours ago, and if he felt this way he wouldn't mind going back to his old room from when he had lived here. It was right next door waiting for him.

Seeing the other bed empty and made-up he sighed. _Rachel... Rachel... Rachel... Why couldn't I just have waited?_ He wanted it to be a surprise, he wanted to protect Rachel, be her knight in shining armor. And now that he'd thought about it he realized maybe a bit of his egoistical side had a lot do with it. He would've rather wanted her to know why he'd left than to jump to false conclusions and leave so suddenly in a Roll's Royce.

"Gar," Karen shouted from the other side of the door. "I have the phone right here, someone wants to speak to you."

"Tell them I'm busy," he said grudgingly, not in the mood to speak to anyone but the thoughts of it possibly being Richard with the results, or better yet Rachel, made him open the door. He grabbed the phone rapidly from Karen's hand. "Well you're welcome," she said with a smirk, one hand on her hip. She then turned around and headed downstairs watching her friend in slight worry before he closed the door.

Putting the phone to his ear he said the person's name he oh-so wished was on the other line. "Rachel?"

The person cleared their throat and in a disapproving manner said, "Well Garfield as much as I don't know what you do around, I'm not Rachel. I'm your father."

Steve.

"What do you want, Steve? The last time I remembered you're not Darth Vader and I'm not Luke." Although being dressed in black capes and wearing a huge helmet wouldn't make any difference of how much a bastard you can be. Those last words were unspoken.

"Eerie comparison, I only called because, well, Rita and I are worried about your whereabouts and you're not answering any of our calls or replying to any of our messages," Gar could feel his muscles tense up just a bit, Steve continued, his orderly voice outweighing the phone. "And we would like you to come visit." Though Steve called him, Gar was pretty much sure this was all Rita's doing. He would never imagine getting this phone call without Rita having something to do with it.

As much as he did love his surrogate mother, he sometimes hated it when she would always put Steve or him up to doing something such as communicating or having 'father and son bonding time' as she would prefer to call it. However every time she would put them up to one of those things, either the son and father time would end in temperamental shouting rages or a vow of silence towards each other for æons of time.

"Well," Gar said as he sat down on one of the twin sized beds, "I can't visit anyway, I have a few things on my plate that need clearing u—"

"Hogwash," interrupted Steve. "If all Gar, you need to set aside whatever you are doing and come visit your family."

"No Steve. I ca—"

"What do you mean you can't? Gar from what I've seen on the news lately, about that Roth girl and her father, you somehow got yourself mixed in with that rowdy bu—"

"She's not rowdy."

"I don't care, but you're going to come over, case closed. I'm aware you're in Jump just like the rest of your family is so Cliff, Larry, Rita, and I will be waiting for you. I'll see you in an hour or two."

The line then went dead.

"Dammit!" Gar shouted from the top of his lungs, throwing the receiver on the ground. "Can't he just understand how much of a fucked up mood I'm in?" Thus getting up from the bed and walking back-in-forth from wall-to-wall deciding whether or not going to the family meet-in-greet would do him any good. He decided on going.

He then heard Vic's voice from the other side of the door.

"Gar, man are you alright?"

He scratched the back of his sweaty neck nervously, flushed at how loudly he must've let out his temperamental rage he replied, "It's all good Vic, it's all good."

"Okay," he heard Vic say. "Just wonderin' cuz Karen said she'd heard a yell or something. But I'll tell her 'it's all good'."

Therefore he sighed in relief as he could hear his friend's footsteps going down the stairs, and turning faint.

—

—

"Okay well here's your truck, bro," Jason said as he wiped some car grease on the side of his pant leg but leaning into the truck, looking cautiously around he asked, "I'm just wondering, man. Did you steal the truck?"

Gar chuckled. "Why'd you like to know? Did a dude come by kinda' fat, wears a sports cap, his tone maybe a bit southernish?"

Jason nodded a smirk now visible on his lips. "Yeah," he said. "He kept sayin' how this was his truck. Seemed to me he was wasted on somethin'. But don't worry, man, this just between you and me."

The blond nodded and thanked the mechanic once more before pulling out of the shop's drive way. He was now going over to Rita and Steve's—something he thought he would never be doing while he was here in Jump City, but realizing he could never disrespect the people whom raised him out of courtesy he put a peddle to the meddle, wanting this nightmare to end sooner than expected.

The house was quite the same as when he'd left it about two years ago; big and pricey, stepford-esque. Nothing's changed except maybe there were two new bush sculptures set on the lawn, newly cut and trimmed. He grimaced at the thought of entering the place he'd once called home where no one barely had enough sense to pay attention to him.

He didn't know how long he stayed out there considering he was parked in front of the house but realizing he'd fallen asleep he woke up to loud ferocious knocks on the driver's side window. His head under the wheel, he slowly lifted his head and turned to see who was the cause of such great loud knocks.

Rubbing his eyes slowly and staring out the window. "Wha—?"

"Garfield Mark Logan?!"

It was Cliff, a smile on the buff man's face. He tried opening the door but it was locked, Gar quickly unlocking the door was not startled by being yanked roughly but not harshly out the truck and threshed into a bone-crushing hug. "Uh... Hey Cliff..."

"Oh, Garfield. How's it been?"

Gar flustered a little didn't know whether or not to laugh, cry, or scream. This was all ambiguous to him. He could tell from how dark it was getting—being a mere twilight—that this was only the beginning to the all the explaining he was going to have to do of where he had been in all these two years. Cliff he saw hadn't changed much. He was still an able-bodied and tan, his hair a buzz-cut, a darker blond, and everything about him still family-loving and warm.

"It's a pretty long story."

—

—

Rachel felt fatigued as she tried on the fifth wedding dress. She was the only girl in the wedding dress parlor and feeling a bit out of the place, she wished Kory was here with her. Although she hated the idea of being in a dress, she knew Kory's enthusiasm would've lifted up her mood nonetheless.

Seeing both of her bodyguards passed out on the couch drunk from the fancy champagne the middle-aged frumpy consultant had served them. She felt worthless than ever and knowing it was almost getting dark, her father would be angry if she didn't find a dress soon enough before the wedding that was going to be held this Saturday.

Therefore as she turned to call for the consultant she realized she was assisting another client she hadn't even realized entered the place. From what Rachel could observe the client was a woman, had thin blond hair that reached only to her shoulders, knobby red knees that showed frailly, hence the fact she was wearing a short black pencil skirt with a white stained shirt that kind of showed her bra which was pink, and seemed to be returning... a wedding dress?

"If you'll please surely wait for a minute dear I'll be back with the information." The consultant then went to one of the back rooms away from the sight of the two girls unknown of each other's presence.

Not knowing what to do, Rachel turned back to evaluating the current dress she was wearing. She stood in front of the mirror and almost gasped in shock, noticing how much of a resemblance she casted to Arella. The dress of course was dated and clearly classic. Turning to the side a bit, she felt as if this dress complimented her by all means.

"The dress looks nice on you," the incognito blonde complimented. Rachel looked her direction, startled on the words that just left the girl's mouth, she didn't know whether or not to say thank you. Before she could even speak the consultant came back with the information needed on the girl's wedding dress.

"Okay, Tara Markov it says here..."

Rachel couldn't hide her shock. Tara... Broke Gar's heart... Her name was Tara... Taking one more glance at the girl Rachel could see that she wasn't as beautiful as she once was. To her, everything about the girl that she now knew as Tara could've just been an old washed out Hollywood star to anyone. Her hair was flat, her body was unrealistically thin and echoed stress, and her cheek bones stood out prominently as if she were somehow a phantom that went unhinged.

And honestly, Rachel couldn't help but feel remorse and pity. Tara reminded her so much of her mother it was almost criminal.

—

—

**A/N: Short chapter, I'm aware of that. But it's an update so maybe you should be somewhat happy. Anyway this chapter was just basically explaining to you how they're seeing things for what they are and dealing with problems they're facing or having to face. So... Yeah. Will they ever meet again?**

***Dramatic music plays in the background***

**Okay now the replies:**

**TheFabulousFriend: 'Therefore' is a word I realize I do use a lot and probably some other words, I'm working on it. My bad, um hopefully you can somehow look over that but if you can't then of course you don't have to read my story. I'm gonna try to get this story edited after I'm done with it... Hopefully.**

**dj25taz: Gar as a character is pretty much putting himself into bad situations and sometimes they're out of his control. Maybe he will try to crash the wedding. I didn't tell you anything... LOL!**

**JasonVUK: Just hope Gar'll be able to stop the wedding or he does something of the sort. Anyhow will Rachel forgive him? Ya' never know she can be a pretty complicated person.**

**TheLittleKitty: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you commented. The support really does mean a lot.**

**Sparity101: Yes it is! LOL!**

**Thank you all for commenting. Plus the favs and follows, thank you. Keep on reviewing, commenting, and faving.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. DC Comics does, ask them.**

It Was A Night (13)

Dinner was awkward.

Gar didn't pay attention to whatever Steve was trying to say to him. He only stared at his plate consisting of a few edible leafs that were freshly grown from Rita's mini garden outside in the back. Herbs were also added essentially to his healthy no-meat dish.

Cliff on the other hand disliked the dish, reminding Gar a bit of Victor, he wanted meat and drenching his salad with every type of dressing he could get his hands on, he ended up finding a moderate-sized slab of old ham out of the fridge putting it onto his salad, resembling mush, making Larry's disapproval amount to him even more by chanting sarcastic remarks each time he would add more and more condiments.

Larry ate his salad plain and dry. And every time Cliff would attempt to sneak ranch onto his salad, the aviator would voice to him a diabolical threat that would leave the retired bodyguard shivering until he would go back to eating his salad in peace.

"Gar?" Steve whose eyes glowered at the young-adult who already finished his 'normal' salad that he although would never admit, enjoyed. He was now polishing it off with a small glass of water.

The blond lifted his head up, staring at Steve a wry smile planted on his lips. "What, Steve?"

Gar wished and prayed to God for Rita to come busting through the doors any second from now. Maybe she wouldn't come bursting through the doors but she would walk right through them, ending the uncomfortableness that consumed the tense air that hung between both father and son. Larry and Cliff too busy bickering to really realize what was amiss between the two.

When Gar had entered the house with Cliff—happy that actually everything seemed to be going great, but still knowing he was going to have to face Steve sooner or later. It was when he had realized Steve nor Rita was nowhere to be found, only Larry—lanky with alabaster skin, tall, and his brown hair styled in a crew-cut, was sitting on the couch in the living room watching Top-Gun. It wasn't surprising for Gar to know Steve had set him up again which made him angrier, however covering it up with a good ole smile he then greeted Larry who was surprised towards the fact his good friend-nephew-brother finally visited the family for once.

The two did mingle for quite a bit but not long after were Larry and Cliff fighting over whose turn it was to cook. Gar could see it was set like this telling from when he had lived here. Rita had organized a chart indicating on what day each person out of the household was responsible for putting food on the table, and if that person decided on a take-out of some sort they would have to relieve it from their own paycheck. Which added on pretty quickly. So cooking lessons were of course offered.

Remembering when he had lived here. He usually had the responsibility on Wednesday and Saturday, Larry—Thursday, Cliff—Friday, Rita—Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday, and Steve zilch which he never did cook. The only clear reason Gar could muster why he always did the most cooking out of everyone in contrary to Rita, was well he worked less, was the better cook, and didn't mind the cooking lessons Rita gave him. Therefore, he didn't mind having more days than the rest of the men. Rita always did say a gentleman who can cook will never be left heartless and although her saying was partly false he still did love it whenever she did say it to him.

In conclusion he ended up resolving the fight between Cliff and Larry. He was the one who was going to cook and considering there was nothing really in the fridge except Rita's garden vegetables and herbs, Gar decided to make a tossed salad. Nothing too hard or too special but he knew it'd make Rita's vegetables seem make-do and they wouldn't go bad. He was aware Cliff preferred meat over vegetables any day while Larry didn't care what he ate, he didn't favor the realms of eating only vegetables, adding a steak or a piece of fish would've satisfied him but right now this was all they had. So three hungry men not up in the mood to go to the grocery store decided on the salad.

And by the time Gar was finished with the agglomeration he set down the different necessitates such as ranch dressing and Italian dressing, and in individual small-sized bowls chopped up boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, and diced black olives. The vegetables were already added to the salad as a whole so no need setting those out. Anyhow when he was setting the table with the help of Larry and Cliff, a stern-mannered man donning a clean-crisp suit entered and held a brown leather satchel in his left hand. Nobody noticed him but when he had purposely cleared his throat. The three young men were startled to see Steve Dayton standing in the dining room archway.

He was fair skinned, clean cut, had a strong jaw, and blue eyes. He still did look the same from the last time Gar had seen him. Except age was starting to set in telling from the wrinkles on his skin. "I see we're having Salad." He then went to his room to change into some casual clothes which was a t-shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes. When he came back, everyone fixed their salads, knowing Rita was working late she would make it back home soon enough to see Gar. It just pained her that Steve had scheduled this get together too soon and with her knowing last minute she was going to try to get off early. Rita worked at a bridal shop part-time and though she didn't have to she felt lazy not working or doing anything. When Gar had lived with them she didn't have to worry about feeling lazy, because she took care of Gar and that was all that mattered.

Present, everyone was now at the dining table; some finishing their salads.

Steve continuing with his nonchalant rant about Gar and his flaws it was beginning to infuriate the blond.

"Tell me, Gar. What was the reason for traveling with that Roth girl? Was it a fling, or something into today's society and young culture I just can't cultivate?" Steve was disturbed to find on DC News that Gar had vacationed with Trevor Ryan Roth's daughter. The article had said that they ran away together and were utterly in love. "Or is she the sure thing?"

Larry sensing the atmosphere. "I actually have seen that movie. John Cu—"

Gar then interrupted him as he began to cough profusely. _The sure thing? What!_ "Steve she isn't just something you can throw away!" He didn't like how he cogitated Rachel that way. Maybe he could sum up Tara in that sort of manner but definitely not Rachel.

"Ah!" Steve said with mocking surprise in his voice. "So she and you had an affair?"

"Tara and I aren't married anymore that was then," he shook his head temperately. _He should know that! _"Rachel she's... Rachel she's something..."

The businessman waited for his summary but nothing was able to come out. "Rachel's something worse than Tara?"

—

—

Rita walked into the shop after she ran the errand for Louise. She had been sure to run the errand fast so she would be home soon enough to see Gar. Gladly dinner would already be on the table for him, it was supposed to be Larry's night to cook but with Cliff retiring they basically just went vice-versa with the cooking days. Sometimes he would cook and sometimes Larry would cook. She was hoping they'd at least cooked something with those herbs and vegetables from her garden that she had picked and stored in the icebox. Gar was a vegetarian somewhat of a vegan with the exception of donuts and ice cream. She was hoping something was cooked with those vegetables exempting meat, so the meal would be suitable for Gar.

"Wow you're back," announced Louise middle-aged and roundly shaped she was a mother of two; a ratty four year old and a spoiled teenaged son. Her husband didn't even try to support the family with her running a prominent bridal store, he decided being sloth would work well for the family. "Did they let you turn in the bill?"

"Yes," replied Rita. "Louise is there anything else I have to do. My son is coming for a visit today and I just want to get home early so I can have dinner with him. I haven't seen him in more than two years."

"Wish I could say the same for my son," joked Louise but seeing Rita's hopeful face expression. She agreed earnestly. "You've been working a lot lately and have been great help, I'll let you go—oh but would you please try to convince that client over there, that the dress she has tried on looks nice on her. It's nearly 7 and she's been in here for the past hour."

Rita glanced at the girl. She was pale, had black shoulder-length hair with a blue streak, and her eyes were blue. Honestly Rita thought she was a pretty girl, beautiful actually. And the dress was marvelous on her as if the designer had made it only and just for her. Thereupon going to where the girl stood Rita saw that two men were passed out on the couch drunk with the champagne Louise offered to family/friends of the clients who come and support the bride-to-be on finding the perfect wedding dress. The champagne bottle empty and the two glasses empty as well, Rita looked up to find the girl staring at her with a raised eyebrow. She looked at the two sleeping men. "Them? They're not particularly related to me nor would I call them friends."

When she said that Rita noticed that her face faltered a bit before turning back to being emotionless. She could tell the girl was sad, wishing someone else was here supporting her instead of them. Her mother, maybe? A friend? Rita was taken back on how grave and delicate the girl's voice sounded as if she was used to being disappointed. Picking up the used champagne bottle and the two glasses she handed them to Louise who was at the counter slightly observing. "Bring me back two clean glasses and a full bottle of champagne," ordered Rita. "And quick."

Although she was aware this was going to take more than she had bargained for, seeing a smile on the girl's face was the only thing that mattered right now. Perhaps her mother can't be here today but that doesn't mean she can't have moral support. She was going to be a fill-in for this girl's mother, a willing fill-in.

"Here." Louise handed her the two glasses and the single bottle of champagne. "Thanks," Rita said then walking determinedly over towards where the girl stood who continued to look at herself in the mirror. "I look a mess," she mumbled.

"You look beautiful," complimented Rita with a smile. "Now considering I'm going to help you locate a dress, could you please tell me your name?"

With a little reluctance the girl complied curtly,

"Rachel."

—

—


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans... M-marv—wait! I mean DC Comic does. *chuckles nervously***

It Was A Night (14)

Rachel didn't buy the dress.

Why would she want to waste her time on buying a dress that she was going to get married in to someone she obviously didn't love? And obviously she wasn't buying it with her own money, so what was the use of all this? She instead bought another dress, the one that Tara had returned. It was beautiful no doubt about that but Rachel indicated the dress had some sort of bad luck left in it. And she needed all the bad luck she could get just for this wedding to not go through.

"Oh," Rita exclaimed. "The dress is... Um beautiful." Her face faltered a bit and you could see worry wrinkles appear on top of her forehead. Rachel didn't respond to the comment. She didn't mind Rita, she was a slim older woman who looked young for her age, fair skin, red hair, and kind warm eyes. Rachel actually did find it nice that the she was actually willing to help her on having the best wedding dress experience a girl could have.

Truthfully it did work as much as she was capable of understanding. She just wished she was getting married to a guy she enamored. Not an uninteresting tactless sort of guy she was almost on the edge of despising however someone who was sweet, special, and almost blithe all the time. In belief, she was pretty sure the expectations she wanted met were already met and mended into... Gar. _Stop thinking about him, Rachel._ She could hear her conscience telling her. _He told DC news, remember that?_

She shook her head and turned her attention back onto the dress. Telling from the mirror, she could still see Rita sitting on the couch pouring herself another small glass of champagne. Rachel had noticed it was only her second glass and was astonished she wasn't an avid drinker, her bodyguards for example, were. Examining herself in the mirror she looked at Tara's dress—or maybe it wasn't her dress anymore now that she was going to buy it but knowing the previous owner of the dress wasn't any help with calling it her "own" dress.

Thus the dress was white, little clear crystals patterned the bodice, and the dress had short sleeves that draped slightly below the shoulders. It was a gorgeous dress indeed; simple and classy. There wasn't much cleavage that would have to be shown and she smiled at that. Rita noticing the tenacious smile, held up her glass of champagne and smiled back. "I'm guessing this is the one?"

Although in honest truth, she liked the other one better that Rachel had picked out first, the reason being it was vintage and had made her appear much more mysterious, beautiful, and reminded her of an old actress that was prominent in the late 70s what was her name, she just couldn't put her finger on it. The actress's name being something like Rella or Jella But she just loved that one movie she had appeared in: She Who Seeks Silence. Anyhow, turning her attention back onto Rachel she saw another flash of sadness cross the pale girl's face, again.

"Are you alright dear?" Rita sat the glass of champagne she was holding down on the nearby table, and walked over to where Rachel stood. Putting her hand on her shoulder in a motherly fashion. She knew this face expression without hesitation she asked, "Are you marrying someone you don't love?" For a moment Rachel just stared at Rita as if she was incompetent but seeing that the brunette woman's eyes showed warmth and a kind-motherly understanding. Rachel nodded, her face back to being emotionless she whispered something she probably never imagined she would ever whisper, and to someone she barely even knew. "I love Gar."

For some reason she felt as if she needed to say those words to Rita. She was aware that Rita probably didn't even know who Gar was. Startled Rita was perplexed and confused. _My son Gar? My little boy Gar? _She removed her hand away from the girl's boney shoulder, standing there in shock she was finally able to get herself to speak. But before she was even able to say anything aloud. Rachel spoke first.

"Stupid Garfield Logan, why did he have to make me feel this way?" This time Rachel wasn't saying this pointedly to anyone. She was voicing her thoughts outwardly and covering her mouth instantly with both hands. She saw Rita give her a look of disbelief. "You... Love..." The motherly-figure could feel her eyes beginning to tear up. "You love... Garfield?"

Rachel was terrified. This was at random, hurriedly leaving the room and heading back to the dressing room, she got out of the dress and put back on her normal clothes. She wasn't wearing the dress Gar had gotten her considering it was back at her house buried and hidden somewhere only known to her. She was now wearing a black shirt, purple jeans, and some gray flats. Exiting the dressing room cubicle she was going to check out the dress but soon again was met with a now dry-eyed Rita.

More fear began to set in.

"If that's true Rachel. You do love Garfield?" Rita inquired her eyes stern but welcoming.

For a moment there Rachel didn't find why it mattered to this woman why she was in love with this imbecilic being whom did find a way to wrap himself around her heart. She was still angry over his betrayal but glancing once more at the woman, she could recall a time where she did mention this woman's name, Rita wasn't it? Staring at her name tag to make sure this was the woman, Rachel could find herself explaining the events in somewhat of a chronological order. And in all due respect a reunion was deemed to happen.

—

—

Gar didn't know what had came over him to be able these words about say out loud, but he did. His heart quickened, his neck began to itch badly, and his forehead began to sweat profusely. "Steve?"

The man looked at the junior with a critical prosper. He was explaining to Gar something utterly important and being interrupted was rude to him, to say the least. "Gar," Steve said. "I'm not done talking to you, now if you are wanting to tell me something. That will have to wait. Now as I was say—"

"No Steve, I wanna talk, now!"

Larry who was getting irritated at Cliff's loud smacking who now stopped eating his salad. Both were startled of what became of their young friend. Steve about to speak up again was as well startled in dislike of how "rude" his adoptive son was being. The only words that were able to escape his mouth underneath all the shock was, "Excuse me?"

"Steve," Gar said venom still rising in his voice, and standing up from the table. "My day has pretty much sucked. My minds whack right now, nerves shot. I'm just tired of being forced into things—or more like demanded." Then staring at Larry and Cliff. "Dudes, if you're wondering why I'm not hear often it's becuz of him. And it's not like I'm welcomed here most times either. You guys are at work. I'm just sick of all you guys telling me what to do. This dude right here never wanted me to come in the first place. And well he called me and forced me here. So I don't know what you guys have to say but I don't wanna hear any of it."

Cliff ready to explain, Steve already beat him to it. "Garfield these accusations you're making towards your own family, that has put their time and money to raise yo—"

"No," Gar interrupted, his eyes on Steve this time. "You had put your damn money into raising me, but Rita had always put her time. And guess what, she's not even here."

"Son if you could watch your language and just sit down and listen, maybe your mind would be put in the right place." The businessman glared up at him.

"I'm tired of listening, I'm just gonna leave," and heading towards the front door. "Bye," were his final words.

Larry getting up from the table was even more shocked on what just happened. He wanted to go after the 70s inspired man but what else could he do? _Nothing maybe,_ he thought deliberately. The aviator's mind was always consumed with these pessimistic thoughts and being so, he decided to go back onto eating his salad not even trying to follow his friend.

Cliff on the other hand went after Gar. He was disappointed with himself and what had become of this night. He wanted to get down on his knees and beg his friend to forgive them all, and to go on back to being that happy-go-lucky dude they always knew. However this was different, and if different was sometimes bad it was that kind of different.

Exiting the house he could see The Red Dodge Truck from the entrance of the house. He was just trying to see if Gar was in there but he wasn't, he was still on the lawn talking to... Rita. He was perplexed that she was already home. But he could see she was trying to explain something to Gar. Both of her hands placed on his arms in a motherly fashion.

"No Gar. I know something's amiss. What happened?" Gar shook his head. He just didn't wanna talk about it.

—

—

Rachel was watching everything unfold in matters of seconds from where she sat in the passenger's seat, looking out the driver's side window. At first it had went a lot like this: Rita getting out the car, making her way up towards the entrance of the house but not needed to be done anymore because Gar had stormed out onto the front lawn. Rachel's breath hitched for a moment seeing the man before her that she had grown to love.

Howbeit she could see that familiar expression pronounced on his face but it was always counterfeited by his infamous cheshire smile and his corny no-good jokes. She was beginning to think something bad had occurred in that house. Maybe involving me, her mind conjured. She would dislike for anything bad in there to have happened because of her.

Sighing she continued to look out the driver's side window, watching Rita trying to get into her son's mind. She was showing empathy which in plain fortitude Rachel knew she could never master. _But this his mother for crying out loud,_ she thought comfortably. _Mother's are supposed to lift you up when you're feeling down._ But Rachel never got that kind of mother's love, not even a father's love and that was one of the things her and Gar could relate to.

The scene beginning to unfold she could see an able-bodied and tall guy appear in front of the entrance of the house. It seemed for a moment he was staring at her but he wasn't. He was staring at Rita and Gar whom seemed to have been looking her way for a moment. Nonetheless she dismissed it according to the fact he couldn't see inside the car. The windows were tinted and it didn't help that it was getting dark.

Now what was occurring between the mother and son outside the car.

"Wait," Gar said, taken back on how Rita knew who Rachel was. His mind began to jolt with conclusions which were hard to come through to. "What do you mean you brought Rachel here? I'm confused."

"Don't be. I know who Rachel is, she was at the new wedding dress parlor I work at now. But she really wants to see you." Rita confounded her eyes centering nervously at the vehicle. "Now you take this here car and you guys go somewhere to talk. I'll deal with Steve." —shaking her head—"But please, no... Hanky panky."

Gar couldn't help but chuckle, and opening the door to the car. He was startled at the lovely woman in the passenger seat, looking his way with a smirk on her face, she said with enchantment, "Hello Gar."

—

—

**dj25taz: Thank you so much! Really touches my heart I'm flattered!**

**Fallen: Correct! There's no one other than are favorite mute guitarist.**

**JasonVUK: *thinks for a moment* maybe he will crash the wedding in a spectacular fashion. LOL!**

**Eclipse: Well, think about it like this. Trevor Ryan is a ruthless person, he can just about control his daughter to kingdom come. I mean Rachel could be 40 and he continues to control her life. But thankfully she met Gar. By the way, Rachel mmh... I would say is maybe 24-25. Same goes for Gar, he might be one year younger than her, though.**

**Thanks for favs, follows, and reviews or comments. It means a lot. I mean I know people just say that when they're thanking their readers. But REALLY thank you. This story is about to get wrapped up.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.**

It Was A Night (15)

Gar didn't say anything to her as he drove them to where they needed to be. The place would be a place where no one could bother them, just the two of them talking, saying things they wanted to say to each other since they have departed earlier today—although it had felt as if it had been weeks since their depart, a comfortable silence settled between the two as their journey to the place where they would just talk and listen, awaited.

When the engine stopped and they were now at their destination. No words were exchanged just yet, Gar then suddenly grabbed her hand without hesitation and Rachel didn't even try to pull it away. Their intertwined hands now laid down on the console between them, comfortably and relentlessly. Gar beginning to speak stopped. He wanted to keep on staring at Rachel. Her blue eyes, raven colored hair, and alabaster skin were utterly appealing to him.

"You're beautiful," whispered Gar wistfully.

Rachel turned her head and stared at him. She smirked, her eyes looking at him alluringly. "Are you saying that just because?"

"No, I really do mean it."

"If you think I'm going to forgive you for what you did," said Rachel gravely, now glaring at him. Her azure eyes now darkening at the subtle memory. "I'm not. And you know, Garfield, I actually was starting to think you would never tell DC News where I was. That you were something special and infrequent. But..."

She turned away, moving her hand from his, not even bothering to finish her sentence.

"But what?" He inquired, his kind eyes looking at her worryingly. For a moment he had forgotten how all this was turned on him, how Trevor Ryan made everything seem like it was all his fault. A curse escaping from his lips he was beginning to explain. "Rachel..."

"No Garfield," she chided, her face still facing the window, "you are a sinister man. You made me believe things that weren't real. And here you're still doing the same thing."

"You think this was all make-believe?" Gar remarked indifferently. "Rachel you gotta believe me, all this wasn't fake. I didn't tell DC News where you were. I didn't tell anybody anything. I was trying to help you."

"You know Gar, the one thing I wish you hadn't done was make me fall in love with you."

"And if you didn't thin—WHAT!" His face grew crimson and his eyes about to pop out the socket. He was now thinking this was make believe. "You're in love... With me?" He pointed incredulously at himself with his thumb.

"I'm not going to say it again, but for my satisfaction and gratitude. Yes Gar, I am in love with you. Now that such emotion has been let out on my piece, I'm unwilling to hear what you have to say. Just take me back to the city, I'll yield a taxi back home."

"Rachel!" shrieked Gar, grabbing her face gently so she could look at him. He could see tear stains on her rosy cheeks. She was crying. "You're not going anywhere. You're gonna stay right here with me."

"Stop it! I don't wanna hear things that aren't true. Stop it Gar, just stop!" She covered her ears with both her hands.

"No, Rachel. You're gonna listen, I am in love with you. Maybe my heart has been broken but you've never been loved and now that I'm telling you this. I just want to tell you I am in love with you. No, I didn't tell DC News, I didn't rat you out, I did none of those things. If there's been some kind of misunderstanding, it was your father. Trevor Ryan, yeah I went to him and I wanted to buy your freedom..."

She stared at him with admiration transfixed by his bravery. Her father did all of this, and now that she knew, she wanted to scold herself for not figuring this out sooner. Her heart continued to quicken for her amour towards Gar, and him finished explaining everything to her, they stared at each other taking each other in one-by-one.

Then their faces began to inch closer... And closer... However in sudden motion the door to the driver's side opened pulling Gar out roughly this time, it was one of Trevor's henchmen. Before Rachel could even react the door on her side opened revealing another henchman. "Get your hands off of me," she shouted. She tried seeing if Gar was anywhere near her but she didn't see him. It was currently too dark outside.

"Get your filthy hands off me!" Rachel ended up biting whoever was holding her down on the arm, and tried seeing if Gar was anywhere. "Gar?"

But seeing a tinted black escalade going down the dusty lane, she was aware now that it was already too late.

—

—

"No man, I don't know where Gar's been." Victor walking back and forth in the living room talking to Richard who was perplexed on the fact that Gar hadn't been answering his phone, he was trying to call him to tell him the information he'd found. Karen on the other hand was on the phone trying to see if anyone had seen their friend.

"Rita, yeah um have you seen Garfield?" queried Karen, she kept taking quick glances out the living room window realizing how dark it'd gotten. Sighing she could see their friend was possibly missing. She pinched the bridge of her nose in slight worry. Although she sometimes did get a bit jealous of his and Vic's relationship she never did want anything unbecoming to happen to him. He in all respect was like a little brother to her, too.

"Why, hasn't he called you? Shouldn't he be home at a time like this?" Rita said, her voice jumping to conclusions that might've well been true.

"Well Rita, it's midnight and he's not here," Karen said. "He said he was going to pick up his truck at the shop, visit you and Steve, and now he's not even here. We would've thought the boy would be back by now."

Rita in horror told her she'd be there in a jiffy.

While the couple was calling up people on the phone asking anyone if they've seen their MIA friend a knock was heard on the door. Looking out the window again Karen was startled to see Rachel and not Rita. Vic as she could tell wasn't even putting forth any effort to go over from where he stood to open the door, she then went to the front door and opened it quickly.

Seeing the heiress a thought came to her mind. Mmh... Rachel might know where Gar's at, "Rachel do you know where Ga—"

Rachel interrupting, sighed in defeat. "It's all my fault," she whispered defeatedly.

Now Karen could see how her face was all puffy and red from crying, she could feel a pang of empathy towards the girl—ambiguous to what might've happened. Guiding Rachel inside by the arm to a nearby couch she asked her to tell her what happened. Vic setting the phone face down on the coffee table decided to listen from where he stood nearby in the kitchen archway, his face aroused with curiosity.

—

—

Richard, the deemed note-worthy detective, frowned in sudden defeat. He was aware this was all Trevor's doing, every bit of it. And keeping track of Trevor Ryan's every move on where he might've taken his good friend (despite all their differences) he didn't even have time to react on seeing Rachel. She was of course the same from when the last time he saw her. But yet he could see something different about her.

Lowering his shades slightly from his eyes he could see something glistening on her face. We're those tear stains on her cheeks? Gobsmacked a little, he got back into groove when Rachel explained everything to him. She was content and calm, her signature monotone voice explaining everything to him listlessly but cracking a little here and there. Richard, even was aware her emotions were running out of control.

"Are you sure those men were hired by your father to kidnap Logan?" Richard already knew for sure this could've been all Trevor's doing, no doubt about that. "Yes, I'm sure."

For a moment all of them sat there in silence until there was a knock on the front door. Vic opened it which revealed Rita, her eyes seemed a little blood shot hence the fact it seemed to her she would never get any sleep. It was already dawn and she'd been up all night. "I have a explanation where Gar could be... Oh hello Mr. Grayson. How are you?"

Richard grinned, then he took a minuscule brown notepad from the back of his pocket. "Everything's been fine, Mrs Dayton. Now could you please tell me your explanation?" She gave him a confident glance and sat down beside Rachel on the couch, giving the girl a hug which Rachel didn't mind at all.

And she told him her explanation.

—

—

"Wow Mr. Logan, my advice was maybe not merciful enough for you?"

Trevor Ryan Roth had demanded his bodyguards to send Gar into his office once they were done beating him up and torturing him to almost the slight minimum.

Gar as you could see wasn't in the best condition. His face was almost indecipherable but his nose was still straight, and one of his eyes weren't swollen shut (yet), however his lips were busted and there was a large cut on the corner of his eyebrow. Plus the bruises that covered his body and some parts of his face showed as well.

His body was weak as well, and he just wanted to lie down on a warm nice bed away from the cruelties of the world but he was forced to stand up. The reason being If he didn't, he would be pushed roughly by one of the guards or worse he would be hit on the shoulder. And let me tell you, the guards hands were big and rough, contrasting as a whole to Gar's scrawny shoulders which were livid and of course bruised.

"Explain to me Gar," Trevor Ryan said calmly, "why you didn't listen to my instructions." His hands were folded together and clenched tightly across his desk.

At first Gar didn't answer, he was afraid if he moved his mouth his body would hurt even more. It didn't help that his mouth was dry. "I didn't want to, " he answered promptly.

Surprised at the lad's answer Trevor Ryan chuckled devilishly. This made him like Gar even more. He just reminded him so much of himself when he was younger; stubborn, confident, and happy-go-lucky. Howbeit he was different and older now and he didn't care. Having fame and power was what he wanted and dwelling on the past was something he didn't want to do.

"'I didn't want to,'" mimicked Trevor Ryan matter-of-factly. "Well Gar as I said when I first met you, whatever decision you make of mine there will always be consequences regardless of the outcome."

The blond nodded understandably. "Yes."

"And I suppose you didn't listen to me?"

"Yep."

This angered the director even more. Gar's nonchalant attitude was driving him insane. The young man didn't even seem fazed by him. If all, he just looked like a normal human being waiting for the day to past by, and here he was standing there waiting for the crummy director's next move.

Nonetheless this time Trevor Ryan Roth did the surprising. He wasn't going to send the blond to a dungeon of any sort or an island where he would be locked up in forever like Alcatraz. But he knew what would pain the lad even more. He was going to bring up his daughter's name.

"Rachel's getting married this Saturday, to a gentlemen I find very suitable for her. His name is Mitchell Draco I find it they both love each other very much." He was waiting for Gar's reaction. This will kill him, I know it

Admittedly for a moment there Gar felt as if his heart merely gave out but it didn't stop and continued to beat. He knew what Trevor Ryan was trying to get at but he wasn't going to let him. He knew Rachel more than her father would ever know of her, it was sad but true and hearing him make this nonfactual expertise on Rachel made him a tad infuriated but he kept it in. Honestly he thought Trevor Ryan was acting immature.

He heard Rachel proclaim her love for him and that was all he needed to win this battle against Trevor Ryan. And what perplexed him was what the director said next.

"Release him, he can leave."

It was as if he said those words like he was giving up on the boy. Was it true? Did Gar really win this battle against Trevor Ryan Roth.

—

—

**A/N: Wow! I haven't updated in eons. My bad, please don't be too mad. This chapter might've been too slow for ya' guys. Anyhow I've updated... Now the reviews...**

**JasonVUK: They might elope... Hint hint LOL!**

**dj25taz: I'm glad you like it.**

**RavenCourtney: I'm glad I didn't make that happen. But I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Barricade: Lol aren't all writers guilty of cliffhangers. I hope you're glad I've updated.**

**dj12s9: Thanks!**

**Now THANK YOU for the reviews and comments. It means a lot. Seriously, it does. Any suggestions for the next chapter?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Teen Titans. If I did Beast Boy would have not been persecuted in the Beast Within episode. He was innocent all along... Robin I'm looking at you!**

It Was A Night (16)

Gar walked back to Karen and Vic's. He didn't feel defeated, instead he felt triumph for what went down between him and the famous director. However what he wanted was to be with Rachel again. To hear her confess her feelings for him, to see her nice rare smiles, and to just see her and to hold her. And to have the reassurance that she'll stay with him forever. But he still felt uneasy about being released from Trevor Ryan's grasp so easily. He was pretty sure the movie he was supposed to act in was so far gone.

If there was one thing there was always another. Rachel and him both confessing their feelings for each other, and now possibly being under that stupid director's surveillance. _Ha, _thought Gar bitterly, _does he have spies standing at each corner waiting for me to make a wrong move? _In school he had remembered in history learning about a famous dictator named Francisco Franco who had done something quite like it. He smiled at the uncanny analogy.

Trevor Ryan Roth; director; Francisco Franco; dictator.

There wasn't much of a difference between the two except maybe for their appearances but he could see the auteur donning a toothbrush mustache in no time. Gar then started laughing at his own joke, unaware that he was now walking through the open gate to Vic and Karen's neighborhood. He, as well, wasn't aware of the search party late at night walking towards him. The group consisting of Karen, Victor, Richard, Cliff, and Rita. Although they knew that Trevor Ryan wouldn't have held their dear friend captive nearby. They could have at least said they had tried searching for him.

"Rita?...Cliff?..." Before Gar could say anymore he was ambushed with a bone crushing hug from no one other than his uncle Cliff. Startled a bit Gar smiled and watched as everyone stopped walking and looked at him incredulously, especially Richard who even with his ray bans on, wasn't able to mask how surprised he was to find his friend unsheathed from being held captive under that monster's hold. "Garfield?"

The blond smiled and chuckled before everyone came in for a group hug. Exempting Richard who in all muddiness remained surprised. He wanted to believe his friend was all right, but he knew the games Trevor Ryan played, and was well aware that everything wasn't okay.

After they all had walked back to the Stone residence. Gar was a bit saddened to see that Rachel hadn't been with them. He had only hoped she would have been the one especially, looking for him. But she hadn't. They all had reassured him she wanted to go looking for him, but Vic said they had to convince her more than twice to calm down and to just rest. She had been on the brink of a nervous breakdown, and they only had wanted her to remain calm. Everyone now knew that they both loved each other, especially Rita who smiled at the look on Gar's face, when they had been nearing the house.

Rita then had decided to go back home to rest for a bit, along with Cliff. While Richard, on the other hand, was going to return to his office and search more on the Trevor Ryan case. And Vic and Karen were going to well, hit the hay. It had been a long day for them, too.

It was only now that Gar would be able to talk to Rachel alone.

When he entered his bedroom—the walls of Jericho continuing to divide the sides of the bedroom. Rachel was sound asleep on the twin sized bed, still wearing her day clothes, which startled him even more. But what enlightened him was how comfortable and calm she seemed to be on top of the duvet. He stared at her, but then realizing it was creepy, looked away. She's beautiful, conjured Gar doubtlessly, staring up at the ceiling. Thanking the person beyond the clouds and space for this lovely woman.

She was all he had ever hoped for, and not even taking one mere glance at the girl he loved was beginning to tear him apart. So he continued to stare at her, obviously christened by the director's daughter.

Moving a strand of hair away from her face, he then kissed her on the lips. It wasn't awkward like he'd predicted their first kiss to be, considering she was asleep. However soon enough Rachel was awake to the feeling of such soft lips upon hers, she wanted to kiss back. She really wanted to, but now found herself angry as she realized it was him. He was stealing their first kiss, she wanted to savor it, too. Not fair! She then broke the kiss which startled Gar from his trance as he reluctantly opened his eyes, seeing Rachel's glare, he began to fidget blushing furiously at what he had just done.

"Rae, um... My bad?" He didn't want it too seem as if he had regretted kissing her, because he hadn't. But if it meant making her upset towards him, then he had regretted kissing her.

Rachel didn't say anything. Sitting up from the bed she reached up and cupped his face with her hands, Gar thinking she was going to lean in for a kiss, stood there in utter shock. She's going to kiss me? However she leaned over and turned on the lamp residing on the end table and examined his face. "Did my father's men do this to you?" She was looking at the afflictions on his face. "And what about Karen or Rita. Why didn't they notice this?"

Gar sighed and sat down beside her, pulling her hands away from his face. "Because I didn't want them to do just what you're doing now. C'mon Rae I don't want you worrying about me at a time like this. I'm back. We're together... That's all that matters, right?" The significant other wasn't convinced. "Well they had to notice your face..." trailed Rachel with a raised eyebrow. She knew Gar's afflicted face hadn't gone unnoticed by Rita and Karen, or even Richard by that matter. It wasn't as if Gar's bruised face wasn't an unnoticed speed limit on the freeway.

"Well Madame, it's dark outside if you hadn't realized that after a certain time, the sun begins to se—" Gar stopped with the act, realizing he was trying to outwit this intelligent woman. "I don't know. They didn't say anything. But you wanna know why?" He gave her a toothy grin.

Rachel crossed her arms and gave him an inquiring glance.

"Why, Gar?"

"Cuz they knew you'd nurse me."

He watched as she blushed ferociously at his comment. The way her face reddened reminded him of something he'd utterly forgotten about since they've been here. The necklace... The one he had bought her and she had declined in Starling City at the bus stop. Abruptly getting off the bed, he hurriedly went on the other side of the "walls of Jericho" and at the edge of his bed laid the pants with the piece of jewelry inside.

The heiress looked curiously at Gar as he ran to the other side of the barrier, wondering what he could be up to. She felt as if maybe he'd realized the flaws that made her who she was and decided finally to flee while he had the chance. Some nerve he would have, thought Rachel bitterly. For she already figured he wouldn't do any of those things. Things maybe once her father would've done to her mother or if not to her mother. Then to her.

When Gar came back around, he held the necklace in his hand. The jewels were large red oval shaped rubies outlined with what seemed to be real gold. It was really a beautiful necklace and now Rachel realized why she didn't wanna have it in the very first place. It seemed too committal and beautiful. For she felt as if she maybe deserved it a little considering she now came to conclusion, she was really in love with the Garfield Mark Logan.

Taking the jewelry from his hands, she felt the ruby stones, intricate and expensive to her touch. She could see the finesse to it all and why he had picked it out for her. The necklace would make her appear much more mysterious. "You know I don't deserve this," reasoned Rachel. She tried handing it back to him, but he stopped her. "It's yours," stated Gar. "Pray, you must keep it. Please for me, Rae."

Rachel Roth wasn't known for giving into pleads but to this one she would. With hesitancy she replied, "Fine." A thousand prickles of love soared through Gar's mind as his mouth captured Rachel's. The kiss was sweet and soft and she found herself kissing him back.

After putting the necklace on for his lady, Rachel nursed his face and they both soon fell asleep in each other's arms on the twin-sized bed. Tomorrow they would have a full day ahead of them.

—

—

Richard leaned back in his chair looking at the evidence.

Some of the evidence was new and some old. He now fully realized what Trevor Ryan Roth was trying to get at. The only thing he hated was how he hadn't finally realized it until now. It took me this long, he accumulated in his mind.

Trevor Ryan Roth only had kept his own daughter under captivity for so long, because he had documents and important papers/files written under her name only as leeway for him to get more self-interest in payments and there was no telling what else. It was a petty scheme indeed. This revelation angered Richard, for he threw a mini glass sculpture, his ex-girlfriend Barbara had given him, at the wall. The mantelpiece shattering into millions of pieces.

He didn't know how he was going to resolve all of this in time. Definitely since Rachel Roth was to be betrothed tomorrow to that varmint Mitchell Draco, who he knew was in on the plan that Trevor Ryan Roth had been planning for eternity. He was going to buy out his daughter and destroy all of his daughter's documents that stated she was going to receive certain inheritance and bonds from no one other than Arella's old acting company—Azareth Studios.

Richard rubbing his clammy forehead mumbled curses and considered taking this sort of thing to another detective, who could maybe dish this all out. But Rachel was his friend and knew this case had been meant for him. And only him.

—

—

**Artemis Raven Courtney:** **Yeah, lol Trevor Ryan to Gar is weak. Although it should be the other way around. **

**AloneInThisWorld: ****Thanks! I'm flattered, glad you like the story. I've updated!**

**Barracade: ****Trevor Ryan Roth is a devious man... Haha pun intended! Well you've taken a glimpse of the little game he's trying to play. **

**JasonVUK:** **Lol! Trevor Ryan... Let's just say he won't have a very happy fate.**

**Guest: ****Wow! Glad you like the story... Lol! I hope the wait wasn't too long.**

**Patricia Starara:** **You're taking an interest to the story. And yes, Vic is Cyborg.**

**3coze:** **I've updated! Yay! My bad for the cliffhanger.**

**Guest:** **Fluff! I try not to make this story to fluffy. Haha! But I'm glad you like the fluffiness.**

**A/N:** **2 more chapters to go. Then I'm done with it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please tell me what you thing. Even those who don't usually comment, I'm one of those sometimes... But thank you for the feeback! Shoutout to ****JasonVUK****, ****Raven Artemis Courtney****, and ****Barracade****! You guys really have stuck though to this story, and thank you so much!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Teen Titans. DC Comics does.

**It Was A Night (17)**

"And you're sure about this?"

They were both in Richard's quiet and dense office.

The detective nodded. "Yes," he said feeling remorse for his blond friend. "Trevor Ryan is using his daughter's trust funds to pay for his debts and scams. If only Rachel..."

"Don't blame her," Gar said putting his face in his hands. Rachel had left this morning without even letting him know where she was going. She left a note saying not to try and go looking for her, and what she's doing is the best for the both of them. It wasn't exactly a breakup nor did she say anything about NOT coming back. So he was hopeful that she knew what she was doing.

"I'm telling you this, Gar. That she doesn't know what she's doing, that if she marries this chump, her bank account will be wiped out, and she'll have nothing left." Richard was worried, really worried about Rachel.

"Who said anything about marrying?" Gar said, lifting his head up from his hands. "For all we know she just left."

The detective gave his friend an eerie look, putting his hands on his hips. "You haven't watched the news, or DC News for that matter?"

"You watch that show?"

Gar this time was giving his friend the weird look.

"That's not the point Logan," said Richard shaking his head. "What I'm saying is that they're going to air the wedding on TV."

At this revelation, Gar inspected for something in the room to just throw and break for his gratification. But found nothing, for the detective didn't have a single mantelpiece sitting anywhere that seemed breakable. He was both irritated and angry about the ordeal, and that same saying wavered through his mind. 'If there's one thing; there's always another.' Rachel was supposed to be his, and here she was getting married to some lowlife.

"I can't believe this," Gar whispered to himself, "she never told me about this."

"I thought'd you know. That was the only reason she'd ran away from home. I know Trevor Ryan has a secret hideout around here somewhere." Richard put his hand beneath his chin, trying to think where it could be.

"Then can't ya' just arrest him?"

"It's not that simple," said Richard staring questionably at the floor. "I wouldn't have enough evidence, and if I arrest him now he would only be under my custody for a day. I'd want him to be sent to prison for life... Damn evidence."

"I know a guy," Gar offered, suddenly brightening. He then stood up from where he was sitting. "He could help."

—

—

"Just hurry up," teetered Gar impatiently. They were now back at Vic and Karen's place currently in the living room trying to get the evidence they needed. He had just gotten out of the shower, his blond hair still stringy and wet. He seemed to be going more of surfer look than hippie, with his orange wife beater, brown shorts, and gray flip flops

Mike aka Gizmo was trying to crack through the director's database file again. The one file where detective's such as Richard Grayson couldn't access or hack into. They'd need someone more tech savvy and carved with great mental future technical intellect, to crack into this tough cookie. They would've went to Victor but him—as well as Karen—had work today. And on a Saturday?

"I hope you munch monkeys will clear my name after this," Gizmo said, pushing his goggles back up to his abnormally bald shiny head. Richard standing beside him with his arms crossed, smirked. "You let us worry about that Mr. Mikron O'Jeneus."

The short man sneered. "You're not the only one who knows secret identities around here, Richard Gra—"

Gar sighed in aggravation. 'Hello! he mentally shouted inside his head. Rachel the love of my life is about to get married, and is going to be broke by the time we're done with this!' But he didn't. He only groaned in aggravation. "Dude shut up! I'm not paying you by the minu—"

"Wait a minute, that was the deal!"

Gizmo then began to mumble curses as he typed in the familiar information considering he had done this two days ago for the blond. He only had agreed to it again because first off, his name would be cleared, and second he enjoyed the opulent pay.

Ergo waiting a couple minutes for anything such as addresses and payment information to come up. Gizmo scrunched his eyebrows at what appeared on the laptop's screen. "States here what he owes." He then pointed at where it said, as Gar and Richard leaned into get a better look at what was in red.

Richard could've jumped up and down in glee, if it hadn't been for the two men in the room. The information was enough to get the director thrown in jail for luckless eternity. And now he found himself wanting to laugh.

Gar sighed in relief. He didn't think they'd be able to find the evidence but gratefully they did. Trevor Ryan was in debt big time. The movie Gar supposedly was going to act in was currently in "Development Hell" and his studio and big mansion were near foreclosure. Including an address to a secret hideout of his that Richard memorized. As well as some inscrutable funds going towards a wedding.

"So... Is my name cleared?" queried Gizmo as he saw that the blond and detective were quite satisfied with what he was able to crack into. Richard didn't say anything but handed him a card. He didn't know what to think of it, other than than the fact it said Jump City Police Department on it. "You have to do some community service, be lucky it's just that Mr. O'Jeneus." Richard accommodated knowingly with a tsk of his tongue.

Said, Gizmo began mumbling even more profanity curses as he closed his laptop.

"So what do we do now?" Gar asked as they watched the short man drive away in his beat up Honda. Richard shrugged. "I'll deal with Mr. Trevor Ryan Roth. You just need to go and get your girl."

—

—

Rachel didn't know what she was doing.

She didn't actually feel like herself.

Her father had sent in a fashion team to do her make up and hair, and to help her get into the wedding dress aka Tara's dress. Her hair was curled and put down, showcasing her luxurious shoulder length raven colored locks, her lips were glossed with pink, and rogue exaggerated her cheek bones.

"I feel like a clown," she mumbled degraded-like to herself. She was now the only one in the room. She didn't know what she was going to do once she would have to face Mitch and her father. Would she try to make a run for it?she would, if only such doubts wouldn't overtake her mind.

Trevor Ryan would already be a step ahead of me, with his merciless ways! If she would have been born to some nice and sane people.

_I wish Kory was here, _she thought again and again. Her joyous friend would try to make her day happy with her naïvety and quirkiness. Even if she was getting married to a goon that she once thought she had loved. But her father had been behind it. She had taken a stroll to the bookstore two blocks away from their neighborhood, and Mitch, the first person out of the male species who had laid his eyes on her, wrapped her around his little finger. But when her father announced she was to be engaged to him. She could tell from jump her father had been part of the meeting all along.

And now, here she was in love again, arranged to be married to a guy she didn't love anymore and things were going... Horrible! She wasn't going to have a nervous break down like her dear mother Arella. Was she not? Clutching the bouquet of water lilies in her hands she kneeled down to the ground to calm herself. How's Gar taking it? She hadn't left him, but she was going to have to plan her escape from everything. This wedding, her father's clutch, and this life.

Then there came a knock at the door interrupting her from her thoughts.

"Come in—"

Her father barged in before she could even finish. Typical, she thought getting up from the floor. She wasn't going to showcase her weakness. If there was one thing she learned from being inside that heathen's mansion all those years, was not to show weakness. She learned that the first time she was seven years old and was crying during a thunderstorm. She cried because she was scared and alone. And right when another roll of thunder shook the house she cried for her daddy. Trevor Ryan in drunken rage came to her room, yelled for his daughter to shut up. Marking the end of any tear shedding being done in that house. She turned and looked expectantly at her father.

"Daughter, are you ready?"

—

—

Rita looked through some pictures during her young hollywood days, when she was an actress, and before she'd ever met Steve. She didn't know why she reminiscent so much these days. It started with watching her old films and now going through scrapbooks. She looked at all the photos and remembered how great of an actress she really was. How during her prime she had been nominated for two Oscars, three golden globes (winning one), an Emmy and a SAG during her career. Then she met Steve and after they'd wed, she got a call telling her that their good friends Mark and Maria Logan had died. And taking in their son Garfield. She quit Hollywood.

She didn't regret it, never had. She figured if she couldn't bore children, being infertile and everything. She could take in this child. Steve agreed. He loved Gar and still did, no matter how bent out of shape the two's relationship would get. She was aware Steve and Garfield used to be more close than her and Garfield. It was during the ages 3-12 the father and son were really close. But when Gar got older, it was when Steve and him began to really drift apart. The bond blundering every time the child decided not to do sports and wanted to do more artistic/scientific things. He wanted to become a zoologist no doubt about that. And when he merged into high school he joined the drama club and who knew, Rita's acting chomps have seeped into the child. Although not genetically. She couldn't help but be proud of him, and well Steve otherwise.

Not that the businessman was not encouraging, he just shot the child down, every time he did something that he didn't partake in or help pay for. It was as if he disowned Gar without even trying. She realized that he was proud of him, but wasn't real great at showing that. Being with Steve all these years she realized he didn't work well at all expressing his emotions, unless that barrier of his was knocked down. It took patience and practice and Rita was good at that. The first time it happened was with his parents deaths (died from natural causes, a week apart) got the better of him, and he went ballistic. She calmed him in down in no time, and that was all that mattered.

Rachel. She knew she had looked familiar. She once acted in a movie with her mother! Yes, it had been another of Arella's known cult classics—Lady. Rita played the friend and was nominated for best supporting actress. How could she have forgotten? They had gotten a long on set and everything, and Arella was such a sweet girl but so insecure. Rita shook her head as she took a sip of her lukewarm coffee. Arella at that time was getting some fame to her name, and they were both kind of new to Hollywood. However the friendship soon faded when she gotten involved with one of Hollywood's upcoming directors, saying his films mimicked Kubrick. Yeah, Trevor Ryan Roth. That was the person who was after Gar. She grimaced, she needed to call Richard and see what he had in mind. Her son's life was on the line for crying out loud!

Now coming to some kind of conclusion, she then grabbed the car keys off the coffee table, and made her way out the doors to her silver Volvo. As she checked her surroundings, she noticed that Gar's truck was still parked in front of the house. 'I'll remind him to come by and pick it up.' She was going to Richard Grayson's office anyway, so there was a likely chance her son would be there, too.

—

—

**Artemis Raven Courtney: **Well thank you. I'm glad you continue to like my story.

**Barracade****: **LOL! Don't worry when I'd gotten a shout out once, it had taken me awhile to know what it was as well. I have my moments too. Anyway thanks!

**JasonVUK: **Haha! Your idea is still an option, I most likely will use some of your ideas for the next chapter. I don't know.

**Patricia Starara:** Well I'm glad you like my story so far. I didn't know my story had a sort of mysteriousness to it, but thanks. The cliffhangers I write I guess help with that. Lol! Thanks for the two reviews!

**A/N:**Next chapter is the last. Maybe an epilogue will be posted, I don't know. I might post the last chapter today. Please comment/review. Thanks everyone for the support and reviews as well as the favs and follows. Just curious, what's your guys astrological signs? I'm an **Aquarius.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Teen Titans.

**A/N: **I've based this chapter on the ending to the 1960s movie** "The Graduate."** The film starring Dustin Hoffman. If you haven't seen the film. It's hilarious. But I only took influence off the ending, nothing else. Which is the wedding scene. By the way a _crucifix_ is a _cross_. Enjoy!

It Was A Night (18)

The truck was on its last leg.

No, let me reword that. It was out of gas.

He had stopped at a gas station, his hair frazzled and everything. The wedding being the one thing on his mind. He was going to get his girl. With him stopping at a gas station he hadn't even bothered to put gas in the truck. He needed to know the directions to the wedding. East off Harvard... The cashier was perplexed at his wigged out appearance; sweat pools forming at the chest of his orange wife beater. The truck had no air conditioner whatsoever. Oh, Lordy!

"Do you know where this address is located?" Gar questioned frantically, for a moment there the cashier didn't know what else to say other than. "It's down the road, take two lefts, and you'll be there!"

Gar didn't even have time to say thank you. His mind was focused so much on Rachel getting married to that... That... Varmint.

"Wait, will you need gas!" Was the last thing he heard the cashier shout to him, as he got into the Chevy and sped down the street. The wedding was located somewhere in the outskirts of Dakota City about 15 to 30 minutes away from Jump City. He had only been there twice and once to visit a friend named Virgil Hawkins who he had went to JCU with.

"Another left," he mumbled to himself. He had been surprised that he still had the keys to the truck, he was afraid he might've lost them. But he hadn't. Stopping at Rita and Steve's on the way here in a taxi to get the truck, had been nerve wracking but he came through. No one was home. Thank God! So after he'd jumped into the truck, he began making his way to Dakota City. He guessed for the wedding to start maybe around 11 or 12. Some typical wedding time.

And finally, here he was near the church. For it looked to be a mega church, it was huge! Never in his life had he ever went to a church this huge! He had went maybe three or four times in his life, but those churches were small. This one was humongous, colossal, two mansions in one, a mountain! He ran utterly fast towards the entrance. Rachel... Rachel. Luckily the director hadn't had any of his bodyguards outside. So he easily entered the vacant lobby.

Finding some stairs, he quickly trudged up the steps to find himself looking out a glass window looking out above the sanctuary of the church. Rows of pews filled with wedding goers, he looked onward to where Rachel stood with... Him. Gar wanted so bad to punch the guy in the face, but how could he when he was all the way up here, behind a window, being unnoticed?

He felt to do one thing though, and it was this. He began to pound rapidly on the glass, yelling his lover's name. "Rachel!"

—

—

Her heart was beating fast. And it wasn't because she was standing near a man she loved.

Quite the opposite.

Never in her life did she hate feeling like such a loser.

Her father was in the first row of pews staring devilishly at the couple as if the wedding benefited him much more than it did to her. Which was no lie, that it did. As the preacher read the vows, Rachel without emotion did as was told. Never in her life did she feel so held down.

"I do," she replied. Her heart sank as those two words left her mouth, confirming her definite agreement. Her life was officially ruined. 'I'm really getting married to Mit—'

"Rachel!"

Who said that? Looking up she realized that Gar was standing behind the huge glass window that looked down from here. He was pounding at the window as if to get her wanted attention. Hope bloomed in her bosom.

The hope then morphing into a sort of hushed pride and amour. "Gar!" She found herself shouting back, the loudest her voice had ever been. After that declaration, commotion broke through the whole almonry.

"That's that hippy guy you ranaway with!" verified Mitch loathingly, who in a sort of possessiveness grabbed her arm. "Oh no, you're staying with me!"

Rachel was at a stand still. While Mitch was holding her down, she glanced at him once more. His face usually pale was scarlet and candid, and his eyes usually a irritant bright blue were blazing with such fury she was sure to stay.

Thus looking at her father, he erupted. Blasting such blasphemes that shouldn't be said in church. You already knew where he'd end up. His plan was falling apart, but in total knowingness, Rachel did say I do! He smiled. It was too late! She already sealed the deal.

Rachel didn't need to gulp to get the vigor back inside her heart and soul. She let go of Mitch's grasp and descended quickly towards the doors that went to the lobby, running down the aisle with the bouquet and her dress hitched up, balls of white satin in her hands. She looked for Gar but someone stopped her from going any further.

Thinking it'd be Mitch again, Rachel attempted to let go again but this person's hold was much more stronger. "Rachel you've already said I do. It's too late!" Trevor Ryan laughed such a wicked laugh to the point where she saw through his weakness. Money and power. She could get away. Without money her father was weak. And this wedding proved just that. She could do away with money if she wanted to.

"I'll take that chance," she said strangely with emotion, but soon as the words left her mouth, she was met with two hard slaps on her cheeks—from her father—that surely would've left her unconscious. But she had already survived one.

From the very beginning, If her father hadn't slapped her, she wouldn't have ever runaway meaning she would have never met Gar. However she knew these two slaps would be her last. She was getting away from his lethal clutch. Now or never!

She ran again to the doors of the lobby and catching Gar's arm, had she ever felt so much power and strength, he warded off her father and Mitch with a big crucifix (cross) that he spontaneously grabbed from a nearby table, threatening to hit the opposers with the colossal object. Both exiting through the church's front doors, Gar slipped the crucifix through the door handles. They'd have a hard time catching them. 'That will ward them off for some time,' thought Gar anxiously.

Grabbing Rachel's hand, the couple then ran as fast as they could down the long cemented walkway towards what looked to be stairs leading down to an underground transit. A subway. As soon as Gar paid their leeway in, just as the subway's doors were about to close, they both got in just in time. For no one had successfully caught up to them.

Ergo the couple found somewhere to sit in the back and with the adrenaline running through their veins, their lips met and after awhile of kissing they stopped. They were both whooped from the long run, hence the fact they were breathing so hard, the strangers on the subway gave them weird looks as if the couple had grown two heads altogether. Maybe they were all perplexed at the fact Rachel was in a wedding dress, and that Gar was sweating so profusely through his wife beater. A runaway bride and a hippy? What happened there? Were the thoughts the passengers were thinking. But Rachel and Gar knowing they were now together and were going into what seemed to be the unknown together. Some quick thoughts escalated in their mind that soon brought them to a fear.

What was going to happen next?

—

—

Rita knocked on detective Grayson's office door a third time. Still no answer. With that she opened the unlocked door. He wasn't in his office, the detective at least wasn't. As well as Gar who she figured would be visiting Richard just because of the Trevor Ryan case. But was she wrong. The office was messy, and trying to walk around the piles of papers and opened folders on the ground, she then found herself sitting down on the nice leather sofa pushed against a wall. She was going to wait until Richard and hopefully Gar, returned from whatever they were doing. The blond had called her this morning and told her he was going over to Richard's office and might come by the house. He didn't mention much else. His voice she had detected from her motherly intuition, had sounded slightly sad.

With the TV on, Rita went to grab the remote on the coffee table so she could turn it on. The TV was turned to DC news! And she hated that show. All they ever did was gossip about celebrities lives including making false reports on her and Steve's marriage. Although she had left Hollywood didn't mean she wasn't still targeted on her personal life. It also didn't help that her son was enamored with the famous director Trevor Ryan Roth's daughter either. She trusted Rachel but the question here was did she trust Trevor Ryan? Of course not! That was why she was here, to help Richard with the case. To get Trevor Ryan thrown in jail for eternity. So he couldn't hurt anybody else.

Thus Rita began fumbling with the remote, she barely watched TV at home so this piece of technology in her hands was mind boggling to her. About to switch the channel she was startled at what appeared on the screen. Still on DC News, it was centered on a wedding ceremony. A famous couple was getting married. A groom with platinum blond hair and a bride with black hair. The dress on the bride looked oddly familiar. 'Maybe it's Selina Kyle marrying husband number 15,' she cogitated mentally. But it wasn't, the rolling titles below the screen read... Her face paled. 'Poor Gar!'

Nonetheless what surprised her next was that happened next. Rachel turned and looked up, screaming Gar's name. "Oh my," Rita covered her mouth with her hand. The camera turned upward, Gar was standing behind the upper sanctuary of the church, behind a window yelling Rachel's name. He was pounding on the glass so he could get her attention.

Commotion then erupted as the camera switched back to Rachel who looked to be running towards the doors that lead to the church's lobby. Rita felt her breath hitch, she saw the two slaps Trevor Ryan Roth gave to her. 'that son of bit—'

"Mrs. Dayton what are you doing he—" interrupted Richard who was startled to find the former actress in his office. Rita held up her finger and shushed him, her eyes still glued to the TV. Richard curious at what the former actress could be enthralled with on the screen, his eyes widened—although you couldn't tell with the ray bans he was currently wearing.

The camera stopped at Gar locking the church doors with the crucifix and him and Rachel hand to hand escaping down towards the long walk. The groom (Mitch) and Trevor Ryan were blasting curses and were busy trying to get the door open, and realizing they were being filmed, the director covered the lens of the camera with his palm. At that point it turned to commercial.

Rita shocked, didn't know what to say. She was proud that Gar and Rachel were able to escape, scared because her son was possibly on another one of Trevor Ryan's hit lists, and angry that the director slapped his own daughter. Richard reading her thoughts said something that came clear to her mind. "We've got enough evidence to where Trevor Ryan will be locked up for a long considerable amount of time."

And that was all.

—

—

"So your telling me that the string bean crashed the wedding?" Victor asked skeptically. He had just picked up Karen from her job, she worked at a candle store that made and sold homemade candles. She was the head manager and loved her job. Usually when Victor didn't have anymore cars to fix at the shop, he'd quit early for the day and go pick up Karen.

Richard was the person he was currently on the phone with. "Yes," his friend said, "he looked liked a beast protecting its mate. The way he threatened them all with that big crucifix he was holding in his hands." Richard had rewind the wedding ceremony from the beginning. And at this moment he had troops being sent to arrest the once big and bad Trevor Ryan.

That was it, the mechanic started laughing hysterically which with one hand on the wheel, he made the car swerve. Karen gripping the seat looked alarmingly at her husband, "Sparky watch the road!"

"Alright alright, Karen." His eyes focused more on the road, Richard continued telling him what went down. Victor smiled and nodded as he listened. He was really proud of his best friend. He finally grew a back bone and fought for the one he loved.

—

—

**Epilogue?**

**A/N: **I hope the ending wasn't too typical. All I can say is, I tried making this ending a great one. Please be happy about it! I might post an epilogue up soon, to clean up any of the missing points, misunderstandings, or plot holes. I really enjoyed writing this story as much as I enjoyed reading the reviews and replying to them. Which I liked doing. Please Review/comment and tell me what you thought.

Pretty please?

**Raven Artemis Courtney:** Gar did object LOL! Maybe in an absurd way. But thanks for reviewing!

**Barracade:** Aquarius's ignite! You should search up the song "Age of Aquarius" if you haven't heard of it. By the "5th Dimension." It's a catchy tune. I hope my ending to this story was satisfiable to you, since you were so excited for the ending. Thanks for reviewing!

**S1L3NTSH1NG4M1: **I'm glad you enjoy this story. I'm finished wa-lah! Hope you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!

Anyway I hope you guys liked my story. Even after all the delays and everything I'm glad my story came through. Thank you guys so much for reviews/follows/favs. Thank you again!


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Teen Titans, Adventure, Romance