Nightmares are a funny thing. They're rarely anything realistic once you're able to be calm enough to think about them. But they always contain some type of fear or traumatic event someone has experienced. Sometimes, it's not rational or there is some deep hidden meaning behind the nightmare but other times, it's just from trauma left unhandled. Those nightmares are the worst.

They make you revise the worst times of your life over and over and over like a broken record. No matter what you do, you lose in the nightmare. Years later, you might be happy and healthy but the nightmare comes back and you feel like you're right back where you were. Trapped in the never-ending agony. Trapped inside a tilt-a-whirl made of panic attacks and broken hearts. And every single night, it's a living hell.

And that's where Sam is now, living her own personal hell with screaming so loud her throat is raw and ragged breaths beg her chest to finally cave in. The flashes of her "foster dad" scar the back of her eyes with every blink, like Freddy Krueger clawing his way to the surface. She might have escaped him physically, but mentally she's trapped like a bear at a circus. Her hands shake as tears well behind her eyes and as the panic rages through her veins, the anger sets in. And she's so mad that she's allowing this piece of shit to haunt her even in her sleep, somewhere she might just feel safe. How is she ever supposed to be safe from him if she can't even sleep? What if he finds her? What if, somehow, her nightmares are just a sign he's coming after her? What is she supposed to do then? What if he has powers and that's why he's coming to finish her off?

A million what-ifs scramble through her brain as she sits in her bed, the bedside lamp still on. She gets out of bed and it's not even like it's her walking. With every worst-case scenario running through her head at once, she's just moving through motions to exit her room. She needs to make sure he isn't here, needs to make sure everyone here is safe from him, that she is safe from him.

Her hands go up, right in front of her, slightly outstretched as if waiting for her to run into him. The palms of her hands glow green, ready for any type of attack she might come across in the secure tower while she tiptoes her way out of her room.

"Sam?" A groggy voice from the right pulls her attention as she was just about to walk down the hallways. She jumps and spins quickly, the glow of her hands intensifying in the dim light of the hallway. "It's me." Gar defends quickly, putting his hands up. "Gar?" His voice is still groggy but full of fear as he glances between her hands and her face.

Sam could see him with the dim lights of the hallway and the green glow of her hands but it still didn't click, not until he said his name. She isn't sure where her head was but a part of her is scared because of it. She was so lost in a state of fear and urgency to make sure everything was safe, she was blinded. It's a bit terrifying. 

Sam lets out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, dropping her hands as they turn pale. "Fuck, what're you doing?" She whisper-yells at him.

Gar takes a few steps towards her. "You were screaming." He whispers back to her. "I heard you so I came to see if you were okay."

The walls aren't thin but Gar is pretty sure her scream could have woken up anyone. It was loud and pained, etched in terror. But, that's a thing that happens here from time-to-time. Everyone has a habit of occasionally waking up screaming. It's either childhood trauma haunting them or new trauma from Trigon. Gar figures that's why no one else got up. They're conditioned to be used to it.

Sam watches him carefully as the panic starts to cloud with feelings of regret and guilt. She didn't realize she had screamed loud enough to wake anyone up. That's not fair to anyone, to be woken by someone who can't handle their own shit. And then to be standing out in the middle of a hallway at the crack of dawn with sleep still in their eyes talking about it. Sam looks to the floor, shifting her weight on her feet and chewing on the inside of her cheek.

"Are you....okay?" Gar asks, coming s little closer.

When she fell asleep on him earlier, she looked peaceful. Normally, she kind of always has this look of fear. Her eyes always seem a little distant and she looks behind whoever she's talking to a lot. She doesn't make eye contact for longer than a few seconds. But while she slept, she looked at ease and peaceful and calm, like she didn't need to look over her shoulder anymore but then she shot up out of nowhere. Gar knew it had to have been a nightmare. He reacts the same way when he has one, maybe everyone does but he knows the signs. Wide eyes, ragged breathing, distant but sleep-filled eyes. And now, she's awake again from a nightmare and it doesn't sit right with the kind boy with green hair.

Sam nods. "Y-yeah." She offers a fake smile. "You, uh, you can go back to bed."

"Are you going to go back to bed?" Gar asks with a pointed look and he doesn't want her to be alone. The shadows are a bit more haunting when you're alone.

"Uh....I mean....eventually." Sam answers softly, dropping her head slightly.

"I can stay with you until you fall asleep if you want." Gar shrugs his shoulders, putting his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants.

Sam raises a brow at him, not looking pleased with the idea. She doesn't want to inconvenience him or seem weak. She's in a tower full of heroes and she can't even sleep through the night. The last thing she wants is for any of them to see her as the weak link. What happens if she can't pull it together? Will they just drop her because she's not strong enough?

"It-it's okay." Sam doesn't smile this time, she just keeps chewing her lip, pulling her sleeves over her hands, something Gar has been noticing she does.

"What were you doing out here?" Gar asks, his voice kind and not accusing but Sam shakes her head, knowing it sounds ridiculous. "I won't tell anyone." He offers and there's this sweet but subtle smile pulling at his lips.

Jason, a few hours ago, told her to talk to him. He said maybe it would help and the only way he'd know that, is if Gar knows Jason's baggage, too. Jason doesn't seem the type to wave the white flag and spill all of his secrets. Maybe Gar just cares about everyone and maybe it will help.

Sam sighs and caves. "I-I-I was....was just making sure....uh....he wasn't....here." Sam stutters but eventually gets everything out and a part of Gar's heart breaks at hearing it.

She isn't looking at him, a sense of shame consuming her and Gar is not about to have her feeling bad for worrying that the person who tortured her is seeking her out in the one place she feels safe. It's not fair and it's not right. Gar knows whatever she went through was horrible but the fact she's so worried that the person is in the tower? It's unfathomable.

Gar starts walking past Sam, stopping a few steps ahead of her and offering her his hand. "We'll look together."

Sam looks at his hand and then up at him with his words and she can feel her nose getting warm while her eyes burn. Her entire face softens and there's something about the offer that makes her feel like everything in her is being warmed by a fireplace, warmed by a place one can only describe as home. He didn't think she was crazy or that it was ridiculous or stupid. He just...offered to help.

So, Sam puts her hand in his, following him through the tower.

As they walk, Sam holds his hand tightly noticing the soft callouses. His grip is tight but in a comforting type of way and he glances at her every few seconds as if making sure she's okay. They walk from room to room, turning on the lights and verifying there isn't anyone around before they end up in the comms room with the supercomputer. Gar takes a seat and shows Sam that everything is still secure and there hasn't been a break-in. Everyone still needs their fingerprints to get in and the front door is done by facial recognition. According to the logs, no one has been in or out of the tower since nine the night before.

"I'm sorry." Sam says quietly, standing to the side of Gar with arms crossed and eyes on the large screen in front of them. "I know this was stupid."

Gar spins in the chair to face her but Sam's eyes don't move. "It's okay, ya know? You're scared and this is a new place. It's not stupid."

"It feels like it though, i-i-i....I see him anytime I close my eyes." Sam's voice is so small.

Sam thinks maybe she should take Jason's advice fully. Gar is awake with her anyway and she woke him up. He could have gone back to bed but he walked with her instead, knowing full well there wasn't an intruder in the tower. It's like she owes him some type of explanation.

"Foster dad." Sam clarifies. "He's originally from Gotham, too, ya know? So him being a complete psychopath kind of tracks." There's a sharp bitterness in her voice but she keeps her stare off of Gar, afraid that if she can see the look on his face she knows he's giving her, she'll just shut down and go to bed.

"He just...did that to you?" Gar asks with furrowed brows and pain in his voice.

"Yep, he wanted powers. Some weird thing against Batman and Robin so he used me because ya know, the system doesn't actually give a fuck about most foster kids." Sam grits her teeth, her fists balling in her arms. "Then thought I was concealing my powers from him because he was certain his experiments were working so he'd try to literally beat them out of me." Sam shrugs a shoulder. "Guess he was right."

Gar pauses, piecing it together. He was sure she would have tried to use her powers, but she didn't? "Wait so....you never used your powers around him and—"

"Let him beat me until he thought I was dead?" Sam asks, just glancing at Gar long enough to see him nod. "Yep. If he knew it worked, he'd have killed me anyway. Letting him think he failed was..." Sam tilts her head side to side slightly. "Vindicating in a way. I, uh, I know it sounds so stupid but I was desperate to try and get out. Desperate people do stupid things."

"I'm so sorry that happened." Gar's eyes are glued to her, hating the idea of living through that.

He was tortured before and it haunts him every single day. He wasn't even tortured for very long and it's still hell. Sam was tortured for a lot longer. He gets her hesitance and her paranoia. He'd be paranoid, too if he were her.

"Yeah...." Sam sighs. "So, I might have escaped physically but the piece of shit really isn't leaving my dreams alone, I guess."

Gar sits on it for a few seconds. While he was kind of this weird experiment in a way, Dr. Caulder knew it would work and it would save him. He never had to fear for his life around him. He feared speaking up and being himself because sometimes the doctor wasn't very nice. He didn't really like other people being their own people, not if it contradicted what he believed or wanted. So, he can't even fathom want horrors haunt Sam's mind even in safety.

"I can check the tower for you every night if you want." Gar offers. Sam jerks her head in his direction, surprise etched across every crease of her face. "And uh, if you have a nightmare, you can wake me up. I leave my door unlocked anyway...if it'll make you feel better."

"Y-y-you'd do that?"

Gar gains a sheepish smile as he shrugs. "Yeah, of course."

Sam will never tell Jason, but maybe he was right about telling Gar. She feels a little better about it and he's so nice. He's offering to lose sleep when she has a nightmare which could be every night. Sam wonders how he's chosen to be so kind despite whatever he's been through.

"Thank you." Sam looks to the ground and then finally looks at Gar. "Can you not tell anyone? Please?"

He chuckles softly. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks, it means a lot." Sam sucks in a breath. "Well, now that I know my delusions are just delusions, I'm gonna try and get some more sleep." Sam gives him a genuine smile this time.

"I'll be up if you need anything." Gar says, turning back to the computer to exit out of the security system.

"I'm so sorry." Sam apologizes again. "I didn't mean to keep you from sleeping or anything."

"It's okay." Gar assures her. "I should be getting up early anyway."

"Okay." Sam nods, offering him a closed and small smile.

It's six now so Gar's alarm would be going off in an hour anyway. But, Sam is still going to go to bed. He didn't hear her go to bed the night before and it was pretty late when she woke up from the first nightmare.

"What, uh what time did you go to bed anyway?"

"Uh...." Sam squints an eye, trying to remember the last time she looked at her phone. "Four? I think?"

"Wow, okay." Gar's brows raise quickly as he chuckles softly.

"I-I got talking with Jason last night so..." Sam's words fall off. "Couldn't sleep and I ran into him."

Gar nods slowly, ignoring the tint of a burn in his chest. She talked to Jason but not him? He's been so nice to her and he feels like she trusts him. All she does with Jason is this weird banter thing that Gar is slowly realizing maybe it's flirting. Not that he's actively trying to pursue anything because that doesn't feel right either. But something about her talking to Jason, hurts. He's always deemed himself a trustworthy person who's a pretty good listener but she went to probably the worst listener on the face of the planet. He doesn't really get it and he knows he has not right to assume Sam would tell him anything. Above everything else, he's just surprised she got talking to Jason.

"What'd ya talk about?" Gar plays it cool, not digging but just asking.

"Uh....nothing really, I guess." Sam lies and it's at that moment she realizes she lies a lot. Not that she intends to, it just feels like an instinct now either to protect herself or other people. "I mean...not nothing." Sam corrects herself. "Some of what happened in a very unserious manner."

Gar nods his head again and Sam might be a little dense but she's not so dense that she missed the way he stiffed in his chair. "Did it help?" He asked.

"Well, I, uh, I felt better after but then I had a nightmare so....not sure how much talking about it really helped." Sam scoffs as she rolls her shoulders. 

"Is it because it was unserious?" Gar asks, quoting her direct word.

Sam shakes her head. "Nah, always been better with unserious ways of talking about trauma. When it gets too....emotional I don't...." Sam looks to the floor, tugging her sleeves over her hands. "I don't like it very much, like it less than I usually do, I suppose."

"You can talk to me." Gar offers, looking back over to her.

"I know." Sam smiles at him softly, it's almost a smirk that forms. "Can you get a little snarky and nasty about it?"

"Would it help?" Gar chuckles, his position loosening with the question and the burning sensation in his chest starting to dissipate.

"Yeah, you can't give that look you do. With the big eyes and sad expression, makes me feel weird." Sam scrunches the left side of her mouth upwards.

Gar laughs softly, putting his hands up. "Okay, I'll try my best."

"Thanks." Sam looks around the room and then back to him. "I do like talking to you and hanging around you. You make me feel comfortable here." Sam admits and then realizes she's saying way too much. "Okay well, that's enough for today. I'm actually going to bed." Sam smiles at him and it almost feels like she should hug him or something but that also feels like it might just get awkward so she opts for a small wave as if that wasn't just as awkward.

"Sleep well." Gar laughs softly, matching the wave with burning cheeks.

Sam finally gets some much-needed rest, without a nightmare. It wasn't a lot of sleep by any means but it was a lot more than she's gotten in a long time and for the first time, she actually feels well-rested. She isn't sure if it's because she talked with Gar about what happened a little bit or if it's because she knew he was awake and wouldn't let anyone in her room if they tried. Or that he helped her look around the tower for Jerry like two crazy people. Maybe it's a combination of everything but she feels a lot better.

Sam finds herself walking into the kitchen once she's fully awake, still dressed in pajamas. Her thing has always been she shouldn't need to get properly dressed if she isn't actively doing something or going somewhere. Why bother dirtying clothes?

When she walks into the kitchen, Gar and Jason are sat on the barstools while Dick is making some type of shake, Rachel is just coming in from the opposite hall. The boys look a little sweaty, devouring their food like they haven't eaten in days. Sam assumes they'd just gotten done with a training session and, apparently, were too hungry to shower first.

"Good morning." Dick charms, bits of sarcasm in his words given it just being past noon.

Sam pauses, glaring at him. "You're one of those aren't you?"

"What?" Dick chuckles, confusion in his face.

"Thinking the early bird gets the worm or whatever." Sam's voice is flat and she might be well-rested and it might be the afternoon, but she's not a morning person.

Dick shrugs. "It's true."

"But the mouse gets the cheese, my guy." Sam gives him a thumbs up, moving to the seat between Jason and Gar and sitting down. Gar gives her this gentle smile while Jason has this proud smirk pulling at his lips. "What?" She looks at Dick who looks somewhere between amused and contentment.

Dick is looking at her with a sense of ease and accomplishment. He thought she'd be more...closed off longer. This is a new place, she's traumatized and hurt. But, she seems comfortable, using sarcasm with him that isn't hurtful and plopping down right between the boys whose expressions did not go unnoticed by Dick. Dick feels like he might be doing something really good here.

"Nothing." Dick's face settles with amusement. "Settling okay?"

"Mhm." She hums.

"Since she doesn't shut the fuck up, I'm sure she's fine." Jason states, his voice trying to sound menacing.

Gar and Sam look to Jason with annoyance. "You have not shut up for a single second I have been here and this is day three. You had no complaints last night." Sam looks away, Dick looking between the two of them with his cup held to his mouth. He doesn't even wanna know.

"You were whining, I wanted you to shut up and it worked." Jason mumbles and Sam lets out a laugh. What is his issue?

"I don't whine, I complain. There's a difference." Sam holds her pointer finger up to correct him and Jason cracks a smile, Gar chuckles into his water bottle.

"Same shit." Jason fires back. "You could stop."

Sam rolls her eyes and that's when the idea sparks. Jason isn't winning this, this is her game to win. "Hey, Dick, question: What's your rule on dating? Ya know in the tower?"

Jason and Gar both stiffen in their seats, Sam catching it out of the corner of her eyes and it takes everything in her not to burst out laughing or break the stare she has with Dick. Gar is choking on his water and Jason's cheeks are turning red while Dick is stuck looking at all three of them wondering how the hell he got here. The last thing Dick wants to do is discuss this. Of course, he knew there was a chance of something going on, but he kind of assumed it would just happen. He didn't think he'd get dragged into it, not like this at least.

"She's screwing with you." Rachel says from the other side of Gar. Sam gives Dick a wide smirk, Gar and Jason looking a little displeased, Jason more than Gar who almost looks disappointed.

"Of course she is." Dick lets out a breath, his expression unamused.

"Sorry, you were a necessary casualty in getting Jason to shut up for a few seconds." Sam holds an apologetic smile.

Jason flirts a lot and in Sam's experience, if you bring up dating out of the blue, it'll shut someone like Jason up faster than anything because it's out of left field. He's caught off guard and it gets his brain going on if there's something going on. Sam thinks it's funny, she's won this bit.

"Well, since you wanted to bring it up..." Dick starts and all four teens suddenly look like they need seatbelts.

"No, not the talk, please." Gar begs with a groan.

Dick grimaces. "No, of course not. I trust you all know about that." Even if they didn't, Dick isn't sure he'd be able to give the talk. He'd call Donna and Dawn. They're the responsible ones.

"Some of us more than others." Jason quips with a smirk.

"Gross." Rachel mutters.

"Dude." Gar looks past Sam and at Jason, shaking his head at Jason.

"Anyway, uh..." Dick fumbles for words, realizing he never had any intention of this conversation which was his fault given the Titans past of relationship in the tower. "Just make sure everyone is consenting and be safe?"

"You sound so uncertain about that." Sam raises a brow as her words are slow.

"I don't know how to have this conversation." Dick defends.

"We don't have to." Gar is grimacing in his seat. "We know, safety and consent, got it." It's not that Gar is a prude, it's just awkward and he's not much of a fan of awkward conversations. If it were just him and Dick, it wouldn't be awkward, but it's everyone.

"Don't bring drama into the training room or while we're out."

"Obviously." Rachel says, already tired of the conversation.

"That won't be a problem." Jason mutters.

Sam rolls her eyes at him before looking back at Dick. "You're doing great, bud." Sam gives Dick a thumbs up.

"That's it. I don't care, don't do anything.....graphic..."

"God." Gar groans, making Sam laugh. But, everyone has gathered this look of disgust on their faces with Dick's choice of words. "Please, stop talking." Gar pleads.

"In a public area of the tower." Dick continues.

All of their faces contort into a grimace, even Jason's. That is such an odd and specific request. Sam did not think this is where that joke would go. She didn't think it'd go anywhere, let alone here.

"I feel like there's a very specific reason you said that and I don't wanna know." Sam laughs. "I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd decide to have this conversation." Sam apologizes to the room.

"And what did you learn today?" Dick asks, not too happy about feeling like he had to have the talk with the new Titans.

"You want me today something like pick my words more carefully next time but...I think I just learned not bring up interpersonal relations with you in front of other people." Sam scrunches her nose.

Dick lets out a sigh. "Well, are we clear then?"

"YES." Gar yells, dramatically. "Can we stop now? This is awkward."

"Come on, Gar. Surely this isn't new territory for you." Sam kicks Jason under the counter. "Ow! What the fuck?"

"Shut the fuck up." Sam snips at him.

"Yeah? And What are you gonna do about it?" Jason looks her up and down.

Sam narrows her eyes and for a second she thinks about what she could do. She could give him a burn, something equivalent to a rug burn. But, that's not right and she'd never actually try to hurt him, not like this. And she can't punch him because that also seems a bit extreme. He'd probably see it coming anyway, block her, then hit her back.

"That's what I thought." Jason scoffs with a look of pride as he's won.

Sam shoves him with her hand, Jason falling off of his chair. He hits the floor with a thud, looking at up at Sam with a twisted face filled of anger and shock. For someone who can't fight and who's injured, she's ballsy. Jason could fight her right now and she'd basically be defenseless but Jason wouldn't do that. He knows where the lines are when it comes to physical contact and he doesn't cross them. He crosses a lot of lines, but fighting people who can't fight back isn't one of those. So, he's even more pissed about it.

Jason gets back to his feet, closing the distance between him and Sam. "What the fuck is your problem, huh?" Jason yells in her face, Gar adjusting in his seat, ready to get up at any point and Dick is ready to step in if he needs to.

"You are, apparently. Why do you have to be such a fucking asshole? For no reason? Aren't you friends?"

"He doesn't need you to come to his fucking defense. I was fucking joking." Jason snarls, looking just past her at Gar before looking back at her.

"Right." Sam mutters. "Except it's obvious the whole conversation has made him uncomfortable so why don't you go cool the fuck off. You obviously need to." Sam sits straight in her seat, her face close to Jason's and she's not backing down.

"You shoved me!" Jason flings his arm out in frustration.

"You asked me what I was gonna do about it! So I showed you!" Sam barks at him. "What are you gonna do about it?" 

A dry laugh escapes Jason's throat and he doesn't want to actually fight her, but she's making it a little tempting right about now. "Is that all you fucking have?" He taunts her instead.

"Wanna test me?" Sam opens her palms, holding them just in front of her shoulders as they glow. Jason looks at the green and he doesn't get how people with powers are so willing to use them. He doesn't need powers. He's got his fists and those are plenty.

"Because you're just another freak, right?"

Gar gets off his seat at that comment, pushing Jason slightly and standing in between them. "Dude, go calm down. It's not that serious." Gar keeps his voice level, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You a team now, huh?" Jason looks in between them.

"Jason, come on. Cool off for a few minutes." Dick keeps his stance, choosing not to crowd the already heated area.

"Fuck you guys!" Jason yells, pushing past Gar and heading down the right hallway.

Gar sits down again and Dick's position relaxes with Jason out of the room. Gar's just surprised it went as far as it did but it's also Jason. He has buttons and pushing them sometimes leads to blow-ups. Jason is still his friend but sometimes, he really does not make it easy and this is one of those times. He doesn't understand why Rachel and now Sam are freaks but somehow Gar is never a freak. He has powers, too and as far as he's concerned, turning into a tiger is far more freakish than whatever Sam has going on. And he always acts like it's their fault, somehow. Rachel was just born like that, no one gets to pick their biological parents. And Gar and Sam were injected. How is that right? It hurts a little because Gar knows that if they weren't friends, he'd be the target one of Jason's freak rants.

"Is that what everyone meant by I'd get used to Jason?" Sam asks the room.

"Yeah." Gar answers and Dick nods. "He does that sometimes."

"Interesting." Sam hums quietly, her hands shaking slightly, Gar taking notice.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking between her hands and her eyes.

"Oh..." She quickly moves her hands under the countertop and tugs her sleeves down. "I'm, uh I'm fine." She fakes a smile at him.

It's not that she really thought Jason might hit her, him hitting her over a shove didn't even cross her mind. She doesn't really know if he's the type that gets mad and hits people, she doesn't really know him at all. But, she'd think that would have been a warning from someone if that were the case. It was more that she doesn't like getting yelled at apparently. It wasn't an issue before Jerry but, now it seems to be another trigger.

"He wouldn't have hurt you." Dick assures her, as if reading her mind.

"Jason doesn't hit people here when he gets mad, just yells a lot." Gar assures her, following Dick's lead.

"I didn't think he'd hit me." Sam tells them with ease. "Got that throbbing thing in the back of my head when someone's going to." She reminds them. "And I just...I'm not scared of him. Guess I just don't like being yelled at when someone is in my face." Sam looks to the counter. "I'm fine, honest."

"Are you sure?" Gar asks.

"Yeah." Sam gives him a soft smile. "Thanks though. I'm gonna eat." She gets down and finds a bowl in a cabinet, moving around Dick.

"Okay, I'm gonna go check on Jason then, make sure he's cooling down." Dick gives Gar a look and a nod toward Sam. Gar nods in response while Dick leaves to find Jason.

Sam makes her cereal while Gar watches her. Her hands are still shaking and he feels bad. It's not his fault that Jason blew up because it's Jason. He blows up at everything but Gar could have defended himself. It's nice that she did. He's never had someone defend him like that but it got her yelled at by Jason and after they had, what Gar assumed to be, a pretty nice conversation the night before. He just worries about her.

"Hey," Gar starts as Sam takes her seat back next to him. "Wanna do something today?" Gar asks.

Sam furrows her brows at him, before taking a bite of her cereal. "Like what?"

"What'd you wanna do?" Gar shrugs, figuring maybe she should be the one to decide. He just wants to hang out with her.

"Mmmm." Sam hums and thinks for a second. "Dye my hair." Sam chuckles softly.

"That's what you wanna do?" Gar asks.

"Mhm." She hums. "Always wanted to and you have green hair, Rachel's hair is purple." She shrugs.

Sam just wants a change. This is a big change, being at the tower but that doesn't have anything to do with her appearance. She likes how she looks but she wants something different. Her mom never let her dye her hair even though she really wanted to. This place, this place allows her to do that and to change something about herself. It's a way to take control of something. The way she sees it, with all the bruising and swelling, she doesn't look much like herself anyway. Might as well change the hair, too.

"Okay." Gar beams at her. "We can go get whatever dye you want today and I can help. I'm not sure how much help I'll be but maybe we can get Rachel to help if you want." Gar rambles off and he seems so energetic and happy about it.

"Uh..." Sam stutters. "Okay, yeah that'd be fun. Thank you." The smile Sam gives him is wide and full of joy.

"What color?"

"Pink." Sam beams. "Always thought pink hair was cool." Sam smirks at him.

"We'll go when you're done eating." Gar gets up from his chair. "I'm gonna shower first."

"Have a blast." Sam grins to herself, going back to her cereal. "Meet me in my room after?" She looks back to him and he nods with a cheery smile before turning on his feet, and quickly heading down the hallway. "He's so cute." Sam says to herself, going back to her cereal.

After Gar's shower, he met with Sam in her room. She was already dressed and ready to go, she even asked Rachel for help when they got back which Rachel was more than happy to help. Once Gar was ready, he was the one that asked Dick for some money before they left and off they went with Rachel, Sam feeling more comfortable having both Gar and Rachel with her.

Sam realizes how great it is that Rachel was willing to help because she never would have gotten something to bleach her hair and then would have been disappointed when all the dye did was add a pinkish-red tint to her hair instead of it actually being pink. The struggle of not being blonde.

When they got back, Gar and Sam met with Rachel in a bathroom. Rachel got everything together and get to work bleaching parts of Sam's hair. Sam still wanted to keep some of the dark so it wasn't too pink. She chose a hot pink which is a lot already but she always liked how the dark and hot pink looked on other people. She said she wanted something like Rachel's, where most of her hair was pink with a few strands of her natural hair color.

As Rachel helped with her hair, the three of them got talking about past lives. They avoided all talk about trauma and tragic backstories and instead talked about their favorite movies and shows, music. If they'd ever been to a concert, the best places they've ever eaten, random stories about family and friends they had before everything. And while these conversations are going on, there's warmth and comfort that consumes Sam.

This is the longest she's gone without thinking about how her face looks or how her body is sore or Jerry. It's just the three of them and she feels so at home because Gar and Rachel make it so easy. And she wonders if this is what real friendship feels like.

Sure, she had friends before her mom died. But that was then and this is now. She had a small circle of friends but only one that she really relied on and could tell anything to. But then her mom died and it all got so messy and heavy. Sam couldn't inconvenience even her best friend with her problems over it. Her best friend never really understood the person Sam started to become after. Vengeful and spiteful and angry. And desperate and cold and detached. It struck like a hurricane right through their friendship.

Sam couldn't handle anything and she was always running from CPS. What kind of friend would Sam be if she endangered her best friend's mom by getting in trouble with CPS? Sam knew it was only a matter of time before they threatened to take her best friend away if they didn't give Sam up. At least, that's how Sam always saw it. It was always such a big fear and she couldn't put them through that, on the chance it did happen so she just left one day and never came back. But she wasn't a very good friend then either.

She had all these plans of hunting down the Joker and even though she'd probably die, too, hunting him down would have made it worth it to her. To look him in the eyes and just try to hit him or shoot him, if she had a gun anyway. Sam knew she would never make it out alive and that was something she deemed to be okay because she didn't have anything worth living for anymore. Her dad went off to choose drugs over her, her mom died, her best friend not knowing how to handle anything. A suicide mission seemed like a pretty sweet deal at the time. But, now she's here with Gar and Rachel, in this bathroom getting the pink hair she's always wanted and maybe she has more worth living for.

"Okay, what do you think?" Rachel asks, shutting the blow-dryer off, proud of the dye job she's done.

Sam looks in the mirror and her face lights up. Hot pink stripes consume the majority of her head and she could not be happier in this moment. "I love it!" Sam squeals before turning around. "Thank you!" She hugs Rachel quickly before turning back around and there's a sweet and amused smile on Gar's face.

"It looks really good on you." Gar's smile turns shy as Sam looks to him.

"Y-you think so?" Sam asks, her stomach swirling with his words.

Gar nods. "Yeah, I like the color." Gar's smile is the softest thing in the world.

"How cute." Rachel giggles before cutting it short as Gar looks at her with wide eyes. "It looks good, yeah." Rachel agrees.

"Thank you." Sam looks at herself again and she's never had pink hair before, but it makes her feel more like herself. It's probably the self-expression it's allowing her to have but she really likes it. "And hey, now people will have something else to look at that's not my face." Sam laughs softly.

"You're face looks good, too." Gar says so quickly, Sam and Rachel barely catch it, but they do and they both look at him with raised brows. Rachel looks in between them, waiting for something to happen. This is the most entertainment she's had since they got to San Francisco. "I mean..." Gar stutters. "The, uh, the bruises and stuff, they're healing."

"Mhm." Sam hums with tinted cheeks. "Thank you, Gar."

Gar feels the embarrassment wanting to eat him alive. He can't believe he said that out loud. Now Rachel is looking at him with knowing eyes and he can't help it. Sometimes, things just come out and then he feels like he has to backtrack and now he's embarrassed even though Sam didn't seem bothered by it. Which then makes him think he didn't need to add in the last comment about the bruises. Surely, she knows he didn't mean just the bruises are looking fine now and the meant her whole face but now he doesn't know and he has got to get his brain to shut up for five seconds.

"There you are." Dick says, looking into the bathroom, the door wide open.

"Yes?" Rachel asks.

"Training room." Dick says.

Gar checks the time on his phone, seeing they were in fact late for their last training session. Shopping with Sam took a little longer than expected since they stopped for food and were having fun together. Then dying her hair took a while because Rachel had to bleach it so it's not surprising they're a little late but Dick doesn't seem mad about it.

The three teens follow Dick to the training room where Jason is already waiting, as if he hadn't left the room since this morning. Sam sits on a bench and watches as she's not allowed to train yet. Dick mostly supervises after giving them some instructions on what to do and then gives pointers. Sam mostly watches Gar and Jason.

It's interesting watching them. Jason is clearly the aggressor. She can't tell if it's all his pent-up aggression or if it's just his experience as Robin that makes him the aggressor but she finds it interesting nonetheless. Gar and Rachel seem to work together to go against Jason even though they're all supposed to be working against each other. Gar works more on a defensive tactic, going for Jason after Jason comes for him or while Rachel has him distracted and that's when Gar gets a hit it. They're being trained by the same person but they fight differently and it seems to match their personalities.

Dick walks over to Sam as the other three continue to spar. "Like the new hair." Dick compliments her.

"Thanks, Rachel did it for me." Sam beams up at him.

"Feeling more comfortable?"

"Yeah..." Sam sighs. "I give you shit 'cause it's fun but I think I'm gonna like it here. Thank you again for taking me in." Sam says candidly. Sam makes a mental note to thank him regularly for it.

It warms Dick's heart to know his efforts mean something. He just wants to be the mentor he wishes Bruce was and he just wants to help. It seems to be working, with Sam and Rachel and Gar, jury is still out on Jason. But Dick knows Jason will not be an overnight success.

"Good, I'm glad." Dick offers her a smile before walking back to where he previously was.

The rest of the training session goes by, Gar and Rachel going to Sam when they had a water break and talking. Jason opted to be by himself, Gar noticing the concern on Sam's face and assuring her that he'll be calm and be over it the next day. But it doesn't quite sit right for her. She doesn't want him mad at her, she does like to mess with him in a fun banter way, not him being pissed at her.

Sam likes to push people's buttons but she's not too fond of people being actively mad at her. If there's a line she isn't supposed to cross, all someone has to do is tell her and she'll respect the line. She isn't about making people unnecessarily uncomfortable or mad. But Sam nods along with Gar anyway and eventually training ends. Sam stays behind with Jason, Gar hovers a little more than he would given the events of the afternoon but he does eventually leave the two of them alone.

"So, you gonna stay mad at me forever?" Sam asks as she walks over to Jason who's seated on a bench, getting a drink and ignoring her. "Come on," Sam groans. "Can you not handle a shove from me?"

Jason glares up at her. "Just shut up." He groans.

"Nope." Sam sits next to him, her leg touching his. "I'm sorry I shoved you." Jason's brows furrow at her and he doesn't think anyone has apologized to him since he's been here, for anything. "Honest, I should have left it alone but I provoked you further than I should have." Sam is sorry for it. Sure, Jason owes her an apology, too but she can apologize first.

"Sorry for what I said." Jason mumbles, swallowing his pride.

He never wants to hurt someone's feelings, not really. In the moment, absolutely but then after he feels horrible about it. He hates when other people make him feel weak. Sam shoving him from his seat, it made him feel weak and he hates it. It's how he's felt his entire life. Weak. So, when he feels weak or when someone pushes the wrong bottom, he just starts talking and going off. It just flows out of his mouth before he can even think about it. It's not an excuse, he just can't help it and he is sorry.

"To you and Gar." Jason lets out a sigh.

The corner of Sam's smile pulls up. "I forgive you."

Jason glances at her and he can't stay mad at her. Normally, he's very good at holding grudges. He still has a grudge against a kid who pushes him down a slide when he was seven. He's very good at holding grudges but Sam's got this smirk and this look in her eyes that sends this electricity through his blood. He can't explain it but he can't stay mad at her.

"Did you still wanna train tonight when everyone goes to bed?" Jason turns his head towards Sam, twitching his brows up and the grin starts pull at his lips.

"If you're still willing."

"Someone's gotta show you how to do more than fucking shove someone." Jason scoffs but a smile pulls at his lips as he chuckles softly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, got powers now and never had issues on the streets, okay? People happen to like my quick wit and quips." Sam lightly nudges him with her shoulder.

"Yeah," Jason chortles. "That's why no one fucked with you." Jason nods his head and lightly nudges you back, not believing Sam.

"I'd like to think so, yes." Sam holds her head up with pride and Jason has this genuinely kind smile on his face. "What time, boss?"

Jason shakes his head. "Midnight. Everyone is usually in their rooms or asleep."

"Okay, I'll meet you here then." Sam smirks at him as she gets up and licks her lips. He knows deep down he doesn't have a shot with her but his stomach burns with the thought of her. She gets under his skin like no one else and he hates to admit it but he really likes it.

"Don't be late." Jason quips, his voice taunting.

Sam shakes her head, turning around to face him again. "Shut the fuck up." She laughs softly. "I'll meet you here at midnight, on the dot." Sam widens her eyes, mocking him before exiting the room.