Before The World

The Home

Warnings: mentions of physical & s*xual abuse (all canon)

- - - - -

"Hello, I'm Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn Joan Briggs." the young girl said with confidence.

Gwendolyn Joan was a precocious teenager. She had always been so since she was a young child. Always tuned in, always sensible, always focused. She was incredibly intelligent & pragmatic, also. You would think that this would make her haughty or unfeeling or uncaring of her peers, but it had quite the opposite effect.

For you see, Gwen was probably the most empathic girl you would ever meet. She held such maturity that she seemed worldly, & used this in a way to help those that were less fortunate. Her attention to detail enhanced her perception of people, allowing the blonde to read into emotions as if they were in her own head.

This was how she came across the girl in the corner. Shivering, curled up, bruised. She was broken, but no one could see her, as if the redhead was in so many pieces that her pain wasn't visible to the naked eye.

But Gwen could. Perhaps she had some secret vision, an infra-red sensor for those in need. Or maybe she just held all the kindness that we each need in this world, a rare gift it seems.

She wanted to help this poor girl. And once Gwendolyn Joan wanted something, she wouldn't stop at anywhere to get it.

"I'm Mildred Ratched." the girl mumbled, cautiously looking up with watery eyes.

Gwendolyn smiled as gently as she could, & offered out a hand. Mildred looked at it in a puzzled manner, then grasped it & stood up. She returned the smile with a wobbly grin.

They both felt an immediate connection, sort of a meant-to-be friendship.

Little did they know, this relationship would take them to unimaginable places.

- - - - -

It had been a few months since Gwendolyn & Mildred met for the first time. Gwen had brought Mildred, or 'Millie' as she called her, out of her shell.

They would spend all their time at school together; giggling, whispering, skipping around. It was first initiated by the blonde, but she soon converted the redhead to her mischief. Soon, the teachers started paying more attention to Mildred, offering her help with work or picking her in class to answer questions. Their peers stopped the ridicule, & instead were civil. Some even tried to initiate a friendship with Millie, but she was not interested.

She was only interested by Gwen, & Gwen only.

They were just beginning to settle into a routine of complete satisfaction & comfort between each other, when things started to change again.

Mildred was used to change, attuned to each tiny difference, but her best friend had lived a sheltered life with blissful continuity. It was in this way that Gwendolyn didn't notice the changes at first.

But Millie was slowly withdrawing, gradually retreating back behind her walls. If they were iron-strong enough to keep anyone out, the bad people will definitely be barred.

Gwen would later blame herself for not noticing sooner; blaming her naivety, her unusual carelessness. She knew Mildred was fragile, & had heard the horror stories of foster homes in the area, but had failed to check up on the person she valued most.

It was stupid really, for her to disregard her best friend's home situation. She had assumed that the new foster home would be better than the rest, that these new parents would finally be Mildred's 'forever family'.

After all, it was the Briggs family who had initiated the transfer. Gwen had tried to report the abuse from Mildred's other house but none of the teachers took them seriously, even when they were shown the extensive bruising that littered the redhead's body.