Wild Fire | Gar Logan

𝟬𝟵. allostatic load

CHAPTER NINE
it goes question and then question

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     𝐆ar went out searching for Aurora after his little argument with Rachel and the panel screens showed that it finished tracking Jason's whereabouts. As usual, he found her on the open rooftop. It almost gave him a heart attack when he saw her hanging at the ledge, looking like she might throw herself over and call it a night.

     "Oh my God. Rory!" Gar cussed under his breath, taking the girl's attention as her tired eyes landed on him. "What are you doing? Please move away from the ledge because it's making me nervous."

     "Come here," Aurora muttered.

     The boy gave her an incredulous. "No?"

     Aurora sighed and stretched a hand out for him to take. "You're not gonna fall."

    Reluctantly, Gar took hold of her hand and she led him closer to the ledge where she sat with no worries. He almost forgot to breathe when his eyes fell below them and the cold brush of wind didn't make him calmer. It made him realize how far up they were from this height of the Titans Tower.

     His grip tightened. He shook his head nervously. "I don't like this."

     "Sit down," Aurora said gently. She was still holding his hand as she continued to sit. Shakily, Gar carefully sat next to her, scooting closer in fear of falling. "See. You're good."

     It took a minute for him to relax slightly. He never fully did but he looked at her with a subconscious gulp. "Kory's here."

     "Is she?" She looked surprised but she nodded. Gar played with her fingers, keeping his gaze on her so he wouldn't have to look anywhere else. "There's more..."

     "Huh?" Gar cleared his throat, blinking confusedly. Her eyes were closed but they moved ceaselessly like she was having a nightmare. "Rory?"

    "I can feel it," She murmured. "In my chest. Under my skin. Every bad feeling, I can sense it."

     Gar frowned. "I..."

    "But it's not mine. It's never mine. I can only feel other people, Gar," Aurora said exasperatedly, grasping his hand like she was afraid he'd slip away. "And right now... I know somebody's dying down there and I... I feel their fear and pain like it was my own. Except now it only makes me feel powerful."

     "Rory━"

     "Do you understand how fucked up that is? I should be devastated. But instead, it just makes me feel a lot better to feel other people's fear and suffering."

     "That doesn't change who you are."

     "Does it?" Aurora chuckled dryly. She looked like she was about to cry. "What if one day I'll wake up and I'm just not the person you think I am?"

     "Then I'll still love you," Gar murmured. Her eyes snapped towards him. He stared at their hands tangled together. "Because like the weather, people go through changes. But that doesn't make them any less beautiful."

     Before Aurora could say something more, both Kory and Rachel appeared and told them to come down inside. Rachel lingered by the woman's side, ignoring Gar who entertained the woman and filled her up with what she missed these past few weeks. Aurora was also quick to figure out that her friends had been into an argument over how they were acting around her.

     They gathered in the kitchen, even Rose was there, sitting next to Rachel who remained standing while sipping on her mug of coffee. The elevator opened and the old Titans filed inside the room, and when Aurora saw no sign of Jason Todd, she took it as a bad sign. Behind her, Gar looked like he might as well pass out.