Title: Eyes In the Back of Her Head
Fandom: Titans (DCU)
Rating: G
Content notes: Spoilers for SE1 of the TV series! Set after the asylum breakout but before the big baddie reveal in the finale.
Author notes: I haven't watched SE2 yet, so pardon any discrepancies. Also: the book Rachel's mother reads aloud to her is "Coraline" by author Neil Gaiman.
Summary: Rachel is supposed to feel safe now that the asylum is gone and she's reunited with her family, but she can't shake that familiar foreboding as it creeps up on her in the middle of the night.

"Oh -- My twitchy, witchy girl," whispers Rachel's mother as she read aloud, lifting her arm some so that Rachel can snuggle in closer. "I think you are so nice. I give you bowls of porridge and I give you bowls of ice cream."

It's times like these that Rachel thinks she ought to be lulled to sleep, but a shadow lingers on the farthest shores between thought and the subconscious, like a flame licking the corner of a photograph.

"I give you lots of kisses, and I give you lots of hugs," continues Angela, giving her daughter an affectionate squeeze around her middle. Her smile is warm and inviting.

Rachel's vision strays across the room to a mirror mounted on the dresser.

"But I never give you sandwiches," adds Angela, following her eyes across the room.

The reflection appears normal to Angela, so naturally, she smiles more. Rachel sees something dark and twisted though, hissing in warning.

She's a liar.

"With bugs in them," finishes Angela, folded the corner of the page and closing the book. "Rachel?"

Let me out already. Only I can save you.

Angela's smile slowly curves downwards into a frown and she tucks her fingers under Rachel's chin to lift her head so that their eyes meet at last. "Is everything all right, honey?"

Blinking a few times, Rachel disregards the warning given to her with a shake of her head and a smile for added assurance. "Yeah, mom. Everything is fine."

"I know this is all happening so fast," Angel says at length, gathering her daughter into her arms and laying her head against her breast. "It seems like only yesterday that they took you from me. After being locked up for so long, I lost all sense of Time."

Yesterday, Rachel relates. It seems like only yesterday that her foster mother was shot in the head, she met the notorious Robin, traveled across the country, and subsequently escaped the clutches of the cult after her. Although everything is over, she can' shake that feeling of a thread coming loose and unraveling her life yet again.

"We'll just have to take it one day at a time," Angela reminds her, patting her arm.

An icy thrill runs through Rachel, but she keeps her mask intact as she looks up at her mother with a nod and a smile still on her face.

"One day at a time," she breathes, trying to calm herself.

She can hear her demon shrieking at her, demanding to be turned loose upon the world at last. She's almost grateful for that extra set of eyes peering angrily out of the back of head head, though. It grants her a clarity that most cannot afford the advantage of.

Sighing, she really does shiver this time.

Why does it keep repeating the same word over and over and over and...?

LIAR.