A/N: This is the last one, folks! Thank you to everyone for reading, and all those who contributed to such a successful BBRae week! I had a blast! I'll be returning to regular updates for the other ongoing fics I have. :)

BBRae Week: Day 7

Domestic vs Doom Patrol

She should have known better than to have assumed it was merely a case of the sniffles.

Raven picked up her communicator and dialed the one person she knew she could rely on in times as dire as these.

"I need to speak to Nightwing," she fretted into the compact screen of the handheld device.

It buzzed to life, crackling black and white static before something bright and explosive could be made out in the background. Whoever the comm was currently attached to had seemingly taken a heavy hit in combat, and was rolling around on the ground, because the next second, all she saw was the tumble of grass, and all she heard were the grunts from the impact.

"You okay there, Gar?!" a familiar voice echoed in the background.

The communicator shifted, as if the changeling had finally noted that it was on. In moments, Raven was greeted by the friendly, and somewhat beaten up, visage of the green shapeshifter.

"Raven! What's, uh…what's up?" he breathed, clearly winded and somewhat wincing, but trying to mask the pain.

"Gar?" she murmured, uncertainty colouring her tone. "What are you doing with Dick's communicator?" Raven pressed, trying to get a better look at the villain behind him that he'd been entangled with only moments earlier.

Changeling grimaced, and something roared loudly from behind him, vibrating the little screen and making Garfield's eyes widen in fear.

He snapped his head to attention, and then looked back at her, appearing both modestly sheepish and flustered at the same time. "Oh, he didn't tell you? He's gone undercover, so he's forwarded all his calls to me for the day. Star and Vic are also helping take turns," Garfield explained with a cheeky grin.

The ground shook, and something heavy went flying past his head. He managed to duck just in time.

"So, Dick is completely tied up?" Raven tried to clarify, already feeling the effects of the oncoming migraine.

The green boy frowned dejectedly. "Sorry, Rae. Anything I can help you with?"

Before Raven could even open her mouth to formulate a sentence, she was interrupted.

"Could really use a hand here, green bean!" a gruff male voice intruded. Something that sounded a lot like metal crunching could be heard in the distance.

"Is that Cliff?" Raven queried, trying to get around Garfield's face to no avail.

The changeling scratched at his head, looking torn about what to do. "Uh, yeah. I told you, I'm out running a mission with the Doom Patrol. They have suspicions Madame Rouge and her daughter are nestled up in this area, trying to enslave an entire nation to do their bidding," he explained hurriedly, not stopping once to catch his breath.

Raven watched as he expertly dodged another blow to his skull from the angry gorilla swiping at him. Once Mallah had expertly dispatched Cliff by sending him flying into a tree, he was quick to tackle his next target. Nonetheless, Changeling continued trying to explain the situation even as Mallah attacked him relentlessly. "As you can see, we found a few of her hired hel-Woaah!" Garfield then stumbled trying to dodge another angry fist, dropping the communicator in the tall grass as a result.

Raven sat up, panic etched into her features. "Gar? Gar!" she cried out.

The baby wailed from the crib in crescendo, and the empath's head pounded. Raven groaned, running her hand through her hair. "I can't do this; I'm literally the worst with kids!"

The crying persisted, and grew louder, muffled only by coughing fits and an obscene amount of phlegm. Raven then walked over to the child, crouching down so that she was staring her dead in the eyes, nearly nose to nose. "What do you want? I can't make this better if you won't tell me!" she growled.

The baby sneezed in Raven's face, effectively covering her in a layer of sticky phlegm.

The empath scrunched up her nose, closed her eyes, and tried not to gag as she wiped away the thick, warm liquid now covering her skin.

"Bleh!"

The baby giggled, amused by what she'd done.

Raven opened her eyes to glare menacingly at the infant. "You think this is funny, huh?" she barked, but the little girl only continued to smile sweetly, unaffected by Raven's chilling, violet gaze.

"Rae?"

Her communicator buzzed to life again, and the empath picked it up to find the changeling out of breath once more, but this time, she could see Cliff and Larry tying up a very unconscious gorilla in the background.

Garfield was sweating profusely, the beads of moisture dripping down his neck and chest. "Sorry about that. What were we talking about?"

Raven scowled, jutting out her bottom lip. "You should be here babysitting. Not me," she stated bitterly through gritted teeth.

"Izzat Raven? Tell her I said hi." Cliff's golden metal hand invaded the tiny screen and took over Garfield's face. The robotic digits moved in greeting.

The changeling promptly shoved it out of the way, an irritable growl causing his lips to peel back and reveal his fangs. "We're trying to talk here, Cliff! Do you mind?"

The metal man chuckled but moved away. Not wishing to miss a beat, Raven pounced on the opportunity open to her. "Hey Cliff, Larry. Do you guys know anything about sick kids?" she asked in a bored tone, ignoring the whimpering that had picked up yet again from behind her.

Garfield's eyes widened, horrified. "Sick? She's sick?"

Raven sighed, and panned the communicator over so that he got a good look at the teary-eyed child standing in her crib, sniffling.

By the time Raven brought the camera back to her, Garfield was positively beside himself. He was clutching at his hair like a mad man, his expression betraying all the thoughts that were no doubt playing in his head.

"Raven! Have you taken her to a doctor yet? Is she feverish? Feel her head. Take her temperature. I should have a thermometer in the bathroom cabinet," he ranted, his words nearly jumbling together heatedly.

Garfield Mark Logan. Could fight a giant, French, super intelligent gorilla that could speak, yet somehow, became a blubbering fool when it concerned a certain baby girl.

Raven rolled her eyes, propping her chin in the palm of her hand while her elbows rested against the tabletop. "And this is precisely why I wanted to speak to Richard instead," she droned impassively.

This garnered her a hardened look from the shapeshifter, and when he spoke, his tone was serious and commanding. "Here's what you do; take her temperature, make sure she's hydrated, keep her warm so she sweats off the fever. If she gets fussy, try a cool, damp cloth on her forehead every now and again to help her feel comfortable. Make sure Alice the Bunny is nearby at alltimes, and I mean, within eyesight, or she'll wake up crying in the middle of the night."

Raven stood up and approached the crib, where the little girl was back to being on the verge of tears. She looked flushed, her skin pink and clammy. Her short hair, jet black, was a mess from all the rolling around she'd done in her sleep. On top of all that, she was positively cranky, constantly sniffling as liquid ran down her nose to her little lips. Her eyes, vibrant green in colour, were watering. When Raven approached her, she stretched out her little arms towards the empath just over the crib, reaching for her.

"If I pick you up, you can't vomit on me like you did last time," Raven threatened, but her voice had long since lost its edge.

The infant frowned and blubbered back in response, making noises with her mouth while pinching her little stubby fingers together in Raven's direction. The empath sighed deeply before reluctantly picking her up and cradling her against her breast. "Alright, alright," she soothed, rubbing the baby's back.

The little girl immediately snuggled into her, wrapping her short arms around her neck as far as they would go.

"Rae, you got this. I know you do. The kid loves you to the moon and back," Garfield encouraged through the open communicator in Raven's other hand.

When she brought it back up to eye level, he shyly averted his gaze, and scratched nervously at the back of his head. "Uh…if you need me, I can catch the next flight out. I know she can be a real handful, even when she isn't sick, and I didn't mean to leave you stuck with her or anything…"

Raven immediately shook her head, regretting the words she'd said in frustration. "No. I can't ask that of you. I can't ask that of the Doom Patrol. They need you, Gar. I'll, uh…I'll handle the sick kid. I've already gotten all of her other body fluids on me before, what're a few sniffles and sneezes going to do?"

The changeling smiled, lopsided, but also honest and sincere. "That's my girl," he stated quite proudly.

Raven rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the tug of a smile, either. His good mood was always infectious, even when they were miles apart.

"Tell Raven Rita wants to come by and visit the kid once we're done cleaning up Rouge's mess," Larry trilled in the background, effectively ending the moment.

The sorceress smirked while the child cooed in her embrace. "She's more than welcome. Your mom's way better at this baby stuff than I ever will be," Raven acknowledged, still rubbing the girl's back while she dozed peaceably against her shoulder.

Garfield's smile reached his eyes, bringing out the many shades of green reflected in his irises. "You know, you're a good mother, too, Rae. You're just learning to get the hang of it. We both are." He then leaned in so that the others didn't hear him when he added quite coyly, "Besides, we make one hell of a cute critter, I'd say."

Raven flushed crimson when he winked cheekily at her, grinning with all his handsome charm.

He'd left her speechless, and Raven had to look away from the intensity of his gaze before her knees buckled.

"Also, how about next time, you don't go calling Richard for help when it comes to taking care of my own daughter, Rae? I'm a perfectly competent father," he then stated matter-of-factly, his smile shaping into a defensive frown instead.

Raven opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, trying desperately to find the right words to defend herself. "Dick has Mar'i! He's practically an expert on this whole baby stuff," Raven exclaimed. "The girl is half alien, for crying out loud!"

Her own daughter stirred in her arms, growing agitated with the yelling. Raven rocked her gently back into slumber, self-conscious of her own raised voice now.

Garfield narrowed his eyes. "She's my kid, Rae, and she currently has a fever, a scratchy cough, and more phlegm than she's comfortable with. See? I'm not totally incompetent, you know."

"Gar's always been good with kids. You got yourself a decent husband, Raven," Cliff reaffirmed, poking his robot head into the conversation.

"Not to mention, a crazy family of in-laws that'll dote on that little girl like she's the centre of the universe," chipped in Larry.

"Clearly, you haven't met my father or my brothers," Raven grumbled under her breath sarcastically.

She then sighed and closed her eyes, contemplative. "Look, I'm sorry. I reached out to Richard out of force of habit. I'm used to going to him about these things. I didn't mean to…undermine your fathering capabilities, Gar. I know you're a good dad. Do you honestly think I would have agreed to any of this if I didn't?"

His frown softened. "Apology accepted. But Rae, you need to start coming to me about these things. I'm the one you're married to; I'm the father of our kid."

"Uh, not to intrude or anything, but we I think we have a cranky gorilla on our hands," Larry informed the group.

Mallah had come to and was currently fighting with his weakening constraints.

Both Larry and Cliff were quick to maintain them before he managed to escape, but they were struggling to do so.

"Gonna need you here, kid!" Cliff grunted.

A muscle in Garfield's jaw twitched, and Raven knew it as a classic sign that he was itching for a fight. He was both frustrated and torn. "Rae, I have to go. We'll…we'll talk more when I get back," he said gruffly, and with great difficulty.

There was nothing that the shapeshifter valued more than his family and loved ones; however, if he didn't jump in soon, Mallah would break free and continue to wreak havoc while buying Rouge the time she needed to achieve her goals.

"Of course…," Raven gulped, but the communicator screen had already gone black, even though she had so much more she needed to say…

-FIN