Little Grayson |Titans|

|Chapter LXV: Word Association|

| Nearly Two Years ago,

Gotham City,

Office of Dr. Leslie Thompkins|

"We are going to do something that us therapists call the game of "Word Association," it is kind of like a game. I say the words and you say a name or a word, that describes it for you in your mind. Just, tell me when you're ready." Dr. Leslie Thompkins spoke carefully to the young fourteen year old in front of her, a barely fourteen year old girl that had been through a similar experience to what Dr. Thompkins herself had been through and Liliana Grayson looked up at her, nodding so slightly that it nearly looked like the girl's head was going to fall off.

"Ready." Liliana's voice was audible, but it was more like a whisper than anything and Leslie understood, as she could see that within the pockets of the too-big hoodie, Liliana was shaking and trembling, dark circles pronounced under her eyes and around them.

"Brother?" Leslie offered as the first one and Liliana looked at her.

"Dick." Liliana said immediately.

"Mother?" Leslie spoke up.

"Gone."

"Father?" Leslie asked.

"Alfred." Liliana's reply surprised Leslie, she could feel it and Leslie concealed it as best as she could, within seconds the surprise was all off of Leslie's face and Liliana looked at her with lifted eyebrows.

"Little Bird?"

"Agony." Liliana answered softly.

"Friend?"

"Victoria." That one took all of a second for Liliana to spit out.

"Anchor?"

"Jason." Liliana admitted almost automatically, feeling embarrassment following after her admission and Leslie looked at her, while Liliana dropped her head a bit in embarrassment at the look. "This stays between us... right?" She clarified and Leslie nodded swiftly.

"Hacking?"

"Adventure." Liliana replied.

"Training?"

"Strength."

"Batman?"

"Darkness."

Leslie had a list of cards that she was using to read off things and Liliana looked at her, as she had her headphones hanging around her neck and Leslie looked at the headphones as Liliana's eyes spotted inspiration, when she saw it.

"Headphones?"

"Safety."

"Bruce?" Leslie questioned hesitantly, knowing that this was probably going to be a rather tough sort of question for the young teenager in front of her and Liliana looked up at her, as pain was clear in her eyes.

"Fear." Liliana answered and Leslie nodded.

"Last one, I promise... Scarecrow." Leslie said and Liliana swallowed, as she dropped her head and she was shuddering, as Leslie recognized the symptoms of a panic attack and Liliana moved her headphones on over her head and as fast as her legs could carry her, she fled the room.

The door slammed shut behind her and to her surprise, Liliana ran right into a familiar set of arms and she was crying already, half-choking on the sobs that were building in her throat and Jason looked down at her, as his eyes flashed with deep concern. "Come here." He murmured softly and she buried her head in his jacket, as she was shuddering and Jason gently walked her out of the house.

Jason managed to get her into the passenger seat of the car, as she was trembling and Jason gave her his jacket, on top of his hoodie and she was clinging to his arm like her life depended on it. "Hey, hey, I'm here." He whispered and she shut her eyes, as she struggled to breathe and he was tempted to call Bruce, but then he remembered what Bruce's last reaction to it was.

"She will figure it out herself. She has to, Jason."

Was his reaction and Jason didn't want to put Liliana through it again, as he moved his arms around her and she leaned her head on his arm and he smiled faintly, as the shudders slowed and she opened her eyes again. "Did I-" Jason shook his head at her and she nodded, as she was wiping at her eyes quickly with what she realized after was his jacket. "Oh shit, here..."

"Don't worry about it." Jason said, as she zipped it up over the hoodie and she looked out at the streets, that were dark as it was later then usual. "You ready to go?" He asked and she nodded a little, as he caught a small look at the haunted look in her eyes, that kept waking her up. "Do you want pizza?"

That to his relief, brought at least a very small flicker of a smile to Liliana's face, as she nodded quietly and after they had both buckled their seatbelts, Jason drove them to get pizzas. After the pair had eaten and were full, Jason drove them home and Liliana was asleep, her headphones half off of her head.

Jason looked up and he saw that Victoria was walking over from the garage and she opened the passenger side door, carefully picking up Liliana in her arms and smiling. "Thanks for getting her home." She said and Jason nodded, as they both walked inside as Liliana slept soundly in Victoria's arms.