Chapter Twenty One: The Place Between

The Skyfall had ceased and Shawn and Raven had decided to take advantage of freedom and finally performed the funeral rights for Gabriel. They placed his body on a pyre and placed flowers around him. Lysette had shown up and helped make the preparations so that he could have a proper Lycan send off Raven had sent word to Kara who hadn't responded.

" It doesn't make sense. I'm sure she would want to be here for this.." Raven said in a sad tone. " It could be too hard for her.." Shawn reasoned despite knowing that it still would be an gesture he would appreciate. .

" Well I'm not going to let her miss this. She will regret it forever.." Raven explains as she begins preparing her things to leave but Shawn stops her with a smile on his face as he pulls his hoodie back over his head.

" I'll go talk to her. She might listen to me.." he knew that it would be a little difficult but he was going to at least give it a shot. Gabriel might be gone but that was only more reason for them to stand together and not separate anymore. Raven nods and with that Shawn dissappears.

Raven Sighs as she prepares Penelope for the day, Lysette standing outside and preparing Gabriel for his final voyage.

" I wish there was words I can say that could describe the pain I feel inside Gabriel" She confesses.

" But it would not bring you back to this world by saying them. And I know that. I just wish you had more time here. You would've made this world a better place. Not just for me, but for your friends and for Kara..." Lysette knew deep down that it wasn't Kara's fault for Gabriel's death. " You were going to go after her no matter what. But I still demanded that you do it" if anything, she felt as though Gabriel's death was solely on her hands. If she hadn't sent him away, none of this would have happened. But admitting that wouldnt change the reality.

" We miss you Gabriel" Lysette wipes the tears from her eyes as she steps away from the Pyre, refusing to cry anymore tears over his absence.

Kara sat still, against the wall, staring at the opposite wall across the room. She still had wanted to die but couldn't find the strength to carry herself through the action. She didn't know when she would want to move again but she did know that if she stayed here, like that, she wouldn't be able to cause anymore pain. Lysette was so angry with her. And that was understandable. Kara hadn't managed to keep him safe. She hadn't managed to do the one thing she wanted to do. She couldn't be his protector despite him being hers for so long. Even at the end, he came to protect her. He had no reason to, and yet he did. And this ate at Kara immensely.

" Kara? " Shawn's voice called from the doorway but Kara didn't respond and continued to just stare at the wall. She heard him, but she didn't know what she could say to him. She assumed he had heard of Gabriel's death and wanted to talk to her about it. Why he didn't talk to Raven about it, Kara couldn't understand.

" Just gonna sit here and stare at the wall, aye? " Shawn sits down beside Kara and proceeds to partake of the view Kara had been enjoying for so long now.

" We are gonna be performing Gabriel's send-off. And we thought you might want to be there for it" he said, not taking his eyes off the walls.

" No..I don't think it would be right for me to be there" Kara finally answered, thinking back to Lysette's anger.

" Me and Raven want you there. You loved him too. And you have just as much right to be there as anyone else" Shawn explains, knowing that this might be her reaction.

" I have a question " Kara responds and then continues " Do you think the world would be better off if I had never come back? " Kara's question had shocked Shawn. He thought about it briefly and finally responded after careful deliberation. " I think you and Gabriel exist in a world that doesn't want either of you. But yet, it needs you. I think, that you and Gabriel both wanted and needed each other more than the world itself. If you two were to leave and never come back, I'd like to think that you'd both be happy. Even if the world was to choke on its own fumes because of it" Shawn's words weighed heavily in Kara's mind.

" I think that you both never got a fair chance. And I think you two got lost inside a world that neither of you were prepared for. And by the time you were, it was too late. So to answer your question. I think the world wouldn't be better off without you, I think you would better off without it" Shawn finishes explaining s Kara finally finds words to speak again.

" I just want it to Stop. I want it to end Shawn. If I am going to be in a world without him in it..then I don't want to be here. Or any world for that matter. I wish that I could say if I had never met him, things would be easier. But I didn't realize how empty my life was before I met him, and I'm learning all over again what that feels like. I thought when I lost Gwen, that was the worst hurt that I could feel or ever know. And yet here I am, wishing for a million times over what I felt back then to what I feel now " Shawn listens intently, knowing she truly felt this way and there would be nothing he could do to comfort her.

" I loved him Shawn. I loved him so much. I loved him more than anyone and everything. I loved him so much more than I could ever love myself. But every since I got here, I've been told how me and him are suppose to Unite the Underworld and out reality seems to show me a different story. But that dream, that dream kept pushing me forward with the hope that something would change. And it did, Gabriel died" Kara looks to Shawn.

" I have a favor to ask of you " Shawn looks to Kara, seeing her eyes were Red from irritation and crying.

" If you were to touch me here and now, would I die? " Kara asked which made Shawn's heart sink. " Kara...what are you asking of me..? " He asked but knowing deep down what she was implying. A favor he could never grant her.

" Yes.." he answered finally which made Kara laugh and turn her attention back to the wall ahead.

" Yeah. That sounds about right. Can you- " Shawn interrupts Kara before she can finish.

" Don't finish that sentence. I know what you are going to ask and I'm not going to do it" he replies with a stern tone.

Kara simply laughs and adjust herself on the floor as Shawn continues.

" I'm not going to kill you. I could but I won't. It won't fix the issues we are facing Kara. It won't make the pain stop " he turns his body to her. " Kara..don't you dare ask me to do that. I refuse to do it. I refuse to have your death on my conscious. I know that everything suck's right now and I want him back just as much as you but it can't be done by this way"

Kara tries to interject but Shawn refuses to give her the proper chance.

" NO! We will find a way. A different way. The Underworld isn't completely lost and we can't give up hope. Hope is all we have Kara. We have to keep fighting and we have to do right by Gabriel and we have to keep pushing. If we give up, if you give up, then his sacrifice would have been for nothing"

" Shawn.." Kara finally manages to interrupt him long enough to explain herself. " Take me to Gabriel" Kara smiles