Jinx studied the monitor, drumming her fingertips against the arm of her chair as she thought of new attack formations. She had stared at the screen for so long that her own battle strategies began to look less like meaningful plans and instead coalesced into a giant mess of symbols.
She closed her eyes for a moment, musing the idea of sleep when she felt it: a gust of wind alerting her of his presence.
"So I take it that 'Evil never sleeps' is more than just an expression for you bad guys," Kid Flash said, and Jinx didn't have to open her eyes to know that he had that irritating grin plastered on his face.
"You guessed it." She replied a moment later, her eyes fluttering open after deciding that ignoring him wouldn't make him leave any faster. "Now you know our big secret: After becoming a level three villain, you no longer need to sleep."
"Too time consuming?" he asked, tilting his head.
"No," she replied, giving a small yawn. "It's just not evil enough."
He chuckled, happy to see that he had caught her in one of the rare moments that she wasn't annoyed by everyone else's existence—his in particular.
"In that case, you guys have it great," he said, leaning against the wall.
"All we get after level three is a pat on the back and a golden star from Batman."
She snickered at the thought of the Dark Knight carrying around something as cheery as a sticker when she caught a glimpse of red in her peripheral vision.
"A rose," she said, slipping it out of her hair.
"And its red," she deadpanned as she placed it on her lap. "What a surprise."
"You don't like red?" He asked, running a hand self-consciously through his hair.
"No," The villainess said quickly, shaking her head. "I don't have a problem with red—
"Well that's good to hear," Kid Flash said, letting go a sigh of relief. "But, just to clarify: you're tired of roses?"
She closed her eyes again. "Slow on the uptake as ever, Flash. Yes, I'm tired of the roses."
There was a fleeting moment of silence, and next thing Jinx knew, she felt a familiar breeze; Kid Flash was gone just as quick as he had come. The only indication that he hadn't been a hallucination brought on by lack of sleep wasn't the red rose, but instead the bright red apple that had been left in its place.
The next day she found a red crayon outside her room and a poem that had been written crudely with it.
This crayon is red
This paper is white
We'd make a cute couple
You know I'm right!
-your favorite speedster, KF
Taking a pink marker from her art set, Jinx sat down and wrote a poem in reply.
You're an idiot
That poem was dumb, too
Enter my room again
And I'll murder you
—Your greatest enemy, Jinx
She wordlessly slipped it under the door and went about her day.
Another week went by full of strawberries, cherries, and cupcakes with red icing. Jinx didn't mind though, and neither did the boys on her team.
No one questioned where the boxes of goodies had come from, and no one seemed to care who sent them. It was, after all, more food for the team—and they didn't even have to steal it, which everyone agreed was a plus.
A few days after the red gifts started appearing, she and the rest of the Hive Five had surprisingly pulled off a successful bank robbery. As they rounded the street corner, Jinx heard the wailing siren of a police cruiser, cursing as she saw its blaring red lights.
Jinx continued to swear as her pink eyes scanned for their parked getaway car. When she finally found the spot, she unleashed a piercing scream of frustration; instead of their getaway car, the only thing there was a small, red toy truck.
"Mammoth," She ordered, rubbing her temples. "Find a vehicle for Gizmo to hotwire. Now." He nodded, being prompted to move quickly by the angry pink sparks that flickered around her frame.
"Not that one!" she growled a second later, and he placed the toy truck back on the pavement before moving towards a yellow SUV.
The day after the Hive Five broke out of Jump City Jail, someone set off the security system when they approached their doorstep.
"I think it's one of those cruddy Titans," Gizmo shrieked, pulling up their live security cameras. Jinx perked up, leaning towards the screen as she expected to see a familiar face. But she sagged back against the wall once the image showed, cursing herself for the twinge of disappointment she felt when she didn't see Kid Flash.
This one was also a redheaded guy, but he sported a larger frame, an athletic build, and a focused expression that Jinx was sure she'd never catch the cocky speedster wearingl
He was obviously a hero, judging by the way he carried himself—shoulders back and head held high.
The possibility of the Titans delivering an attack on their home base sent them into a frenzied panic, and the sound of the hero knocking on their steel door only worsened it and prompted them to take defensive stances. Billy multiplied, Mammoth picked up a couch and prepared to hurl it; surprise or not, they were all ready to attack first.
"Quiet, idiots," Jinx muttered, readying her hexes as she approached the door. "I don't think he'd ruin a surprise attack by knocking."
"What are you, crazy?" Gizmo shrieked, waving his arms. "You can't let a hero in—"
With a press of a button, the door slid open, and the hero in question was standing before them.
"Hello," he said, giving a slight wave of his hand and prompting her expression to furtherly harden.
If anything, his greeting had confirmed their worst suspicions: He was definitely a hero.
"Are you, Jinx?" He asked, his cordial Russian accent not fitting his appearance.
Jinx raised an eyebrow. "That depends, who's asking?"
"My name is Red Star," he said, extending a gloved hand, only for it to awkwardly fall back to his side when Jinx failed to shake it. Ignoring his hand wasn't an act of impoliteness on Jinx's part—at least not purposely—she was too busy realizing why the speeding idiot had sent this Titan to her base.
Red Star. Of course.
Red Star cleared his throat, removing a small box from behind his back. "I have a package from—"
"—from Kid Flash," Jinx deadpanned, taking the red box and examining its yellow bow.
"I Figured."
She almost closed the door, but instead did something so uncharacteristic it frightened her onlooking team. "Um, thanks Red Star," she said, the words tasting foreign on her tongue.
Afterwards followed another awkward pause as Jinx racked her brain for a 'nice' way to end their encounter.
"I'm going to go now," she said at last, closing the door in his face as she took the—surprisingly—neatly wrapped box to her room.
"Sorry that we asked you to look after Jump on such a short notice," Robin said, sighing before adding, "Again."
"Usually we don't call for so many favors," Robin said, running a last minute check on their security system. "But the Brotherhood's been forcing us to travel all around the globe, and I don't like leaving the city unmonitored— "
"It's cool Robin, I wasn't doing anything important." Kid Flash said, rummaging through their refrigerator as if he was at home. "That is, unless you consider cleaning out the Justice League's fridge important."
Cyborg shook his head, "I still can't believe you cleaned out our entire fridge during your last stay. You even ate Starfire's weird Tamaranean Lortmog stuff."
"It actually wasn't that bad," Kid Flash said, then in afterthought adding, "That is, after you pick out the crawling parts—"
"Well, thanks again KF," Robin interjected, not wanting to hear about the monstrosity that was Starfire's cooking. "Remember to check the security system periodically and to feed Silkie twice a day."
Robin paused. "Also, please keep your flirting to a minimum while you're in Jump. And especially don't flirt with the villains."
Kid Flash's eyebrows scrunch upward. "Why would I do that?"
"Maybe because tons of them are around our age and you're you?" Robin suggested. "The Flashes are as famous for their flirtatious natures as they are for their speed."
Kid Flash rolled his eyes. "And the entire Bat family is known for their fixation with clowns and brooding. Seriously Robin, I've got this."
Robin frowned, noticing that Kid Flash didn't promise to not flirt with criminals, but instead of pressing the matter, he placed a box into Kid Flash's hands.
"This arrived on the doorstep for you earlier today," He said, crossing his arms. "It didn't have a sender label."
"Rob, come on dude," Beastboy said, sticking his head in the doorway. "We're gonna be late for Spain."
"By the way," Robin said, turning before he left. "If that box has any puppets in it, burn them."
And with that he and his team left without another word or explanation.
Kid Flash flipped the box over, curious as to who would send him a gift. He decided it was probably from a fan, and hastily began tearing off the crudely wrapped decorative paper.
A quick glance at the contents revealed the sender, and in a blur of red and yellow he was dashing towards the Hive Base.
"Really?" Kid Flash asked, eyebrow raised as he held Jinx's gift—if you could even call it that. "A pink wet floor sign?"
"Think of it as a memento of the great times we've spent together," Jinx said, fighting the upward tug she felt the corners of her lips give as she watched his stunned expression.
"Oh yeah," said Kid Flash, smacking his forehead in mock realization. "I forgot how much I enjoyed the concussion you gave me the last time you had one these."
"Luckily for me," Kid Flash said, rummaging through the box, "The next time it happens we can have matching hair." He waved the box of pink hair dye she gave him for emphasis.
"I figured that would be your favorite part of the gift," Jinx said, twirling one of loose strands that fell from her horned hairstyle with a smirk. "I mean, pink is a great color, after all."
"I'll admit that it's a nice color," Kid Flash said, opting to examine the dye before his admirative stare at her hair became too obvious. "But red's better."
"No, it's not."
"It's the color of sunsets," Kid Flash pointed out. "And they're pretty cool.
"You mean boring," Jinx corrected. ", and overrated."
"Tulips are red," Kid Flash said, and, as if to prove his point, he pulled one out of what seemed like thin air.
Kid Flash: Fastest boy alive, bane to her existence, bearer of flowers.
"Too bad that I'm allergic," Jinx said, wilting the flower with a flick of her hand. "To both them and your pick-up lines."
"Funny you should say that," Kid Flash said, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously as his smirk grew even larger. "Because your cheeks turn pretty red when you hear them."
Jinx tilted her head and quirked an eyebrow in reply, which only seemed to prompt Kid Flash to keep talking.
"Everyone knows that super speed makes speedsters fast," He said, taking on a wistful tone that Jinx wasn't accustomed to hearing. "But everyone forgets that it also makes everything else seem to slow down. It's kind of strange when the fastest cars are brought to crawl and every drop of rain hits the ground in slow motion."
"But the best part," he said, closing the distance between them. "Is what you notice about the people."
Jinx realized all too late what he was suggesting, and immediately froze. She forced herself to show no signs of any emotion other indifference in hopes that he'd drop the subject altogether.
But even she noticed the subtle change in her stoniness, and she swore inwardly because that meant that Kid Flash had saw it too.
"You notice when the when the corners of their lips begin to tug upwards into a smile," Kid Flash said, his own smirk widening as if in demonstration. "And the moment that their glances last a millisecond too long. You notice the way their eyes dilate and light up when they see something—or someone—they like."
"And you definitely notice when their cheeks redden the moment they begin to blush—kind of like yours are right now." He said, nonchalantly pointing an accusing finger at Jinx.
She didn't need super speed to see what he had pointed out; Jinx had felt the blush spreading against her will the moment he had stepped close.
She decided then and there what she would do: After knocking Kid Flash out cold with a quick hex to the temple, she'd drag him far away, update the security system, and pretend they'd never met—all of which was far easier than giving him the satisfaction of admitting her attraction.
But before she could do any of that, a breeze snapped her back to her senses. Kid Flash had stepped away, and was once again leaning on the wall, nonchalantly examining his glove as if he had been there the whole time.
"But then again, you did say you were allergic to tulips," he said, his tone smug as ever. "It could be an allergic reaction, I guess."
Jinx narrowed her eyes. "What was your point, again?"
"That everyone loves red," he said in a singsong voice. "Your cheeks just happened to be an example."
"Well I don't love red," Jinx declared. "A month of your gifts has made me realize how much I despise the color."
"Is that so?"
"It is," she coolly replied, and began counting off with her fingers.
"I hate red apples, red cars, and worst of all, redheads," she said, not skipping a beat as Kid Flash feigned a hurt expression.
"Pink is an all-around better color. It's powerful, its' fashionable, it's—"
"—delicate," Kid Flash finished, and Jinx looked up to see him reading from the screen of his communicator. "—and empathetic. Known for representing a lack of power, pink is typically categorized as a sensitive color." He read, not trying to hide his delight as Jinx's confusion gave way to irritation.
"Unlike red, its more brash and exciting counterpart, pink is calm, non-threatening, and passive— "
He was cut off as she pulled him into a kiss, his usually cluttered mind going blank the moment her mouth met his. Jinx's heart fluttered against her ribcage and Kid Flash felt his nearly stop as he focused on one amazing, undeniable fact: he was kissing Jinx.
The soft lips that touched his, the cheek that he was caressing—they belonged to a villainess. It was wrong, and Robin would kill him for it later, but he couldn't bring himself to care since right then, in that moment, it felt right.
"How's that for passive? "Jinx asked, grinning as she pulled away. The pink eyes that held his gaze had a sense of unsureness that didn't fit her bold actions and tone, and before he could answer her question the familiar ring of his communicator filled the air.
He silenced it and searched for signs of uncertainty, longing, or anything , but instead all he found was the unperturbed, cool gaze that everyone knew Jinx for.
"Looks like you've got some hero duties to tend to," she said.
"Yeah," he replied, not attempting to hide his dismay at the communicator's timing.
"I'll see you later?" He asked, cursing himself for the blatant hopefulness in his tone.
Jinx shrugged. "You know where to find me."
Moments after Kid Flash left, Seemore came, muttering curses about how he had saw the stupid hero and that he had 'told Gizmo to update their defense system' after his last break-in.
"Are you ok Jinx?" he asks, stopping mid ramble as he frowned in concern. "Your face is all red."
She absentmindedly raised a hand to her cheek, feeling its warmth and ghosting over the spot that Kid Flash had touched mere moments before.
"Allergic reaction," she mumbled, closing the door without another word.
Me: *casually slips back into the Teen Titans fandom with a 2.5k word story*
Haha, hopefully I'll update my other stories soon.