Only The Beginning.

.Jinx.

"Jinx? Hey... Jinx?"

An incessant ruckus embedded itself into my head as I sat at my desk, tapping my pencil on my sketchpad as I impatiently waited for whomever it was at the door to leave. However, I should have known asking so much was be far beyond what could be reasonably expected.

"Hey y'all, I reckon that Jinx isn't here, maybe she's off robbing some museum by her lonesome."

"You dolt! She wouldn't leave without us, besides, her desk light is on, moron."

Rolling my eyes, my pencil moved around the pad as an image poured from my mind. Determined to salvage the idea before I went back to trying to ignore the others, my charcoal pencil leapt across the page as I became consumed with my piece, not stopping until the picture was full with every detail I could fabricate.

"Ah, a black rose? Well, I suppose that would be more you than a red one," a voice suddenly said from behind me.

Turning around so I sat sideways in my chair, I glared at the unwanted visitor.

"Look, don't you have anything better to do than to follow me around? I have my own shadow, thank you very much. I mean, I'm not converting to the good side, if that's what you're waiting for-" Before I could rant on and on, he was gone, a single red rose left on top of my sketch.

Picking the rose up delicately, I touched the feather-like petals with my fingertips, holding it as if it was a magnificent piece of glass that was ready to break at the slightest miscarriage. Bringing it to my nose to smell, my back was to my door now, which was about to severely change as it opened and the superfluous light poured profusely into every crack and crevice of my room.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM?" I screeched as Gizmo, Mammoth, and Billy Numerous burst into my room, slowly followed by See-More and Kid Wicked. Forgetting about the rose that I had so carefully handled previously, twin pink spheres of fire formed in my hands, nearly incinerating the flower.

My aggressiveness was met by Gizmo, Mammoth, and Billy's jaw-dropping and eye-widening horror as three of them huddled together, possibly conjuring a ridiculous and false excuse for the intrusion. See-More, however, had actually planned it.

"We were just worried, Jinx, that's all. I mean, we haven't hit a single bank or museum since you decided to lock yourself in your room," he pointed out as the others nodded in agreement. As if they needed to tell me. As if anyone actually expected them to be able to pull off even the simplest robbery without being slapped around first.

It was common knowledge that both the Teen Titans and the Titans East were back to regularly occupying their cities, but that wasn't exactly the reason I decided to confine myself to my room. Nor was it the fact I had spent three of my seven days repairing my room since the Kid Flash incident, which nearly destroyed the entire 'head quarters', if it was ever considered one.

Having all this time to myself to think, it really did make me wonder how much longer I could pull off living off of small petty robberies, which were merely a step up from pilfering tiny items from a department store. Ugh, stupid Kid Flash. It's his fault I'm even thinking of this!

"Look, I just have a lot on my mind right now, okay?" Maybe I just need some time away from you idiots. Taking in a deep breath, it felt like I was ready to breathe fire. "... I just have a lot on my mind, that's it." Not noticing it, my voice had raised, as well as the glow in my eyes, causing the rest of the team to timidly nod their heads and sneak out of my room without so much as another word.

"Finally, I'm alone in my room!" I sighed as I turned around to see a new and fresh rose on my sketchpad on top of my sketch replacing the charred one. Wait, where did that one go?

It didn't take me long to answer my own question. Before I could even blink, Kid Flash was standing at the threshold of my door, fingering the charred rose with one hand, and watching as it slowly began to wear away.

"Jeez, what did you do to this? Did you really not like it?" he asked me as the ash resting on his palm seeped through his fingers.

Slightly blushing, I mentally slapped myself. NO BLUSHING! Especially near him. The LAST thing I need is another idiot tailing me around! "It was an accident," I muttered, uninterested and yearning to veer to a different subject.

He shrugged, not questioning any further. "So... what are you doing tonight?" he asked to break the awkward silence that lingered when I turned my attention to adding more though detail to a black stallion I had drawn earlier in the week. I shrugged my shoulder and felt a slight breeze zip by me as I assured myself that he had just left. Trying not to care, I returned to my work before I was vaguely aware of the faint huffs of breath lingering over my shoulder. I turned and found his face inches from mine as he intently stared at my picture.

"Another unicorn?" he asked with a grin.

Annoyed, I closed my book and stuffed it in the drawer of my desk. "It was a stallion. Not a unicorn."

As I stood up to walk to my wardrobe, he followed, matching my pace. "But it sure looked like a unicorn. How do I know you just drew a horn-less unicorn to disguise it?" he asked with a smile plastered to his face.

"How about no," I said simply as I opened my wardrobe, grabbed my jacket off its hanger, and started to put it on. I pulled my boots on and laced them up as he gave me a curious look, his blue eyes sparkling with a mysterious playfulness.

"You going somewhere?" he asked me as I buttoned up my black trench coat and tied the belt around my waist. Not answering, I walked over to my mirror and took a quick peek into it as he continued to follow me around my room.

"Aww, come on, tell me!" he said as he looked into the mirror. At that exact second, the mirror broke into several pieces and I bit back a laugh.

He turned around to face me with this serious glare. But he couldn't hold it for long as a huge grin spread across his face. "I'm not that stupid, that's your team's job. I know you cracked that mirror to make fun of me."

"Seven years bad luck," I murmured, internally laughing at the irony of me saying it when I lived with bad luck. "Bye!" I added with an almost sarcastic tone.

At that, I left my room on my way to sneak out of headquarters. Kid Flash noticed me tip toeig and, before I could consent, he ran up behind me, put a hand behind my knees and neck, picked me up, and ran me out of the tower, putting me down after we were well out of eye sight of the others, who were probably watching TV or burning popcorn in the microwave.

Speechless, he set me on my feet gently and before I could thank (or scold) him, he was gone, leaving me in the middle of the crowded Jump City alone. Ready to take a step forward, I stopped before my boot crushed a single red rose that lay there on the cold cement sidewalk. Rolling my eyes, I picked it up and gave a faint smile as I continued onward towards my destination.

.Kid Wicked.

"Are you sure that we should be contacting her? I mean, Jinx turns off her communicator all the time," Gizmo pointed out as See-More called the rest of us to the communications room.

"Well, we wouldn't have to wonder if you had DISABLED THE OFF OPTION LIKE I TOLD YOU!" See-More snapped as he glared at Gizmo.

Billy Numerous, who was currently three people, scratched his head. "I think there are only three things she could be doing. Be taking a walk, be scouting a new place to hit, or maybe..." He swallowed. "Girl stuff." At that he, Gizmo, and Mammoth shuddered.

"Or she could in trouble or captured by the Titans or Kid Flash or East," See-More murmured as he fixed the coordinates of the transmission he was going to send. Billy turned back to only one person and meekly nodded, weighing the option.

"Or," I added, one of my rare times of speech to contradict whoever was acting as lead, "You could be completely over reacting and she is just off somewhere safe."

"NO!" See-More barked as he correctly set coordinates. Rolling my eyes, it wasn't noticeable to those who didn't pay attention, but I had certainly been aware of See-More's 'little' crush on Jinx. In fact, I think it has been quite readable since day one. Every time she speaks to him he happens to blush or nod sheepishly and obey whatever she requested, as if she ever said anything to the rest of us that wasn't closely followed by a direct threat.

"YES! Finally!" See-More cried as he established a connection on the communicator.

"You've reached the Brotherhood of Evil..."


Edited chapter re-posted on 6/4/12.

I started writing this story way back in December of 2005 and, understandably, had every intention of making it a complete story. However, time flies, and more than six years later I have decided to come back to my fanfiction account and try my best to finish what I have started.

I will be continuing my story, The Marked, first but have decided that Fate's Own Rose will be my next project. I wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed and waited for my stories-I am beyond flattered and really appreciate the support.

Until new chapters of Fate's Own Rose are posted, I have decided to edit the existing chapters and fix up the typos, grammar errors and other little mistakes that I did not catch when I first wrote them. I thank you for your patience and encourage you to read The Marked, my other Teen Titans fanfiction story.