I just had this idea literally stuck to me for DAYS now. I just had to write it down.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans.
After leaving the Hive Five, Jinx was on her own for a long time. She knew that she was not quite alone, though. He had been following her ever since she left. He never revealed himself, although every once in a while when she was out of money that she'd managed to attain from picking up quarters on the ground all the way to finding an ATM and hacking into the Hive Five's personal account, (so what, bad guys could have bank accounts too!) he'd leave a hefty amount of cash to keep her going for another few days where she could easily find it.
Jinx yawned. Her hair was messy, considering that her pigtails had long since come out, and she'd kept the metal bands in her pocket. Her clothes were starting to wear out, and she knew that she probably didn't look, (or smell) very good. She hadn't showered since the whole ordeal with him.
She sat down at the edge of a bench in a park. Across the field, she caught sight of a playground, and beyond that, a baseball field. She pulled out the remainder of her cash and began counting through it. She was a criminal; she didn't have any pride. And she could count her lucky stars for that, because otherwise, she might have a problem accepting free cash from him.
The sun was just beginning to set, highlighting the sky in light pink and purple streaks, lit up in gold and red at the edges. When darkness set, Jinx found that police didn't allow homeless young girls to sleep on benches.
She was up and away even before they'd realized that she was even there, but she cursed herself under her breath for letting it even come that close. She ducked into an alleyway to gather her thoughts.
"Hey, sugar." Someone with a gruff, deep voice broke into her world.
"Huh?" Jinx looked up, dazed from lack of proper sleep. She couldn't identify where the speaker was.
"How about forking over some of that cash? And maybe giving a little interest, while you're at it?" Oh, there was the speaker.
Suddenly, Jinx found herself surrounded by leering men. The leader, the first man who had spoken, stepped forward, his hand out for the cash, lust heavy in his eyes. That's when Jinx noticed that they all had a gun in their hands.
She could've taken on one man, but eight or nine, with guns, and her nearly passing out from exhaustion and hunger? Jinx's eyes lit up in anticipation, but her movement was too slow. One of the men stuck out their foot, and Jinx found herself on the ground, facing the leader. He grinned.
That was all the encouragement a certain someone needed. A gust of strong wind blew around all of them, and the men looked up in a moment to find their guns missing. Jinx staggered up and this time, her lit up eyes caught their attention.
With a loud yelp, the group began backing away from Jinx. She lashed out one last time, and although her hex missed its target, the men fled, each vowing to never indulge in late night activities again.
Jinx groaned and fell to the ground, her powers drained. Before her eyes closed, letting the darkness consume her, she managed to see a flash of yellow and red.
When Jinx woke up, she was in a warm, comfortable bed. There was a steaming bowl of hot soup next to her on a small table.
Kid Flash was standing by the door, leaning against it cockily. When he noticed that she had woken up, he was by her side in an instant.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, concern coloring his voice.
"Go away." Jinx mumbled, not daring to look him in the eyes. She stared at herself in a mirror that was hung carelessly on the other wall. Her hair was neatly brushed, in a simple ponytail, and she was wearing a soft, warm, cotton top and bottom. Her only problem? It was as pink as her hair. Jinx did not like pink. Despite what everyone seemed to think, pink only reminded her of her messed up childhood, and the days in school when she was bullied, not just because of her powers, but also because of her pink colored, natural hair. It was just another piece of evidence that she wasn't normal.
"Now, Jinxie, that's not very nice to talk to someone who just saved your life." Kid Flash teased, reaching for the soup. "Are you hungry? You wouldn't eat anything when I tried to feed you earlier.
"You tried to feed me?" Jinx murmured. "That is not a good idea."
"I survived." Kid Flash shrugged. "Personally, getting you too shower was worse. I had to call one of my friends to help. You were just totally out."
"What!?" Jinx's cheeks colored in embarrassment. "Okay, explain to me what happened while I was…unconscious."
"Well, I carried you back to my apartment and tried to wake you up. When you wouldn't, I called Kristen, one of my doctor friends. She came over and told me to make you as comfortable as possible. She helped you take a shower and get into warmer clothes, then into bed. Kristen also says to tell her when you wake up, and make you eat something hot. That reminds me, I should probably go call her. You eat that soup, okay? Or drink it, whatever." Kid Flash, well, flashed; out of the room, but in a moment he was back, talking on a cell phone with somebody.
"Well, she sounds okay. What?" He covered the mouthpiece. "Do you have a headache?"
Jinx shook her head no.
"She doesn't have a headache. No, she's not on alcohol!"
His conversation continued as he snapped his fingers at her to pick up the bowl and drink the soup.
Jinx did, although she first made a face at him to show that she did not appreciate being told what to do. As soon as she took the first sip, it felt like her whole body was relaxing at last. Her hot liquid burned through her icy body, thawing out everything that had frozen. Jinx finished the soup as quickly as she could.
Kid Flash darted back inside from the hall, where he had run out for a moment.
"Do you want anymore?" He whispered, again, covering the mouthpiece.
Jinx shook her head, placing the bowl back on the table. She sank back into the bed, letting the blanket fall onto her.
Kid Flash approached her, his hand outstretched. His head was tilted so that the cell phone was wedged between his head and shoulder while one hand reached for Jinx's bowl. The other hand lightly touched her forehead, and then pressed against her cheek.
"Her temperature seems pretty normal to me." He reported into the phone, retreating back out to drop Jinx's bowl into the sink.
"Of course I'm checking her temperature! Why would I tell you her temperature was normal if I wasn't checking it?"
Kid Flash again reappeared at Jinx's side, his face creased in worry.
"What's wrong?" Jinx demanded as soon as he'd hung up.
"Nothing." Kid Flash lied smoothly. "Nothing at all."
Jinx knew that something was wrong, but she didn't press it. Although, that might have been because she was falling back asleep, her eyelids drooping considerably quickly.
Kid Flash looked down at her, and a genuine smile found itself quirking at his lips. He gently folded the blanket around her, and tucked her in. Outside, the stars in the sky twinkled. No need to let her know that she'd been asleep for a whole day.
Overtime, Jinx regained her health. She wasn't confined to the bed anymore, and was eating normally. Soon, she was back to her usual, sarcastic self. She was ready to go barreling out the door the moment she was on her feet, but something held her back. It was not Kid Flash, though it was fairly amusing to watch him beg for her to stay. He at first found excuses, such as 'Kristen needs to make sure you're still okay,' but it soon turned into 'I don't want you to go!' He sounded like a toddler who was crying for his mother as she left him with a babysitter.
No, it was not Kid Flash who made her rethink her decision to leave. When she decided to stay, she told him it was because she could 'stay here for free without having to pay half rent, or even for food, and not have to do anything, either.'
Kid Flash noticed a difference within Jinx in the first week after Cyborg went home. He had called Robin for someone to watch over the city because 'one of his friends was sick, and he needed to take care of her.' It wasn't a total lie. He had just left out that his friend was Jinx, a former villain.
Anyway, what he'd noticed was that whenever he went on patrol, she was on her best behavior. Kid Flash felt as though he could trust her with anything, and often times he came home and complained about how slow Robin was at getting someone down so that they could fix up an alarm inside his apartment. Until then, he would have to go on nightly patrols. Jinx always listened carefully, nodding and asking questions at just the right times.
One thing that bothered Kid Flash, however, was how late she was staying up. She never went to bed until after he came back, which was extremely sweet of her. But when he returned at four am in the morning and found her dozing on the couch, lights on, TV running, he knew that a problem was brewing.
He'd carried her to her bedroom and tucked her in, but his mind was running at a hundred miles per hour, trying to decide how to approach the problem. He couldn't figure it out.
"Hello. Kristen? Yeah, I have a small problem. I need your help. No, I swear I did not find another girl practically dead on the street. No, I'm not going to just leave any girl I see to die! AUNT KRISTEN!" Kid Flash froze, hoping that no one had heard his voice. He rarely called his aunt by her title, Aunt Kristen, because she'd insisted it made her feel old. Honestly, she was only six years older than him. But Kid Flash still called her that whenever he was severely irritated with her.
And so with advice from his very wise, very angry aunt on his mind, Kid Flash dashed back inside.
"Good morning." Kid Flash sang as he entered the kitchen. Jinx looked up from her pancakes.
"What's so good about it?" She asked darkly. She had considered sleeping in just so that Kid Flash could make breakfast that morning, but by twelve o'clock, she'd thrown in the towel. As it was, it was one thirty. If Jinx woke up early, she made breakfast. If Kid Flash woke up early, he ran down and got donuts from the local Dunkin' Donuts for them to share.
"We're all still alive and kicking." Kid Flash replied cheerily. To prove his point, he jumped up and kicked his leg out. It hit the plate of neatly stacked pancakes, and they flew into the air, landing one by one onto his plate. He then lathered it with syrup.
"Did I ever tell you how much I love your pancakes?" He asked, half way through his first batch.
Jinx rolled her eyes, pretending that she didn't care about the compliment, although truthfully, it made her feel warm on the inside. What was happening to her?
Breakfast went by quickly, and before she knew it, Jinx was alone again as Kid Flash waved from the window before heading out on patrol.
Jinx wondered what to do, eventually deciding to grab her sketchbook and head out. She walked around the town. It seemed much less frightening during the day, and she settled on the grass by the park where she had first been when she arrived.
Jinx began sketching the first thing that came to her mind. Although she wasn't really paying attention, her fingers seemed to twitch of their own account, and she drew an accurate sketch of Kid Flash.
"What are you drawing?" His voice seemed to come out of nowhere.
"Ahh!" Jinx shrieked, slamming her sketchbook shut. She glared at him as he came to rest in front of her.
"What's wrong? Is little Jinxie afraid of Kid Flash?" Kid Flash teased, reaching for her sketchbook.
Jinx stuck out her tongue at him, pulling the sketchbook closer in a hug protectively. "What is wrong with you?"
"Where to begin?" Kid Flash looked at the sky in a sighing motion.
Jinx rolled her eyes and stood up. "Is your patrol over?"
"Yup. I couldn't find you at the apartment, but then I saw you, so it was all good."
"You saw me?" Jinx asked, despite herself.
"Well, yeah. Our back window has a great view of the park." Kid Flash pointed, and Jinx could see that he was right; the apartment's back window was visible from the park, too.
"Do you want to go grab something to eat?" Kid Flash asked, effectively avoiding the fact that he had just told Jinx 'our apartment.' Jinx was extremely grateful. She soooo did not want to deal with that situation at the moment.
"Sure." Jinx tucked her pencil behind her ear, and followed Kid Flash as he led her down to a café nearby. It was one that was perfect, because it was tucked away into a corner. Only if you knew it was there could you locate it.
Jinx immediately loved it.
Of course, she didn't tell Kid Flash, because that would kind of ruin the sarcastic, evil reputation that she'd built for herself. Even if she hadn't done anything bad in a while. She was just being lazy.
The rest of the day flew by quickly, and soon, Jinx found herself back at their home. Kid Flash threw on a fresh uniform and ran out. Jinx was a little disappointed, but she knew that he, as a hero, had obligations. She was just lucky that as a villain, she did not.
She lay down on the couch and watched some television. By nine o'clock, the door banged open. Kid Flash stood there, grinning at her.
"Your patrol is over?" Jinx questioned, shocked. He never appeared until later than eleven.
"For now." It was not a lie, but not the whole truth either, Kid Flash reasoned. "Anyway, I'm tired. Ready for bed?"
Even if Jinx hadn't been, she would have nodded. She just didn't feel comfortable staying awake if Kid Flash was asleep.
They split into their own, separate rooms, and Jinx closed her eyes and fell asleep.
Kid Flash waited for a half hour, until he could hear steady breathing from Jinx's room. Then, he quietly crept back outside to finish his patrol.
He wandered back in at two o'clock, careful not to make any noise. If Jinx woke up, he would blame it on the cat. He didn't have a cat.
For the next two days, things continued like that. Then, on Sunday, they got a knock on the door. Jinx dropped her donut from her hand and squeaked. Later, of course, she would deny it when Kid Flash inevitably teased her.
She ran to her bedroom, shut her door and quietly as she could, and wrapped herself in her blanket.
"Hey, Kid Flash. Ready to install that alarm?" Stone – no, Cyborg's voice floated down the hall. Jinx didn't relax. She trusted Cyborg even less than she trusted any of the other heroes, besides Kid Flash.
The alarm was installed quicker than even the original Titan had expected. "Your apartment is smaller than the tower, so that's probably why." Cyborg explained.
"That's cool." Kid Flash obviously wanted Cyborg out.
"Are you sure that you don't want me to put that alarm in your guest bedroom?"
"Don't worry, bud. I'm positive."
Thank you, Kid Flash. Jinx thought gratefully.
Cyborg at last ran out of things to say, and excuses to stay. He opened the door, and found that the sun had set.
"Yikes! Tell you what, Cyborg. Why don't you stay here tonight? Let me just grab my pillow, and you can crash in my room." Kid Flash offered, wondering how Jinx would take it.
"Oh no, that's not necessary. I'll sleep on your couch." Cyborg refused. Kid Flash looked at the couch. It would break under Cy's weight. The poor couch was just old.
"No, man. Take my room. I've been meaning to check out how good the guest room bed is, too. I'll stay in there. It's cool."
After a few more moments of pushing, Cyborg agreed.
Kid Flash threw open the fridge. "There's nothing for dinner. Here, I'll take you out, my treat. Wait outside for a sec, would ya?"
He snatched up a container holding some leftovers from yesterday's dinner and nearly flew to Jinx's room. She looked up, terrified, at him. He winked reassuringly, and then left as fast as he had come. If it was up to him, he'd have let the Titans know that she had changed sides almost immediately. However she put it, if she wasn't stealing, she had converted to him. Still, it wasn't his secret to tell.
They ate rather quickly, Kid Flash worried about leaving Jinx at home alone for too long, and Cyborg just plain hungry. Soon, they found themselves back in Kid Flash's apartment.
He changed into an old shirt and some shorts, and grinned at Cyborg, quietly knocking once on Jinx's door before entering.
She had finished the dinner and neatly cleaned up, leaving not a single trace of evidence. Good girl, Kid Flash thought.
Jinx was lying in the bed when she heard him come in.
"It's just me." He whispered, and she relaxed slightly. "I'm sleeping here tonight."
Her body tensed up, but he dropped his pillow on the floor.
"What about Cyborg?" Her voice was barely a whisper.
"My room." Kid Flash explained.
"You're sleeping on the ground?"
"Well, unless you're offering me a place up there. You know, I might get super cold. And if I get cold, then I'll get sick, and then you'll be stuck taking care of me, and then the Teen Titans would have to send someone else in to take care of my duties while I'm out and then-"
"Shut up!" Jinx hissed. "Cyborg will hear you, and wonder why you're talking to yourself!"
"Well," He sighed dramatically. "I suppose if you want me to be sick for the next week or so-"
"Oh just shut up! Get in here!" Jinx had to use all of her self-control not to explode. She inched towards the other side of the bed, and Kid Flash leaped onto her bed, snuggling into blanket. His body was warm, heating up the blanket nicely, so that it was very comfortable.
"Good night, Jinx." Kid Flash whispered.
"Good night, Kid Flash." Jinx mumbled. Her eyes began to close, and soon she was fast asleep.
When Jinx woke up, the entire apartment was silent. Kid Flash was gone, and so, (to Jinx's relief) was Cyborg.
After carefully checking every section of the apartment, Jinx took a shower and began making breakfast. She turned to look out the window every few seconds, in case she needed to make a sudden escape.
"You can't hide forever, you know." Someone pointed out.
Jinx shrieked, startled, and turned to see Kid Flash, sitting on the table, watching her seriously.
"Don't do that! You scar-startled me!" Jinx snapped.
"Jinx, you can't hide yourself from the Teen Titans forever." Kid Flash stubbornly remained on his topic.
"Just watch me."
"Jinx." He warned.
"Well, I won't hide forever and – hey! Who said I was on the good guy's team, anyway?" Jinx demanded, turning back to her waffles.
"Jinx, face it. You haven't actually done anything villainy since, like, forever. And you are staying with a Titan. Eventually, they'll find out, and if you don't tell them, they won't be happy." Kid Flash moved to grab a waffle.
"I am evil!" Jinx protested. She pulled the waffles away from Kid Flash's greedy hands. "Take one at a time."
"Sorry. I mean, come on, Jinx! Let's be realistic, okay?"
"Fine! Maybe I might be enjoying this hero life thing, even if I haven't actually done anything heroic. But who's to say that they'll actually trust me? God, Kid Flash, I tried to kill so many of them. Numerous times. They'll all just wait for a knife to the back. They won't trust me." Jinx plopped the plate in front of Kid Flash and turned back to the next batch.
"I trust you. That's all they'll need to know." Kid Flash replied.
Jinx opened her mouth, but no words came out. Instead, it sounded strangely like a whimper. Jinx did not whimper. She turned off the stove and gripped the edge of the counter.
"Jinxie?" Kid Flash was by her side in an instant, and Jinx was horrified to find that she had tears in her eyes.
Kid Flash wrapped his arms around her, gently. Jinx was ready to push him away; after all, NO ONE touched her. She didn't. She just didn't have the energy to.
Kid Flash sat her down on a chair and calmly began feeding her waffles from her plate. She let him, mainly because she didn't feel like feeding herself. The Teen Titans would never take him in, as kindly or as trustingly as Kid Flash had. She choked back a sob.
Kid Flash looked at her for permission, and Jinx held her arms out. He lifted her up and carried her to her bedroom.
By the time the tears were pouring down her face, he had laid her down on her bed, enveloped the blanket around her, and tucked her in. He wiped away her tears and whispered reassurances that he wasn't going anywhere in her ear, promising to stay by her side.
Jinx at last fell asleep, her hand clutching Kid Flash's as though it was her lifeline. She wasn't about to let him go.
Kid Flash, after realizing that he wasn't going to get anything done during the day, climbed into the bed next to Jinx, stroking her hair back lovingly.
"Or, you know, we can always tell them another day." Kid Flash offered weakly.
Even deep in her sleep, Jinx smiled slightly. Slightly….but she still smiled.