Heeyy dudes and dudettes! Missed me? I know I shouldn't start another story when I've got so many others waiting, but I really had to (Jinx and Wally forced me, I swear!). So here it is, another spin-off-prequel-thingy to my BBRae story Get it over which also is related to Unfaithful, my CyBee prequel-spin-off-thingy. So enjoy and SMILE!

And I still don't own them, 'kay?

Chapter 1: West

Their story started with an end – the end of her career as villainess. She had quit her team of criminals due to the things he said, the facts he made her think about and of course because of the emotions he let her feel. Not that it had been hard to leave them behind… the only one who ever had showed anything close to loyalty had been SeeMore and even he did it only because he had a crush on her. He had just been too cowardly to admit. And Jinx hated coward men.

Kid Flash hadn't been a coward. He had shared every thought that run through his mind instantly with her, if asked for or not. The young speedster had asked her questions she tried to ignore when they crossed her mind and made statements that turned her understanding of the world upside down. He had gone under her skin before she had noticed, and when she finally did, it was already too late to get rid of him without hurting herself. Sometimes she told herself that she just quit the HIVE five because she was no masochist and it had been the least painful path she could choose. On other days a small voice from the back of her mind liked to tease her that she left because she wanted to believe him. That she wanted to believe in a better tomorrow for herself, a better fate.

But anyways, she left. With nothing but the clothes that she wore (which were rather battered and dirty after the nasty slap that elastic bitch had dared to give her and had sent her flying), her wallet (yes, she was a villainess, but that doesn't mean she couldn't keep her wallet with her important papers, her credit card and some money on her) and a red rose from her love interest (or bane of her life, like she liked to state for teasing). It didn't make any difference, she didn't hang on to her belongings in the headquarter, or she wouldn't put them there. Her former teammates were not really trustworthy people and she knew they slipped into her room from time to time to look for valuable things, even if they had to face her wrath afterwards (and she made them pay tenfold their gain, so it didn't occur this often, but still too often for her taste).

As she walked through the dark streets pondering over her unlucky past, her strange present and her uncertain future, she sat down on a bench at a bus stop, asking herself what to do next. Sure, the hero had promised to help her, but he was surely busy now, probably with some world saving duties. She had to start somewhere. First, a place for the night, favorably with a bathtub, but a shower would do too…

"Meow."

The train of her thoughts got interrupted by a cat, which rubbed his furry side onto her legs, apparently searching her attention. With a questioning look she glanced at the reddish fur and the blue eyes of it. It made her think of someone…

"Go away" she shooed, even shot a small curse after it. After avoiding her pink shock wave, the cat continued as if nothing ever had happened.

"What do you want?" she asked partly annoyed by the presence of another being while thinking, though she ever had felt rather connected to those animals than to humans.

The cat seemed to ignore her question and continued nudging her with his slim body.

"You know, I'm not that good of a company to have around… So you better leave" she stated frowning. But the silly creature still got on, even started to purr in the process.

Jinx sighed: "Seriously, what do you think you are doing? I'm no good company, I am bad luck… And for every good thing happening there has to be a bad thing to even it out. You know, the big balance and all that crap… But maybe I don't have to do the bad things to support the balance…"

Unconsciously, she had started petting it while rambling and thinking out loud, even scooped it up and held it to her chest while caressing it.

"It's… just hard to believe that no one will get hurt for my happiness… How can I let people get involved with me when I know exactly that they will be in danger? Look at that silly super – he got tortured because of me, even by me. And still… still he believes in me. I don't know how I can go through this all… I mean, look at me; I'm a confused young woman with nothing but a curse and a purse. I bet if you knew me, you wouldn't be this contently cuddling with me. Sure, maybe you have fleas or illnesses or you're just nice to me because you want me to feed you, but still you are nice without being asked. Just like him. And you barge into my life unasked like him. Hell, you even look like him. You aren't him in cat form, are you?"

The only answer she got was a lick on her cheek that made her smile despite her current confusion.

"You know what? If you two insist so much on it, I'll really give it a try. A life without crime shouldn't be that hard, right? Care to join me, straw cat? I bet you'd like a proper home too" she mumbled. She desperately needed some company right now, and why not a cat that resembled a lot the one she would prefer by her side? Not that she ever would tell anyone, and certainly not Kid Flash himself…

"Fine, then it's settled. But you need a name if you'll stay with me…" she mused, her eyes wandering around as if a good name would jump into her eyes by sheer luck. And then it did. She sat under a sign declaring "West District – Bus to City Center, Jump Bay, New Alley".

A smirk adorned her features as she looked back to her new companion: "From West District to New Alley… West it is then… It's a good name, you know. West is the direction of the sunset, of the beginning night, of the wild and free lands…"

With another glance to check out her surroundings she stood.

"Let's find a place to get some sleep, West."

It took her some time to find a cat-friendly hotel in the middle of the night, but she succeeded eventually. She rented the room for unknown time, they'd need it until she could find herself a decent job and a proper apartment; she would rely on her reserves for the start. Of course, she earned strange looks the first few days, people knew her all too well in Jump City. Suspicious looks followed her everywhere, as usual, but miraculously she still managed to get hired as a waitress in a gloomy gothic coffee shop called "The Coffin". She even could afford a small, one-room flat in an acceptable neighborhood with her salary, that even West could feel comfortable in. With the cat as her only friend she still was able to steady her live in not more than two weeks.

But she was far from getting used to it. Every time a siren blared through the streets she could feel the urge to run and hide. It got better when she used her remaining savings to repay the damages she had caused during her criminal career and had paid a generous reparation fine to the city from the same source. It didn't matter that she had no more money left after that. It had been stolen or earned by committing crimes anyway, and she thought it was only right to get rid of it. If it could help her with starting her new life, even better.

Though her name was cleared now in the eyes of justice, she still got those scared stares. She wouldn't change her appearance, she had told herself and West, because she liked how she looked, even if she stood out. Sometimes she would wear her hair differently, let it down or put it up in a pony-tale, sometimes she wore slightly different clothes. But in her old getup she felt the most comfortable. And secretly she was afraid that Kid Flash would not recognize her if she'd change too much.

Plus there was always this lingering feeling that all this luck had to attract a lot of bad luck, so she was happy for all the cuts and burns she got from her attempts to cook. If the bad luck happened to her it didn't happen to others.

Worst was surely that she couldn't get rid of the lonely feeling. She hadn't seen the speedster for three weeks now, no sign of him so far. Had it been just a flirt to him? Had she let herself be fooled so easily by some pretty words of a handsome boy? The doubts started to eat her sanity away, even as she showed no such thing to the outside world.

At her work in The Coffin she was the perfect gloomy waitress, already the favorite of the team, while she still wondered how she had managed it. Her co-workers and even her boss kept inviting her for an after-work drink, what she often accepted. They didn't mind if she was brooding in her corner, tossing a snarky remark in their conversation from time to time and sipping on her root beer. Maybe they would have been not as welcoming if they would have known that she was sulking over the constantly-happy teen hero…

But that thought only came to her one afternoon as she was checking in for her shift. Two of her co-workers walked uncharacteristically agitated complaining over some guest in the staff room, when she had finished to change.

"…joking and flirting! Can you imagine?" Estella, a pale, scrawny girl with long, black hair complained.

"He ruins the whole mood in our establishment!" retorted a waiter called Shadow, a boy in her age with the same color complexion and eyeliner in anger.

Jinx scowled: "What's wrong, guys?"

"There is this overly happy, overly flirty guest out there! He sits at the center table since this morning, ate himself through the menu twice and is sending smiles in every direction!" Estella huffed.

Jinx almost burst out into laughter by her co-workers narration – as if a smile was the most improper and insulting thing anyone could do to her – until the description reminded her of a certain hero who hadn't shown up for a while. It couldn't – wouldn't – be him.

"I'll deal with him, leave it to me" she calmed the two others with determination. If it wouldn't be him, she'd just scare away that idiot who went in the wrong coffee shop; she'd surely teach him to anger her co-workers. And if it really was Kid Flash, well, then he would get a piece of her mind. What does he think anyway, getting her to quit crime business, then leave her for weeks and suddenly reappear at her new work place. Who does he think he is?

Estella and Shadow nodded contently, as they saw Jinx leave with that dangerous glint in her eyes. Their coffee shop would soon be rid of the disgusting brightness the unwanted customer had brought in.

Jinx wasn't really surprised to see a handsome, redheaded teen with bright blue eyes sitting in the described spot – attempting to flirt with a passing waitress – still his presence startled her. She never had seen him in street clothes, without the costume, without the mask. He was an attractive boy, she thought, before she mentally slapped herself for it. Angry with him for being here and making her think such stupidities, she stomped over to him, registering her boss Draco in the darker corner of the shop from the edge of her eyesight rooting with a nod. This would make it a lot easier to throw him out.

Almost hitting rage on her anger scale, she turned his chair around to face him and started to growl: "What the hell are you…" but was immediately stopped by the sight.

From the distance he had looked as always, but now she was close she could not miss the dark circles under his eyes, how tired and worn he looked and how a haunted shadow lay in his usually sparkling eyes. How could the others see him as a treat to the gloominess of the place?

"What happened to you?" she whispered in concern while she sat down on the chair next to him. She ignored the shocked expression of her boss. She'd deal with him later.

"Hey, beautiful. Been a while. I hope you didn't miss old Wally too much" he smiled, showing a glint of his former spark, but far from his true happy smile. Plus she registered he had given her his name without making it suspicious. Clever, but still not answering her question.

"Not enough to make Jess Nixon not wonder what happened to you" she said with a vicious grin.

Another spark made his appearance at the mention of her real name, but at the end of the sentence his face fell. With a determined look she wouldn't have thought him able of he leaned closer.

"Jess, can you make yourself free? There's trouble" he whispered seriously.

She was startled. Was he… asking for her help? After leaving her alone to sort out the mess her life had become after he'd shown up? She was rather tempted to turn him down, but she saw the plead in his eyes – his haunted blue eyes that looked like he hadn't been able to sleep for weeks. Had he slept since he had seen her last time? Had he been hunted and had this been the reason he hadn't contacted her for so long?

He placed his hand over hers and added: "Please?"

It was enough to get her agreement. She nodded: "Just give me a minute."

In the end it had taken a half of a minute to persuade her boss to cover for her. Family emergency, she had explained and he had let her go. He may be dark, creepy and gloomy, have a stick up where the sun never shines and wear his blond hair with too much gel plastered on his skull, but he always was understanding. And Jinx was grateful for it.

She took Kid Flash – Wally she corrected herself, he was in civilian after all – to her apartment. If he had to talk about the hero business it would be better in a place where no one could listen. No one except West. And West surely was trustworthy. He wouldn't go blab it around…

On their way to her home he had never ceased to look around. If he would be any other person she'd call it paranoiac, but knowing who he was made her worry about their safety as well.

He only relaxed as they had closed the door behind them and she had assured him, that it was intruder-free. To her surprise he eased up so far as crushing her into a hug.

"Thank God you stood safe" he muttered in her hair.

"Okay, Kid Flash, now you're freakin' me out! What happened?" she inquired while trying to free herself from the fierce embrace. Unnecessary to say it was futile, to get free and to get an answer out of the exhausted hero, who desperately seemed to need to hug her.

Eventually she got saved by her roommate.

"Meow" it called and strode around their feet, very similar to when she first met it.

The speedster released her wondering: "You have a cat?"

She got down and picked it up, cradling it comfortably in her arms.

"This is West. West, this is Kid Flash" she introduced.

"You... you named him after me? How did you find out?" he stuttered with a dumbfounded and slightly scared expression.

"What are you talking about?" she scorned.

"My real name – Wally West – how did you…" he started but guessing by her look that she hadn't known his name.

She shook her head with a gentle smile, still petting the purring cat in her arms, as she said: "I didn't know until now. West has his name from a bus station. I guess it's a lucky incident."

"Phew…" he let out a deep breath, "For a second you really scared me. So West, eh? Cool. He even looks like me" he grinned.

But it wasn't a full grin, she could tell. There was something more important than her cat right now.

She pushed West into the redheads' arm and suggested: "Go and sit with West on the couch, I'll get something to drink."

She left a rather confused looking hero to figure out on his own where her couch was, with a comfortably purring cat in his arms.

The pink haired girl placed a bottle of root beer in front of him on the couch table with the words: "Now spill, Kid Flash."

He gave her a half-hearted grin while West had the decency to leave them.

"It's Wally for you, especially when I'm in civies and it would be a shame to dirty your floor. Root beer can be sticky" he tried to joke.

"Fine, Wally then" she rolled her eyes, "tell me what's going on."

"You ever were in Paris?" he asked with a slight grin.

"Wally, you have two minutes to explain yourself before I'll hex you out of here" she threatened in annoyance. Seriously, why had he to keep confusing her?

Still she kind of regretted her harshness seeing his face fall.

He gave her a look full of fear and desperation, a look she couldn't match with him at all, than he did what he had been told: "The Brotherhood of Evil was chasing and capturing all the Teen Titans and her fellow teen heroes. What they have done to them, I didn't know. But I've been on the run, literally, since the last time I saw you. And when I found your headquarter empty I thought you either joined them or…" his voice broke at the thought of what he had imagined happening to her. He knew her for so little time, but he cared deeply. He couldn't bear to lose her.

Her face softened as relieve flooded through her. He hadn't abandoned her, he hadn't forgotten her. And he seemed to really care. He had been worried for her, something no one had for a very long time. It felt…warm.

"You know, you're really different, Jinx. There aren't a lot of people who could surprise me, but you always do. It really surprised me, that you had left right away" the speedster stated smiling after he had collected himself.

"I go by Jess now" she said coolly, trying to hide her blush behind a nonchalant attitude.

"Jess. Sounds nice to me" he smiled. And for the first time it seemed like a real smile, making all that haunted him disappear for a few seconds and sending her heartbeat up through the roof.

"What are you going to do?" she asked faking indifference. She couldn't fight his flirtatious comments so maybe he would stop if she ignored them. Maybe…but a treacherous part of herself hoped that he wouldn't.

As his features became serious again she regretted asking, still he answered: "I tried contacting the Justice League, some of us were or are still close to some of them, but they got their own big trouble right now. At least they could tell me where to look for the Brotherhood, near Paris, and after sneaking in I discovered that those who got captured are just shock frozen. So I can reverse it, but I'll need backup."

"And I am your only option?" she huffed.

"No, you're the only one I trust enough to ask for help" he declared earnestly.

Her mouth fell open and she gave him a baffled stare. "You… trust me? You said you didn't know if I joined them or was captured so why-"

"I figured after our last meeting you joining them was very unlikely and didn't see you there when I was spying around. And since I consider you at least as a friend there is no reason for me to not trust you."

He had looked her into her eyes the whole time, he meant it. He was desperately hoping she believed his honest words, because he meant every single one.

And his message was received. No one ever had trusted her this much, especially when she had done nothing to deserve it. She owed him for this.

After collecting herself she gave him one of her signature cat-like grins and inquired: "So what should I wear for Paris?"