The world around her slowly came back to Jinx, and it took quite a bit of effort to force her eyes open. At first, she was not sure where she was, but the overabundance of soft blankets and sheets plus the arm wrapped around her waist reminded her. A slow smile crossed Jinx's face.
"Morning," Jinx said in a sickening sweet sing-song voice. Raven growled a rather rude sentence about where she could stick her good morning.
"I didn't know you were a cuddler," Jinx continued. "If you had told me I would have returned the favor." The arm around her waist vanished as the dark woman pulled herself away. "Maybe I should have been worried about you taking advantage of me."
"Shut up!" Raven growled, and she pushed Jinx out of bed. The Pinkette landed in a disorganized pile.
"Go shower," Raven growled with a tinge of red in her pale cheeks.
"You gonna join me?" Jinx asked pressing into the awkward for her amusement. "We can make it fun."
In response, Raven's eyes grew white, and Jinx quickly pulled herself up.
"I'm going; I'm going."
The shower was short and refreshing. When the chaotic girl stepped back out, she found Raven had gone, and there was a folded pile of clothing waiting for her. They appeared to be slacks and a t-shirt with hearts on it. Jinx balked at the thought of putting them on, but this ruse was much better than languishing in a cell. At least she could watch her enemies up close. The problem was, they did not feel like enemies.
Deciding that this was still better than sitting in a cell, Jinx pulled on the clothing and looked at herself in Raven's mirror. It had taken a lot of combing to get her hair to stay long and smooth, the pink somehow muted by the purple of Starfire's outfit. Her hips and chest felt as if they could not give the outfit justice. Jinx never thought of herself as a pretty girl and for the most part, did not care. She had never had to face such a direct comparison, and it made her feel small.
"Hurry up," Raven's voice said from the hallway. "I'm hungry, and it's breakfast."
Giving her cheeks a quick pat to bring color and banish the gloomy mood, Jinx strode out and plastered her smirky smile on her face.
"What are we having?"
"Waffles."
The Titans' kitchen seemed much more prominent when she strode into it. It was not like she had a lot of time to look at it earlier, but the counter space had enough room for the multitude of plates while Cyborg was busy cooking away at the waffles. Raven grabbed a few without saying anything and flopped down at an empty plate.
"Good morning, Jinx!" Beast Boy's sing-song voice came from the closest place to the giant pile.
"Oh," Jinx said startled at the bright smile from the shapeshifter. "Hey."
"You hungry? I worked up a mean appetite yesterday playing Road Racer 7 with Cyborg."
"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry."
The timidness was a shock to Jinx. She stood there with one arm in front of her and was nervously pulling at a strand of hair. These were her enemies, the ones who had continually destroyed her plans and hurt her and her friends.
"Come! Sit! Before Raven eats them all. She's a pig when it comes to waffles."
"Hey!" Raven growled through a mouth full of waffles and looking over the six piled on her plate.
Jinx slowly advanced on the stool that Garfield offered and placed herself on it. The pinkette made eye contact with Robin who had remained silent the whole time. His eyeless mask was focused on her, and it studied every move she made. It felt that any second, she'd get his staff to her face.
Beast Boy plopped three waffles on to her plate and began to drizzle syrup on them.
"Say when."
"Huh?"
"When you want the syrup to stop."
"Oh. When."
Beast Boy set down a fork and knife beside the plate and motioned to it.
"Enjoy! You're going to need the energy for training time. Robin's got this sick obstacle course and one on one martial art training scheduled today."
"So, I should remain in my room?"
"No," Robin said for the first time that day. It was stern, but the cold was not as thick. "If the inspectors come back today we need you with us, so you'll be training like one of the team. We're not going to go easy on you."
"Never asked you to," Jinx retorted and then took a bite. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded appreciatively to Cyborg.
"These are delicious, Cyborg. I didn't know you could make homemade waffles."
The Titan's metal companion looked shocked and broke out into a grin. "Thank you very much, Jinx. I like hearing that people like my food. I mean, I can tell by the way people eat that they love it, but it's nice to be appreciated."
"If I stay long enough, can you teach me to make one or two things so I can make them for my buds back at the HIVE?"
The room was silent for a moment at the mention of the criminal organization they wound up battling, but the robot man did not let that stop him. Cyborg nodded his head vigorously.
"Of course I can. That little guy Gizmo needs some better food if he's going to grow up right."
Jinx about choked on her waffle and laughed until tears streamed down her face.
It had become the time of firsts as Jinx followed Robin and Cyborg into the room that they called the training room. It took up an entire floor in the Titan's tower, and it had been filled with every type of exercise and training equipment while it had a running track that ran the wall of the floor. Jinx's mouth fell open.
"Wow, you guys put a lot into training, don't ya?" the pinkette whistled as her eyes roamed the room. They appeared to be heading towards a large mat that could hold fifteen to twenty fighters with ease.
"Are you kidding?" Cyborg said jovially. "If we ain't' out there fighting baddies, Robin's got us in here fighting each other, running, or some other form of torture."
"It's not that bad," Robin growled as he reached the mat and took off his shoes. The others followed suit, so Jinx decided the ones she borrowed from Starfire's closet.
"It's horrible, bro," Beast Boy whined. "I'm already aching, and I haven't been hit yet."
The whining must have been a regular occurrence as nobody else commented. Jinx watched Raven kick off her dark blue slippers as she floated over and onto the mat. Jinx admired the girl's calm and ability. Jinx knew she could fly to a certain extent with her magic, but it was chaotic much like she was.
"We're doing close quarters drill today, team," he said speaking to the Titans as they lined up in front of him. Jinx stood to the side not quite sure where to stand. She toed the mat and tried to look as adorable as possible. Robin sighed and pointed roughly to a place by Raven.
"Thanks, sugar!" she responded and skipped to the place.
"Please don't push him today, Jinx," Raven murmured under his breath. "Today's not a good day."
Jinx wanted to fire off a retort about how she did not give a shit about his feelings, but when her pink eyes met the violet pair looking back, she saw something different, pleading, in them.
"Yeah, sure. Promise to try to keep it low." Jinx said feeling awkward for a moment.
"Alright, we're going to be playing non-power rules for this one."
Beast Boy audibly groaned.
"For those of us who haven't gone through this before. " Robin continued looking pointedly at Jinx. "it means that you have to use your martial skill and not your powers. Beast Boy will not change animals, Cyborg will limit his cybernetics to the basic setting, I'll not use my devices, and magic users will not be allowed to use their powers."
"So, I can do anything that's not magic, gadget, just my person, right?" Jinx said with a grin on her face.
"Yes, I assume HIVE has taught you some fighting techniques."
"I hold a black belt in Kun Tao and Tai Kwan Do," Jinx said beginning to stretch. "I can handle it."
"Alright, pair off and go at it. The defeated will pair off, and it will continue like that."
Jinx turned, but Raven had already floated off towards Cyborg, and she gently touched down on the ground. In one motion, the sorceress threw off her cloak, and it floated off the mat by the slippers. Jinx took a moment to admire how well Raven's ass filled out her uniform.
'My, my. The boys here do get a nice show when she's not wearing her hood.'
Raven looked over her shoulder at her, and the girl's low melodic rumble filled her mind.
'Quit looking at my ass and fight someone before Robin gets upset.'
Jinx grinned sheepishly as color filled her cheeks.
Walking to her portion of the mat, Jinx found the shapeshifter, Beast Boy, waiting for her. He was leaning up against one of the standing practice dummies feigning a look of boredom.
"I got paired with you, huh?" he said straightening and cracking his knuckles. "Well, it's finally going to be great to pound you without your friends protecting you."
"Pound me?" Jinx responded in a mock surprise, hand placed against her chest in fake shock. "Pound me? You have to at least by me dinner. I'm not THAT type of girl."
"That's….that's not what I meant!" Beast Boy sputtered, his bravado leaking out of him like a balloon. "I mean to say is that I'm going to bang you up good."
"So…you feel mature enough to have a child with me then?" Jinx pushed as they walked together.
"No! Stop-stop twisting my words!"
They were an arm's length apart, and she leaned forward and whispered to the young man across from her.
"Hey, just do me a favor and don't peek."
"Peek?"
"Yeah, I forgot to put my panties on today."
Jinx waited the two seconds that it took, but inevitably, Beast Boy's eyes dropped towards her waistline. At that moment, the hex witch through the punch and caught the boy on the chest sending him flying back and on the mat.
"Hey!"
"Rule number one greenie," Jinx said walking toward him with a grin on her face. "Don't let your enemy get in your head.
With a growl, Beast Boy lunged at her, and she quickly batted away multiple attempts at karate and was impressed by how much the young man had learned. He wasn't a hardened mercenary, but without his powers, he had a good chance to stand up against thugs.
Of course, Jinx was not a thug but an elite graduate of HIVE academy and sought after mercenary and thief by international markets. She had to be much better. With a quick step into his swing, Jinx caught his hand under her arm and brought her body close allowing the momentum to sweep the boy off his feet. He slammed down hard on the ground, Garfield's eyes rolling around stunned.
"Not bad, turtle," Jinx said with a sarcastic laugh, she stood over him with hands on her hips. He tried to focus on her but aimed low. His eyes got wide.
"You aren't wearing any-"
"You're welcome," she said turning her back to him and making her way toward a specific giant robot. She had a bone to pick with him.
Raven had just finished about with him, and Jinx took a moment to admire how the sweat clung to her skin and how delicious her skin looked. The leotard she wore was form fitting but not in a way that called out those around her. Much like the girl that was wearing it, the suit was common sense and pragmatic. For a moment, Jinx admired the woman's physique, the thin arms, curvy hips and a chest that was deceptively endowed. The hex-witch to a second to consider how difficult it would be to seduce the titan to bed but stopped when she remembered the emotion detector.
"I'm next, but boy," Jinx said striding up to him. "I got a bone to pick with you?"
"What did I ever do to you-" Cyborg asked surprised and then hesitated. "-recently?"
"How about yanking on my heart strings and then blowing up my school?" Jinx said dropping into a fighting stance. Raven joined Beast Boy to the side who were more interested in the sparring match than actually dueling themselves.
"Part of the mission, baby," he responded cracking his knuckles. "No hard feelings."
"Same to you when I'm done cleaning this mat with your bald head, sparky," Jinx growled.
The pinkette did not hesitate; she threw herself at the giant half man half machine with all the fury she could unleash. How quickly had the feeling of being in control devolve into a wave of anger she had kept locked up inside. Cyborg was fast, but she was faster than him. Dancing along him she landed a few blows that. A zap of power slipped through her grasp, and the mat sparked close enough for Cyborg to overcalculate and fall hard.
"Hey! This is a training match," Robin yelled as he hurried over. Cyborg was back on his feet, and she heard the whine of his equipment activating.
Jinx wanted to tell him that her power had leaked out and she was not trying to cheat but the fury she felt for the injury to her friends, the risk Mammoth took to get her out of the building. It was just too much.
"Just a friendly sparring match, worm eater," Jinx said her eyes taking on a purple glow to it. "One I think is about to get more interesting."
The first blast of energy came from Cyborg as his anger had bubbled over. The bolt scorched the mat while Jinx danced out of the way. Her twirl sent bolts of hex magic at the man who also got out of the direction of the resulting explosion.
As she aimed her palm toward the black man trying to get back up, a bow staff knocked her hand aside, and the other end landed squarely on her collar bone. She fell back.
"I said to stop!"
"He fired first!" Jinx spat back out in a fury. The reason why she hated the Titans spilling out. Their sanctimonious attitude. They never knew suffering like her.
"I saw the spark of magic," Cyborg accused.
"I can't control it sometimes. Sue me." the pinkette hissed back.
"You're done, Jinx. You either walk away, or I put you down."
"Stop being a crybaby," Jinx growled standing and brushing herself off. "Not my fault your momma didn't love you as a child."
Jinx didn't know what more shocking the fact that she didn't see the blow coming or that it was Robin who struck it. The bow staff landed sounded against her left side, and she distinctly heard the crack of two of them. She fell to the ground gasping and saw the other end coming for her jaw. The blow that would have shattered her mouth never landed but stood mere inches away surrounded in ethereal black energy.
"ENOUGH!"
Raven's voice was not loud be commanding, and everyone felt it in their souls. It was as of a spell broke, and everyone around backed away. Not Jinx, of course. She held her ribs and focused on breathing. The broken bone was poking at her lung, and she didn't want to deflate it.
"Take a walk, Robin." Raven ordered evenly. "and take Cyborg with you. We need eight pizzas for tonight."
Robin did not argue or say anything. He just deactivated his bowstaff replaced it behind his back and walked off with Cyborg. Raven knelt by the struggling pinkette and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Didn't know you could break ribs with that silly staff of his," Jinx croaked out.
"He's usually not trying to," Raven responded.
Black energy enveloped them, and for one moment of vertigo, Jinx found herself still kneeling but in Raven's room. Raven slipped a hand under Jinx's shirt seeking out the wound.
"What happened?"
"Today's the anniversary of his parents died," Raven said. "They fell to their deaths when he was a young boy. Circus accident from what I've heard."
"Oh."
The quip about his mother. If the shoe was on the other foot, Jinx knew she would have curb stomped the offender's face. A searing pain shot through Jinx when Raven's fingers found the broken upper rubs under her left breast and the weirdest pain followed. She felt the ribs click back in place and all that was left was a bit of aching.
"I didn't know you had healing magic," Jinx said relieved she could breathe again. "That gotta be handy."
"It has been," Raven said standing and making her way to the closet where she pulled out a washcloth and began to dab at her face. Jinx studied her and saw the emotion running through her eyes. Though her outer features did not vary, the pinkette could see the gamut of thoughts running through. Instinctively, the girl wanted to distract the other.
"But I want to say, Raven," Jinx said adding the snark back to her voice. "If you wanted to cop a feel, all you had to do was ask. They're not impressive like yours, but I'm proud of them."
Raven's pale face went from confused, to crimson, then to anger. She threw the rag at Jinx. She stormed past her while Jinx shirked away. "Don't break my ribs!"
The door slammed leaving Jinx all alone. With no one around, she stretched out on the floor and stared at the dark ceiling. Emotions washed over her, and the feeling of homesick and something else tormented her. How were Mammoth and Gizmo? It was not like she could call and find out. They would have followed protocol and hidden until the heat died down. With the Teen Titans, it would have been awhile.
She felt a bit of magic leak out of her and Jinx quickly sat up. Jinx pulled her feet underneath her and closed her eyes. The pinkette knew she had to meditate before the chaos magic became worse. For now, she was safe. And for some reason, she felt Raven would keep it so.