A bit of a silly chapter that gets darker as it goes. Oh, and names are established. Maybe it's not necessary, but I figure the HIVE guys are on first-name terms with each other, and…well, come on. Who names their kid "Gizmo"?
And as for Jinx's difference in reaction…well, that'll be explained eventually.
Shadow929: I swear, you give me the hugest ego boosts. Thanks for all your support!
Shay Bo Bay: You'll have to wait to find out! Thanks for reviewing!
DaGork: Thank you! By the way, I'm working on your character, expect to see him soon! Gosh, I really need to update H is for HIVE…
Acosta perez jose Ramiro: Yeah, Billy is suicidal. Thanks for your review!
I have to admit, I ended up writing Kid Flash a little differently then I thought...but he is really confused in this chapter, so if he seems a little off, keep that in mind.
It Develops
She forgot her locket.
Or maybe she left it on purpose.
He hoped she left it on purpose.
No, he knew she'd left it on purpose.
Her locket was special.
She'd said so.
She loved her locket.
She wouldn't have left it behind if she wasn't coming back for it.
People didn't just leave the things they loved behind on the turn of a dime.
It was just unnatural.
So she was coming back…right?
Right.
That decided, the caped teleporter, Elliot, turned back to the map in front of him. So, if he hit in this area, starting here…
"Don't stress," Kid Flash pleaded for the billionth time. "It'll give you early wrinkles. You'll be miserable if you contract early wrinkles."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Jinx wailed. "He came in here!"
Kid Flash---well, Wally---scratched his head for the hundredth---or was it thousandth now?---time. What was a guy to do?
Just late last night, he'd come in and found Jinx staring blankly at the TV. At the basketball game, no less. He'd known right away that something was very off. Not only did Jinx hate basketball with the passion of a thousand suns, but dinner wasn't even started. And Wally was late. The Kid Flash was late. What did that say about Jinx?
"Uh, Jinx?" He'd glanced left and right, and hadn't seen even a crumb. Jinx never missed dinner. "What…have you even eaten? And you're still in costume…"
She'd turned. Wally had winced at the bloodshot eyes and the obvious moisture surrounding them.
"Wally…I'm so sorry…"
He'd sped to her side. "Jinx, it isn't the end of the world. I can cook tonight, if you want."
"Fuck dinner!" She'd burst with surprising vehemence, even for Jinx. And Wally knew what a nasty Jinx was.
A nasty Jinx was a Jinx that threw a plate of pancakes across the condo because Wally had asked if she needed him to pick up some Midol. That was a nasty Jinx.
"Jinx…" Wally tried to think of something that would calm her down. He ended up wrapping his arms around her nonexistent waist and squeezing gently. "Cutie, what's wrong? Come on, you can tell me, can't you?"
Bad move. The moisture that had only begun to dry was replenished.
"I'm SORRY!" She shoved his arms away. "I don't know HOW he got in…and I didn't even do anything, I just…a-and he drank one of our COKES!" She bawled.
He? Wally wracked his brains. "He" could mean anybody…so vague…and yet…not "he" as in…?
"Who, sweetie?" Wally tried again. He considered hugging her again; hugging Jinx was usually like squeezing all the bad feelings out. But that didn't seem to be working at the moment…
Jinx sniffled pathetically. "Billy…"
Oh. Oh. Billy Numerous. The HIVE Five. Okay. That made sense. "Oh, hunny," Wally tried to smile. "That's not so bad, we can take care of---"
"Not so bad? Not so bad?" Jinx asked incredulously. "Wally, do you have any idea what Robin is going to do to me?"
"Now, Jinx," Wally tried to rationalize. "Robin isn't The Godfather. The worst he can do is---"
"Kick me out of the Titans! Send me to jail! Ruin my LIFE!"
Well…there was always that…
"Well, he won't if we both talk to him right away. He'll listen to us---"
"He'll listen to you, maybe, but Billy was IN HERE! WITH ME! And I didn't even kick his ass, I could've…"
It went on like that for a while, with Wally rationalizing and Jinx freaking out. Not that he blamed her or anything. Robin had been scary when the HIVE Five had escaped; now that they had reappeared…
Wally sighed into the pan of pancakes he was making. This was sort of his fault, in a way. His fault for not killing the HIVE Five when he had the chance. Okay, so that was a little over the top. He wouldn't have killed them if he'd known this was going to happen. However, he might have maimed them indefinitely…nah, not even that. Just…something to keep them out of the way for good.
"Hey, Jinx," He finally said. "What if we just put in a security system?"
Jinx glared over the rim of her mug of coffee. "Don't we already have a security system?"
"Well, yeah," Wally paused as he flipped one of the pancakes. "But we could get a better one. Cyborg was talking about some new system the other day…I could ask him about it. And then we won't have any more scares, with the HIVE or with Robin. Right?"
Jinx took a long moment to sip at her coffee. "It could…but won't Robin find out about this anyway?"
"Not if we go to Cyborg first."
Jinx pursed her lips. "If you really think---"
"Who needs to think? I know," Wally sped away from the stove to plant a quick kiss on Jinx's nose. "It'll be fine, see? So no more stress! We have another day ahead of us!"
Another day indeed.
As soon as they met Cyborg at their usual intersection, a huge crop of robberies just sprang up, practically out of nowhere. According to Cyborg's scanner, there was a huge circle of hit-spots forming, one right after another.
Jinx stared at the screen in half-dread.
"What?" Wally asked hesitantly.
"That's familiar," Jinx said quietly. "That's Elliot's pattern."
"Elliot?"
She bit her lip. "Kyd Wykkyd."
Crap. Not this again.
Cyborg looked from Jinx to Wally and back to Jinx. "Something up?"
Before Wally could even take a breath, Jinx answered brusquely, "No, not at all. We should go…here next," She pointed to a spot a few grid marks away from the most recent hit. "And quickly."
"That warehouse?" Cyborg squinted at the grid of the city. "You really think so?"
"Trust me. He gets a kick out of that place."
When they drove up and broke the door open, Wally could immediately see why anyone would get "a kick" out of the warehouse. The whole thing was like a carnival graveyard. Crates of rubber balls, hoola-hoops, and clown face-paints were stacked haphazardly against the walls. Broken tricycles and sawdust littered the floor. What looked like a collapsed tent had been thrown carelessly in one of the corners. And in the center of the mess was a huge, broken down merry-go-round with splintered, sneering horses painted in faded shades of cream, tan, gold, olive, oak, periwinkle blue, and ruby red.
"Jesus," Cyborg whispered in awe in front of Wally. "You guys never told me about this place."
"It's not ours. It was Elliot's only," Jinx replied crisply. But Wally could hear the obvious envy in her voice. "Selfish asshole claimed it for himself when we were all little. You could only come in with his express permission, or else he'd steal your homework."
Wally squinted at the walls, and realized that there were actually a few windows spotting the upper ceiling, but they were covered with old curtains. He reached up and tore one down, and had to duck from glass shards.
Jinx smiled knowingly at the windows. "Elliot's kind of a house wrecker," She explained.
Now that he was closer to the walls, Wally could see that. Faded blue and silver graffiti was near his elbow, and he could see that it continued down the wall's expanse, and probably even further down the wall adjoining to it, and the next, and the next…was it actual paint, or clown make up? Wally couldn't help but wonder.
He suddenly felt a very familiar shadow against his back.
The speedster turned faster than the others could blink, and was met with a pair of glowing red eyes…
…that weren't even looking at him.
The caped owner of the eyes ducked around him and headed straight for…
"Jinx!" Wally yelled in warning.
Jinx turned and yelped as Kyd Wykkyd bounded toward her and---
And…
Wrapped her in a big hug?
It only lasted for five seconds, but to Wally it was the longest, most drawn out hug he'd ever seen. When it was over and Kyd Wykkyd finally let Jinx go, he began inspecting her, turning her head this way and that, patting her shoulders, checking her nails until Jinx finally brushed him off.
"Elliot, I'm fine," She said in an exasperated tone Wally knew she only used when she was very pleased and trying to hide it.
"Elliot" didn't look very convinced, But at least he's not manhandling her anymore, Wally decided. "Um…Jinx? Hate to cut in, but…what's going on?"
"Oh, Wally, he's only---hey!" The question seemed to bring her back into reality. She pushed Kyd Wykkyd away. "You've been stealing!"
Kyd Wykkyd raised an eyebrow and shrugged in a, "Well, duh," manner.
"Where's the loot?" Jinx demanded. "Tell me!"
Kyd Wykkyd jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
"JESUS, YOU TOOK IT HOME ALREADY?"
The teleporter held his palms up defensively.
"Fine," Jinx snarled. "Whatever. You're coming with us."
"Elliot" put a finger to his chin in a questioning manner.
"Yes, you are!" Jinx retorted---Retorted? Is this even a conversation? Wally wondered---angrily. "Stealing leads to jail!"
With his finger still tapping his chin, Kyd Wykkyd tilted his head to the side, looking skyward in a thoughtful way. The most maddening little smirk was fighting for dominance of his lips.
"I hate to break this reunion up," Cyborg cut in, placing a heavy hand on the teleporter's shoulder, "But dude, she's serious. You're under arrest."
Kyd Wykkyd looked up at Cyborg. Then at Cyborg's hand. Then back up to Cyborg. Gently, as though he was handling a fly, he lifted the bionic hero's hand off his shoulder and put it carefully to rest back by Cyborg's side. He held up one finger, and disappeared.
"He got away!" Wally exclaimed, and immediately regretted it. Way to state the obvious, Einstein. But Jinx and Cyborg didn't seem to agree.
"Chill, man," Cyborg waved Wally's stress away. "He'll be back."
"How do you know?"
"He held up one finger," Jinx explained. "One finger means, "I'll be back in just a minute." Don't worry," She added kindly when she saw Wally's expression. "Elliot's language is pretty easy to pick up."
Wally stared at the pair blankly. For once, his speeding brain couldn't fathom what was going on. Why were they talking about Kyd Wykkyd like he was an innocent kid? Why weren't they trying to arrest him?
"So, why are we letting him come and go? Isn't he kind of a criminal? Aren't we going to bring him in?"
"We will," Cyborg assured him. "When he comes back. But I guess he wanted to get somethi---"
With a small flurry of black, Kyd Wykkyd returned. Something sparkled in his fist. He walked right up to Jinx and let it dangle from his fingers.
It was a locket. A small, quartz, heart-shaped locket hanging on a thin silver chain. Jinx recognized it immediately.
"Oh, that's mine, isn't it?" She gasped. Kyd Wykkyd nodded. She began to reach for the necklace. "Aw, thanks for bringing it, I can't believe I didn't---"
Before she could get her fingers around the chain, Kyd Wykkyd jerked it away, shaking his head. He pointed a finger at the locket, and then at her.
Jinx bobbed her head up and down. "Yes, it's mine. I forgot it."
That seemed to catch the teleporter off guard. He stood blinking for a moment before jabbing a finger towards the locket again. Jinx raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I forgot. Sorry."
Kyd Wykkyd seemed to be stuck staring at her, one finger still pointing at the locket. He mouthed the word, "forgot" at her. Jinx nodded silently.
An awkward silence ensued.
"Well," Jinx finally said. "Can I have it then?"
The teleporter raised the finger he was using to point at the locket and held it in midair indecisively.
Then he jabbed it forward…and disappeared again.
"Let me guess…he'll be back in just a minute?" Wally asked dryly.
"See?" Cyborg clapped him heartily on the shoulder. "You are picking the language up."
Wally looked up at Cyborg. Then he looked at Jinx. Then he looked at Cyborg again. "So, are you just really stoned, or am I missing something?"
Cyborg looked down at him, half-laughing. "Sorry, bro. But come on…it's Elliot."
"Um…Cyborg, I don't know how to break this to you, but…he's a thief. Like, the kind we arrest."
"Well, obviously," Jinx interrupted. She threw Wally an apologetic look. "I just want to finish this. Elliot has a habit of getting worked up over particular things, and it's better to deal with it sooner than later. As soon as I can figure out what he's on about, we'll take him to jail. Okay?" She added pleadingly. Like she suddenly needs my permission.
Wally tried to shake himself out of it. He really did. It wasn't like him to be sour just because of some thief. What was wrong with him? God knew he played around more than any of the Titans…except maybe Beast Boy…Maybe it was just because the whole thing was taking so long? That had to be it. After all, they'd already been at the stupid clown graveyard for how long? Five minutes or more. If he could just sit it out for a few minutes, then they could haul this guy off to jail, and start talking with Cyborg about that security system.
Kyd Wykkyd reappeared, and Wally blew out a sigh of relief. The sigh was inhaled almost immediately.
Clang!
The teleporter had brought something with him. Something heavy.
Jinx looked down at the box now lying at her feet. "Gee…" She teethed her bottom lip. "Is all that mine?"
Kyd Wykkyd nodded emphatically.
"Sorry," Jinx said sheepishly. "I was in a rush when I left. Has this stuff been in your way?"
Kyd Wykkyd and Wally stared at her in disbelief.
This is the girl who was SOBBING last night? What the hell happened?
Kyd Wykkyd pointed at her, and then the box. And then at her again. There was obviously some kind of point he was trying to make, but Wally couldn't think for the life of him what point that could possibly be.
So much for "picking the language up"…
The young witch looked at the box. Then at Kyd Wykkyd. Then at the box again.
And shrugged.
"I forgot it," She insisted.
Wally was sure that if Kyd Wykkyd had had a voice---or did he have a voice?---to scream with, he'd be screaming. He furiously jabbed his finger down at the box a few times, pulled out the locket and jabbed at that a few times too, and then finished with a long jabbing session at Jinx.
She looked vaguely hurt. "Well, you don't have to yell."
That was YELLING?
"Look," Jinx said, almost apologetically. "I'm sorry, I really just forgot that stuff. I can take it if you want---"
But apparently the teleporter had heard enough. With a very dramatic huff, he disappeared leaving box, locket, and the three Titans.
Jinx looked down at the box and sighed. "Well, it was nice of him to bring this, anyway," She said ruefully, bending down to pick it up.
As soon as the words left her lips, Kyd Wykkyd reappeared, plucked the box out of her arms, and disappeared again.
"Why that---! Fine!" Jinx stooped even lower to retrieve her locket. "He forgot thi---"
Kyd Wykkyd appeared yet again, ripped the locket and chain from her fingers, and disappeared again.
"HEY!" Jinx screeched after him. "That's MY locket! And MY stuff!"
Kyd Wykkyd reappeared yet again, this time to stick out his tongue at her, then disappeared. The three waited for a few seconds, but he didn't come back.
"So…he really got away this time…right?" Wally asked.
"Yeah," Jinx bit her lip. "Look, I'm sorry---"
"Hey, chilluns!" Cyborg interrupted. "We got a big hit all the way back at the mall! Looks like a double-whammy!"
The young witch sighed. "Fine…"
They piled awkwardly into Cyborg's car---Wally only liked car rides when Jinx was there---no one really talking to any one. Wally made sure to sit close to Jinx, in case she wanted to snuggle a little bit, or, miraculously, explain the huge difference in reaction from last night to today, but she didn't do either.
Wally sighed. It was going to be a long ride to the mall.
Elliot threw down the whole mess down in the middle of his room: box, locket, cloak, and all. He kicked out at the box, and was about to do it again…but he felt kind of bad.
Jinx's box…Jinx's stuff…
…Jinx's locket…
"I forgot."
Was that even a real excuse? I forgot?
A heavy fist banged on his door.
"Hey, Elliot?" Montego (Mammoth), called. "You in there?
Elliot ran to the door and knocked softly back. He heard Montego's grunt of disapproval on the other side.
"Breakfast---" For no one involved in the HIVE Five rose any earlier than nine in the morning, so of course Montego didn't make breakfast until around ten--- "has been ready for a while, you know? You gonna eat your share? 'Cause if you don't, I will." Elliot felt a small unease in the statement, and realized that the absence of Montego's usual chuckle was the cause of it. "You all right in there?"
Elliot tapped back five times; his code for "Be out soon.". Montego sighed and stomped away.
Elliot cast a guilty glance at the box. Where to put it?
A rather malicious thought crossed his mind.
Maybe he should just dump it. Served her right, didn't? Just leaving her stuff life that…giving people the wrong idea…
…And then he felt bad again. Jinx was still Jinx, weird as she was being.
And besides, there was nowhere inconspicuous to dump the box.
He'd put in the Spare-Spare Room, he decided.
The Spare-Spare Room had been rather accurately named when the HIVE Five had still been drawing out the blueprints to rebuild their hide-out, which had become admittedly derelict during their absence. Seymour (See-More) had been going through naming off rooms and their purposes when one Billy had blurted out:
"Ya skipped that one."
"Which one?" Seymour had snapped.
"That one there," Vito (Gizmo) had pointed it out impatiently with a stubby finger. "Towards the bottom. What's it for?"
Seymour had blushed. "It's a…spare room."
"We already have a spare room," Montego had pointed at another mark on the blueprints. "Right there, see?"
Elliot had nodded in agreement.
"Well, it's another spare room. Just in case," Seymour had finally answered curtly.
One Billy had started snickering uncontrollably.
"A spare spare room?" He'd asked.
And the name had stuck, in spite of all of Seymour's protests.
Everyone knew what the Spare-Spare Room was really for, anyway. But no one really wanted to say it out loud.
Putting the box there, Elliot decided, would be most appropriate.
Just in case.