Wally suppressed a yawn as Kitten continued to babble about... he forgot what he was supposed to be listening to two minutes after the conversation even started.

"...and then Kim said 'Noooooo way!' and I was like 'Yeah, you would not believe just where it was!' and she was like 'Omigosh, I am, like, so totally freaked out!' and then Carla..."

Yeah... That was a pointless tune-in. He continued to eat his burger at the small diner he and Kitten had decided to hang out at. They would hang out here, eat, then move to the back of the building, where there was a deserted alley. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she wanted.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt sick. He slowed his chewing, and for some reason, his fist clenched.

Girls like her were everywhere. They were quick, heartless, and most importantly, easy. She didn't need a slow, romantic night, or candles, or roses, or even love.

When his uncle Barry had given him the speech (yes... THE SPEECH... which consisted of a lot of stuttering and bright red cheeks from the poor boy who was going through puberty, and had been noticing a lot of the girls in his class very differently at the time), his uncle explained that it was meant as a symbol of love, not as something he could use and abuse anytime he wanted a rush of pleasure, just like his powers. His uncle stressed, constantly, how his powers were, to innocent civilians, a symbol of his protection, his utter devotion to stopping criminals and villains, not something he could use for his own gain or advantage.

But of course... it was hard to suppress urges when so many girls were throwing themselves at his feet, so eager, so open, so desperate... It was hard, at least, for a hormonal teenager who people picked on when he had been younger and scrawny. Being Kid Flash had been kind to him over the years. His shoulders had broadened, his acne cleared up, and he learned, over the years, how to smile a specific way.

It was that smile that had lured many a female into his mattress.

As he continued to fantasize, he suddenly realized Kitten was screeching.

"Are you even listening?"

"Huh?" he snapped to attention. "Oh... uh, sorry, Kitten, I, uh..."

He was interrupted by a loud scream.

"Help! Heeeeeeeelp!"

The two of them wheeled around to see, across the street, Flicker's Electronic Store being ransacked.

"Hive Five... Steal to your pleasure!"

With a loud cackle, the members of the Hive Five lunged into the store.

"Oooooooooooh, Wallyyyyy!" Kitten immediately grabbed onto his jacket and buried her face into his chest, in a supposedly cute gesture. Wally winced. She smelled of overpowering cheap perfume and the lingering scent of another man.

"I'm scaaaaaaared!" she whined. He managed to wrench her out of his grasp.

"I'll, uh, call for help!"

He ran out of the diner, then dashed into the alleyway he and Kitten had been planning to convene later. A few milliseconds later, Kid Flash zoomed out, a confident smirk on his face.

"Titans, go!"

"Hey, Robin!" he said cheerfully, raising a hand in greeting.

"Save the warm welcome for later, Kid Flash!" Robin retorted, sounding quite annoyed. "Stop them!"

Cyborg and Gizmo were glaring at each other.

"I still don't appreciate the last present you left on my back, two-feet-tall!"

"Oh, yeah? How about this one then, snotbrain?"

The two of them began to exchange furious blows, as Starfire, with a loud yell, flew towards Mammoth, knocking him clear out of the building.

"You may be strong! But I am strong as well!" the Tamaranean princess bellowed, before blasting him with a starbolt.

See-More nervously backed away from a very ferocious-looking green tiger, before switching his laser eye on. The tiger suddenly turned into a falcon, before flying out of the laser's range.

"Huuuo!" Robin leapt with his bo staff towards Kyd Wykkyd, who easily dodged before sending one of his lightning-fast attacks.

"Azarath... Metrion... ZINTHOS!" Raven easily collected a handful of Billy Numerous' in her glowing black orb, sending an angry glare at the rest of the Billy's in her way. "Which one of you is the original?"

"Guess it's just you and me, hmm?" Kid Flash said, grinning cheekily at the infuriated Jinx.

"Oh, it is so on!" she retorted, sending a light hex his way. He swiftly dodged.

"Aw... I think you care!" he winked. "It's almost like you don't want me to be hit!"

"You-!"

She quickly sent hex after hex, feeling her temper flare up as each one missed. He led her deeper and deeper down the street, adding insult to injury by making faces.

"Aw, come on, Jinxy!" he teased. "If you like me, just say so!"

With a furious cry, she sent another powerful hex, one of her bigger ones. As usual, he dodged it, but soon realized his mistake. His eyes widened as he caught sight of a woman and her child, innocent bystanders, who had just noticed the purple light heading towards them.

"No!" he yelled, but to his surprise, just as he yelled it, the light vanished. He ran over to the woman.

"Ma'am, please get out of this area... it's dangerous. Please hurry home."

As soon as he made sure they were gone, he hurried back to Jinx.

"Jinx!" he called in a panic. The pale sorceress was lying on her back, clothes ripped and torn in certain areas. He gently shook her.

"Jinx?" he said tentatively. "Are you... Are you okay?"

His eyes trailed down, and it clicked. She had absorbed her attack, had taken back the hex. But doing so had meant she had to pay the consequences for it.

Why, Jinx?

"Jinx, come on!" he muttered. "Be okay! We're not exactly friends, but I don't want you dead!"

"Don't..."

He leaned in closer. "Jinx?" he breathed.

"Don't touch me!"

He let out a yelp as she swept her arm up, hitting him square in the chest with another hex. At the same time, a puff of pink smoke surrounded her, more than likely from her inability to control her powers from emotional stress. He got up with a cough.

"Well... at least you're okay..."

The smoke slowly cleared. Kid Flash stumbled back in shock.

Isn't that... hey... that girl looks kinda familiar. Isn't that the tutor girl?

Jinx immediately whirled around. Her hands! They were pale flesh-colored! Pale! But not her pale. She cursed, then slammed her fist into her hip. The device inside her pocket crumbled in a flash of pink electricity. Kid Flash shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Jinx stood before him.

Phew... I really gotta start sleeping more.

"Jinx... don't do this," he looked up at the imposing girl. She glared down at him.

"I have to," she snapped. "You made me, us, look like complete idiots!"

"So join us!" he yelled back. "Join us and become something better! You can do it, Jinx... but you refuse to! You're better than all of this!"

"You don't know anything!" she hissed at him and raised her hand to strike.

"I know you absorbed a hex meant for innocent people!" he retorted, and she lowered her hand in shock.

"I..."

"Hah!"

Jinx let out a 'Oof!' as Robin kicked her out of the way.

"You okay?" he helped Kid Flash up. Kid Flash slowly nodded.

"F- Fine."

He looked around, but it was too late; the Hive Five had vanished.


"You did what?" Gizmo yelled furiously. Jinx glared at him.

"Keep it down, Gizmo!"

"Do you know how long it took me to make that?" Gizmo snarled. "And the parts weren't exactly easy to come across either!"

"Oh, relax," Jinx waved a hand. "You stole the idea from Cyborg anyways."

That reminder seemed to bring the genius inventor down a few notches.

"W- Well," he stuttered, red from embarrassment. "So? It was still hard to make! And now you want me to make another one?"

"Well, yeah!" she retorted. "The one you made for me malfunctioned while I was fighting!"

"Probably from one of your own hexes," he muttered under his breath.

"WHAT WAS THAT?" she roared, towering over him.

"Nothing, ma'am," he responded, shrinking. She sighed and exhaled.

"Look, I'm sorry... but can you make one by tomorrow?"

"Fine," he said sullenly. "Bring dinner to me at the workshop."

"Thanks, Gizmo!" she said happily, and took out the holographic generator from her pocket. He snatched it up, muttering uncomfortably under his breath.

"You wanna look the same way you did last time?" he called over his shoulder. She hesitated.

It was so tempting... she could fashion herself to look... not so geeky. Without glasses, without dull, boring brown hair and green eyes. She sighed and shook her head.

"Yeah... same as last time."

She turned around, and stepped back in surprise. She bent down to pick up the piece of paper that had fallen out of her pocket when she had taken out the holographic generator.

"Ughhh!" she smacked a hand to her forehead. In the excitement of today's heist, she had forgotten to call Wally West to schedule a tutoring appointment. She shook her head and headed to the mainframe computer to make the call.


Meanwhile, Wally West wasn't home... He was currently in a ferocious battle.

"No... No... Noooooooooooo!" he howled as the last of his strength ebbed away.

"Hehehe! Dude! I win again!" Beast Boy jumped on top of the sofa, and threw the game controller down.

"Go, BB! Who's your winner? Yeahhhhhh!"

Kid Flash let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine! I'll beat you next time we play!"

"One more round?" Beast Boy picked up the controller, waggling his eyebrows. Kid Flash, however, was no longer paying attention to him. He zipped up to the door as it slid open to reveal a tall figure.

"Heyyyy," he smirked, flipping his already, well, flipped hair, and flashing a charming smile to Starfire. The orange-skinned alien couldn't resist a giggle.

"Hello, friend Kid Flash! How are you today? Are you well?"

"Even better from seeing you, cutie," he grinned again, and she couldn't stop another giggle.

"Where is-? Oh, you're here. Hello, Kid Flash," Raven said monotonously. He grinned.

"Hey, Raven. Still looking beautiful as ever," he bowed, knowing how the word 'beautiful' affected the seemingly emotionless girl.

"Your words have no effect on me," she retorted, before leaving through the sliding doors. Only then, on the other side, did she allow a blush to suffuse over her face.

"Wally!" Robin said sharply. He wheeled around.

"Yes... Dick?" he responded, trying to bite down a laugh. Robin raised an eyebrow.

"Follow me."

"Alas! Until next time, fair maiden," Kid Flash bent down dramatically and laid a kiss on Starfire's hand. She giggled once more, as Kid Flash zoomed after Robin.

"Okay... Who took away Richard's favorite toy?" he said babyishly as he saw the look on Dick's face.

"I hear you're doing well in school," Dick said calmly, and Wally tensed.

Oh no... the calm before the storm!

"Er... I'm doing fine, Dad," he joked. "Why?"

"Any... extracurriculars?"

"Uh... I'm on the football team, and-"

"As a running back?" Robin slapped down the pile of papers, and on the top, Kid Flash could see his picture, decked out in a football uniform.

"Yeah? Oh, come on, Dick," he rolled his eyes. "Our enemies aren't that dumb!"

Robin stared. "Isn't that my line?"

"Exactly. They're not that dumb, so they'll know if I'm Kid Flash, I wouldn't be in a sport that involves running... I'd have to be pretty stupid to be on the track team, or a running back, wouldn't I? So they wouldn't dare expect it!"

He leaned back, satisfied, while Robin continued to seethe.

"All right, what else is bothering you?"

"Three things, Wally. One, stop flirting with my girlfriend. Two, stop flirting with the girl I think of as my sister. And three, stop flirting with our enemies!"

"Oh... yeah, um, I was going to mention that to you," Wally said sheepishly. "Um, I kinda... well, have been trying to convert Jinx of the Hive to be a... a good guy."

Robin swelled, not unlike a bullfrog. "Are... you... crazy?" he ground out. "Jinx? No way! There's too much bad blood between us!"

"But... dude, seriously... Madame Rouge once tried to capture me! And Jinx freed me! She helped me escape! She let me go!"

"What?" Robin stared at him. Wally felt rays of hope.

"Let you go? So she captured you in the first place?"

"...er, minor detail!"

"Wally, look..." Robin sighed, suddenly looking very tired. "You're my...friend..." (the word looked painful for Robin to grind out... Wally strongly suspected that Robin could say 'friend' fine, but was definitely having difficulty saying it to Kid Flash) "... and I think I trust you more than anyone. We grew up together. We trained together. We have expectations of us. So I'm sorry, but I can't have you go risking yourself and our team for some girl."

"But listen," he argued. "Today, she-"

"I'm sorry, Wally, that's final," Robin said firmly, before shoving him out.


Wally sighed as he wearily unlocked the door to his apartment. The effects of the fight were starting to kick in. He had a swift healing process, so bruises easily disappeared. His speed, however, didn't make up for his sleep loss; he needed sleep and to recharge, just like everyone else. The downsides to his speeds were not many, but then again... one of them was being unable to drink coffee. It didn't keep him awake, it just made him jittery, scared of loud noises and sudden movements.

But I could really use some caffeine sometimes... Now would be ideal.

He stumbled over to his answering machine.

Beep.

"Wally, this is Carla. Babe, I miss you... I wish you were here right now, 'cuz I'm wearing-"

Beep.

"Wally! This is Kitten! How could you just forget me? I'm-!"

Beep.

"Feel the warm breeze and rays of sun... Vacation here at the-"

Beep.

"Um... Wally? This is Jeni... er, from your English class."

He bolted up. He had forgotten about the tutoring session they were supposed to schedule!

"I guess... we could meet tomorrow at-"

"Who's that, your boyfriend? Hehehe! It's her boyfriend!"

"Shut up, twerp!"

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

"Ahem, sorry, that was my... uh, younger brother. Anyways, I was thinking maybe we could meet tomorrow at the library after school? If that doesn't work, tell me at English. Okay, see you-"

"Ooooh, somebody has a boyyyfriend, somebody has a-"

"Yaaaaargh!"

Beep.

Wally blinked in astonishment... then broke out into fits of laughter. Seriously, he had never laughed this hard at a voice recording message before. He wiped away tears of mirth... before bursting into giggles again.

He wasn't sure if it was just because he was tired, because it wasn't even that remotely funny, but Jeni's voice recording was just too much. It sounded like she was ready to maim her younger brother... whoever that was.

He frowned. He didn't know she had a younger brother. He was Wally West; he knew everything about every female in the school, teachers included.

But she was a mystery. She purposely blended in, behind everyone. She didn't stand out, and only answered when the teacher called on her. She sat alone at lunchtime, but he only knew that, because his eyes had carelessly swept by her once, while he was eating, before it moved on. He shifted uncomfortably on his bed.

Kids in their class teased her, but she never stood up for herself. Well... his powers weren't exactly meant to exact justice on playground bullies, were they?

He sighed in frustration, and rolled over to sleep. Tomorrow, he would be tutored by Jeni Vhix. Who knew? Maybe she was like every other girl. Maybe she was just another quick lay.

But something inside him told him she wasn't.