Capricious: Fairytale Princess
A/N: Takes place some time long after Jinx has become comfortable with the idea of being a "hero" and is generally partnering up with Kid Flash. This one's extra angsty to make up for the last ficlet.
Disclaimer: I only own the poor puppy.
...
Once upon a time, she had still been human.
But once upon a time was a time long gone, and now all he can do is stare at her with the wide-eyed gaze of disgusted, terrified horror that even hardened criminals form at the very sight of her arrival to the scene.
"What?" she asks, casually, carelessly flicking some wayward tufts of bloodied fluffy fur off her draping black sleeves. "It's just a dog, right? And it was totally getting in the way, defending this worthless thing." A beat. "Or maybe it was defending its dinner?" She's overtaken with such genuine giggles at this thought that she can barely gesture steadily at the sticky, splattered leftovers of the kidnapper she's just crushed underneath an enormous branch cracked off from the body of a gargantuan oak tree. "Well," she continues between peals of laughter, "I guess neither of them have to worry about where to get their next meal now, huh?"
"Jinx," Kid Flash finally says, very quietly, as her laugh finally begins to peter out. "I need to make a stop at the Titans' Tower in Jump City. Can you come with me?" She's all doubled up in laughter again, and she easily tucks her arm in his, either not noticing or refusing to notice how he tenses.
"Seeing Robipoo again? Okay, but only if you insist, darling," she drawls, all the while shaking in mirth.
In the end, it takes the entire team to incapacitate her, and by the time they're able to do so, both the Tower and the team are left in shambles, bruised and battered and broken.
"It was the right thing to do," Robin manages through a steadily swelling lip, putting a hand on his long-time friend's dislocated shoulder as the reinforced transport vehicle pulls away, screaming Jinx in tow. Kid Flash draws away, slowly, slipping from the lax grip, and turns away from the receding muffled sounds of rage and towards the lopsided Tower. He can faintly hear the sounds of assent with Robin's statement as he passes the girls, and he wonders if perhaps Cyborg is the only one that can even begin to understand how he feels—like the knight that rescued the princess, only to turn her into a monstrosity to be locked back into a tower.
It's all his fault that things have turned out like this. His fault, his fault. And he is weak enough at this moment to entertain the thought that maybe, maybe, if he had only left her in peace with the Hive Five, she might've been saved from this fate.
"Can I crash here tonight?" he asks, slinking with a pronounced limp through the gaping entryway without waiting for an answer, unmindful of the sparking mechanisms. "I'm...tired." He can't make the run back to Keystone City in his condition, he knows—especially not with all the memories of her around every corner—let alone make it up all the monstrous stairs of the Tower without the elevator (Jinx had taken care of that), so he just sort of totters a few steps before sinking to the debris-strewn ground and passing out.
It's only fitting for him to fully appreciate the carnage she has left behind, after all.
...
End. But not the end for the Arkham asylum...