We'll agree to disagree,

Woe is me, woe is thee,

It's all for show, so please call this number,

You'll never know, and you'll always wonder

Pomplamoose – beat the horse

Kid Flash

I walk down the dark road empty of people, all but her of course. She's been walking behind me for a while now, not in a stalking way but just a step behind me to my side so she's just out of my peripheral vision. For all our witty banter about her protecting me by staying with me we seem to have fallen silent on the walk back to my place, I feel somehow that she doesn't want this situation to be any more intense or weird than it already is so I don't look at her, I don't talk and the silence continues. It's only when I don't hear her footsteps any more that I look and speak.

"Jinx?" I ask. She's looking at my feet instead of me and her hands are shaking slightly, she seems tensed like a coiled spring, ready to explode.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" She demands suddenly, her voice made of fire and steel.

"It's not." I assure her as I step closer to her, her eyes blaze as they snap up to mine.

"Says you, this could be some plot to turn me over to the cops or the league!" She exclaims pointing a finger at me.

"You didn't turn me over, don't you think I'd return the favour?" I point out. Her jaw tenses and a muscle along her cheek tightens momentarily, I wonder if she regrets that decision or if she's just scared. Thinking of it now I see that she does look scared, her voice has that tremor of fear in it, her body is tensed all ready for fight or flight and I'd bet that everything in her mind is screaming at her to get out of here.

"You can't know that this isn't a trap," I begin quietly trying not to spook her, she flinches at this apparently reading my statement as a confirmation that it IS a trap.

"you just have to trust me. I promise it's not." I add earnestly, she shakes her head at me.

"I can't trust anyone, not even you." She asserts, my heart skips a little at the notion that I'm special to her somehow.

"Trust me." I say with a smile as I hold my hand out like I did yesterday for her, she smiles slightly despite herself although her hand is still caught halfway as it was when she tricked me. I push that thought out of my mind, I don't want to admit how underneath the banter I was crushed that she was playing me. But the words then were too cliché, her movements too exaggerated, whereas now she looks really torn.

She laughs suddenly and the whole world seems brighter instantly, my arm flags a little in shock and I realise how absolutely stunning she is when she smiles.

"You're a dork." Jinx smiles shaking her head. I smile back at her unable to stop myself and straighten my arm again offering my hand to her, she chuckles slightly and takes my hand. We walk the rest of the way back like that although she does add quietly after taking my hand that if this is a trap she will kill me. I only release her elegant little hand when we get to my door and I have to unlock it with the key in my boot, I glance over to her more out of habit than reason to see her watching me closely as if she's drinking in every detail about me. My door opens and she tenses slightly as if expecting the members of the justice league to jump out and yell surprise and then arrest her, but after a second she cautiously steps in. She paces around the small apartment carefully, her eyes taking in every detail about the place before settling on the sofa to take off her boots quietly. I smile to myself as I follow her to the sofa and sit down next to her, my little stray seems to have found a home. She ruffles her pink fringe and in the moonlight the colour looks glorious, I want to touch it and tell her that it's brilliant and perfect just like her but I stop myself, afraid to startling her or freaking her out.

I wake from my memory and remember how beautiful she looked when she smiled at me, how perfect her laugh was, how I somehow seemed to be in love with her from the moment I saw her. I wish that I'd never stopped myself from saying it the first time, stopped myself from telling her that she was beautiful, that she was perfect. My heart sinks as I know I'll never be able to say it properly to her like I should have and how I foolishly wasted the opportunities I had, ungratefully thinking that there would be more. I sigh and lean my head back against the door to my apartment and wish that things could be different, or at least that my life could suck a little less right now.

Stop wondering through my mind

As you once were

Start hoping that I'll come back

When you're the last man on earth

Pomplamoose – Expiration date

Jinx

It's already late when we arrive at his apartment and I feel that we have too little time there before we both must sleep, we spend the time before we have to separate discussing things like my team, the titans and the silly things playing on the TV that neither of us are watching. He listened to me when I was worried about how my team would react because for how much they annoy me I will miss them and I do feel guilty for them.

"You can't always do what other people want, sometimes what other people need is for you to be there with them, for you to stay, for everything to stay the same. But… you can't do that when staying would mean destroying a chance for you to become who you need to be. Even if that means that some people get mad at you." He says with a look of determination that has such strong underlying notes of pain that I'm not even sure I should ask the next question.

"You said you worked alone now… did you always?" I ask quietly. He winces and shakes his head at that.

"I couldn't be just someone's sidekick, I couldn't be the kid anymore, despite the name." He says in a voice so honest that I just want to grab him into a hug. Which is surprising for me as I'm not a hug person.

"But," he says looking at me suddenly, "I think you needed to do this. And I know it feels like it sucks now, like you've done something wrong, but if you didn't know that you needed to be away from them then you wouldn't have come with me at all." He says convincingly.

"Does it get better?" I ask as I pull the duvet around me as I sit next to him.

"Yeah, it does." He nods before standing up and stretching out his back, his muscles flex as he stretches up and I have to admit for the first time that I'm glad heroes wear spandex. I can see every valley and ridge in the topography of his well toned flesh and all the base part of my brain can think of is that it wants to see more. I shake the thought away, not wanting to make this day, this experience or this moment about lust.

"Goodnight." He smiles down softly at me under his mask as he turns to go to his room.

"Goodnight…" I trail off quietly. Suddenly the thought occurs, surely I can't just say 'goodnight kid flash', it's too... formal and wordy.

"Wait!" I exclaim as his hand turns the handle to his door, he looks at me surprised.

"What do I call you?" I ask him, he frowns a confused little frown at this.

"You know my name already." He says looking at me as if I've hit my head and forgotten.

"Duh. I want to know what you want me to call you. Flash? Kid?" I suggest.

"Flash is my mentor, not me. And Kid… I'm not a kid anymore." He says with a morose sigh.

"Then what do I call you?" I ask re-emphasising the question. He tilts his head to the side thoughtfully and a part of my brain thinks he looks like a dog when he does that, not in a nasty way but in an adorable intelligent way.

"Kid Flash, say it really fast like it's all one word. KidFlash!" He grins wildly as he splays his fingers and almost does jazz-hands at the name, I laugh at this and a strange look comes over his face, his eyes go soft and he smiles yet he seems overwhelmed with some powerful feeling that I can't put my finger on, he opens his mouth as if to speak something impulsively. He seems to think better of it and simply smiles warmly at me.

"Good night." He says again almost wistfully.

"Good night Kid Flash." I say as I pronounce his name slightly faster, he chuckles to himself and closes the door behind him.

"Kid Flash." I breathe to myself in the quiet of the night as memories stir from dreams. His name now tastes bittersweet on my lips, such a light name should never have been weighed down with such painful memories with so few good ones to spare. I remember that night had been my first night with him, I remember dreaming of him though I forget what about. I wish I could say his name like I did then and feel all the good things I felt, but I can't. I take a look at my clock, it's only about one in the morning which makes it still early enough to go out and see some useful people. I'd said to Robin that I'd talk to my contacts but after everything that happened today with Speedy I never got to doing so. I hop out of bed and get dressed as Jinx rather than my civilian clothes and make a stealthy exit from the building resolute to not let certain people ruin my plans, I slide down the drain pipe and run off to the rough part of town.

I slink stealthily into a bar downtown that always has loud music and dark secluded tables, perfect for doing business in. I scan the room and smile as I see who I'm looking for. I slide into the empty seat next to him and regard him silently for a few seconds before he notices me there and jerks in shock.

"Jesus!" He yelps grabbing his chest.

"No, but a good guess." I grin at him in the dark, he looks around shiftily.

"I can't be seen with you, not after…" He trails off as he tries to stand up, but my foot is already hooked under his chair as he pulls it back to stand up, I jerk my foot towards me forcing him to sit back down again.

"You don't have any time for an old friend like me?" I ask sweetly with mock-hurt in my voice.

"I don't… you'll loose me business Jinx." He hisses nervously. I roll my eyes at this.

"It's the same as always, I just want a little information about your clients, just like I always did. And I'll still pay you for it. I'll not tell anyone this happened." I say reasonably, he still looks shifty but as always the mention of money stills him a little.

"How much?" He asks cautiously. I grin at him and fan out two hundred dollars in ten dollar bills, his eyes widen at this.

"Exactly how much information do you want?" He asks surprised.

"Not much, I just need to know if anyone's getting certain things from you or anyone else around here. I don't care what else they're getting as long as I can rule one thing out." I say putting the money back in my pocket.

"You wouldn't have paid for that before, you Titans must be rolling in it." He says slightly enviously.

"A little, but the Titans know that this is a bit of a risk for you and want to compensate you for your co-operation. Assuming you will co-operate of course." I say looking at him suspiciously. He rubs his temples looking stressed and then nods quickly at me.

"Is anyone getting parts for a lab that could produce clones? Proper chambers and DNA sequencers and that, the kind of things that you can't just cobble together, the kind of things you need to buy." I emphasise, he looks a little taken aback by this.

"Cloning? No, no one's asked me for… for anything like that, and I'm the one they come to for that sort of thing. And none of the other fixers have become suddenly flash with lots of cash like that…" He murmurs rubbing his chin.

"Except flash Harry of course, but then he's always like that. I really hope none of my clients have been cheating on me." He growls clenching his fists on the table top, I raise my eyebrow at the use of that term for this sort of relationship but I let it pass.

"I'll find out for you, it's in my interest as much as yours to know." He says hopping off of the barstool with a steely determined look on his face.

"Thanks." I smile at him, he waves over his shoulder at me as he makes his way across the bar. I sigh to myself and call Robin as I slip out of the bar and let him know that my contact is on it but at the moment it doesn't look like cloning.

I'm walking home in the dark when I hear fast pounding feet on the sidewalk behind me, I hear fast panting breath and the image of a certain red headed speedster bursts before my vision. Every muscle in my body tenses as a total stranger jogs past me, his breath misting in the air behind him as he runs. I close my eyes but I can still hear him breathing. I remember the sound of Kid Flash's breath when he held me in his arms once and sped me to the tower, I felt the thrumming of his hummingbird fast heart under my hands and the tickle of his panting breath on my cheek as he ran at hundreds of miles an hour. I clench my teeth and try to push the sensual memory out of my mind as I crush my fists together and twist the rings which changes the colour of my dress and alters my appearance totally, I let out a shuddery breath and try to calm down as I let my hair out of it's horns and ruffle it into a vague shape.

Oh no I just keep on falling,

And where's hope when misery comes crawling?

With your faith you'll trigger a landslide

To kill off this common sense of mind

Paramore – born for this

Kid Flash

I sit leaning against the door to my apartment still, I check my watch, I've been out here for three hours. I don't have my costume with me, my phone is inside and I can't break in with my powers because it would raise questions and none of my neighbours are in to help me. I bang my head frustratedly against the door, how could I have been so careless as to lock myself out? My titan's communicator is in there too! I clasp my hands together and squeeze my eyes shut.

"Hey God, I know we've had a rocky relationship with me being an atheist what with you killing my parents and making me an orphan at ten and all but I'm super tired and desperate so if you could just find some way to let me into my apartment that would be swell. Oh and fixing my relationship with Jinx would be nice, but I suppose you're meant to be selfless in prayers huh? Then… make it so she's happy, but preferably not with some other guy right now, because that'd make me miserable. But if she does move on then if you could send me something that would help me do so too that'd be great. So… in summary, let me into my apartment and help me and Jinx." I finish as I let my hands fall and open my eyes. I look around, Jinx hasn't appeared to take me back and I still don't have a key. I roll my eyes, what exactly did I expect? I close my eyes again and bang my head against the door repeatedly and groan.

"Are… you okay?" A female voice asks warily. I look up startled to see the black haired girl that lives opposite me looking down distrustfully at me, as if she thinks I'm a crazy person, but then I have just been banging my head against the door and talking to myself so I can't blame her.

"Oh! Yes, I am… sort of. I'm locked out." I say gesturing to the door behind me and smiling up at her nervously.

"You fight with your parents or something?" She asks shifting her laundry basket in her arms.

"Nope, I live alone. I was just dumb enough to shut the door without my keys and without my phone. And all of my neighbours seem to have disappeared so I can't use their phones to call a locksmith." I explain standing up.

"I can get you in." She says putting her basket down and rummaging in her hair.

"You can?" I ask the elation clear in my voice, she smiles slightly at this.

"Yeah, it's not that hard. Just promise me that this is your actual apartment and you're not breaking in." She says eyeing me suspiciously with her elegant deep brown eyes.

"You caught me," I say holding my hands up, "you discovered my fiendish scheme to wait outside other people's apartments waiting for strange pretty girls that can pick locks to help me in."

She laughs slightly at that and kneels before the lock in my door with her hair slide in her hand, she puts the slide into the lock and wiggles it carefully. I watch her as she works, she is quite pretty up close when she doesn't look startled or angry because I've knocked her over. And since that day it's the closest I've been to her aside from watching her occasionally through my window. Her long dark lashes flutter as she blinks and I'm surprised to find that I'm quite attracted to her, this has to be the first time I've thought a girl was genuinely attractive since I saw Jinx for the first time, the realisation shocks me so much that I only realise that she's unlocked the door when it swings open from under my hand.

"Wow… thanks. I thought that only worked in movies." I murmur as I look back at her as she deftly replaces the slide in her long black hair.

"That's what they want you to think." She smiles slightly as she scoops her basket up and turns to leave. I jump at this and rush to lean out to door where she's already starting to make her way down the corridor.

"Hey! Don't you want to come in for a drink or anything, I should thank you." I call after her, she stops and looks at me with puzzlement on her face.

"I'm fine, thanks." She says shaking her head and turning again. I swear under my breath and grab my keys this time from the table by the door and dash after her.

"I mean it, thank you. And I'm sorry about before." I say grabbing her shoulder, she jumps slightly at my touch and looks up at me, her face startled at first, but then it turns in to an almost contemptuous smile.

"So you do remember knocking me over then." She says with that smile still in place, I wince under her gaze which seems to give her some satisfaction as her smile softens some.

"Yes, and I'm really sorry. It's just that by boss called me that day and said that if I didn't get my ass over to the other side of town in five minutes he would fire me, so I ran." I explain hastily, I see her calculate the distance mentally and her eyes widen as she looks at me.

"That's pretty far, your boss must be a jerk." She says simply.

"He's... okay, but he has his moments." I mutter irritatedly. I'm happy that I got the chance to talk to her and explain myself as I'd not run into her yet, what with her living on the other side of the building and everything. I pause at that thought, if she lives on the other side of the building, which I know she does as I've seen her in her room, what's she doing wandering around my side of the building late at night? I'm about to ask her what she's doing over here before I realise that blurting out that I know where she lives and can see into her room might come off as a little stalker-ish.

"I was hoping I'd run into you sooner to apologise, but I've not bumped into you before now." I say carefully.

"Oh, I live over the other side of the building, I've never been down here before." She replies with a shrug.

"Oh? So what brings you over?" I ask brimming with curiosity.

"It's the weirdest thing, when I left my half of the building to come over to the laundry room the door up to my side was just fine but when I got back just a few minutes later there was this sign on it saying it was out of order and it was locked too. Then it started raining all of a sudden so I rushed in here and figured I'd take the long way around inside to get back." She explains.

"That… is weird." I say surprised.

"I know. Anyway… it's getting late so I'd better…" She says trailing of and gesturing down the hallway.

"Oh! Of course, and thanks again for your help." I smile warmly at her, after a hesitant second she returns my smile with just as much warmth in it.

"Just remember to keep your keys with you!" She calls over her shoulder as she walks around the corner.

"Will do!" I laugh and shout after her. I smile to myself as I walk back to my room feeling amazed at my luck that she'd wander down here with the skills to get me into my apartment and, I realise as I open my door, that she was pretty enough and interesting enough that I didn't compare her every feature to Jinx like I have every other girl that I've seen since her that's been even marginally attractive. I smile, I guess things are looking up. I pause as I shut the door and look skyward.

"That proves nothing, that could have just been a coincidence." I say to my ceiling.