OMG, an update! Has it really been four months? I'm sorry. This has without a doubt been the worst school year of my life. I've never had to spend so much time on my homework, and with everything else I was doing…ugh. Complete over-commitment. Whatever, that's all done.

By the way, I'm thinking about changing the rating. If anybody ever feels this is necessary, let me know.


It is Decided

Jinx was purring.

It had been mistaken before by Wally for snoring. He was singing a very different tune now, especially since she had managed to nab a good recording of the sounds he made at night. Usually, purring meant good, happy things were happening, like Italian food, a good shopping spree, new eyeliner colors. But there were bad purrs too. She was arguing with See-More, or her lipstick had melted, or whoever was in charge of the shopping list had forgotten to pick up tampons because it "warn't somethin' a MAN should have to be botherin' wit.", or Mammoth had made broccoli…

Wait. Those aren't my problems anymore.

Jinx opened her eyes. She was alone in the bed.

It didn't bother her much. Not as much as it used to. When she first moved in with Wally she had always panicked to find herself waking up alone, because she thought it meant that Wally was off fighting somewhere or had gotten sick of her and wanted to get away. But she had soon learned that Wally was always in the next room, making pancakes and scolding her when she said that coffee would wake her up much faster than a stupid stack of pancakes. He wasn't a coffee drinker. None of the Titans were. It was a little scary that they could all get up at seven in the morning without caffeine.

Jinx rolled over and rubbed her cheek against the other pillow in the bed, Wally's pillow.

And frowned.

The pillow was cold. It shouldn't have been cold. It should have been warm, and it should have smelled like Wally.

Maybe it's later in the morning than I thought.

She padded out to the kitchen in her panties and Wally's t-shirt, ready to whine that it wasn't her fault she had gotten up so late since Wally hadn't even tried to wake her up…

…but he wasn't there.

She glanced at the digital clock in the microwave.

7:03. A.M.

She was up early. Well, on time anyway. Where was he?

"Jinx," She tried to giggle to herself. "He's a super-hero. An emergency had to happen sooner or later."

Than why didn't he wake me? We're both heroes.

"He's a sweet boyfriend, and he didn't want to disturb me."

Never stopped him before.

"I-I-'ve been upset the past few days. He wanted to give me space."

The boys at HIVE were the ones who gave me space when I was upset. Wally always gets in my face…

"I want him to get in my face. It helps."

Then where is he?

"Where is he?"

She crossed her arms over herself. Compared to the kitchen at HIVE's base, Wally's kitchen was pretty cramped.

But now it felt huge.

I might as well make breakfast.

She began banging through cupboards and drawers to find whatever it was Wally used to make pancakes. To be perfectly honest with herself, she hadn't made pancakes in…well, ever. Wally had always taken care of it.

Or Montego.

She'd helped clean up, of course.

When she couldn't make Seymour or Billy do it for her.

But she'd made the coffee…

…when Vito was too busy with a project to prepare caffeine for their crew.

Jinx finally found the pan cabinet, but she couldn't bring herself to touch anything. Breakfast was supposed to be a group affair. The most important meal of the day. Eating the most important meal of the day by yourself was just so…

Something wet was cropping up in the corner of her eye, and Jinx rubbed at it furiously.

Lonely. She hadn't felt so lonely in years. There had always been somebody to eat breakfast with.

That was how it was supposed to be.


"Where'd Elliot go?"

Montego turned to see Seymour, rubbing his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Dunno."

Seymour scowled. "Fuck. He promised to give me a lift."

"Then he'll be back. Sit down. Eat something."

Seymour curled his lip. "Not hungry. Where's Billy?"

"Walking off a hangover. Downtown. Won't see him for a while." Montego pointed at the table. "Sit, I said."

"But I'm---"

"Just sit!"

Seymour sat.

"I'm tired of making pancakes," Montego said. "Whaddaya want?"

"Nothin'."

The muscleman gave him a careful look. "You didn't eat last night." When Seymour shrugged halfheartedly, Montego continued, "Have you been eatin' dinner lately?"

"Kinda," Seymour muttered. In a louder voice, he said, "You know, it's weird Vito ain't up yet. You think he's started something else? Like, a new project?"

Montego scowled ferociously. "Seymour, have you been eatin' anything 'sides breakfast?"

" 'Cause I say it's weird for him to start another project so soon. I hope he gets up," Seymour continued doggedly. "I want to thank him properly for last night. He really came through for me."

"Seymour!"

The sunglassed boy looked up at Montego, startled. "What?"

Montego sighed. "Kid, how much do you weigh?"

"Enough," Seymour answered.

"How much?"

"Enough," Seymour repeated stubbornly, pushing himself up from the table. "Screw it, I'm walking. Elliot can go fuck himself."

"What about break---"

"I'm not hungry!" He snapped, and ran out.


"So that's what happened."

Cyborg sat back and whistled. "Damn. Gizmo said all that, huh?"

Wally nodded. Cyborg chuckled. "Cute. Last time I checked, he never did favors for anybody. So now what?"

"My place isn't really all that safe right now," Wally said slowly. "I want to do something about it…but it's hard with Jinx to come home to. I have to be really careful about everything, you know? It's weird."

"Part of the girlfriend package," Cyborg said. "Getting some is the same as giving up your Amendment rights."

"Well, just cause, I think they're a bunch of…I don't even know. It's weird. And I need to get them off her back. I told her she wouldn't have to worry about them. I have to live up to that." Wally took a deep breath. "So I was thinking."

"You were thinking…?"

"I need Jinx to stay here for a few days. I go out, do my thing, crack some skulls, and get this whole thing done with."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "Crack some skulls?"

Wally blushed. "Well, no, but get stuff done."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," He wrinkled his nose. "Give them a spanking and tell them not to do it again?"

Cyborg chuckled, but grimly. He leaned forward. "I think the problem here is that you're not sure where they're coming from."

Wally frowned. "Sure I do. I took their girl, screwed up their base…screwed things up. And now they're pissed."

Cyborg shook his head. "Not what I mean. I mean, what are they doing? Who?"

"They are."

Cyborg sighed. "Who is 'they'?"

Wally ran down the list. "Billy Numerous. Kyd Wykkyd. Gizmo. See-More. Mammoth."

"All of them?" When Wally shrugged, Cyborg said, "Well, Mammoth hasn't even done anything yet, so we can rule him out."

"But they're a team---"

"Not according to Gizmo, they're not. Just roommates, remember?"

Wally sat back. "Okay, then, so what?"

"So Billy visited you guys a day or two back. Talked to Jinx a little, got her worked up. He's good at doing that. And Kyd Wykkyd…well, that was us coming to him. Gizmo came to remove the system I put up."

"Because See-More sent him to," Wally interjected. "How'd he know about that, anyway? Was he spying or something?"

Cyborg took a deep breath. "Actually, yeah. I ran into him on my way home yesterday."

Wally sat up. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Didn't think much of it."

Wally sighed. "Okay. So he has been active." He cocked his head to the side. "What'd he say?'

"That he missed his best friend. And that what Billy did wasn't his fault. So what does that tell us?"

"That he's clingy and whiny?"

Cyborg frowned. "No. Well, yeah," He conceded, smiling faintly. "But it also tells us that all this ain't no team effort. Everybody's acting on their own."

"So they're all being clingy and whiny?"

"Hey, man," Cyborg said. "Say somebody came up and convinced…uh, let's say Kole, to run off with him. And she does. So where does that leave Gnark?"

Wally chewed his lip. It was a good point. "So I'm a jerk, and they're right?"

"No, no," Cyborg said quickly. "That's not what I'm saying. That's just where they feel they're coming from. They miss her."

"But they didn't even listen to her! They ignored her, and they were being a bunch of assholes!"

Cyborg shrugged. Wally was surprised to find himself getting annoyed with the gesture. "That's just how they are. They think anything deeper is too touchy-feely."

Wally rolled his eyes. "Stupid."

"That's how things were at HIVE," Cyborg said mildly, and Wally had to stop himself from saying anything else. "It's like the eating thing. Remember how much Jinx used to eat?"

"She didn't eat."

"Well, that's what they've always done. Skipping meals was just whatever to them. That doesn't make it right, and I'm not saying you didn't do right. You did. Jinx needed an escape." Cyborg sighed. "But that's where they're coming from."

Wally puffed out his cheeks. "Should I send them a basket?"

Cyborg laughed and ruffled his hair. "Naw, I think that would just piss them off."

"They're already pissed off."

"Just…physical stuff won't help. You can't just beat the crap out of them and tell them to mind their own business, because this is their business. I think it's a good idea Jinx comes here," He added. "Give you a chance to make a move."

"So I need to put together an apology basket."

"No, no, don't apologize. That won't come off right. Just tell them what's going on, that Jinx is fine. Maybe even work out some time she can see them, if she ever wants to. That's all See-More seemed to want, anyway."

Kid Flash stood and cracked his neck. "So I'll bring Jinx here for a while. Thanks," He added, brushing a few fingers over Cyborg's chair arm. "I needed that."

Cyborg grinned. "No prob, bro. That's what I'm here for."

On his way out, Wally stopped by Argent's room.

"Hey," He said, smiling when she appeared at her door, rubbing her eyes. "You look like a raccoon." She did. She must have forgotten to take off her heavy make up the night before. "Listen, Jinx is staying here for a couple days, so---"

"Fabulous!" The goth girl chirped, perking. "I've been dying for a good shopping trip, and I simply can't make a decision. Send her over quick!" The door slammed. Wally shrugged and headed home.


Billy hated the downtown area.

It was crowded, ugly, noisy, an enormous no-smoking zone, and worst of all, Titan-populated.

There were screaming little kids, spoiled little teenagers, clueless little parents, and mean little old people.

His shoulders were getting sore from hunching over. Paranoia in general was starting to get to him. Suddenly his sunglasses didn't feel very protective.

He swung into an empty-enough corner-store and glanced wistfully at the back counter piled high with every kind of cigarette on the planet. Seymour had made all the smokers-- Elliot, Billy, and Montego--quit after the Brotherhood incident.

Something about how he was black enough for all three of their lungs or some load of bull like that. Black people. You'd think they owned the world or something.

Vito might have added a comment--he usually whined about the smoke messing with his tech--but he had gone all reclusive on them. He was a messed up little kid. Or he was going to be, anyway. There was still room in him for real psycho-shit to be cultivated.

Billy's eyes flicked over the magazines and he sighed.

He needed to get out of here.

Not just this store. Out. Just plain out.

He headed for the door, trying not to get too annoyed at the shopkeeper's edgy look. He'd already resisted lifting five different kinds of lighter, one little glare couldn't be too hard to ignore.

He nearly made it out, but some big, bulky somebody had to run into him.

" 'Scuse me," Billy gritted, pushing the guy away with one arm. "I---" He stopped.

His arm had a big wet patch on the elbow. A red wet patch.

The guy he'd knocked into grinned sickly.

Then he collapsed. Blood splattered when he hit the ground. A few flecks hit Billy's sunglasses.

Billy glanced back at the shopkeeper behind the counter. The man was staring at him, reaching slowly for the phone. Billy recognized the look in his eyes.

"Well, shit," He muttered. "There goes my day."


"Jinx?"

Wally saw Jinx turn towards him, and winced. She was all teary-eyed again.

"Wally?"

"Yeah, Jinx," Wally tried to smile. "Right here."

He watched as her chin began to wobble dangerously. "Where did you go?"

"Uh…business. Look---"

"Without me?"

Wally froze, with his mouth open. He'd had a nice, short statement all planned out in his head, and she wasn't cooperating with his vision at all.

Her chin stopped wobbling, and Jinx looked down at the floor. "Did Robin want to see you without me?" She asked softly. "It's cool, you know. I don't care."

Wally sighed. "Yes, you do. But that's not what it was. Jinx, we need to go to Titan's Tower for a while."

"What, for a meeting?"

"No, for…for a couple days." Wally said. "The security system needs more work, and I kinda thought that, you know, until things were secure you'd want to…I don't know. We don't have to if you don't want," He added quickly. "Just…I want you to be comfortable. I know the Tower isn't really that, but still."

He looked at her. He lips had formed into a perfect little 'o'. He chuckled weakly. "Dumb, huh."

She shook her head, fumbling with a stray lock of pink hair. "Do you really think it's necessary?"

He sped up close, taking the hair from her fingers and pushing it back properly behind her ear. "I told you I would take care of everything," He said seriously. "This is part of it, I guess. I think it would be easier if you stayed at Titan's Tower until we've really got this steady." He bit his lip a little. "Is that okay with you?"

She pressed her lips together…then leaned in and kissed him. "Whatever you think is good," She said into his mouth, "is good for me too."

He smiled, and began kissing back. "Get your stuff," He said when they finally pulled away from each other. "Cyborg said he would follow behind to give us a lift."

"Couldn't you carry me?" She smirked. "Be back in a minute, doll."

She didn't have much to pack. Just clothes. And make up.

"Argent wants a shopping trip out of you," Wally called after her.

"Yay!" She called back. Trust Argent to keep her distracted for a few good days. Shopping sounded good. Maybe these next few days with twenty-four/seven Titans would be bearable…

"Jinx, is that your communicator? Something's going off, and it's not mine."

She looked in her bag. There was her communicator, silent as the grave.

"Maybe it's my other phone," She called. "Could you get it for me?"

"Only for you!"

Out in the living room, Wally cast about for the phone. It had been Cyborg's idea to get a separate line, inspired by a rather amusing private exchange between Wally and Jinx that had come up on every Titan's communicator. He noticed the flickering blue light just before the last ring. He sped over and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Uh…hi," Said a scratchy, familiar voice. "Is Jinx there? This is kinda 'mportant."

Wally's eyes widened impossibly. "How did you get this number?"

"Does it matter so much? Jus' put 'er on."

"Wally?" Jinx appeared in the hallway. "Who is it?"

Wally removed the phone slightly from his ear. "Um…I think it's Billy Numerous."


Cliffhanger! Update is coming soon (for real this time). Next...It Is Undecided!