A/N: So here's the next chapter! Sorry for the delay, my beta had a busy week and couldn't get back to me. To make up for it, this chapter is a bit longer than the last one. (And even then, I didn't get about half of the scenes I wanted to include in it. They'll be in the next one though, don't worry.)

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, or alerted. Each one brings a grin to my face. Please enjoy.

Chapter Nine: Fury

Kid Flash opened his eyes as the light streamed through the window of the room he shared with Jinx. He glanced over at her, only to find that her side of the bed was empty.

He sat up. "Jinx?" He got out of bed. He noticed the door to the adjoining bathroom was closed. He smiled and vibrated through the door. She'd probably hit him, but he didn't mind.

The bathroom was empty. He felt confused. "Jinx? You here?" he called again, taking a step forward. He felt his foot come down on something. He knelt to see what it was. Glass. Something arrived in his stomach that made him start to worry.

He opened the door. She probably had just gone down to breakfast, he reasoned with himself. No reason to panic… He found his mask where Jinx had tossed it the night before, on the dresser. He pulled it over his head, and then grabbed for his communicator, and froze.

Jinx's hair bands were still on the dresser.

He felt sick. Jinx never left the room without her hair bands. Even in a crisis, she would stop to put those things in her hair. She absolutely hated people seeing her without her trademark hairdo.

So why had she left them off?

Fear filled every inch of him. This was worse when Hot Spot, one of his closest friends, had gone missing. Jinx was gone.

And he hadn't been able to stop it.

Beast Boy grinned at his girlfriend—he loved saying that—and tried to finish his joke. "And then the piano player said, 'No, but if you hum the first few bars I'm sure I'll be able to play it!'" Raven didn't respond. "Get it?"

"Yes, but it's still not funny," she informed him. He deflated. She smiled at him, slightly apologetically. "Sorry."

"It's okay," he sighed, forking himself a large amount of tofu eggs. "So, are you sure you don't want anything?"

"Beast Boy, just because I'm dating you, doesn't mean that I'll eat your fake food."

"Oh."

She finished her tea, and set down the cup. She leaned forward, and carefully kissed him on the cheek. "I'm going to go meditate. See you later."

"See you later Rae!" he said, feeling more cheerful.

Raven smiled before turning away, heading towards the door. As it opened, Raven started to move through it, only to nearly collide with Kid Flash. "Watch where you're going!" Raven said.

Kid Flash didn't respond. "They got Jinx."

Every head in the room rotated to stare at him. Beast Boy froze. He couldn't have heard right.

"You mean—" Robin began.

"The Nightmare Child and its owner, or trainer, or whatever. They got Jinx. She's gone."

"How do you know?" Starfire asked, concerned. "It could be conceivable that she merely got up early."

Kid Flash held out a communicator that had been stepped on by someone with a heavy foot. "I found this outside our door."

"Wally," Robin began, looking at his oldest friend with great concern. Kid Flash placed the broken communicator on the counter.

"I've got to go," said the fastest boy alive, taking off, completely ignoring Robin's rule. He didn't care anymore.

Kole looked worried. "Maybe we should go after him."

"What do you mean?" Robin demanded, turning on her.

"Well," Kole began, looking behind her at Jericho—they always were hanging out lately, Beast Boy thought—who nodded. "About three months ago, Jericho and I helped Kid Flash and Jinx take down this gang in Central City."

"Yes," Robin said, not getting where this was going.

"And anyway, during one of the fights, one of the gang members actually managed to hit Jinx with a gunshot. He shot her in the leg. And Kid Flash…" she looked like she wasn't sure how to explain what happened next.

Kid Flash went berserk, Jericho signed. Kole nodded in agreement.

"He was absolutely crazy, smashing them into walls, stealing their weapons, and just punching them. The fight was over in a few seconds. He was going as fast as he could. All because Jinx was hurt. And that was when he knew she'd be alright in the end."

"And now he doesn't," Speedy said, masked eyes wide. "He'll be taking it out on any villain he finds."

"And who can blame him?" Beast Boy said softly, wondering what he would do if Raven disappeared.

Nobody did.

"That's the last of them," said Gizmo with a sigh, glancing at the computer screen. "Now let's blow this crud-munchin' town."

"I agree," See-More muttered. "Sooner we get out of here, the better."

Kyd Wykkyd nodded in agreement. Suddenly, his eyes got wide, and he tried to gesture to something wildly. A force slammed into See-More as his best friend attempted to warn him about the blur of yellow and red that had entered their headquarters.

"Where is she?" Kid Flash yelled, holding Jinx's replacement by the throat.

"Where's who?" See-More gasped. The grip relaxed just a little more, so he could breathe.

"Jinx." His bright blue eyes were filled with fury. See-More was reminded of Jinx on a few occasions, when she'd been absolutely pissed.

"What happened to her?" He couldn't help the small amount of concern in his voice.

"Heard of the Nightmare Child?" snarled the red head, leaning close to the cyclops.

"Yes," See-More admitted. He was dropped to the floor.

"Tell me what you know," Kid Flash demanded.

"Why should we help you find that brainless pink-haired traitor?" demanded Gizmo. Next thing he knew, he was stuck to the ceiling, hanging there by the cables of one of his dismantled machines. "Ah!"

"It showed up about a week ago," said Mammoth with a shrug.

"It was with this one creepy girl," Gizmo howled, trying to get loose.

"They wanted Gizmo to make them a few machines, paid us money, and told us if we told you lot, we were dead," See-More added.

Kid Flash was not appeased. "What kind of machines?"

"We don't know," admitted See-More. "She gives him the blueprints, and he has to follow them exactly, or she knows. And then she's pissed. And that's no fun."

"What does the girl look like?"

"Brown hair, pale skin, tall, wears sunglasses, jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. And she's not scared of anything." See-More said.

"Fights dirty," Mammoth added. "Very dirty."

"And sometimes, it's like she reads minds." See-More said. Billy nodded once.

"How does she pay you?" Kid Flash asked, crossing his arms.

"Checks," See-More said. "But each time they're signed with a different name, are from a different bank, and have entirely different handwriting on them. But they're all real."

"Fingerprints?"

"Never."

His anger didn't seem appeased. "You better leave town." He was gone after that.

"I'll kill them!" raged Changer, "I'll kill them, and throw their corpses into the ocean, and then resurrect them so they can drown!"

"You can't do that," pointed out Nightmare, enjoying Changer's anger. Its ally had counted too much on the fear that Nightmare would create in the HIVE boys.

"Not yet," snarled the girl, turning around to face the fear monster. "After we're done with the Titans, I'm hunting those idiots down, and killing them painfully."

Nightmare didn't care. "It's not like he learned much," it said.

"They know what I look like," Changer said with a frown. "I don't like that. It might make it easier for them to track my movements."

"Then change what you look like," Nightmare said with a shrug.

"It's not that simple, Nightmare," the brunette said with a sigh. She pressed a few buttons on her monitors, her mind churning with all the possible ways she would torture and kill those HIVE boys. She had warned them, after all.

"What are we going to do now?" the Nightmare Child demanded. Changer felt exasperation on top of her raw anger. The things that she would she give for that monster to actually gain an attention span…

"Let's go scare the Titans," Changer sighed, pushing away from her desk. The Nightmare Child actually giggled at the prospect. The two of them exited their hideout.

Argent felt heavy. Every inch of her felt as if she'd just been frozen again. The headache was there, along with that numb feeling for everything else and the strange sense of being alone. She opened her eyes with a groan.

She didn't recognize where she was. It was white, like a hospital. Everything felt sterile. It even smelled it. She sat up, noting the IV tube that was coming out of her arm, connected to clear liquid and the oxygen mask on her face. She pushed aside the mask in order to wake up the dozing Boy Wonder who was sitting next to her.

"Argent!" Robin said. "You're awake."

"I thought that much was obvious," Argent said, yawning. "What happened?"

"Don't you remember?" he said, concerned.

She cast her memory back. Herald and Kilowatt disappearing, searching the city, her date with Hot Spot, the scream, the explosion. Her eyes widened. "Hot Spot. Where is he?"

Robin looked down. (Or at least, she thought so. It was so hard to tell with that mask.) "We don't know," he admitted. "The Nightmare Child got him. Jinx too, last night."

"What?" Argent demanded, tears appearing in her eyes. Her best friend and her boyfriend? She sat back, trying not to actually cry in front of her leader. She swallowed the lump that was rapidly appearing in her throat.

Robin watched, and she was glad she couldn't see his eyes. The pity in them would probably make her lose it.

"Do you need anything?" he asked in a soft voice. She shook her head. "You shouldn't get up. I'll send Cyborg in." He got to his feet. He walked away. "We'll find them," he promised without looking back.

Somehow, she didn't doubt him.

Kid Flash's anger didn't cool down over the next three days. He patrolled the city constantly, searching every warehouse, every abandoned building, and anywhere else he thought the Nightmare Child could be hiding. He searched hospitals to see if Jinx had been checked in, he desperately attempted to locate a girl that matched the description that the HIVE had given him, and he even checked morgues, feeling terrified each time, afraid that he might find her there.

The Titans barely saw him. He would swing by to eat, about once every hour and a half exactly, before leaving again to continue the search. He refused to talk to anyone and wouldn't answer his communicator. When Bumblebee sent Más and Menos after him, they reported, much to their shock, that he was going faster than they could manage to keep up with for more than a few seconds.

The Titans didn't leave the Tower much. There really wasn't need. Any trouble that was cause in the city was cleaned up by Kid Flash before Robin could even utter "Titans, Go!" The villains would show up in front of the police station, wrapped in make-shift chains, most of them sprouting fresh bruises. Kid Flash had the same question for every villain. "Where is the Nightmare Child?" no one had answers for him.

Robin sat at his desk, head on his desk. It was odd, this feeling of depression that had hit the Tower. Who would have thought that removing Jinx, a former villain, from the mixture would have such an effect?

But Robin knew it was a bit more than that. It was Kid Flash too. No one had ever seen Kid Flash like that before, himself, Speedy, and Aqualad included. No jokes, no flirting, no smile, and he wasn't even eating junk food. It was like he didn't really exist anymore. It felt so weird, to see his oldest friend like that. It was wrong.

There was a cautious knock on the door. "Robin?" It was Starfire, of course. He lifted his head off the desk and turned to face the door.

"Come in Star," he called. It swung open, revealing her with a cup of coffee in her hands.

"I have brought you a cup of Cyborg's energy concoction," she said, handing it to him. "I am told it will help with the staying up late that you have been doing much of lately."

"It does. Thanks, Starfire," he said, sipping it. "Has Kid Flash shown up yet?"

"No. He is not due for another seven minutes," the Tameranian said, sitting down next to her boyfriend.

"I should try to talk to him again," Robin muttered.

"Perhaps you should. He is completely immersed in the pain and loneliness that he has felt ever since he lost Jinx," Starfire said. "He needs to be reminded that doing as he has been is not helping her."

Robin nodded. "You're right. But he won't talk to us."

"Perhaps you could ask him what information he has gathered on this child of nightmares and its friend? He would probably tell you what he has learned."

"Might work," he said, setting down the coffee. "We should probably get going."

At the strike of nine, Kid Flash was there. He opened the refrigerator and removed food, placed it on the counter, and started to chow down. Robin walked forward. He noticed what Wally was eating, and he felt like someone had punched him in the gut. The food that Kid Flash had piled in front of him was all healthy. Carrot sticks and celery, lettuce and tomatoes, apples and pears, and not a potato chip or candy bar in sight. So that's how bad it is, he thought grimly.

"Have you learned anything?" Robin asked, watching him wolf down his food.

"Another possible location on Elm Street, three additional potential powers for the unknown girl, and six possible names for said girl," the fastest boy alive rattled off.

"Let's hear them."

"Potential powers: mind reading, telepathy, and precognitive abilities. Possible names: Terror, Omega, Jezebel, Kathy, Haunter, and Silver."

"Any sign of them?" Robin said.

"No." The iciness in his voice surprised Robin.

"Kid Flash," he started, wondering what exactly he could say. "You've got to stop this."

The glare that he received was the coldest one he'd seen for years. "Why?"

"It's not healthy. You're obsessing, Kid. You've got to stop this before you hurt yourself."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you!" Kid Flash replied, slamming his hands on the countertop. "Red X, Robin, Red X." The other Titans were gathering, whether as spectator or supporters was as yet unknown.

"And look how well that turned out!" Robin leaned forward. "This isn't helping. You're just hurting yourself."

Kid Flash was livid. "I'm not just leaving her while she's a prisoner of a psychopathic nightmare monster with the mind of a child! She needs me!"

"Right now, there is nothing you can do to help her!" Robin found his voice rising in volume. "This is not solving anything! You are not helping her by nearly killing yourself! When was the last time you slept?"

"It doesn't matter while she's in danger!" Kid Flash yelled.

"It does matter!"

"You don't get it, do you?" His blue eyes were practically poisonous to look at, but Robin was determined to stare him down. "You've been raised by Batman, after all. You don't get what it's like to commit to someone. I promised her I'd look after her! I promised her that I'd be there for her, that I'd protect her, that no matter what happened, we'd be together through everything. You just don't get it, do you? I love her Robin. I know that's an alien emotion to you, but believe it or not, not everyone is so paranoid that they won't let anyone in!"

"Now, wait a minute!" Robin was startled at the accusations.

"You just can't understand can you?" the voice of his best friend was taking on a mocking tone. "You don't understand how I feel, because you've never felt something even remotely like it!" Robin's hand curled into a fist, resisting the urge to punch Wally in the face as hard as he could. "Well, unlike you, I'm not ashamed of the girl I care about! I asked her to marry me, Robin, so you can—" There was a loud noise, and then suddenly, he slumped forward, unconscious. Bushido stood behind him, holding a frying pan in his hand.

He shrugged under Robin's surprised face. "He looked like he needed some sleep."

"We should put him in bed," Speedy said, grabbing Kid Flash's arms. "Aqualad, help me here."

"Not in his and Jinx's quarters though," said Aqualad, grabbing his feet. "The infirmary, perhaps?"

"Sounds fine," Robin managed. Once Kid Flash was gone, he took to the roof.

He sat with his feet dangling over the edge of the roof as he stared out at the city he had protected for five, almost six, years now. The familiar skyline stretched out before him, the sun shining brightly overhead. A beautiful day that was contrasting his mood.

"Robin?" Starfire sat down next to him. "Are you alright?"

"Not really," he said with a bitter laugh. "I did not expect that."

"He did not mean what he said. Those words were born out of bitterness and sorrow, not truth." She wrapped her arms around him. "I do not feel that you are ashamed of me. And I do believe what we feel for each other is just as powerful as what Kid Flash and Jinx feel." She kissed him softly. He curled his arms around her neck, feeling the cool metal of her collar and the softness of her hair, as he returned the kiss. He felt a lot better. Starfire was good at that.

Jinx regained awareness slowly. She tensed up. She didn't know where she was. She did a mental checklist, trying to figure out the situation without opening her eyes. She was propped up again a cement wall, hands pressed together by a single metal band above her head, with a power inhibitor strapped to her wrist. This was bad.

She opened her eyes. "You're awake!" she knew that voice. She turned her head, seeing the Herald in front of her. He looked tired. He was kept in place in an identical manner, although he looked like he'd been there a long time.

"Herald? Where are we?" She said, looking around. She spotted Kilowatt in the corner, wires leading out of him and Hot Spot in a tube of sorts, depowered.

"Don't know," he admitted. "I was unconscious."

"Great. How long was I out?" Jinx said, continuing her examination of the warehouse.

"Over two days," the boy admitted, shifting his position. "I think I've been here about a week, same with Kilowatt. Hot Spot arrived four days ago."

Jinx found no lock to pick, much to her annoyance. The metal band was welded into place instead, which informed her that they were not about to be moved any time soon. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Well this sucks," Jinx said with a sigh.

"You know any games?" the Herald asked.

"A few."

A/N: I'm mean to Kid Flash, aren't I? Poor guy. Next chapter: Robin and Kid Flash having another discussion with a lot less yelling, Bumblebee does some investigating on how the Nightmare Child is getting through their security, Jericho and Kole act cute, and Starfire and Raven have a girl talk.

Review, pretty please?

The ever-hopeful,

Hinn-Raven