Nightwing

Dick walked down the hallway from the common room to his room. He needed to change; his suit was soaked through now that the ice had melted. He pulled his suit off and thought back to the battle not long ago. The Hive Five hadn't been active in years and that guy with the power over ice was new; then there was the matter of their claims of innocence.

He sighed to himself as he changed into a fresh uniform and thought back to his conversation with Raven. He didn't doubt her judge of character, but pursuing Jinx romantically was…concerning. Still it was her choice and he had to respect it, but he didn't have to like it.

He decided to do a little digging and see what he could find out about Jinx's recent dealings as well as the other members of her team. He finished dressing and exited his room, making his way to the tower's computer room. He'd rather not risk having Raven stumble across him researching in the common room after their previous interaction.

As he walked down the hallway he started replaying everything Raven had told him. He hoped that everything she said was true, but he couldn't quite bring himself to trust a former criminal not yet at least. Maybe it was his upbringing or maybe his own dealings with the criminal underworld, but when it came to trust he tended to keep his guard up.

He sidestepped Gar as he made his way past, most likely heading to the common room to unwind with a game. He didn't see Kori and made a mental note to check on her once he was done with his current task. He neared the doors to the computer room and reached out a hand to unlock it.

Before he could touch the keypad, though, the door slid open and outstripped Victor. His friend and teammate smiled and waved as he greeted him, "Hey Dick, what's up?"

He smiled back and responded, "Not much just needing to do a little research on the HIVE after our latest skirmish."

Victor nodded and Dick went to step past him, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. "I take it Rae talked to you?" he asked.

Dick nodded, "Yeah she opened up about where she's been going and what she's been up to," he said.

Victor let his hand fall and Dick stepped past and into the computer room with Victor in toe. He let Dick get seated before he spoke, "So you're not mad?"

"No, Raven's been through a lot and she deserves a chance to be happy," he admitted, "I'll admit that I wish it was someone we hadn't spent the better part of our early years locking up."

Victor smiled and clapped a hand on his shoulder saying, "Hey she could do worse. Jinx is a talented girl and from what Rae says she's taken to mercenary work. I'll admit I'm a little confused as to what her and her old team were doing back there, but I don't necessarily think they're our enemies."

Dick nodded, "That's what Raven seems to think to," he said, "When she and Jinx disappeared she says she had Jinx explain just what was going on. Apparently they're trying to stop someone our new arrival used to work with. I'd rather be safe than sorry, though, and I'm going to do some digging into what Jinx has been up to these past few years along with Gizmo and Mammoth."

"I'm guessing you're doing it in here so Rae doesn't get pissed at you snooping into her girlfriend's past," Victor said with a smirk.

Dick grinned as he replied, "Yeah she doesn't think I approve of her dating Jinx, and while I'm not a huge fan of the idea I don't want to see her get hurt. I just worry about her is all."

Victor nodded and said, "I know you do man, we all do, but this is her choice and you know as well as I do she can take care of herself."

"I know that, but we're family and I'll look out for her even if she doesn't want me to," Dick said as he began typing on the keyboard.

Victor turned to exit and as he hit the threshold he said, "Just be careful man, there's a thin line between concern and invading her personal life."

Dick nodded, but didn't turn around. He began pulling up several databases and running multiple searches. Victor shook his head and left the room. Dick kept his focus on the computer and his findings.

Time passed and he failed to keep track of it. In reality a couple of hours had gone by, and he'd come up with a decent amount of information regarding the pink haired mercenary and her former teammates. Jinx had continued using her alias and after checking deep into the dark web he had found her mercenary profile and list of accomplishments. In truth, he was impressed.

Jinx had done jobs ranging from extraction, infiltration, extermination, espionage, and simple reconnaissance. Her profile stated her title as Jinx, Mistress of Bad Luck but didn't say much about her powers. Her rates were high, but it was stated that they were open for negotiation. He took note of a disclaimer stating the right to refuse jobs at her discretion regardless of payment.

Gizmo and Mammoth had apparently been MIA for some time, but he did find a couple of civilians matching their descriptions. If he was right, Gizmo had been running a garage here in Jump, and Mammoth was trying to break into sports entertainment. There hadn't been any criminal charges or sightings regarding any of the three since their last incarceration begging the question: what were they doing back there.

He was beginning to suspect that what Jinx had told Raven was the truth, but then there was the matter of the ice powered new arrival. He knew that the three ex-criminals knew the man, so maybe he had spent time at H.I.V.E. He began pulling up what they had managed to salvage from the school's servers years ago.

He pulled up the school's roster, but it turned up nothing aside the ones he already knew. Perplexed he began to dig deeper to see if he could find anything dealing with elemental users. He ran across an old file that was partially corrupted titled Project Element. He opened what little he could salvage and began reading.

Project Element:

H.I.V.E. has ascertained the existence of beings of mythical powers and where to begin searching for them. Ancient legend states that at the precipice of natural disasters that devastate villages, towns, or cities a child will become the heart the cause. Meaning, that either said child becomes a catalyst for the destruction or is imbued with the force of nature causing it; we will begin searching for these children to utilize them for covert operations after extensive training.

The rest of the file was corrupt beyond repair, but he could gleam from what little was available le that this new individual was probably one of the kids. The file mentioned others, though, and so far he was the only one to surface. He was beginning to piece things together when a stoic voice caught his attention, "Richard what are you doing?"

Raven stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and a rather perturbed look on her face. He turned in the chair and said, "Just trying to see what I can find out about our new arrival."

Raven crossed the room and asked, "Anything noteworthy?"

He shrugged as he answered, "Just some old information on something called Project Element. Apparently the academy was chasing myths of elemental beings and inducing them into their ranks as kids. My guess would be to utilize them for high priority targets and objectives. I don't suppose you know anything about elementals do you?"

She pursed her lips as she took a moment to think before responding, "What little I know is believed to be mere legend. The legend states that once a century a child is chosen and placed at the center of a calamity to be imbued with the power to control whichever element caused the catastrophe. I've never encountered one myself, to my knowledge, so I believed it to be a simple myth. It would explain my interaction with Alec the first night we met."

Richard raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you mean?"

"He said he isn't a metahuman nor a magic user. All he said was that his powers were an innate ability and that he hated magic," she said with a shrug, "It looks like you've been quite busy, is this Project Element really all you've been able to come up with?"

"Unfortunately, yes the rest of the intel I turned up was revolving around Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth," he replied with a sigh.

Raven scowled but spoke evenly, "You don't trust what I told you to be true?" she asked.

"It's not that I don't trust you, I don't trust Jinx," he said, "I had to be sure that neither her, Gizmo, or Mammoth weren't up to anything. From what I can tell they've been trying to live normal lives except for Jinx. She's got quite a reputation in the mercenary circuit, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit impressed."

Raven took a deep breath before she spoke again, "So you were looking into her personal records."

It was a statement not a question and he could tell she wasn't thrilled at his actions. "Raven, please understand that I just don't want to see you get hurt," he said defensively, "After everything you've been through the last thing you need is to be taken advantage of and get hurt. I'm only trying to protect you."

That did it. Her composure broke and with it one of the room's windows, "I don't need your protection or permission Richard," she snapped, "I am quite capable of protecting myself. I would think you of all people would know that."

"Raven that's not what I meant I'm only-" was all he was able to get out before she disappeared into a puddle of darkness, "Help."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He really did have the best intentions, and hadn't planned on doing anything rash. He may not have approved of Jinx in the past, but everything in her current records indicated a significant change. He'd only wanted to find answers to some questions not cause a rift in his team.

Victor's voice caught his attention, "Hey Dick you seen Rae?" the metal man asked.

"She just left," he said with more bitterness then he intended.

"She find out what you were doing?" Victor asked and when he nodded he continued, "Told ya man. Don't stress over it though, this is all new to her. She'll calm down and come back and you two can talk this through. Deep down she knows you weren't trying to invade her personal life."

"She thinks because I'm apprehensive about Jinx that I'm not going to let her see her," Dick said in frustration, "Just because I'm worried about her doesn't mean I'll actively try and stop her. Hell Batman has had more flings with his enemies than I can count."

"Well you just need to get her to sit down and tell her that," Vic said, "Maybe if you lead with that, she'll be more open to hear you out. Give her space for now and let's go eat."

Dick nodded and rose from his chair. Vic was right and he knew it. He'd try and talk to Raven again when she came back and had calmed down. For the time being his stomach was growling and he could use some food and good company. He followed behind Vic towards the common room to get something to eat.

Jinx

Jinx stood in the command center with her fellow teammates and her arms crossed as she listened to Alec speak. "Until further notice we're on lockdown. We can't risk running the attention of the Titans while we search for Buzz. Once we have a lock on his signal we move, but until then no one in or out. Understood?"

Jinx was the first to speak up, "This is bullshit," she spat, "Just because you don't want to involve the Titans we all gotta suffer?"

Baran chimed in, "She's right this is bullshit. I've got a title match in a week and Kammie is dating a witch. You really wanna piss off the dark Titan?"

She smacked his arm and corrected him, "She's not a witch she's a sorceress and technically we're not dating officially. Other than that, yeah you wanna piss her off?"

"You're gonna kill my business with this shit," Mike added.

"ENOUGH!" Alec bellowed, "In order: I haven't decided on involving them yet and until I do we stay put, you'll make your damn match, I'd rather not piss off Kammie's girlfriend but they'll live, and I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of cars to fix when we're done."

The trio grumbled, but didn't bother trying to argue. When Alec was like this there wasn't much of a point in fighting him. To a point she could understand his stance on involving the Titans, but this was ridiculous. Putting all of them on lockdown until he made a decision wasn't going to sit well with anyone on the team.

For now, she would accept it. She turned to leave the room and the boys followed suit; none of them were particularly thrilled with the decision. The wall back to their respective quarters was silent and the mood was evident. She entered her room and slammed the door shut before throwing herself onto her bed.

She'd try talking with Alec again once he calmed down; since the encounter with Buzz he had been on edge. She flipped her communicator open and debated on calling Raven; she still needed to talk to her about the thing inside of her. Before she came to a decision the thing began to ring and Raven's number flashed across the screen. She accepted the call and greeted her, "Hey I was just thinking about calling you."

"Can we meet up?" Raven asked.

That was strangely forward of the normally stoic Titan. She sat up on her bed as she asked, "Is everything alright?"

"I'd rather explain in person," Raven replied, "Are you available?"

Jinx looked around her room and sighed before she answered, "Wish I could, but Frosty wants us all to stay put until our target makes his move. I'm stuck here until then."

"When have you abided someone else's rules?" Raven asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey normally I don't, but Alec is like family," she said before smirking, "But I guess you could come to me. You're creepy teleport thing wouldn't trip any of our security systems."

She could almost hear Raven roll her eyes as she spoke, "You seem to be the only one who thinks my method of transport of creepy. Can you give me your coordinates?"

"Just because I'm the only one who voices it doesn't mean I'm the only one who thinks it," Jinx countered, "I'll text you the coordinates and good on you for breaking some rules for once."

"Just send the coordinates so I can get there."

"Already on it, see you soon."

With that the line went dead. This was unexpected, but she didn't imagine Alec would be too thrilled if he found out. She wasn't too worried about it, Raven already knew most of what was going on and she wasn't going to let him screw her chances with her.

A grin crept across her face as she got an idea to mess with her crush. She stood from her bed and went to her dresser. She removed her shirt, set it atop the dresser, and pretended to look for something to wear. Raven might be a little upset, but it would be worth it to see the look on her face.

She could sense Raven's magic as she materialized into her room. She turned around and put on a show of mock modesty by pretending to cover herself. Raven looked to her and her face went flush as her eyes widened. She could feel the empath's eyes roaming her figure and taking stock of her frame. "Jeez give a girl a little warning next time!" she teased, "Unless you were hoping to catch a little eye candy."

Raven leveled a glare at her. She probably sensed the humor coming off of her. She turned around and walked to the bed, "Put your shirt back on," she ordered.

Jinx laughed, but did as she was told. She couldn't resist teasing a bit more though, "What you don't want to spend time with your half naked girlfriend?"

Raven looked her over for a moment in silence. Jinx felt her cheeks flush as Raven's eyes looked her over. A smirk crossed her lips as she replied, "What's wrong is my appreciation of your figure not to your liking?"

That was unexpected and Jinx quickly threw her shirt back on and said, "Shut up."

Raven chuckled at Jinx's embarrassment and walked to her bed. She took a seat and looked around the room. "Sorry about the dust and mess we haven't used this location in a while," she said after she had her shirt back on, "So what's up why the sudden interest in seeing me?"

Raven sighed before speaking, "Nightwing has been looking into your personal records," she began, "I told him everything that has been going on between us, and he took it upon himself to make sure you weren't a threat."

Jinx nodded and moved to sit beside the empath, "So you're thinking he doesn't approve of me?" she asked and when Raven nodded she continued, "Can't say I blame him, in all honesty, the boys and me did spend several years kicking your collective asses."

Raven looked up and corrected her, "You bested us one time and if memory serves that defeat didn't last long."

"That's one opinion," Jinx said with a laugh, "Besides it's not like he'd turn up anything criminal in my current records. I've only done a few extermination jobs and those were sanctioned by government officials."

"How are you so accepting of this?" Raven asked.

Jinx shrugged and said, "Short of me having nothing to hide, I'd expect nothing less of the former boy wonder. He was trained by the Bat after all, so it's in his nature to be in the know. I think the bigger question here is, why are you so bothered by it?"

"I…don't know to be honest," Raven admitted, "This is all new to me and if I had to guess it's simply fear of being rejected by the people I've come to know as family."

Jinx placed her hand on Raven's and gave it a reassuring squeeze as she spoke, "Your team's not going to reject you because you're dating an ex-criminal turned mercenary. I get you're worried about that, but the five of you have been through too much for them to turn your back on you over this. I was worried about the same thing when the boys found out I was crushing on you, but they were surprisingly supportive. Giz was kind of a douche about it, but Mammoth was in favor of it."

"Hell even Alec was in favor of it, which was a big surprise given everything going on. He felt pretty bad about interrupting our little date."

Raven smiled at her and squeezed her hand back, "I never thought you of all people would be the voice of reason in any situation," she said.

"Hey don't be spreading that around I do have a reputation to uphold," Jinx joked, "So did Nightlight come up with anything interesting about me and the boys?"

"He found your mercenary profile and was actually impressed with your track record," she said, "He couldn't quite figure anything out about Gizmo or Mammoth, and he found something called Project Element that may pertain to Alec."

"No kidding? Guess I'll take the respect of the Bat family as a compliment," Jinx said, "Before you ask about Alec, you'll have to take those questions to him. Good luck talking to him right now, he's been in a mood since our little scuffle earlier."

Jinx debated for a moment on whether or not to bring up her encounter with the entity inside her. Raven must have felt her indecision or maybe it was the slight shift in her mood because she softly asked, "Kamala, what's the matter?"

Jinx bit her bottom lip aa she searched for the words to explain. "Remember that first night on the rooftop when your magic activated that amulet?" she finally asked.

Raven nodded, "The Eye of Ra, correct?" Raven responded.

"Yeah well remember I told you I was having some weird sensations and shit?" she asked before continuing, "Well I tried entering my subconscious through meditation to see what the hell is going on in me. What I found was a massive creature speaking Arabic and trying to communicate with me. Your s is keeping it's energy from overwhelming me, but it's been seeping out when it gets too strong. Pretty sure that's what's been making my powers go haywire."

Raven let her finish before she spoke again, "You're wondering if I could possibly enter your mind and see what this thing wants. It's certainly possible, but I'd need some tools from my room and time to attune them to your energy signature."

"But you could do it?" Jinx asked and when Raven nodded she broke out into a grin and tackled the violet haired girl onto her bed, "You're so awesome!"

She showered the girl in a flurry of quick kisses and ignored the sound of a mirror shattering in the background. At first Raven tried to push the girl off of her, but quickly gave in and wrapped her arms around the pinkette. The two locked lips for an unsure amount of time before a voice caused them to break apart, "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Jinx turned and glared at the intruder, not giving an inch when she saw it was Alec standing with his arms crossed in the doorway. "Go. Away." she said with authority.

Raven was quick to push her off and sit up with a bright red tinge to her cheeks. Alec didn't turn and instead asked, "What part of no one in or out was unclear to you?"

"To be fair here, I never agreed to your bullshit lockdown," Jinx countered as she sat up in a pout, "Fucking buzz kill, if you wanna ask him anything now's as good a time as any."

He rolled his eyes and turned to Raven, "I'm assuming you didn't come here for an interrogation, but you've clearly got something you want to say," he said.

"I do," she said standing up, "What is Project Element?"

His hands dropped to his side and his eyes narrowed as he responded, "I take it your fearless leader has been doing some digging?" Raven nodded and he sighed before continuing, "It's a long story, but it's the reason I'm here in Jump. You want to know? Normally I'd keep this close to the vest, but seeing as how Kammie can't seem to keep to herself I might as well let you in. Come with me and I'll explain."

Raven stood and spared a glance at Jinx, but followed him out of her room. Jinx huffed and stood to follow the two. She wasn't happy that Alec had ruined her fun, but maybe this would finally get him to let the Titans help. She looked to her vanity mirror to see it shattered and smiled to herself. She was glad she had that effect on Raven, but for now she needed to know what Alec was going to tell her girlfriend.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, did you miss me? Sorry for the lack of updates here lately, I've been swamped between work and side jobs. Good news though, this story isn't dead! I actually started this shortly after Chapter 10, but I took a job working with an artist on DA finishing a piece for him. That spawned a partnership that will hopefully come to fruition early next year.

Now to the story itself, here we see the protective side of Nightwing. Poor dude was just trying to keep his friend safe, but Raven didn't quite take it that way. Some might point out that she overreacted, but honestly that was kind of my point here. This is all new territory for her and her emotions are in a frenzy at the prospect of being involved with Jinx. She's still trying to process all of this and she's not ready for the questions and reactions from her team just yet.

On the upside of this little interaction, we get to see a start of Alec's backstory with Project Element. This is an idea I had a while back and will reach across this story and any future continuations. That's right boys and girls this is actually just the first installment of a series I've been cooking up. That would be why it took us so long to get to some of the meat of the plot and the romance.

I probably could have pushed this to be a bit longer, but I've got a couple of jobs I need to get started on outside of my regular warehouse job. I've started taking commissions so if anyone has anything they're wanting written send me a message and we can talk out some details. I'm hoping to expand my wheelhouse and comfort zone as well as improve my overall writing by taking these on. Feel free to send me a PM if you're interested.

Now to my reviewers:

QuantumPE – I guess you can hang around for a bit, just don't complain about all the clutter up there. You're certainly right about the refresher courses, but she's been a little overwhelmed as of late with everything going on.

DemonKnightOfHell – I probably could have stretched out that update for suspense purposes, but I could resist getting straight to it. Sorry for the wait on this one hope it was worth the wait.

Guest Reviewer - I'm glad you're all enjoying the ride so far and hope it keeps your interest.

ZanyBro - Thanks for the follows, faves, and review I'm glad I caught your interest. There's not enough RaeJinx out there and I'm just trying to give back a little bit. Hope you're still reading, my first few chapters were rough reads and need revisions, so I hope they didn't scare you off.

Update Psycho – DeLint's voice actually sounded about like that in my head as well lol. I'm glad you're interested and all of this is being done on my phone, so I've got more than my fair share of mistakes and typos here. It didn't help that those first several chapters were the first thing I'd written in years, but that's not meant to be an excuse. Hope you're enjoying the ride so far.

Sincerely,

R.