Unexpected: Chapter II

Robin stared in disbelief at Starfire's back as the young Tamaranean waved joyfully at the retreating forms of the Hive Five.

"You are most welcome, Jinx! Return home safely, for we shall continue this another day!" When Starfire clasped her hands behind her back and turned back around to face her friends, her dazzling smile fell from her face. "Friends, what is wrong?"

The four other titans were slack-jawed. Curious green eyes passed over each of them, and she began to grow nervous. "Has a cat stolen your tongues?"

Beast Boy recovered first… somewhat. He blinked, his mouth still hanging open, before shouting, "Jinx just kissed you! She, like, kissed you! We all saw that, right? That totally happened? Right? I'm not dreaming, right?" He pointed an accusing finger at Starfire, "You felt it, right!"

Starfire cocked her head and answered positively in a most confused tone. Robin shook his head and clenched his hands. "And… you don't find that weird?"

"Not at all, I believe she was simply showing her heartfelt thanks. I did save her from what would have been a most hideous fall, after all."

Raven rolled her eyes and Cyborg chuckled nervously. Beast Boy just continued to stare. Robin sighed and put a hand on Starfire's shoulder. "Right. Let's just leave it at that. You're alright? Not hurt anywhere?"

Starfire smiled halfheartedly. "I do not see where else we could leave it... but yes, I am fine, Friend Robin. Shall we return home?" The Boy Wonder stared hard at her for a moment longer. When he finally nodded ascent, the Tamaranean beauty lifted off the ground and waited for her friends to ready themselves for the trip home.

Once Cyborg had started the T-Car and Robin had mounted his cycle, she headed up and away from the carnage below. She didn't go far however before she stopped in midair; she turned to gaze after the Hive Five who were still faintly in sight, unusually easy to spot.

Well, Jinx was, at least.

Starfire stared curiously in their direction for another moment before turning back towards home.

"Didn't see that coming!"

Jinx simply tossed her head and continued walking, nose held high in the air. Gizmo whirred about somewhere near her head, eyeing the sorceress with a suspicious and almost disappointed glare. "I thought for sure you had the hots for the gloomy, annoying one that never deems us fit to see her pit-sniffing face!"

Jinx stopped and sneered in disgust. "What, you mean that irritating concentration of emo-negative energy Raven? Ugh, don't make me gag. I can barely stand being in the same room as her; every time I see that blue hoodie it literally pains me! Why do you think she's always my first target?" Cat-like eyes glared fiercely at the boy genius, whose cheeks and ears were now red with embarrassment as he scratched absentmindedly at his bare cranium.

"Well… I actually kinda thought that was proof you, ya know, liked her. 'Cuz you wanted to fight her yourself all the time… like you didn't want anyone else near her and-"

Jinx's hand flashed out and snared Gizmo by the scruff of his shirt and she snarled as she brought her face close to his, "I didn't want anyone else near her because I like tearing her down. She thinks she's so despairingly misunderstood, when she's really just a self-absorbed brat that's been indulged and allowed to put on airs for God knows how long! Besides..." Her voice grew infinitely lighter and nonchalant as she released the poor boy and continued walking, "she's not my type."

Seemore, who had been watching the whole affair with the only eye that wasn't completely terrified (Mammoth, Billy Numerous and Kyd Wykkyd all cowered behind him), lengthened his stride until he was at Jinx's side.

"And… Starfire is?"

Jinx didn't stop walking, but flicked her gaze toward her teammate with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Well, it's hard to ignore that body… you should know, Mr. See-through Vision." A knowing smile graced her features as Seemore's cheeks darkened. Her eyes turned foreword again and her smile became more sincere. "But honestly, it's more her personality that I like. With a body like that, you'd think she'd be a bit more smug… but she's really sweet and sincere. It's cute."

The rest of the Hive Five exchanged nervous looks, which went completely unnoticed by Jinx as she ducked into the alleyway that lead to the gang's secret lair. Heading inside, Jinx immediately went to the fridge to grab a soda; it had been a hot one today, and Jinx was glad to be back in the embrace of air-conditioning. She let the cold air wash over her face for a moment, reveling in the icy freshness, before shutting the fridge and heading over to the couch. Plopping down right in the center, she leaned back and popped the can, taking a long swig before letting out a contented sigh. "So, what's for dinner?"

Mammoth and Billy immediately brightened at the thought of food; they raced to the kitchen to retrieve the many take-out menus the Hive Five kept stacked above the fridge. None of the Five were particularly good cooks, except for Seemore, who could actually make a pretty bangin' gumbo. But gumbo took hours to make... and they were hungry now.

Gizmo continued to look disappointed; apparently the thought of Raven and Jinx together had been more important to him than he'd let on. Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd stood together behind the young genius, deep in silent, mental conversation. Both were very concerned; Jinx may have gotten Mammoth and Billy Numerous on another train of thought, but the pink-haired sorceress hadn't thrown them off track.

Jinx had called Starfire "cute". This did not bode well for either of them. There was no way Jinx could carry on a relationship with a hero; it didn't matter what the storybooks said, it just didn't work. There were too many hardships, too many obstacles. If Starfire fell for Jinx, she could very well lose her status as a Teen Titan. If Jinx fell for Starfire, Jinx would face nothing but heartbreak and ostracization from her peers in the villain community.

If Jinx was at all serious about pursuing the young Tamaranean, and it was very likely that she was considering how she'd acted around the titan today, calling her cute, it would end in disaster.

The pair of them glanced over at the couch; Mammoth stood hunched over to Jinx's level, the menu from his favorite Chinese place 'Happy Panda Palace' clutched tightly in his meaty hands. The two were discussing what should be ordered, Jinx grinning up at the giant of a man as he continued to list items; he'd probably end up naming half the menu, if not more. Seemore glanced at Kyd Wykkyd, who nodded gravely, before looking back at Jinx and clearing his throat.

"So, uh… what happens now?"

Jinx turned away from her conversation with Mammoth to gaze curiously at her teammate, the remnants of a smile hanging around the corners of her mouth. "Whatcha mean?"

Seemore shrugged and looked away for a moment. "Well…" Then his one eye came up again and focused intently on her. "About Starfire." Thin shoulders tensed as all of the mirth disappeared from Jinx's face and her eyes narrowed, iris' darkening.

"What about her?"

"Jinx, you just told us you thought she was cute, and I don't think I've ever seen you blush like that before today. What's the deal?" Concern began to outweigh the fear as Jinx's gaze grew more defensive with each word out of his mouth. "I mean, you're not seriously gonna, you know, ask her out or anything, right?"

Jinx continued to stare at him darkly for a moment, but then her eyes slid shut and she sighed deeply. "Not that it's any of your business who I date, but no I don't plan on chasing that particular skirt. I'll leave that to you. And she may be cute, but I just like messing with her. That's all."

Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd let out relieved sighs simultaneously, but their relief was short lived.

Gizmo, who'd been pouting silently for some time now, suddenly perked up and began dancing in place, sadistic delight coating his face. "Ooh! Ooh! I know what we can- ooh! Sweet! Yes! Messing with her! Jinx you're a genius! Man, this is gonna be so sick!" The Hive Five gazed curiously down at the dancing boy, though Jinx's gaze was laced with disgust.

"Uh, thanks, but how exactly am I genius and just what exactly is going to be so sick?"

Gizmo grinned and stopped jumping long enough to lay out his plan, a plan that would lead to a lot of trouble… for both sides of the law.

"You said it yourself, messing with that space-head is fun right? Well what if we use that? Huh? Huh? Get it? Like, next time we see the titans, you mess with her, get her distracted and boom! Think of how much easier that'll be for us!" When the rest of his team continued to stare at him blankly, a sound similar to that of an angry howler monkey escaped him and he whipped out his controller. He filed through his video storage drive and began playing back a number of different fights they'd had with the titans, specifically fights where Starfire had played a huge role in the Hive Five's defeat.

"Think about it; even though she's so freaking happy all the time, she's seriously annoying to fight. She's stronger than that walking scrap yard Cyborg, she can fly faster than Miss Despair and the green idiot, plus she's got superpowers and a thicker skin than anything that's ever walked the earth: two things the Boy Blunder doesn't have. If you can throw her off her game, not only do we bring down one of the strongest titans out there, we'll find ourselves swimming in stolen jewels, cash, and whatever the hell else we want!"

Now it made sense, perfect sense really. Jinx's face split into a Cheshire cat grin, and her teammates seemed equally thrilled by Gizmo's plan, even Seemore and Kyd Wykkyd. Just the thought of all the goods they'd get their hands on was enough to send any sense of foresight fleeing to the back of their minds.

"That's not such a bad idea, little man." Gizmo grinned proudly. It was a great plan, after all.

"So long as you don't get in too deep, Jinx." The concern Kyd Wykkyd and Seemore co-harbored managed to work in that little word of caution, but that was it. Jinx's predatory grin made it seem almost superficial.

"Oh don't worry about me. I've got this."

Unfortunately for the lot of them, no one sensed the hidden meaning in Jinx's words. Sure, she'd be careful not to fall in too deep, but there was no way Jinx was going to pass up such a golden opportunity to get close to her new curiosity… something had happened between the two of them earlier that day. There was no denying that. "Cute," was never a word that came to mind when thinking of the titans, but now it seemed to be the only one.

Before today, the titans had just been a collective group of goodie-two-shoes that got on her nerves. Now, when Jinx thought of the titans, she only thought of one in particular.

'This is going to be so much fun.'

Re-read and re-written, I much prefer the way this one went. The way I had this chapter before, there was a lot of unnecessary stuff. It's much better now, much more Teen Titans.

Anyway, as you can clearly see I will be continuing this! I thought of a way to make this extend over several chapters, and since this fandom is so small and under appreciated I will do so. I hope you enjoy it.

Now to address a few things: yes, I do hate the JinxXRaven pairing. Raven isn't exactly my favorite character, and I don't feel that she's right for Jinx. Way too serious, and she's got enough baggage for the both of them; I think Jinx is a bit too proud to accept that her problems aren't the biggest. This is actually why I think Starfire would be a good match for her; she's usually cheerful, which would keep Jinx in good, calm spirits, but she can be serious when she needs to be, and she's not stupid. Jinx needs someone that'll let her do what she wants, but won't allow themselves to be taken advantage of.

I do feel that Starfire is the most powerful of the titans; she can fly faster than the speed of light, for God's sake! She's just downplayed because she can be a bit too bubbly for her own good.

Jinx is my favorite character; I feel that she is just as sweet as she is devious, and I hope that I can write a convincing Jinx that will project that.

Anyway, please enjoy!