Jinx felt something cold squish up against her face, and she groaned and tossed her head in the other direction. Ah, fuck that was cold. She hissed and strained to open her eyes, groggily trying to make sense of all the black that was in front of her. She had a hard time trying to make sense of where she was, and what had happened to her. It was like everything was foggy in her mind, blurring at the very edges of her memory.
What the hell happened to her? The last thing she remembered was a small man dressed entirely in black had stabbed her in the shoulder with this.. needle. And then there was a fuzzy feeling going into her, blurring the back of her brain with a tornado of confusion. Jinx bit her lip and twisted her body, surprised to feel something cold bite into her wrists. She looked up to see tight metal chains hooking her up to a metal pipe, like some kind of prisoner.
No. No no no. She remembered now. She remembered every damn thing.
The Titans. Scrambling around in the forest underbrush for the last couple of days like animals, and now they were on the run for their lives. Jinx grunted and tried to pull her arms away from the pipe, but she was way too weak for anything but small grunts and a tiny kick of her legs. Whatever was in the drug that she was shot with, it worked well.
She couldn't even use her powers right now. She was completely and utterly helpless.
Jinx calmed herself down, forcing herself to take long deep breaths. Ice cold air rushed into her lungs and she nearly spluttered and choked, wincing at the pain that came from it. After a few minutes of repeating that hellish process, she looked around her with clearer eyes.
She was clamped in a small dark cell that was barely lit up with one pitiful florescent bulb. The floor was concrete, and her knees rubbed painfully against the rough ground each time she moved. She looked up to see her hands clamped above her; now she could see that the bindings on her hands were made from a grade A metal. She recognized the detail on the sides. Slade's signature.
Besides the fact that she was trapped, she heard nothing else. No whistles of fresh air that would signal an open door or window. There were no footsteps that she could hear, no guards keeping watch over her like she expected. In fact, it was dead silent. She had half expected some creepy guy to be watching her until she woke up, just to taunt and torture her until she cracked under the psychological pressure. But instead, it was as though no one was in the building.
Jinx tugged once again at the restraints and then gave up, huffing in frustration as she sat there. She smacked her head against the wall and closed her eyes, trying not to panic too much. She had been through this kind of situation before, she could go through it again. Maybe she could even win a visit with Slade and win back her freedom, and then she could get back to finding the kids.
As she thought about the children, she nearly screamed in frustration.
She still saw the total panic and horror laced on their faces as she told them to run, to get out of there. Robin had just grabbed Starfire and Cyborg's hands and simply ran the other way, with Beast Boy riding desperately on Cyborg's shoulder as they disappeared. They were small enough to be camouflaged in the underbrush, ducking under leaves and twigs as they ran away. The only good moment of that was the three men excitedly turning around and looking for them, wondering where the hell they went.
A small smile curled on her face as she thought of it. The idiots. They had totally forgotten that they were kids, didn't they? Not to mention the fact that Raven was nonexistent. Since the dark-haired demon's disappearance into the ocean, the kids looked hell of a lot different than when Jinx first met them.
More scuffed up, sure.
The minutes slowly ticked by, and Jinx grew more and more restless. She really wanted to free herself from the restraints she was in and rub her hands, but her powers were failing to work. She was now starting to believe that there was a bit of something else in the drug that was forced into her. Something that only Slade knew how to put together.
Just when she thought she was going to go insane from utter boredom, she finally heard footsteps resonating through the empty corridor.
A man dressed entirely in black stopped in front of her cell, looking like the same clothed men that had hunted her and the kids down since that morning. No face, no distinguishing marks on them. Just their eyes and the weird shoulder pads that had Slade's symbol written all over them. The tiny beady eyes that reminded Jinx of a rat glared down at her like she was shit on the bottom of his shoe.
"Hey asshole." Jinx purred, leaning forwards as far as the restraints would take her. "Come to get some sugar?"
The man held a dignified silence, his hands crossed behind his back in a menacing stance.
Jinx laughed, slightly relieved that there was at least someone to talk to, even if it was this idiot. "Awh, that's too bad. Really. I was getting bored."
"You should watch your mouth," the man growled, his voice a lot deeper than she had expected. It sounded nearly fake, how deep it was. "You are wanted by our leader. You're lucky he doesn't have you executed right now."
"Actually, I'll take one execution to go." Jinx snapped, all sweetness gone. Not that there was ever really any there in the first place. "I'm not the one you're looking for, so why can't I be let go?"
The man stared at her, irritatingly calm. "You are hiding information. Once we get that, you will be set free."
Jinx glowered at him, wishing that he would burst into flames or something. Oh, if only her powers worked like usual. She would cream this asshole all over the stone wall and escape. Maybe try to kick Slade's ass along the way. Although that was wishful thinking.
"And what if I don't comply?" she hissed. "Because right now, I kinda don't want to do anything for anyone."
"Then you will die." The man shrugged. He quickly unlocked the cell block and opened the door, the chain door slamming against the stone fence.
Jinx waited as the chains were jerked roughly off the wall and her body being dragged along by the bigger man. There was a part of her that was hopeful she would become stronger as the effects of the drug wore off, but those hopes were dashed as the man just pushed her forwards until she fell clumsily on the ground. She didn't struggle as the man yanked roughly on the back of the restraints, she just limply allowed herself to be dragged along the ground, growling at the pain of her knees being ground into bloody meat.
She barely got her feet, her boots scraping uncomfortably underneath her. She grunted as she was pulled into a doorway, nearly banging her elbow on a metal pipe just dangling from the ceiling. She cursed internally. Couldn't Slade had gotten a neater place to have his little hideout? Or was nothing else too evil and creepy for him?
As she was thrown to the ground, she let out a grunt and nearly smacked her face onto the concrete. Hissing, she turned onto her back and pushed herself into a sitting position, blowing a strand of pink hair off her face.
Jinx turned to look behind her, ready to spit at the idiot who just threw her on the ground like a piece of crap. But to her irritation, he had disappeared. She was alone again, this time her hands still bound behind her back. Well, at least she wasn't chained against the wall anymore. She huffed and stared at the darkness surrounding her. Her eyes searched the walls desperately, for a window, for some kind of door she could break down, even a pipe that lead out of the damn place. Nothing. It was like being locked in a box.
She slowly got to her feet, feeling her legs shake underneath her, trembling a bit at the unuse. She glanced disgustedly at her bleeding knees, the red liquid trickling down to her boots and staining the leather pink.
"Going anywhere, Jinx?"
Jinx jerked her head upwards to the noise and saw someone step out of the shadows. It was a darkly dressed man, a tall stature with a proud stance to him. Jinx recognized him at once, with the soft angry voice and the glare of his eye.
Slade.
"You.." she hissed, backing up a little and nearly tripping her own damn foot. She had seen him only once before, at the HIVE academy when he once showed up with Gizmo in his clutches, nearly squeezing the life out of the little guy because he had infiltrated his hideout. She had remembered the brutal blow that threw Gizmo across the room and into a dinner table, coughing and throwing up blood for the rest of the day. She had never forgotten the savage look on the man's face.
And now was no different. Except he was a lot closer and she couldn't hide behind anyone else.
"Hello, Jinx." Slade said smoothly, staring at her intently. There was a difference between him and his cronies, she realized. She wasn't afraid of his little followers. But she WAS afraid of him. "Have you enjoyed your stay here on the island?"
"Why don't you just give up?" Jinx hissed, clenching her teeth in an effort to hide her fear and panic. "I know what you've been doing, Slade. Your plans. I know you've turned into a creepy stalker. You won't get to the Titans. They'll fight you, just like before."
Slade laughed, a low slow laugh that paralyzed every fiber of her being. "I know that the Titans have been changed into helpless children, Jinx. Or shall I say, the former student of HIVE academy?"
Jinx froze, her eyes growing wide at the name. "How.. how did you.."
"I saw you," Slade said slowly, staring as still as a statue. It almost didn't seem real. "Hiding behind the other students like a coward, watching as I choked your friend and threw him across a room."
"That doesn't matter anymore." Jinx said stonily, coming back to her senses. Remember your training. Remember your training.
"Surely it does." Slade droned on. "I have had my sights on the Titans for a long while now, Jinx. I had gotten close on numerous occasions. Raven was a very unstable leader, unable to hold her own against a group of children. I was getting close, until you came in. Dear Jinx, you are a criminal. Why help your enemy?"
Jinx scowled. She didn't have to give him an answer, especially to a question she didn't know the answer to. She felt her back stiffen with discomfort as she saw the dark clad men come out from everywhere, nearly melting out of the shadows. Surrounding her in a tight circle of no escape. Shit.
"Let me go." she growled.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." Slade said listlessly. He held out his arm, and Jinx could a horrid creaking sound.
Dust crumbled from the side of the wall as it started to move sideways. A large cylinder of glass came sliding out, being pushed by two darkly dressed men. Jinx held back a scream of horror as she saw what was inside the glass.
The children.
"Jink!" Robin shrieked, pounding on the glass with bare hands. He looked absolutely terrified. "Jink! HAALP! HAAALP!"
Oh god. OH GOD!
Jinx threw herself towards the glass cage, not caring at the rough tugging at her restrains. The men pulled her back, two of them roughing grabbing at her arms and hair, nearly pulling her back onto the ground.
"Let them go!" she screamed, finally losing control of her voice. Screw training. Time for panic. "You son of a bitch, Slade! They're just children! Look at em! Children! They don't know any better!"
"My enemies." Slade said, without a hint of emotion at Jinx's outburst.
Jinx tried to claw viciously at her opponents, but her arms were burning from being yanked by the restraints. "They don't deserve this! They're innocent, I tell you! At least give them a fighting chance, dammit!"
"Jink we's scared!" Starfire cried, clutching onto Cyborg. Tears were streaked down her muddy face. "Halp us!"
"Pwease!" Cyborg begged, his voice cracking at the sight of her. "Pwease!"
"No!" Jinx screamed, her voice nearly going out as she shrieked. "No!"
The wall started to turn back, the glass cylinder starting to be hidden once again. Slade stared at her, unflinching as ever, unmoving, and emotionless. Through her screaming and flailing, Jinx could hear him chuckle darkly.
"Yes Jinx. Yes."
I'm a really bad person for enjoying writing this.
More to come soon! Hopefully. Can anyone guess what's going to happen next? ;)
Please review.