Jinx strolled down the hallway, still shuffling a little down the cobblestone paths. Beast Boy was hidden safely in her breast pocket as a little mouse, waiting patiently for her to tell him to come out. It was a silent agreement that they had together. Jinx knew that Beast Boy was a lot smarter than everyone gave him credit for. Even when the Titans were their original ages, no one really seemed to appreciate the changeling for anything. From what Jinx remembered, he was the kid that always cracked the worst jokes and was the one left behind a lot of the time.
She moved down the hallway quietly, her stomach aching from the lack of food and her legs trembling. Using her hand to move along the wall, she slowly inched her way towards... someplace. Anyplace. She didn't recognize anything, unfortunately.
Jinx swallowed hard and kept her eyes forward, gritting her teeth as she moved. She had to keep moving. She had had worse than this, right? Starvation was merely suffering from the mind. Her training from the HIVE academy came back to her in a rush, filling her brain and overriding all her other senses. It was like a mantra, the only thing keeping her sane as she slowly shuffled through the dark halls, her hand on the wall for support and her eyes staring forwards.
She had been plunged into darkness, the pipes around her slowly making hissing noises and a banging noise echoing down the hall every now and then. There weren't any windows to escape out of, and all the doors were locked. She had tried each and every one of them. It was frustrating at this point. Jinx made sure that her footsteps didn't make too much noise, and that every rock was left untouched, every loose stone was avoided, and every hanging metal pipe was ducked underneath.
There were absolutely no guards, much to her surprise. She had expected the place to be swarming with them, every wall covered, every corner guarded, every door laced with some sort of weapon. But there was nothing. The building was as silent as though it had been empty for months. It was a very unnerving feeling, as though she was being watched through a camera and was being laughed at, her pathetic attempt some sick form of entertainment for the guards and Slade.
Slade the bastard.
Jinx grit her teeth even harder until she thought her teeth would shatter, her fists clenching at the sides in pure fury. So they had tortured her for weeks, and tortured some children as though it was some kind of game. It wasn't funny. They could torture her all they wanted. At least she was old enough to comprehend pain. But not... kids. Toddlers.
It was so wrong.
She knew, though, there was a time where she wouldn't have cared so much. If this had been a year or so ago, she would've agreed to the torture of the Titan children. Hell, she would've watched with sadistic glee, a nice bowl of popcorn in her hand and her favorite can of soda. All of her friends would be sitting there, laughing.
Her friends. Those bullshit assholes who pretended that they were her friends.
Only to betray her in the end, to throw her under the bus and leave her for dead in that rotten building when everything fell to shit. Even See-More, the guy who she thought was actually into her, had abandoned her there and left her for death just like the rest of them. She didn't know what hurt worse at the time: the bitter sting of realizing that she was actually fucking alone, or the fact that Brother Blood had nearly killed the people she did know.
Jinx stumbled on a rock in mid-thought, and she tumbled down to the ground with a large grunt. Damn, that hurt. Her knee was definitely bleeding, the liquid trickling down the pant leg in a wet stream. She slowly got back onto her feet, cursing quietly underneath her breath.
"Fuck you." She snarled at the floor. She saw a few drops of blood splattered onto the concrete, coming from her pant leg. The sight of her own blood made her a bit dizzy.
But as she looked up, she saw some light flowing through the darkness. She squinted as she stared at it. With a jolt, she realized that it was actually a door, hidden by the darkness.
Was this were Slade's little minions had lead her the first time? Or was she too drugged to remember?
"We're getting somewhere, kiddo." Jinx said quietly, gently patting her pocket where Beast Boy was lying. She heard a tiny muffled squeak in response, and she smiled.
Going as fast as her legs would allow her, she finally reached the point where light streamed lazily from the crack in the door. With her hands, she felt around for a knob, or a hole that she could put her fingers through. After a few frustrating seconds of feeling around, her fingers finally closed around something round and metallic.
A doorknob. And it actually turned.
The door slid open with a nearly silent creak, slowly opening to a brightly lit area. Jinx darted from the door to behind a pile of rusty barrels and pipes just a few feet in front of her, crouching behind them and peering through the small cracks they had.
There was certainly more activity in here than there was in the rest of the entire building. Guards were everywhere, busily assembling something against the wall like monotonous robots. It looked like a large... jet. Jinx narrowed her eyes as she watched them screw in metallic hinges, a large engine that fit perfectly into it's compartment. The guards slowly wheeled something out, something strapped securely onto it's transportation cart and labeled with a clear bio-hazard sign.
Jinx's eyes widened as she realized what it was. A bomb. A goddamned bomb.
It was going to be a lot harder to get out of here.
"Work faster." Slade's voice rang out, making her flinch even from behind her hiding spot. Jinx looked through the cracks to see if she could see him, and sure enough, Slade was standing in the middle of the floor, directing every movement and every little plan. "We don't have time to spare."
Jinx tensed up a bit as she saw the nuclear bombs being hooked up to the bottom of the plane, where she knew that it would be dropped from thousand of miles up in the air. Where it was going to be dropped, she didn't know. But if that wasn't bad enough, the next sentence that Slade spoke made her blood run cold.
"Bring out the Titan children. I am assuming they are still alive."
Jinx watched in silent fury as the wall opened up again, almost seeming like it was magic when it came open. The same cylinder cell came sliding out into the middle of the floor, but this time, the compartment was silent.
Silent.. and empty.
Her heart stopped for a horrifying second.
Alarms suddenly blared out, making Jinx flinch with surprise at the sudden explosion of noise. Everything was bathed in a red light, and she could hear Slade's voice screaming out above the noise.
"Where are they!? WHERE ARE THEY!? WHERE ARE THE TITAN CHILDREN!?"
Jinx backed up from her spot, her legs trembling violently as she scattered back. But with her luck, she backed into a large pile of stacked barrels, and they toppled down to the ground with a huge clanging noise. They rolled around her feet, entrapping her in the open, right in the line of sight. Jinx flinched backwards, trying to run back to where the door was. The only thing that she successfully did was run into a large guard, her head slamming into his chest.
The guard ripped off Jinx's mask with one swift move, her pink hair spilling from the black cloth.
Slade turned and looked directly at her, his eyes burning from underneath the mask he was wearing.
"You little bitch!" he roared, pointing his finger at her. Half the guards jolted upwards and turned to stare at her before jumping into action, charging towards her with frightening speed, and the guard in front of her lunged.
Without thinking, Jinx darted to the side and jumped over the large pile of barrels, kicking them into the men that was charging her. She easily slid over the pile and sprung into a run, forgetting about her weak and hurting legs.
"Where are the children, you miserable bitch?!" Slade screamed after her, slamming his fist into metal wall. The sound echoed around the already chaotic room, adding to the angry noise of the alarms and yelling.
Jinx quickly jumped onto the jet and climbed up it, her hands grabbing at the metal as though they were tree branches, her feet moving faster than she had ever moved them before. When she clambered to the top of the jet, she spied another small little catwalk up at the very top of the wall, leading up towards a window, the thing boarded with a metal strip. Light was pouring through it: natural sunlight.
Outside. It lead to the outside forests.
It was the only shot she had. Jinx reached for it and slowly pulled herself up, cursing herself for her weak upper body strength. Behind her, she could hear the footsteps banging loudly behind her, the guards catching up to her quickly. They were climbing their own plane to get to her.
How flattering.
Jinx let out a loud grunt as she climbed onto the catwalk, bringing her knees up so she could run to the window just a few feet away. She was just about to let her other leg come up when a rough hand grabbed at her ankle, pulling down at an alarming rate.
"Son of a bitch, let go!" Jinx screamed, turning and kicking at the man grabbing onto her ankle. The expressionless face simply stared at her. With her free foot, she kicked him directly in the face and scrabbled away, not caring about the nails that scraped against her ankle.
She ran quickly across the walkway, her stomach burning and her legs on fire. Jinx half sobbed and then tried to wrench the metal off the window, but it was stuck fast. The metal rattled in her hands, but it didn't come loose. She muttered, "No, no, no." under her breath in a panic, but as she looked up and saw the guards climbing onto the walkway, she knew she was screwed.
I hate everything.
Jinx was about to give up on the door when the thing suddenly flew off it's hinges, flying past her and nearly cutting her in the face. But she didn't care, it was open. Without a second of hesitation, she slid her body into it and landed on the other side, her ass landing in grass and foliage. Next to her was a large strip of metal, and she pulled it towards her and pushed it against the opening of the door, preventing anyone from following her. With a pound of her hand, the metal strip was stuck into the hinge of the window.
Jinx crawled away from the building, her breath heaving heavily in her chest and her entire limbs trembling violently. As she ducked into a nearby ditch and rested her head against the dirt and leaves, she felt her heart thudding painfully against her ribcage. Okay, so maybe that was the worst escape plan in history. It could've gone a lot better than that.
Something was squeaking loudly in her ear, and she shook her head and realized that it was Beast Boy, peering out of her pocket worriedly. With a small gasp, she gently took him out and set him onto the forest floor, her breath quivering in her lungs.
She had nearly forgotten about the little kid, he was so quiet. It was a good thing she didn't scream his name in a panic in there, or else Slade would've realized that he had lost account of one Titan. And wouldn't that have been a good time?
"Oh my god, kid." she shuddered, watching as he turned back into his human form. She ran trembling hands through her hair. "Fuck. Oh my god, we're so fucked."
Beast Boy sat in front of her and glared, crossing his little arms. "Bad word, Jink. Bad. Don't use words like dat."
Jinx stared at him with wide eyes, and then let out a small chuckle. Despite it all, she started to laugh. She just sat there in the grass for a minute, laughing at Beast Boy's stubborn face and pouty lip.
How the hell was he so calm? They had both just escaped hell. She didn't know what Beast Boy had seen through her pocket, or what he had heard. No doubt he knew his friends were in trouble, and that Slade had some horrible intent for them, but yet he wasn't crying or throwing a fit. He was acting as though he hadn't heard or seen anything out of the ordinary. Instead, he was scolding Jinx because of her cursing, his lip jutting out and his eyes narrowed as though she was the child, and he was the adult.
Jinx's laughter closed to a giggle, and she wiped the tears from her eyes as she calmed down. "Jesus, I'm sorry kid." she said, trying to get her laughter under control. "I'm sorry, I swear. I'll watch my mouth from now on."
"Good." Beast Boy cocked his head at her, his pout falling and something else taking it's place. It was fear, she realized. "Jink... what we do now?"
Jinx sighed and stared ahead of her, wrapping her arms around her knees and pulling them to her chest. For once, she didn't have a clear answer for him. She was entirely speechless, her mouth in a tight line. "I don't know, kid."
There was a soft sigh. "..You willz save us. I knows it, Jink. Yous gon' save all of us. Me an Cyborg an Star, an even Rwobin. Even though he petends he is Batman."
Jinx smiled a little bit, looking over at him. She decided to be honest with him. There was no time like the present to teach the kid about reality. "I'm grateful for your pep talk and all, Beast Boy, but I'm seriously at a loss right now. I don't know where to go.. or where the others are. I'm not even a hero. This shit isn't for me."
Beast Boy poked her nose, his mouth turned up in a gentle smile. "You jus' like Batman, Jink! Yous a hero, no matter what."
Hell, that was the most touching she had ever heard from anyone. She didn't remember the last time she had felt so... okay with herself. Even after the major fail they just had, she felt like there was a bit of a chance. Just one, but if they made it...
A noise in the bushes stopped their conversation abruptly. Beast Boy changed into a small little cat-like animal immediately, arching his back and hissing at the rustling bushes. Jinx grabbed a stick that was lying next to them and held it firmly, ready to jump out and smash the head in of whoever had found them. She wanted to get to her feet and attack with her powers, but her legs weren't working, and neither were her powers.
Everything sucked.
She wasn't surprised in the slightest when she saw a guard step out of the foliage, his face entirely cloaked except for his eyes. She didn't have to see the Slade symbol embroidering his shoulder. He was pointing a gun at them, ever so calmly, even with the snarling little animal and Jinx's defensive stance.
"I'll need you to calm down." The man said firmly, his voice soft but demanding at the same time. The gun in front of their faces didn't even waver, in fact, it trembled a bit with what seemed like anticipation. He pointed it right at Jinx's head, staring at her with emotionless eyes. "Do it, or I will kill you without hesitation."
Beast Boy growled fiercely, but Jinx slowly put a hand on his back and stroked him like a pet, never taking her eyes off the gun aimed at her head.
"Down, boy." she said to him, quietly and offhandedly. "Do what he says, kid. Stand down."
Beast Boy whimpered, but he changed back into his human form and scrambled into Jinx's lap, staring angrily at the guard as he clung to her. Jinx dropped the stick, the thing bouncing to the ground harmlessly.
"There." Jinx said through clenched teeth, hugging Beast Boy close to her chest.
The man kept the gun pointed to her head, his voice remaining as steady as ever. "Get up, and follow me. If you do anything different, I will kill you and your little Titan friend."
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