Walking away from the HIVE 5 was too easy. It should have been harder. They were family to me. There was no way I could leave my family in less than a minute. But it happened.
They were just classmates first.
Hulking Mammoth, whose favorite class was – you'll never guess – Home Ec, the only class the Jump City Department of Ed required us to take for funding (Brother Blood's not that rich and villains don't like to donate). Surprisingly (or maybe not heh), the Board didn't take away Nuclear Development … or bother to check our course catalog at all (including classes like: Hacking 101, the Ins and Outs of Jump City's Prisons – literally –, and Shoot the Bird – a class devoted to taking Robin down). It surprised everyone to see Mammoth's large, surprisingly gentle fingers pull the thread through the eye of the needle.
Gizmo, tiny and unnoticeable if not for his big personality and spider legs stepping over people in the halls. He never apologized for stepping on anyone's possessions, but hey, he's a child genius. Cut him some slack.
.
And then, we were a team. The very best, in fact, we were favored by Brother Blood to do the most important missions.
We became a family in the wreckage of HIVE Academy. Did we find anyone else? No. But they must have survived simply because, well, there were good people in HIVE. The thing is, the Titans don't exactly keep track of what they destroy. Maybe they just don't care about the 'bad guys'. The media sure doesn't.
.
Nobody else out there could see the good in HIVE students. Like Angel, my residence hall's adviser, who soothed freshmen with her wings. Her wings grew to accommodate what she wanted to but the news always showed clips of her trapping people in there, suffocating them. I'd been in there. It was peaceful and beautiful; it cured my insomnia.
Right before Cyborg blew up my home, I heard her wings beat and then encompass as many students as possible. Sweet Angel – her and Kyd Wykkyd. Strange. I'd never asked him what happened to her even though he joined the HIVE 5.
After the explosion, I saw charred feathers everywhere.
.
From dusty classmates searching for our belonging in the wreck, we became a family. I thought of them as my brothers. Mammoth and Gizmo, already used to me; Kyd Wykkyd, the male residence hall adviser; Billy, annoying as hell but great in Diversion Tactics; See-More, probably the best student in Surveillance. They let me choose a cool, swank, room (more like I demanded), and I got to pick the movie on Fridays.
.
I left my family for uncertainty in a fast red-haired package.
.
.
And he was uncertain. Later that night, I had stopped at the cafe to grab some hot chocolate, contemplate my future, and make decision. Kid Flash slid into my booth; he nodded to the waitress and pushed a ten dollar bill towards her.
"I could have paid for that!" I sputtered.
"I'm a gentleman. Jinx, you have no idea how … how … wonderful it is to have you on the side of Lady Justice." He blinked. "I always worry about what might happen to you in the final battle." I blushed, and to cover, I took a large gulp of my hot chocolate. As it burned down my throat, Kid Flash slid some pamphlets over to me.
"Testing for Hepatitis B?" I asked him, confused and insulted.
"Wrong one!" He took those back, then gave me thicker ones. "I know you just lost your friends and your home. Here are some resources. You know, to get you on the right track. Of course, these are for heroin addicts looking to start anew, but they didn't have your exact case in the office. There's, you know, a listing for jobs for your age, which I guessed 16; living space for your 'situation' ..."
I blushed again. "I'm 15. What 'situation'?"
"Oh you know, babies. So anyway, look through those..."
"School forms for Jump City High School?" I muttered.
"Yeah, you know, stay in school! Really important. Jinx, I'd take you through everything myself and we wouldn't have to deal with the pamphlets but Robin needs me. Promise me you'll at least read everything thoroughly."
"I promise." I said. I meant it too, and that night I stayed awake to see the sun rise. Unlike my insomnia-ridden nights spent doing nothing, I'd been visiting apartments and health clinics. I'd also found a pen to fill out those forms.
.
"Miss," said the school aide. "you haven't filled out the last name." She impatiently tapped her pen on the counter. "Miss Jinx?"
"Yes?"
"Your full name?" she demanded.
I didn't know my last name. Did I even remember if I had ever had one?
I started walking away. "It's just Jinx, no last name."
AN: Hey! I'm back to writing. This is Jinx reminiscing from the end of HIVE Academy to how she got to New Hobby (my story). Next chapter I'll write about Jinx's year(s) at HIVE Academy. I haven't decided what kind of school HIVE yet (elementary, etc) Read, and enjoy. Criticism welcome because I'm so dusty with my writing skills. This story probably won't be longer than 2-3 chapters. This chapter is in the past tense and very reminiscing. Next chapters will probably be in present tense and more action-packed (since we'll be going through Jinx's school year with her).