A/N: Hello! Welcome back! We're getting into the finale of Teen Titans—well, the episodic finale. After this, the plan is to delve into some mini adventures for flinx and focus on the main mission, the main plot of this piece. Enjoy!
It was a rare day when Jinx left her hotel room while the sun was still out, but she was out of everything edible. Sighing, and groggy from her strange sleep schedule, Jinx makes her way to midtown. She wears a grubby baseball cap over her pink hair, though static sent it floating up, fighting to defy gravity, and a denim jacket over her dress. She tries not to wear it often, in case anyone recognized it, but everything else was dirty. Besides, the dresses' built in suppressers keep her powers more focused.
Before she can get to the supermarket, there's an almighty crash and Kid Flash himself is thrown bodily at her feet.
"Kid Flash?" she asks, frozen in her spot. He groans a little but smiles tiredly up at her.
"Hey," he says, clambering to his feet. "Give me a second to deal with something and I'll catch up to you—" A scream cuts him off, and suddenly, civilians take off running. Kid Flash's expression hardens for a moment before he puts on a breezy smile and sending a wink her way.
"Hey!" Jinx calls, sprinting after him. Of course, he's gone before she can go further than a few feet, but she runs the direction he went regardless. She comes to an abrupt halt when a car flies through the air, headed in her direction. Jinx screams, arms up to cast at it, but before she can, she's zoomed away to safety. Kid Flash stays just long enough to give her a perplexed look before charging off to get the rest of the civilians out of the way.
Jinx looks around wildly before she zeros in on the cause of the chaos. Private HIVE makes his way up the street, flinging his shield at Kid Flash. It's a testament to the speedster's skill that no civilians get hurt. Of course, as Jinx watches, she realizes he's not going to be able to do this himself. He's fast, but PH isn't giving him any room to make a move, and all he can do is dodge attacks.
With a reluctant groan, Jinx launches herself into the battle, casting a powerful hex PH's way. It catches him by surprise, but it's enough to give Kid Flash room to charge him. Of course, PH retaliates, smashing his shield into Kid Flash while he tries to wrangle him into handcuffs. Jinx focuses hard, trying the change the odds.
Jinx and Kid Flash work together, yelling out suggestions and warnings until finally, several minutes later, PH is wrestled into a pair of handcuffs. Kid Flash grabs him and dashes off, headed towards the nearest police station. Jinx stays where she is, gasping as she tries to catch her breath.
The hero's back a few minutes later, with the strangest look on his face. If Jinx didn't know any better, she'd say it was elation.
"You helped me!" he says excitedly. "I knew you were different."
"I… you, well, you couldn't have done it by yourself," Jinx sputters, her pallid complexion coloring slightly. "You're not that good." To her surprise, Kid Flash only laughs, running a hand through his already tousled red hair.
"Maybe not, but we made one heck of a team," he says, stepping closer. He's actually quite good-looking, this close. His skin is a warm beige that reminds her of sunshine and his eyes are the most brilliant blue she's seen, brighter than any sapphire.
"I'm kind of over teams right now," she says, looking around desperately for an escape route. There's something about him that makes her embarrassed, like she might fumble her words or something equally stupid.
"I heard you left the HIVE Five," he says conversationally. "I was wondering what you were up to."
"How'd you hear that?" she asks. Are people talking? Are the HIVE Five doing heists without her?
"Your old crew's not exactly conspicuous. I caught them at the Jump City Natural History Museum, trying to steal the latest exhibit," Kid Flash explains. Jinx groans internally. Morons.
"They in jail or something?" Jinx asks, staring down at her shoes. Kid Flash steps even closer, the smile on his face impossible to miss.
"They were, but there's been a pretty massive breakout. That's why I was on patrol. Titan's are still gone," he says.
"Should you be telling me all this?" Jinx asks sardonically. "I could still be a bad guy, for all you know."
"Nah," he says breezily. "I know you're not. A bad guy wouldn't have helped me today." Jinx is pretty sure her cheeks are the same color as her hair by now, she needs to bounce.
"Well, don't get used to it," she says curtly, which somehow only serves to make him smile wider.
"But we make such an awesome pair," he counters teasingly. Jinx huffs, turning pointedly away from him.
"I have to go," she says. "Groceries don't buy themselves."
"Need a hand? Someone to carry your bags?" he offers, eyebrows waggling.
Before she can respond, Kid Flash's communicator buzzes, Jump City PD flashing on the display. With a frown, he flips open the communicator, hitting the speaker.
"Go for Kid Flash," he says, all business.
"It's a mad house! Precinct 19! Metahuman prisoners have escaped!" An officer's panicked voice comes from the speaker, tinny and fuzzy with static. The man screams before the line goes dead, static fuzz loud over the speaker.
"Crap!" Kid Flash exclaims. "There's, like, ten different villains in there."
"Can you manage that?" Jinx asks. She's not worried about him, per say, she's worried about… the traffic situation this will cause. This'll make for stand-still traffic and she has errands to run.
"Not on my own," he says seriously. "Look, I know it's a lot to ask, and I can't guarantee your safety—"
"It's fine," Jinx cuts him off. "Lead the way."
The second time she partners with Kid Flash is an absolute and utter mess.
They only take down six out of ten villains, and Jinx has to dodge policemen who think she's part of the villains. They stare at her suspiciously despite Kid Flash's assurances that she's one of the good guys. Privately, she thinks that's pretty debatable.
"Thank you," he says sincerely. They're both sitting on one of the benches outside the bullpen, catching their breathe.
"For what? Four of those guys escaped. They're all part of the brotherhood." Jinx stares down at her feet, trying to swallow back the disappointment. Somehow, this failure felt different than the others she'd endured. Back then, if they didn't pull off a heist, only the team would be affected. Now, though, with all those villains on the loose, there's no telling who might get hurt. Jinx tries not to wonder when she started caring so much about the other people getting hurt.
"I know, but we got most of them. We can go back out tomorrow and look for them," Kid Flash assures her. Jinx looks up to find him smiling sheepishly. "That is, if you want to help."
"I'll help," she says. "It's partly my fault anyways."
Just then, Kid Flash's communicator goes haywire, buzzing with an incoming message from Robin.
"Calling all Titans. The Brotherhood of Evil's been using our communicators to track us. Destroy immediately—"
Before the message can continue, Kid Flash slams the communicator down, pounding his heel against it repeated.
"I think you destroyed it," Jinx says.
"Of course!" Kid Flash groans. "The communicators! This means every Titan's out there by themselves. They probably don't know where to go or who to turn to."
"What if," Jinx says slowly, grimacing at the idea that's just occurred to her. "This was a hit."
"A hit? On who?" Kid Flash asks dumbly. Jinx sighs, thinking back. The Brotherhood had promised them membership if they could prove themselves, and in order to do that, they'd had to turn in every resource they had on the Titans.
"You," she says. "Or at least, the Titans."
"You really think so? You knew them, do you have any information that could help?" he asks.
"They had us all on the backburner. That's why I was trying so hard to capture you," she explains. "They wanted us to prove ourselves. We—the HIVE Five, I mean—turned in all our resources on the Titans."
"So, what? Use the communicators to track down all the Titans and do what with them?" he asks, sifting through the rubble of the communicator.
"Paris!" Jinx blurts suddenly. It was the only option that made sense. Why not bring the Titans to an unfamiliar city, one the Brotherhood knew by heart, and destroy them, one by one.
"Take them to Paris?" Jinx nods eagerly.
"That's where three of the four leaders originate. Think about it, it's unfamiliar territory, there aren't any outside resources, and the city's ancient. There's plenty of places to hide a lair there," she explains. He nods, smiling brilliantly.
"Jinx, I could kiss you!" he exclaims, hopping to his feet. He goes rigid for a second, before turning back to her, red faced. "Not that I would, I mean, without your express permission—"
"Okay, got it," she mumbles, eager to cut him off. She can feel the heat emanating from her cheeks. "So, how do we get to Paris?"
"You'd come with me?" he asks, surprised. "To help? Even if it meant facing down your old team?"
"There's no telling what will happen if the Brotherhood succeeds. Also, there's at least ten different Titans in trouble," Jinx says.
"Try thirty," Kid Flash corrects with a smile. "You'd really help us?"
"No one deserves what the Brotherhood is capable of," Jinx says. "Not even people who actively hate me."
At that, Kid Flash beams at her, sweeping her up into his arms. Jinx screams when he takes off running, but she feels safe, encased in his strong arms.
After the fight, every Titan gives her a wide berth, save for Kid Flash. He stands right by her, chin up in defiance, like he was daring someone to say something. Robin gives a quiet sigh before approaching. Jinx can't help but take a tentative step back. Muscle memory, she figures.
"Thank you," say the Boy Wonder. "You came to help us."
"Sure," she says, dumbstruck. Raven gives her a quizzical look and Cyborg scratches his head. Jinx tries not to look at him.
"She's not a villain anymore," Kid Flash says forcefully. "She helped me when Private HIVE came to take me out. And she stayed to help us out. I'm vouching for her."
"Okay," Robin says. "It's not like this is a completely new situation."
"People change," Starfire says. "Please, let us give her an opportunity to be good."
"Fine by me!" Beast Boy chimes in. Cyborg stays silent, mulling this over.
"She's smart, powerful, and good in a fight," he says finally. "I think she should join the team."
"Titans?" Robin asks, looking around the room. "Opinions." There's a low murmur throughout the room before Bumblebee steps up, shrugging.
"I agree with sparky over here," she says. "And she knows a ton of villains. It'd be useful information to have."
Robin looks at Jinx critically before turning to the team. "Let's decide when we get back. We deserve some rest and Jinx needs time to think."
"Home," Beast Boy sighs dreamily. "Tofu burger, here I come!"
The Titans leave in groups, all headed for the main tower. Kid Flash hangs around Jinx, walking next to her.
"So," he says. "What do you think?"
"About what?" Jinx says innocently. She knows what, but there's a lot to consider. Namely, if she'd be safe with the Titans. Every single villain knows she's betrayed them, so she's got a giant target on her.
"Becoming a Titan," he offers patiently.
"I need to think," she mutters. He nods, leading her over to the portal Herald is holding open. Jinx shivers as she goes through, disoriented for a second at the sudden feeling of weightlessness. On the other side is the Titans tower. Beast Boy runs around like a puppy, reacquainting himself with his home. It makes Jinx crack a smile.
Young heroes mill about everywhere, raiding the kitchen, sprawling on couches. Cyborg fires up his game console and starts a tournament. Raven floats up to the ceiling, taking up a meditative stance. Starfire, Bumblebee, and a couple other girls Jinx didn't know sit in a circle, talking and laughing about the battle.
Kid Flash watches the video game tournament with longing in his eyes, but he doesn't stray from Jinx's side. She hides a smile and pushes him gently.
"Go ahead," she says. "Get your butt kicked."
"I'll have you know that I'm the king of Mega Martial Fight," he says with a smirk. His expression softens a little. "You sure?"
"I'm a big girl, you don't have to babysit me," she says. Kid Flash nods distractedly, zipping over to snag a controller.
Jinx wanders a little, unsure. She's never been invited in here before, though she's not totally sure she is. She's so lost in taking in the details of the place and it's heroes, she doesn't notice Robin come up beside her. Although, they don't call him Boy Wonder for nothing.
"I realize it's a lot to take in," he says, startling Jinx.
"God!" Jinx gasps. "Don't sneak up on me like that." Robin takes a step back, nodding once.
"If you want to do this, you're going to have to prove you're reformed. I've known Kid Flash for a while now, and I trust him, but I also know he's sort of a sucker for a pretty face." Jinx nods, trying to keep her expression from falling. Of course, she should've figured. They weren't going to trust her, she'd be stupid to expect anything else.
"I get it," she says. "All I want is a chance."
"I know enough to understand that doing bad thing doesn't necessarily make you a bad person," he explains. "We'd have to see a lot of changes from you, and you'd have to let us monitor you. You wouldn't be able to contact your old team either."
"I figured," she says casually. "All those guys sort want me dead now." At that, Robin frowns.
"We won't be able to guarantee your safety," he says slowly. Jinx flushes.
"I know that too!" she says hurriedly. "I was just saying I wouldn't have any reason to contact them, nor do I want to."
Robin sighs, appraising her for a moment. She doesn't know what it is, but there's something about Robin that reminds her of the scientists from the lab she'd spent her childhood in. She figures it's got something to do with the authority he commands.
"It's going to be hard to live like this, I won't lie, but if you stick with it, it'll be worth it," he says.
"I don't want to go back to how I used to live," Jinx confesses. At this, Robin smiles, a strange thing to see.
"That's all I needed to hear."
A/N: Tune in next week for team dynamics and awkward bonding exercises. Let me know what you thought, comments, concerns, anything.