A/N: Welcome back to me remembering this is both a superhero story and a romance story and trying to find a balance. Enjoy!
Jinx thinks about Raven's words all week. There's not much going on in Jump City that night. Apparently, no one wants to take on the heroes who took out the Brotherhood of Evil. They're all hanging out in the living room, waiting on Cyborg to get back. While they wait though, Starfire rifles through the movie collection, holding up DVD's for people's approval. Apparently, she's got an appetite for horror.
"No offense Star, but maybe you could pick something that people could actually watch?" Robin offers.
"As much as I like horror movies, I sort of don't want to watch a demon take over the world," Raven drawls, floating just above the couch. The Titans exchange glances, which Jinx doesn't exactly get. Luckily, Kid Flash doesn't seem to get it either.
"Alright," Starfire says, furrowing her brow. Jinx doesn't miss the way Robin's face gets soft at her expression. Kid Flash doesn't miss it either, smirking at her and jerking his chin in Boy Wonder's direction. "Perhaps we could settle on a romantic comedy? Yes?"
"I love a little romance," Kid Flash says, throwing an arm around the back of the sofa. Of course, that happens to be right behind Jinx, so she stiffens, scooting up a little. His smile falters a little.
"That's fine with me," Robin agrees. Raven and Beast Boy chime in their agreement. Before Starfire can put it on, the door sounds and Cyborg walks in, looking somber.
"Hey, guys," he says, sitting heavily on the couch.
"Cyborg, what's up?" Robin says, all business instantly. "How was Titans East."
"Well, going to be honest, it kind of sucked," he admits. "That string of robberies turned out to be a string of murders."
"What?" Robin asks. "That doesn't make any sense. In the report—"
"Dude, we're way in over our heads here," Cyborg interrupts. "We have to call the league."
"Absolutely not," Robin says, voice hard.
"But that's one of the rules—"
"No!"
"Bud, I think Cyborg's right," Beast Boy says gently. Kid Flash, however, bristles.
"Why?" he asks. It's the first time Jinx has ever seen his face so hard. "Because we're sidekicks? Newsflash, I can do everything the Flash can, and Robin can do everything Batman can. We'll be fine."
"Perhaps we should reconsider," Starfire says soothingly. "We have never dealt with a murder before."
"I think Starfire's right. There's no point in letting more people get hurt," Raven says rationally, expression impassive. Robin deflates, dropping his head in his hands.
"Fine," he says. "We'll talk to the league."
"Thanks, Rob," Cyborg says quietly, settling his hand over Robin's shoulder. Suddenly, it feels like a private moment, something that Jinx shouldn't be privy to. She drops her gaze.
"I take it that our movie night has been postponed?" Starfire asks with a small smile. Robin lets out a hollow laugh before standing up.
"Come on, KF, we have a phone call to make," he says. Kid Flash sighs, slapping on a smile for Jinx before following.
"We should just call it," Cyborg says. "I'm not in the mood for a movie night."
"Suddenly, neither am I," Beast Boy says. He walks out with Cyborg, a frown marring his usually chipper face. Raven sighs, floating down to settle on the couch.
"This isn't going to be pretty," Raven says, rubbing at her temples. "They haven't talked in a year."
"Serious baggage," Jinx mutters. She gets it though; she's never met the dark knight, but she's heard the stories.
"Robin wished to escape his shadow," Starfire says sharply. "He only does what he does to prove himself a worthy hero."
"Sure," Jinx says quickly. She's dealt with angry Starfire enough to not want to get on her bad side now.
"Star, no one's blaming Robin," Raven says soothingly. "We just think it's time to call in the big guns."
"We've never dealt with something like this," Starfire agrees, deflating. She runs her hands through her fiery hair, brow furrowed with worry.
"Let's go through the case files," Jinx says. "We're clearly not getting a break tonight."
"Good call," Raven says, getting to her feet. With that, the three of them head down to the command center. Unsurprisingly, Cyborg and Beast Boy are already there, frowning at a computer.
"It just doesn't make sense," Cyborg says in lieu of a greeting. "These were clearly serial killings, but the connections are weak at best. I can't make heads or tails of it!"
"Dude, this is seriously messed up," Beast Boy says sagely.
"There was no connection between the victims?" Starfire asks, peering over Cyborg's shoulder.
"Nope. Nada. El zilch-o," Cyborg replies bitterly.
"Maybe we're not thinking about this the right way," Raven muses. "Maybe this is extremist vigilante justice?"
"Did a thorough check of the victims. We even had Speedy ask GA, and he's even more bitter than Rob is." Cyborg runs a human hand over his face. Jinx studies him carefully. Poor kid looks like he hasn't slept in days.
"Why don't you take a break," Jinx offers. "Let us take over while you, uh, recharge."
"Nah, I'm at 30% battery, I'm good," he says, shooting her a smile.
"Well, it looks like Rob and his old man are going to be on the phone for a while," Kid Flash announces, dropping into an open chair. "At least the Flash kept it brief."
"So, what did he say?" Beast Boy asks eagerly. "Are the Justice League coming? Do we get to meet the Justice League?"
"They're having a meeting about it, I think. Robin's asking for full control of the mission, just with JL resources." Kid Flash spins his chair, turning into red and yellow blur for a moment.
"Jeez, so many acronyms," Jinx mutters. Kid Flash laughs, shooting her a wink.
"Easier to talk in code, J," he says.
"Hard pass on that," she shoots back.
"Jinx, you recognize any of the gear they're been using?" Cyborg says, calling her attention back to the task at hand.
"Let me see," she says absently as she scrolls through the case files. The killer's been using mostly poison, but there's one murder in particular that makes her stop. The victim suffered from rapid-onset hypothermia. She's only seen that once before.
"Huh, I know this mechanism," she says, pointing. "It's a freeze ray, but the last time I saw it, it didn't really work."
"Who's is it?" Cyborg asks, lighting up.
"He goes by Kid Kold. I… knew him in passing," she says, cringing a little. She's not about to divulge her messy relationship fails.
"Yup, he's in here," Cyborg says, pulling up his file, the ones Jinx had filled out herself. She'd saved him for last, a strange, lingering feeling of loyalty halting her from filling it out sooner. Still, she'd sucked it up and wrote out everything about his powers, hoping desperately she'd never see him again. Just her luck, she supposed.
"He's a solo guy, though," she warns. "I don't know what he'd be doing in what looks like a group."
"What makes you say it's a group?" Robin's voice startles the six of them. He strides into the room, stony faced and arms crossed.
"Well, look at the victims. Looking at their case files, you can see that they're all part of a cascading money stream. Look, Coast City Bank, Keystone City Bank, and Steel City Bank. They all fall under the same parent lender, which is spearheaded by LuthorCorp," she explains.
"You know all of this how?" Robin asks, one eyebrow quirked.
"That was one of our plans, HIVE Five, I mean," she says. "Nobody wanted to murder anyone though."
"So why the murders?"
"We were trying to get in with the Brotherhood of Evil. Now that they're out, my best guess is that the team's trying to get in with the League of Shadows." Jinx frowns, a little spike of worry running through her. She hadn't particularly liked her teammates, but they weren't killers, just thieves. "They must've drafted new people."
"You're sure this is your team?" Robin asks sharply. Kid Flash gets up then, coming to stand by Jinx. He loops his arm around her shoulders.
"Easy Rob, this isn't her fault," he says.
"Then how did the HIVE Five escape?" he challenges. "They were all frozen and shipped off to different prisons."
"Gizmo must've planned a contingency," Jinx rationalizes. "He's the only one of them that could think of that."
"Which is where this Kid Kold comes in," Robin fills in, deflating a little. "Sorry I snapped, I'm just…"
"It's cool," Jinx says. Starfire puts a hand on his shoulder.
"We understand," she says. "We do not blame you." Robin leans into her easily.
"Call it for tonight, guys," Robin decides. "The league will brief us in the morning. There's really not much else we could do tonight."
The Titans disperse, heading to their own respective rooms. Jinx makes her way to her own room, only to grab her sketching supplies and head up to the roof. The moon is full tonight, lighting up the Jump City skyline beautifully.
Jinx starts to sketch, letting the soft scratch of the pencil soothe her.
"Is this going to be a thing?" Kid Flash's voice startles her, but she doesn't let it show. Instead, she shrugs.
"I don't know, is it?" she challenges. He grins, dropping down to sit next to her, peeking over her shoulder.
"That's beautiful," he says. "You've got some real talent."
"Yeah, well…" she flounders for a moment, defensive even though she's not sure why. "Thanks."
The sit in a comfortable silence, Jinx sketching while Kid Flash watches. He's not exactly built for sitting still, however, and after 20 minutes, the fidgeting starts. Jinx dodges every time an errant limb threatens to jostle her.
"Why don't you go to bed," Jinx suggests, her patience wearing thin.
"Why don't you?" he asks. "It's getting pretty late." Something about the way he says that makes her pause.
"Are you…" she starts slowly, annoyance prickling through her. "Supposed to be keeping an eye on me or something? Because the team doesn't trust me?"
"What? No! Not at all! Robin said to trust you, so they do. I do too, you proved that to me," He assures her. Jinx doesn't back down, shoving her things away and hopping up.
"Why are you here then?" she snaps.
"Because I…" Kid Flash sputters awkwardly, before sucking in a deep breath. "Look, I really like you, and it's cool if you don't feel the same way, but I want to get to know you better. That's what I'm trying to do."
"You, you like me? Like 'like-me-like-me'?" Jinx asks. Believe it or not, she's been here before, some boy confessing his feeling for her, but she's only returned them once before. She definitely returns them now. Kid Flash colors brilliantly, really amping up the ketchup-and-mustard aesthetic.
"Uh, yeah," he says. "I'm being super obvious."
"You're sort of a flirt," Jinx says uncertainly. He sputters for a second, huffing out an uncomfortable laugh.
"A little," he admits. "I swear, though, I like you a lot. I'll totally stop all the flirting."
"Well," Jinx concede, allowing him a small smile. "I don't mind if you flirt with me."
A/N: Okay, this time, I promise we're getting into the plot! Let me know what you thought, comments, concerns, whatever!