(A:N) Normally, I'm all about plot and action, and drama/romance later. Then I wrote a Teen Titans fic. This is a character driven story I guess... It is also a Yuri fic, which means that a couple-like relationship will develop between two females. Don't like? Then don't waste your time reading it. Flames get you-know-where fast with me. Criticism is welcome! Don't hold back.
The sun was climbing into it's place, free of the sort of worry those on the planet light-years away might be riddled with. A few rain clouds hugged the sky on either side of the grand energy source. The pink haired girl couldn't feel its warmth through the large glass wall she stood before. A chill had settled into her bones as she recounted where she was. The structure she now inhabited had once been a target – an obstruction to her former way of life. Now it was...home.
'Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. You're crazy. Do you know that Jinx? Why, yes I do!' 'Did I just answer myself?' Jinx's thoughts were as stable as an offended beehive. The teen rested her head against the glass for a moment and felt nostalgic. This was only the morning after she had joined them and already she felt displaced by the weight of new expectations. However, she would not run now! Something was compelling her to stay. She figured it was Raven, but how exactly?
"Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction brought her back."
Jinx grinned, lifting her head and letting her drama disperse. Her own nature didn't allow her to contemplate too hard for too long on anything. There were new things to do and who knew? She might actually enjoy her stay, even if she never figured out why she came.
"I'm not the one who's so far away when I feel the snake bite enter my veins," she began to sing and went quite once she heard a door open somewhere near by. Robin came in, yawning and looking surprised to see her. Her lips raised slightly in one corner.
"Morning," he called in a rough tone.
"Morn'n boss!" Jinx chimed.
Robin paused on his way to the fridge and frowned. It was an innocent enough gesture from her, but he didn't like the idea of only one Titan calling him that. It didn't seem right. "Don't call me that."
"Aw come on!" Jinx exclaimed briskly moving toward him as he swiped a bowl from a nearby cupboard. As Robin watched her, he had to force himself to relax an impulse to brace for impact. She moved in a calm environment with the same potency as in a fight. Fights with her had been memorable after all. It was hard to forget a girl who could knock a building over just by blasting any one part of its chassis.
"I think it's funny," Jinx said, hopping onto a seat at the dinner table very much like a cat. Robin watched her out of the corner of his eyes. She still unnerved him but he didn't want to insult her by gawking every time she moved. In response to her comment he just made a sound that was neither an agreement nor a rebuff.
"Coco Pops?" Robin asked the ex-criminal, holding the box of mentioned cereal. She nodded with a broad smile. He poured her a bowl, found a spoon and placed both into her waiting hands.
"Such service!" she gasped, digging in. Robin smirked and sat down with his own bowl.
"So, what are we going to do first Boss?" Jinx asked a moment latter. Robin grumbled. There was that word again...
"We're going to have you take on the training course with each member of the Titans."
Another door could be heard opening and closing and Robin could tell it was Cyborg by the heavy footsteps and the sound of the door, which was bigger than any of the others. Soon all the other Titans had found their way into the room. Raven was last. Jinx had a big grin all ready for the last arrival but it was not returned in kind. Somehow Jinx had expected this.
"Your slumber was most refreshing, yes?" Starfire asked Jinx with unrestrained interest.
"Yeap. Peachy." Jinx answered. She was finding Star's enthusiasm contagious.
Robin coughed and all the Titans looked at him.
"I was just telling Jinx we're all going to train with her today so she can get use to working with us," Robin explained.
"Delightful!" Starfire cheered putting her hands together.
"Sorry guys," Cyborg entered, "Me and Beast Boy gotta catch a Basket Ball game today."
"Oh. I'm sorry Cyborg," Robin said slapping his forehead, "I completely forgot about that."
"Yeah. We'll do it some other time, okay?"
"Sure. But we'll train with her while your out," Robin told him.
"Alright," Cyborg agreed.
"Yeah! My team is going to smoke yours!" Beast Boy exclaimed, beginning to sing and perform some kind of row-your-boat dance maneuver.
"Were rooting for the same team!" Cyborg boomed. Apparently they had been through this several times already.
"Really? Oh well. Same difference!" Beast Boy stated. Jinx grinned. Raven would have rolled her eyes but had gotten sick of doing that whenever in the presence of the changeling.
Jinx's heart tensed as she approached the dark teenager who had said barely a word all morning. She didn't think about why she was reacting this way to Raven. She struggled to appear as casual as possible and keep eye contact. The Raven just stared right back as she came to a stop only five feet from her on the shore on the shadow of the Titan's tower. The wind, that held lightly to the scent of sand and water, was tugging at their attire lightly as they stood on the shore of she small island.
"Um...hi...Raven," Jinx greeted, finding it strange to try using the name as a friend. It had been difficult with all the Titans at first.
"Hello..." Raven said in a lifeless, drawling tone. Jinx felt awkward; she turned to view the obstacle course she had already gone through with Robin and Starfire. She had done fairly well with Robin and even better with Starfire. However, she did have a tough time keeping track of her allies once the fighting got hectic. This often cost time and endangered her teammate. Other than that, her own abilities put her on par with the other Titans.
"Think you can help me break my record?" Jinx asked letting a grin creep into her expression.
"...Doubtful..." Raven said. There was no change in her demeanor or the haunting eyes that peered out from under her hood.
Jinx lifted one brow. "Not a very optimistic thing, are you?"
"Never," Raven stated flatly.
"Begin!" Robin shouted.
Fifteen minutes and forty-two seconds revealed that Raven and Jinx did not get along very well. It had taken them that long to complete the level. Delays had been due mostly to Jinx's was inability to free Raven the two times she was apprehended by robotic coils and the fact that Raven hadn't bothered to try to free Jinx when she was in similar situations. Another mire was Jinx getting distracted when Raven's hood finally slipped off to reveal the dark beauty's face to the sunlight. She could only wonder why Raven hid it in the first place. have gone better," Jinx said between coughs and she sat on her bottom neat the finish line. Her outfit was singed. Robin handed her a bottle of water.
"Indeed," Raven agreed. "List of things that could use work begin with you,"
Jinx was shocked beyond words. Was that a joke? A friendly joke, or a put down? She didn't have much time to work on her reaction because Raven began to depart. Jinx came to the disappointing conclusion that the girl was not pleased. Damn.
Robin watched Raven for a second then turned to Jinx. "Good job," Robin congratulated her. Jinx looked at him like he had and extra limb growing out of his head.
"Boss...that sucked!" Jinx pointed out.
"It did, but you made it. If something is worth doing, it's worth doing sloppy. You'll get better," Robin stated confidently. It had taken Jinx only six and a half minutes with Robin to complete the course, and a little over four minutes with Starfire.
"You are victorious my friend. Let us partake in a feast of nourishment!' Starfire exclaimed, hugging Jinx. "It's great that you, Jinx, have truly decided to turn over a new tree and start your life course anew!"
"Sure. Whatever." Jinx mumbled, distracted by the sight of Raven flying toward the rooftop of the tower.
As the rest of day wound down, Jinx, while with plenty to preoccupy herself with and things to keep her busy, had to consider it a failure.
"She...hates...my guts..." Jinx sulked as she did the laundry. "I donno. I donno. I donno," Jinx said wistfully, cramming things into the dryer. She kicked the clothes when they began to protest and fall out. She hopped onto the dryer, started it, rested her elbows on her knees and chin in her hands and thought long and hard about the situation she was in.
'I'm a stinking superhero! And for what? To get to close to a girl who hates my guts...Still. I like her voice...and her hair.' Jinx thought, and felt a bubbling warm feeling start in her stomach and make it's way through her blood stream. At the same time, the dryer began to rock violently.
"Cut that out you stupid thing! I'm trying to think," She warned the dryer, "Know where—wa-ahh!" with a hard shake, the dryer relieved itself of Jinx's weight. The door then swung open and released the still mostly wet contents. Jinx got up in a fit, stuffed the cloths back in, reset it, turned on her heel and left.Jinx latter found herself obsessing over the thought of sitting next to Raven on the couch for the movie they were going to view. Cyborg and Beast Boy had just returned and the movie was going to be the last thing most of the teens planned to do before they hit the hay.
'What the hell have I got to lose?' Jinx thought, throwing caution to the wind. She sat down, and then turned to look at Raven. There was no reaction and that damn hood was up again.
"Hey," Jinx decided to try a greeting. Raven just looked at her.
"What are you doing here?" Raven asked lowly. Jinx was taken off guard by the question, as she herself was having difficultly with the truth. Fact was, she didn't really know. This gave her two choices. A lie, or creative exaggeration. Well, she was no good at lying; people just looked at her and knew she wasn't telling the truth when she attempted to fib.
"Just...kinda...figured it would be easier to live this way," Jinx shrugged and looked at the TV.
"That's it?" Raven sounded slightly irritated. At least she was talking to her now; Jinx's thoughts rallied with hope.
"Uh...yeah." Jinx said turning towards Raven.
"This isn't a game Jinx," Raven hissed, sounding absolutely vicious. And she's one of the good guys? "Don't get fickle and flock back to the other side and think I won't make you pay if you endanger my friends in the process."
"Any kind of reward if I don't turn trader?" Jinx tried a joke. Raven's expression didn't change.
"Shhh!" Beat Boy urged both of them. The other Titan's hadn't seemed to be listening.
The next two weeks were more of the same between the two. Jinx had found her place with the other Titans, though she still seemed to lack foresight when performing tactics that involved other Titans. It was rare for Jinx to take out an enemy and not another Titan at the same time. This got Raven in an uproar every time, but no one could prove it was anything more than an accident. Jinx tended to do her best work alone, but in Robin's own words, she didn't "have enough regard for her surroundings and civilians that may or may not be near by." This was remedied for the time being by having some one always monitor her...at a safe distance.
Jinx took no offense to this. In fact, she seemed to take offense to very few things – even a confused group who recognized her as a criminal. Robin tried to smooth things over with them, which didn't take much given the hero's influence on the city's populous and that fact that Jinx hadn't actually been seen by too many committing grand crimes.
Beyond the battlefield, in Jinx's home life with the Titans, she spent most of any given day pulling pranks on Beast Boy with Cyborg as her ally or turning her mischief on Cyborg with Beast Boy as her associate. She was a good sport when they teamed up and repaid her in full. Robin found not much to dislike about the effervescent teen and Starfire seemed to like her as much as she liked anyone. Raven, on the other hand, seemed to be waiting for Jinx to pull a Terra on them and made no effort to conceal this from anyone.
Jinx had developed the habit of admiring Raven from a far. She tried to stay out of her way and not get on her nerves. It didn't seem to lessen the discontent much but she didn't know what else might appease the goth-like girl. She laughed whole heartedly at Raven's tendency to use irony to put another Titan in there place but wasn't sure if Raven actually meant to be funny. Which made it all the more amusing to Jinx.
Having little else to do, Jinx often mulled over every, very little, thing she knew about Raven. Although she didn't seem to like ANYBODY she was protective enough of her teammates, giving her a warning about their safety every other day. So, she had some kind of soft spot for them, but just didn't express it by any traditional means.
Raven, and all of the Titans, didn't seem to like the fact that Jinx viewed upholding justice as "just a job," but she couldn't help it! That was all it looked like. Protecting those that can't protect themselves? Where she came from that's what legs were for! You could always just run away. And that was another thing Jinx realized Raven wouldn't tolerate. If she turned her back on the Titan's she knew Raven would probably summon the devil himself to track her down and to be honest, Raven did scared her a good deal. Again, she is one of the good guys, right?
'It's just funny,' Jinx thought. 'She's funny. Fun to think about. I've never knew anyone that made me think so much about what they do. I haven't seen inside her room since we first meet and I raided it,' Jinx grinned slightly but wished she had paid more attention to what was in there. All she could remember was that it was dark. 'I've never seen her let anyone in there.... but she hates my guts so I probably won't be getting in there anytime soon. I'm hungry. Her cape would look great if I cut off the hood and painted it purple. Sigh.'
Jinx sent her gaze towards the couch where Raven usually sat. It was unoccupied.
'There must something a bad girl like me can do,' she pouted stretching one arm across the dinner table and resting her head on it.
