"Swipe" by Ed Alger, a.k.a. "SecondLevelWriter"

Author's Notes: All disclaimers from previous chapters still apply here. Be warned, this one runs pretty long.

Chapter 14
Double or Nothing

"Stupid pit-sniffin' Mammoth... Ain't my fault he can't find his butt with a map and a compass..." Gizmo groused to himself as he soared over Jump City in search of his former teammate. He had been scouring the city for Jinx ever since this morning without any luck at all. The technogeek was about to call it a night when a piercing scream caught his attention.

"Sounds like someone's in trouble!" he grinned to himself. "Think I'll go watch!"

He swooped down to get a closer look, but quickly pulled himself back up to avoid a familiar face. What he saw was his old boss, Slade, and he appeared to be holding Jinx as a captive! Frantically, Gizmo fumbled for his pocket communicator and contacted the academy.

"Headmaster! I've found her! I've found Jinx!"

"Excellent work, Gizmo," Brother Blood's voice replied. "Where is she?"

"She looks like she's been captured by Slade, but I don't know why. Wait a minute, they're heading north on a big floating rock! I'm gonna follow them!"

"Floating rock, did you say...?"

"I don't have time to explain, sir. Just home in on my signal! Gizmo out!" the pint-sized genius hastily put the comm away and gunned his jetpack, racing to keep up with Slade and Jinx. He followed them to the foothills and landed just outside of the cave where the others had entered, activating his homing device for the Headmaster. It wasn't long before he spotted two more figures heading his way, causing him to dive for the nearby shrubs to avoid being noticed.

Swipe kept on Terra's trail all the way to the northern foothills, following her into one of the larger caves. He wound his way through the tunnel, not even knowing just how deep he was going or what he was getting into. The rogue was already prepared for a trap after what Terra had told him. The only problem was his injured shoulder. The pain was growing steadily worse, and he couldn't ignore it much longer.

He finally reached an opening in the tunnel, and the sight before him gave him pause. The entire place looked like a desecrated cathedral, accented with ominous stained-glass windows bathing the whole interior in a reddish-orange light. He shivered a bit as he took a few cautious steps forward, throwing glances all about the place for any signs of an ambush.

The sounds of struggling soon caught Swipe's attention. He turned to see that a spotlight had illuminated the still-captive Jinx at the far side of the cave. She was held upright, bound by her wrists and ankles to a large stone slab that had been divided into four sections; One for each binding. The thief was just about to run towards her to get her free when an all-too-familiar duo emerged from the shadows.

"I knew you'd listen to reason, Swipe," Slade remarked cooly.

"Like I even had a choice, Slade," Swipe spat back.

"Then this should make your next decision even easier. Here's my offer: Join me and the girl comes to no harm. Refuse..." the mastermind trailed off, gesturing to Terra to illustrate what he would have said. The geomancer hesitantly raised her hand towards the captive, causing the four rocks that held Jinx to slowly move apart. The hex-caster's eyes squeezed shut as she gritted her teeth in an effort to not show her pain, desperate to keep Swipe from being influenced.

"Damn you, Slade..." the rogue hissed through his own clenched teeth. There had to be some way out of this, but what? It looked like Slade was holding all the cards now. Swipe decided that perhaps it was best to give the man what he wanted. His shoulders slumped in defeat while he looked down at the ground, and said as quietly as he could, "All right, all right. You win. I'll... I'll be your apprentice..."

"I'm glad you're starting to see things my way..."

Swipe added sharply, "On one condition: That Jinx remains unharmed."

"Of course. Terra?" Slade turned to his apprentice, who nodded and released her command of the rocks.

The rogue smirked just a little bit, "Now then, shall we seal this deal with a formal handshake?"

"Very well. You seem to be quite the businessman," Slade remarked as he strode towards his new acquisition while Swipe walked casually up to meet him. Nobody ever noticed the flicker of movement from his right arm as he extended his left hand.

Jinx watched in horror as the deal seemed to be finalized right before her eyes. A few tears had found their way down her cheeks as she desperately whispered, "Don't do it, Swipe... Please, don't do it..." She was never quite sure, but it almost looked like he winked at her as she said those words.

Their hands clasped in a handshake, and Swipe took full advantage of it. He first smashed his right fist, now fitted with a thick piece of iron, into the armlet on Slade's left forearm. The control unit shattered and fell from the villain's arm, which consequently disabled the locks that held Jinx. A rapid-fire flurry of jabs then assailed Slade's jaw, with an all-out right hook finishing him off and sending him to the ground.

"BOOYAH! (Trademark of Cyborg, established 2001)" the thief shouted jubilantly, adding a quick disclaimer just to be safe.

As Terra still stood in shock, Swipe raced past her to where Jinx was held and tried to pry the clasps apart. Unfortunately, the controls he smashed also controlled the opening and closing mechanism, making a manual opening impossible. Instead, the rogue pulled out his daggers to quickly but carefully cut through the restraints.

Even Jinx was stunned, "Swipe... What... Did you...?"

"Nice to see you, too, Jinxie. Don't worry, I've got everything under - AGH!" his rescue attempt was cut off as a large stone slammed into his side. He landed hard on his left shoulder, yelping as the searing pain lanced through him. Swipe looked up to see that Terra had recovered from the sneak attack and was ready to mount a counterstrike of her own.

"You two aren't going anywhere."

The rogue slowly rose to his feet, glaring at the former Titan, "Just to let you know, Rob won't be happy to hear that you're workin' for Slade."

"I'm sure he won't," Terra replied rather dryly.

"Neither will Beast Boy... You wanna hurt his feelings, too?" The nerve was struck again, and he could see it in her eyes.

"You... don't know me..." she finally shot back, her voice wavering this time. "You don't know us!"

"No, but I think I know how you feel about him. That was you at the club, wasn't it? D'you remember?"

"Shut up."

Swipe nodded in self-assurance, "Yeah... Yeah, it was. You must really care about ol' Animal to get all worked up over a song. Imagine his surprise when he finds out you're gonna stab him right in the back."

"I said shut up!"

Swipe smirked confidently, "Look on the bright side, Blondie. I could've sung 'Tainted Love'."

That did it. Terra screamed fiercely and raised a veritable blizzard of rocks and stones, while her eyes brightly glowed in anger at his remarks. Swipe retreated a few yards and tried dodging the swarm, weaving and leaning as the unending storm hurtled at him. He even kicked off of a few of the larger projectiles, delivering spin-kicks and roundhouse slashes to deflect or destroy any rocks that were about to collide with him. He knew he couldn't let this last much longer, as Slade certainly wouldn't stay down forever. He saw his opportunity when a large gap formed in the hailstorm and zoomed ahead towards the geomancer, still making sure to protect his shoulder from the rocks. Once he was close enough, the rogue ducked and lunged forward, delivering a perfectly aimed punch into Terra's stomach. The ex-Titan's eyes went wide with surprise and pain before she slowly collapsed to her knees, groaning softly as she curled up.

Swipe looked down at his fallen opponent with a bit of remorse, "I really didn't wanna do that... Usually don't like hittin' a girl as it is, but desperate times need desperate measures. Now then, if you'll excuse me..." He tipped an imaginary hat to her and turned back to freeing Jinx. He made quick work of the ankle restraints, and the hex-caster fell into his arms.

Jinx smiled a weary and relieved smile at her friend, and just happened to glance over his shoulder and see Slade running at full-speed towards them. Before even Swipe could react, Jinx quickly chanted a spell and pointed her outstretched hand at the mastermind. Fluorescent pink waves shot from her fingertips and struck Slade's legs, causing him to inexplicably trip over his own feet. She followed it up by aiming another spell into the ceiling, which dropped a large pile of rock and rubble onto Slade's prone body.

The sorceress's eyes were as big as grapefruit, "I... I did it!" She gaped at her own hand before turning to Swipe, "Did you see that? I actually hexed Slade!"

The rogue chuckled and squeezed his friend, "You finally stood up to him, Jinxie." He looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry I ever snapped at you. You're the best, an' cutest, sorceress I've ever had to catch from 14 stories."

In the spare moment they had, Jinx hugged him tightly and smiled up at him, "And you're the best bo-- um, friend I could ever ask for..."

"What were you gonna say?"

"N- Nothing?"

"You were gonna call me your boyfriend, weren't you..."

The hex-caster blushed hotly for a second, throwing an embarrassed glance to one side. Swipe turned her head back to face him with his index finger and gave her a warm smile. Their faces drew near to each other as she slowly closed her eyes, with Swipe doing the same, until...

"Ah, there you are! We've been looking all over the city for you, Jinx!" an unfamiliar voice suddenly called from the cave entrance. The couple turned quickly to face this newcomer, and saw a rather striking gentleman dressed in white robes with red and gold trim. With him was a bald-headed kid in a dark green jumpsuit, with power packs on both his chest and back.

"G- Gizmo?" Jinx said in disbelief upon seeing her former partner-in-crime.

"Come on, Jinx! We're taking you back to the academy!"

"But..." she looked from Gizmo to Swipe and back again. Sure, she had wanted to go back, but now that she had Swipe...

"Um, excuse me, but I think she's doing just fine with me now," the thief spoke up, keeping an eye on Terra and Slade. This seemed to earn him a rather sharp glare.

Brother Blood wasn't taking anything except "yes" for an answer, and focused upon this little upstart. His eyes glowed dark red and Swipe suddenly jerked, clutching his head as a high-pitched ringing sound suddenly flooded his head and wracked his mind with intense pain. Just as Jinx turned to help the paralyzed rogue, Gizmo used a telescoping arm from his backpack to grab her by the arm and drag her back to him and the Headmaster. With their objective complete, they hurried from the cave and left the boy to his fate.

"Wait a minute!" Jinx protested as she ran to keep from being dragged. "What about Swipe? Can't we take him, too?"

"Since he's not registered with the academy, I'm afraid not," Brother Blood replied simply, never even bothering to look at her. "Besides, I doubt he'd make a good student, anyway."

The sorceress scowled at this and chanted a spell at the mechanical arm, breaking away from it and standing her ground. Gizmo and Brother Blood stopped short and turned back to her.

"Jinx, what're you doing? Get the lead out already!" the pint-sized genius shouted to his one-time ally.

"I'm not leaving without him," she declared firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. "He's my boyf-- my bo-- my best friend."

"What? Didja hit your head or somethin'? You were the one bawling your pink head off about bein' kicked outta the Hive in the first place!"

"That was then, Gizmo, and this is now. Either we go back and get Swipe, or I go back to him without you."

"I'm terribly sorry, Jinx, but you really don't have any say in this matter..." the Headmaster replied as his eyes glowed red once more. Jinx's feline eyes squeezed shut as a wrenching pain filled her head. She quickly succumbed to it, falling unconscious just as Gizmo rushed up to catch her. "Let's go, Gizmo. We've wasted enough time here."

The hacker's beady eyes glowed that same shade of red as he replied in monotone, "Yes, Headmaster." He used another pair of mechanical arms to hoist Jinx behind him and carry her the rest of the way out of the cave.

Meanwhile, Swipe slowly opened his eyes once the searing pain in his head faded. He was laying face-down on the ground, with a slender, golden object under his hand. Without time to examine it, he hastily pocketed the item and started to his feet to pursue Jinx's new abductors. Unfortunately, there were two other people who had different ideas.

"Glad to see you're awake, Swipe. About our deal..."

"There's no deal!" the rogue snapped, jumping backward into a crouching stance. "I said Jinx remains unharmed or else I don't join!"

"That's too bad..." Slade replied flatly as he raised a fist. "But if I can't have you, neither will the Titans."

Swipe yelped as he tumbled out of the way of Slade's vicious punch, only to find himself pinned by several animated rocks. He struggled to either break free or reach his daggers, neither of which he succeeded at. Slade got face-to-faceless with the trapped thief and allowed himself a moment to taunt his prey.

"We could have made a great team, you know. You're quite the fighter; fearless and inventive."

"I'm your kind of scum, huh?" the thief shot back through gritted teeth. "Sorry I have to disappoint you."

"I'm only sorry that I'll have to kill you," Slade's remark sent a great shiver through Swipe's spine, making the rogue all the more desperate to get out of this cave.

The familiar feeling of his dagger's handle gave Swipe hope for his future. Just as Slade reared back to finish him off, he kicked his legs up to deflect the attack and hacked at the rock spikes holding his shoulders to the wall. He had just enough time to dodge another swing, taking the opportunity to springboard off of the mastermind's shoulder and scramble for his freedom.

Terra's sharpened stones became his next obstacle, zinging past the rogue's ears and arms like arrowheads. One struck his already injured shoulder, knocking him off balance just long enough to be re-intercepted by Slade's fierce uppercut. The rogue was thrown backwards, only to be whacked in the back by a large boulder courtesy of the former Titan. Swipe fell to his hands and knees, gasping for breath and wondering if anything was broken.

Slade punted the helpless thief's stomach, sending him spinning several feet across the cave. As luck would finally have it, he landed near the entrance tunnel to the cathedral. Desperate to get away in mostly one piece, Swipe pulled himself back to his feet and attempted to run with all his remaining strength through the tunnel. While Slade could no longer get at him, Terra's geokinesis had no trouble. Columns of solid rock burst through the tunnel at the fleeing rogue, variously tripping and pummelling him on his escape.

At last, he reached the end of the tunnel just as he felt his entire body giving out on him. He collapsed into the same bushes where Gizmo had hidden himself earlier. Slade and Terra emerged only seconds later and searched for their quarry.

"Do you think he managed to get away?" the apprentice asked her master.

"If he has, he couldn't have enough life left in him to go anywhere, let alone warn the Titans. Get back to the tower. The next phase of our plan shall commence tomorrow."

Swipe watched Terra hop onto a rock and levitate it with her powers, quickly flying back off toward Titans' Tower. Slade glanced about one last time before turning back to his lair, prompting Swipe to feel just a little safer. The rogue fumbled for the communicator, searching every pocket for the device. He found the object that was in his hand shortly after Jinx's disappearance, which turned out to be her gold bracelet. A few tears built in his eyes as he looked at it, wondering if he'd ever see her again.

Shaking the thought from his head for now, the thief continued searching his pockets until he found it. His vision began to blur as he tried to remember which button did what. Finally, he pressed a red button near the bottom curve of the unit and passed out soon after. His last thoughts were of Jinx: her smile, her laugh, her wit, and how much he loved her.

In Titans' Tower, the distress beacon was heard by a cloaked Titan who was having trouble sleeping thanks to a bad dream. Actually, the dream was more of a vision, which included the shadowy form of Terra standing over her fallen former teammates. Upon seeing whose communicator was sending this signal, Raven became even more confused. This couldn't be coming from Terra's communicator. She's asleep in her room, wasn't she?

Regardless, she had to find out who had activated that signal and why. She quickly donned her cape and cowl, and set out to the north while closely observing the locator. In a few minutes, she arrived at the site but found nobody. Only when she spotted a hand holding the beeping communicator peeking out of some nearby bushes did she find what she was looking for.

"By the gates of Azarath. It's Swipe..." she breathed as she cleared away the shrubs with her powers. The rogue laid in a coma, and he looked like he had been beaten within an inch of his life. She quickly wrapped him up in a black bubble, carefully lifting him out and carrying him with her on her flight back to the tower.

She opened a channel to Robin's communicator as she flew, "Robin, this is Raven. It looks like our new friend might have had a run-in with an old acquaintance of ours. I'm taking him to the infirmary for now. Hopefully, we'll get some answers in the morning."

End of Chapter 14

In Chapter 15 - Swipe slowly recovers from his battle with Slade, battered and worried about Jinx's safety. He soon finds himself in the middle of an ambush at Titans' Tower, thanks to a Betrayal.