Haunting

Finally, Brother Blood is out of my life! Thanks to Robin's lessons of 'acting my part' in front of the press, they all believe my story. Sure, Brother Blood has attempted to make it sound worse… But the press believed us over him, and called him an unacknowledged and most likely incorrect source. They included his testimony in the newspapers, but about maybe one person and his school believes it. Yes, Brother Blood and the HIVE are the only ones that actually believe it, and the HIVE members are brainwashed!

Life has gone pretty much back to normal, except for the few press conferences I've had to go to in order to: A) back up the stories and B) prove to everyone I'm a good citizen. They have to think that the distorted version of the story handed in is true. Really, if it were true, it would be mainly about Brother Blood and his brainwashed students, with one paragraph about me and where I am now or something like that.

Life was so much back to normal that Cyborg asked if I wanted to take a walk in the park. "Sure, sounds like fun," I said with a smirk on my face. He smiled and held out his hand for me to take. I took it and he led me out the door. I was wondering what we were going to be taking, but I knew when he picked me up. "Getting out the T-Car is too much to worry about, and besides, if I did, they would all want to come—minus Raven," he explained as we were lifting into the air. Boy, he loved the rocket shoes! Not that I'm complaining about them, mind.

About five minutes later (the Tower wasn't far from the park), we landed gracefully in the park. We decided to land in the trees, as to not attract too much attention. We landed right in the middle of a circular opening in the forest. You could just see the sun over one tree if you looked closely enough. It was a beautiful day to take a walk, and through the trees was a great place, too.

We found a small stream in the forest, and even saw a baby deer with its mother. We attempted to get closer, but once we took just one step forward, they rushed away. I was disappointed, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get close.

After about thirty minutes of walking, I was beginning to get thirsty. "Hey, is there anywhere we can get a drink?" I asked Cyborg, my throat starting to burn from dehydration. I didn't have anything before we left, and I needed to get a drink badly. "Um, if I remember right, there's a fountain that way," he said pointing to the right of me. "Thanks, I'll be right back." He nodded and leaned slightly against a tree behind him.

I walked around a few trees and I came out of the forest. "Didn't know we were so close to the rest of the park…" I muttered to myself. I saw a fountain beside me, and I turned on the water to drink. As I was leaning down, a hand grabbed my face. It pulled me upwards, and I saw the face of Brother Blood. It was darkened by the shadows, and looked positively evil.

"Listen up, Jinx. The Titans have convinced the city that you are one of them. But I'll convince them otherwise." His grip tightened on my face, his nails almost piercing my skin. "Why… isn't… it… working…?" he asked himself, as I could tell he was trying to brain wash me once more. "You're resisting! How can you resist?" He asked me, looking me in the eye. "I don't know, but I am!" I screamed. I wriggled out of his grip, getting horribly scratched in the process.

I touched the SOS button on the communicator. Soon all of the Titans would be there to help me, but until Cyborg comes here, I'm alone in the battle. I shot jinxes at the trees behind Brother Blood, attempting to get them to land on top of him. Right as I was about to make a second attack, Cyborg jumped through the trees.

He ended up just behind Brother Blood and shot at him using his sonic cannon. It hit him square in the back, and Brother Blood landed with a loud thump. He got up, and as Cyborg and me were about to shoot at him again, he disappeared. I sighed, and hit the ground at the other Titans showed up. "Brother Blood threatened me again. I thought this was over… He tried brain washing me," I explained the other Titans. They nodded, and Robin said, "We'd better head back…"

Cyborg picked me up as Starfire picked Robin up. Beast Boy and Raven flew side-by-side, since they could both fly. Five minutes later, we were at the Tower. I ate a quick lunch there, and looked over at Cyborg. He seemed… disappointed. I think it was because Brother Blood got away. That would seem likely. I felt like I needed to rest, so I said out loud, "I think I'll take a nap… I'm kinda tired." I yawned and walked to my room, flopped on my bed, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Cyborg's POV

Starfire and Robin went outside, Raven went to her room, and Jinx went to take a nap. Beast Boy and me were still in the kitchen, enjoying (somewhat) a small lunch. I couldn't help but think about Brother Blood interrupting Jinx and me. I was finally about to ask her again about marrying me.

"I was about to talk to Jinx about marriage, again, BB," I said with a sigh once he noticed me acting weird. He sighed and said, "You're sure she's cool with marriage? I mean, it's a lot of commitment…" "BB, normally the guy in the relationship is the one with commitment problems. I think she's ready, but I'm not sure… That's what I was going to ask. And if she said she was ready, I would've given her this," I said, and took out a ring.

"Whoa…" said Beast Boy. The ring was a simply gold band, except that it had a beautiful pink quartz stone in the middle of it. Etched in the ring were the words "I'll love you forever" in pretty cursive writing. My cursive wasn't so good, so I had a professional paid to do it. "The wedding ring also has a pink quartz and the same words, but it has more carats than this and the stone is bigger. I have to wait at least a month before they can deliver it, though," I said after Beast Boy gaped at the ring for a minute.

"Why did you already order the wedding ring?" asked Beast Boy curiously. "Well, I thought we'd get married soon, and I really doubt she'll say no." "Soon? As in, HOW soon?" he asked, his voice having a tone of curiosity and… worry? "As in a year or two soon," I said. "That soon? Once you got married, wouldn't it be complicated, staying on the Teen Titans, too?" he asked. I coughed and shook my head.

"BB… No, it would mean that Jinx and I would leave the Titans and live together. I wouldn't want our family to be put in danger by some crazy criminals," I explained. "But… You can't leave! You're my best friend, and the closest person to me!" "I'm sorry, BB. I've made up my mind," I said firmly. I was afraid if we stayed in the boyfriend/girlfriend stage too long… Well, we wouldn't exactly make it.

"No! You can't leave!" yelled Beast Boy. "Beast Boy, I can't stay in the Titans forever. I need to get married, have some kids. Start a family!" I said, trying to express my point. "We're your family! And I won't let you!" said Beast Boy. "BB, look. I don't need your blessings, but I'd rather have them. If I can't get them, I guess I'll talk to someone else about this," I said, and got up from the table. I knew I had hurt his feelings, but it was the truth.

Eventually, we'll all probably leave the Titans. Robin and Starfire will get married a little after Jinx and me (maybe we'll even go for a double wedding, that would be awesome!), BB and Raven will find someone (hopefully each other), and after Jinx says yes to me (if she does), we'll get married. We're growing up, and we just might leave the Titans behind us. It is inevitable, but needed.

Sorry it took a while to update… My dad's been hogging the computer for a few days. I don't mean consistently, but the stuff he was doing took forever and you couldn't go on the computer at all or it would interfere. Oh, and 4th of July, which rocked. Also on the 13th my sister is turning 11, and that is messing with it, too. WELL, R&R!