1

It was absolutely freezing. Her nudity was the least of her body's torments. The cord bit into her, cutting off all circulation and leaving all her limbs numb. Every muscle she had was cramped. Her jaw hurt from trying to hold up her head. Setting her head to the carpet left it hard to breathe. She gave up trying to see anything as it was not only the same room for untold hours but pitch black once the sun set.

Flashback 1

"You want me to face off against everyone in the school?", Jinx asked Brother Blood.

"It simulates facing the Justice League.", Blood justified. "Why? Is one of my first tier pupils feeling a little hopeless?", he berated.

"Just wondering how many kids you wanted me to hurt.", Jinx replied, her aura glowing as visibly pink as her eyes.

2

She faced hopelessness before. Maybe she hadn't realized it at the time, but she had. The Red X would not return in time to save her from her torture. But with no Hive to return to either she survived as was and held the benefactor that Red X was or faced a certainly short lived criminal career, juvenile hall until the government stopped experimenting on her powers and useless life as ex-con instead of feared supervillain. Even/

She felt herself being lifted by strong hands. The gloves were some synthetic, she couldn't tell what. She heard rain. Then she saw she was in the attached bathroom when a nightlight came on.

"Good girl.", was all the Red X said. He first held some of the shower's water to her lips. Then he helped limb after limb out of her bindings, massaging a soothing lotion into each one. He bodily lifted her into the shower and came in, costume and all, with her naked form. Until she could stand on her own, he held her up keeping the water out of her eyes. As soon as she could be propped up against a wall he continued rubbing her extremeties.

Jinx was surprised at how fast she recovered. In a few moments her circulation was restored. The pinprick feelings faded fast. She felt her inner body warmth return. It was like she was never in any real danger, just meant to think that. Jinx was still holding herself up with one hand on the Red X's shoulders. The other hand ran over her head slicking back her naturally pink hair. She touched her cheeks and realized her pink makeup was completely gone.

The Red X waited until she was feeling somewhat like herself. Then he rinsed her. Lathered her. Rinsed her again. Massaged shampoo into her hair. Managed not to get any in her eyes. Turned off the shower and towelled her dry. Carried her to her bed.

Then he tucked himself in with her.

Jinx was curled up in her arms. At first she didn't look at him, only lightly holding his cape where it met his shoulders. When she finally looked at his indiscernable mask, she asked one simple word. "Why?"

"Because I believe you'll be facing the worst thing you ever did soon enough.", the Red X explained. "I want you to survive it. So I'll test you. I'll guide you and your friends into be successful. And maybe, just maybe, this will all work out."

Then he noticed that the girl in his arms had fallen into a restful, peaceful sleep.