Author's note: Hey, y'all! A quicker update this time. And a better chapter. I'm pretty happy with this one, so let me know what you think. Hey, can you believe I missed Lightspeed? I had to work that day, but I heard it was awesome, so I'm going to catch it next week when it's on at 6:30 AM. You better believe I wouldn't get up that early for any character other than Jinx. XD Anyway, enjoy! The next chapter will be the last!
—Disorderly Conduct: Chapter Five—
Jinx woke slowly the next morning. She stretched out in bed and wiggled her toes, her trademark smirk already crossing her face.
Then last night's message hit her all at once.
She reached under her pillow and pulled out her HIVE communicator, giving it a severe look. The cause of all her problems stared back at her in all its hexagonal glory. Well, at least it didn't ring.
Being bad luck sucked. Why couldn't Gizmo or Private HIVE have saved Beast Boy? Then she, at least, wouldn't be stuck in this mess. For that matter, deep thinking sucked, too. Once you started questioning the point of your life, it wasn't exactly easy to stop.
Sighing loudly, Jinx slid out of bed and padded out of the room, wishing she could have slept a little longer. Like, a year or two, maybe.
--
Jinx closed her eyes and guzzled down the last of her soda. Starfire was on her third. Raven was sipping a bottled water. The three girls were waiting for their order at Roggo's Pizza Palace. They'd been dispatched by the guys, who were apparently too lazy to venture outside of the tower on a Saturday. Jinx and her HIVE buddies had been banned from Roggo's two years ago after Jinx, angry over a mistake made on her pizza order, shot hexes at the doorframe and overhead lights. Now that she was in the company of the Titans, however, she was free to come and go as she pleased. Roggo did keep shooting her nasty looks, though.
"Order sixty-one!" called the burly man working the register. Starfire hopped up from her seat to pay, always excited to use American money—for that matter, Earth money. Once they were alone, Raven shot Jinx a sideways look, but Jinx looked down at the floor. She'd been doing it a lot that day. Her stomach was starting to hurt. She kept imagining a HIVE team beating her up and dragging her back to school, completely humiliated.
She supposed she could just go back to the HIVE on her own and say she'd been spying on the Titans.
What did you learn? an imaginary headmaster demanded inside her head.
Uh, Beast Boy sleeps in late and Tuesday is movie night, an imaginary Jinx replied.
Yeah, right.
"Friends, it is time to return home!" Starfire said, walking over with a large pizza box in hand.
"I'll carry it," Jinx mumbled, grabbing the box and heading for the door. "Let's go."
As luck would have it, she hadn't taken five steps outside when a familiar voice called her name.
"Oh Jesus," Jinx said quietly, shoving the pizza back at Starfire.
All four remaining members of the HIVE Five were standing across the street.
"Did you guys come to take me back?" Jinx asked, furious at how reedy and scared her voice sounded.
"Actually, we were just gettin' some pizza," See-More said with a shrug.
"You're not even allowed inside," Jinx said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, like that's ever stopped us!" Gizmo said.
The HIVE Five crossed the street and Jinx saw Raven and Starfire tense up, preparing to fight if it came to that.
"C'mon, Jinx, let's go," Mammoth said, putting a massive hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, come with us now, and we won't even have to kick these scrum-buffers' butts," Gizmo crowed.
"No." Jinx found her voice. She shrugged Mammoth away. "I can't."
"What!" Gizmo's ears turned red, a sure sign he was getting peeved. "You can't—traitor—"
See-More stepped in. He gave Jinx a long look. "Come home now," he said. "Let's leave it at that."
"I told you, no," Jinx snapped.
"Why the crud not?" Gizmo yelled. Now his entire face was reddening.
"Because! That's why!"
"Because why?"
"Because I said so!" she screamed back at him.
"We can't be the HIVE Five without five frockin' people!" Gizmo screeched.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you won't have a problem finding another fifth member," Jinx said, shrugging obstinately at him.
"Traitor! Filthy witch!"
Before she realized what was happening, Gizmo had snapped up one of his mechanical claws and shot it at her. The claw cut a neat line across her shoulder. Jinx gaped at him. The other HIVE kids gaped at him. Gizmo and Jinx had had their difficulties, like any pair of friends. But it had never come to this.
"Jinx?" Raven said, eyes narrowed. "Just say the word."
Jinx shook her head, tears of fury swimming in her eyes. "No. We're going home. To the tower! Whatever! We're going." With that, she turned on her heel and stalked off down the street, Starfire hurrying after her.
Raven gave the four HIVE boys a scathing glare. "You guys got so lucky," she warned them, before following Starfire and Jinx.
--
Back at the tower, Cyborg bandaged Jinx's arm. "Gizmo did this to you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "I thought you two were… well, never mind."
Jinx grumbled something unintelligible.
"Why didn't you just go with 'em, anyway?" Cyborg asked after a moment. "I mean, I thought you were all into being a bad girl." He gave her a sideways grin.
"Must be nice to know so much about everyone," Jinx snapped.
"Okay, chill." Cyborg held up his hands in a gesture of peace. "I was just asking."
Jinx sighed. "Sorry. I know you didn't mean anything. I'm just freaked."
Cyborg grinned. "Aw, well, don't be freaked. You got me to take care of you now."
Jinx smiled back at him despite the little voice in her head that kept screaming, screaming the truth.
--
Jinx's communicator trilled its alarm at the first sign of sunlight. She'd set it the night before. However annoying that thing had been, she had to admit it was pretty handy. Like a cell phone, only cooler looking.
Yawning, Jinx got dressed and packed her few belongings into her pillow case. She paused in the control room and spent a minute working on the security code. Okay, she hexed it into oblivion. Same difference. Then, with the tower doors open, she made her way to the elevator and pressed the 'down' button. She smiled. This was easy!
"Where do you think you're going?"
Jinx grit her teeth. She had a feeling that dry, deadpanned voice would haunt her wherever she went. She turned slowly and faced the dark room. "Hey, Raven."
"Running back to your HIVE cronies?" Raven said angrily.
Jinx snorted. "You wish."
"Well, then?"
The elevator doors opened.
"I'm doing what I should have done days ago! I'm getting out of Jump City! For now, anyway."
Raven blinked. Of all the answers Jinx could have given, that was the one she hadn't thought of before. "Why?"
"Hello, the HIVE is going to drag me back there, kicking and screaming, and then do who knows what to me! I don't have much of a choice."
The elevator doors closed. Jinx jabbed the button again.
"You do have a choice, Jinx," Raven said. "Stay in the tower."
Jinx shook her head. "I'm not a hero, okay? We both know that. Thanks for the offer, though."
The elevator doors opened.
Raven opened her mouth to reply, but Jinx cut her off. "You know, when you grow up hearing that all you are is bad luck, you start thinking. 'Maybe I can make my own luck.' Maybe instead you make a mistake." She sighed. "Well, I'm too old to keep living with that mistake. It's time to grow up and get out while I still can."
"Well…" Raven sounded unsure. "Where will you go?"
The elevator doors closed. Jinx jabbed the button.
"Oh, I'll figure something out. Don't worry."
Raven's dry expression twitched briefly into what could have been a smile, then reverted back to its normal state. "Who said I was worried?"
The elevator doors opened.
"Oh, whoops." Jinx rolled her eyes. "My mistake."
"Wait," Raven said. "You can't get out. Cyborg locked down the tower—"
"Oh, that. I took care of it. You might want to have Cyborg take a look at it, by the way." Jinx gave Raven a cheeky grin and stepped into the elevator. "See ya!"
The doors closed one more time.
Raven rolled her eyes and went back to bed.
--
As Jinx walked across the bridge that connected the Titans' Tower to Jump City, she took one last look at her HIVE communicator. Well, it had been fun while it lasted.
She drop-kicked the communicator into the bay. By the time they started looking for her, she'd be out of town, heading East.