Hey, hey, hey! Look who updated!
Okay, I hope you really like this chappie, because i got up nice and early to finish and edit it, and i have a volleyball tourney 2day. sucks for me...but u better all review because u still owe me. lol.
Disclaimer: not enuff time 2 write a disclaimer...i dont own Teen Titans...damn.
Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the darkLove of mine some day you will dieBut I'll be close behindI'll follow you into the dark
No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs
If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
-I Will Follow You Into the Dark, Death Cab for Cutie
Kid Flash
Wow. Oh wow oh wow oh wow.
I'm screwed. Really. I mean it, this time.
Jinx broke out. JINX BROKE OUT!
"Jinx broke out," a guard says to me as I come to a stand-still next to his truck, one of the many that are circling the surrounding area and the prison grounds. "We'll find her, and take her back in."
"Jinx didn't break out," I say, my voice sounding distant and detached. I'm surprised how easily the lie comes. "The guard who let out Jinx…uh…fainted, and I went to take him to the infirmary, you know? So I, uh, tried to pick him up and carry him through the place, and Jinx stopped to—uhm—tie her shoe! Yeah, she stopped to tie her shoe, and she called for me to wait for her, but I didn't hear her, so I kept going. She got lost, though, and freaked out and ran. She didn't break out," I repeat.
The guard stares at me for a moment, questioning, but decides that he can trust me. I mean, I put half these guys in this prison myself.
"Alright then," he says. "As soon as we find her, we'll just have her sign that document stating that she's free, yadda-yadda-yadda."
I sweat-drop. Thank God. "Thanks," I tell him weakly as I let out a sigh of relief. "I'll find her on my own, don't worry. You should make sure everyone else is…uh…secured," I say, remembering the loose murderers Jinx shoved between herself and me as she made a break for it. I think I knocked them out, though, so hopefully they won't prove hard to round up again.
The guard shakes my hand, gives the order to call off the search for Jinx over his walkie-talkie, and heads back to the garage.
Satisfied that the rest of the guards are turning in too, I speed off, not knowing where I'm going, but all the while praying that Jinx will turn up.
Within a few seconds, I'm back in the metropolitan part of Star City, and I immediately decide to start the search at my place. Because she wasn't awake when I took her there, she won't know how to get there, but I've got to try. And if she isn't there, I've got a supercomputer I can use, which could hopefully help me track her down.
I vibrate through the door of my place and call out her name. "Jinx! Are you here?" No answer. So instead I go to my computer and start pulling up all my contacts, the Flash and Raven and the S.C.P.D. and Speedy and my Aunt Iris. Only the S.C.P.D. is online, (and I can see why, it's probably about 3 a.m. now), and I'm not feeling particularly up to consulting with those boneheads, so I have to do this on my own. But because I know that I have nowhere else to start, I hack their phone line and listen for any details or cries for help for a robbery, outlining a girl stealing money or clothes or plane tickets or all of them.
Just my luck-there's nothing that matches a description of Jinx.
Frustrated, I then hack into the Star City Savings and Loans account information, trying to find maybe some sort of suspicious withdrawal.
Stupid computer! It's so slow! It takes an entire five whole seconds to access the info! If I was powering my computer, it wouldn't have even taken .5 seconds.
…Finally! As I take a look through the recent withdrawals, I find an account that was emptied entirely…about two minutes ago. It was done online (the bank systems are slowly catching onto the miracle of the internet), the account was entirely liquidated and the money was wired to an ATM a few miles from here.
I look at the account owner's name, hoping it'll lead me directly to Jinx.
…BINGO! Who's the COOLEST KID ALIVE? IT'S KID FLASH, BABY!
And with that I do my victory dance, the Running Man, in place as I cry out in joy at the name on the computer screen.
Ahem. Just to clarify, the account owner's name is "J. N. Hive."
That was real creative, Jinx. But just this once, I can forgive you for your lack of creativity, because you just lead me directly to you. I'll explain everything, you'll forgive me and we can skip off into the night together, alternately fighting crime and making out behind—
…Gotta stay on track, Kid Flash. Focus.
I've seen all that I need to see, and I know where I have to go. Before even another second passes, I'm out the door and down the street.
The ATM is located a few blocks from the Savings and Loans, on Powell Street. I'll be there in a flash, Jinx.
Jinx
I am so good.
I liquidated the H.I.V.E. Five's entire hidden account, which I put under some crazy name that I came up with. I had the all money rerouted to an ATM a few blocks from a shopping mall, and across the street from the Star City Marriot. After gathering all the money in a paper grocery bag I picked up from the street, I toss it into the car I jacked. I take another look around, and right near me I find a payphone. I walk over, picking it up, looking to find directions to the nearest airport.
HA! 2 for 2! There it is, Star City Airlines, the city's main airport and the largest in the state. It's closer than Gotham International, and seeing as I don't have a lot of time, I decide to use that one to get away.
Smiling for the first time in what seems like forever, I use my fingernails to tear out the ad from the book, but leaving the rest of the page intact. Stuffing it into my pocket, I hop into the car and take a turn onto Main Street. It's about 3 now, but the airport is open 24/7, and I should be able to buy some "Welcome to Star City!" sweatshirt, or something. Now that I have a car, I won't need to take the train. I'll just let the airport valet park it for me, and no one will ever know because I'll already be gone.
Kid Flash. I can't believe that I'm driving through Star City, ready to actually pay for whatever crappy clothes I can buy at an airport gift shop, just so that I can get a thousand miles south of wherever the hell you are. You could make a girl crazy!
As I think that, a tear rolls down my cheek and splashes onto the seat. It surprises me; why the hell am I crying over Kid Flash, after all he's done to me?
Because you're running away from him.
Yeah, but what does that matter? I think to myself, combating my own inner conscience which I never knew I had. Another stupid tear slips.
It matters because, when you first tried to run from that stupid team of yours, it was him you were going to. Now you're running away from him. And the worst part is, you know that you shouldn't, because he is the one person in this world who will defy all odds to love and understand you the way you need to be loved and understood. He's risking everything for you. At the very least, you owe it to him to show that you love him, too. Which you know you do. You're lying to yourself, Jinx. You know that he didn't betray you.
I'm left breathless from my own internal reasoning. Did I really just think that?
"Shut up," I whisper, fumbling with the stereo, trying to find the one music station they allow on an otherwise government reserved-frequency radio, as the tears start streaming a little more heavily.
Kid Flash
I'm here. The ATM…there's no one around, not a single car in the street. The entire block is lit up by those orange street lights, and some of the night lights from the stores in the mall are still on. There's a parking garage, a hotel, and a couple of other insignificant shops and stuff. I look desperately back at the ATM; she must have left a clue.
The ATM's gone back to a blank screen, but that's when I see a potential hint. About 2 or 3 yards away is a payphone…with the phonebook dangling out from its cord.
I speed over, picking it up and finding the crease in the pages that identify the place where Jinx probably searched for some way of getting out of here, and away from me.
You know, I think that fate is equally balanced. You have your share of good and bad luck. My good luck for tonight, and for the rest of the year, was Jinx. The not-so-good luck, Jinx is running away. From me.
I carefully scan the page Jinx had looked at just a few minutes ago. It's mostly a page for airports and services and—oh. I get it. At the top right corner are the addresses and names of all of the airports in a 20-mile radius. There are four airlines, two of them commercial, one is a private airport (for those rich city slickers with their own jets), and the last one is the big one, the main airport for the common traveler, Star City Airlines. Which, coincidentally, is the one that has its address torn out from the book.
Ok, so. Let's recap at superspeed: Jinx escaped from prison (which I was trying to rescue her from in the first place), is somewhere in Star City, and is intending on taking a plane out of here. I don't know what her final destination will be (…I shouldn't use that expression. That movie was freaking scary, and somehow, the original accident seemed to be just a cause of 'bad luck'…AH! Jinx! Be the one who gets off the plane and doesn't die! Please!...and now I sound like a schizo), but I know where she's going that will eventually take her there.
That was really bad grammar. Lessee, in those past two minutes, I used two run-on sentences (…or thoughts, I guess), an entire mini-ramble about a movie in which a lot of people die, two ''s, and, if all of that was actually written down, probably a ton of spelling mistakes.
My English teacher would be proud of me.
Anyway! I think that tomorrow I'm going to find Jinx in the airport (my guess is that she'll be trying to blend in, and so will I), buy a ticket to wherever she's going, and try to talk to her. She won't be able to curse me to hell on the plane (because she'll know that even a tiny bit of bad luck on an airplane can mean hundreds of lives), so if I take advantage of that (I know that she wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, she'll find a way to restrain her angry outbursts), then maybe I can explain it rationally.
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'll do. It should work. I hope.
The mall opens at six, and I assume that that's where she'll be headed first, to get those civvies I was talking about. But I won't be able to approach her until we're in that plane and Jinx is exercising some self-control. She has total range to hit me with all sorts of bad luck in a place like a mall, simply because she hasn't left yet.
But, wait…
What was that?
The first car I've seen since I got back into Star City just took a turn down Main Street, completely ignoring me.
Oh my God.
Jinx!
She's still in her normal costume-I guess she'll just buy something at the airport, and she's staring straight ahead, eyes focused entirely on the road (which would explain her not pulling over and beating the crap out of me, knowing I wouldn't try to retaliate). I'm dumbstruck for a minute, but I regain my composure quickly and head off after her. I don't move too fast, though, in hopes that she won't get a glimpse of that red-and-gold tail thingy I always seem to leave in my wake when I run in her rearview mirror.
I know where she's going, which gives me ample time to make a quick stop first. Jinx rolls directly through a red light (there's no one else to stop for, but still bad driving), and I take my opportunity to put on a burst of real speed (no sissy stuff-this is strictly a speed of sound lane), and stop back at my place one last time. I run through the apartment like mad, pulling on my street clothes and grabbing some money and the Titans communicator Raven gave to me when she first joined the team. If I remember correctly, I may have been one of the first honorary Titans they've ever inducted.
After I'm positive that I'm full dressed (…I had one of those "Kill me now!" moments a while back, I was late to class after a long night of butt-kicking and I had to dress really quickly. I forgot to put on some pants over my boxers. I dress especially carefully now), I take off again to the airport, passing by Jinx's car on the empty freeway.
I'm running just behind her car. From what I can tell, she doesn't even see me, although I catch a good glimpse of her, because her face is reflected in her rearview mirror.
…Oh, Jinx. Oh, God.
She's crying.
Her eyes are all red and puffy, and they look all glassed over as more and more tears spill over the edges and topple down her cheeks.
She blinks, looking as if she's fighting them hard, but when they don't stop she takes a hand off her steering wheel and wipes the tears away from her face. Jinx chokes back another big sob, and it's killing me! I need to help her! I need to be with her, comfort her, make her feel better!
"Jinx—" I whisper as I run, holding my hand out, ready to lean my arm through the open window and touch her cheek.
But as soon as I say that, Jinx looks directly into her rearview mirror, and sees me. Oh, sh!t. Oh, SH!T!
I duck and put on another burst of speed as her tear-strained eyes open up in shock and she hits the breaks.
The car swerves to a stop, and Jinx starts to breathe heavily, her knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. She closes her eyes for a moment, trying to regain her composure, and after a few moments of me watching her from a ditch in the side of the road, she starts up the car again and keeps moving.
I sigh in relief, thankful that nothing serious resulted from her stopping abruptly when she was driving at 70 miles an hour. Then, after I dust off my jacket and pants, I start running again, this time bypassing her car completely as I beat her to the airport.
I skid to a stop behind one of the columns of the parking garage on a mostly-vacant level, and turn to take the elevator to the ticket line to wait for Jinx. I keep reminding myself that I can't run; I'm just plain old Wally West now, no superpowers, no Teen Titans communicator in my pocket, and no way of knowing that Jinx will forgive me.
Jinx
Oh, God, that was scary.
For a moment, I thought I saw Kid Flash in my rearview mirror, so I pulled over and looked, but he was gone.
I must be imagining things. It's about 4 in the morning now, and I haven't slept for a while. That's perfectly logical, right?
Sure it is, Jinx, says the conscience. I scowl at myself as I arrive at the airport, pulling up to the front and hopping out in front of the valet service.
Letting out an audible sigh, I reach down underneath my seat and let my fingers hit the cold metal. I find the handle, and pull the large metal case out from underneath. Every government-certified vehicle has these. My eyes glow and the lock clicks open, and I open it up to find...
Power inhibitors.
I hate this, I really do. But I'm kind of...um...unstable right now, and if I let loose on the plane...well, there'd be a big fat body count to cover the evening news. I can't risk the lives of those people. I can't trust myself to hold it in. I have to.
I grab a small, thick bracelet with the strip of glowing blue running the length of it, and slap it onto my wrist. It's easily removable, and it's coming off the second we land in L.A. But in the meantime, as much as I hate it (and I really hate it), I have to wear it. To protect lives.
I grab the bag of money from the back seat, and I tip the valet five dollars to park it "wherever he likes." He looks at me for a moment uncertainly, probably taking in the pink hair and gothic clothes, undoubtedly thinking "Teenagers these days…" But he takes the tip nonetheless, and after handing him the keys and making sure I didn't leave anything in the car, I walk through the airport doors and immediately find the first gift shop I can see.
And yes, it's one of those shops that sells clothes! I smile lightly to myself. For someone who has so much bad luck, I have my days.
I grab the first few things I can see, pulling a big, red and gold "Star City" hooded sweatshirt over my outfit, revealing only my black skirt. There aren't any pants or anything, so this'll have to work. It's not particularly stylish, but it'll do. I ignore the rows of sunglasses (first rule of disguise: NEVER wear sunglasses, they immediately set you apart), and instead opt for a "Star City Speedsters" baseball cap instead.
…Wow, Kid Flash, you have this entire city eating out of the palm of your hand. They named their freaking baseball team after you? Idiot.
I spy a small backpack nearby as well, which I can use to hold my stuff, as well as a pink wallet with a golden star emblem on it. There are some bags of candy and trail mix nearby, so I grab those too, as well as the latest issue of Vogue. This is quite a handy little shop.
I walk up to the cash register and pay for it, momentarily taking off the sweatshirt and hat so that the gothic, dark-looking teenage girl who is running the register can scan them. She looks tired and depressed (and who can blame her? She got stuck with that crappy, too-early-to-be-reasonable a.m. shift).
"Where you headed?" she asks me, looking somewhat happier after seeing my whole outfit, which looks somewhat like the one she is wearing under her red apron.
"Los Angeles," I reply as she nods coolly, putting my stuff into the backpack.
"Cool. Would you like the receipt?" she asks, having finished scanning.
"Nah, you can toss it."
"Okay. That'll be $61.25." I bite my lip nervously as I pretend to look into my bag of cash. I've got more than enough to cover that, but I'm going to need to use most of my money for my plane ticket and housing, once I get to L.A.
"Um…actually, I won't be needing the magazine or the candy," I tell her sadly as I pull out a couple of 10-dollar bills.
The girl looks at me with a glint of pity in her eyes. "No, hey, don't worry about it. I'll use my employee discount for it," she says, punching a few more numbers into the register.
"Really? Are you sure?" I ask fake-hopefully, but gratefully all the same, and she says, "Sure, it's cool."
"Oh, thanks so much!" I respond as the bill comes down to $40. That I can afford. The girl looks humbled and pleased with herself. I feel bad for her as I walk out the door, carrying my new stuff. I think I may have been the only nice person she's met while doing that crummy job. She's just like me.
And I was Kid Flash just then. I just offered temporary relief. But I'd never come back and be a jerk to her.
"Have fun in L.A.!" she calls as I head to the ticket line.
"Thanks!" I yell back. I continue to walk until I find the place where I can buy my ticket. There's a long line, so I resentfully go to the end. My guess is, it'll take about 15 or so minutes to get through this, so I pull out my new hat and sweatshirt and pull them over my head, ripping off the tags first. Then I begin to stuff all my money into my new cheap wallet, but as I do, I drop 3 twenty's and curse.
As I bend down to pick them up, another guy who just joined the line leans down with me, gathering up the bills before I can even reach one and handing them to me.
"You should be careful, that's a lot of money," comes his kind, boyish voice as I turn to look up at him.
I blush. He's cute. He's got red hair and big blue eyes and lots of freckles. He looks really eager and excited, as if seeing me just made his day or something, but his voice is calm and smooth. But his eyes…God, his eyes…
"Thanks, uh—" I say, forgetting whether or not he mentioned his name.
Apparently he didn't, so he holds out his hand and says, "Wally. Wally West."
I know what you're thinking: AHH, another cliffie! Well, it wont be so bad, Im updating soon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I mean, 213 reviews in total? Thats AMAZING! I love you all! you are seriously rocking my life.
and a reminder to bad reviewers out there...
I've been told that other authors have been flamed by reviewers who don't like thier work. And while you have the right to say whatever you want, thes authors are being personally offended by said flames. I don't get why people do it; if you don't like a story, don't read it! Or at least offer constructive criticism! But I would never ever flame anyone, and I hope none of you would either. Everyone in the fanfiction community has complete freedom to express themselves creatively, which is why we're all here. But to put another down because you don't like what they write is just downright wrong. I hope you will all take my words to heart, and do not ever flame anyone. I would take it personally, even if it wasn't a flame to my story. It is an insult to all authors. I've never been flamed before, because I have such lovely readers/reviewers, but a word of caution: I will hear about it. And it won't be good.
Sorry if that sounded so grim, but I need to get the message across. Spread the word: Flames are not welcome on this site!
ok, back to the review responses:
DemonDaughter-well, i updated, does that mean I wont have any munchkins roasting me over a fire? lol.
shadow929-thanks for the review! glad u liked it!
Sunago-im so glad you liked it! thanks for reading my story, i love having new readers!
UknwUloveChopstix-lol, sorry! And sorry this cliffie kinda sucked too...but im updating soon, so never fear!
TTfangirl111-thanks!
Valda-lol, thx! I put the message in again, this time. hope our plan is working!
Meiriona-lol, thanks so much! im glad youre liking it!
pureangel86-guess youll just have to read to find out!
Marz the Green Planet-aww:-( im sorry! but the resolution is coming up soon! i promise!
3musketteers-lol, thanks! im glad you like it!
Silver Miracles-hey, Im glad you like it! thx for the review! hopefully KF will have a bit more luck this time...
the King of Flames-lol, thanks for the review! and i know i already told you, but i didnt direct that message at you. u just have a cool name. :-D
Funkywatermelon-lol, first off, i luv ur sister'spenname! thanks for the review; im glad youreenjoying it so much!
lily23-lol, i agree! thx!
Flying Green Flamingo-guess we'll just have to wait and see, huh? did u watch the episode, "Titans together" last night? OMG! OMG! OMG! I danced around my room for 10 whole minutes! it was IN-FREAKING-CREDIBLE!
EE's Skysong-lol, same! Fave band! thanks for the review! i luv reading them!
acosta perez jose ramiro-youve got very good logic, you know that? Thx for the review!
Rose Red2.0-yes, yes, she can. but dont worry, thats only temporary. :-D
Heroine of the Valley-lol, glad you like chocolate! its my favorite. :-D thx!
cheese lovin peep-yeah, its gonna be pretty ahrd to resolve, but im working on it, just bear with me. lol. thx for the review! and yes, click on my penname at the top of the page to read my other fics. but theyre not very good, so be warned. lol. this is the first fic ive ever written that i liked! Well, except for "I Don't Quite Understand." people seemed to like that. :-D
Maffeoel-thanks! As soon as I'm done with this fic, I'll PM u and we can get writing!
hotwritergirl158-thanks! sorry the update took foreva!
disappearer-Syani-hey, thanks for the review! Dont worry, all explanations are coming up, your question will not be forgotten. keep reading!
Cammy'sYams 92'-ill do my best. the way the episode "Titans Together" ended gave me a lot of ideas, but I've found an ending that I think you all will really like. :-D sry thats all i can say right now!
A Pleasant Reader-thanks! im doing my best to make it as believable as possible, because ultimately, I want this storyline to be as accurate to the show's story as possible.I know I've tweaked some things, but I'm trying. :-D thanks for the review!
Deide-and here is your looong update, hope you enjoyed it!
Temchan-lol, thanks! Me no like Ted. But he was fun to write. and I think I PM'ed you with instructions on how to upload a story; i hope they helped!
NemesisMuse-muchas gracias, chickadee. i have a feeling that any possible flamers will suffer at your hands when I send them to you. Have fun ;-D and thx for the review! keep reading!
Sweet Princess RobStar4ever-hey hey, no worries about the grammar, its very good (especially in comparison to some of my friends...their grammar is quite pathetic, actually...lol) and thanks so much for the review! im glad you like it!
shadowedstar213-hey, thanks! im glad that i am seemingly so capable of portraying real emotions. You are so awesome! tahnks for the review!
Itsy-Evil-Spiders-hey, ive heard that song, and I also think itd fit pretty well, but Ive FINALLY decided on the rest of the songs. i hope youll agree that "I Will Follow You into the Dark" suits this chapter well. Thanks so much for the review! (giggle...feel so cool now that i know what "kawaii" means...yay me! lol)
Obiter-lol! your review made me laugh maniacally. No seriously, maniacally. lol. yeah, Jinx can be pretty B!tchy sometimes, but im not going to blame it on "that time of month" (because it would make for an extremely lame ending, and because there is a simple cure for some of the craziness associated with that cycle: chocolate. lots and lots of chocolate. lol), so Im hoping that the big conversations that will be taking place in the next few chapters will explain it. GASP? Did i just give something away? keep reading to find out!
animefan-hey, lucky you, you reviewed just in time for the next chapter! thanks for the review!I try my best to keep them as in-character as possible, so Im glad you liked it!
Stantonluver-lol! your reviews are freaking hilarious! i dont quite get whats going on half the time, but i love 'em! lol. thanks for the reviews!
robstarforeva21-lol. im glad youre liking it! keep checking back for more!
KawaiiYuki-aww, thanks! im so happy that youre enjoying my fic! keep coming back, so that you wont miss up the wrapping up of this story! thanks!
Well, I gotta hit the sack, because im playing the AM wave in this volleyball tourney...which is about 30 miles away. No, seriously. its 12 now and i have to get up at 6, shower, and attempt to get there in time. sometimes i hate my life.
lol. jk. the reviews make it worth it.
...jk, again. but only slightly. :-D
again, please review, and i hope youre still enjoying it! hang in there!
XOXO,
Cara the SuperDuperHulaHooper