Hiya there! Again, my deepest apologies, but I'm doing my best here. I just want this to be good, and I'm sure my fellow authors know that it's very hard to wrap up a story that's so popular.
So please, read and enjoy, and then review! Because I love reviews. They fuel my self-esteem.
Ok, now, get reading! I worked hard on this chappie, so I hope you like it, and I hope that it makes some sense. If it doesn't now, it will in Chp. 13, which will be the last chapter. We're almost there, just hang in there!
Disclaimer: What would happen if I said that I owned the Teen Titans? (Sam Register walks up, brandishing a knife) Gulp. Never mind.
Where do you go with your broken heart in tow
What do you do with the left over you
And how do you know, when to let go
Where does the good go, where does the good go?
Look me in the eye and tell me you don't find me attractive
Look me in the heart and tell me you won't go
Look me in the eye and promise no love's like our love
Look me in the heart and un break broken, it won't happen
It's love that breaks the seal of always thinking you would be
Real, happy and healthy, strong and calm, where does the good go
Where does the good go?
-Where Does the Good Go, Tegan and Sara
Kid Flash
So far, my plan is working. I mean, why shouldn't it? I came up with it, after all. Therefore, my brilliance will take care of it on its own.
Jinx is adorable. Seriously. She has no idea that Wally West is, in fact, Kid Flash. Which is the key to this whole thing working. As long as my alter-ego stays a secret, me and my other personality may just be able to pull it off. Yay for schizophrenia!
I have to adjust some of my personality traits, though. I want—no, need Jinx to completely relate to me. Which she does, even when I'm Kid Flash, but she doesn't realize it. If it'll take a complete "stranger" to get her to believe that I'm here to help her…then it's a good thing I'm so cute. The girls will always believe the cute guy. Or the fast guy. Put them together to become Kid Flash…and ladies everywhere will fall to their feet in loving adoration.
So why doesn't Jinx? Oh yeah, she's special. She's better than all that stuff.
So somehow that all leads back to me and how I'm acting. Well, Wally West isn't really an act, it's just a different side of me. Wally West is a little more sarcastic and a little less ADD than Kid Flash normally is. But Wally West is also just as awesome as Kid Flash, and Wally West is the one who is going to make Jinx see the light.
"So, tell me about this guy," I encourage Jinny, knowing full well that 'this guy' she's talking about is me. Well, is Kid Flash.
Jinx lets out a small sigh as we continue to walk to the security checkpoint. "It's complicated," she says resignedly. "I thought I already explained it to you."
"Yeah, well, you were pretty vague about it," I respond carefully, hoping that I won't upset her.
"As opposed to your oh-so-detailed description of Wonder-girl, I'm sure," she laughs as I breathe a sigh of relief. For a second there, I was worried that she'd freak out if I made even a slight mention to Kid Flash. "You didn't even tell me her name."
Damn. You're the fastest boy alive, KF, why can't you think faster! "Well, I can tell you that she's not Wonder Girl," I say playfully, trying to buy myself time. "Wonder Girl lives in New York. Very feisty, that one."
"Your descriptiveness really helps paint a picture for me," Jinx says, a questioning look in her eyes at the mention of one of my good friends.
Think fast! "Her name is…Jenny, coincidentally," I say pathetically, failing to think of anything better. Next time I have to convince the greatest girl in existence that my alter-ego isn't all that bad, I'm taking Flash cards.
…Haha! Did you get it? Flash cards? Hahahahahaha…oh, geez. I crack myself up sometimes.
"Really?" Jinx asks me, satisfied that I finally gave up a name and laughing slightly. "Cool. I'm honored to have a name similar to that of your girlfriend."
I chuckle. "I bet you have more in common than that. You even kind of look like her," I say, hoping that she's picking up on the subtle hints I'm dropping her. Although the whole key to success for this plan is to keep a low profile, I can't help but pray, Jinx…it's me…realize who you're talking to!
"How so?" she says as we join the end of the surprisingly short line to pass through security.
"Well…you both have a thing for that hero, Kid Flash," I say playfully, pointing to her baseball cap.
What she does next totally deflates my ego. Which I didn't even think was possible.
Jinx winces and makes a face. Even worse than that, at the exact moment that I blink, she rubs her finger underneath her eye and wipes the drops of salty water on her sleeve, thinking I didn't see it happen. Oh, jeez…this is going to be harder than I thought.
But Jinx gains back her composure extremely quickly, rolling her eyes as she retorts with a damaging, "Kid Flash? Nah. He's probably the biggest jerk I've ever met."
Ouch. "How did you meet him?" I ask her, my voice and smile beginning to fail.
Jinx snaps her head up, looking momentarily mortified. "I was, uh, stuck in a hold-up in a jewelry shop recently, and he took forever to help me out. And when he did, he was a total jerk about it, all cocky and stupid and mean."
I force myself to laugh, although the only thing I want to do is pull my mask out from behind my neck and underneath my jacket and show her that she is falling for the same guy she thinks she hates.
"Then why do you have the hat?" I ask as I help pull her backpack off her back and set it onto the conveyer belt that pulls it underneath the x-ray.
"I, uh…" I can almost see the little gerbils in Jinx's mind running around in a wheel as she tries to come up with a plausible excuse. "I got a bad dye job, and this was the first hat I saw. It looks so bad, I just needed to cover it up." And with that, she pulls it off and smoothes out her bright pink hair to prove her point, now that she's made up an explanation for its color.
"I actually like it," I respond, examining how pretty she looks with her hair down. Jinx's backpack is lifted through a few flaps of rubber, and she is beckoned through the metal detector by the security guard (whose nametag readers Syani), who nods as she takes a few steps towards the metal arch. Syani stares at her for a moment as she looks hesitantly at her wrist, but after a quick sigh, she pulls back the sleeve of her sweatshirt to reveal a thick metal bracelet clasped around her wrist. I stare at it for a moment as well; what does itremind me of...?But Jinx pulls it off quickly, puts it into a small bucket next to the detector and walks through. I crane my neck to get a better view of the bracelet, but as soon as she's through, she takes it back hurriedly and slips it back on, pulling her sleeve down over it again.
I hear a small cough and jerk my head upwards to look at the guard. He stares at me funny when I realize that I don't have any luggage to put through the x-ray.
"Oh, sorry, it's just me and my wallet," I say sheepishly as I pull my beat-up wallet and my Sidekick (best Christmas present EVER! Isn't it ironic, Kid Flash has a sidekick? Hahahaha! I am just turning out the jokes like candy. Butter me, 'cause I'm on a roll! ...forget that last one. That was lame, even for me) from my pocket. At the exact moment that Syani blinks, I push my hands into super-speed as I slip my Teen Titans communicator in between the flaps of the wallet. Then I set it down inside a small plastic bucket and step through. When no noise emits from the machine and no shoe bombs go off, he nods and I continue through, taking my wallet and helping Jinx again with her backpack.
"That's all you're taking?" she asks me surprised.
"That's all you're taking? Gotta travel light," I say happily as we continue forward. I pick up a map of the airport from a nearby brochure stand and find our location in relation to Terminal 13.
Jinx
"Ok, so, Terminal 13 is actually straight ahead," says Wally, nodding ahead to a sea of waiting-room style seats that clog up the space in front of the entrance to the plane.
"Looks like we're just on time."
"With time to spare," he counters. "It only took 10 minutes to buy our tickets, navigate through the airport, and pass through security," he informs me. I look up to the Arrivals/Departures board overhead and find our flight: Delayed. I groan and clap my hand to my face, massaging my eyes. Is someone trying to tell me something?
Wally looks up too and sees it, although he couldn't look happier. "...And it looks like we've got another 30 minutes before we'll actually be able to leave!"
"Well, just our luck, huh?" I say, more to myself than to him.
"Haha, seriously," he laughs, pointing out every little bit of information that could have delayed this flight. "I mean, c'mon, Flight 333--that's half of 666, the most demonic number ever. And Terminal 13? I'm just waiting until some stray black cat runs across the entrance to the plane." I laugh in spite of myself. He's kind of funny, in a very ironic way. "I mean, all this evidence is leading me to think that there is something unholy about this. It'll be like Final Destination. If you have any weird premonitions about a plane crashing, let me know so I can get off too." I laugh some more. He's got a good sense of humor. But the weird thing is...all these jokes about bad luck would have majorly pissed me off about a week ago. But something about Wally just...relaxes me somehow. Like we know each other well enough to laugh about it. I love that about him.
"What, are you afraid of death?" I tease him playfully as we sink down into the orange chairs in the terminal.
"Nah," Wally says lazily, stretching out in his seat. "To quote the great Woody Allen, it's not that I'm afraid of death. I just that I don't want to be there when it happens."
I chuckle some more. Why is he so funny? He shouldn't be allowed to be this funny, it makes me want him to skip out on his girlfriend for me. And I'm rooting for them, right? Someone in this world needs to have the capacity to love.
"But I don't get it. If flying is so safe, why is the airport called the terminal?" he drawls as I readjust myself in the hard chair.
"That's a good question," I respond. "You know another good question?" He shakes his head lazily. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
Wally looks slightly surprised at me and sits up straight. "What do you mean?"
I blush slightly; I didn't mean to be a jerk to him, if he's always this friendly. "I'm just wondering why you're being so nice to such a total stranger."
Wally stares at me for a few moments with those burning blue eyes of his, although he doesn't seem offended at all. "Because I think that you're lonely and hurt and that you've given up on the world. But you shouldn't. There are still some good people out there, you know."
I'm caught entirely off-guard by his answer. Do I really come off as such a downer?
I stare at my feet, embarrassed. And then I catch sight of a penny sitting right near my left boot. I bend over to pick it up, quietly reciting that little poem that you're supposed to say when you find spare change. "Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long--"
"You'll have a penny," Wally supplies, smiling, and looking as if he simply brushed off his previous comments. I smile back at him and sit straight. "What year is it from?"
"1991," I respond, turning it over in my palm to find the date. "Hey, that's the year I was born!"
"Me too," he says, "that means it's good luck. I guess this airport must be the place where opposites meet."
I pocket it happily. Maybe this little lucky penny will be more affective than the power inhibitor on my wrist. This has been such a weird day...
"You never answered my question," Wally says abruptly. Yup. Weird day.
"What question?"
"You never told me about this guy you're running from," he says wisely, crossing his legs Indian-style on his seat and placing his thumb and forefingers together, as if in deep meditation.
I hit his arm lightly for the gesture. "I'm not running away from him," I say indignantly, looking for the right way to phrase my answer. "I'm, uh..." Wally's eyes pop open as he stares at me doubtfully. "--ok, fine. I'm running away. What does it matter?"
"You should give him a second chance. He sounds like a good guy." I pick up my head again and face him. He's not smiling anymore, and it makes him look...almost unhealthy.
"...Whatever. What's done is done and after what he did, there's no going back," I respond sullenly, hoping that he'll get the point and drop it.
"But are you sure you know the whole story?" he asks me, unfolding his legs and setting them on the ground again.
"Of course," I snap back. His curiosity is starting to bother me. Or at least, it's starting to bother my conscience. "Why do you want to know, anyway?"
"Because I care about you, Jinx," Wally responds in a voice that sounds very sincere...and too familiar...
Oooh, no. Ooooooooooooooooh, God, NO!
It's him. How could I not know? The eyes, the hair, the smile, the voice...I should've KNOWN! I can feel my hands tightening around the armrest of the chair. My knuckles are white again, and I close my eyes to gain my composure. How the hell did he find me! And even worse, how the hell am I going to get out of this, if he knows where I'm going!
Kid Flash
..."Because I care about you, Jinx."
...Oh, sh!t.
OOOH CLIFFIE! Except this time, you're not allowed to say anything about it because this is the second-to-last chapter and i'm allowed to hold out some suspense. :-D
Yes, you read correctly, this is the second-to-last chapter. Meaning chp. 13 will be the end of it. Sad, right? I know. It makes me sad to think that it's coming to a close, especially when I had so much fun writing it:-(
So it's more important ever now to review, because I'm fiddling with writing a sequel...but I'm not sure. I definitely have plans to collaborate with one of my great reviewers on a story outlining an AU in which Jinx did turn KF over to Madame Rouge. So keep your eyes open for that! But I'll stop talking about the end now, because it's depressing me. But I promise, all questions will be answered in the next chapter!
So now, to my wonderful reviewers!
Marz the green planet-i like boots, except when theyre being chucked at my head. :-D thx!
shadow929-MWAHAHAHAHA! if that last cliffie was bad...this one realy will kill you. i just hope that you dont die b4 u review :-D lol jk. thx!
TTfangirl111-lol, ramble away! thanks for the kind words!
Meiriona-thanks for the review! my advice for jinx's conversion...make it gradual. it won't be believable if it happens just like that (snaps fingers to show point). and ur right, no one story is better than another ;-D lol, thx!
Maiyuko-chan-sry it took so long for this chappie! thx!
Dark-VampireAngel-heeeey, im glad u picked up on that! Theres actually a lot of symbolism and stuff that i threw into this story that i think a lot of people missed, so im glad you caught it. :-D thx!
Flying Green Flamingo-lol, well, I dont know how a new chapter will work as an antidote, but here it is. you can wake up now ;-D thx!
Shay Bo Bay-ill hand u some tissues. it makes me sad too. :-( neways, thx for the review, im glad u like it! but ull have to wait for KF if jinx doesnt take him, ive already called dibs...lol.
EE's Skysong-aww, thx! im glad u liked it. i luv good, fresh comebacks; its great to see the reaction on some jerks face after hitting them with one ;-D lol.
Rosetta Starfire Stone-well im glad u liked it. and glad that i could incorporate that into it. i have a fan! (does happy dance) thanks!
obiter-lol. i think shes too smart not to as well, but i thought itd be more dramatic if i did it like this.
shadowedstar213-hehe, ur right. so many jokes about the giggling...lol. thx!
sakuradancer3-ahh! dont cry! here is a chapter-read it quick! lol, thx!
Kelly Riley-well..now. :-D keep reading!
xBytex-hey, thats ok, dont worry bout it. thx for reviewing!
Rose Red2.0-lol, keep reading to figure out how it ends :-D
pinkprincess-(blushes) thanks!
Deide-glad u like it! thx 4 the review!
Frosty Pickle Juice-i know this wasnt much longer, but the conclusion's gonna be a whammy. like, loong. or at least long enough :-D (cant believe i just said 'whammy' lol)
acosta perez jose ramiro-haha! thanks, i try. :-D keep reading, its almost done! and thanks!
Stantonluver-lol, thanks for the review! ur randomness continues to amuse me ;-)
Silver Miracles-lol, dont talk, ur story is too great and u HAVE to update soon! my, like, life depends on it. :-D
UknwUloveChopstix-to answer ur questions, in order, 1) i dont know, thats just how i wrote her, and 2), yes. glad u like it! thanks!
Valda-lol, yes! the ass-kicking power of us overwhelms me sometimes...we should have our own religion or something. :-D thanks!
Thermopolis-well, when u think about it, "West" is a very common name. and wally doesnt know, so im not going to really bother with that. for now, at least. :-D
jinx513-gracias, chica. luv the penname ;-)
Heroine of the Valley-just keep reading, just keep reading..lol. thanks!
NemesisMuse-13 chapters, exactly. :-D keep reading, and thanks!
3musketteers-yaaay! still feeling smart because i know what 'kawaii' means...hehe. :-D thx
Sweet Princess RobStar4ever-(big smiles) thanks! u rock my socks (hehe, cool phrase) and keep checking back!
A Pleasant Reader-a very good point. keep reading and find out how shell react. but, if I wrote this as effectively as I want to, the explanation should work plausibly. :-D (hint, hint). thanks!
The King Of Flames-yes, a lot of my favorite quotes are in my profile, and i used a couple more of them in this chappie, just because i could. :-D thanks! and keep reading!
u don't need to know-awww, thanks so much! that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and fluffy inside..as well as giving me a burning desire to finish this last chapter so that i can get more compliments like that :-D thanks!
Mystery1205-im so glad u like it! the characterizations threw me off a little at first, and i STILL worry that i havent find jinx's voice, but i guess itll come to me in future fics. :-D thanks!
disappearer/Syani-I believe i already PM'ed u, with my reply. Hope you caught ur reward for being my 300th reviewer in this chappie ;-) thanks!
hari-chan15-lol, thanks!
Itsy-Evil-Spiders-yup, mines already been sent. :-D thanks for ur efforts! i honestly dont think the last one was that bad, i was just disappointed they didnt focus more on the other titans instead of Terra. but o well. definitely write a KF/Jinx fanfic, let me know when u do and ill be ur first reviewer! - thanks!
DemonDaughter-lol. :-D
ARavenPoet-im glad u like it! thanks so much for the kind words. its nice to hear from new reviewers!
...and just in case you're all wondering, this is where you review. so hit the button and do it, because this is your last chance to have your review responded to in the next chapter (which will be this story's last). please review! muchas gracias!
Love always,
Cara the SuperDuperHulaHooper