Chapter 4: Still Partners

Jinx crawled out of bed, stretching and yawning. She dressed and exited her room. "I'm so ready," She stated, a smirk playing on her lips. "I'll get that stupid Madame Rouge today!"

When she entered the main room, she raised an eyebrow. "Kid Flash?" She called, walking around the room, looking for the speedy wonder. "Where are you hiding? Are you making waffles again? Hey! Where the heck did you vanish too?" When she arrived at the kitchen, she saw no sign of him, but there was a sheet of paper on the table.

It read:

Jinx, I've headed off to take a look at the church. Meet me there when you get this message. Kid Flash.

"He already left?" She questioned, "That's odd… I wonder what he needs to see there…"

-

It was no time before Jinx found herself standing outside of the large church, staring up at the points that towered into the sky.

The doors opened, capturing her attention, and Kid Flash appeared, eyes downcast. He was carrying something in his hand that she didn't remember him having before.

"There you are," She said, looking rather annoyed. "What's the big deal, huh? You should have waited for me."

He looked up at her, his eyes solemn.

She hadn't noticed. "What's going on? Don't tell me that they've already moved to a new place. Where are they now?"

He reached up and placed his free hand on her shoulder.

She looked down at his hand, then back up into his face, concern spreading across her features. "Wh-what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry," He said, spraying her in the face with some sort of mist out of the canister he held. Her vision dimmed, and she fainted into his arms. "Really… sorry…" He closed his eyes in shame and carried her into the church.

-

Jinx came too slowly but surely and found herself locked in some sort of cell. "Wh… what?" She asked, holding her head and pulling herself into a sitting position. "What happened?"

"I'm sorry…" His words entered her head as she recalled the events that had occurred. He'd hit her with some kind off knock-out gas!

"Hey!" She shouted, running to the bars on her cell and shaking them. "KID FLASH, WHERE ARE YOU!"

Her hands lit up with pink light, and she blasted the bars, only for her power to be knocked off of them and hit her instead.

"OOF!" She cried as she hit the floor.

Two feet approached and stood before her cell why she grumbled as she got back on her feet.

"I'm here…"

The voice caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him, standing on the other side of the cell, looking ashamed of himself.

"You…" She scowled. "You… You lied to me! You tricked me! Don't you dare try to deny it!"

"I won't deny it," He replied straightforwardly. "I did lie to you, and I did trick you."

"but WHY?" She shouted, dismay creeping into her anger. "I thought you wanted to help me!"

He hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry… I had no choice… I've been working for Madame Rouge all along, this was all just a con to capture you."

"RAAAAH!" Jinx shouted, slicing at the bars with her powers. It continued to bounce off and hit her instead, leaving several cuts and scratches all over her body.

"STOP IT!" Kid Flash cried in distress, taking hold of the bars. "Please!"

"Shut up!" She yelled.

"I beg of you! Don't hurt yourself anymore!" He screamed, slamming his forehead against one of the bars.

"Why, is that job specified for you only!" She screeched, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her hands dropped to her sides, and she sniffed before continuing. "I trusted you! We were partners…"

"I had to… I had to do it…" He said. "If I had any other choice, I never would have-"

"Don't lie to me anymore!" She yelled.

"I'm not lying now!" He cried, sliding down onto his knees. "If I had any other choice, I never would have attempted to cause you harm… I still don't want to… but…" His shoulders were shaking, and her rage seemed to seep away.

"What's going on?" She asked calmly, wrapping her long fingers around the bars and looking down at him.

"BOY!"

He got to his feet immediately, running a fist across his eyes to dry away his tears as Madame Rouge entered the room, the door slamming behind her.

"Right here," He said, looking straight ahead.

She gave him a somewhat disgusted look. "What have you been wailing about? Your eyes are red. Feeling guilty for locking up your little girlfriend?"

"I've held up my end of the bargain. Let my sister go."

"In good time, boy, in good time," She replied. "You've captured her, yes, but you're not through here."

"What else am I supposed to do?" he asked turning towards her.

Sister? Jinx wondered. She's captured his sister? I didn't even know he had a sister!

"You have to kill her," Madame Rouge smirked.

"What!" Kid Flash exclaimed.

"Huh?" Jinx said at the same time, equally terrified.

"You heard me. She's given me too much hassle. Get rid of her."

"You didn't kill the others! Why only her?"

Not the argument I would have chosen…Jinx thought.

"Because she got away from me… more than once because of you," Her eyes narrowed at the memory of their first encounter.

"So now that you're able to sway me anyway you want, you're out to put me and her in our places," Kid Flash deducted, scowling.

"You could say that," She snickered, wicked delight on her face. "I'll give you this afternoon and tonight to say your goodbyes. Tomorrow…" She chuckled at the thought of it. "You'll provide me with much entertainment. I'm looking forward to the fight…" She left laughing.

Kid Flash screamed after she left and punched the metal door to which she'd left through. The sheer speed of his attack left a large dent.

Jinx watched him almost curiously. "So, what're we gonna do now?" She asked.

He turned around. "What, you're not mad at me anymore?" He asked, his voice lacking of all hope for anything.

"Nah," She shrugged. "So, tell me why I can reach through the bars but not shoot through them."

He went back to where she was. "Does it really matter?…" He sighed. "It's a specially designed force field meant to keep you from blasting out. Madame Rouge made sure that she and others could reach through it though since she likes to slap around her captured."

"Isn't she just a delight?" Jinx said sarcastically, sitting down with her back against a bar. Kid Flash also sat down against the same bar and sighed again.

"I'm really sorry… I wish there was something I could do…"

"It doesn't matter…" She smiled sadly. "If you or your sister die, one will miss the other desperately… No one is around to miss me, so it's okay… I just wish I could have saved Gizmo, Mammoth, Kid Wicked, See-More, and Billy Numerous… They weren't really good guys or anything, and they didn't seem to like me much… but they still meant something to me. They were all I had…"

They were silent for awhile.

"If you died… I'd miss you…"

Her head perked up as a light blush spread across her cheeks.

"If I killed you… I'd die inside…" He continued. "That's why we've got to find some other way… There has to be… I'm not the brightest crayon in the box… mentally anyway… so I must have missed something…"

"You'd… actually miss me?" She asked.

"Of course!" He exclaimed, almost on the brink of tears. "Why wouldn't I miss you? You're… my best friend…"

She turned around and took hold of the bars, staring at him. "Me? Why me?"

"Who else?" He asked, looking over at her. "You're all I've got… you and my sister… and if I lose you… I'll have no one… I don't think Madame Rouge will ever give my sister back to me…" He turned away, hanging his head.

"If you never thought she'd give your sister back, why did you help her?"

"I didn't really have any other options… She would have killed her if I didn't, even though she probably still will… If there was anything I could do to prolong her life until I could come up with a plan, I had to do it… I never wanted you to get involved, but it seems that Madame Rouge is still pretty miffed about what happened."

"Well, there's gotta be something we can do…" Jinx said, hugging her knees. "There HAS to be…"

Kid Flash sighed. "This is all my fault… I should have been protecting my sister… but I was out running around by myself playing hero. I'm no hero… look what I've done."

"Well, you teamed up with a villain and tricked a villain into believing you were the good guy that you no longer were…" Jinx shrugged.

Kid Flash lowered his head in shame.

"AND… you did it to help save someone you care about. Sounds like a hero thing to me. Protecting people and stuff…"

"That would make you a hero too, since you're trying to save your friends."

"I guess it would… but at the same time… we're both horrible heroes and villains…"

"Don't you wish there was a place in the middle for people like us?" Kid Flash asked, misty eyed.

"Yeah… people like us who don't fit in… anywhere…" She sat back down, her back against his back and the bar separating them. His hand slipped in and took hold of hers and held it.

"At least we're not stuck alone, huh…"

"Yeah…" She mumbled. Somehow, she felt like crying. She didn't understand… perhaps it was the sound of his voice… He had no hope left in himself or in her, yet he tried to pretend he did so that she did not lose her hope. "We just… We just have to escape!" She exclaimed. "Tomorrow, once she lets me out."

"Shouldn't there be a little more plan to that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She'll be expecting that," She replied. "We'll just run away… Well, you'll do the running."

"…but… my sister…"

"We'll get her too. You're fast enough, and with my powers, I can break any bars or cage or anything like that. We just have to outrun Madame Rouge. We can do it! We have to…" She felt his hand shaking in hers and wondered if it was him or her that was trembling.

"…but… what if we fail?"

"We'll go down fighting!" She exclaimed. "Fighting together! We are still partners!"

A smile crept onto his face. "Yeah… we are still partners. You're right. Let's go for it."

She smiled.

(A/N: This chapter's for Mini Marianne who forced me to get off my lazy butt and update this story. )