Disclaimer TEEN TITANS and all other related characters and material are the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network, I claim no ownership.

Chapter 12: Strange Bedfellows

By: Ansa

Cyborg sat in his room doing the monthly diagnostics on the security system, music blasting in the background. It had been a week since Jinx made her move on the Hope diamond and the exhibit had long gone back to its original home in Washington. Recently they had more successful missions, just any usual week for them. Chasing baddies, beating them, and taking them to jail…almost, too normal. This thought wasn't new to him; several times it had come upon his line of thinking, more often than usual lately.

Cyborg leaned back into his chair and sighed, staring seamlessly at nothing. He missed the old days, with his first team. Not that they were any different, on the contrary, they were just as repetitive as things were now. But somehow, it was different…somehow. No, not somehow, he knew what made it different…he knew who made it different. Cyborg looked over each shoulder before minimizing the diagnostics screen on his computer, moving the curser up to his private file. After another safety check he carefully brought up a jpeg file…a picture of Robin, Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, and himself at the tower. He couldn't help but smile. It wasn't the perfect picture; it wasn't even a portrait, but rather a random freeze frame in any random day of their lives.

By looking at the picture it could be easily seen that the camera that had grabbed this shot was mounted somewhere in the main quarters above the television. In the front of the picture were Beast Boy and Cyborg, sitting down on the couch with gamestation controllers in their hands. Cyborg had a particularly large grin on his face, while Beast Boy's was full of shock and desperations, most likely due to the fact that he was getting beaten…quite badly, as he usually did. Far to the side of them almost at the edge of the couch, sat the gloomy girl herself, Raven. Her nose in a dusty leather bound book paying little to no attention to her surroundings as she read. Cyborg smiled at this, picturing her doing the very same thing right now, only with a college textbook rather than that of ancient spells. Finally, behind them in the kitchen area was Robin and Starfire. Robin had a sickened look on his face as he watched Starfire drown her ice cream with yellow mustard. Starfire herself found nothing but the glee like that of a child, her taste buds tingling in anticipation.

Cyborg smiled as a flood of memories flooded back to him, both the good and the bad. He didn't mind the bad, in fact, he preferred them. In fact, the bad times showed just how close they were, how good of friends they were, and just what they were willing to do for each other. Each one of them had proved themselves as friends to him time and again, not a single time could he think of where either had wronged him. He missed them…more than he would ever lead on.

"Hey Cy." Bumble Bee suddenly appeared in the doorway, catching him by surprise. He scrambled to close the window, clinking every which way until it finally disappeared off the screen. He was embarrassed, and he didn't know why. Maybe it was because he didn't want to seem weak in front of his team, maybe he was afraid they would laugh at him, Speedy in particular. Or maybe, he just felt silly, missing his friends so much when he had constant contact with at least two of them.

"Y-Yeah? What is it?" With one last click he brought back up the diagnostics window, turning to face her innocently and nervously.

"Beast Boy is on the line for you."

"The little green dude? Ha HA! Why didn't you say so?" He couldn't stop himself from grinning, no matter how large and/or creepy it got. This was exactly what he needed, a long chat with an old friend. Cyborg shot up out of his chair and sped out into the hall, heading to the main screen and flicking on the voice link. He would much rather talk to him through the video link but…well…Beast Boy and Raven couldn't afford one, not that you could by such a thing at any civilian store.

"Hey BB, what's up man? It's been a while since you called, you forget to pay your bill or something?" Cyborg chuckled, he told the same joke every time they talked, and it never stopped being funny to him. Beast Boy however, didn't find it so amusing.

"Ha ha, very funny…"

"So how you two doing? Still getting hitched?"

"Just try and stop us."

"I'm home…" Cyborg just barely heard the sound of a door opening in the background followed by the faint trace of Raven's voice.

"Is that Raven?"

"Sure is."

"Welcome home, what is it that you learned today?" Cyborg's jaw nearly dropped, a third, familiar voice much clearer than Raven's. He felt a warm fuzziness in his chest, somewhere near his heart. Could it really be her?

"Hey…is…is that?"

"Yep, you want to talk to her?" Cyborg nodded his head, forgetting Beast Boy couldn't see him. That didn't matter much however, before an answer could be given the phone was already passed and the familiar cheery voice that filled his heart with this joyous feeling came over the line.

"Hello?"

"S-Star, is that you?"

"Cyborg! It is indeed me, how are you?"

"Doing much better…now." Cyborg found himself in a slight shock at himself, feeling the slight twinge behind his eyes. It seemed that no matter how strong he was, no matter how macho he thought himself, that times like these couldn't help but touch him.

"I have missed you all, when are you coming down to see us?"

"Just let me know and I'll be there."

"Oh…yes," Her speech came in gaps, most likely Beast Boy or Raven was talking to her on the other end. "Raven says hello and that there will be a dinner this weekend."

"A dinner, like a reunion?" Again, another gap before Raven came on the line.

"Yeah, we already called Nightwing…er…Robin and let him know. Can you make it?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Again, the twinge sent a chill down his spine. He could control it, but he it would be quite obvious that he was doing so.

"Good, four o'clock. You know the address?"

"As long as you didn't get kicked out." He tried out the joke on Raven, he wasn't quite sure how it would fly but it was too late now.

"…yeah…same place." A sweat drop formed on his head, not a giggle, or even an annoyed tone. Some things, he guessed, never really changed.

"You got it, I'll see you then."

"See you soon."

"Goodbye Cyborg!" He laughed as Starfire's voice shouted from the backround, he couldn't see but he was quite sure she was waving.

"See you Star."

Cyborg pulled up carefully to the corner under a flickering street light, the sun long having gone down and the stars and moon taking over. It had been the longest few days just to get to this point, his car packed and nothing but the road before him. His friends were just a drive away and his lead foot was itching to get going; only he had one more stop before he left.

He waited patiently on the dark, seemingly abandoned street, his car idling quietly. The average person would normally stray from this part of town, especially at night, but Cyborg wasn't your average person. Besides, he had come her several times before to know just where and where not to be. He wasn't sure why he agreed to this, he would prefer a much more comfortable meeting place…he would prefer a lot of things in this relation ship, but that didn't mean he'd get them.

Just then he caught movement in the corner of his eye, just slightly in the darkness. He turned his head so he could get a better look and sure enough, a dark cloaked figure was making their way out a nearby alleyway. At this point he checked every possible angle he could think of, looking for anybody else at all that could see them. Finding no one he shut off the car engine and sat in wait. Once out of the alley opening the figure made a much faster pace towards him, the sound of high-heeled boots clumping against the sidewalk. The distinct smell of sweet, flowered perfume wafted his way, making him smile and his muscles loosen. It was intoxicating, and she knew it, that's why she wore it.

"We've got to stop meeting like this, it's nothing but a tease and you know that." Cyborg leaned out of the open window further, trying to get a peek up in the heavy hood that covered her face in shadow. Even though he couldn't see very well, he knew she was smiling, even before she pulled back the fabric, letting the light cast down on her face.

"Of course, that's half the fun." Even in the periodic flickers of light that was allowed, her skin was still a pale grey, a tone that very much reminded him of a friend of his. Cyborg was taken aback slightly when her face was finally in view to him. She had done her hair tonight, still as it had always been styled; only now there was a long purple strand that fell in front of her eyes. This made his heart skip a beat; he had always thought her beautiful, but with only one eye visible, fluttering and gazing into his…damn. She knew its effect, she must have, because she played into it. The way she used the one eye to look at him in combination with her natural beauty and perfume made her near impossible to resist.

"Oh…man."

"Hm hm, you like?"

"Y-yeah." Cyborg blushed slightly as she leaned in, letting her arms cross on the edge of the door, and met his lips. He melted at their touch, she drove him absolutely wild, and yet…there was still something about her that he wished wasn't there.

"So, what's with the urgent meeting all of a sudden?" Jinx kept her arms crossed on the door, letting her head rest to one side as she knelt down next to the car, still putting the power she had over him to good use.

"I-I'm uh…ahem I'm going out of town for a while. My friends are getting married and there's going to be a reunion party tomorrow."

"Ohhhhhh coolies, who's getting hitched?"

"Beast Boy and Raven."

Jinx blinked, straightening her head out slightly. "You mean the green kid and the gloomy chick?"

"Yeah."

"Wow…that's unexpected." She stood up, laughing to herself slightly. She remembered his old team well, each and every one of them. How could she forget, after all, they were her first real enemies? In a way she missed the fun she used to have fighting them…hehe. "Well, have fun then, I'll see you when you get back." Smiling sweetly she bent over for another kiss, only to have her lips met with a cold steely finger.

"I want you to do something for me." Jinx frowned slightly, but straightened up nonetheless. Looking at his face she could tell he was dead serious and that no amount whiles would sway him.

"Hm? What is it?"

"I want you to behave yourself while I'm gone. That means you lay low until I get back, no robberies, no nothing, got it?" Cyborg kept a cold tone throughout, on this subject he was never joking around. Ever since he and Jinx first started dating he had asked her to quit her life of crime. He had asked her so many times that the words had lost all meaning. He knew she wouldn't change easily, if at all, but he still needed to try. If he couldn't get her to quit straight up, the best he could do was to start small. There was a slight pause before she laughed innocently, quite on purpose in fact.

"Hehe nice try hun, but no can do." Once again she bent forward for a kiss, and just as before, was met only by his finger.

"I'm serious."

"Awww that's not fair." Jinx pouted, the one power he had over her, and that was denying her affection. Her lips ached for his, there was no way she was letting him leave without a kiss, even if she did have to settle for a peck on the cheek.

"Promise me." His eyes stared directly into hers, his seriousness never faulting, nor his determination. Unfortunately, she didn't see him budging unless she agreed to…be good. She shuddered as she thought about all of those shiny diamonds, rubies, and sapphires in the diamond district just screaming her name. She hated to do this...but it was only for the weekend right? Once he was home, she could hit any store she wanted. That is not to say he wouldn't be there to stop her, but that only made it more fun. Still, no stealing for two, maybe three days?

"Ugh…oh…alright! But it's so not fair…" She turned her side to him and crossed her arms in front of her, pouting heavily. He smiled and let out a quiet sigh of relief. It was only a weekend, but still, it was a step in the right direction. At least now he didn't have to worry while he was gone.

"Thanks babe." Cyborg leaned up and gave her quick kiss on the cheek before starting back up the car.

"Yeah, whatever."

Again he smiled, she could be quite childish sometimes, but that was part of her charm. He started to pull off slowly, keeping an eye on his side mirror, watching as her figure slowly disappeared in the distance. In a small way, he felt bad for having to be that way, but then…he wish he didn't need to.

He knew how hard relationships were, but he never thought they would be this hard. With her still a criminal, they couldn't necessarily date in public. The few times they did go out he made sure he used his holo-ring for a suitable disguise. Of course, that still left her. A number of times while they were out she was recognized and reported to authorities. That was the only time he ever really helped her escape the law, that's why he never used the same disguise twice.

He wished he could think it was hard on her as well, but he just couldn't. He knew otherwise, by that playful grin on her face every time they ducked through the alleys and back streets trying to lose the cops…and sometimes his own teammates. The only evidence he had that it was effecting her was when his disguise altered his appearance drastically, when a simple change of clothes wouldn't work anymore. On those nights, he did see some sort of sadness in her eyes…which seemed to only fade when he asked.

No one knew about them, no one could know. He didn't dare tell any of even his closest friends about her. All he would say was that he was seeing someone, and that she was rather shy. This of course was a lie, a rather large one at that, but he had to tell it. If he wanted to stay with her he had to lie, and this made his heart sore.

Ok, I'm pretty happy with this pairing for one reason. It's different…why? Most other fanfics I read about any hero pairing with a villain (Batman/Catwoman ect.) has the villain turn all goody goody. That's no fun, especially not with Jinx. She's too cool to be a good guy…er girl. Hope you agree with me. Later Days!

ANSA