This is a Kid Flash/Jinx fic...mostly 'cause I only just saw Lightspeed, and Kid is totally smexy in it...gotta love that MR...Oh...and 'cause they're just adorable together. This one-shot is set between Lightspeed and Titans Together (another one I've yet to see...I need TiVo)...
And before y'all ask, the song is the late, great Northstar's "The Pornographer's Daughter". Great song. The lyrics are only a small note to this story, definitely this is not a song-fic. It's set to the song, with key lines of it laying meaning to the story. Most of it's unimportant.
The Pornographer's Daughter
I can't leave with words like these
They'll break the bones that hold up my sleeves
I've got to tie her so high her
breath freezes before she speaks
But this bus just won't go far enough
so I'll strap my face to a homemade bomb
And blow the bus stop through the parking lot
We'll celebrate like we were free…
Jinx had long ago given up hope that there was something else in life besides the good, the bad, and the ugly. Lucky for her, she was neither ugly nor good. She was a bad girl, incarnate of everything associated with that little phrase. She was cruel, cold, clever, and coquette. She strived to be those things above all else. Loyalty had never been one of her virtues. Rather, self-survival had been her motives above all else.
Taking that into mind, it surprised her that the boy had managed to get under her defenses to the point that she'd actually left her team. The HIVE Five (at least, now it was). Kid Flash told her she could do better, and for once, she believed that she could. She looked into the mirror and saw that she, Jinx, could do better than that. Now, though, after she left that team, and indeed, "badness" in general, what was she to do? Where would she go?
Jinx smiled and picked up her bag, throwing it over her shoulder. She stuck out her thumb as she stood on the side of the highway, the side that was heading away from the coast, and all the superheroes/teen heroes that populated it. Jinx wanted to go somewhere where she wouldn't be recognized and wouldn't feel the old urges to do things illegal and whatnot. Jinx didn't know where she'd end up, but she knew that wherever it was, she'd try, for once, to be happy. She wouldn't try to be bad, or good, or anything in between. She would focus on living her life, as she wanted to.
A red pick-up pulled up beside her, the driver leaning over to push open the door. Said driver, a man in his twenties with dark hair, blue eyes, and a big grin, took in the pink-haired girl before him, her jeans a size too big, her tank top a size too small, and didn't stop smiling. "Where ya heading, girl?"
"Anywhere but here," Jinx replied, climbing into the truck. As soon as the door was shut behind her, they pulled off.
"What's your name, Pinky?"
"It's not Pinky, Brain."
He laughed. "My name's Connor. Connor Kent."
"I'm..." What should she say? How many people where named Jinx? And, he was coming from the city, he might recognize her if she told him her name. Worst yet, he might leak info back to the HIVE, and have Brother Blood coming back for her. Seconds passed, and she spontaneously said a random name. "I'm Jessie."
"Just Jessie? Like, just Madonna or Cher?"
She laughed and shook her head. "Jessie Flash."
"That's...an interesting name."
"Thanks. So, where you driving?"
"A place called Metropolis. I work on a farm not far from it."
"Oh...isn't that where Superman is?"
Connor hesitated before nodding. "Usually."
Jinx nodded too. "Sounds great." If the threat of the man of steel wasn't enough to make her stay "straight", then nothing would.
I know a place where we can both get laced
Take some time to learn about your face
About bawling and bell curves
About strength from inhalers
And I'll take the fifth and you can just sit
and I'll watch from a distance while you open it
This is how I will keep her...
In pieces…
She's a keeper…
Kid Flash wasn't quite sure why he did what he did, because sometimes his heart worked faster than his mind, and he found himself at places he didn't know he was going, and doing things he didn't know why he did. One of those such things was Jinx, and her flowers. For weeks after that night, where she betrayed, befriended, betrayed again, and finally saved him, he'd brought her flowers. He never stayed, only for a few precious seconds to give her the rose, and to get one small sniff of that intoxicating scent of her's, and then he was off again. He knew she enjoyed them, could tell by the way she kept them.
Then, one night, he'd gone to the HIVE building, and she wasn't there. Not a problem, he just left it on her bed. He'd been gone within seconds, not giving a second thought to infiltrating the building, given what a suck-ass security system they had, and the general idiocy of the inhabitants, barring Jinx, of course.
The next night he returned again, with another flower. He placed it on the bed, preparing to leave when it occurred to him. The flower from yesterday was stilling lying in the same place. Untouched. Wally stopped running, and looked around. She was gone. Her things, her scent, her presence. It was unexpected. And he couldn't move for a few seconds, which to him seemed like an eternity. He'd known that she'd left the HIVE, but she'd still been staying here. She hadn't anywhere else to go. He'd wanted to offer her a place with him, but knew that she wouldn't have took him up on the offer. She was too independent. He'd even spoke to the Titans about maybe offering her a place with them (an idea that Cyborg had been a little too enthusiastic about).
Now she was gone, and he had no idea where she'd went. On one hand, he could take this as the obvious, that she really didn't care about him and by not telling him, she was sending a message that she didn't want him in her life. On the other hand, maybe she just hadn't thought about it. On another other hand, maybe she'd been taken by force, and was waiting to be rescued by him, so that she could do the proper damsel in distress ploy and kiss him in gratitude (oooh, he liked that one).
There was really only one way to find out. Find her.
The Great Jinx Search began that night, and lasted for three weeks. For three long weeks he scoured the Earth looking for even a hint of her, her hair, her scent, her clothing, even her crimes. He found nothing. Until...
He was cruising through the Mid-West (of America), idly stretching before he began that night's search, this time starting in Finland and heading South until France. At least, for the first hour. Then, he'd head Northeast into Russian, which again, would take another hour. After that, he figured he'd screw around, looking into a few random and more dangerous places. Then, just as he passed Metropolis, a sound, so slight and low, and completely overcrowded by the louder noises of the city that he almost didn't hear it, did reach his ears. He froze in mid-step, not sure what it was about that noise that he recognized, but knowing that he did.
He followed that titillating noise, not quite a laugh, but not a sigh either. It was like a breath in the air, pointing an arrow, and begrudgingly he followed. It taunted him as he did so, knowing that he couldn't rush about and run it to the ground, because it would only confuse him, cause him to lose the trail. So he walked. He followed it slowly, through street after street, into the bad part of downtown Metropolis. Finally, in the warehouse district, he hit it. It was a bar called Chaney's, and whatever it was that had caught his attention was inside. There was a line stretching halfway down the block, but that didn't matter to him. With a small burst of speed, he was inside, past the guard and the line.
He knew what had drawn him here as soon as he stopped to look around. It wasn't the crowd of meta-humans, almost beautiful in their differences and their squabbles. It was obvious this was a "Meta" bar, meant for those of society who were "special". Powers and abilities here rivaled his own, but that wasn't what drew him here. It was her.
She stood behind the bar, her pink hair down around her shoulders, shoulders laid bare by the blue tank top with "Chaney's" scrawled across it in black. She smiled at one of the bar patrons, placing a drink in front of him before heading to the cash register to get change. She was more relaxed than he'd ever seen her. She smiled and laughed, and ye gods, that was what he heard. Her laugh, drawing him across miles of terrain and through the city. He'd finally found her.
And I'll be holding my breath with the best intentions…
Jinx had never intended to stay in Metropolis. She'd planned on a small holdover, maybe a grab-some-cash scheme before moving on, but to her surprise, she'd found something of a life here. Connor had introduced her to Chaney, who'd given her a job and a place to stay. She didn't see Connor much these days, but she wouldn't forget that he'd been her first friend, one who truly hadn't anything to gain from being nice.
Jinx worked in a bar, something she hadn't anticipated. She was lucky she really was eighteen, so she didn't have a problem with the law. As long as she only delivered the drinks (didn't open), then they were fine. Not like the law would ever come into Chaney's anyways. As Chaney, herself, was fond of saying, "We take care of our own." This was best, given that some of them were quite dangerous. Jinx could handle it though, even if some of them got a little too touchy-feely for her liking.
One downside, though, was him. There had to be something wrong with her, if she spent so much of her off time thinking of him. Wondering what he was doing. If he'd forgotten about her. She'd decided that if she really was going to make a go of a good life, then she had to forget her old one, including old...allies of a sort. That included Kid Flash. Or so she told herself.
Jinx smiled, and counted out the correct change to give Crocodile Man, and turned to hand it to him. Even as she set it down, she reached for his empty glass. Rather, formerly empty glass. Suddenly, a gust of wind from nowhere caused her hair to flutter in front of her eyes, and after pushing the damn strands back, a small red rose was in said empty glass. Unwillingly, she smiled and picked it up. It smelled heavenly.
"Jessie? Baby! Can I get another?" A voice called behind her, and she automatically turned to draw a Guinness for the caller, who happened to be Green Arrow, but she wouldn't say it if he didn't.
She put the tall foaming glass in front of him, smiling as he took a deep drink, getting said foam in his goatee. "How is it?"
He smiled. "You make the best this side of Ireland."
"Flatterer."
Arrow laughed and moved away, Black Canary waiting at his table. Jinx watched as they sat together, obviously comfortable in each other's presence. Sort of the way she was comfortable with Flash, but again, she wouldn't say anything if he didn't, and he wasn't.
She knew he was here, could feel his eyes on her back, but for some reason, he wasn't approaching. The night moved quickly, and that feeling of being watched never went away. She put the rose next to the cash register and continued to work. Various people came through, good, bad, and ugly, and she served them all gladly. At the end of the night, 4 am, she'd made good money, but was happy to leave. With a final wave, she left, walking slowly as she headed home to the small one-bedroom apartment a few blocks away. She could hear him follow.
She left her door open, knowing that he'd close it when he came in.
'Cause this is not for me, your perfume struggles perfectly
It wraps around and screams at me...
"My hero tastes like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead."
My straight faced grin is the first to leave
hand in hand with the queen of tragedy
Why do I hurt just on purpose?
I guess I lack a purpose…
He did, close it, and watched from the corner as she moved around, turning lights on and setting down her purse and apron. She didn't look at him.
"Why are you here?"
"Can't we just go with that I missed you?"
"No."
"Damn...here I had that excuse all wrapped up with a bow."
Jinx sighed, and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She turned to stare at him, before pulling herself onto the counter. "Why don't you be honest with me and yourself, for once?"
"Why'd you leave?"
Jinx noticed the topic change, but ran with it anyways. "I felt restless."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Why should I? We're nothing to each other. No, I take that back," she said with her hand up, stopping whatever he'd been about to say. "We do have a relationship. You stalk me, I try to ignore it. That's the relationship."
"Are you trying to tell me something?"
"I have been for a long time."
"I've been looking for you, Jinx."
"I know."
"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"
"I didn't know what to say. I don't want to be bad anymore, but I don't want to be good. I'm stuck, Flash, with nowhere to go. So I left, and I came here, and I liked who I found when I did."
Wally nodded, even as he walked across the room, resting his own hand on her's. "I was worried."
She smiled. "About me?"
"Yeah."
So smile like a child sitting in the sea
Forget about what's in the water and just focus in on me
I'll be the phantom of the opera
I'll be the lantern you blow out first
I'll be the reason you leave this city...
Was it any surprise that there wasn't much to say after that? They both knew what the undercurrents said, but neither really wanted to put it into words. She liked him, he liked her, but their past would always come between them. She could stay here, without him, but he really couldn't stay away. He'd follow her anywhere, and would torment her until she gave in, and she would hex him every time. It was a no-win situation.
Kid Flash didn't want to wait a long time for her to finally give in. He had no patience.
Even as she reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of his face, he was moving in front of her, wrapping his hands around her neck, pulling her close. He kissed her, and she forgot to struggle, to tell him no. She forgot to think.
All he could think was, incongruently, "Whoa."
When he moved back, she stared at him. "Why did you do that?"
"I wanted to."
She nodded. "I'm not going back there. I like it here."
He grinned and shrugged. "It's okay. I can handle the commute. If you want me to..."
Jinx looked down, then back at him, a small smile on her face. "I wouldn't object to you coming to see me."
Wally grinned ever broader, leaning in to brush her lips with his again. "Want to fight crime with me?"
"Not really, but I guess I'll keep you from getting your ass kicked."
"I don't get my ass kicked."
"I kicked your ass."
"I let you 'cause you're cute."
"You didn't let me...hey...stop saying that..."
"What...that you're cute?"
"It's bad for my image."
"What image?"
"I'm a bad ass."
"You do have a nice ass."
"I said stop that."
"Stop what?"