Chapter 5:
UPDATED A/N: Ok, if you guys didn't already know, I changed something. You know how I said that Jinx was asleep for three days? I only made it one day so the story fit better. That was an unplanned mistake and so if you're confused, Jinx was found the day before and wakes up the day after during noon time. Okay? Good. So, there's no action yet but it's coming up! Don't worry. I just want you guys to get a little vibe at what's going on so far. Hope you like it! You'll probably see a scene similar from the original one. I just copied and pasted that one part and made adjustments! So yeah, onto the story!
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS NOR YOUNG JUSTICE!
Enjoy~!
"Dang it, why can't the villains we think are dead just stay dead?!" Red Arrow exclaimed, plopping down in his seat with a large sigh.
"Everything would be too easy if things were like that," Jinx replied, turning her head to look at him, who had a grim, tired look on his face. Robin pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Guys, I'm not liking where this is going," they all turned to Kid Flash, who looked them in the eye with a sincere expression. "Maybe we should ask the League for help-"
"The League?" Jinx cut him off with a baffled look on his face. "As in the Justice League? Why would you have to ask for help? Aren't you guys you part of-" The three guys in front of her cringed, waiting for the shame that will come along with her words. Jinx forced herself to ignore the pain and sit up. "Wait, you- you're not-?! I thought the reason you left in the first place was to become part of the Justice League." Jinx exclaimed, turning to Robin.
"Technically, we are, but just not officially on the League." Robin explained as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm not apart of any team. And I'm sure as hell not Green Arrow's 'sidekick' any more." Red Arrow said as he air-quoted the word sidekick.
"This is not a promotion, this is only the assistant job." She yelled as she waved her arms to prove her point.
"We're helping the League out. This is as close as an initiation we can get," Kid Flash told her as if to reassure her. Jinx, however, could hear the reluctant tone to his voice. She stared at him, who refused to make eye-contact with her. This only made her anger flare in rage.
Jinx turned to face Robin. "Robin, you were a leader- no, THE leader of the Teen Titans. You always took control and knew what to do! You moved to Jump City just to escape Batman and be your own person!" Jinx shook her head, too mortified to even look at any of them anymore. She slumped back in bed, trying to ignore the stinging at her side. "Now, your just a puppet whose strings got reattached on." Jinx said as her eyes narrowed even more.
No one seemed to object or deny her words because deep down, they knew that those words are true. They were puppets, used only when their 'mentors' needed them.
Robin looked up from glaring down at the floor. She could see the tension in his shoulders, notifying her of his bottled up anger and shame. "I- I know. I know, I've become a dog tied to its leash again. I know that." He gripped the arms of his chair before slamming his fist down on one of the arms. He shook his head, taking a deep breath to calm his anger against himself. "But we can talk about that later. The point is that I can't just sit around doing nothing, while my team is-" He choked on his words, looking away when he realized what just came out from his mouth.
The corner of Jinx's lips tilted upward in amusement. "Good to know you still care about the dear old Titans. Seems we've been replaced and forgotten, though." She spat, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I NEVER FORGOT THE TITANS!" Robin shouted in fury, making Jinx, Red Arrow, and Kid Flash flinch in surprise. Robin's eyes widened, and he slumped back in his seat, clearing his throat. "I would never forget them. They were-" he shook his head, "are my teammates, my best friends, my family." Robin ran a hand through his hair before pulling on it slightly. "God, how could I just leave them like that? And for this?" He stood up, turning away from them. He kicked the legs of the chair he was sitting on. "Who knows what's happening to them? What was happening to them when I abandoned them?"
Silence engulfed the room. Kid Flash and Red Arrow felt the need to comfort the Boy Wonder but was at a loss at where to start. His words echoing in their minds, making them feel just as guilty as he did. They all left for their own selfish purposes, wanting to finally prove themselves to their mentors. And where did that get them? Betrayal from their friends, less respect from their mentors, and a new team. Now hearing that all their friends were taken by an evil maniac? It was a lot to take in.
But for Jinx, her response was straightforward. "Yeah, how could you just leave like that?" She carefully tried to sit up in her bed, only for her strength to fail her, making her fall back clumsily. She winced as the pain surged through her again, but she bit back the pain. Instead, she resorted to just glaring up at the ceiling. "I don't know what your mentors offered you, but it doesn't look like an upgrade, seeing as you're stuck with a team of sidekicks again."
The three hung their heads in shame, wincing at the sting of the truth in her words. They knew that- God, how much they knew that they're just a sidekick team for the League. They knew that. But they just wanted to think they had something to look forward to after they accomplished some recognition.
Robin shook his head, turning away from them. "We should discuss how we're going to rescue the Titans and anyone else who was captured."
"We can't discuss if we don't even have anywhere to start. Slade could be anywhere," Jinx felt herself grow tired. She was exhausted from all the arguing that just went about.
Robin opened his mouth to argue against her when a knock on the door interrupted him. The four in the room turned to look at the now-opening door, revealing the green-skinned alien girl from before. She held a tray with a sandwich and cookies as well as a glass of water. She smiled nervously.
"Sorry for interrupting. I just thought that maybe, um, Jinx would like something to eat..." M'gann stated, unsure whether they will accept the sandwich or kick her out of the room.
Jinx raised an eyebrow at the tray. "Depends, you could have poisoned it."
M'gann's eyes widened, and she shook her head vigorously. "No, I would never-"
Jinx raised her hands up in defense. "Calm down, I was joking..." She forces herself to sit up, trying not to wince. She stretches her arm out towards the tray. "I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday morning. I'm starving."
M'gann tentatively hands her the tray. "It's turkey. I didn't know what you would like so I just used whatever we had around..."
Jinx shrugs. "I don't mind. Beats the blue food BB offered me yesterday..." Her voice trailed off, remembering the events of the day before. Her shoulders slumped, but she forced herself to smile. "Thanks."
M'gann smiled warmly. "Don't mention it. A friend of Robin, Red Arrow, and KF is a friend of mine."
Jinx scowled. "Well, I wouldn't say friend..." She picked off the crusts of her bread. "More like ex-enemy, ex-teammate, and ex-girlfriend. And any other kind of ex I missed." Kid Flash winced at the word ex-girlfriend, said with extra malice and venom.
"Oh..." M'gann's face burned with embarrassment. She decided it was time to wrap things up and let the four talk everything out. "Ok, so, um, if you need anything, just ask. I'll be glad to help." With a tense smile, M'gann walked to the door and left the room.
Jinx slowly bit into the sandwich, happily savoring the taste of it. She never knew how hungry she was until she saw the plate of food before her. While chewing, she said, "she's nice. Reminds me of Star," she swallows the piece in her mouth, "you know, except green."
"That's what I thought too when I first met her," Robin confesses with a small smile. Jinx gives him a look.
"You didn't go and fall in love with her, did you?" Robin's cheeks reddened.
"No! Of course not!" Robin cleared his throat, cursing at how high his voice just got. "She's like a sister to me. Besides, she's dating Connor."
"Connor?"
"The 'Superman-wannabe'," He air-quotes. At this, Jinx's lips formed an 'o' as she remembered him.
"Who is he, anyways?" She asked, taking another bite from her sandwich. The three share a look, which Jinx caught. She swallowed the piece in her mouth. "Sharing a look always means you are unsure of whether you want to tell me the truth or conjure up a lie." She put the last piece of her sandwich in her mouth. "Meanings of Facial Expressions, I took that class just because I was missing an elective."
"They really had everything in that Hive school, huh." Kid Flash chuckled softly, remembering how she used to always refer to one of her classes back when she was a villain. He stared at the cookies on her plates and, in a flash, grabbed one and took a bite of it.
"Hey!" Jinx glared at him, moving her plate of cookies away from him. "And plus, it's hard to forget what you learned when you were brainwashed." Jinx bit into her cookie, savoring the chocolate chips melting in her mouth. "Mmm, give that alien girl props for her baking. These are delicious."
"We're getting off topic," Robin scowls at Jinx, who was polishing off her first cookie and reaching for another. "We need a plan."
"Like I said, what we need first is a starting point." She chewed the cookie in her mouth. "We can't just search blindly. It might be too late if we begin like that."
Robin runs a hand through his hair in frustration. "We need to find a starting point quick. I won't let them down. Not again."
Jinx opened her eyes to find her room dark and empty. She must have dozed off during their discussion, and the three decided to let her sleep and leave her alone. Good. Time to escape.
Knowing this would be her only chance, she got up from her bed, ignoring the stinging pain of her wound. She thinks of her plan of escaping from here to take away her thoughts of the pain. She walked to the door, trying to be as quiet as possible as she twisted the knob and pulled it open. She stuck her head out a little to see the hallway dark as well. There was no noise except light snores from one of the rooms. It must be night already. I'll find an exit and jump on a bus or train out of here.
With that resolution, she got back inside the room. She found her hero uniform neatly folded on the chair beside her bed, and she immediately changed out from her current clothing. Her platform boots would make too much noise if she put them on now, so she resorted to just carrying them. She tip-toed back to the door, opening it gently and stepping out. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the dark before she stalked down the hallway silently.
It's so dark. She thought to herself, trying to look around for anything but only seeing pitch black. Jinx took a deep breath and let a small amount of pink energy glow from her hands. Ok. As long as it's small and doesn't touch anything, it's perfectly safe.
She continued to walk, using the light to guide her through the hallway. She began seeing doors and decided to risk getting caught by opening each one of them. So far, she's found a locker room, empty guest bedrooms, and what looked to be a lounge area.
She cursed when she opened the third bathroom door. Seriously, was it so hard to find an exit around here? She walked into an open doorway, which lead to a large room. She stepped inside, smelling the salt-water air. Jinx walked across the gray platform to see it lead to steps and down to... Water? Is it the ocean? She looked over to the left and saw two big holes in the walls. Transportation devices? Maybe they have their own underground subway for superheroes.
Near the two big holes, she spotted a door. Walking to it, she crossed her fingers, hoping it to be an exit. Jinx twisted the knob and opened it slowly. A breeze of salt-water air blew on her face, and she punched the air in accomplishment. She grimaced in pain as she remembered the wound on her stomach. Maybe now was not the time to gloat in happiness.
Jinx stepped out of the door, which revealed to be a hidden passage way carved on the side of the mountain (so they were inside the mount what NOT obvious hiding place...). She rolled her eyes and continued down the rocky path and onto the sandy beach below. The sand felt warm against her cold feet, and she paused to just savor the calming sound of the waves.
Now all she has to do is look for the main roads, maybe a bus stop, or-
SNAP! Jinx froze in her spot. Please be squirrel. Please be a squirrel. When she lessened her breathing and listened closely hoping to just hear the skittering feet of the small animal. But instead she heard gentle breathing, someone trying to be as quiet as she was.
Someone followed her.
Jinx pretended not to notice, letting her tense body relax as though she were enjoying the light breeze again. Without another thought, she let her eyes glow pink and soon she heard a small yelp from behind her. Jinx spun around quickly to face the person head on... Only to find the one person she didn't want to see, flat on his stomach, twigs in his hair, and a destroyed bush scattered around him.
She spouted out some colorful words. "Dammit, Kid. Why are you always following me around? Still dedicated to being my stalker?"
"I liked to call it watching from a distance," Kid Flash joked, plucking one of the twigs out of his red hair. His grin turned to a from when he stared back at her. "Why are you leaving, Jinx? You're in no condition to be running around like this."
"One bullet wound isn't going to stop me. I'm stubborn, remember?" Jinx replied, turning back to walk on the beach and search for that bus stop. Her walk was cut short when Kid Flash dashed in her path.
"Jinx, either you turn back around and get back in bed or-"
"Or what? You'll call your new team and let them capture me?" Jinx rolled her eyes and walked around him.
"I will if I have to." Jinx's steps faltered slightly, feeling kind of hurt how he accepted and acknowledged the fact that he's in a new team. Without the Titans. Without her. Swallowing the pain of not only her wound now, she continued to walk forward. "Jinx, come on. At least wait until your wound heals."
"That's like saying wait until Slade comes and finds me." She shakes her head. "I'm not letting anyone get captured because of me." I'm not letting you, Robin, or Red Arrow get captured because of me.
"That's not going to happen. We need you to help find the other Titans-"
"Wait," she interrupts him, listening closely. I know I heard something...
Kid Flash, however, continued to pester Jinx. "Jinx, seriously, I think you should go back-"
"Shut up for a minute, Kid!" She growls out, silencing the speedster. She squinted then spotted something- or rather two things- in the distance. "Over there!" She ran to the spot.
There, lying unconscious and wet, were two boys, about 12 years old and looked like twins. They both had dusty brown hair that clung to their forehead (from being wet). They both wore the same clothing: a white t-shirt under a jacket, jeans, and sneakers. The only difference was that one of the boys' jacket and shoes were red, while the other one were blue.
Jinx gasped. "No, no, no!" She kneeled down and put her ear to their hearts. They were barely breathing.
"Who are they?" Kid Flash asked as he watched her panic.
"You don't remem- That's right! You were always bad with names. Plus, they're not in costume and finally reached their growth spurt over the past two years." Jinx said as she performed CPR on one of the boys. She continued with the procedure until the boy coughed up water. He opened his eyes (which were revealed to be a dark brown color) and smiled.
"¿Quién sabía que iba a ser cierto que un beso puede despertar en una experiencia cercana a la muerte? (Who knew it would be true that a kiss can wake you up in a near-death experience?)" The boy said as Jinx glared.
"I saved your life, so don't push it. And it was NOT a kiss!" she snapped as she kneeled down to the other boy and repeated the CPR procedure. The other boy coughed up water too, and opened his eyes.
"Es como un cuento de hadas lo contrary! (It's like an opposite fairy tale!)" the boy, Dylan (wearing blue), said as he sat up. Jinx sighed, then looked up to the two boys. She put her arms around them and pulled them into a hug.
"I thought you boys were goners." She whispered as she squeezed them tighter. She pulled away, and noticed they were shivering. "Oh, you guys are shivering!"
The two boys seemed to notice the speedster because their eyes lit up and bright smiles were plastered on their faces. "Es señor rápido! (It's Mr. Fast!)" Kid Flash's eyes widened. He remembered that nickname…
"Quit standing there like an idiot, idiot. Help me with the boys." She said as she wrapped Dylan's arm around her shoulder and helped him up. Kid Flash helped Danny up, and they both walked back to the base.
"Kid Flash: 03." The computer voice alerted the Team. They all turned to the door, where Kid Flash and Jinx entered. But their eyes gazed at the two boys they were holding, who were shivering and wet. The boys looked weak and tired.
"Get them to the couch. M'gann can you get some towels?" Kaldur ordered as Miss Martian nodded and left to get some blankets. Kaldur helped the boy (who was being carried by Jinx) sit on the couch, while Kid Flash put the other boy down too. Both boys rubbed their arms to keep warm.
"Gracias, niño pez. (Thank you, fish boy.)" they said in unison. The Team didn't understand the two boys, except Jinx and Robin.
"That is not a nice name to call him." Jinx said as she glared at the two boys. She was leaning on the wall with her arms crossed to her chest.
"Lo siento. (Sorry.)" the two said. Jinx just shook her head.
Jinx glanced at the whole Team, who looked very awake and alert. Even Red Arrow was here. Either he had stayed over or he was called back by Robin. Her eyes narrowed at them before glaring at Kid. "Let me guess, Kid Flash wasn't the first to notice my absence."
"No but he was the first to go after you." Robin stated with a smirk. He returned his attention back to the two boys on the couch. "Um, question. Who are they?" Robin pointed at the two freezing twins. "And why did they call Aqualad fish boy." He asked as Kaldur lifted an eyebrow, and Jinx just rolled her eyes.
Jinx scoffed. "I can't believe you don't recognize them. You being the Boy Blunder, I thought you would seem to notice them." Jinx said. The two boys snickered.
"Ahora Jinxy, que no es un buen nombre para llamarlo. (Now Jinxy, that is not a nice name to call him.)" the boys teased, making their voice higher to mimic Jinx's. Robin snickered, but was stopped by Jinx's glare. Jinx rolled her eyes. M'gann came back with two blankets, and handed them to the two boys, who wrapped it around themselves. "Gracias, señorita! Y debemos decir, que son muy hermosas señorita, a excepción de la piel verde. (Thank you, Miss! And we must say, you are very beautiful Miss, except for the green skin.)"
"You know you two are lucky they don't understand you- besides Robin that is- because that is considered rude." Jinx said as she glared at Danny and Dylan.
"Oh Jinx! Usted no tiene que ser celoso. Sigues siendo la mujer más hermosa en este universe! (Oh Jinx! You do not have to be jealous. You're still the most beautiful woman in the universe!)" they said as their eyebrows wiggled and a smirk played on their lips. Robin started cracking up, and laughing on the floor. There was a sound of fingers snapping, a pink flash, and then suddenly the two 'accidentally' bit on their tongues and for Robin's cape to wrap around his head. "¡Ay! Nuestras lenguas! (Ow! Our tongues!)"
"Stupid, flirting midgets. Stupid bird brain." Jinx mumbled under her breath as she tried to fight back the blush creeping on her face. "Anyways, show them your necklaces. I'm too angry for an explanation." She said as she waved them off. Jinx took a seat beside the two, exhausted from hiding the pain of her wound, which was now throbbing. She bit her lip to hold back the pained groan. The two boys stuck out their (injured) tongues and shrugged. Robin undid his cape from his head.
"I could have suffocated, you know!" But Robin was ignored. The two twins lifted up a chain that hid under their shirts with different pendants: one plus sign and one minus sign.
Robin and Red Arrow's eyes widened. They were both shocked, speechless, and relieved.
"M-Mas? M-Menos?" Red Arrow stuttered out as he stared at the two twins. The twins smiled, their tongues recovered. They pressed the middle of the pendants, which started to glow. Once the glow died down, their sitting on the couch, were not the red and blue twins. There, sat two twins in white, black, and red spandex. One had a plus sign on his chest, while the other had a minus sign. They both wore yellow goggles, their head was covered with a white and black spandex with a red strand sticking up.
"Hola señor Robin, señor Speedy. Es bueno verte de nuevo. (Hello Mr. Robin, Mr. Speedy. It's good to see you again.)" they said in unison as they gave them a bright smile.
R&R~!
~Superbluestar428