Chapter 7:

UPDATED A/N: I know, I know, I suck. I really wanted to post a new chapter but I'm stupid. When I posted that timeline, my sense of time was off. I had no idea it was New Years Eve. So obviously, New Years and the weekend didn't give me any time to really finish writing. But here it is! And I hope it's worth the wait!

UPDATE 6/29/18: I forgot to include a small part in the story where Jinx is formally introduced to the Team. I had no place to put it, seeing as the current chapter is waaaay ahead of introductions at this point. So I included it in here. It's only a small part, like a flashback. You'll know it when you see it.

I want to, once again, give my thanks to all who's stayed with this story and has continuously given me encouragement and support! All my reviewers always brighten my day and make me want to not give up on this story! I've probably bored many people to tears with this sappy A/N, so I'll end it here!

Enjoy~!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN YOUNG JUSTICE OR TEEN TITANS!

Bruce had always pinned himself as being very perceptive. Whether it be during a League mission or a corporation meeting, his intuition is never really wrong. He can pick out suspicious activity with just a feeling- who cares about solid proof? His intuition has saved his life countless of times that any physical evidence ever could.

Besides, he wasn't stupid- it was obvious that there was something preoccupying the Boy Wonder's mind. It was easy to sense the slight change in the teen's routine. He's been visiting Mt. Justice more often than usual, retiring to his room immediately after school and only comes out for dinner before locking himself away again, and not to mention the midnight training sessions when he believes everyone's asleep.

There was something on the boy's mind, and Bruce wanted to get to the bottom of it. It hasn't been that long since they've began living like a family again- a good two years to be exact. Though he would never admit it, he regrets that fight four years before that nearly made him lose his adopted son forever. He was stubborn- they both were- but he shouldn't have let that get in the way of his relationship with Dick.

And so, with those thoughts in mind, he decided it was time to reach out to his adopted son. The two were currently having dinner, Alfred had prepared them a delicious meal of pot roast. The boy in question was lost in thought as he pushed around the vegetables on his plate. "Dick, is there something wrong?" The boy perks up at the sound of his name, looking up at his adopted father.

"No, no. Everything's fine..." Dick mumbles, straightening up in his seat slightly. He stops playing around with his food, and, instead, punctures his fork through a piece of carrot before shoving it in his mouth. "Mmmm... As usual nothing can beat Alfred's home-cooked meals." It sounded more forced than sincere.

Bruce's eyes narrow, trying to read Dick's body language. He taught him too well- if he were an average civilian, he wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with the boy. But Bruce knew better. Dick was too tense, too quiet. The boy's hands twitched slightly, and the boy was fidgeting in his seat.

He was hiding something from him.

"Are you sure there's nothing-"

"Dinner was great! Give Alfred my thanks! I have a lot of studying to do, so I'll be in my room." Polishing off the remaining scraps on his plate, Dick's chair scraped the floor as the boy stood up. He wiped his mouth on the napkin. Without waiting for a reply, Dick dashed out of the room and up the stairs a little too quickly.

Bruce heard the distinct sound of a door slamming shut, his eyes still narrowed at where the boy used to be sitting. There's something Dick wasn't telling him, and he needed to find out what. He finishes his meal in silence before getting up to retire to his own room, a plan transpiring in his mind.

Maybe it's about time to schedule a surprise visit to Mt. Justice.

Three weeks went by since Jinx and the twins arrived at Mount Justice. Jinx was bedridden for most of them, sore from her healing wound shot. The twins were able to get rid of their concussions with their speed-increased healing in under a week.

The Team had also slowly grown used to the new visitors, Kid Flash and Robin especially. Even Red Arrow had decided to drop by now and then to visit the twins. Although, he can tell that the cautious wariness from Jinx's first introduction still weighs heavily on the Team's minds.

"So, guys, this is Jinx," Robin says extending a hand to the pink haired girl in bed. He scratches his head before softly adding, "...my old teammate."

Jinx gives them a weak wave and an awkward smile. "Sorry I didn't get the chance to introduce myself earlier. What with almost dying and all," she jokes, trying to lighten up the mood.

The green girl clasps her hands together enthusiastically before taking hold of her own. "I'm Miss Martian, but you can just call me M'gann." She shakes her hands vigorously. Jinx tries not to wince at the pain the movement is causing her.

"I'm gonna guess and say that, and excuse me for being rude, that's actually your natural skin color."

"Oh, yes! I'm actually from Mars. Martian Manhunter is my uncle."

Jinx snorts. "I see the resemblance." She pauses before adding, "No offense, I didn't mean that in a bad way..."

M'gann's smile never falters. "No, no, it is an honor to be compared to my Uncle J'onn!" She waves a hand over to the muscular young man beside her. "This is Superboy, but he goes by Connor outside of missions." Jinx eyes the looming figure.

"Um, nice to meet you, Connor?"

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't say it's such a joy to meet you." Connor retorts coldly before M'gann elbows him in the arm. "Ow...But I guess, since you're here, welcome..." He mumbles as he leans against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Jinx rolls her eyes, but bites back any snide remarks. She realizes that's probably the best she's gonna get from him.

The dark-skinned young man walks to her side and extends his hand out to her. "I'm Aqualad."

Jinx's eyes widen. "Oh, you're the new Aqualad. Garth mentioned something about that after the Titans disbanded. Something about being called 'Tempest' or whatever."

"You know Garth?"

"Oh yeah, he was the pretty boy every girl was crushing on in this narcissist's old team in New York." She said, gesturing to Red Arrow, who was casually leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and a permanent scowl etched on his faces. "Though, we weren't that close. But, not gonna lie, that face of his was not that bad to look at."

"I wondered what Garth was doing in those years he left Atlantis to 'discover himself'. Haven't seen him since."

"He was also supposed to meet up with us, but I don't know what happened to him." Jinx closes her eyes as the possibilities flash through her mind. She feels obliged to apologize. "I'm sorry."

Kaldur's eyes darken with worry. "It is not you who should be apologizing. It is that man who is hunting you down."

Jinx turns away. "He's taking the Titans because he wants to get his hands on me."

"That still doesn't make it your fault," he gives me a reassuring smile. "If it's less confusing for you, my friends call me Kaldur."

Jinx cocks an eyebrow at him. "So we're friends now?"

"I would hope that's where we stand." Kaldur gives her a gentle, welcoming smile. She couldn't help but return it with a smile of her own.

"Look I don't trust you," Artemis begins, before gesturing a thumb over at Robin. "But I trust him, so I can at least try to be civilize."

"Wow, down to the point. I can respect honesty." Jinx scowls at the blond archer, giving her a vicious glare. "Way to make me sound like an untamed animal though. And just so you know, the feeling is mutual."

Despite such a rough introduction, Kid Flash couldn't help the excitement bubbling inside his chest to see Jinx interacting with the Team.

He zips through the Zeta-Tube and immediately dashed to Jinx's room. He hums a tune from a song he heard earlier on the radio. He could not remember the title only that it reminded him of a warm happiness. He had been visiting daily for as much as he could. He thanked whatever God was listening that Jinx had come during the summer. Otherwise, it would have been a struggle to balance going to see Jinx and going to school.

At first, she was deeply irritated. He does admit, their "break-up" wasn't exactly a good break-up. What with him basically disappearing from her life. 'No, no. That's not right. I did leave her a message before she left.' He thought to himself, turning right and then a left.

Not that that makes the break-up any better. Because, seriously, who wants to get dumped on phone? Especially after a two-year serious relationship. It wasn't even supposed to be a break-up in the first place...He just told her he couldn't see her for a long while. He had always thought of her. What she was thinking about? What she was doodling in those sketchbooks of hers? Was she eating properly? He used to write her letters every single day since he left. Yet every time he would stand in front of the post office, sometimes before school and after training, letter in hand, and he would always make up some excuse to not send them and, instead, keep them. The box filled with unsent letters under his bed was proof of this cowardice. There were at least 800 unsent letters in that box now- one for each day he went without seeing her.

Because he knew. He knew once they were sent, he would be consumed with the agony of waiting for a reply. Overcome with desperation of wanting to see her again, to hold her in his arms once more.

And he knew he would run away from the Team to do just that.

He wouldn't care if it was called a betrayal or went against conduct. He would run through cities, states, oceans just to see her. He wouldn't stop until he did. Until she was in front of him, her bubble-gum pink hair in a ponytail and a sketchbook in hand. She would scowl at his abrupt appearance and scold him for breaking into her apartment. Then she would wrap her arms around his neck and welcome him back home before she leans in for a chaste kiss...

He was beginning to daydream. The point is she was getting used to him again. Even became more comfortable with him and softened up to him. She no longer looked at him with a distasteful glare but with a soften gaze. She was slowly forgiving him, but he could still feel the distance between them. She had put him in arms length of herself once again. He was so close and yet still so far.

He twists the knob of her door, wanting to see her small smile grace her lips. "Good morning, Jinx-" he pauses in the doorway, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. The bed was empty and neatly made, the room devoid of the pink-haired sorceress.

'She's gone. She escaped again-!' Without a second thought, he dashed out of the room and ran. His heart raced a hundred miles a minute, so fast that he was afraid he might burst from a heart attack. All he could think of was Jinx, wounded and dizzy, running away again. Running far, far away from Mount Justice. Away from him.

From the entrance of living room, he could see Robin casually lounging on one of the couches along with the twins who were currently using the TV to play video games. Kid Flash skidded to a halt. The words couldn't leave his mouth fast enough. "Rob, Jinx, she-"

"I what, Kid?"

Jinx was enjoying the temporary peace that settled on her. This was the first time in three weeks that she didn't eat breakfast in that stuffy room, and she was so grateful to be able to walk around on her own without everyone treating her like she'd break at the touch of anything she came in contact with. She was just beginning to relax in her seat and sneak in a new sketch in her newly-purchased sketchbook while finishing her oatmeal when Kid Flash burst into the room in a panic, shouting for Robin and stammering her name. She pauses in mid-sketch and tilted her head curiously. 'What has gotten him so worked up so early in the morning?' She thought as she asks, "I what, Kid?"

Kid blinks and turned his attention to her, the panic in his face immediately disappeared and was replaced with evident relief. In an instant, he was at her side in the seat beside hers as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. "Is something wrong? Did you skip breakfast?" She asks him in a hushed voice. He removes his head from her shoulder and stares at her. He says nothing, which worries her. 'Did something happen? Did he catch the flu?' Her hand makes its way to his forehead, feeling for his temperature. "You look pale, Kid. Are you not feeling well?"

After a beat, he answers. "No, I'm fine." He takes the hand that's on his forehead and runs his thumb over the back of her hand, almost as if reassuring himself that she's actually here, and he's not daydreaming again. "I just scared myself for a minute." He mumbles to himself, staring at her hand.

Jinx, instead of slapping away his hand (which she considered doing but thought against), let him hold onto her hand since it brought her a strange sense of comfort. She was slightly unconvinced that he was okay but chose not to question him any further. If he wanted to tell her, he would. That's just the kind of person he was. She glanced down at her sketchbook before deciding to give up and finish breakfast instead. "Did you eat breakfast, Kid? Knowing you, you probably consumed you're entire amount of calories for the week already." She joked, taking a spoon full of her oatmeal and eating it.

"Well, at my house, you get a full-course meal for breakfast. Gotta keep up with this fast metabolism of mine after all." His face was returning back to its original color, but he still looked at her with this emotion she could not distinguish- it was almost as if she would fade out of existence at any moment if he did not keep on eye on her.

"If it's not skipping meals, what has you dashing into the room in such a panic?" Jinx asks. He looks her in the eye, the sternness of his eyes gave her a chill up her spine.

Kid opens his mouth only to close it. He shakes his head slowly, giving her a reassuring smile. "It's nothing, really. I just... Did something stupid that's all..."

Jinx eyes him once more before shrugging. "Wouldn't be the first time..." She gives him a teasing look before taking a bite of her strawberry, relinquishing in the familiar warmth from their laced fingers.

A groan of disgust is heard from the couch where Robin sat, watching the two. "Can't you two hold hands and be lovey-dovey somewhere else? The single people in the room are trying to wallow their loneliness in videogames." Jinx rolls her eyes, taking a sip of her water.

Mas scowls at the Jinx and Kid's intertwined hands. "No casualmente tocar, señorita Jinx! (Don't casually touch, Miss Jinx!)"

Menos adds, "Si no estuviera tan ocupado tratando de vencer, señor Robin, yo te habría dejado en el medio del océano por ahora. (If I wasn't so busy trying to beat, Mister Robin, I would have left you in the middle of the ocean by now.)"

"You know, I am terrible at Spanish." Kid states with a pointed look. "Out of all the languages I could learn in under a millisecond, my brain refuses to remember Spanish."

"Mas doesn't like you holding my hand, while Menos threatened to throw you in the middle of the ocean." Jinx explains. Kid snorts, giving her hand a small squeeze. Jinx pretends to not notice, but the slight blush on her face says otherwise.

Kid takes note the absence of his other teammates. "Hey, Rob. Where's the Team?"

Without removing his eyes from the TV screen, Robin answers, "Artemis is not here yet. Kaldur went to swim laps at the pool. While M'gann and Connor... Well, I actually have no idea where they went." In a blur, Kid gets a glass of orange juice for himself and steals a strawberry from Jinx's bowl.

"Probably making out in a room somewhere..." Jinx adds, making Kid choke on his orange juice. He coughed erratically, trying to clear his esophagus of the orange juice.

"W-w-what makes you say that?" Kid stutters out with wide eyes. It wasn't a secret that Kid had a big crush on her ever since he first laid eyes on her. Then again, ever since Jinx has come back, it was as if no other girl existed. All the emotions from two years had been frozen during their separation. At the sight of Jinx, they all melted and came flooding back to him like a punch to the gut.

Now that he thinks about it, his crush on M'gann might have been him just fixating on trying to forget about Jinx and go back to his player ways.

Jinx raises an eyebrow. "I mean, they're trying very hard not to be intimate in front of everyone, but they're close and keep trying to find an excuse to hold hands and kiss... It's obvious that M'gann and Connor are dating."

As if hearing the names being called upon, M'gann and Connor walk through the doors. There's a little distance from each other, but to Jinx the attraction was quite obvious. Or maybe that's just her perceptive intuition... M'gann blushes as Connor stammers out excuses. Jinx tilts her head to the side, taking in their embarrassed statures. Realization dawns her. "Wait, was it supposed to be a secret?"

Robin snickers from the couch. "They wanted it to be, but, as Jinx said, it was already quite obvious."

Mas and Menos let out their own snickers. "Oooh, drama!"

M'gann avoids eye-contact. "W-was it really that obvious?"

Jinx peaks over her shoulder at M'gann. "Well, if it wasn't obvious before it is now since you indirectly acknowledged that you were dating." M'gann stares at Jinx in partial confusion before her face becomes all red.

"I-I'm so sorry for not outright telling anyone!" She stammers out, her head bowed in shame. Jinx eyes her in confusion.

"What? Is there some rule that says it's forbidden to date a team-member or something?" Jinx leans her chin onto her free hand, giving the couple a look. "I mean, seriously, how old are you? Still need your guardian's permission?"

Menos claps his hands in excitement. "Un romance prohibido? (A forbidden romance?)"

Mas fans himself. "Un desarrollo escandaloso! ¿Cuánto quieres apostar a que podría haber otra mujer involucrada? (A scandalous development! How much do you want to bet that there might be another woman involved?)"

Menos opens his mouth to answer until he notices Jinx glaring at the two and immediately zips his lips in silence. "Go back to playing your video-games, and stop making this out to be your own personal TV drama." She scolds them.

Connor scoffs, and Jinx shifts her attention back to the couple. "I'm pretty sure our guardians have much more important things to worry about." He states with a scowl.

"Oh, god. I could feel the thick cloud of parental issues." Jinx comments, grasping the air to prove her point. "... So? What was the point in hiding your relationship?"

M'gann glances at Kid then looks back at Jinx. "Well..." Jinx narrows her eyes at that.

Connor rubs the back of his neck. "We just... Didn't want people to think that it would distract us from our job."

"It's a relationship not a child. Dating is a normal teenage thing to do. In fact, it would be weird if none of you guys began in-team dating. I mean, all of you aren't unattractive. Don't let people tell you otherwise; you aren't getting any younger." Jinx tells them, continuing to eat her breakfast.

"You sound like an old lady reminiscing," Kid teases before eyeing her sketchbook. "What were you drawing?" Before she can even attempt to grab the sketchbook, it's in Kid's hands, flipping through the pages.

A wave of nostalgia hit him as he flips through the pages. Her drawings were just as they were before- if not, even better. There were millions of sketches and doodles filling each page, not one spot left empty. A loving mother cradling her baby, a lone teacup on a diner table, a realistic unicorn grazing in a meadow, a red rose in full bloom...

He gets to the final drawn page and nearly drops the sketchbook in shock. A tiny gasp escapes his lips. Jinx's eyes widen, understanding what he was seeing and takes his momentary shock as a chance to steal the sketchbook out of his hands. She avoids eye-contact with Kid as she finishes her oatmeal.

Kid Flash frowns. "Jinx-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Kid." She ignores his prodding eyes, biting into another strawberry.

He lets out a sigh. "Ignoring the problem won't solve it."

She grabs her empty bowl and takes it to the sink. "Well, you know me. Always running away from her problems..." Jinx turns on the sink and begins to wash the bowl. He knows he should try to console her, try to tell her otherwise, but the words won't come out. Maybe it's because he'd feel like a hypocrite if he were to advice her with words he himself should be following...

Kid looks back at the sketchbook, still open to its last page. A lone eye stares back at him behind a black and bronze mask with a haunting look on his face. The picture sends a shiver down his spine. Even a drawing of Slade can make him feel utter despair and fear.

He opens his mouth to question Jinx more when a robotic voice echoes in the cave.

"Batman. 02."

She couldn't remember the last time she has felt this way. How long has it been? Five years? Four? Three? Her villain years seemed as though they were light years away when, in actuality, it was only a few years before.

But that was beside the point. As of right now, she was feeling extremely uncomfortable and irritable. Even the twins seemed to be stunned to silence. The two had resorted to cowering behind Spee- er- Red Arrow (she's still getting used to the name change) for protection. Being stared down by the eyes of authority tends to awaken those feelings. Despite constantly defying the two big league heroes and putting up a tough front, they always managed to make her feel guilty.

Oh yes, in all her years of being evil, Jinx didn't miss this feeling. She definitely hated the way they made her feel like a child getting scolded for stealing a cookie before eating dinner. Jinx didn't like guilt. She didn't like that she was feeling guilty in the first place. She didn't want to give in to their guilt trips. That's how heroes got inside your head. They make you believe that everything you do is wrong, and that you have a chance to change that. She spent years avoiding that ridiculous idea, and yet, embarrassingly enough, she was sweet-talked into changing her views because of a few roses and a charismatic speedster.

Anyways, they had all moved to the Mission Room. She thanked whatever god that was watching that it was only Batman and the Flash instead of the entire Justice League. All those calculating eyes were trained solely on her would have made her even more remarkably irritable.

Tired of this tense silence, Jinx snapped. "Are you just going to stare at me or is someone going to finally open up your mouth?" She stated with a glare. A soft chuckle resounded, and she glanced in its direction. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when she saw the familiar adult, red speedster, who gave her a small smile in acknowledgment.

"Jinx, bad-luck sorceress, leader of the Hive-Five-"

"Ex-leader. Remember, Batsy? I'm a Titan." She slumped forward a bit. "Or at least I used to be. I'm retired now—decided it was time to be a normal college civilian."

Batman gave her a look. "And how did you manage that?" Jinx gave him a defiant look.

"Well, if you must know, Cyborg helped me get the papers." Batman continued to stare at her, testing her patience. Jinx gave a loud, exasperated sigh, throwing her hands up in annoyance. "It was completely legal, I swear! I've been crime-free for the past three years!" She flutters her eyelashes at him innocently. "You haven't seen this pretty face on an updated WANTED poster, have you? I thought I won you over after that recon mission-"

"-that shouldn't be relayed in front of public attention." Batman cuts her off.

"I thought that meant with people outside of the mask system." Jinx states, tapping the side of her eyes to prove her point.

"Not all heroes wear mask." Robin points out. "You don't, for example."

"Some people didn't have a civilian identity they need to protect." Jinx answers as she tugs on her pink hair.

"Then, going back to the news of you becoming a civilian, may I ask how you came to hide..." Batman doesn't finish as he gestures over to her appearance.

Jinx gives Batman a shocked look. "The fact that you couldn't say something like 'unusual eye, skin, and hair color' offends me. You just gestured to all of me!"

"The words to explain your... Unique appearance just slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind, my ass!" Jinx had to restrain herself from doing any more unlady-like gestures.

A flash of red zips to Batman's side and puts a hand on his shoulders. "Now, now, Bats. We didn't come here to tease the youngins." Flash winks at Jinx. "He's always been the type to bully those he likes."

"I'm unsure of whether I should say 'aw' or 'ew' in this situation." Jinx says, no longer feeling as tense a before. She offers Flash a brief smile. "Nice to see you again, B- I mean, Flash." Thankfully, no one comments on her almost slip-up.

Flash returns her smile with one of his own. "You too, cupcake. It's been two years now? Not even a birthday card from you."

"Sorry for the radio silence. I've been trying to become a normal civilian." She twirls a strand of her pink hair on her finger to keep her preoccupied. "I'm an art major at Jump City Community now. Or- er- was. I'm gonna be left back for this unexpected, long absence."

"After whatever it is that is going on, I'm sure I can pull some strings for you." Flash tells her, giving her another wink.

"Speaking of, I am very curious as to what exactly is going on." Batman says, eyeing the Boy Wonder, who whistles innocently. "I don't remember any reports about a little visit from your ex-teammates. Care to explain, Robin?" Robin winces at his pointed question.

Jinx also turns her attention to the Boy Wonder. "You didn't tell him? I would have thought this new job of yours required more trust in superiors."

"This is a predicament that goes beyond the League's control." Robin frowns in disdain. "It's not something I wanted the League to take over."

"Robin, don't think I haven't noticed your odd behavior. That's why I came here today," Batman glanced over at Jinx. "And I was right to be suspicious. My intuition was correct."

Red Arrow crosses his arms over his chest, glaring at the caped-crusader. "Robin has every right to keep this to himself. This doesn't involve you."

"Not helping, Red." Kid Flash states, nudging the young man in the arm with his elbow. Red Arrow glares at the yellow-red-clad speedster, who ignore him and tilts his head over to Robin. "Guess, the cat's out of the bag. Might as well tell him, Rob." Kid Flash says, leaning against Robin's shoulder. Robin's eyes narrow as he tightens his lips, debating on whether he should tell him or not.

"I don't mind explaining," Jinx cuts in.

"But-"

"Like Flash-boy said, the cat's already out of the bag. I'd rather not be put in Batsy's secret torture chamber for answers. You've already kept me prisoner here for three weeks, and we haven't even touched on the problem." Jinx explains. She cracks her knuckles obnoxiously. "Time to get serious. We've been stalling for long enough."

Robin sighs in defeat. "Go ahead."

Jinx lets her face fall flat, and she straightened up. "It began when our fellow Titan, Jericho, went missing a month ago..."

"Why are we the only ones being left out of the meeting?" Artemis stated irritably. She had been pacing the room, wondering what on earth this big secret could be. Questioning why their follow teammates would not enlighten them on this particular subject. They were supposed to trust each other... Right?

"It's a private matter, and we should respect Robin's request." Kaldur says, although Artemis could tell that he was just as curious as she was about this whole ordeal.

Artemis scowls. "I don't trust that pink-haired chick. She's hiding something that she doesn't want us finding out about."

"Jinx isn't so bad. Sure, a bit on the sarcastic side, but she's actually really nice." M'gann defends the pink-haired girl.

Artemis stops her pacing and glares at M'gann. "What if that's what she wants you to think? I can't help but shake the feeling that I've seen her from somewhere, and I don't think that's a good thing..." But where? She can't recall ever meeting the pink-haired girl. And yet something is tickling her memory, but she can't seem to take hold of the answer.

"Anyways, I agree with Artemis. I don't think it's right for someone to keep secrets among a team." Connor points out, crossing his arms over his chest, hoping to somehow catch some of the conversation inside the mission's room. Unfortunately, super-hearing proof barriers surrounding the room prevent such a thing from happening.

M'gann sighed, leaning her cheek against her palm. "He probably doesn't want us to get involved. He's just trying to protect us-"

"Don't you think we can choose whether or not we need protecting?" Artemis snaps, making M'gann flinch slightly. Connor's eyes narrow, but he doesn't say anything and instead let's Artemis continue. "He doesn't get to decide for us. A team doesn't work that way. Besides, how can he protect us if he won't even tell us what we need protection from?"

M'gann pursed her lips in thought. "I don't think it's a what, rather a who." She runs a hand through her red hair. "I distinctly remember hearing Robin mentioning a name... Slade. I've never heard of a villain that goes by that name. It seemed more like a taboo subject the way they spoke about him."

Artemis smirks as she heads towards a computer monitor. "Well, then, I think it's time for us to do some research."

For some odd reason, I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter. It was like my brain shut down and would not produce any words. I have been wracking my brain for sentences and nothing happened for a while. I had no idea why, so that's why this is so late...

Another present as a sorry for this being very, very late! A preview for the next chapter! Note that I will not post a preview at the end of each chapter. Sometimes, it'll be posted at the end of a chapter, but I'm thinking of mostly posting them on my profile, so keep updated on that!

PREVIEW:

"I have to go with them!" Jinx exclaims, already tying her hair up in a ponytail. "Who better to defeat them than the person who created their attack formations in the first place?" She tugs on her platform boots as Batman continues to stare her down.

"Let me remind you that you are under observation." His voice is stern, and Jinx tries not to be swayed by how shaky her legs are becoming. Batman seems to always strike fear into her, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. "We also have to take into account that you are likely the sole objective of those hoodlums."

Jinx smirks. "Batsy, is that worry I hear?"

"I have calculated the entire situation and believe it's best to not hand over to the villains the prize on a silver platter without anything in return."

Jinx scowls, narrowing her eyes in a vicious glare. "Nice to know that I'm just a pawn in your hero game."

So yeah, read and review!

~Superbluestar428