Under the Rose

Chapter 7

"You do realize that today marks the end of the beginning of October."

The phrasing of Chief McMillan's statement confused Flash, but he wisely kept silent, recognizing a general disdain and annoyance in the tone. "Yes Sir," he murmured.

"It's been a few days since that bank fiasco that I am STILL trying to iron out with the bank's manager." Flash winced. Chief boiled. "The plan was simple—find Jinx, arrest, the end. And with her a sitting duck in front of you, you still have let her escape."

"Sir, she hit me with a crowbar."

"Quiet." The Chief gave him a withering glance. " If the Teen Titans were there, she would have been caught. But I suppose you are what we have."

Flash became indignant, and stood from his chair, standing a mere inch shorter than McMillan. "Sir, I am an honorary Titan, and I am perfectly capable of protecting this city when the Titans are called elsewhere. Your anger is misplaced and uncalled for."

Flash eased himself towards the door in anticipation of the fact that, despite the bravery behind his straight reply, Chief McMillan was kind of scary at his angriest. Stubborn red-headedness gets you in worlds of trouble, now he's gonna blow.

But McMillan paused, considered his words, and sat himself down with a heavy sigh. "You're right," he finally admitted. "There's been a lot of pressure here, and only more is added with recent developments—the Hive Five has escaped prison once again. We think they're planning to strike soon."

Flash nodded. "If we capture Jinx, she may have information. The bank robbery was early at night and clumsily executed, sir," Flash pointed out. "Sooner or later she's going to mess up." These facts had Kid Flash hoping his hunch—that the Jinx who robbed the bank was not, in fact, the true Jinx—was correct, although the lack of concrete reasoning was cause enough to keep his idea to himself for now. McMillan did not operate on intuition, superhero or no. "If you'll excuse me, sir—I'm late for my class..."

The Chief dismissed him with a wave, and mere second later Flash was in an out of a nearby alleyway and back into street clothes, another JCU student on his way towards the quad.

He was going to find Jinx, and soon. Flash bristled at Chief's flippant remarks. Implying that an original Titan would be doing a better job may have been the product of excessive frustration, but now Flash had his pride on the line. Fake or not, this Jinx he was looking for was going to be uncovered, and the Hive Five boys too. He had been duped long enough.

--

Jinx flopped her book bag onto the table, disrupting the silence of the library as she took a place among Elisa, Miranda, and other students sharing the table.

"Hi Rose!" Elisa gave her a cheerful smile. "Working on that English paper?"

Jinx groaned. "Worse—chemistry. Even though I just had that stupid class, I feel like if I don't study now I might lose all of it. We have a big lab tomorrow...Wally's smart, but I still need to know it."

Miranda giggled quietly. "You little goody two-shoes."

Jinx blinked at that for a moment and smiled. "Whatever."

The librarian gave the whispering table a nasty glare, and Jinx sat quickly between Miranda and a girl named Daphne who she knew from her drawing class. She opened her notebook, flipping to the day's notes on hydrogen bonding. She found instead a comical drawing of an angry stick figure, wearing glasses and shouting at an equally shabby-drawn figure, this one with hair inked in by a red pen. The caption: 'Why Rose and Wally shouldn't be lab partners'. Jinx scoffed, secretly very amused.

Miranda eyed her friend and, seeing the cartoon, let out some bubbly giggles. "You two are such a pair."

Jinx sighed and bent over to grab her lab notebook. "Just between you and me..." she hesitated and an eager Miranda leaned in much closer, "I hate chemistry class."

Miranda, who was waiting for a big admission, pouted at Jinx's cheshire grin. "You're cruel and secretive."

She had no idea. "Not so goody after all, eh?" Jinx chuckled. "I'm not admitting anything about Wally West to you, Mirry."

Daphne, who had been eavesdropping, let out a squeal that startled half the JCU students out of their own textbooks. "Wally West?!"

Elisa leaned over. "Is this about how they should totally date? Rose, don't give me that look, you told me about the ice cream date and hearts were oozing out your ears..."

Jinx flopped her head onto the table and groaned.

Daphne rolled her eyes. "What are we, high schoolers? He's the Pizza Place guy, right? Way cute. Me and Sara eat there just to look at him and we're not ashamed. But then he had to get fired...his replacement is not nearly as charming--"

"Face it, Rose," Miranda interrupted, gasping between laughs, "you are madly in love with Wally West."

The entire table started giggling like mad. Jinx, blushing against the cool table surface, was swiftly reminded of why she was happy to have left school early for her years of crime. "Shut up, all of you."

Miranda poked her arm. "We're not being mean, Rosey, we just think it's really adorable. It was obvious from like, Day One." She smiled amiably.

Jinx shook her head at them all, embarrassed by the admission. Girls. What could you do with them?

You've gone impossibly soft.

It was true-- and she was so happy to be moving on, but Jinx wasn't sure if this was a good or bad thing. In general, she was holding back some sarcasm and her more acerbic comebacks in favor of a shy smile (except around Wally, who just asked for it most days). After Miranda's appellation of "goody two-shoes", she was sure that nobody would be confusing Rose Thompson for super-villain Jinx anytime soon. Jinx was the one who spread rumors about the girls at Hive who bothered her. She was the one who nobody wanted to tease.

And Rose was the one with a table of comical friends.

But if they knew her-- really her-- would they still be around?

Yeesh. Was this what all heroes had to go through? Two different identities for a lifetime? No wonder Robin was so uptight. Jinx was fine about putting her criminal past to rest, but it was the reconciliation of personality that she lacked now.

That and a cream soda.

Jinx giggled at the very college-girl tone of the thought. All of the smiley faces around her were rubbing off. But then again, she never made much sense after a chemistry class-- confusing subject, distracting partner. Not a good combination.

Jinx faked a glare at Miranda and headed for the drink machine.

--

She looked kind of flushed, like she'd been laughing with her friends. Well...Wally knew for sure they'd been up to something jolly, because the entire library could hear them.

And boy, that librarian wasn't even the slightest bit relieved that it wasn't him this time. She was a tough one. Like...Raven 2.0 or something.

Wally leaned against the drink machine and flashed her a trademark grin. "Hello Sunshine," he said pleasantly, finishing the last gulp of his own drink.

The flush that Wally decided suited Rose was lightly amplified, and then vanished altogether. Her face wrinkled and she groaned. "Speak of the devil..."

Flash tweaked her nose and dodged the hand that came up to slap him. "A tableful of girls was possibly talking about me? I'm flattered."

She stuck out her tongue. "No, you're annoying."

The Kid Flash put on a sad face, bending slightly to give her the full effect of the big, shiny eyes. He did, after all, have it down to an art by this point.

But Rose Thompson was still a surprise to him, and she just reached into her pocket for some spare change.

"I bet you have some kind of superpower," Wally joked.

Rose fumbled her coins and they clattered onto the tile of the snack area. "Um...why?" She knelt to pick up a quarter by her foot. Wally leaned down to help.

"Because, you're seemingly impervious to my patented pouty face." Wally held out the dimes that had rolled behind a nearby chair. "Or maybe that's because you aren't actually looking at me..." He grabbed her hand and she met his gaze. "Hey. What's up?" He placed her dropped money into her open palm and helped her stand again.

Rose sighed. "Chemistry is so confusing." She pressed the button for the cream soda.

"Speaking of-- did you get my doodle masterpiece?" Wally snatched the soda from the slot below and opened it for her.

Rose rolled her eyes playfully. "You mean the chicken scratch on my otherwise neatly-taken notes?" She held out a hand for the soda. Wally withheld the desired item.

"That thing's gonna be worth more than two--no, three!-- Picassos. Plus a Monet." He took a generous sip of her drink. "Thanks, gotta keep my energy up."

"You already have a soda!"

Wally crumpled his empty can and held it out. "Correction: Had."

Jinx took another swipe at him. "Don't make me get out the shoe. Studying makes me more prone to angry outbursts."

Wally laughed at her face (she's kind of great when she's angry) and handed the soda back. "It's not so hard, I can help you. We've always gotten high lab marks."

Rose smiled. "Yeah, thanks to you, mainly," she conceded.

Wally beamed. "I don't get called smart all the time, you know. I'm gonna treasure that compliment."

"It's one of the few you'll get from me," she taunted.

"Don't rain on my parade, Rosey."

"That nickname will never stick."

Wally grinned at her. "I kind of agree. Besides, your real name is too pretty anyways, Rose." Yes! A blush!

But she covered it with another typical eye roll and scoff. "Too corny. I gotta go review some more, Wally. See you around. Insufferable flirt," she grumbled... and with that she made her way back over to the table.

Her statements had all come out in one nervous tangle of a sentence. Wally's smile widened immensely. He thought back to his irritation that morning, courtesy of Chief McMillan. And then he thought about doodling in chemistry, Rose having to cover up laughs in spite of herself. The weak glares giving way to an awesome smile.

So far, a really good day.

He tossed his crumpled soda can and made his way back to his own study area, where Andrew and some guys from his band were trying (and failing) to quietly have a book-stacking contest.

Sooner or later that librarian was going to explode.

--

Jinx felt like she needed to be staggering back into the dorm room, but in reality the caffeine from the Mountain Dew (following after her cream soda) had left her feeling not overly energetic, but also not quite ready to call it a night, despite the darkening sky. She dropped off her stuff quietly, trying not to disturb the sleeping Elisa, and made her way to the bathroom.

The only certain thing was that Jinx was sick of studying, maybe even for good.

It's time to quit and become a rogue artist. College? Whatever.

The thought was sounding really nice to Jinx at this point. But the idea of losing an art teacher as brilliant as Miss Solaro, not to mention friends like Mirry and Wally, seemed criminal. And she was pretty much done with that one.

Plus, common sense said that nobody got anywhere far without education. Jinx was nothing if not sensible.

The mirror in the hall bathroom was smudged slightly as she busied herself brushing her teeth. Jinx pulled back some annoying stray bangs with one hand as she spat in the sink. The lingering taste of soda in her mouth was banished.

A flash of pink in the mirror caught her eye, and Jinx regarded her hair more closely. The empty bathroom-- courtesy of one of the bigger frat houses hosting a party-- allowed her chance for a thorough inspection of the roots.

The girls of the hall were mostly out on the town. Elisa was in the dorm room, resting up for a big game, and Miranda down the hall was most likely doing the same (not that they needed the rest; Jinx had been to countless games and the Jackals were on a serious winning streak. No player could touch Ellie's spike. It seemed like they all dove the wrong way each time.).

Jinx was bored.

But now, regarding her growing locks, she had a serious purpose.

Bright pink was not an inconspicuous root color next to the ebony dye. Midnight Marvel was needed once more, and Jinx was fresh out after the many painstaking touch-ups required to conceal her flamboyant tresses.

She checked her watch. The drugstore would still be open. And besides, Jinx grinned, she always enjoyed a good jog.

After changing clothes, leaving a note for Ellie, and snatching up her mp3, Jinx was out the door, jogging in the cool October evening. It felt refreshing after a hard day of work, and the caffeine would be spent by the time she returned. And besides, jogging alone at night was hardly dangerous for someone like her.

--

The store was fairly empty when Jinx entered, slowing at the door and taking a deep breath. She stretched her arms, ignoring the curious look from the cash register, and made her way to the hair section.

Jogging was something that Jinx truly enjoyed. Hive had imposed that habit on everyone, clamoring for peak health conditions, but even after leaving the Academy Jinx did not want to shake the habit, even when the boys grew lazy. It was time to think. It was her way of calming down. And it was satisfying to know that she could beat pretty much anyone in a foot race.

A lone container of her color was nestled into the back of the shelving, and Jinx thanked some lucky stars. Not that any of them were hers. But maybe she was getting a hand from someone else's these days. It wasn't like she'd been using her powers anyways.

Jinx's eyes swept the store. No security cameras, just the one guy working the register, high shelving, low-quality sensors at the door.

Hair dye ran a little on the expensive side, in Jinx's opinion. Her fingers itched to release some of that pent-up pink energy.

Just when she was about to really consider the decision, the bell on the door rang, and Elisa walked into the store and made her way straight to the back.

Jinx did a double-take. Elisa was supposed to be asleep...she looked again at the girl making her way through the store.

It was a redhead with glasses and a small mouth. Nothing like Elisa. Jinx laughed at herself. Jogging at 9:00 PM? She was going mental. Seeing things.

And not only that, but she had considered a petty theft for more than a few moments there. Jinx turned the music down on the mp3 in her armband and took a deep breath to clear her head. Stupid chemistry, sodas, excessive studies, (Wally West)-- messing with her head. Making her want to revert to more familiar territory. She quickly made her way to the counter and paid for the hair dye in a rush. A passing glance to the back of the store did not reveal the redhead that she had mistaken for the honey-blonde Elisa. The cashier handed her her bag and Jinx left the store, turning towards a longer route back to her dorm room.

She shoved the change from the purchase back into her pocket and reached to change the song playing.

There was a small crowd that had gathered up ahead around one of the popular restaurants on the street. Jinx scowled. She hated trying to run through large, incompetent mobs--

A shriek pierced through her music and interrupted all thought as the door to the restaurant blew off of its hinges and into the street, making a car swerve and crash into a hydrant, scattering the frenzied crowd. Jinx stopped jogging and took a step back.

Loaded with money...and burgers...how typical.

Mammoth stepped into the street, a happy grin alighting his features. See-More followed, a malicious sneer scaring the braver ones into hysterics. Billy and his duplicates all carried out sacks of money.

HIVE.

The restaurant owner was on the ground begging. Students were running in all directions. Jinx was frozen to the spot.

And as Billy's gaze met her own narrowed eyes, the only coherent thought Jinx had was a passing notion of Gizmo and Kyd's absences. But it didn't matter, because Billy had tugged See-More's arm.

And now the three of them were all coming after her.

--

-Silver Miracles