Under the Rose
Chapter 11
Kid Flash frowned at the large hole in the wall of the jail cell, shaking his head. The guards were looking at him, as though waiting to see some super speed so that they could tell their friends about it. Flash ignored them.
"The security video was...well, crumpled, for lack of better word. Most likely by Mammoth." Chief McMillan beside him let out a sigh.
Flash grimaced. "So we don't know who let them out?"
"No. But we have a pretty good guess that it was Jinx."
Flash was silent. He already knew that wasn't right. "Did any guards see anything?" He jerked a thumb to the guy behind him holding the camera.
Chief McMillan shook his head. "That's the most curious part. They claim they saw nothing." He shot the two of them a fierce glare. "Even though they were standing right outside the jail cell" (Flash winced for the pair) "they say that all was clear and looked fine until about five minutes later, when they realized there was a hole in the wall. By that time it was too late."
Flash gave them a curious look. "They didn't see Mammoth making hamburger patties out of the camera? They didn't hear the big crash through the wall?"
One of the guards came forward. "We promise you, we were on duty. We looked back, and there they were. We looked back again, and they weren't, and there was the hole and bits of camera covering the ground." He frowned to himself, scratching the back of his head. "I don't know how it happened."
His posture reflected sincere regret, and Flash just laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you anyways, sir," he said respectfully. "We'll figure this out. Let me know if there's any more news," he asked, turning back to the police chief. With that he swiftly exited the jail, ready to take a quick but thorough patrol of the town.
--
Jinx stretched, arms far above her head, and gave the easel in front of her an exasperated look.
This painting was not going as planned. She picked up her brush and cautiously added a few strokes, studying the result intently.
Miss Solaro sat at her desk across the room, shuffling papers and making notes. Occasionally she had left her station to grab something, and quietly observed Jinx for a moment of two before resuming her work.
Jinx frowned and swirled some white into the blue that she was working with. This color proved to be much better. She cleared her mind and began to paint more steadily.
A few minutes later, she paused and set down her brushes, taking a few steps back to study her work once more.
The teacher took this opportunity to walk over and stand with her. The two artists spent a silent minute in evaluation.
"Rose," Miss Solaro began, "That is wonderful."
Jinx flushed slightly with pride. "I don't know if it's quite ready yet but--"
"My dear. It was ready a long time ago. You just wanted it perfect. Follow-through is an admirable quality."
Jinx beamed. Miss Solaro, brushing a carefree curl away from her face, held out a packet of pages to Jinx. She took them hesitantly and read the top lines.
Jinx's eyes widened. "The JCU Art Achiever Scholarship?" He gaze jumped back to her teacher, who merely smiled and nodded. "What is it?"
She laughed. "I decide to choose the one student who hasn't heard of it! Rose, you are quite the rara avis, aren't you?" She poked a finger at the packet in Jinx's hands. "That is the most vied for scholarship between freshman and sophomores planning to major in an art. The artist showing the greatest potential as well as significant mastery of their chosen medium will be given a full scholarship," she explained, quoting the description written on the application. "You enter a collection of pieces for judging." She waved a hand dramatically around the spacious studio. "So many ask me for applications. Only five receive the grant. " Miss Solaro returned her eyes to Rose with an imploring gaze. " Even less are handed the application packet on request by yours truly. That means you have a wonderful opportunity."
Jinx gaped, fumbling the papers. Somewhere across the room, a tiny crack split a mirror on the back wall, and she forced herself to breathe again. "Th-thank you," she finally spat out.
The young professor merely patted her hand. "You have such a natural talent and a lot of determination. After all," she chuckled, "You're in here and it's still break!" Miss Solaro gestured to Jinx's painting. "You easily have the most talent in your class, and I think you have a chance."
Jinx's stomach began flopping around tremendously. It was true that she had been sneaking into art classes for several years. It was true that in her free time she liked drawing immensely. But never, never had she imagined that it could take her so far. Miss Solaro continued talking.
"Your work, a series of five, should be submitted by early December. I believe that you should do a collection of graphite drawings, as that seems to be your best medium from what I've seen. Choose something, someone dear to you. You are good at both still life and portrait, but when it's truly important, you take the most care." She laid a hand on Jinx's shoulder. "Have a wonderful day, my dear." She opened the door for Jinx, who was still in a bit of shock.
"Thank you, so much," she finally managed. "I--it's--thank you."
"Oh don't even mention it, Miss Thompson," her teacher replied casually.
Jinx walked away from the art building in a daze, scanning the pages of the application. She grinned and, in an uncharacteristic move, jumped up and down in glee, smiling at the sun. For a moment she felt like she imagined Flash would feel every day, incurably happy and blithe. She could never figure out how he did that. But then again, his day was probably full of little victories. Not to mention endorphin overload. All that running. Jinx giggled.
The only problem was going to be figuring out what to draw. But she would come to that. For now, Jinx simply whipped out her cell phone. This calls for ice cream. She scrolled her way down to Wally's number.
--
HIVE, along with their mysterious role-playing leader, was very well hidden. KId Flash had zoomed along Jump City's streets several times and, although he caught assorted thieves and addicts, there was no sign of the old gang.
Vaguely he entertained the idea of calling back the Titans from their most recent mission somewhere in London, but Flash didn't want to prove Chief McMillan's point about needing the true Titans. Besides, this was about him and Jinx.
Speaking of...
The last few times Flash passed the ice cream shop, he'd seen the disguised Jinx in there, sitting and chewing on a pen as she read some sort of document. Flash took one more quick zip around the block and decided to give it up for the moment. He changed back into his civilian attire and made his way to where his girlfriend was hard at work.
"Hey there," he said, sitting down in one smooth motion. Rose looked up and flashed him a smile.
"Hi! I'm glad you showed up, I tried to call you..."
Wally grimaced, rubbing the back of his neck. "My cell phone kind of broke." Because I threw it onto the ground in a fit of anger. Uncle Barry's gonna kill me. "What's that?" he asked, motioning towards the packet. He suddenly noticed something more. "And is that my pen?"
Jinx looked at the red ballpoint pen in her hand and gave Wally an innocent stare. "I surely don't know what you mean. I found this in the library. "
Wally rolled his eyes and was about to retort.
"But this--" Jinx had more news, and her eyes were shining, happy. Wally leaned in closer, excited for her story already. She held out the cover page to him. "My art teacher recommended me," she added bashfully. "She thinks I have a good chance."
Wally quickly scanned the entire front page. "A scholarship?" He gave her an eager smile. "That's so cool!"
Jinx nodded with the most excitement Flash had ever seen from her. "Even if I don't get it all, it sets me up well for even just a partial scholarship."
Wally leaned forward and planted a kiss on her. "They'd be crazy not to give it to you. Congratulations. We're going to celebrate, okay? Pizza. Tonight."
She laughed. "Do you think it's funny that we never get tired of pizza?"
"That's because it's like ambrosia. It's delicious. It's--Billy Joel?"
...she'll take what you give her, as long as it's free
Yeah she steals like a thief but she's always a woman to me
The song interrupted Wally's glorification of pizza. The redhead looked up at one of the ceiling speakers. He looked back at Rose and pointed his index finger at the song. "Do you get the funny feeling this song is ours?"
She just laughed at him and looked back down at the scholarship, where Flash noticed she had already been making notes and organizing thoughts, brainstorming some possible themes.
This was going to be great for her. Another way to make her see the result of her efforts. Wally grinned.
Of course, if Hive caught her and he wasn't there to stop them, she wouldn't really get that chance, would she? It was a sobering thought. Wally sighed and stood, giving Jinx a friendly smile. "I'm sorry I can't stay longer," he explained. "I have a lot to do today."
She was too excited to question his vague excuse. "Pizza tonight, then," she said. "I need to figure out what to draw anyways." Her eyes glazed a little bit as they looked out the window and Wally knew she was probably far away in some world filled with...like, paint, or whatever.
He ruffled her head (much to her annoyance) and exited the ice cream shop, ready to put on the costume again and find those villains before they found her.
--
Jinx flopped onto her bed, tossing the scholarship packet onto the floor in front of her, where she gave it a good hard stare as she towel-dried the dark waves that had just been newly dyed again.
Hidden back in the ceiling above her was a bag filled with all the money she'd need for...like, eternity. Even after she put some of it into her account already.
So what did she need a scholarship for?
So why was it such a big deal? Why bother if she didn't have to?
Wally's sage words from the night before echoed in her head. His sincerity, his genuinely straightforward nature, had struck a powerful chord in her.
This money had been stolen by someone. It didn't belong to Jinx, or whoever had taken it originally. It needed to go back to the police. Or something. Jinx found herself (unsurprisingly) less than eager to return to the station. But either way, stolen money was not hers to use.
If she followed that thinking, then, it meant that the money she had used to pay for college already, the money she was living her 'good' life on now-- it didn't belong to her either. Jinx wasn't quite ready to own up to that.
She gently picked the scholarship packet off of the ground and slid it into a desk drawer, careful not to bend the pages.
Five drawings, something she cared about, something important. That was all it took to grab herself some genuine honesty.
It was going to be the beginning of the mother of all adjustments. Jinx laid back against her pillow and stared at the ceiling (pointedly ignoring the tile that supported a money-laden canvas bag), deep in thought.
Well, what did she care about that would make a good drawing?
...Wally.
Jinx scoffed to herself, already imagining how that would play out. "Yeah right." Hey Wally, could I draw you? In five different pictures? Why ROSE! I'm so flattered. I must be your muse. Be sure to make my hair as attractive as possible. And I tell you what, these turn out great, you can CRAYON my shoulder anytime. Hahahaha...get it? Cry on, crayon? I'm going to poke you now.
"Oh god I'm thinking like him!" Jinx groaned and tugged the towel over her face.
That one was never going to happen. Never.
Unicorns?
Too juvenile for scholarship competition. And Jinx didn't normally admit that she drew something that fanciful.
It wasn't like she cared about tangible things, really. She didn't even care much for the things she stole even way back when. Jinx glanced at Elisa's side of the room, covered with posters and decorative boxes and jewelry strewn about. Her side, however, had only two smaller pictures and was sparsely decorated. The dresser and desk were bare, with the exception of her laptop. The only box on her designated shelf was filled with art supplies. After all, she'd only had that one duffel bag when she arrived.
What she truly cared about was something more abstract; things like trying and success. She cared about keeping her identity secret, of course, but she also cared about remembering it too. That maybe someday she could be lucky and respected-- she wanted that more than any material thing. A brighter future-- that was truly important to her.
Brighter future...the phrase made Jinx recall the other day with a smile.
And then...
What a wonderful idea. Jinx's smile grew twofold. She snatched up her drawing board, some paper, her box of supplies.
There was still time before her pizza date with Wally. For now, she had some serious scholarship portrait drawing to do.
--
Wally twirled his room key in his hand as he leaned against the brick wall outside the Pizza Place, waiting for Rose to show up. He hummed softly to himself. "mm...she takes care of herself...she can wait if she wants, she's ahead of her time..." He glanced down at his watch. Correction: She's behind on her time. Wally had been there ten minutes already, and it felt like a lifetime. He had told her eight, right?
Almost as though on cue, Rose came walking up with a curious smile on her face. Wally unconsciously took a step back. "I don't know if I like that look," he said teasingly. "You're late."
She laughed, a little differently than normal. Wally quirked an eyebrow. "Still abnormally happy about the whole scholarship thing?" That was probably it.
Rose shook her head. "No, that's not it. I'm happy that I finally get to do this!"
And in the split second between her painfully solid punch to his jaw Wally came to the jarring realization that oh man this is not Jinx and Russian, her accent sounded almost Russian but Rouge is not supposed to be here now--he flew across the sidewalk and collapsed against a trash can.
Before he could get up, a wave of pink energy blasted him square in the chest. "Ah!"
Similitude particle generator...It certainly still hurt like the real thing. Flash threw a rock at her and quick as a wink changed into costume.
"I know it's you, Rouge," he spat. "Are you leading HIVE now?" He smirked darkly and pointed a finger at her. "And...not to be rude, but...you're supposed to be DEAD!"
But Rouge, still as Rose Thompson, merely chuckled. Before his eyes she changed into a gray tabby (the one from the alleyway...that's how she and Hive know who I am, he realized in horror), and then into a waitress at the ice cream shop, and then into a random mix of people as Flash watched angrily. "It is easy to play dead when you can shape-shift," she said, now in her original form. The thick accent still grated on the speedster's nerves. Good to know some things never change. "It has a way of allowing you to fly under the radar," the villainess continued. She casually studied her nails as Flash bristled. "Quite..convenient."
"Quite...creepy."
She glared. "And now I am reminded of why I want to kill you, you rude little boy." And the fight began. Flash zipped out of the way of her kick, yelping as he narrowly avoided another fist.
Did this mean they'd already gotten Jinx? Was she okay? Oh man oh man oh man. Flash ran harder.
--
Jinx was fairly sprinting to the pizza place. She'd gotten so caught up in drawing and lost track of time and had to drop off her materials in the dorm and then somehow make it to the other side of campus. In about five minutes. It didn't help that large throngs of people were all running in the opposite direction.
"Move it!" Jinx said, pushing through. She recognized the face of some of Delia's employees. Was running out on shift some kind of trend now?
Wally was going to kill her...the pizza-shaped sign came into view and Jinx began to look around for her redheaded companion when suddenly the sign collapsed. She gasped in surprise and stopped in her tracks.
The Jinx realized that all of the people shoving her were running away from Pizza Place, with good reason.
There he was...the other redhead in her life. And he was in a vicious tangle with none other than Madame Rouge.
"Why doesn't a past ever stay put?" Jinx grumbled, reacting with more clarity than she currently felt. Maybe somewhere, subconsciously, she had been expecting to see him again soon. And after all, villains didn't die easily anyways.
Drawing was clearly very calming for her, Jinx mused.
She looked over at the two of them, who hadn't yet noticed her. Flash was continually speeding around, getting in a jab at her here and there. Madame Rouge, however, was in better position. Once she got warmed up, Jinx knew, she'd catch up with even the Fastest Man Alive. She hadn't been at the top of the Brotherhood for no good reason.
Now Jinx began to feel the worry. He would need help, but she was trying to move on. She couldn't reveal herself or else the police would catch her trail. But she needed to tell him.
That was all Madame Rouge's fault, Jinx realized angrily. The coward, hiding behind her face.
But she had a face of her own to hide behind too.
Jinx shook her head. No more running away. The past was with her because it was a part of her, right? Hadn't she been griping about wanting reconciliation?
Well, there you go then, Jinx.
Seeing Flash get punched into a wall made the decision for her. Jinx shot a bolt of pink energy at Madame Rouge's feet, a good strong wave that she had been holding back for so long, and watched in pleasure as both eyes turned to her-- Rouge with annoyance, and Kid Flash with shock. A sort of resigned, unsurprised, pleased shock that Jinx wasn't even going to try and understand right now. She wanted to concentrate on pummeling the stupid identity thief.
Madame Rouge used the surprised pause and took the opportunity to wrap her arms around Kid Flash, pinning him in place. Jinx felt herself bristle at the villain's actions. "Leave him alone!" she yelled, and shot another beam of energy right at her head. Between Kid Flash's vibrating and Jinx's assaults, Madame Rouge was forced out into the street.
Jinx ran up beside the speedster. "Um...hi," she said.
"You're late," he replied.
What on earth?
...
OH MY.
Jinx's eyes grew wide as saucers. "Wally?!" He zipped away, re-locking himself into combat with a fleeing Madame Rouge.
And suddenly the world made terrific sense. Things were blissfully as they needed to be.
Jinx followed after the red blur and began to attack Madame Rouge once more.
She was immediately thwacked in the face by one of her hyperextending arms and blasted with her own energy. The last hit made Jinx furious. No one used her power against her. She retaliated but was only kicked to the ground by the strong villain.
Out of practice. She gritted her teeth and began to stand. Suddenly she felt strong arms pull her to her feet by her elbows.
"I tried to tell you," he whispered quickly in her ear, bringing her back a super-quick step to avoid a half-hearted attack attempt by Rouge.
The two of them faced Madame Rouge as she stood in the now vacated street. The Russian villainess gave them a glare. "Now is not the time. Until we meet again..." and then before their very eyes she was gone.
Jinx, confused, blinked a few times. But the place where she had been standing was now empty. Flash seemed equally stupefied.
"So that's how those guards felt..." he murmured to himself, deep in thought.
Flash...Wally West...Jinx pulled herself (reluctantly) from his sturdy support and faced him. He held up a finger and, motioning towards the crowd that had been slowly trickling back in the aftermath, picked her up.
Two seconds later Jinx found herself set down on a patch of grass in the center of some obscure field.
Man...She rubbed her head, disoriented. Then she remembered that Flash was there too.
Well, here goes.
"So I guess you know now that I'm Jinx. I don't have any parents that I don't get along with, Hive Academy is no GT Magnet school up north, my hair isn't actually black, my eyes aren't brown, I wanted to clock a round of hexes at Brian and you for ditching me, I didn't want to accept apologies back then! Because I'm Jinx! Agh!" She was getting a little bit frenzied. Maybe keeping a really big secret did that to you. "I only know how to draw because I snuck into courses when I wasn't robbing some jewelry store, Hive came after me because I'm me, not to just be stupid or whatever, I still draw unicorns and I'm here because I want to be but I'm still mad at you for leaving!" She sighed loudly. "Whew that's all out now..and...I'm sorry I left without telling you. But I'm not sorry I left." Jinx flopped down onto the grass and made her first attempt to look up at Flash, finding herself more nervous than she had ever remembered being.
To her surprise, Flash simply set himself down facing her and, tugging down his mask to reveal disheveled hair and clear blue eyes, simply replied-- with a laugh of all things-- "I know."
--
It had been a long minute and she was still gaping at him. Wally winced as her expression waffled between perplexed, annoyed, amused, happy? I hope so...and back again to...angry. Great.
"Well?" she finally said sternly. "It's your turn."
Flash sighed and smiled at her, taking one of her pale hands in his. "My real name's Wally West, as you've found out. And I didn't just come here out of chance. My assignment has been to look for you, and I was doing it undercover."
"I think I must be dumb for not clueing in sooner," Jinx grumbled.
"You were busy laying low yourself," he chuckled in reply.
She ducked her head, scowling a little. "And now that you've found me?" she asked softly, adjusting her glasses.
Flash shook his head fiercely at her. "I've known who you were since the day Hive attacked you outside the drugstore. And I'd been trying so hard to tell you that I'm Flash." He gave her an imploring gaze. "Turning you in is the very, very, very last thing I want to do, especially since you haven't committed any crime. You're doing well, Jinx. Jinx. Jinx, it feels really good to say your name, you know, I like Rose but it's just an alias..." he could feel himself straying from the topic at hand. Jinx gave him a look, and Flash let out a small apologetic cough. "You've come too far to be set back by Madame Rouge trying to frame you. I could never feel right arresting you. That and you're kind of my dream girl," he added conversationally. Jinx's head snapped back up, eyes wide as saucers.
She considered her reply for what was a really nerve-wracking moment for him.
"Well then...why the three years? Lost all communication." She regarded him coolly.
Flash grimaced at the question. "I...don't know. All I can say is that when I returned from my mission, you were gone. The Titans...they were all so matter-of-fact about it, just saying you deserted like it was some sort of expected thing," he explained bitterly. "They were too used to having you as their enemy to see you as so much more. Which you are. Which is why I like you alot. But even so, I gave up. Peer pressure. I know it's lame." He unconsciously rubbed his thumb over her hand and frowned to himself, looking away. "I understand if you just want to move on--"
He felt one of Jinx's cool hands on his cheek, turning him to face her again. "It's alright," she said gently. "You're here now, and you've helped me out so much, even as Wally West." She gave him a brilliant smile. "Move on? Seriously? I missed you more than anything else, you goofball. You better plan on sticking around." she said (giddily? he didn't know Jinx could be giddy).
Wow.
Wally felt like he could have taken on fifty Madame Rouges. "I missed you too," he replied frankly, and leaned in for what would prove to be their best kiss yet, in his opinion. Not that they all weren't great. Like, really great. Yeah. He placed his hands at the base of her chin, keeping her there with him, and tried to recall ever before feeling as utterly euphoric as he was in that moment. All complications, of identity, of past grievances, of his torn feelings over who to arrest (duh--Madame Rouge)-- all complications were gone.
All there was was him and her, Flash and Jinx, Wally and Rose, and that was the straightforward fact. You didn't need a lightspeed brain to figure that one out.
--
"It was too risky anyways. You're lucky I could get you out so quick."
Madame Rouge sneered at her partners in crime. "I am still the leader here," she hissed. "Do not listen to her."
See-More crossed his arms skeptically. "We have a plan and you still went rogue."
"We all hate those crud-sniffers, don't take an unfair share of the fight!" Gizmo whined.
"Everyone just be quiet," the owner of the first voice said forcefully. Madame Rouge merely raised an eyebrow, unfazed and indifferent to the girl standing next to her. "We have everything we need. Right, Gizmo?"
The kid in his green jumpsuit nodded wickedly. "The containment field is back! With our similitude particle generator..." He trailed off, laughing maliciously.
Mammoth grinned and punched his fists together. Billy screwed up his mouth. "Simile tentacle what?" Kyd shook his head.
The girl stepped out of the shadows, a nefarious smile on her mousy features. Her eyes glowed a bright and deadly tangerine orange.
"We can't lose now."
--
Well, that's probably the last for a couple of weeks at least. I'm so sorry! You know how college is...busy busy :D
Thank you for all your reviews and comments. Keep on the lookout for Chapter 12!! We're nearing the exciting conclusion of Under the Rose...
-Silver Miracles