Jinx looked around, the seatbelt was tight against her chest and the view from the car window as they ascended up the windy hilltop path was sublime. She looked down at her shoes; they were pink and had daisies on them. She frowned sleepily, something was amiss. She looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap, they were pudgy and her dress was frilly, her feet barely came off of the end of the seat. It took Jinx realising how small she was to realise what was wrong, she was a child. This was only mildly surprising to her.
"How are you doing back there sweetie?" A woman asked, Jinx looked up. It was her mother, her hair was brown and curly and fell in soft ringlets around her face and shoulders, as she leant to her side to look back at Jinx from the passenger seat in the front of the car her necklace came dislodged from inside of her shirt and swung forward. Jinx stared, it sparkled in the light, the pendant was tear-shaped and a brilliant silver. She held out her hands and whined for it.
"I'm sorry baby, this is Mummy's necklace. Grandma gave it to me, and I'll give it to you some day too." Her mother said her blue eyes sparkling. Jinx heard the whining cry escape her lips.
"Oh don't be mean Jan, give it to her, she's old enough now not to break things." Her father's faceless voice said. He was obscured by the headrest from Jinx's point of view, but she knew it was him. Her mother smiled softly and reached behind her neck and undid the clasp of the silver necklace, sliding it away from herself and holding it up in the air.
"Come here then love. You be very careful with this now, it's important." She said doing up the necklace around Jinx's neck, she giggled in delight.
"I love you mummy." She smiled up at her; her mothers face was not showing love but shock.
"What's wrong mummy?" Jinx asked worriedly.
"Y-your hair and your eyes…" She stammered shocked, her father turned in his seat, taking his eyes off of the road to look at her, his eyes widened and he quickly looked back at the road.
"Good god." He muttered.
"My hands hurt." Jinx whimpered looking down at them, pink electricity crackled along them and between her tiny childish fingers. Her insides felt like they were burning, patches of the car caught fire, the engine began to make a worrying noise, she clenched her teeth against the pain. She screamed and the car filled with pink light.
Jinx tossed and turned feverishly in her sleep and Kid Flash watched her concerned.
"What's wrong Jinx?" He breathed brushing her hair away from her face, she was sleeping in his bed. Not that she'd meant to be there by any means, she'd fallen asleep on the sofa and refused to move, he'd waited until she was well asleep before moving her. He'd tried to sleep, honestly, but without burning off any of his energy it was… difficult to say the least. He'd been trying to amuse himself silently, which for him had meant reading. Having read everything in the house he was reading a magazine of Jinx's that she'd hidden under the sofa, he'd laughed at it at first, it was such a GIRL'S magazine. And despite Jinx actually being a girl this was surprising, though not as surprising as the unicorns. He was also surprised to find that these girls magazines were in fact quite explicit, the cover alone proclaimed that it contained three hundred ways to 'energise your sex life' as well as what was in fashion at the moment. He was thoroughly convinced that girls were very, very weird. He'd been giggling at some of the sex tips which made no sense at ALL, briefly wondering if any of the people who'd written this article had ever had sex at all, when Jinx started whimpering and tossing and turning in her sleep. Suddenly Jinx sat up bolt upright in bed panting in fear and horror.
"What's wrong?" Kid Flash asked rubbing her back having safely hidden the magazine under her bed in a split second, he was, after all, the fastest boy alive.
"I… just… bad dream is all." She shuddered staring down at her hands which were still crackling with pink electricity, she calmed herself and it disappeared. Her hand rose up to her neck feeling for the pendant she realised with horror that she hadn't been wearing it and sprang cat-like out of bed. She bounded out of Kid Flash's bedroom and into the living room; she grabbed the messenger bag that she had taken from the HIVE five headquarters. Scrabbling to the bottom of the bag her fingers closed around the cold silver, sighing in relief she clutched it to her chest.
"You said your mum gave that to you didn't you?" Kid flash said sitting down on the sofa, Jinx looked up at him as if she had just realised that he was there.
"Yeah, right before she died. I don't know what I'd do if I lost it." Jinx said softly as she slid it around her neck and did the clasp up.
"But I guess that's what you get for being bad luck I guess, anyone you get close to suffers and you end up alone." She added quietly.
"Aww, you're not alone, you have me!" Kid Flash smiled lounging out on the sofa and a mock-seductive pose, Jinx looked up at him coldly.
"You were nearly crushed to death within days of my being here; you broke everything in your leg. You haven't been able to run at super speed for the last week. Goodness knows what'll happen to you if I stay any longer." Jinx said standing up with a sigh, Kid Flash sat up and stared up at her worriedly.
"Jinx, don't say that. It's not your fault, I'm a hero, put myself in danger all the time, I'm bound to have accidents." He said earnestly.
"It was my fault." Jinx insisted flatly.
"No it's not, is this all because of your dream? Look, it wasn't real Jinx. Dreams are just that, dreams." He said standing up and running a hand through his hair as he always did when he was stressed.
"It wasn't just a dream, it happened. Everyone I care about gets hurt." She sighed.
"Jinx…" He said gently as he wrapped his arms around her and drew her close, Jinx eyes widened, this was a bold move even for him. She allowed herself to enjoy the warmth of his chest, the strength in his arms, the feeling of his chin on the top of her head, she allowed the feeling of safeness and affection to seep into her. She hugged him back for a moment before pulling back a little and stroking a hand through his hair, he smiled at her through perfect lips and sparkling eyes. Her fingers slipped down to his temple and she let loose a small shock of pink energy, he began to crumple to the floor but Jinx caught him and pulled him to the sofa.
"I'm so sorry, but I'm bad luck and I can't let anything bad happen to you. Especially because of me." She whispered before bending down to kiss his forehead, she stroked his hair lovingly and then turned to leave. The door clicked shut but through his unconsciousness Kid Flash could not hear it or register his significance.
Jinx had almost reached the city limits when the strong breeze of Kid Flash's running reached her, she squeezed her eyes shut, and she'd been stupid not accounting for his super speed in his waking up time. But she hadn't wanted to give him brain damage so she'd erred on the side of caution and look where it'd gotten her.
"Jinx!" He called after her, she froze and tensed.
"I'm leaving." She said turning around to face him.
"What? But why? Did I say something wrong?" He asked his eyes shining with worry and honesty.
"No Kid Flash, I'm just leaving is all. You have to stay here." She said anticipating his next question, Kid Flash's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and hurt.
"You- you can't leave!" He whimpered like a kicked puppy, he looked at her imploringly and bit his lip, finally he said it.
"You can't leave, I love you Jinx." He said his words ringing with openness, trust and love. Jinx flinched, she hadn't been expecting this, it would make it harder but nonetheless she had sworn herself to what she was going to do at all costs.
"I- I don't love you back Kid Flash. I'm leaving." She said tersely and gritting her teeth, his eyes flashed with hurt at this before he began to scowl at her.
"I don't believe you, I know you feel SOMETHING for me, you- you're lying." He panted his eyes filling with angry and hurt tears.
"I don't love you Kid Flash. I'm going now." She said staring at his eyebrows now; his eyes were just too hard to look at. She hoped he wouldn't notice.
"I'm not letting you go without a fight Jinx!" He shouted before pulling her forwards and kissing her. Jinx fought her body's reaction to close her eyes, to melt against him, to kiss him back, to tangle her hands in his hair and declare her love for him in breathless tones. She stood stock still, her fists clenched with effort at her side. Kid Flash pulled back his brow creased with hurt, he'd felt her lack of reaction, his face burned with humiliation. Jinx closed her eyes and turned her back on him and began to walk off.
"Don't try to find me." She called back not looking around. She knew in her very bones that if she turned back to look at him standing there that whatever semblance of willpower she had left would crumble and she'd run back into his arms and never be able to leave again.
Kid Flash stood and watched her retreating figure willing her to turn around and come back but it didn't happen. He stood until she was just a speck on the horizon. He stood until he could see her no more, then he stood there a while longer. And then, slowly, slower than he'd ever moved in his life he turned and walked home, his feet feeling like lead.