New to the Business

Jinx waited till the police was out of sight. Then she stepped out of the shadow and looked at the building in front of me. The door had been broken open, but now it was sealed by the police. Very soon they would send some officers to protect it till the security system was back online. Same routine like in Jump City.

She stretched my arms. Even though it had taken longer than intended she was quite proud of herself. She had managed to stop the thieves without damaging a single painting. Honestly, the pink haired girl really didn't care much about art, but since those guys hadn't been much of a challenge she had had the time to be extra careful.

Jinx sighed a bit frustrated. Keystone City had quite a high crime rate, but this city neither had a hero nor a real villain. She knew her butt had been kicked…quite often by the Titans, but this fights had at least been a challenge. This was nearly too easy. However, and she was slightly smiling while thinking about that, it was something she would gladly do for the rest of her life if she would stay this…Jinx didn't know how to call it, but it felt pretty good.

To be honest she had imagined that the life of a hero or at least the life of someone who was a good guy would be kind of boring. She had thought that it was a life purely controlled by rules or something like that, but strangely it was nearly the opposite of that. Jinx felt in a weird way free to do anything she wanted.

Okay, she was doing this job for only two weeks now, but till now it was…just so different from being a villain. In a very good way. Absolutely not how the girl had expected it to be. And working with someone who was actually listening to her wasn't bad either.

Right after she had thought that, Jinx felt a draft. She sighed.

Then she turned her head and said "I know that I'm new to this business, but you don't have to be there every single time when I'm fighting. I can handle some criminals on my own and I won't just run away. If I had intended to do that, I would have done it already."

"It's not like that I wouldn't trust you" the young hero responded from behind her. Jinx raised her eyebrows. "So why are you doing it then?"

"Just a habit."

She rolled her eyes, but…there was a faint smile on her lips. Then she asked "Wait a minute! You…trust me?" She seemed to be quite surprised. "Why not? You are trustworthy" he answered lightly. The pink haired girl shook her head. "You are way too naïve…and kind hearted. No wonder that you believed me in the museum even though it was one of my worst acts ever."

"I just know who to trust or not. Doesn't make me naïve" he answered.

"I meant that in a positive way. I wasn't insulting you."

"I know."

"Still it's weird to trust someone after two weeks" she added and started walking. He easily outran her. He was walking backwards so he could still look into her face.

"So you don't trust me?"

"With you it's different. You're the hero. You have to be trustworthy."

"You trust me?"

She sighed. "Yes, I trust you. But like I said you're the hero. It's far easier to trust someone like you."

"And it's weird to trust you, because…?"

"Because I'm the former villain" she answered annoyed. She looked at him for a moment and said then "Please stop smiling like that."

Kid Flash didn't answer, but didn't stop smiling either. "You are doing that on purpose, aren't you?" she asked slightly annoyed. "What?" he wanted to know. "Showing me every time how unbelievable proud you are of yourself that you convinced me to switch the sides. I know it wasn't easy, but please stop that. It makes me feel so…guilty" she said honestly.

"You feel guilty? That's cute!" the young hero answered. "Just because I'm no longer a criminal, doesn't mean that I can't use my powers against you anymore" the girl growled. "Just try it. You can't hit me anyway" he teased.

"You are playing with fire. I hope you know that."

"Oh, I'm scared." the red haired boy said.

"You are impossible…" she said, shaking her head.

"So…" he was now on her right side "That was your eleventh time to stop some criminals. Not counting the first two times."

"And?...Wait a minute! You're counting?" she asked a bit surprised and also a bit amused.

"Well, someone has to."

"And that someone is you?" He nodded.

"Why is this important?" the girl asked.

"Why shouldn't it be?"

"It's only important for you; because I was a criminal" she said "For normal heroes it's not important."

"Since you are already talking about normal heroes" he said "Should I tell them now?" For a second she looked at the open communicator he was holding. Before he could say anything else, she screamed "NO!" and tried to grab it. Since she was smaller than him, he didn't have to move to prevent her from taking it. He was just holding it into the air.

"Why not?" he asked, looking quite amused by her desperate attempts to take the communicator from him.

"Are you crazy? You can't tell them that I'm working with you!"

"And why n..."

"They would just tell you to throw me into jail!"

"So you are worried that they won't believe you that you've changed the sides?"

"Yes! And now give me that, before you do something stupid!"

She had insisted on that he wouldn't tell anyone that they had joined forces. Mostly because she feared that they wouldn't believe her, but also because she wasn't ready to face the heroes she had tried…well, to get rid of as an ally.

"And you seriously think that I would take you to jail, just because they had told me to?"

She stopped trying to grab the communicator and looked at him surprised. "You…wouldn't?" she asked. "Of course not. Throwing my partner into jail would be a bit stupid, don't you think?"

"P-Partner? You think I'm your…partner?" Jinx asked astonished.

"We work together, don't we?"

"Yes, but…"

"That makes us partners" he explained, like it was something really obvious.

She looked at him a bit confused. It was clear that she had never thought about how to call their working relationship.

"What were you thinking we are?" he asked curious.

"I don't…I don't know. Just not…exactly partners" she admitted.

"You never really thought about it, right?"

"No, not really. I was busy worrying about other things."

"That would be?"

"If it's okay to blast you to bits, when you get too annoying?"

"I'm serious."

"You can do that?" she teased smiling.

"Occasionally."

"I'm impressed" the pink haired girl responded. They arrived at the entrance of the small Titan base, where they were staying. Actually it was a secret emergency base, but since neither of them had a home in Keystone City it was the only place, where they could sleep in. When the two teenagers entered, Jinx immediately let herself fall on the sofa in the middle of the big room. She felt tired, but not tired enough to go to bed.

"To answer your question" she said "I was worrying about if I really like the life of a hero."

"And?" he asked.

Suddenly she smiled and closed her eyes. "I came to the conclusion that I…don't like it."

She didn't have to look at him to see his confused expression. "You…" he started, but was cut off by her. "I wasn't done. Let me finish!"

Her smile got a bit brighter. "I love it. I really do!" Jinx sat up. She looked at him smiling. "I feel so much more appreciated by others. People thank me! And I can walk normally in the city, without that someone runs away from me or that the police tries to arrest me. I don't have to hide and that feels…great!"

Suddenly he was sitting next to her. His fast movements didn't bother her anymore. She had gotten used to that. "And you don't regret leaving your friends behind?" he sounded quite interested. She thought about it for a moment then she answered "No. I don't regret it. They can go on without me. Besides they didn't really come after me so I guess they're fine." "Seems like you owe me something" he said smirking. She rolled her eyes. "Well, maybe I do. But I can't make you switch sides, can I?" Jinx answered. "I wasn't talking about something like that, but I would like to see you try" he responded and moved away.

She turned her head to him and saw that he was eating something. "Mind if I ask you why you're always eating?"

"Only a side effect of being the fastest boy alive" he answered smiling.

"I don't know, Kid Flash" she said grinning "I've seen Más y Menos in action and personally I think they're faster than you."

"What?" The hero looked like he wouldn't believe what he had just heard.

"I said that I think that they are faster" she replied.

He was in front of her again. "Please! I'm way faster than them!"

"Yeah, sure. If you want to believe that…"

"Oh come on! They are only kids!"

"So that means when they get older they'll become even faster?"

"No!"

"Let me ask you a question. Have you ever met them in person?"

"Not yet."

"So how do you wanna know that you're faster?"

"I just know it. Besides they need each other to use their powers. I do that on my own."

"That doesn't make you faster" the girl said still smiling. The fact that the hero was so sensitive about him being the fastest made it nearly impossible for her not to tease him about that.

After some moments she couldn't suppress it any longer and started giggling. "You make it too easy for me, really" she said still grinning. "That wasn't funny" he responded, a bit hurt in his pride. "Please, don't be so touchy. You tease me all the time. This is only the payback" she answered.

The pink haired girl lay down on the sofa again. "You teased your friends like that too?" he asked. "Pff…No. I tried, but they didn't get it. Well, Gizmo sometimes but very rarely." "They aren't exactly the smart type of villain, are they?"

"You have no idea!" she answered rolling her eyes "It's hard enough to be the only girl in a team, but with them it was sometimes like torture!"

"So why didn't you just leave?"

"I was the leader. They wouldn't have let me go this easily."

"And now they did?"

"I left for good and they know that. Besides they are under "new management"" she responded obviously a bit upset about this fact. The girl had told him a while ago whom the Hive Five had joined.

"Big mistake…" he answered serious.

"I know…" Jinx sighed. Some moments passed. "Idiots!" she added slightly angry.

Suddenly they heard an alarm. It wasn't the usual one, which signalized a crime. It was the signal for a call.

Like Jinx had predicted. It was Robin. The leader of the Teen Titans. She was sitting on the right side of the room. There the girl couldn't be seen. She didn't want to let anyone know, that she wasn't a villain anymore. Jinx still didn't feel quite like a hero and till she did no one besides Kid Flash should know.

The pink haired girl was listening only partly to the conversation. It wasn't really interesting till now. Robin asked him if everything was okay in Keystone City and if he needed some help.

"I think I can handle it" Kid Flash answered.

"Good. Just be careful" the black haired boy said "Don't take them lightly."

"I won't."

"Alright. And be ready. We'll go online quite soon."

"Online?" she turned her head to them. What was that supposed to mean? Unfortunately the conversation ended there and the big screen turned black again.

Before the girl could move to stand up, he was next to her and helped her up. "What was that all about?" she asked curious. "Just the usual hero-talk" he answered.

"No, I meant the last part. What did he mean by "going online"?"

"Oh that. Our network is going online."

"Network?"

"They are giving communicators to every young hero they meet and once they're finished they'll check if everything works."

"And then you are all connected, even though you are spread across the whole world" Jinx concluded.

"Yeah, just in case the Brotherhood of Evil tries to take one of us down."

"Wow. You're quite well organized" she admitted. After some moments the pink haired girl sighed.

"WE are quite well organized" Jinx said avoiding eye contact.

"What was that?" he asked and raised his eyebrows, but a smile played on his lips.

"I said "we". Okay, officially I'm not a member of the Titans, but working with you makes me part of the team. I guess."

"Seriously? You aren't just saying that?"

"Why should I say it when I don't mean it? It's not like I'll get prize for saying it." She jerked her shoulders. "Besides someday I have to get used to it anyway. So I'll better start sooner than later."

Edit: Fixed it!