Villain or Hero?
Jinx wiped some dirt of her clothes. Then suddenly she heard a voice behind her saying "And how is it to be on the winning side for the first time?" "You do know that I once kicked the Titans out of their own tower?" she turned around and looked into Kid Flash's face. Then she said sighing "However, I feel kinda good right now." Before he could answer anything, she added teasingly "But I did some real fighting. You just picked the villains up after their defeat."
"Well, someone had to do the cleaning up."
"Yeah, I guess you're right" the girl answered lightly. Then she watched how the other heroes slowly gathered in front of all the frozen villains. She bit her lip. "And you are sure that they won't add me to…the collection?" she asked and looked at the frozen villains "I mean…I still have a criminal record." He looked at her unbelieving.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing" he just answered.
The girl raised her eyebrows. "Tell me!" she demanded.
"We should go to the others. Seems like they're about to do something important."
"I'm not moving unless you tell me" the pink haired girl said insistent.
"It's just that you would be surprised how forgiving heroes can be" he answered.
She tilted her head. "Not as forgiving as you for sure" she said silently and started walking to the other heroes. He was next to her within a heartbeat. "And what do you mean by that?" he asked. The two were now right behind the other heroes. Then she whispered "I basically wanted to offer you as a gift to the Brotherhood of Evil. And yet you are fighting with me. If that's not forgiving…"
"Hey, you complimented me without insulting me in the same sentence" he replied smirking. She sighed. "I can't believe it myself that that's possible" the girl answered. His smile got brighter.
Jinx turned her head to the heroes in the front row. Beast Boy was holding in his hand the Brain. A fact that she considered as quite creepy. "Dudes check it out" he said grinning and threw the villain into the ice machine. Within a few seconds one of the most dangerous villains was frozen. "Brain freeze" the green hero said giggling. A groan spread through the other heroes.
"He's just as funny as you are" Jinx said to Kid Flash teasingly.
"At least I have a sense of humour" he answered.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hey, you started this. I'm completely innocent"
"You are lucky that you're right this time" the pink haired girl said while narrowing her eyes.
"Did we forget one?" Bumblebee said surprised and pointed with her Stingers at Jinx. Startled the former villainess made a step backwards.
"Hey! WAIT! I'm on your side!" she said quickly. Speedy was also aiming with an arrow at her. Now every Titan was looking at her, but that didn't bother her as much as the weapons that were ready to take her down. Her heart was beating much faster.
"Calm down" Kid Flash said to the others "You seriously think I wouldn't get it when a villain would be standing next to me? She is on our side."
The Titans East leader raised her eyebrows. "I don't think we're talking about the same person. I've encountered her in Jump City several times and someone couldn't be more NOT on our side." Jinx bit her lip. She could remember very well the fights between the Hive Five and the Titans East.
"What's exactly the problem here?" a girl with black and red hair asked. She looked confused, because she was one of the several heroes, who didn't know Jinx as a criminal.
"She's a villain!" Aqualad said quite unbelieving about the fact that Jinx wasn't already taken down.
"I'm not!" Jinx answered insistent. It was weird, but that sentence had insulted her. "At least not anymore!" She got some very sceptical looks.
Now Hot Spot joined the conversation. "A villain? Sorry, but I think you are wrong. She helped me and Wildebeest defeating Madame Rouge." Wildebeest nodded.
"A cunning villain like her would do everything to trick us" Speedy said and looked at her slightly angry. The pink haired girl gave him an unbelieving look.
"Trick you? Don't flatter yourself. I wouldn't go so far just to trick you. Besides what would be in for me if I would try to deceive you? If an organization of villains can't take you down, then how on earth should I alone be able to do that?" Jinx said and waited for an answer, she knew she wouldn't get.
Suddenly someone asked "I assume that there's a longer story behind this, right?" It was Starfire. She had made some steps forward and was now standing only a meter in front of Jinx. She looked surprised at her. The pretty alien-girl smiled faintly. Now everyone was looking at the two girls.
"How about you tell us five what happened while the others go ahead? After all we know you the longest" the auburn haired girl suggested. Jinx jaw dropped and not only hers. One of the founding members of the Teen Titans was willing to talk to her? A former villain?
"Ähm…yeah…s-sure…" Jinx managed to say. There was confusion in her voice. Starfire smiled brightly. "Great!" she responded "I'm sure you've got a lot to tell us."
…
She shook her. Quite energetic. "No, it's not!" Starfire whispered insistent "It's a good idea, Raven! She should have a chance to explain herself!" Raven looked at her sceptical. "Starfire, we are talking about Jinx, the girl who tried several times to get rid of us. She nearly killed us." Even though Raven's voice was calm, Starfire could hear the anger in her voice.
"Star, Raven's right. This is probably just an act" Beast Boy said and looked very briefly at the pink haired girl, who was standing a few meters away. The other Titans had already left. Most likely celebrating their victory. Now only the five main Titans were still in Paris and the former leader of the Hive Five. Although, not every Honorary Titan had left. Kid Flash was still standing next to Jinx. The pink haired girl had asked him to stay; he had simply answered that he hadn't intended to go anyway. That had confused the other heroes quite a bit and judging from Jinx's expression her too.
"But Cyborg said that she defeated her friends. And Hot Spot and Wildebeest defeated with her help Madame Rouge" the alien-girl replied. Now everyone was looking at Cyborg. He avoided eye contact and answered "Yeah, she did kick their butts."
"See?" Starfire said.
"C'mon, Star! That doesn't prove anything" Beast Boy answered "Why do you insist on talkin' to her anyway?"
She looked at him serious. "Because if she really wants to join us, I will give her a chance. Everyone deserves a second chance!"
"Not everyone, Starfire" Raven answered.
"What about me?" The heroine was looking a bit confused at the auburn haired girl.
"What do you mean?"
"You gave me a second chance, even though I caused considerable damage to the city and to you."
"That's not the same thing, Starfire. You didn't…"
"I knew what I was doing."
"But you had your reasons. You wanted to destroy your handcuffs" Cyborg said.
"And I'm sure she has her reasons, too! It is unfair if you don't even want to listen to her!" Starfire replied. Why couldn't her friends understand her?
Then the Tamaranean turned her head to Robin. He hadn't said anything till now, probably because he had been freed from the ice prison not a too long time ago. Perhaps he hadn't fully recovered. A fact that saddened her. Her best friend looked at her in the same sceptical way as the others, but then he said "If you want to talk to her, go ahead." She smiled and hugged him briefly.
"Thank you!" she whispered.
"Robin, you can't be serious!" Beast Boy said unbelieving "She's a villain!"
"Only talking with her won't do any damage" the leader of the Titans answered.
"Dude, you don't believe that yourself" the green hero responded and sighed "Star, you know it's unfair when you asks for Robin's opinion for this kind of stuff! He's always on your side!"
The black haired boy looked at Beast Boy confused. "What?"
"Ähm…you know…best friends…and stuff" but he didn't manage to answer properly.
Starfire smiled and went away from her friends unnoticed, while they started to argue about what Beast Boy had meant by his statement. Usually she hated arguments, but right now it was quite convenient for her.
She was now standing again in front of Jinx and Kid Flash. The pink haired girl looked…nervous. The Tamaranean couldn't remember a single occasion where she had seen Jinx nervous. To her the former student of H.I.V.E. Academy had always seemed very self confident and professional.
"Sorry, it took us so long. We had a little…discussion" the alien-girl explained.
"Yeah, we could hear that" Kid Flash answered. He didn't look too happy about the conversation she just had had. She had noticed that he had been looking quite protective at Jinx for the whole time. Especially when the other Titans had nearly attacked the pink haired girl, but that wasn't surprising. However, it was clear that he would have interfered if the others had attacked her.
"Oh…" Starfire blushed slightly "I'm sorry for that."
"…Don't be. I can understand why you don't think it's possible that I've changed" Jinx suddenly said "I didn't expect anything else." Starfire felt slight compassion developing in her chest, because of the light disappointment in Jinx's voice. If she had really changed, this rejection and mistrust had to be quite hurtful, even if she had expected it.
"For how long have been on our side now?" Starfire asked.
"Oh…ähm…I'm not quite sure. Weeks?" she answered a bit unsure and looked at Kid Flash. He said to Starfire "Remember when you asked me to take care of your city?"
She nodded. Starfire could remember very well his enthusiasm to protect Jump City.
"Shortly after that."
"That long?" the alien-girl answered a bit surprised. She hadn't expected that. "And you two are friends?"
"Yes, we are" Jinx answered quite quickly. Obviously she had meant to answer this question before the Honorary Titan could. He was smiling again. The auburn haired girl couldn't think of many instances where the lightning fast hero hadn't been smiling. He might was a bit laid-back (a fact that bothered Robin to no end), but he had the amazing ability to see people for who they really are. And if he was Jinx's friend…why shouldn't she trust her too?
Now Starfire was smiling brightly. "That's nice! I hope that means we can be friends too!"
Jinx's eyes widened. "Wait! You want me…to be your friend?" she asked astonished.
"Why not? That's what you came for, right? You want to be one of us and that means you want to be our friend."
"Are you not even asking me why I did it? You just want to be my friend, even though you basically know nothing about me?"
For a few moments there was silence.
"Now that the Brotherhood of Evil is defeated, we have time to get to know each other. I would love to!" Starfire answered still smiling "And what do you say?"
Jinx just looked at her surprised. "Seriously?"
Starfire nodded.
"S-sure. We could be…friends" she stuttered a bit confused.
And then Starfire just hugged her. One of her former enemies hugged Jinx without any hesitation. Without even the slightest sign of reservation. It was weird and honestly a bit painful. Starfire was quite strong. But Jinx was unable to do anything. She just stood there and felt how she would probably crush her ribs without noticing.
She couldn't believe that someone, who had been hurt by her that often, could just hug her and pretend like nothing had happened in the past. Like all her attempts to kill her or her friends didn't mean anything. But the fact that she could do that deeply impressed Jinx. She was kinder than she had ever imagined and the pink haired girl felt how guilt rose in her chest again. A familiar feeling. Then she let her go.
"Thank you…and sorry" Jinx said silently after Starfire had let her go.
"Sorry for what?"
"For…you know…everything I did. …I'm sorry for the stealing and for the fighting. For hurting…you and the other Titans. And I'm sorry for taking over your tower…. I think I destroyed several hallways and rooms." The guilty tone in Jinx's voice made Starfire smile faintly.
"Don't worry about that! Other villains damaged our home much worse. But I think I should apologize too."
"For what? You did absolutely nothing!" Jinx answered surprised and confused.
"I apologize for the pie. We wanted to get rid of it and your base seemed back then as the right place to put it."
"Pie? What p…That was you?" the pink haired girl said unbelieving "Do you realize that it took us weeks to defeat that old witch?" She was obviously trying to stay calm, but her anger couldn't be overheard.
"That's why I thought it was necessary to say sorry" the Tamaranean answered.
"Of what are you two talking about?" Kid Flash asked. Jinx sighed and said "Nothing important. Just please" she looked at Starfire "Never do that again. It was probably the most embarrassing time of my life."
"I won't. But you saw it yourself. We didn't have much fun ourselves."
"Yes…I saw that" she answered and for a second Starfire thought there was a smile on her lips. Then Jinx covered her mouth with one of her hands to suppress a laugh. The memory of that special event seemed to make it quite hard for her not to burst out laughing. Starfire could understand that, but this past event only made her blush.
"Is there any chance you'll tell me what happened back then?" Kid Flash asked Jinx. For a second she looked at him. She looked slightly shocked. Her cheeks were quite red when she said insistent "Not even on my deathbed!"
"It can't be that embarrassing"
"It was!"
"More than the uni…" but before he could finish his sentence Jinx hit the back of his head with her right hand.
"Shut up! Trashing my room is one thing, but that…" she said quite angry and flustered "And my drawings are NOT embarrassing!"
"Okay! I won't tell them that you draw un…" he was cut off by a small pink shockwave.
"Ouch!" Kid Flash complained. The pink haired girl answered obviously angry "You deserved it."
Starfire could only smile over that conversation. It had some striking similarities with the conversations between Raven and Beast Boy, yet this was a bit different.
"Do you want to talk to Robin now?" Starfire asked Jinx "I'm sure he will let you explain everything."
Her eyes widened slightly. She was trying to hide her shock. "W-why not?" the pink haired girl answered silently. Starfire smiled at her encouraging. "You don't have to be nervous! He always likes it when new heroes join us! Especially someone as competent as you are" she said kindly.
Surprised the alien-girl realized that Jinx blushed after her comment. Only slightly, but still. "You do blush a lot today" Kid Flash said teasingly. She gave him a brief glare. Then the pink haired answered "Thanks! …Hearing something like that from you is…is… It really means a lot."
Starfire took Jinx's hand without further hesitation. "Come!" she said smiling and pulled the former villain with her. If she was resisting at all, Starfire didn't feel it. "You will see we don't bite…except Beast Boy sometimes. But you should not worry about that!" Jinx didn't look very convinced.