Raven was meditating in the Titan's East main room when Jinx walked in. Raven, though aware of her presence, chose to ignore her. The two dark Titans were not the closest since Jinx had been in Raven's room and tried on her clothes years before. The fact that Jinx had called for Raven's help showed just how desparate she was. To find someone, Raven needed to trace their energies, and like a bloodhound with a scent, she needed a strong example of that energy to follow. Raven had gone to Jericho's room to get a better feeling for his energy, but she was unable to find a strong enough source. Jinx told her to try Herald's room, where Raven found Jericho's guitar. With that, she tracked Jericho and the rest was easy.

Jinx put some water on to boil as Raven continued to meditate. She pulled out a box of tea and made enough for two. She poured it into two mugs and sat down on the sofa in front of Raven. She knew the girl still didn't like her, but she had saved Jericho, and that was good enough for Jinx. Raven opened an eye.

"What are you doing?" Raven continued to float.

"I made some tea." Jinx held out a mug. "I know you like this kind, and...well..." Raven sat next to her.

"Well, what?"

"I wanted to say thank you. For helping me. I was afraid you wouldn't even answer, but you did. Jericho is safe now, and he means so much to me." Jinx smiled as Raven took the mug.

"Jericho means a lot to all of you. And he's a Titan, so I would have helped him no matter what." She took a sip. "But you're welcome." The girls sat in a comfortable silence and sipped their tea. "I have to go back. But you know how to reach me." And then Raven was gone in a flash of black. Jinx shook her head. She would never understand that girl. Jinx was joined by Kid Flash.

"Hey, beautiful. What are you thinking so hard about?" Jinx sighed, giving her boyfriend a clue.

"Jericho. He looked so...scared. When I hugged him, he was trembling. Just the thought of someone hurting someone so innocent...it's awful!" She stood with her back to Kid Flash and asked the question that had been nagging at her. "Do you...do think that if you hadn't come along and changed me-"

"You turned your own life around!"

"Whatever. But if I hadn't changed? Do you think I could have turned into someone that would hurt Jericho? If things had turned out differently, do you think that...maybe I would have hurt him someday? Would that look in his eyes...be for me?" A tear slid down her cheek as she stood alone. Then she felt warm arms wrap around her protectively as Kid Flash rested his chin on her head.

"Honestly? We'll never know for sure. But I will tell you this. I refuse to believe that even if you were a villain today, that you'd hurt someone. You're a good person. I mean, you put up with me!" Kid Flash turned his girlfreiend around so he could look in her eyes. "It won't help to think about what might have been, good or bad. Life is about the choices we make. You made yours, and you have to live with it. All you need to know is Jericho looks up to you as a sister. And I love you forever." Jinx rested her cheek on his chest and let him comfort her troubled mind.

It had been almost two weeks since they saved Jericho. Jericho and Herald were still together, but they hadn't kissed or even held hands since the night they saved Jericho. Jericho had nightmares, and Herald starred in most of them. Even though Jericho woke right before anything could happen, he woke drenched in sweat with tears in his eyes. Jinx found him in the kitchen, staring at the counter, at one o'clock in the morning three days after they saved him.

"Hey, what are you doing up?" She was actually awake because she wanted something to eat. Jericho shrugged. "Couldn't sleep?" Jericho shook his head. "Why not?" Nothing. Jinx was alert then. "Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong." Jericho lifted his eyes to meet hers, and she saw the shame and fear written plainly across his open face. Jinx wrapped her arms around Jericho from behind. "What was your nightmare about?"

Since then, Jericho would make Jinx understand what his dreams were about, and she listened. She never said a word, didn't ask questions, just listened. And after a week of this late-night therapy, Jinx stopped finding Jericho in the itchen. He slpet through the night. Jericho was a resilient person, and he was determined to iss Herald again someday. Otherwise, Hypnotic had won.

A few days later, Jinx was searching for the TV remote. The boys had decided to go paintballing, something Jinx despised, and she was now looking for a relief form boredom. But she was soon distracted by the coming of Jericho with the remote. He walked over and sat with her on the couch, turning on the TV to the Vampire Diaries. Jinx shot him a look. "Seriously?" She hated that show. Real vampires weren't brooding and they didn't fall in love with humans. She had made it clear on many occasions that she hated that show, and only Jericho's bright eyes saved him from her wrath.

Jericho laughed silently as Jinx wrestled with him for the remote. Jinx smiled, a bright smile that reached her cat-like eyes. It was the first time she had seen Jericho truly smiling in weeks. "Why didn't you go with the others?" Jericho rolled his eyes. "What, you don't like paintball guns?" Jericho shook his head and mimed an exploding paintball hitting him. Jinx laughed. Maybe this day would be alright after all.

The boys returned in good spirits, even Herald, who had been quiet and sad for weeks. When they entered the tower, they found that Jericho and Jinx had spent the day baking all kinds of desserts. Actually, Jericho had taught Jinx how to bake, and she was now showing him how to make home made pizza. They welcomed their teammates as they walked in and told them dinner would be ready in ten minutes. Herald was about to retreat into his room once more because that's where he spent most of his time. He wanted to give Jericho space, and deep down he also wanted to punish himself.

He felt a hand on his arm, and he knew only one person had hands so perfect. He turned to find Jericho smiling shyly up at him. Jericho had a smear of flour on his cheek and a ridiculous apron on, but Herald didn't care. Jericho was smiling at him, touching him. Jericho stood on his toes and kissed Herald on the cheek, then wrapped his arms around Herald. Herald held him tightly, fianlly feeling like maybe things would be ok again.

"He's been like that all day. All happy and smiley. He just woke up...how did you put it, Jericho?" Jinx called from her postion in the kitchen. The rest of the team lounged on the couch. Jericho shrugged, then smiled. He placed a hand on his heart, and then Herald's in their well known symbol for love. Herald beamed.

"I love you so much." Jericho stood on his toes again, leaning in towards Herald. Herald didn't want to ruin the moment, so he stood perfectly still until Jericho's lips met his. Then he kissed back, a soft and gentle kiss. There was no tongue, no roaming hands, just a lingering contact between lips. Jericho wouldn't be ready for anything more intimate for a long time, but to Herald, he was worth waiting for.

Things weren't perfect, and Jericho would still need to recover for a long time. But he had his friends, and he had Herald.

Who could possibly need anything more?

Thanks for reading. I liked writing this story. I hope you liked reading it. Stay tuned for more stories in the near future.

~orangekangaroo