"Cyborg, can you ask Raven to come get me?" Jinx whispered into her communicator. After she'd emptied the contents of her stomach, Jinx had run off and crammed herself into one of the dark, hidden corners all over the building. The tiny piece of her mind that hadn't shut down in shock registered that she would have to fix that in the renovation plans.
"What? Why? I thought you had another hour to tour the facility," Cyborg said, sounding baffled.
"Yeah, I did. I do. Um. But I can't… I can't stay here right now," Jinx said, chewing her lip, ignoring the blood welling up from the wounds she created.
"I… Yeah, alright, I'll let her know," he told her, still sounding confused, but thankfully not asking any more questions.
"Thanks," Jinx breathed as the connection was severed. She hugged her knees, unable to stop shaking.
A dark shadow appeared in front of her, and Jinx shrieked and pressed herself in closer to the wall. An instant passed before she recognized Batman.
"What do you want?" Jinx snarled, trying to sound threatening, but it mostly just sounding numb and pathetic. Batman opened his mouth to speak and closed it again.
"So this is the great Arkham's secret, huh? The world's most fantastic prison by virtue of… of human experimentation? Good god, no wonder the Joker's crazy," Jinx laughed brokenly.
"I didn't know," Batman told her.
"I bet you didn't," Jinx said. "Bet you didn't notice the way the guards were eyeing the prettiest prisoners, either. Or all the bruises on everyone but the real crazies. I know a little bit about prisons, and let me tell you, the only way to survive in one like this is to be too scary to touch. And even then, if you're too scary, you get dragged off with a needle in your neck!" Jinx gestured wildly with one hand, and then curled even further in on herself, tucking her head in between her knees.
"I had a friend at Hive Academy once. She was older than me, too old for the juvenile prison. So when she got caught, she was shipped straight to Gotham City," Jinx continued, heartbreak in her voice. "We were informed two weeks later that she was killed attempting to escape. Now I'll spend the rest of my life wondering if that was true, or if… if…" Her last words choked off into an angry sob. Jinx took a steadying breath, then stood up on shaky legs. "Take it as a testament to my reform that I haven't blasted this place to the ground," she snapped at Batman, and then walked away, not bothering to pick up the supplies she had dropped.
She met Raven outside and took her arm. In moments, they were back in the tower. Jinx walked straight up to Cyborg and into his arms. She pulled away after a few moments. "Whatever they did that's got you so upset, I'm sending a strongly-worded email," Cyborg said.
"They experiment on their prisoners," Jinx informed him.
"Forget the email. Give me one good reason I shouldn't blow the whole place to smithereens," he growled. The corner of Jinx's mouth turned up slightly in a small, but genuine, smile.
"Because I still have to fix it?" She suggested.
"No, you don't," Cyborg said. Jinx rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. You don't have fix anything for them, okay? You don't even have to go back to that place ever again if you don't want to," he told her. Jinx sighed.
"Yes, I do. If I don't do something, they're going to keep hurting more people. I can't let that happen if I can avoid it," she said, her tone final.
Cyborg smirked. "You know what you sound like?"
"What?"
"A hero."
"Shut up."
"No, really," Cyborg insisted. "You've got the whole 'sacrificing your own feelings for the greater good' thing down already."
"Shut up," Jinx said again, though this time with a smile. Cyborg grinned at the sight of it and leaned down for a kiss. They were interrupted by a call coming through on the common room screen.
"It's Batman," Cyborg yelled. Robin ran in and vaulted over the back of the couch to accept the call.
"What do you need?" Robin asked. He always failed to disguise his eager hope that eventually Batman would call on them for help.
"I need to apologize," Batman sighed. Robin's eyebrows ascended into his hairline.
"Jinx, it's for you," Robin announced. Jinx moved up to the screen and waited.
"The way Arkham has been treating its prisoners is unacceptable," Batman began. "And I wanted to let you know that I've spoken to someone named Bruce Wayne, who has a lot of sway with the prison systems. He informed me that Doctor Daisy and everyone else involved were fired and blacklisted from any medical institutions."
"In the five minutes since I left you've managed to correspond with someone notorious for being the busiest man in Gotham?" Jinx asked. Batman ignored her.
"He also has given you full authority over any prison renovations necessary."
"If you're such good friends with Bruce Wayne, why haven't I seen you together online?"
"I apologize that I allowed this to happen for as long as it has-"
"Come to think of it, he does seem to disappear from a lot of social functions."
"And I assure you it will not happen again."
"Wait, doesn't Bruce Wayne have an adopted kid around Robin's age? Richard something?"
"Goodbye." Batman hung up.
"The way I see it, one of two things is happening here," Jinx announced. "Either Bruce Wayne is secretly Batman-"
"What? No, that's ridiculous," Robin spluttered, looking panicked.
"Or, Batman and Bruce Wayne are secretly in a relationship and trying to hide it from the public." Cyborg gave Jinx a look at this suggestion. Just go with it, she pleaded silently.
"…Uh… Yeah," Robin said. "But, it's a secret, so…"
"Don't worry, it's safe with me," Jinx assured him.