In Jinx's long and illustrious history of being resiliently bizarre, she had been privy to many a awkward moment. Sometimes these moments of soul crushing humiliation were caused by her.

If sometimes was a secret code that stood for all the damn time.

Let's face it, with her 'set on fire first, ask questions later' approach to friendship, coupled her tendency to shun most human contact that didn't involve dancing on table tops, our little pink haired un-villain wasn't that well equipped to deal with situations that didn't include, well, committing arson or dancing on table tops.

At this stage in her life, she had just come to accept and even revel in that, yes, over the course of the night she probably is going to walk into a few rooms where people are having sex, and yes, one of them might be her history teacher from freshman year, and maybe when she goes to tell everyone about how Mrs. Johansson is totally cheating on her husband, she may push someone who annoys her down the stairs in front of their mother.

In truth, these were all the highlights of her junior prom.

Still, most of the time, it was she who embarrassed other people with her general attitude of not caring for petty things like feelings or basic decency. So what if I have never spoken to you before, if you take your mother as your prom date you deserve to be pushed!

But, it was a another story entirely when Jinx set about making an idiot of herself.

"Uh … Good morning to you too?"

Jinx looked up, dropping the splintered remains of the coffee table and backing away towards the couch in a manner that said 'It is inconceivable for you to think that I would break such a handsome piece of furniture, nor do I have any problem whatsoever with your sexy, sexy décor choices.'

Kid Flash fought to hide his grimace, stepping through the apartment door's threshold. His gaze traveled across the floor, scanning the smoking, shattered wreckage of that thing he used to like to put his feet up on. He turned wide-eyed to Jinx, who once again, was going to deny all involvement. ( At least they could never fault her for her perseverance.)

"It's not morning, is it?" She craned her neck to the window. "The sky's still dark."

"Eh, it's two a.m., close enough, right?" He got even closer to her. She stared at her nails.

"So … um … Do you want to talk about this?" He gestured around vaguely.

"Talk about what?"

"Um …" He shrugged. "The systematic destruction of everything I have come to … enjoy?" His words weren't accusatory, even though they should have been. She frowned.

"What destruction?" She glanced around quizzically. "Everything looks completely fine to me." Jinx nudged a fragment of wood behind her with her foot.

"… Of course it does…" He finally mumbled. Speeding off, he returned a few seconds later with a broom and a garbage bin.

Jinx sat on the couch as Kid Flash picked his way through the debris, gathering her sweatshirt from off the armrest. They had been through this routine a few times over the last week, with him coming home or entering a room only to find that he was now down one vase, or a picture frame, or a wall of cabinets.

It wasn't her fault really, her powers starting to go slightly out of whack. At least she didn't think it was her fault.

Because when you factor in stress, and not sleeping well, and having multiple parties advocating your death and all-

Well, ok, maybe all, of those things were caused by her, and maybe she was over embellishing the stress and the death just a little, but what else could it be? She was always in control of her powers. And when she wasn't, at least she had faked that she was long enough to be put in charge of a team.

A team of morons, sure, but everyone had to start somewhere, right?

…Or maybe they had just wanted to placate her so she wouldn't splatter them against a wall when she had a freak out.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, pushing down the wave of pink sparks that had begun to dance at her fingertips.

"You ok?" He dared to touch her shoulder, and she shrugged away from him, standing up.

"I'm fine." The room was clean now. There were some advantages to having someone around who could move at the speed of light.

He looked conflicted, which was a usual occurrence after one of these incidents. She could tell he wanted broach the subject with her, but was afraid that if he did she would get skittish run back to her peopleor villains or whatever.

Whoever the fuck they were at this point.

So then, what was a speedster to do when faced with uncomfortable circumstances?

"I'm beat." He said after a moment, yawning. "Wanna go get some pizza?"

She smiled for the first time that morning. " I like pizza."

The waitress snapped her gum at pair, only rolling her eyes and stalking off to the kitchen when Wally ordered four separate pizza pies. She should be really used to it by now, the two came here often, always under the cover of darkness, and never as their super counterparts.

Besides, it wasn't like the place was filled to the brim with shouting customers waving gold bars at her either.

Jinx sunk deeper into the hood of her sweatshirt, tucking the strands of hair that fell out back into place. She still wasn't sure how he had the money to eat like he did, like a starved rhinoceros. There were times that she could remember when she couldn't even steal the amount of food for the week that he ate in one sitting.

Frankly, she had never been as disgusted and enthralled at the same time then when she went out to eat with Wally West.

He had leaned forward now, elbows resting on the table. She ignored him, opting instead to stare out the window and up at the ceiling intermittently. Oh, see the blue car going by? Doesn't that crack in the ceiling look kind of like Robin's hair, all spiky and desperate? And oh look, the drunks are puking in the back alley, how precious.

After a while, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned to his stare. "Take a picture, why don't you; it's less likely to kick your ass."

He grinned. "Aw, come on Jinxy, you don't mean that."

"Don't call me Jinxy."

" Well then what am I supposed to call you then? Jinx?" He was indignant.

"You act like that's the most shocking of revelations."

…Was he actually pouting at her? Damn it! "But that isn't fun."

"Life isn't fun."

He had leaned in even closer from across from her, and was absentmindedly tracing the lines of her palm, which she had just carelessly rested on the table forgetting she was dealing with He Who Knows Not The Concept of Personal Space.

"So … it's just Jinx. No Jinxy, no Hexer, no Flippy, no nothing?" His fingers were warm and caloused and she bit back a shiver. Stay annoyed.

"No. Nothing but Jinx."

He paused in his palm reading for a moment. She was relieved, but there was another feeling, one that she couldn't place. Revulsion? No, the accompanying wave of nausea wasn't there. It felt more…fuzzy, she guessed.

Or it could just be that her greater mental capacity was having a breakdown from all the food she did not consume in the last twenty four hours.

Wally started up again, his fingertips dancing along hers. "So like… Jinx is your name?"

She eyed him warily. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's not like a nickname, is it?" His tone was light, but his eyes kept on darting to and away from her.

She lurched her hand out of his grasp, surprising the both of them when a vicious snarl escaped from her lips. From the kitchen, the sound of glass crashing to the floor reverberated throughout the diner, complemented by gratuitous cursing from the cook.

Jinx gripped down hard on the table, as if holding onto it for dear life. Her voice didn't waver as she spoke to him, even if reigning in her powers was like trying to reign in Mammoth during a particularly bad pie withdrawl.

"Here's hardly the place to talk about that," she said slowly, quietly. He looked remorseful and confused and like he was thinking- which was never a good thing.

But, as taken from prior experience, we know he was little to no self preservation instict.

Perhaps with a death wish, he pressed onward. "…So you do have a …" He glanced around again. "…Other name." He leaned in closest yet, whispering. "A real one."

He shrank back into the seat as her renewed glared bored into him. "I mean, you don't have to tell me, if you don't want. I'm just curious."

She sat back straight. "You know if you were anyone else, you would be dead now, right?"

"Aw, so you're saying I'm special?"

"No," she hissed. "I'm saying that where I come from, that's just not a question you ask."

Wally drummed his fingers on the table top. "Well where I come from, we trust our team like family."

"Villains and heroes are different," she averted her eyes. "In villainy, the bonds are weaker. It's ourselves first, and everybody else second, no matter what kind of relationship you have with them. If you have the opportunity to get ahead, whether if you know their true identity or where they came from or whatever, you take it." She sighed. "No matter the consequences."

"It doesn't have to be like that, heroes-"

"I know, I know, ok?" Jinx rolled her eyes. "I've heard the pitch before. But this is just the way I live, the only way I know how to live, and by now not revealing anything about myself is automatic, like breathing."

"But why?" He questioned. "Don't you want to get close to anyone, to have people know the real you?"

"No. I don't." Her thoughts flashed to Gizmo and Mammoth. They knew her real name, and look how well that turned out. Once again, normal human contact wasn't exactly her forte. "The people I get close to rarely…make it out… unscathed."

His eyebrows shot up. "If this only about your powers, I'm sure with a little practice you can control them a whole lot better. Maybe the Titans-"

"I can control my powers just fine." She waved her hands around in the air. "See, total control!" With irritation, Jinx crossed her arms. "No need to get the Titans involved."

By then the waitress had returned, balancing the four pizzas with some sort of magical waitress talent that didn't include growing a third arm. She set them down and disappeared again, leaving Wally and Jinx to deal with their blatant, awkward sexual tension.

They ate in relative silence, save for the vaccum sound that seemed to be emitting from Wally's mouth as he downed three and a half pizzas like there was prize money involved .

"You shouldn't have told me your name," Jinx said causally, not looking up from her plate. "You know if this not stealing thing doesn't work out, I can turn around and use it against you, right?"

"Like I said before, I trust my team like family." He shot back through a mouthful of pepperoni.

"Let me reiterate: I'm not a part of your team. There is no team, it's me over here, and you over there and sometimes I take money from your wallet -but you don't say anything- and that is our relationship."

He shrugged. "Close enough for me."

"I'm dangerous." She reasoned with him. "I hurt people for fun all the time. I'm out of control, woooooo."

"I handle danger everyday. Live for it even."

She paused. "You're the most masochistic idiot that I've ever met. And I've known people who think slamming themselves into doors is a sport."

Wally had the audacity to smirk at her. "It's one of my better qualities."

They finished eating. He reached into his sweatpants pocket, taking out a wad of bills. Wally was methodical in his counting, setting the money down in a neat stack and leaving a generous tip.

"You're not even going to wait for her to bring the check?" Jinx wiped her mouth with a napkin, standing up.

"Nope." He rose as well. "Perhaps I feel a little Batman-y; want to vanish into the night. Maybe I'll even take it a step further and not use the door."

He smiled cheekily at her, making a move to phase through the wall. She sighed, grabbing his arm and pulling him towards the exit. "What, does Batman have as terrible aim as you? Sails through the window because his Bat Hook missed the gate?"

The two stepped out onto the street, and she dropped his arm. "What can I say, the Man of Bat is too cool for doors."

"How can one be too cool for doors? From a financial standpoint that's just impractical."

" But it's so true. The Flash says that sometimes the League will be fighting some dude, right, when all of a sudden the Batman will just come causally crashing through the ceiling like the master of the night and completely scare the living hell out of everyone."

Passing under a street lamp, Jinx looked up thoughtfully. "I should try that some time. Drop in through the ceiling with a big explosion, and then be all 'Why is everyone freaking out? Oh that? That was just my entrance. Yes, I did make a deal with a firework company, thank you for noticing.'"

Chuckling, he subtly steered her away from tripping into a puddle that she had ended up in front of, taking her towards the sidewalk. Jinx barely noticed.

The spent toothpaste circled the drain in swirling patterns, crisscrossing the sink. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she moved out of the bathroom. The empty space where the coffee table should have been left a pang in her head, but she shook it off. She'd deal with her powers later. That was all she ever seemed to be doing these days, dealing with things later.

She really hoped his short attention span wasn't starting to rub off on her.

Speaking of Wally, where was he? She had been in the bathroom for maybe five minutes getting dressed for bed, but knowing him, he could literally be anywhere right now.

There was a whoosh of wind, and then inexplicably it was Kid Flash who stood before her.

"I thought you were going to go to sleep."

"Oh… well… uh…I… just got a call." He said distractedly. "Need to go run a favor for someone."

"But you already did patrol earlier." Eyes narrowing, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this for the Titans or something?" I hope to God this isn't about Mrs. Last Samurai…

"Ah… no…not exactly - in a general sense." Kid Flash really didn't want to leave her here alone again. She seemed pretty vulnerable, or at least more receptive to him, which was rare. And there was all his remaining possessions to think about, all of which he rather liked and wished to not get destroyed in a fiery blast.

Even more still, he wanted to get closer to cracking her ice queen exterior and finding out her name.

Frozen where he stood, he weighed his options. What seemed like a less than a second to Jinx was actually the greatest war on indecision ever to be waged, complete with brooding and staring moodily off into the distance.

Robin would have been proud.

You know what? Kid Flash finally decided. The Flash can wait, there is a hot girl in my apartment and she needs comforting. That is the ultimate trump card for anything he can throw at me, short of being actively fried by lasers.

He gave pause.

No, he could probably outrun the lasers if he set his mind to it.

He turned to face her. " I can stay if you want me to. It isn't that important for me to go." Was it truly that important? Yes, yes it was. But really: The. Hot. Girl. Needed. Comforting.

…For his uncle that excuse probably wasn't going to fly, seeing how much thin ice he was on already, but his other option- wanting to crack the code of a icy ex-villainess- wasn't going to win him any good behavior points either.

"No, you can go. I'm happy to see you leave." Jinx was most certainly not happy to see him leave, and hated herself for it. Why does he always keep on disappearing whenever I am about to do something stupid? Was he testing her with some sort of passive aggressive mixture of flirting, protectiveness, and large chunks of unsupervised time? The best kind of passive aggressive.

"That was a rhetorical statement." He was gone and back in an instant, changed into a tank top and boxer shorts.

She busied herself with opening the pull out bed, masking the (loathed for all eternity) grin that was creeping across her face with a smirk.

"They always are."

The 'waitress' wriggled out of her apron, carelessly throwing it in the corner. The night cook had gone home moments ago, and daylight was going to bring a whole new set of eyes that she didn't want watching her.

Reaching into one of the small storage lockers, she took out her mask, her slow smile soon covered up by metal and paint. Ah, that's better.

On the way out the door she stopped by the pantry, quickly slashing the ropes that bound the real- albeit unconscious-night waitress. Usually the girl in the mask never was one for releasing her victims before their due but, she was in a good mood after all.

She strolled out the back door, keeping close to the wall. The girl felt well, not bad exactly, maybe pity- for that pink haired girl. What was her name again, Jinxy? Jinx. She felt pity for Jinx.

So much potential, wasted. Even more valuable than her considerable power, Jinx had good instincts. Not telling that hero her real name, no matter how much rhetoric and playboy charm he tried to dose her with. Too bad she didn't say his. To know Kid Flash's secret identity, that would have been a goldmine. Of course she saw his face sans mask, but in reality his mask did little in the way of covering anything up anyway. She snorted. He should just carry a sign - ginger and proud.

With ease the girl leaped up onto a fire escape, grabbing the rail. She gracefully bounded up the steps, taking two at a time until she got to the roof. Roofs were always at least fifty percent safer than the ground- it was a known fact.

No matter. Who cared if she felt anything for her mark, she didn't make the rules, only carried out the orders.

She had got what she had came for and that was all she really should be caring about presently.

The sun began to peek over the clouds. Under her mask, the girl smiled. Her Master would be pleased.

A/N: So I'm back from the hiatus I declined to announce. What of it?

Ok. I'm ... sorry. It was mean of me. I ask forgiveness.

I tried to update faster, I really did. This is actually rewrite number eight of this chapter, and I'm still a little ... iffy on it. Nothing with clicking, and I couldn't just skip over this because it kind of sets things up and-

I can tell no one really cares. That is fine, I deserve it.

Well, anyway, sorry this one is a bit of a downer. Tried to make it interesting at the end at least. The girl in the mask is a familiar face, and really she's not that hard to figure out considering there are like, twelve girls in total on the show, with only three of them wearing masks.

Also, good news everyone: The next chapter is already half written, and way funnier than this one! I know, shocking isn't it?

It's pretty KF centric, mainly because I needed a break from writing Jinx's neurotic doublespeak, and Flash is really holding back when it comes to the snark around her, which I just couldn't take any more.

Plus, Speedy's there, which makes anything automatically three times better.